Sarah and Cheeky meet Neddy.
One autumn day Sarah got out of bed and went to her window, she looked outside at
the gold,red and green leaves swirling round and round .”They remind me of water
going down the plug hole in the bath “she thought.Suddenly they whooshed up in the
air then slowly floated down again waiting for the next mini whirlwind.”Now they
look like coloured snow”thought Sarah.”Come on Sarah ,breakfast is ready stop
dreaming” said her mother who had just come into the room.Sarah jumped slightly as
the leaves had almost hypnotised her and she hadn’t heard her mother come into the
room.”Okay just coming,are we going to take Cheeky for a walk over the fields and
are we going to feed the horses?””Yes if the weather gets better “replied her mother.
Sarah ate her breakfast then went up to the garden shed to let Cheeky out
whereupon he jumped up and started to lick Sarah’s face.”Stop it you cheeky
rascal,I’ve already had a wash”.When Cheeky finally calmed down Sarah gave him
his breakfast which. he gobbled up in two minutes.”You greedy piggy , I get told of if
I eat that fast”said Sarah.”Come on we are going to the shops to buy some Polo’s for
the horses in case we go for a walk later, if not I’ll eat them”.Sarah bought two
packets of Polo’s and a chocolate bar for Cheeky then took Cheeky to the park to do
his business.(When I say Sarah went with Cheeky she also went with her Mother as
Sarah was never allowed to go any where by herself).After the park all the family had
lunch then got into the car and went to the fields where the horses were.When they
got there Sarah noticed a sign in the field which read “HORSES FOR SALE Enquire
at farmhouse”.Sarah read the sign out loud(she was good at reading) “Dad can we
buy the white one?” she asked.”Only if you have enough money saved and
somewhere to keep it”replied Dad.”I’ve got seventy two pounds in the building
society and I could keep it in the shed” said Sarah.”We will have to see how much it
is then” said Dad knowing and hoping it wouldn’t be enough.”Come on then” Said
Sarah “let’s go”.So they did,they walked down the country lane turned right at the
bottom past the ducks and then through the farmhouse gate.There was no path to the
house just a thick sticky muddy mess which Sarah found difficult to walk in and at one
point Sarah ‘s feet sunk so deep she couldn’t move.”Help, help me” she laughed.Her
Dad came back to lift her out ,he put his arms round her waist and gave a tug to lift
her up nothing happened so he gave another bigger tug ,suddenly Sarah came free
from the mud but her boots stayed there sinking in the mud.Also with the shock of
suddenly becoming free Dad lost his footing and fell backwards into the mud and
Sarah landed on top of him.Dad picked himself up and got Sarah’s boots,then Sarah
started laughing “You look like you’ve pooed your pants” she said.”Come on “ said
Dad grumpily “let’s find out about this horse”.They knocked at the door and the
farmer answered.He was a big strong man who looked a lot younger than he was
except for the white hair and beard.He had blue overalls on with blotches of brown
on them which gave of a distinct aroma of cow poo.”Hello what can I do for you
then” asked the farmer.”I want to buy your white horse please” said Sarah “How
much is it?””They are all the same price” said the farmer “Which is six hundred
pounds each”.”Good” said Sarah “I can buy the white one then, but how much
change will I get?”.Dad looked at Sarah and said”look you only have seventy two
pounds you haven’t even got enough so you won’t ger any change,Six hundred is a lot
more than seventy two”.”I will go to work then” said Sarah.”You aren’t old enough
to go to work” said her Mum “You are only ten” “So” she replied “I will do
shopping for people and wash cars” “OK” Said her Mum “but how much will you
charge?”.”Fifty dollars an hour” said Sarah (as you can see Sarah had no idea of
money or where it came from.) The farmer looked at them and said “I have to get rid
of all the horses before Christmas so if you come up with six hundred pounds before
the end of November he will be yours, if not he will go to market”.Sarah thought for a
minute “Maybe you could buy him for me for Christmas Dad, or Father Christmas
could get him for me , if not I am going to save and save”. “I think you will have to
save then” said Dad thinking that Sarah would never get the money.Sarah and her
family then left thanking the farmer for his time.
The next day Sarah woke up early and went downstairs to the kitchen and
forgetting that she was hungry started to write things down mainly in picture
form.When Mum came down Sarah explained what the pictures meant so Mum sat
down with her and helped her write some cards to put in shop windows.These cards
explained that Sarah was available to help people ie do cleaning,gardening,car
washing etc for payment as she wanted to buy a horse.
One day after the cards were placed Sarah got a job weeding an elderly
persons garden for which she received ten pounds.Then the phone didn’t stop ringing
as people offered her lots of different jobs to do.Mum and Dad or one of her sisters
went with her and because people wanted to help Sarah the payments to her were
very generous and by the middle of November she had saved six hundred and forty
four pounds.In the last week of November Sarah and her family went round to the
farmers house with six hundred pounds.The farmer was really surprised “Wow that
was quick work” he said.The farmer then went on to explain about feeding and
exercising the horse ,when he would deliver it and because he was so impressed with
Sarah he decided to give her a lot of riding equipment including a saddle and a
safety hat.
Sarah prepared the shed for the arrival of the horse,she put straw on the floor,
put a large water trough in and an eating trough.
The horse arrived in early December on a typical wintery afternoon, the wind
was strong and bitterly cold with a feeling of grit flying through the air.Sarah didn’t
like the cold but she didn’t notice it as she went to meet her horse.”Hello boy “she
said,”I’m going to call you Neddy”.Sarah then led the horse to the shed.”This is
Cheeky my dog and you are going to share with him.I have made this very cosy for
you”.The horse neighed as though he understood Sarah and stepped into the shed
glad to get out of the cold wind.Dad was watching this from at the end of the garden
through a haze of white as the grit had now started to turn to real snow, he thought
what a handsome animal the horse was and the purity of his pure white coat looked
whiter than the snow that was falling around him.”Come on lock those two in” he
shouted.Sarah gave Neddy and Cheeky a big kiss and a hug each then locked them
both in the shed.She ran down the garden picking up a small dab of snow on the way
to put down her Dad’s neck.Dad chased her into the house where she sat down in
front of the fire and drank her chocolate drink.While Sarah cleaned her teeth Mum
did her a hot water bottle and put it into her bed.Sarah came upstairs and jumped
into her cosy bed pulled the covers up round her neck let Mum and Dad kiss her
goodnight then fell straight to sleep.
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