A Silver Christmas (Tipperary Carriage Company Mystery Book 4)

by J A Whiting

  The two glanced at each other. "Ride? No, no. We just wanted to get a few more pictures."

  "Well, he is very photogenic," said Mae, smiling at them.

  "He sure is photographic," said the woman. "What's his name?"

  "Silver," said Mae. "His name is Silver."

  "Oh, such a pretty name," she said. "Have you always owned him?"

  Mae smiled. "No, in fact, I've only had him for a very short time. He's a rescue, you could say."

  "A rescue? Same as dogs are, sometimes?"

  "Wow. I didn't know horses could be rescues,” the young man said.

  "Oh, yes, they definitely can," said Mae. "In fact, this gorgeous guy was found at an auction. He was in the kill pen."

  "The what?" the woman asked. "What's the kill pen? It sounds terrible."

  "I'm afraid it is. It means he was headed for the slaughterhouse. We don't know how he ended up there, but a friend of mine saw him and was able to buy him for me. I'm so glad he did."

  "Wow, that's crazy. He sure does look pretty hitched to the sleigh."

  "He kind of looks like a show horse,” the man commented. “Is that what he was before? Before he went to the auction?"

  Mae nodded at them and glanced back. Three more passengers were walking toward her sleigh. "We think he must have been a show horse. He's been very well trained for it."

  The woman frowned. She seemed not to notice the passengers waiting beside the sleigh. "But why would anybody send a show horse to the slaughterhouse?"

  "We don't know. It can happen that even a good owner falls on hard times and has to dispose of a horse quickly. They probably thought someone would buy him and use him, but if no one is willing to pay more than meat price, that's where the horse ends up."

  "I didn’t know about that," the man said.

  "But it didn't happen to Silver and I'm very grateful to have him with me now," said Mae, trying to end the conversation. "Thanks again for helping me with those misbehaving antlers. Hope to see you again."

  Mae turned away from them to welcome her next passengers. They were a married couple with two adorable pre-teen daughters.

  "Come right along and get in," she told them. "Mom and Dad can sit in the back, and you two young ladies can sit up here with me. What are your names?"

  "Anna," said the older one.

  "I'm Erin," said the younger.

  "Lovely names," said Mae. "Now, as soon as the big black carriage in front of us pulls out … and there he goes … we'll follow him through the neighborhood and I'll tell you all about my friend Silver here."

  "Silver?" asked the girls, both together.

  "Yes, indeed," said Mae, with a smile. "My horse’s name is Silver."

  The rest of the evening went very well. The young couple seemed to have wandered off, and Mae hoped they’d finally gotten enough pictures of all the horses. She'd seen them taking selfies with Steel, too, as well as with another horse, and they’d been oblivious of how they were blocking the carriage traffic in the street. Mae was glad she would not have to contend with them again.

  But maybe, she should try to be a little more understanding. After all, one reason for starting the carriage business was to give people a chance to see real horses up close … people who might never have gotten near a horse before.

  And they did pick up the antlers out of the street for me. I should be more thoughtful. I guess I was just nervous about how Silver would do tonight.

  Her Saddlebred had done wonderfully well at his new job. Mae did several very enjoyable rides through the neighborhood with passengers who loved sitting behind such a flashy horse as Silver, and she had a fine time talking with them and catching some genuine Christmas spirit.

  When at last they were done and were ready to go back to the trailers, Mae drove Silver out ahead and made him go first while Steel followed along. And though Silver hesitated a little a first, he soon settled into the now-familiar route and walked out nicely, listening to Steel's steady ringing hoof beats right behind him.

  It had been so nice to have such a well-run and relatively easy event. Mae looked forward to the rest of their nights at the Holiday Fair.

  This is all working out great.

  8

  Mae very much looked forward to their next night at the fair. Now that they were familiar with the layout and knew what to expect, Mae felt that she and Ross and even the horses could relax a little and enjoy their evening at the very pretty, and mostly not too noisy, event.

  Starting late the following afternoon, she again drove Silver to the sleigh while Ross drove Steel to the black Landau. They would probably bring different horses later on in the month. The red-gold, flaxen-maned Copper always looked beautiful when put to the white Landau, and the coal-black Falling Star was very sharp with either carriage.

  She could hardly wait until her son Brandon arrived in a few days to drive little Goldie with the fairy-tale carriage.

  Those kids are going to love the bubble wagon. I'll bet I can get the antlers to stay on Goldie. She's pretty tolerant. I'll just have to make sure they fit her right.

  This time Mae was not as concerned about having Silver tag along with his friend Steel each time they went out. Indeed, it was better to make sure that Silver was following her guidance and not another horse, so she started making him go out whenever her passengers were ready and not wait around for Steel.

  Silver did well and seemed to relax on the quiet side streets, and the customers all loved seeing the big showy grey pulling the green antique sleigh even if it was on wheels and not on runners.

  As on the first night, it seemed that everyone wanted pictures. When Mae came back from her second trip of the night, an older couple appeared to be waiting for her and immediately stepped alongside Silver to get a photo. Much like the young couple had done the night before, they took shot after shot before finally getting out of the way.

