Although forbidden to ride since her sister Jess had been paralyzed in a riding accident, Sue Osbourne had been training Star, a pony considered too dangerous to ride. Sue and Jess were secretly working to cure Star of bucking, and taught him to jump. When their parents found out the gave Star to a dealer to sell.
When Lieutenant Mike Foster was branded a traitor for defecting to a foreign power with plans of a secret missile, his sister Jill believed him to be innocent. She kept his horse Yeoman in training ready for his return with his named clear. A newcomer Paddy Bates who was working with local horse dealer had offered to help train him. Jill is surprised to discover that Paddy is actually her brother who had plastic surgery to disguise himself and is trying to clear his name.
Rosemary Tilden followed her dog into cave and discovered a secret valley inhabited by Stone Age people. She made friends with a girl whose name sounded something like Myno and her woolly rhino. Myno followed her home, and when they returned to caves landslides had shifted the entrance hiding them. Mr Tilden, an archaeologist, wanted to keep the pair a secret until he had completed his study on them.
After Jane and Jill Hardiman’s parents die, their grandfather takes them to live with him in his isolated house in a cave which also holds a secret pool that has healing powers and gives them extra strength. The girls and their grandfather are guardians of the pool and use it for people and creatures in need that they come across.
Young Debra Wittaker lived happily with her adoptive mum, a widow, then she discovered that Mark Rutland, a new neighbour was her biological father. Neither parent knew this and to avoid a tug-of-love situation, Debra was keeping it secret and hoping to get her parents to fall in love and marry.
When Katie Balfour’s parents were killed in a plane crash, her nasty Aunt Esther, whom she had ever met before, moved into the Balfour home. Aunt Esther didn’t know Katie had a little brother, Ben and because her Aunt hated boys, Katie hid Ben in the attic, to keep him safe.
After a dream holiday in the sun, Goldie Henderson’s dreams turned to nightmares when she lost all her lovely hair in a mystery illness and was forced to wear a wig. Trying to hide the truth about her misfortune led to increasing problems at school. Only at home with her parents, could she feel completely relaxed
After Sandra Smith’s parents separated, she and her mother moved to Minfield. But to her dismay, Sandra discovered that her Dad had moved too—he was the new Headmaster at Minfield comprehensive. Until she and her Mum were permanently settled in Minfield, Sandra felt that neither of her parents should know the other was in the same town.
Lucy Banyon and her parents move to Cornwall. Things get off to a bad start for Lucy until she finds an injured fox cub, which she names Red Fur.
Emily and Victoria Willoughby become destitute when their father is lost at sea and their mother is injured in an accident. All their servants leave except the kitchen maid Jenny. The girls are too proud to let anyone find out about their poverty, so they they all turn to running the household themselves with Jenny’s help. But they soon find they have hard lessons to learn, including raising income and Victorian house-cleaning.
