Catkin

[jackmerlin.livejournal.com]

Me yet again, for which apologies! For so long I have loved AF books without meeting another person who had even read them...(Although my husband did once read some of them to see what I liked about them and bearing in mind that grown men don't usually read girls school stories was very impressed.) Any way my query this time relates to Catkin, namely, why does Ginty get given Catkin? It seems such a massively expensive and special present to give one member of the family in which money is always tight ( all those hand-me-down clothes) In Thuggery Affair Ann has a bike which was partly a present, partly saved up for. So poor Ann gets half a bike, while Ginty, whose interest in riding always seems relatively superficial, gets a pony. For once I think Lawrie is totally justified in her cries of 'unfair'!
In musing on this I came up with the following theories-
Ginty was so badly affected by the events of Marlows and the Traitor that her parents think that encouraging her to take up a healthy outdoor pursuit will help her get over it,
Her grandmother who was recently staying has given the Marlow parents some money to buy her favourite granddaughter something special,
It's a mere plot device to draw Patrick and Ginty together,e.g. the scene in the stableyard when Ginty is trying to ride Catkin out of the lorry (madness! what was Mrs M. thinking of letting her do it?) and Patrick realises how beautiful Ginty is even in ordinary clothes and straw in her hair (or somesuch) Any other thoughts?