PUFFIN BOOKS
Sheltie and the Runaway
Make friends with
Sheltie®
The little pony with the big heart
Sheltie is the lovable little Shetland pony with a big personality. He is cheeky, full of fun and has a heart of gold. His best friend and new owner is Emma, and together they have lots of exciting adventures.
Share Sheltie and Emma's adventures in
SHELTIE THE SHETLAND PONY
SHELTIE IN DANGER
SHELTIE RIDES TO WIN
SHELTIE LEADS THE WAY
SHELTIE AND THE STRAY
SHELTIE AND THE SNOW PONY
SHELTIE FOR EVER
SHELTIE GOES TO SCHOOL
SHELTIE IN DOUBLE TROUBLE
SHELTIE AND THE FOAL
SHELTIE RACES ON
Peter Clover was born and went to school in London. He was a storyboard artist and illustrator before he began to put words to his pictures. He enjoys painting, travelling, cooking and keeping fit, and lives on the coast in Somerset.
Sheltie and Emma have lots of fans. Here are some of their comments:
‘I love reading Sheltie books so much because I like the ponies and their exciting adventures.’
‘You can't put the Sheltie books down until you have finished them because they are so good.’
‘Sheltie always gets up to mischief and it makes me feel excited and scared!’
‘I think people learn a lot more about ponies when they read Sheltie books because they tell you a bit about how to look after them and also how fun they can be.’
PUFFIN BOOKS
PUFFIN BOOKS
Published by the Penguin Group
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Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Offices: 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England
www.penguin.com
Sheltie and the Runaway first published in Puffin Books 1996
Sheltie Finds a Friend first published in Puffin Books 1996
This edition published 2002
12
Copyright © Working Partners Ltd, 1996
All rights reserved
Created by Working Partners Ltd, London W6 0HE
The moral right of the author/illustrator has been asserted
Except in the United States of America, this book is sold subject to the condition that it shall not, by way of trade or otherwise, be lent, re-sold, hired out, or otherwise circulated without the publisher's prior consent in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser
ISBN: 978-0-14-192682-7
Sheltie and the Runaway
Sheltie Finds a Friend
For Lynda, Albert, Matthew and Jennifer
Emma was in the paddock trying to plait Sheltie's tail into a neat, tidy braid. Sheltie was trying to pinch the carrot which was sticking out of Emma's jacket pocket. After a lot of giggling from Emma and loud snorting from Sheltie, the little Shetland pony came out as the winner.
With a toss of his head, Sheltie galloped off in a mad dash around the paddock. The carrot dangled from his mouth and his eyes shone, full of fun and mischief, beneath his long fringe.
‘Sheltie, come back here!’ Emma shouted across the paddock. Sheltie stood there, flicking his tail as he munched the carrot.
Emma had heard that a new family had moved into Fox Hall Manor on the other side of the orchard. The Armstrongs had gone to live in the city.
Mum had said that the new people had a little girl. A little girl about the same age as Emma. The postman had seen her when the removal men were unloading the furniture van the day before.
Emma was looking forward to making a new friend. She wanted Sheltie to look his very best. That was why she had been trying to plait his tail.
But Sheltie thought it was a game and wouldn't keep still. In the end, Emma gave up and left his tail just as it was: long, straggly and almost touching the ground.
Emma put on Sheltie's saddle and bridle, then rode him up the lane towards Fox Hall Manor. They passed Mr Crock's cottage, then crossed the little stream by the bridge at the end of the lane. The road curved around behind open fields and the orchard until it almost met the woods at the back of Mr Brown's meadow.
There, a long gravel drive wound its way up to a high wall with heavy iron gates. The gates were closed.
Emma rode right up and peered through the gates into the grounds of the manor.
Fox Hall was a grand place. The gardens were beautiful, with lawns and trees and flower beds planted out like a park. The gravel drive led from the iron gates up through the gardens to the front door.
The place looked deserted. Emma couldn't see any sign of the new people. She looked very hard, peering through the gates. Sheltie looked too. He pushed his nose through the bars and sniffed at the air. Sheltie could smell another pony.
Just then, Emma heard the sound of a car racing up the gravel drive behind them. When the driver slammed on the brakes to stop, the little car skidded sideways on the loose gravel and ended up with its back wheel stuck in a shallow, muddy dip.
The car door flew open and a very red-faced man jumped out. He looked at the wheel stuck in the mud, then gave the tyre a hard kick. He was in a very bad mood.
The man glanced over at Emma. He looked very grumpy.
‘I thought you were Sally, my daughter,’ he said. ‘I thought she was outside the gates on her pony. That's not allowed!’
‘Oh!’ said Emma. ‘I'm not Sally. My name's Emma and this is Sheltie.’
‘I know you're not Sally, you silly girl. For a moment I just thought you looked like her.’ He really was a grump. ‘And look what you've made me do!’ he said. The man looked at his car again, and stood with his hands on his hips.
Emma didn't think the accident was her fault, but she decided it would be rude to say so.
‘If you have a rope,’ said Emma, ‘Sheltie can pull your car out of that dip.’
The man looked Sheltie up and down.
‘What, that little thing?’ he said. ‘He doesn't look big enough to pull a baby's pram.’
‘Sheltie may be small,’ said Emma, ‘but he's very strong. If you fetch a rope we'll show you.’
The man had a rope in the boot of the car. Emma dismounted and tied
one end of the rope to the front of the car. Then she tied the other end around Sheltie's chest.
‘Come on, Sheltie,’ whispered Emma. ‘We'll show him!’
The man started the engine. Sheltie pulled. Emma held on to his reins and Sheltie pulled as hard as he could.
The car moved, just a centimetre or so at first. And then, as Sheltie pulled harder, the back wheel came right up out of the dip.
The man quickly unlocked the gates then pulled the rope free and jumped back into the car. ‘Stand clear!’ he shouted. Then he drove the car through and closed the gates behind him.
Emma stood with Sheltie on the other side of the gates. The man hadn't even stopped to say thank you. He was very rude.
As the man drove off up the drive, Emma saw a girl come out the house. She stood on the front steps and looked down towards the gates. Emma gave a friendly wave and the girl waved back.
Then the car pulled up at the house and the man got out and led the girl back inside.
‘That must have been Sally,’ said Emma. Sheltie's ears pricked up. ‘She looked nice, didn't she?’
Sheltie gave a loud blow and sniffed at the air, Sheltie was more interested in the new pony he could smell.
Back at the cottage Emma told Mum all about the rude and grumpy man.
‘You mustn't call him names, Emma,’ said Mum. ‘That must have been Mr Jones. He was probably very worried if he thought Sally was locked out of the grounds.’
‘He didn't say she was locked out,’ said Emma. ‘He said she wasn't allowed to be out.’
‘Well, they did only move in yesterday,’ said Mum. ‘Perhaps he was afraid that Sally might wander off and get lost.’
‘You can't get lost in Little Applewood!’ laughed Emma. And Mum agreed.