Lemony E-Book

Maria Durand

• Herausgeber: Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Für Kinder und Jugendliche
• Serie: Lemony
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 211

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2020

Beschreibung

At the age of almost eleven and almost thirteen years, it's finally time for Mosquito's and Jo's first riding lesson. At the neighbouring equestrian centre, the Spanish riding teacher Joseba is taking them on and teaching them to ride according to old tradition and skill. Besides their new four-legged friends Trudy and Kimba, they also get to know Lemony. Arguably the most beautiful horse in the whole world is also the scariest horse at the stable. Just as Jo and Mosquito start to get to know Lemony better, he disappears overnight, and Cloudlet takes over his place. Grief-stricken, Jo soon finds out that something is wrong with Cloudlet. But what? And where did Lemony disappear to? Read the whole story!

Leseprobe

For Joline and Talisa

Maria Durand

Born in the north of England and raised in Berlin

(Germany), where she still resides today. Horses have played

a major role in her life ever since she was a young girl.

Together with her own horses and daughters – who are now

grown up – she has experienced "the equestrian life" with all

its ups and downs.

In a large treasure chest, she still guards exciting stories that

life itself has written.

Content

Summer Holidays in Gloves and Boots

Horse Scent Hangs in the Air

Working Trot

Seven Times

Big Fear of Lemony

The Devil Never Sleeps

Pictures in the Head and for the Wall

A Good Horse Has No Colour

New Horse, New Luck?

Bellyache

Anticipation Is the Best Delight

The Big Hack

The Rain Brings It to Light

When Life Gives You a Lemon

Summer Holidays in Gloves and Boots

Three, two, one, zero: At last! The summer holidays had started! The school bell rang and Jo jumped from her chair and ran out of the classroom. On the stairs, she took two steps at once. She raced past Mr. Miller, her English teacher, who yelled 'Happy holidays!' after her. She briefly lifted her hand to show that she had heard but didn't want to answer. There was no time left for that.

Outside the door, Jo's younger sister Mosquito was waiting.

'Hurry up!' Jo instructed her.

'Seriously? I've been waiting for an hour for you. You have to hurry up,' Mosquito replied.

'I was running. So you have to hurry up now.'

Jo almost always had the last word. That's just how big sisters are, but Mosquito had already become quite thick-skinned and therefore simply followed Jo in complete silence.

'Grandma will drop by at two o'clock! It's eleven now!' Mosquito shouted.

'We still have to change,' Jo answered without looking back.

'Does it take you three whole hours to put on your breeches?' Mosquito asked, dumbfounded.

Jo turned around. 'No, I still have to plait my hair,' she responded, while trying to bring her curly mane under control. Even though it was summer, a decent wind was blowing.

'Alright! Then go, go!' Mosquito replied and rolled her eyes.

'You're slackening on purpose,' Jo exclaimed and stopped shortly.

'I'm not!' Mosquito responded defiantly and grimaced in a way that younger siblings always did towards their older ones. When Mosquito caught up with her sister, Jo grabbed her arm and pulled her along.

'At least walk slightly faster,' Jo begged.

Mosquito escaped her grip and ran more quickly, albeit slightly.

On the way home, they passed by some horse meadows, which belonged to a small equestrian centre. The horses grazed peacefully in the sun. Nevertheless, one of them stood apart from the others. Jo had already seen this a couple of times during the last few days.

'Look,' Jo said, 'sometimes this horse doesn't stand with the others' and pointed to the opposite side of the meadow.

Mosquito positioned herself on her tiptoes to see more and answered, 'Maybe it doesn't like them.'

Jo stopped. 'Or the others don't like him.'

'How do you know that it's a "he"?' Mosquito asked, but Jo simply shrugged her shoulders.

'Maybe he just likes a bit of solitude,' Mosquito continued. 'Come on, we'll get to know them later.'

Jo still gazed in the direction of the horse. His fur gleamed like gold in the sun, and the bright long mane softly blew in the wind.

