by Chris Platt
Moon Shadow found her usual spot in the center of the stall and stretched out on her side. In no time at all, she seemed to be in a deep sleep. The filly looked as if she didn’t have a care in the world.
But Callie couldn’t relax until she’d heard what Dr. Susan had to say.
Fourteen
The vet took out her stethoscope and listened to Moon Shadow’s heart and lungs. Callie chewed her bottom lip and shredded several stems of hay while she waited. After several minutes of poking and prodding, Dr. Susan turned to Callie and her parents. “Everything appears to be in working order,” she said. “This filly just seems to be a little weak. That’s normal, considering that she was born a bit prematurely. She also didn’t get all of the colostrum she needed at birth from her mother’s milk.”
“Colostrum is what the foals need in their first twenty-four hours to help them build their immune system so they don’t get sick,” Callie explained to her parents.
“You’re getting to be quite the expert,” Mr. McLean said. “I guess hanging around with the doc here has started to rub off a little.” He gave a playful tug on Callie’s shirt collar.
Callie beamed.
Susan let herself out of the stall. “Well, Callie has definitely been a big help,” she said as she reached into her bag and pulled out a bottle of liquid vitamins and a syringe. “Now if I can just get her to hold this filly still for a moment, I’ll give Moon Shadow an injection that should sharpen her up a bit. I’ll be back in a few days to check on her.”
“Thanks, Susan,” Mr. McLean said. “I’ve got to get back to my garden right now. Why don’t you leave the bill with my wife, and we’ll write you a check next week?”
Susan shook her head. “Callie’s put in a lot of time with me lately, and she’ll still be working weekends all summer. The vet care is on the house.”
Mrs. McLean took Susan’s free hand in both of hers. “You don’t know how much this means to us,” she said. “We truly thank you from the bottom of our hearts.”
“I’m happy to do it,” Susan said. “I consider it a fair trade.” She winked at Callie, then administered the shot to Moon Shadow and packed up her gear to leave. “I’ll see you next weekend if you’re not too tired out from the feeding schedule and working at the Thompsons’ place,” Susan told her. “You’re looking a little tired. Why don’t you let your parents do the next feeding, and you go get some rest?”
Callie nodded and thanked the vet for her visit. She yawned as she waved good-bye. Susan was right. A nice nap sounded wonderful at the moment.
And now that she knew Moon Shadow would be okay, it would be a lot easier to sleep.
The next several weeks went by in a blur of work and late-night feedings. Billie’s parents let her sleep over at Callie’s house several times, and the two girls slept on hay bales in the barn and got up to feed Moon Shadow every two or three hours. Justin even came over on a few occasions to help out, and Callie’s parents filled in the feed times when Callie was working and Billie couldn’t be there.
Little by little, Moon Shadow started to gain strength. Her gaunt sides filled out and she even began to play and romp like a normal foal. Callie’s father fenced off a small section of Celah’s pen so the little mustang would have a place to play outside. The two horses spent lots of time nosing each other through the fence.
One day Harvey dropped by. When Moon Shadow walked up to the fence to greet him, he waved a fistful of timothy hay under her nose. Moon Shadow nibbled on the tops of the sweet grass stems.
Callie laughed when the filly lolled her tongue at first, trying to spit the hay out, but the little buckskin came right back and took another dainty bite. This time she chewed thoughtfully and reached for more.
“Does she have enough teeth to chew?” Callie asked, looking up at Harvey.
“She’s already got a full set of back teeth to grind with,” the mustanger explained. “It’s the front ones that take a month or so to come in. I brought you a whole bale of that timothy hay. You should start giving this filly a little bit each day. It’s time for her to start adding solid food to her diet. Once she’s eating okay, you can ease up a little between your milk feedings.”
“Thanks, Harvey,” Callie said, giving him a big hug. “You’ve really been a huge help.”
Harvey patted her on the head and looked slightly embarrassed by the display of affection, but Callie saw the way his eyes shone when he turned to go. Once again, she considered herself very lucky to have such good friends.
