This is StoryQuest. Today's story is The Midnight Pony's.

Bella was very excited. Her cousin Dina was coming to stay and her mum said they could have a

sleepover in a tent in the garden. It had been a long hot summer and the grass was perfectly dry and they wouldn't be cold.

And if they were, well, mum said they could just come back indoors.

Bella and Dina had no intention of coming back indoors.

Dina in particular was thrilled at the prospect because she lived in an apartment high in the sky,

whereas Bella's house had not only a large garden, but through a gate there was a woodland too.

You're not to go through the gate into the woods at night, Mum warmed.

Stay in the garden, I need to know where you are.

We'll be fine, Mum, Bella said, as she and Dina chose, which blankets, toys and books

they would take into the tent, which mum had put up that morning. It was quite big, dome-shaped,

and a cheerful blue colour. There would be plenty of space. The sunset, and after dinner,

when the dishes were done, the girls gathered their bedding and slipped into the tent.

Oh, it was so much fun.

Dina had bought a really cool series of books about some school kids who went to school in the castle,

and Bella didn't want to put the story down.

She'd bought a joke book, and so there was a lot of giggling, too.

Bella was a bit younger than Dina, although generally was more sensible, but she loved a joke.

It was exciting to smell the damp night air and hear the birds squawking and calling as they

return to their nests and the wind in the trees. It must have been well after 11 when the lights

in the house went out, all except for the kitchen light,

and the girl's new mum had gone to bed, and sleepily they settled down. The church clock chimed.

...