Claudia and The Dark Forrest Gang
Finch, Chili, and Claudia were a tight team. Two of them were clever ponies, and one was a brave girl with blond hair and an eagle eye. Finch was called a "Barbie pony" because of the way the blond coat turned gold in the summer sunlight. Finch was pretty, and knew it. Chili was the most curious pony you have ever seen, often got up to mischief, and could never stay still - always checking people's bags, pockets, or baskets in case there was something interesting to see.
Claudia often rode Finch and Chili along the boundary road of the Dark Forrest, and sometimes took one of the narrow twisting paths that looped through the tall trees. Sometimes she took those paths to get to a stream to water the ponies, sometimes because the mist and the birdsong drifting across the Dark Forrest were just so thrilling, and sometimes because of something unexpected. Something unexpected did happen, and was the start of an adventure.
While she was standing in line at the post office, Claudia heard two of the Church ladies talking about strange goings-on in the Dark Forrest. One was saying how rude people were riding bikes too fast down the path that passed between her cottage and the forest, and were startling her geese. The other lady said how she heard strange sounds in the dead of night - Sounds like a giant bee swarm that came from the forest and hummed and buzzed right over her roof. They were both sure that it must be teenagers drinking and playing silly games.
That night, after saying good night to Finch and Chili, Mum and Dad, her sister and brother, and the dogs, Claudia turned off her bedroom light, and went to open her curtains. Suddenly remembering what the Church ladies had said, Claudia peered out into the darkness, and let out a quiet little yelp of surprise. Out beyond the garden, somewhere in the Dark Forrest, there was a red light blinking in the distance. She stared at it for a while, moving her head from side to side to see if it was a small dim light somewhere close, or a bigger and brighter light further away. She wondered how she could record where the light was, so she could find it again in the daytime. Claudia had a plan.
She took apart two disposable pens that were in her schoolbag, and placed one of the empty tubes at the very left of her window sill. She sighted through the tube until she was seeing the pulsing red light through it. She fixed the tube into place with a little ball of hardened saddle wax. Then she did the same with the other tube at the far right of the window sill. Claudia went to bed, but could hardly sleep she was so excited about what she might find in the morning light.
Next morning, as soon as the sun was up, Claudia sighted through them again to see where they were pointing, and using her school protractor, she measured the angle of each to the window frame, and measured the distance between the two tubes with a ruler. Then she took her compass from a hiking kit she got for Christmas last year, and took a bearing to about where the tubes were pointing. After breakfast, she showed her dad a sketch of a triangle she had drawn with the distance between the barrels as the base. Dad was good as sums like that, and using the trigonometry functions in his work calculator, he figured out the length from the base to where the two sides joined at the apex. Claudia now knew where the light was, and how far from the house it might have been.
After her chores, Claudia took Finch and Chili for a trot along the edge of the Dark Forrest, and then walked them through the trees on the compass bearing she had taken from the bedroom window. When she reached the distance that Dad had calculated, she walked in little circles, looking at the trees, on the ground, in the bushes, for anything that might explain the strange light. She saw a little clearing among the trees, but it was Finch who found something. Always interested in the chance of finding something to nibble, Finch had found a little black plastic tube with a spike stuck in the ground. Claudia examined it and took some photos before putting it back, and then spotted two more, about a pony-length apart in a triangle. She was about to go, when Chili let her know that there was another interesting something. Chili was pawing the ground by some bushes under a tall tree and calling her over with a soft whinny. Chili had found something very odd. It was foreign money, and it smelled very fresh. Even stranger, the ink had run a bit where Chili had licked it. Sure that they had found a secret, Claudia scooted back home.
During lunch, she asked Mum about the pictures she had taken of the black plastic tube things. Mum thought for a bit, and then suggested that they were probably GPS beacons used to mark places. She had seen some farmers use them to mark boundaries for different crops. Claudia borrowed two camera traps that Mum used for security at the stables, and to watch for foxes, and then she Googled what it might mean if you found money and the ink smeared when it was licked. What she found was so exciting, she could barely wait to take the dogs for a walk. When she got to the clearing with the dogs, Claudia hid the two camera traps, made sure they were in silent mode, and dashed back home and an eager wait for night time.
The next morning, she took Finch back to the clearing in the Dark Forrest, and downloaded the camera trap images with her phone. Flipping through them, her mouth dropped open - there were clear pictures of a big drone landing with a box, and then taking off without it. The next time something triggered the motion detectors on the camera traps, it was a man on a quad bike who grabbed the box, fumbled it onto the bike, and left. She was so engrossed in the pictures, and zooming to look at the face of the man fumbling the box, that she barely noticed the sound of two quad bikes coming towards the clearing. When she realized the danger, the bikes were already on the path to the clearing. Claudia mounted Finch as fast as she could, but in her haste, one stirrup had twisted, and by the time she got her foot in properly, the bikes were in the clearing. "Hey you!" one of them yelled, and the other shouted "Get her!"
Claudia swept Finch around and sped through the trees. The bikes roared down the path after her. They tried to cut her off, but Claudia knew the paths like her times table, and she had memorized every loop in the paths, every ditch, and every turn. They raced down a straight section, the bikes were catching up fast, and the distance between them was shrinking rapidly. Claudia could smell the hot engines behind her, and she knew she had very little time left. Whispering to Finch, Claudia veered sharply down a cut path to the right, and was ready to jump Finch over the fallen oak trunk she knew was lying across the path. She had just cleared it when the bikes crashed into the massive trunk with a loud crunch of twisting metal, tearing plastic, and breaking glass. Claudia hurtled through the trees, got to the main path, and galloped out of the Dark Forrest and into the village beyond.
