Emmerdale spoilers follow.
Emmerdale’s Kim Tate is left devastated next week as she learns that there’s no future for her beloved horse Ice. The emotional scenes play out in the wake of Lydia and Sam Dingle’s sneaky antics on Home Farm land.
The show set the stage for a big Christmas plot this week, as Lydia and Sam held a secret off-the-books shooting event for a group of men on Kim’s estate. They came up with the plan to make some quick cash ahead of the festive period.
The shoot had shocking consequences when Kim received a tip-off and went off to investigate, but the mission ultimately left her and her horse Ice badly injured. Lydia and Sam felt terrible as they realised the consequences of their actions – but there’s worse to come.
In next week’s scenes, Joe Tate learns that Ice’s injury is terminal. Deciding to spare Ice any unnecessary suffering, Joe decides to have him euthanised.
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“Kim’s devastated when she hears the news,” our Emmerdale spy explains. “She may be an ice queen at times, but her soft spot has always been for her horses.
“Witnessing Kim’s suffering, Lydia continues to struggle with her guilt. She knows that none of this would have happened if she hadn’t gone along with Sam’s idea.”
Completely unaware that Lydia would ever betray her, Kim leans on her for support and harshly lashes out at Joe.
Not one to do things by halves, Kim even decides to change her will so that her best friend Lydia is included.
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“Although Lydia appreciates the gesture, this is her worst nightmare given the horrendous circumstances,” our source continues. “Her guilty conscience is already plaguing her day and night – especially after the effort that Kim went to by bringing Jason Donovan to the village for her! She only feels worse when she hears about the will…”
Joe seeks some advice from Sam over his tensions with Kim, while Dawn also tries to reconcile with the Home Farm boss.
Sadly, Kim’s anger and suspicion leads to her pushing everyone away, leaving her isolated from everyone apart from Lydia. With Kim relying on the very person who caused her crisis, is it only a matter of time before the truth emerges?
These scenes are building up to a sombre Christmas storyline for Kim, as she spends the day alone at Home Farm and ponders the ghosts of Christmas past…