Read Diamond Spirit for Free Online

and say hello. Jess considered fleeing but realised she had left her run too late.
    Oh, great, I look like the elephant man.
    ‘Hi.’ She looked away, trying to hide her face.
    ‘Hello,’ said Rosie, bringing her horse to a halt. Both girls loosened their reins and allowed their horses to stretch their necks and pick at the grass. ‘Horse go through the fence?’
    Jess fiddled needlessly in her pocket. ‘A rather large goat, actually. Probably wanted to pick at the lucerne trees.’
    ‘You’re Jess, aren’t you? You go to Coachwood Pony Club.’
    ‘Yep.’ Jess couldn’t justify fiddling in her pocket any longer and looked up. ‘Rosie and Grace, right?’
    ‘Kwor! What happened to your eye?’ Grace gawked shamelessly.
    ‘Yes, I’m Rosie and this is my sister, Grace. Sorry about her.’
    Grace barged on, ignoring Rosie. ‘So what happened?’
    ‘A horse reared up in my face.’
    ‘Did you fall off?’
    ‘No.’
    Grace looked approving.
    ‘We were really sorry to hear about Diamond,’ said Rosie.
    ‘Yeah, that sounded terrible,’ said Grace. ‘We couldn’t believe it when we heard about it.’
    ‘We used to love watching her jump at gymkhanas. She could jump so high for such a small horse,’ said Rosie. ‘We used to run over and watch when your name was called.’
    ‘And you guys were amazing at mounted games,’ Grace chipped in. ‘How do you do all that vaulting on and off?’
    ‘Grace is your secret admirer,’ said Rosie.
    ‘As if!’ Grace snorted and then changed the subject. ‘So, are you going to get another horse?’
    Jess shrugged. ‘Dunno.’
    Buzz, rumble.
    Jess ignored it.
    ‘You’re so nosy, Grace,’ said Rosie.
    ‘What?’ said Grace. ‘It’s just a question.’
    Rosie looked at Jess. ‘You’re so lucky you don’t have to put up with a little sister.’
    ‘Umm.’ Jess wasn’t sure what to say. ‘So, what did you hear about Diamond’s accident? Who told you about it?’
    ‘Tegan Broadhead reckons she was stuck in the cattle grid for hours and there was blood everywhere and her legs were nearly ripped right—’ ‘ Grace! ’ Rosie hissed.
    Grace quickly changed tack. ‘But I wouldn’t believe anything Tegan says. She’s a real troublemaker.’
    Jess steeled herself. She had to know the details. ‘Was Tegan there? Did she say how Diamond got out of her paddock in the first place?’
    The two sisters went quiet.
    ‘What?’ Jess pressed. ‘You know something. What happened?’
    ‘No, really,’ said Rosie, ‘that’s all we heard. They said that she was found lying in the cattle grid and she was badly injured. Was that your phone before?’
    ‘It was Shara Wilson’s horse that hunted her through the cattle grid. Tell her about that,’ said Grace.
    ‘What?’ Jess was stunned. ‘ Rocko? ’
    Katrina’s words echoed in her ears.
    Why don’t we just toss it out onto the river flats and let other people’s horses chase it through a cattle grid?
    Rosie turned to her sister and spoke with gritted teeth. ‘Grace! Tegan was just making trouble when she said that. Don’t go spreading stuff around when it’s probably not true.’
    ‘But Tegan said she saw it,’ said Grace. ‘So did Katrina.’
    ‘They saw it? What? Were they there when it happened?’ Jess pressed urgently for more.
    Buzz rumble.
    She flipped her phone open impatiently.
    Shara: meet me down at drover’s yards, jess,
pleeease!!!
    Jess’s mind raced back to the accident.
    Where was Rocko? I didn’t see him. Where was he?
    She stared at the screen of her phone. Surely it couldn’t be true.
    Jess looked up at Rosie. ‘Were Tegan and Katrina there when it happened?’
    ‘They were passing on gossip, that’s all,’ said Rosie. ‘I don’t know for sure if they were there or not. But I do know that I wouldn’t trust anything they had to say. They’re trouble, those two – nasty trouble.’
    Jess tried to untangle her thoughts. She didn’t know what to believe. Five days ago her