'He looks so beautiful,' she noted quietly and although the horse stood on the other side of the meadow, it lifted its head and looked at them as if it had heard what she had said. Jo briefly lifted her hand as if to wave at him, the horse flared up his nostrils and threw its head upwards, which to Jo was a full-on horse wave.

'He waved!' Jo shouted enthusiastically.

'Mmm, sure, with the right or left leg?' Mosquito laughed. 'Come on! Now you're the one slackening on purpose'. Now it was her turn to drag her older sister along.

When they ran past the gate of the equestrian centre, a man in breeches and riding boots came towards them and winked in a friendly manner.

'Buenos Días ladies!' he greeted them.

'Good afternoon,' Mosquito replied. 'We'll come by later to ride!' she exclaimed proudly.

'Oh?' the man stopped. 'Then you'll come to me later? Are you the granddaughters of Mrs. Dumont?'

Jo and Mosquito nodded. Jo noticed that the man's 'r' was unusually rolled, and his 's' was sharply hissed. She also noticed his strangely twisted moustache, which made her grin, and the fact that he had bowlegs, which most likely came from the horse riding.

'We have a trial lesson today,' Jo explained.

'That's wonderful. I'm your riding instructor. My name is Joseba Alvarez-Sanchez, but everybody calls me Seba! You can do so too.' He extended his hand towards Jo and Mosquito.

They both shook Seba's hand, and Mosquito repeated, 'Zsssebba!'

'Exactly, you've pronounced that correctly. With the Spanish accent. That's perfect!' Seba was very glad about that. 'And who are you?'

'I'm Jo, and this is Mosquito.' Jo took over, as older sisters always do, and guided the conversation.

'Mosquito?' Seba asked, surprised. 'That's a funny name!'

Mosquito inhaled, although Jo answered faster, 'When she was four, she swallowed a mosquito. Since then, everyone calls her that. Technically, her name is Marie!'

Mosquito grimaced and nudged her elbow into Jo's ribs.

'Do you have to tell everybody?' she mumbled and turned to Seba. 'Her real name isn't Jo either. It's Johanna, but nobody is allowed to say that, otherwise she turns very tetchy!'

Now Jo pressed her elbow into Mosquito's ribs.

Seba laughed. 'Okay, okay. Mosquito and Jo. I understand. And how old are you?'

This time Mosquito answered faster than Jo, saying 'I'm almost eleven!' before Jo added 'I'm almost thirteen!'

Seba laughed even more. 'Wonderful! Jo and Mosquito, almost eleven and almost thirteen!'

He reached out his hand towards them once again and slightly bowed. 'Ladies, it's been a major pleasure to make your acquaintance! We'll see each other later!'

Although Jo wanted to ask another hundred questions, they made their way home.

Once they arrived at home, two small presents wrapped in red paper lay on the table. Next to them was a small note from Mom. 'Hey little mice, how are the school reports? The present is for a hopefully great report card, and you definitely have to open it before you leave! We'll see each other later, I'll hurry! One million kisses, Mom.'

Jo hadn't finished reading yet when Mosquito already tore the paper and loudly cheered, 'Riding gloves!'

Now Jo removed the paper from her present and it was also riding gloves.

'Perfect,' she rejoiced. 'Now we have everything a rider needs.'

They ran to their rooms and put on the breeches, which had been laid out for days. Once in full gear, with a riding cap, riding boots and obviously their new riding gloves, they both took turns posing in front of the mirror.

'Well, if I had a say, I'd order that everybody in the world should only wear breeches and riding boots,' Jo exclaimed.

Mosquito laughed and answered, 'Good thing you can't decide that. The whole day in riding boots, disgusting, it would smell like cheesy feet every evening!'

Now both laughed.

'Do you still know on which side you mount up?' Jo asked her younger sister.

Mosquito rolled her eyes. 'Of course, you've only told me about twenty-seven times! On the right.'