When the police had rounded up the two quad bike riders, the news people had come and gone, and things were almost back to normal, a detective came to visit with an invitation. A week later, in their best jackets, hair brushed, and shoes polished, Claudia and the ponies were given an award for their part in bringing down a dangerous gang of counterfeiters.
Claudia often rode Finch and Chili along the boundary road of the Dark Forrest, and sometimes took one of the narrow twisting paths that looped through the tall trees. Sometimes she took those paths to get to a stream to water the ponies, sometimes because the mist and the birdsong drifting across the Dark Forrest were just so thrilling, and sometimes because of something unexpected. Something unexpected did happen, and was the start of an adventure.
While she was standing in line at the post office, Claudia heard two of the Church ladies talking about strange goings-on in the Dark Forrest. One was saying how rude people were riding bikes too fast down the path that passed between her cottage and the forest, and were startling her geese. The other lady said how she heard strange sounds in the dead of night - Sounds like a giant bee swarm that came from the forest and hummed and buzzed right over her roof. They were both sure that it must be teenagers drinking and playing silly games.
That night, after saying good night to Finch and Chili, Mum and Dad, her sister and brother, and the dogs, Claudia turned off her bedroom light, and went to open her curtains. Suddenly remembering what the Church ladies had said, Claudia peered out into the darkness, and let out a quiet little yelp of surprise. Out beyond the garden, somewhere in the Dark Forrest, there was a red light blinking in the distance. She stared at it for a while, moving her head from side to side to see if it was a small dim light somewhere close, or a bigger and brighter light further away. She wondered how she could record where the light was, so she could find it again in the daytime. Claudia had a plan.
She took apart two disposable pens that were in her schoolbag, and placed one of the empty tubes at the very left of her window sill. She sighted through the tube until she was seeing the pulsing red light through it. She fixed the tube into place with a little ball of hardened saddle wax. Then she did the same with the other tube at the far right of the window sill. Claudia went to bed, but could hardly sleep she was so excited about what she might find in the morning light.
Next morning, as soon as the sun was up, Claudia sighted through them again to see where they were pointing, and using her school protractor, she measured the angle of each to the window frame, and measured the distance between the two tubes with a ruler. Then she took her compass from a hiking kit she got for Christmas last year, and took a bearing to about where the tubes were pointing. After breakfast, she showed her dad a sketch of a triangle she had drawn with the distance between the barrels as the base. Dad was good as sums like that, and using the trigonometry functions in his work calculator, he figured out the length from the base to where the two sides joined at the apex. Claudia now knew where the light was, and how far from the house it might have been.
After her chores, Claudia took Finch and Chili for a trot along the edge of the Dark Forrest, and then walked them through the trees on the compass bearing she had taken from the bedroom window. When she reached the distance that Dad had calculated, she walked in little circles, looking at the trees, on the ground, in the bushes, for anything that might explain the strange light. She saw a little clearing among the trees, but it was Finch who found something. Always interested in the chance of finding something to nibble, Finch had found a little black plastic tube with a spike stuck in the ground. Claudia examined it and took some photos before putting it back, and then spotted two more, about a pony-length apart in a triangle. She was about to go, when Chili let her know that there was another interesting something. Chili was pawing the ground by some bushes under a tall tree and calling her over with a soft whinny. Chili had found something very odd. It was foreign money, and it smelled very fresh. Even stranger, the ink had run a bit where Chili had licked it. Sure that they had found a secret, Claudia scooted back home.
During lunch, she asked Mum about the pictures she had taken of the black plastic tube things. Mum thought for a bit, and then suggested that they were probably GPS beacons used to mark places. She had seen some farmers use them to mark boundaries for different crops. Claudia borrowed two camera traps that Mum used for security at the stables, and to watch for foxes, and then she Googled what it might mean if you found money and the ink smeared when it was licked. What she found was so exciting, she could barely wait to take the dogs for a walk. When she got to the clearing with the dogs, Claudia hid the two camera traps, made sure they were in silent mode, and dashed back home and an eager wait for night time.
The next morning, she took Finch back to the clearing in the Dark Forrest, and downloaded the camera trap images with her phone. Flipping through them, her mouth dropped open - there were clear pictures of a big drone landing with a box, and then taking off without it. The next time something triggered the motion detectors on the camera traps, it was a man on a quad bike who grabbed the box, fumbled it onto the bike, and left. She was so engrossed in the pictures, and zooming to look at the face of the man fumbling the box, that she barely noticed the sound of two quad bikes coming towards the clearing. When she realized the danger, the bikes were already on the path to the clearing. Claudia mounted Finch as fast as she could, but in her haste, one stirrup had twisted, and by the time she got her foot in properly, the bikes were in the clearing. "Hey you!" one of them yelled, and the other shouted "Get her!"
Claudia swept Finch around and sped through the trees. The bikes roared down the path after her. They tried to cut her off, but Claudia knew the paths like her times table, and she had memorized every loop in the paths, every ditch, and every turn. They raced down a straight section, the bikes were catching up fast, and the distance between them was shrinking rapidly. Claudia could smell the hot engines behind her, and she knew she had very little time left. Whispering to Finch, Claudia veered sharply down a cut path to the right, and was ready to jump Finch over the fallen oak trunk she knew was lying across the path. She had just cleared it when the bikes crashed into the massive trunk with a loud crunch of twisting metal, tearing plastic, and breaking glass. Claudia hurtled through the trees, got to the main path, and galloped out of the Dark Forrest and into the village beyond.
When the police had rounded up the two quad bike riders, the news people had come and gone, and things were almost back to normal, a detective came to visit with an invitation. A week later, in their best jackets, hair brushed, and shoes polished, Claudia and the ponies were given an award for their part in bringing down a dangerous gang of counterfeiters.
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