  A few other folks in the crowd came close and tried to pat the horses, though most hesitated when they realized how big the animals really were. Mae found that if she just called out, "Watch your feet! We'll be moving out in just a minute," they would usually step back onto the sidewalk.

  She didn't mind pictures, that was, in part, why they were there, and if the pictures showed up on social media it was free advertising, but she was always a little uneasy when someone came close enough to the horses to touch them.

  There was just too much of a chance of someone getting their toes stepped on, and even though Silver had no shoes and just wore slip-ons he still weighed well over a thousand pounds.

  That's an awful lot of weight to suddenly stand on your foot, whether he's wearing steel horseshoes or not.

  There was always a commotion at the pick-up stand every time she came back from a ride. She had one set of passengers getting out while another tried to get in, as well as the selfie crowd in the street right beside her.

  But Silver handled all of that like a champ. He parked out into his show-horse stretch and stood still while she welcomed her new passengers. This time she also waited briefly, once again, for the older couple who were still trying to take pictures of Silver and the sleigh.

  "Oh, thanks so much, honey," said the older woman, finally getting the pictures she wanted. Her face was hardly visible under her big wool hat and thick scarf pulled over her nose and mouth, and a long puffy nylon coat hid everything else. "Do you have a business card? I'd love to come back for a carriage ride, if I can talk my husband into it."

  Her husband just shot her a look, but reached up and accepted the card Mae handed to him. He, too, was bundled up warm, but so was most of the crowd. The weather had brought in a nice cold snap and Mae would not have been surprised if a little snow fell.

  This is one time when I wouldn't mind seeing it. That would make everything perfect.

  While her passengers got settled, she glanced at Silver again, and then paused when she noticed what he was doing.

  Her horse appeared to have something in his mo
uth. He was chewing and slobbering and bouncing his chin up and down, and then, as she watched, he dropped whatever it was to the street.

  For a moment, concern raced through her body.

  What in the world did somebody try to give him? I don’t want anyone feeding my horses out here. Don't they know that you should never feed a horse that isn't yours? They'd better hope I don't catch them.

  This was just another hazard of dealing with the public.

  Her next thought was that he was just slobbering over a piece of candy. There were little red-and-white peppermint candy canes being handed out all over the Holiday Fair. Being a former show horse, Silver would be very familiar with peppermints as a treat. Mae just hoped he hadn't grabbed it out of some child's hand when no one was looking.

  Although, if it was a peppermint, the horse wouldn't have dropped it. It would have been crunched up and gone in a heartbeat … unless, maybe somebody had forgotten to take the cellophane wrapper off of it first. That might have been enough to make Silver drop it.

  Right then she had to turn around to talk to her passengers. "Yes, it sure is cold out here this evening," she said. "Look under the seat and you'll find two plaid wool lap robes. Throw them over your knees and you won't get cold riding along in the night air. They're imported all the way from Tipperary County in Ireland and made of the very warmest wool. You might need them once the sun drops and it gets dark."

  After answering a couple of questions from them about the route they'd be taking, Mae was about to leave when another carriage beat her to it. Someone from another company was already pulling up alongside her.

  She made Silver wait a few moments so he wouldn't be following another horse, and then at last, she allowed him to walk out onto the now-familiar route.

  Finally, she saw what Silver had had in his mouth. Lying in the street where he had been standing was what looked like a piece of green apple in a puddle of froth.

  As the horse walked past, a couple of bold pigeons flew down in the fading light and started pecking at the apple.

  I guess it can't be too dangerous if the birds are willing to eat it. Looks like just an ordinary piece of apple. I've seen horses before that didn't especially like apples. Apple is too sour for them, especially when they're used to sugar cubes or peppermints.

  She took a deep breath and once more headed into the twilight, looking forward to the quiet of the pretty little neighborhood, and figuring that Silver probably was, too.

  About fifteen minutes later, after a pleasant, uneventful trip, Mae and Silver returned to the pick-up stand once again. There was a small crowd gathered up in the front, right at the spot in the street where she was supposed to stop, and they seemed to be staring down at something.

  Then the crowd parted at the sound of Silver's hoof beats.

  When she saw what they were looking at, Mae gasped and felt a cold icy chill slip down her back like she’d never experienced before, and never hoped to again.

  Lying in the street where Silver had dropped the piece of apple were a couple of pigeons. The apple was still there … but the pigeons were dead.

  Mae got out of the sleigh and hurried to stand at her horse's head. "They're dead?" she whispered, staring in shock at the two pigeons. "What happened to them?"

  A few people in the crowd turned to look at her and Silver.

  "Don't know," said one man. "My wife and I were just standing there in line, waiting for you to come back so we could ride."

  "We were, too," said one of the two women standing together with their children.

  "And then we noticed that the pigeons started flapping their wings like they were trying to fly," added the second woman. "But they couldn't fly. In just a minute, they were dead."

  Mae could hardly speak. "I sure hope no one touched anything," she said, glancing at the two children standing with the women. "Don't let anyone touch that apple. Or the birds."

  "No way," said the first woman again.

  "Hey, is your horse all right? Wasn't he trying to eat that apple earlier?"

