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my back a bit.’
    Ellie studied him. She knew Joe’s own life hadn’t been easy either. He had told her that he had really missed his mum when she left. He still saw her sometimes, just not often because she lived a long distanceaway in Devon and he was usually kept too busy on the yard to go and visit her.
    ‘You know, you have to be the only girl under the sun to think Luke’s annoying,’ Joe went on with a certain satisfaction. ‘Normally, girls all fancy him like mad.’
    Ellie pulled a face. ‘Ugh. No way. He’s so arrogant.’
    ‘Did you have a boyfriend in New Zealand?’ Joe asked her curiously.
    ‘Not when I left.’ Ellie had been out with a few boys, but the longest she’d been out with anyone was six weeks, and since her parents had died, going out with someone had been the last thing on her mind. Her face shadowed over instantly at the thought and she had to fight back the bleakness that swelled up inside her. She stared at the bale of hay, counting to ten in her head, concentrating on the numbers as she pushed the grief back down. It was always like that. She would feel OK for a little while, not thinking about what had happened, but then something would bring it all flooding back. When she reached ten, she cleared her throat, back in control enough to speak. ‘We’d better get going. Your dad will be out on the yard soon.’
    Joe looked troubled. Ellie had a feeling he was about to ask her how she was and she didn’t want that. She didn’t want to talk about it. She climbed quickly down from the bales. ‘Come on!’
    But Joe wasn’t to be put off. ‘Are you happy here?’ he said as he jumped down on to the thick layer of hay and straw that covered the barn floor.
    Ellie turned back and stared at him. Happy . The word felt strange in her mind, as if it was a foreign language she didn’t quite understand. What could she say? There were times when she felt all right, usually when she was with Joe or busy with the horses, but she never felt really and truly happy. Every night she still cried as she thought about everything she had lost. But she wasn’t going to tell anyone else that, not even Joe.
    ‘Well?’ Joe pushed when she didn’t reply.
    ‘Um …’ She saw his concerned look. ‘Y-yeah. Kind of,’ she stammered. ‘Come on!’
    She hurried off, leaving Joe watching after her, a frown on his face.
    On Thursday morning Ellie was just getting ready for school when there was a knock on her bedroom door. She looked round in surprise. No one ever came up to her room. ‘Who is it?’
    ‘Me. Joe.’
    Ellie opened the door. Joe grinned at her. ‘I think we should have some fun today.’
    She wondered what he had in mind. ‘Doing what?’
    ‘Let’s bunk off school.’
    ‘Bunk off?’ Ellie echoed uncertainly. She stillstruggled with a few of the unfamiliar English phrases. ‘You mean not go to school?’
    Joe nodded. ‘Dad’s out for the day looking at some horses. We can miss the bus and take fake notes in to say we were sick when we go back to school after half term, a week on Monday.’
    Ellie stared at him, astonished. Joe was normally so conscientious and responsible, not the type of person ever to get into trouble or break rules. ‘What will we do?’
    ‘There’s a horse sale on in Barrowton. We could go over there, just look at the horses, hang out for a while. I know Stuart’ll take us if we ask. He’s got to go into the tack shop there anyway. He won’t mind going to the pub for lunch while we look round.’
    ‘Won’t he tell your dad about us missing school?’
    ‘Not Stuart. He’s not bothered by things like that. Come on,’ Joe urged her. ‘You need to have some fun. It’ll do you good.’
    A feeling of recklessness caught hold of Ellie. She loved the thought of doing something different, something other than the normal routine. ‘OK then!’
    ‘You’d better get changed,’ Joe said, looking at her school uniform. ‘You can’t go to a horse sale