Chapter 78

The young lad glanced up with surprise and pleasure on his face. “Why, hello there, Mr Lawrence,” Neil replied, swiftly turning off the hose so that their esteemed visitor could pass by without getting anything splattered on his very smart and expensive-looking black clothes.

If there was one owner Neil liked almost as much as he liked Mrs Angela Simmons, it was Mr Lawrence. For one thing, he always remembered his name, not like a lot of the hoi polloi. He was so nice and friendly. Of course, no one was as nice as Mrs Simmons. Now there was one genuine lady. Generous, too. Every time one of her horses won any prize money, she gave all the grooms a bonus.

But it wasn’t just her handing out cash which made everyone here warm to her. It was the way she was with the horses. She really cared about them. Even the boss liked Mrs Simmons. You could tell because he actually talked to her. And the boss was not one for idle chit-chat.

“You’ll be here to see your colt, I suppo