  "He was," said Mae, trying to keep hold of herself. "He was. But, he spit it out almost right away. I think he's all right, but I guess I'll have to wait and see."

  Just then Ross drove up in the big black carriage. He moved Steel into the spot ahead of her, got his passengers out, and then had one of the volunteers come over to hold Steel.

  He walked up to Mae. "What happened?"

  Mae looked up at Ross, hardly able to speak. "This … this," she stammered, gesturing down at the street. "Somebody gave Steel a piece of apple. He spit it right out and then we left. I didn't think much more about it. But when we came back, well, the dead birds are what we found."

  Ross looked down at the two dead birds. "Who gave him the apple?"

  She shrugged helplessly. "I don't know. There were so many people crowding around him trying to take pictures, just like last night. I was talking to the passengers and I didn't see who it was."

  Stepping to Silver's head, Ross took a close look at him. He even pushed back the horse's upper lip to take a glance at his gums. "Color is normal," he said. "Seems to be acting all right. Since he dropped it and didn't eat it, most likely no harm done."

  "I sure hope not. Maybe the poor pigeons got the worst of it."

  "Most likely. Horse is a big animal. Takes more to affect them than it does a bird."

  "Can you hold him here for a minute? I'll have them bring him some water."

  He nodded, and Mae went to get one of the volunteers with a water bucket. Then she noticed a big bucket full of little candy canes at the ticket booth, and she picked up one of those, too.

  She and Ross watched as Silver drank a little water, but mostly just rinsed out his mouth. Mae unwrapped the candy cane for him and he took it quite eagerly.

  "He can't be too bad off if he still wants to eat," said Ross.

  "I can't believe somebody would try to hurt one of the horses," Mae whispered. "But those poor pigeons."

  "Some sick people out there," said Ross, and looked out toward the main entrance of the fair. "Wait here. I'll be right back." Leaving Steel with the volunteer, he walked to the entry gate and headed over to the police car that was parked just outside it.

  Mae closed her eyes for a few seconds. If Ross thought the police should be involved, that meant he was as worried about it as she was.

  9

  While nervously waiting for Ross to come back, Mae tried to answer questions from the customers waiting in line.

  "Yes, I think we'll be starting up the rides again very shortly. No, the horse seems to be all right. It’s very strange that birds would eat something and then suddenly die. My business partner went over to get a police officer. He'll be right back. Yes, of course, you can take pictures of the horse and the sleigh if you like."

  As she talked to the customers, Mae watched Silver like a hawk for the slightest sign of illness, but he seemed perfectly normal and even pawed the pavement once or twice, eager to go out and get moving again.

  Well, horses are awfully big animals, like Ross said. And Silver was smart enough to spit out that apple and whatever was in it. I'm sure he didn't get enough of the poison to hurt him. I'm sure of it.

  In a few minutes, Ross came back with a police officer. The man took one look at the apple and the pigeons, frowned deeply, and collected them all in the heavy plastic bag that he'd brought with him.

  "You were right," the officer said to Ross. "It is pretty strange."

  "It sure is," said Mae. "I guess we'll have to watch our horses even more closely."

  "Did anyone see who tried to give that apple to the horse?" He looked at the waiting crowd, which had grown larger by the minute once they saw the police officer and the pigeons and realized what was going on, but no one had seen who it was.

  "It happened about a half hour ago," said Mae. "I didn't see a thing at the time. There are always people gathered around the horses whenever we come in. I've already been out and back agai
n with another ride, so whoever did it is probably halfway to Dayton by now."

  "Most likely," the officer agreed. "Okay. Maybe someone will come forward with a photo or a video. With all the cameras around these days, and everyone taking pictures of the horses, we might get something."

  "Yes, maybe we will," said Mae. "That would really help. It could have been anyone and I have no idea who. There are probably a couple of thousand people here, maybe more."

  The officer nodded. "In the meantime, I'll get your information and make a report. The piece of apple and the birds will go to the lab. They'll find out what the toxic substance was."

  "Okay. Thank you."

  "It will probably be a few weeks, but we'll get back to you. If you recall anything else, or come across a photo of someone feeding the horse, just let us know."

  "I certainly will."

  As the officer turned to go back to his car with the dead pigeons and the piece of apple, Mae tried to tell herself that there must be a logical explanation for all of this somewhere . . . even if it was a strange one. At least Silver didn’t seem to be affected, but as she stood close beside him and stroked his neck Mae remained shaken at his close call.

  If someone was after my horse, they failed. I just hope that doesn't mean they're going to try again.

  For the rest of the week, Mae found comfort in the routine of caring for her five horses out at the farm. To her great relief, Silver had shown no ill effects from his brush with the toxic apple and he worked well as usual.

  So, it's not always true that a horse will eat anything. Sometimes they have the wisdom to drop something when it's bad enough. And I'll thank whatever guardian angels watch over horses that Silver was smart enough to drop that piece of apple.

  Mae also had three different driving engagements, two holiday parties and one birthday celebration, which were private functions and not public events like the Holiday Fair. She felt a little better that those had not been nearly as crowded.