Callie waved good-bye to Harvey, then gathered Moon Shadow’s halter and lead. “Guess what time it is,” she called to her as she dangled the halter over the fence. Moon Shadow trotted up as if she were anxious to start her lessons, but, as usual, once the halter was on she showed just how stubborn she could be.
Over the next month and a half, Callie worked with Moon Shadow every day. The filly still got tired easily, but she was always up for pranks. One day Moon Shadow would walk on the end of the lead line perfectly, and Callie would take her all over the farm. Then the next day, Moon Shadow would come out of her stall standing on her hind legs and pawing the air.
Callie spent a lot of time and patience handling the little buckskin. Justin showed her how to pick up the filly’s feet without causing her concern, and how to desensitize her ticklish spots like the ears and belly. Callie was surprised one afternoon when Justin brought in some white plastic garbage bags and started rubbing one of them across Moon Shadow’s back. Justin explained that horses were easily frightened by moving objects, especially something blowing in the wind. “But if we expose her to things like this now while she’s young,” he told Callie, “when she’s old enough for you to ride her, she’ll be less likely to spook and dump you off when something blows by.”
At first Moon Shadow objected when they rubbed the plastic bags, newspapers, and tarps over her back or shook beneath her belly. But as Callie and Justin spent time each day working on the lesson, the filly eventually became used to it.
Callie hadn’t realized that raising a foal could be so much work. She knew she wouldn’t be able to do it without the help of her willing friends.
Billie had never handled a foal before either, and she was thrilled to learn right along with Callie. Whenever Harvey or Justin volunteered time to teach them, the girls were eager to learn.
“Maybe one of these days I can breed Star and I’ll have a foal of my own to raise,” Billie said with a dreamy look in her eye.
“Let’s just hope your foal won’t be half as stubborn as Moon Shadow is,” Callie said, pretending to frown as she pulled her shirttail out of the filly’s clamped teeth.
The only thing that made her feel better about her slow progress with Moon Shadow was watching Luke work with his halter colt. On her good days, Callie’s little mustang was better than Luke’s spoiled bay.
Callie had gotten in the habit of spending her breaks watching Luke and Jill in the arena. The show ring drills Mr. Thompson made his kids practice fascinated her. She no longer hid in the shadows of the barn, but settled in a shady spot right by the arena fence. Jill never seemed to mind, but she knew it irritated Luke, especially when he was making a lot of mistakes. Callie just kept on watching. She considered it payback for all of the mean things he’d ever said to her.
One day while she was eating her peanut-butter-and-honey sandwich, Luke lost his patience and started jerking on his colt’s halter. The well-muscled colt rose into the air, pulling the lead rope out of Luke’s hands.
Callie threw down her sandwich and jumped up as the young colt raced across the side of the arena, his tail cocked over his back. She put out her hand. Luke’s bay slowed down, slid to a stop, then circled back to see her. Callie quietly reached out and caught the bay, talking softly to calm him.
Luke stomped across the arena to retrieve his colt. “What are you smirking at?” he grouched, snatching the rope from her hand. “You think you and that puny yellow horse could do any better?”
Callie watched him go, imagining her and Moon Shadow standing in a halter class competition at a horse show, between Luke and his sister. One thing was for sure. On a good day, Moon Shadow could compete in a halter class with Luke’s horse. On a good day, Moon Shadow had much better manners.
She finished her sandwich and went back to work. The last job she had to do before she could go home was cleaning the barn’s office. She eyed all of the soda and juice cans lining the counter. It was too bad she couldn’t just put the trash can at the end of the counter and swipe them all in with one big sweep of her arm, but there were other things on the counter, too.
As she picked up the trash, Callie set aside some of the show entry forms that lay on the counter. The bold headline on one of them caught her eye: End of Year All-Breeds Show. She quickly scanned the information, noting that there were several halter classes available. The arena was only a couple of roads over from her house. If she were to enter Moon Shadow in a show class, she’d be able to walk the filly to the arena.