Jo looked at Mosquito with a wrinkled forehead. She'd mastered this angry-older-sister look perfectly.

Mosquito grinned broadly, 'I'm not stupid! Of course, I know that one mounts up from the left.'

During the last few weeks, Jo had read more or less every equestrian book that existed. Although Mosquito didn't read horse books, she was just as well informed as Jo, because Jo told her about everything that she had read during the day. For example, the fact one mounts up on the left side and not on the right.

She knew how to hold the reins between the ring and the small finger and the thumb, and that one should always close the hand. She had mentioned that at least ten times. For the practical part, Mosquito had to get down to business by letting herself get harnessed in a home-made horse bridle so that Jo could practice holding the reins.

Mosquito liked to frolic around like a wild horse, even if her older sister reprimanded her, and tried to teach her the Spanish walk instead.

'Do you think we'll get to groom a horse too?' Jo asked her younger sister.

'Oh, I think we have to. That's part of it after all!' Mosquito answered.

'That'd be great, I know all the braiding techniques there are to braid manes with!'

That was correct. Jo knew them all, to the grief of Mosquito. Younger sisters must always hold out for the experiments of their older sisters, even when it's about new braiding techniques, but Mosquito hates braided hair. As a countermove, Jo promised to do Mosquito's math homework, which made the hair braiding much more bearable.

'Do you think we'll already ride in the group today?' Mosquito asked, with slight concern in her voice.

'Of course! Why not? Can't be that difficult, just follow the others,' Jo said calmingly.

'Well, if the horse really does follow the others,' Mosquito doubted once again.

'Nevertheless, you can also steer with the reins!' Jo replied, 'It'll work out! These horses have had several beginners sit on them, and actually we aren't really newbies anymore, because we already know a lot! Mom has said so too!'

Yes, Mom did say that, because Mom had also ridden earlier, just like Grandma. Mom hasn't been on a horse since Dad moved to Ilka to Munich. That was quite a long time ago, but with Grandma it was even longer. Mom and Grandma knew a lot, and therefore Jo firmly believed that their knowledge about horses would already be certain.

Mom mostly had to work the whole day, as she had a small bookshop in town. Miss Eckerty, Mom's only employee, and Aunt Lucie often helped her.

Grandma provided a tasty lunch every day and helped them with homework.

They didn't see Dad that often because he supposedly had to work all of the time, and Ilka took up all of his spare time. But he had sent them the riding helmets with rhinestones and one bag of horse treats for each of them.

Grandma gave them the breeches and yesterday Aunt Lucie brought each of them one a bag of carrots to win over their horses.

At half-past one, the doorbell rang, it was the typical Grandma jingle. Everybody knew that it was Grandma. Grandma always came with Lasse, a Swedish terrier crossbreed. Grandma had brought him back from her holiday in Sweden two years ago, to the excitement of Jo and Mosquito. Since then, Lasse also belonged to the family and was therefore the only male in the house.

Grandma didn't have a long way because she technically lived right next door. Still, she gasped when they opened the door.

'Children, it's warm! I have to sit down first, and please, Mosquito, get me a glass of water!' Then Grandma sat down on the terrace in the shade and drank the glass of water that Mosquito had placed in her hand.

'Can't we go yet?' Jo asked impatiently.

'Oh please, let me breathe for five minutes. Have you eaten already?'

'Yes!' Jo and Mosquito lied with one voice. If Grandma cooked lunch now, they would definitely be late.

'Look, we've got riding gloves, for our school reports!' Mosquito shouted enthusiastically.

'Ah, you got school reports today as well!' Grandma sat upright. 'I want to see them!'

Jo threw a sharp look towards Mosquito because now she was responsible for the fact that they could not leave yet. They quickly placed the reports in front of Grandma's nose, and Jo added, 'All B's! No C's!'

Grandma looked over the report and replied, 'Hmm, but no A's either!' and stared at Jo with a stern look.

