First Fence (Pony Jumpers #1)

CHAPTER 6

Dax barked at us as we walked up the front steps to my house, came bounding out when I opened the door, then raised his hackles and growled low in his throat at the sight of strangers.

“Dax, be nice,” I told him. “Sorry. He’s an ex-police dog and he takes his job very seriously.”

Katy looked slightly alarmed by the huge German Shepherd, but when I rubbed Dax’s head and told him to be polite, he obediently sat down and offered a paw to shake. Katy laughed.

“You better shake it or he’ll think you’re being rude,” I grinned at her, and she obliged. Dax decided she was probably okay, and started sniffing her sweater, interested in the smell of her dog.

Mum was home, her head bent over masses of paperwork that she had strewn across the dining table. She barely looked up when I walked into the room, with Katy and Deb on my heels and Dax bringing up the rear.

“Hi Mum.”

“Hello darling.” She glanced up, then noticed our guests with a start. “Oh, hello.”

She quickly stood up, shuffling her papers into a haphazard pile. Not quite fast enough for us to miss the gory photos of stab wounds, and Katy turned slightly green.

“Sorry, I’m just trying to get some work done. You must be AJ’s new friends. Lovely to meet you.”

She shook hands with Deb, and I quickly introduced them, then said I’d better go and get my things from my room.

“I’ll help you,” Katy said quickly, and followed as I made my way to the door.

“Okay, sure.”

We walked quickly down the hallway, and my heart sank when I noticed that Anders’ bedroom door was open. Worse, he was sitting on his bed with his guitar, plucking away at it. He couldn’t really play much on the guitar, but he liked the way that it made him look when he held it, and as he constantly reminded me, the girls loved it, so he’d had a handful of lessons and taught himself a few tunes.

He glanced up as we walked past. “Hey Poss. Hey friend-of-Poss.”

Katy skidded to a halt outside his door, and I stifled an internal groan. Great. She glanced at me with a grin. “Poss?”

“It’s a nickname. Ignore him.”

Anders ran his fingers lightly over the guitar strings and smiled at my friend. “I don’t think we’ve met.”

He stood up, all six foot something of him, and walked to the doorway to shake Katy’s hand.  I shot him a filthy look, but he pretended not to notice.

“I’m Anders.”

“Katy.”

“Nice to meet you, Katy.”

“Come on,” I told Katy. “My room’s down here.”

I started walking, but when I reached the end of the hall and looked back, Katy was still standing there chatting to Anders, who was leaning against the doorframe of his room with his arms folded, grinning at her.

I flung the bedroom door open and stomped in, making Astrid jump. She was lying on her bed reading a book, which was pretty much all she did when she wasn’t eating or sleeping. Somehow in a family of madly sporty people, the athletic gene had skipped her completely. Dad’s theory was that the rest of us were so madly active that the gene had expired by the time it came to Astrid. She unplugged her headphones from one ear and looked at me.

“Where have you been all day?”

“Riding.”

“All day? Poor Squib must be exhausted.”