Jill entered the tack room and Callie quickly put the entry form back on the counter, the heat of embarrassment rising in her cheeks. Feeling like a kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar, she fussed with the remaining cans and stacked the rest of the entry forms in a neat pile. Jill got a juice out of the refrigerator and took a long swig. As the tall, lanky girl headed back out of the tack room, she turned to Callie and said over her shoulder, “I can make a copy of that if you want.” Then, without waiting for an answer, she breezed out the door. Callie stood dumbfounded. How did Jill know what she’d been thinking? Mr. Thompson had driven by their house many times when Justin had been out in the paddock helping her with Moon Shadow. Had Mr. Thompson told Jill about her fumbling attempts to school Moon Shadow?
Was it really possible that she could enter Moon Shadow in an All-Breeds Show?
Her excitement began to build as she pictured herself in a long-strided march, trotting alongside Moon Shadow as they went back and forth in front of the show judge and then stood in the lineup with the other colts and fillies being judged on their confirmation and manners.
Moon Shadow looked great now. Her coat was slick and shiny and her fuzzy mane had grown long enough to lie down like it was supposed to. But would people laugh at her for entering a mustang in a show with registered horses?
A wave of shame passed over Callie. All of this time, she had been criticizing others for thinking that mustangs weren’t as good as other horses, and here she was having her own doubts. But were they really about Moon Shadow? Or was she simply afraid that she couldn’t compete with Luke and Jill? So far, she’d only been watching their lessons. They were the ones who had actually been doing the work. Justin had been helping her school Moon Shadow for manners, but she’d never actually taken a real lesson on how to show a horse at halter.
After she made sure no one was outside the tack room, Callie picked up the entry form again and studied the available classes. There was one class for kids ages twelve to sixteen. It was possible that Luke and Jill might choose to enter another class. But what difference did it make? She knew she couldn’t compete with their years of lessons, but she could still enter just for the experience. What was that old saying her dad was always repeating? When the going gets tough, the tough get going!
Callie stood up straight and squared her shoulders. Who cared if Moon Shadow wasn’t a papered horse, or that she, Callie McLean, hadn’t had years of expensive lessons? She had just as much right to walk into that show ring as Luke and Jill did. It would be fun, even if she took last place. At least she could say she had done it!
She finished up in the tack room and prepared to go home for the day. She’d ask her parents about entering the show. If they said yes, then maybe she’d get up the nerve to ask Jill for a copy of the entry form.
There was no one around but José when Callie left. She said good-bye, then picked up her bike and pedaled down the road to her house.
She felt pretty proud of herself for making the decision to gather her courage and step into the show ring with Moon Shadow. But just as she got herself pumped up, she was hit by another thought: the twenty-dollar entry fee for the show. Even if she could overcome that obstacle, she had neither a show halter nor special show clothes.
Callie frowned in frustration. A show halter with all of its fancy silver trim and the elegant outfits that competitors wore would cost way more than she could afford.
She pulled into the driveway of her house, propped her bike against the porch steps, and headed straight to the barn to feed Moon Shadow. She filled the milk bucket and took it out to the paddock where the filly was sleeping next to the fence in the shadow cast by the draft mare. The mustang woke with a start and scrambled to her feet, nickering greedily for her lunch. Callie smiled when she saw Moon Shadow’s strong, steady walk. The little mustang was still smaller than most horses her age, but she’d come a long way from the weak little foal that had stumbled out of the horse trailer just a few short months ago.
Callie ran her fingers through the filly’s black mane while the little one slurped noisily at the milk. “We almost got a chance to prove ourselves to all those people who doubted us,” she told her, feeling tears spring up behind her eyes. “But I guess we’ll have to wait until next summer. Maybe by then I’ll be able to save enough to buy me a decent show outfit and you the best show halter I can find.”