As Jo started to chew on her lower lip, Grandma let out a laugh and exclaimed, 'That was a joke! B's are excellent! Really excellent!'

Then Grandma looked over Mosquito's report, 'Hmm, also almost entirely B's!' Grandma was delighted, and Mosquito proudly added, 'Yes, and I have an A in English!'

Grandma looked over the report again when Jo added, 'Exactly, and a C in math, which would be a D if I hadn't helped you.'

Grandma continued laughing and leaned back comfortably in the chair. 'Oh children, that's wonderful. I had an E in math once!' Then she bent forward and sternly whispered, 'However, that remains between us!'

Jo and Mosquito nodded and giggled quietly.

Jo's legs were tingling. It seemed impossible for her to sit down quietly at the table with Grandma now.

'Grandma, can we please leave now? I'm already sooo excited,' Jo begged.

'Alright,' Grandma sighed, 'Let us leave. We'll take Lasse. He loves horse droppings!'

Horse Scent Hangs in the Air

On the short walkway, they told Grandma about the meeting with Seba and that they were already allowed to call him by his first name.

'I've known Mr. Alvarez-Sanchez for a while. He's a Spaniard and a very good riding instructor of the old Spanish school! He's been very successful, that man! He can be very strict, but for the most part he's very friendly.' Having reached the gate of the equestrian centre, Jo suddenly had the feeling as if she had swallowed a butterfly. Of course, she would've noted if she had swallowed one. She deeply inhaled and laid a hand on her belly as if she wanted to calm the butterfly.

When they entered the equestrian centre, a large black dog ran towards them, with his tail wagging in a friendly manner.

Grandma said, 'This is Pastor! A Spanish Shepherd. Pastor means shepherd in Spanish!' Grandma petted Pastor, who only had eyes for Lasse and it didn't take long until they both disappeared.

'A wonderful day, Madame Dumont!' Seba stepped out from the stable door into the courtyard with open arms and moved directly towards them.

'Mr. Alvarez-Sanchez!' Grandma remarked in an equally friendly manner. 'How are you? I'm glad to see you. How is the riding? How are your horses?'

Mosquito interrupted Grandma and whispered, 'Grandma, those are three questions all at once!'

Grandma laughed. 'You're right, but Mr. Alvarez-Sanchez is one of the few men who can answer three questions all at once.'

'Wonderrrful!' Seba answered. 'When the sun shines, I'm always well!'

Grandma answered, 'That's good, that's very good!'

Jo noticed that he had only answered precisely one question, but she also noticed that the butterfly in her stomach went head over heels several times.

'Today I've already made the acquaintance of your charming granddaughters,' Seba revealed to Grandma.

Then he turned to Jo and Mosquito, 'Jo and Mosquito! Almost eleven and almost thirteen! Correct?'

They both nodded.

'Excellent, then let us go to the stable. The horses are already waiting!'

The butterfly was able to perform a perfect triple somersault now, in both the left and right direction. Jo and Mosquito followed Grandma, who followed Seba. When the stable door opened, cooler air blew towards them.

Mosquito quietly said, 'Gosh! It reeks like horse!'

Jo quickly turned around to Mosquito. 'It smells like horse! That's the best smell, full stop!'

'Well, take it as you want it,' Mosquito whispered and rubbed her nose. 'I didn't say that it smelled bad!'

Seba walked up the stable lane until the end and stopped in front of the last two box stalls. 'These are your two horses for today.'

He pointed at the penultimate box stall. 'This is Kimba, Mosquito will ride him.'

Mosquito was delighted. A light grey pony squinted at her out of the box stall, with interest. His forelock was full of straw, and his fur was covered in brown-yellow stains.

'Oh, a light grey one! I get a light grey one!' She was content. As a greeting, Mosquito offered Kimba a carrot, whereupon Kimba pressed his nose against the bars of his box stall and practically devoured the carrot with one quick nibble.

Jo glanced at the last box stall in the stable lane, and she recognised the golden horse from the meadow.

