Story Eleven

 

 

Writer: Angus Allan
Artist: Mike Noble

Having seen the Farnum circus show at night, the next day Steve and Dora are witness to a sports car forcing one of the wagons off the road while overtaking. The smashed wagon frees three of the star animal acts who flee in terror, 'Winnie' the wonder horse, 'Chappie' the chimpanzee and 'Bernie' the bloodhound. 'Bernie' is left behind when 'Chappie' rides 'Winnie' over a fast-flowing river, and the chimp and horse are found by Lewis near Pinecrest Hotel. Seeing the reward in the paper has been increased, Lewis decides to hide them in the hope it continues to go up. After two days he contacts Farnum, and gets an offer of four hundred pounds but Dora and Steve have found Bernie. The dog acts strangely as they take him back past Pinecrest, and Ron is suspicious of Lewis's comments about 'a deal to fetch in big money'. Getting a scent, Bernie leads Dora and the others to the hidden animals, leaving Steve to mete out his own 'justice' to the crooked Hammond.

 

 

Story Twelve

Writer: Angus Allan
Artist: Mike Noble

A convict called Mulvaney breaks jail and steals Steve's horse to make his getaway. His left arm broken, Mulvaney has a rough time on the open moor but the horse instinctively leads to a homestead owned by vet Sullivan. One of the greys at Follyfoot, 'Sultan', is very sick and Dora rides to the vet to fetch help only to find Steve's horse there. Sullivan has gone, taken by Mulvaney to care for him while hiding out on the moors but the vet is surprised to find the hardened convict has a soft spot for animals. Dora and the others follow their trail but she bungles a surprise approach when her horse is startled by an Adder. Ron is also seen, and it is up to Steve on horseback to affect a rescue. Mulvaney cannot bring himself to shoot the horse that saved his life, and surrenders, allowing Sullivan to reach Follyfoot and treat 'Sultan'.

 

 

Story Thirteen

Writer: Angus Allan
Artist: Mike Noble

Picking up some horse disinfectant, Steve and Slugger drop the huge drum and it rolls into the passing horsebox of Brigadier Horace Blyth. Steve rescues the racehorse 'Bright Sabre' from the dangerous leaking fumes, earning the gratitude the furious Brigadier, who blames Slugger for the whole incident. Later that day at Follyfoot, smoke from a fire is spotted from the direction of Blyth's place, and as Ron phones for help Dora and Steve ride off to see the stables ablaze. As the Brigadier's men fight the fire, Steve and Dora rescue 'Bright Sabre', who is once again grateful. But when Blyth drives up to ask for stabling for his prize racehorse, he spots Slugger and demands he doesn't go near 'Bright Sabre'. Slugger loses his cool, and Steve and Dora stop a fight breaking out between the two men. In a huff, Slugger storms off, and Dora is surprised to hear Blyth virtually accuse him of the fire. Meanwhile, Slugger is walking across the moors and is seen by unscrupulous racehorse owner Sefton and his jockey Nipper Todd, who is aware of the animosity with Blyth and has a plan. Dora is concerned when Slugger does not return, and that night someone throws 'Bright Sabre' some hay. Spotting someone from his window, Steve runs out, and he and Dora find the hay contains poisonous bane weed. As Dora prepares an emetic dose, Steve phones Blyth, who believes someone is out to nobble his horse. The police find one clue - Slugger's hat - which implicates him as responsible, but in reality he is being held by Sefton who plans to frame him for everything. When Blyth's jockey is beaten up by Nipper, Slugger's wallet is found nearby, but missing his war medal. Ron has been doing some snooping, and believes Sefton may know something. He and Dora confront him, and when he accidentally drops Slugger's medal, a fight breaks out and the two are captured. Meanwhile, Slugger has escaped but on reaching the police station is immediately arrested. Steve has replaced Blyth's jockey, and Sefton and Nipper plan to hold Dora and Ron until after the race and make off with the race prize money.

