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inside this estate,” Mia said, chewing her lip in deep thought as the four girls began to head off with their ponies. “First of all Nick wants everyone to be involved with his new Polo Club, then suddenly he stops any rider going near the place. Now Archie’s saying it’s not safe to ride in here.”
    “Well, it looks like Mrs Maplethorp’s Pony Clubber was right about the paths being out of bounds,” Charlie pointed out. “But why would Nick change his mind about allowing riders in so suddenly?”
    Alice scratched Scout’s withers for a moment, as the Pony Detectives thought in silence.
    “Oooh, he could be worried about his polo ponies being let out?” Rosie suggested. “I mean, the police have suspected there’s something dodgy behind the horses escaping from their fields recently. He may just be keeping security really tight before the Winter Cup?”
    “Maybe,” Alice said, uncertainly. “Althoughwhy close it all down? And allowing Mr Pyke to shoot at trespassers is a bit dramatic, don’t you think?”
    “It’s not the best way to promote the Abbey Polo Club,” Charlie agreed.
    “We’ll have to ask Archie what he meant when we see him on the school bus,” Mia said. The others nodded, riding along in silence. Knowing that perfect rides were just tantalisingly out of reach made them even more determined to uncover what was going on inside the ancient Abbey grounds.

Chapter Five
    T HE four ponies puffed to the brow of the hill, their breath escaping in great plumes. They began to pick their way downwards towards the lane below, beyond which nestled Hope Farm, the ramshackle rescue yard that offered a home to every abandoned and unwanted animal in the area. As the girls and their ponies crossed the lane, a loud, urgent whinny from the nearest field greeted them. At the same moment, a small, scruffy bay pony, with a huge bushy forelock, galloped towards the fence and into view.
    “Pirate!” Charlie grinned. Pirate was Charlie’s old pony. When she’d outgrown him, she’d put him on loan to Neve McCuthers, who lived in the annex at Hope Farm with her grandparents. Charlie had taken ages trying to find the right rider for her mischievous butfun-loving pony. In the end, Pirate and Neve had found each other, because no one else could put up with his antics. Neve was a natural in the saddle, and a really brave rider. She was the only person Charlie trusted to look after Pirate and give him the home he deserved.
    As the cheeky bay pony scuffed to an untidy halt in the field next to them, his fluffy forelock almost covered his bright eyes. Charlie leaned down from Phantom’s back to ruffle her old pony’s neck over the fence. Pirate stood for a second, breathing a greeting as he touched one nostril first to Scout, then to Wish and Dancer. The girls moved off, and he trotted alongside them as they made their way through the wooden gate and up the track to the yard.
    They bumped into Neve as she was coming out of the feed room, crunching on a carrot. After they’d climbed out of their saddles and enjoyed a catch up with their friend, Neve jumped on Pirate bareback and rode over to Fran, who was busy dishing out bales of hay in one of the far fields. Fran finished up and then walked briskly back to the yard, surrounded byher pack of faithful dogs. She crushed each of the girls in a bear hug. Then Mia gave her an update on the previous night’s activities.
    Fran shook her head, and sighed heavily. “It sounds like a classic case of abandonment, I’m sorry to say. When irresponsible people don’t want their horses any more, or can’t afford them, they just dump them on land anywhere they can. No longer their responsibility. These ones are thoroughbreds, you think?”
    Charlie nodded. “They look like it. They’re nice – a bit flighty, but then that’s not surprising for this time of year.”
    “Well, I suggest you put up twenty-one day notices. That makes it clear to everyone passing that the