Now the butterfly performed a sixfold somersault, although it quickly landed on the ground of her stomach with a splat, as Seba walked a few steps in the other direction and stopped in front of another horse.

'Jo, you'll ride Trudy! A very nice horse.'

Jo briefly looked towards the last box stall, and at that moment the horse in it looked up as well, whereby they looked each other in the eyes for one short moment. Jo fleetingly held her breath, then the horse lowered its head, and Jo turned to the box stall in which Trudy stood.

Trudy wasn't big, and if she estimated it correctly, then Trudy was a pony as well, a quite round pony. Sand stuck to her brown fur, and her shaggy mane fell in all directions. At first glance, Jo already realised that braids were simply impossible here. She didn't know any braiding techniques for this kind of mane.

Seba already held the halters and asked, 'Do you know how to put on a halter?'

'Of course!' Jo exclaimed, although she had never put a halter on a horse before. How convenient that she had seen it on YouTube around six times, which enabled her to succeed right away.

Trudy also made it easy for her. She lowered her head, and patiently waited to have the halter pulled over her ears.

On the other hand, Kimba turned his backside towards Mosquito as she opened the door to the box stall. She knew from Jo that she should always approach the back of a horse carefully because it could kick. So, she stopped first and waved the halter at Kimba to show him that she wanted to tack him up. But Kimba was not interested in the slightest.

Seba rushed to help Mosquito, and he passed Kimba's bum without hesitation and put the halter on. Then he turned around and handed Mosquito the lead rope.

'However, we'll go outside to groom them! Follow me!' he shouted and marched off.

Kimba understood the 'Follow me!' and rushed past Mosquito without hesitation, right after Seba. The lead rope slightly slid through Mosquito's hands, which left a burning pain.

Kimba only got so far, because Jo already stood in front of her box stall.

Trudy still chewed on the hay when Jo caught Kimba's lead rope.

'Pay attention, Mosquito!' This was no warning, this was an order.

Mosquito seized the lead rope. 'It isn't my fault! He wanted to follow and was not waiting for me!'

Mosquito then trotted along with Kimba's quick steps and followed Seba through the stable lane.

Jo pulled Trudy's lead rope, which resulted in Trudy's neck becoming increasingly longer. Nevertheless, not a single hoof moved. Jo pulled the lead rope a little stronger, although aside from a perfect neck extension, Trudy offered nothing.

Grandma, who still stood in front of the door, quietly suggested, 'Position yourself next to her and start to walk, leave the lead rope loosely and don't look at her.'

Jo listened to the advice from Grandma, and Trudy started to move. Admittedly it was in slow motion, but she moved nonetheless.

Seba and Mosquito had already tied Kimba up with the perfect knot when Jo and Trudy came around the corner.

Trudy still walked in slow motion and Jo adapted herself to the speed, which was difficult for her.

Seba gave each of them a grooming kit and announced that he and Grandma would drink a cup of coffee now and when he came back again, he wanted to be able to see his reflection in the horses' fur.

As a result, Grandma laughed out loud and asked Jo and Mosquito, 'Do you think you can manage?' Jo and Mosquito nodded, although they weren't sure.

When Seba and Grandma disappeared around the corner, a girl with a high brunette ponytail appeared from the stable door, looked over at Mosquito and Jo and then walked towards the two sisters. Her face was covered in freckles, and her ponytail jumped from the right to the left side.

'Hello, I'm Inchi. Do you need help?' Inchi seemed to be the same age as Jo, and at least she looked older than Mosquito.

Mosquito answered first. 'That wouldn't be bad, we're here for the first time!'

Inchi took a brush from Jo's grooming kit and began to brush Trudy.

It wasn't that Jo wasn't glad about Inchi's offer, but she would have preferred to have cleaned Trudy alone.

Now Inchi groomed the other side and Jo's entire plan, the way she had learned it, became muddled.

'What are your names?' Inchi enquired.