 

 

Story Fourteen

Writer: Angus Allan
Artist: Unknown

Four children riding their horses over a railway crossing run into trouble when one becomes lame in the path of an oncoming train, who Steve rescues. Dora is furious at their leader, Susan, for being unsupervised but later the girls' father arrives at Follyfoot to thank Steve and asks if they will take the lame horse as he can no longer look after it, and 'Diamond' will have to be destroyed. The vet cannot find anything wrong with the horse's leg so Dora agrees to stable him and seeks help from gypsy Fred Lee. The horse had a wrenched tendon a year ago but it mended. Things get more intriguing when Steve spots 'Diamond' galloping when left alone, and limping when it knows it is being watched! Susan steals ‘Diamond’ back, and out searching for her Dora comes across Fell Farm, where the horse originally came from. It transpires the farmer’s cat Minnie ‘befriended’ the horse, and that ‘Diamond’ is missing her.

 

 

Story Fifteen

Writer: Angus Allan
Artist: Mike Noble

Ron arrives characteristically late to find the others trying to pen an untamed stallion called 'Thunderclap'. With Ron's 'help', the horse is finally controlled, and Steve and Dora set off on a new job giving riding lessons to the boys at Swinford Public School. The best pupil is Prince Ahmed, heir to the oil-rich Arabian state of Kufrastan, who is being warned by Abdullah, a loyal servant that his regent uncle Sheik Ismail is on his way to see the boy does not reach his eighteenth birthday at the end of the month. Dora and Steve see Abdullah and Ahmed flee the school and offer Follyfoot as a hiding place for the prince, who manages to tame 'Thunderclap'. Steve narrowly saves Abdullah, who works for Ismail, when they find out his cover is blown, and the regent surrounds the farm with armed men. Slugger, who has been in town with Ron, manages to get his shotgun from the tack room and, faced with real opposition, Ismail's men flee. The regent tries to steal 'Thunderclap', and for his troubles is thrown and his leg broken. Safe, Ahmed invites Dora and the others to his country one day, and is given 'Thunderclap' as the only person who can handle him.

 

 

Story Sixteen

Writer: Angus Allan
Artist: Mike Noble

On a riding school trek for local children, Dora has to save Jimmy when his horse bolts. The cause is an air pistol fired by Wicks, who works for Amos Stredder, owner of a rival riding school who wants Follyfoot closed down. Steve finds the air pistol dart, so while Dora reports this to the police, Ron does his own digging among local roughs and picks a fight with Maxie. Wicks is there, and uses the fight to his advantage by pitting Maxie and Ron against each other with faked meetings, and gelignite at Follyfoot, using planted clues to hot things up. Things come to a head when Maxie's biker gang head into Follyfoot, and in the ensuing fight, Ron and Maxie find each other innocent, and the two plan to find out who is responsible. With Follyfoot now guarded, Wicks cannot get near but Stredder plans to poison the feed before it gets there. When Wicks seeds the feed at a transport cafe, he is unaware Maxie sees him, and the biker warns Dora just in time. But Stredder has hired thugs to smash up the farm, and Maxie seemingly rides off in fear. The feed driver smashes through the line in his truck to get help, and a violent fight ensues between Follyfoot and thugs in which Steve learns Stredder is behind the incidents. But as things seem lost, Maxie returns with his gang and the day is saved.

 

 

Story Seventeen

Writer: Angus Allan
Artist: Mike Noble

Dora and the others are surprised when Mark Blunden and his son Eric from Blackdene Manor turn up with an old ex-cavalry horse called 'Gladiator', who they want back in reasonable trim. Blunden has a reputation for only being interested in money and Steve's suspicions are right. Australian millionaire Barney Garforth has roots locally and plans to settle, and Blunden has a scheme to sell him an old ruined manor house at profit. After a week, 'Gladiator' is shaping up but when Steve greets Blunden's handyman Holt, the horse stops suddenly, throwing Dora, the army trained horse thinking it was a command to 'Halt'. Holt rides 'Gladiator' back to Blackdene, but dislikes the plan to make it seem like the local legend of the ghost horseman is true in order to bump up the selling price to Garforth. 'Gladiator' cannot take galloping at his age, and Holt tries to warn Dora and Steve about it but they are already on their way to Leeds. Slugger goes with Holt to try and find them and stop the scam, and by chance find Dora and Steve. Yelling the command to ‘Halt’ Steve stops ‘Gladiator’ throwing Eric and the scam is revealed.

