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Joe helped her too. Sensitive, friendly and responsible, he was the complete opposite of Luke, and the more she got to know him, the more she liked him. Whenthere were quiet moments, they would retreat to the barn, play with Sweep the kitten, talk about the horses and music, and tease each other. During those times, Ellie felt almost normal again.
    ‘If you had to be a dog or a cat, which would you be?’ Ellie said one Saturday lunchtime as they sat together in the barn on top of the hay bales.
    As Joe considered the question, she thought how lucky she was that he just seemed to get her and she almost never had to explain what she meant.
    ‘I’d be a dog,’ Joe decided. ‘A Labrador.’ He grinned. ‘And you, you’d be one of those little white poodles with hair all tied up.’
    Ellie shoved him. ‘I so wouldn’t!’ She knew Joe was teasing her. ‘Go on, what would I be?’ she challenged him.
    ‘You’d be a …’ Joe looked at her thoughtfully. ‘A dog like Pip. Interested in everything, full of energy and loyal.’
    ‘Totally wrong, actually. I wouldn’t be any type of dog, I’d be a cat,’ said Ellie, running a piece of straw along the bale for Sweep to chase. The kitten pounced and she scooped him up, lying back with him. ‘I’d be just like you, Sweep.’
    ‘Yeah, with a wonky head!’ Joe grinned.
    Ellie frowned. ‘Sweep’s head isn’t that wonky now.’ She kissed the kitten’s nose. ‘You take no notice of him, Sweep. You’re beautiful.’ She put Sweep downand watched him bound away. ‘I like it up here,’ she said, glancing up at the roof of the barn. The beams were hung with years of cobwebs and dust, but it had a warm, safe feel.
    ‘You’d better make the most of it. In another month or two there’ll be shows every weekend, some in the week too. We won’t get a second to sit around like this.’
    There was a note in Joe’s voice that suggested he wasn’t looking forward to it. ‘Don’t you like shows?’ Ellie asked curiously.
    Joe shrugged. ‘They’re OK, I suppose, but I’d far rather be working with the horses on the yard.’
    ‘What will you do when you leave school?’ Ellie had heard Joe talking of leaving school after his GCSE exams in the summer.
    ‘Work here I guess, though –’ Joe broke off.
    ‘What?’
    ‘What I’d really like to do is go and work on a different yard. Not a showing one. One where they treat difficult horses, maybe, and help them.’
    ‘That would be brilliant,’ enthused Ellie. She could just see Joe doing it. ‘You must.’
    ‘Can you really imagine Dad letting me?’
    Ellie frowned. ‘If you want to do it, you shouldn’t let him stop you.’
    ‘Easy to say.’ Joe shot her a sideways look. ‘Though, actually, if it were you, you probably would just goahead and do it anyway.’ He smiled suddenly. ‘I think it’s cool what you’re doing, Ellie. Dad’s mad that you still aren’t riding the ponies but what can he do? And you work hard so he can’t complain.’
    Ellie didn’t say anything. She was beginning to find it harder and harder to be on the yard so much and yet not ride. But there was no way she would give in. A bit of her knew that it was goading her uncle and she felt a secret, silent pleasure in that. She didn’t think she’d ever met anyone she liked less than her Uncle Len. He might be good with the horses, but everything she’d seen in the first day had been confirmed – with people he was badgering and domineering, expecting them to do exactly what he said.
    She sighed. ‘I’m so glad you’re here,’ she said to Joe. ‘It would be an awful place without you.’
    Joe looked pleased. ‘I’m glad you’re here too. It’s much better than when it was just me, Dad and Luke.’
    Ellie rolled her eyes. ‘Luke is so annoying!’
    Joe chuckled. ‘He’s not that bad. He didn’t have an easy time when he was younger. His parents aren’t great and he hated boarding school. And having him here keeps Dad off