This time Jo replied. 'I'm Jo, and this is Mosquito. She swallowed a Mosquito once.'

Mosquito turned to Jo with a nasty look, but her sister had her back towards her. Therefore, the glare met Inchi, who was prompted to giggle.

'My name isn't actually Inchi either, it's Indira, but I enjoy Inchi a lot more!' she answered, while winking at Mosquito with a quick grin.

Trudy stood as if she was cast in concrete and didn't move an inch. Now and again, one of her ears twitched or her tail slowly waved from left to right because of the flies.

On the other hand, Kimba paced back and forth whenever the brush touched him, just as much as the lead rope permitted.

'You should press the brush against him more firmly!' Inchi cautioned Mosquito. 'He's ticklish!'

Mosquito carefully pressed the brush down slightly more firmly, although now Kimba jumped half a metre in the other direction.

Jo suggested to Inchi, 'Maybe you should help Mosquito?'

Inchi agreed with Jo, took out a brush from the other grooming kit and got started. Even though Kimba still fidgeted a little, he quickly relaxed and stretched his neck, as Inchi brushed him vigorously.

'He likes it like this,' Inchi stated.

Mosquito pressed down the brush with all of her strength and now rubbed the other side of the neck, which Kimba really enjoyed.

'How are Kimba and Trudy for riding?' puffed Mosquito, who was slightly out of breath due to the strong grooming.

Inchi briefly interrupted the grooming, as she also had to catch her breath. 'Both are very gentle. These are our favourite beginners' horses. Kimba is stubborn sometimes, but he never bucks.'

Jo wanted reassurance. 'And Trudy?'

Inchi laughed. 'Trudy is the best. She knows all of Seba's commands. You technically don't have to do anything. Only one person has fallen from Trudy, mainly because Seba roared "hold"!' Inchi explained, 'Lemony had bucked and dashed around the indoor arena once again.'

She briefly inhaled, 'And if Seba barks "hold" Trudy stops immediately. But that day almost everybody fell because Lemony spooked everyone with his bucking.'

'Who is Lemony?' Jo asked.

'Oh, an awful horse,' Inchi replied. 'But you don't have to be afraid, you don't have to ride him for now, you have to be more experienced for that. He bucks every time, and nobody wants to ride him!'

Jo and Mosquito carefully listened to Inchi, so carefully that they even interrupted their grooming.

Meanwhile, more children appeared from the stable and tied their horses up in the inner courtyard.

A girl with dark long hair tied her pony up next to Kimba.

'Hey Inchi!' she cheered and then welcomed Mosquito and Jo with a brief'Hello'.

Inchi briefly embraced the girl and then added, 'This is Jo and this is Mosquito, she swallowed a Mosquito once, that's why she's called that.'

Jo grinned at Mosquito and Mosquito briefly stuck out her tongue at Jo when nobody looked at them.

The girl also seemed to be about the same age as Inchi, and she said, 'Welcome! I'm Esra.'

Inchi murmured at Mosquito, 'Technically she's called Esmeralda, but you can never call her that!'

Then Inchi took a short break. In a louder tone, she continued, 'I like the name "Mosquito". It's pretty cool, in my opinion!'

Mosquito's whole face beamed. Combined with the fidgety behaviour of Kimba in comparison to Trudy, the many new girls, who were apparently all older than her, left her slightly uneasy. But she liked Inchi and was glad for the help offered. Therefore Mosquito already felt much better.

Seba and Grandma wandered around the corner, holding their coffee cups.

'Aaaaah, this looks pretty well-arranged!' Seba was visibly delighted. 'If you're ready, we can get the saddle and the bridle, alright?'

Inchi shouted immediately, 'I'll get the things!'

But Seba sent Jo and Mosquito so that Inchi could show them the tack room.

In the tack room, the saddles hung very neatly, one above the other. Inchi showed Mosquito and Jo that the name of the horse always stood on the bridle hook and the saddle above it belonged to the same one.