 

 

Story Eighteen

Writer: Angus Allan
Artist: Mike Noble

Dora and Steve are taking a rare day off to watch polo being played. Player Anthony Darthington rides hard and plays rough, and is penalised for foul play. His sister Patricia apologies to Dora for his attitude but Anthony pushes his luck and his steed 'Nero' smashes into a post and breaks its leg. Even though the break is clean and can be fixed by a good vet, Anthony cannot play polo on a pony with a fixed broken leg and plans to have it destroyed. Patricia offers to pay for Nero's treatment secretly, out of her and Anthony's joint bank account. But as 'Nero' heals at Follyfoot, Anthony confronts Patricia about the withdrawals and heads for the farm. Patricia phones ahead so Dora takes 'Nero' to hide in a forest clearing. But while she goes ahead to Benson's farm to see about a permanent hide, the pony vanishes and she is forced to come clean. Anthony joins the search but his horse, startled by an adder, throws him down a slope where he breaks his own leg. 'Nero' is nearby and responds to his master's call for help, and leads Dora and the others to rescue him. Grateful to the horse, he decides to keep it.

 

 

Story Nineteen

Writer: Angus Allan
Artist: Mike Noble

Lord Burcott, an elderly horse lover, looks after retired horses at his hall but like Follyfoot cash is always a problem. He is hosting a gymkhana to raise funds, but cannot open the home to the public because what is left of his estate is filled with a lake. Follyfoot is volunteering help; Steve is taking money at the gate, Dora is looking after the tea tent, and Ron on his motorbike is going to nip round local villages and towns giving out publicity. Ron and Slugger have the afternoon off, and travel to the coast. But as they near the rides on the beach, a donkey called 'Daisy' runs off with a girl on her back. Ron gives chase and saves her but the owner William Smythe, helped by nephew Ted, breaks down in tears. The yard where he stables the donkeys has been overshadowed by a motorway flyover, and the animals have become nervous and unrideable. The incident plays on Slugger's mind but there is nothing they can do. They return to Follyfoot to help with the gymkhana preparations but when Ron starts his publicity run he finds people are not interested as there are no other attractions. But the turnout on the day is quite good, except the children watching get restless. Steve puts on an impromptu riding display on his horse 'Alex', but then Slugger phones to say Smythe and Ted have turned up at Follyfoot with the ponies. Dora has an idea, and Steve organises the kids into two competitive teams to see who can clear the most weeds from the lake. After a break, Ron brings Smythe, Ted and his donkeys from Follyfoot for children's rides at the clear lake edge, and the gymkhana is not only a success but the beginning of a permanent draw.

 

 

Story Twenty

Writer: Angus Allan
Artist: Mike Noble

Out riding, Steve and Dora are nearly driven off the road by Jonathan Scrimger, landowner and local councillor, but also a man of money with a deep-rooted hatred of horses since his son Jamie was thrown by one and disabled. Jamie is out driving in his invalid mobile, and warns three bikers to be careful with the campfire they have started. Checking back later, he finds the youths gone, and the fire out of control, now spread to a barn where horses are kept. Dora and Steve see the smoke from the fire, and Jamie drives to Follyfoot to fetch Slugger and Ron who bring buckets and a pump, and the horses are saved. Jamie drives offers to testify in court, which only sees the culprits getting the maximum fine from magistrate Sir Charles Naylor, instead of prison. The Colonel has a visitor in Doctor Gerhard, who treated his war wounds in Italy, but who also specialises in invalid cases. Dora thinks he may be able to treat Jamie but Scrimger will not listen to her. On her way back, she sees the louts set fire to Sir Naylor's land in revenge, with the spreading blaze threatening Jamie, trapped in his broken down mobile. Dora fetches help and horses from Follyfoot, and they rescue Jamie just in time as the fire brigade arrive. Gerhard examines Jamie, and thinks there is a fifty-fifty chance. Six weeks pass, and with the louts imprisoned this time, Scrimger pays a visit to Follyfoot with a walking Jamie who will be able to ride again.

 

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