Moon Shadow had made so much progress in such a short period of time, Callie thought. It was a shame that she wouldn’t be able to show off the results of all of their hard work this summer. For now, she’d have to content herself with showing off in her own pasture for Billie and Justin.
Fifteen
Just before sunset Callie went out to put Moon Shadow in her stall. “Susan says we can wean you off all the milk in another week,” she said as she tossed a flake of grass hay into the feeder her father had installed a few weeks ago. Moon Shadow grabbed a big bite of hay and blew through her lips.
Callie laughed. “I guess that means you don’t think too much of that idea,” she said, taking off her watch and pouring some water into the milk bucket to wash it out. She was just getting ready to go back in the house when she heard a noise at the barn door. She almost fell over with surprise when Luke Thompson removed his hat and stepped into the barn.
“So this is the famous mustang,” he said.
“What do you want, Luke?” Callie crossed her arms and watched him saunter across the barn to Moon Shadow’s stall.
“I just wanted to come by and take a look at this horse you’ve been jaw-jacking about all summer.” He picked up a stem of hay and put it between his teeth, then leaned on the stall door.
“This is Moon Shadow,” Callie said proudly. “She might not have come from a long fancy line of registered horses like your colt, but I love her anyway.”
“She’s pretty nice for a mustang,” Luke admitted as he opened her stall door and let himself in uninvited.
Callie watched Luke walk around the stall, inspecting her filly in the waning light.
“Not bad.” He stood there with his hands in his pockets, watching Moon Shadow eat.
“What is it you want?” Callie said again.
Luke put his hands in the air. “Come on, Callie, I didn’t do anything to make you so huffy. Why do you always act so prickly when I’m around? Can’t we agree to a truce?”
Callie sighed. Outside of showing up uninvited, he hadn’t really done anything wrong. “Come on out of the stall,” she said, walking toward the barn door. “It’s getting late, and I’m sure you want to get home before dark.” She led the way back out to the driveway. “Okay, Luke,” she added, attempting a smile. “I’ll try not to be so grouchy when you’re around.”
Luke plopped his hat back on his head and grinned. “That’s better. You know, you’re a whole lot prettier when you smile, Callie McLean.”
Great, Callie thought. That was all I needed—Luke Thompson thinking I’m
pretty. The compliment would go a whole lot further if it came from Justin.
Her cheeks immediately grew warm. Why had she thought of something crazy like that?
Luke pulled something out of his back pocket and handed it to her.
“What’s this?” Callie asked.
“Jill said to bring it to you, but I don’t know what you’d want with a show entry.” He saw the irritated look on Callie’s face and backed up a step. “Oops, sorry. I forgot about our truce.” He headed down the driveway and climbed on his ATV. “Jill said to give that to you, and I did. So I’m out of here.” With that he started the engine and drove off in a cloud of dust.
Callie shook her head. She’d never understand boys if she lived to be a hundred. She looked down at the entry form in her hands. It was nice of Jill to think of her, but there was no way she’d be able to use the entry form this year.
A soft breeze blew the smoky aroma of barbequed hamburgers from the back porch. It was almost dinnertime. She looked at her wrist and remembered that she’d left her watch by Moon Shadow’s stall. Callie stuck the entry form in her back pocket as she walked toward the barn. She expected the usually friendly nicker when she flipped on the barn light, but instead she was greeted by silence.
“Hey, girl, are you lying down already?” Callie said, approaching the stall. But she stopped dead at the sight of the unlatched stall door. “No!” Callie cried. She ran to the stall, not believing her eyes. Why hadn’t she checked the latch when Luke left the stall? Mr. Thompson had said his son was careless about locking gates and stall doors.
She turned in a frantic circle, hoping that Moon Shadow had only wandered to a corner of the barn, but the filly was nowhere in sight.
Callie grabbed the blue halter and lead rope and ran out the door. “Shadow!” she hollered as she ran around to Celah’s corral to see if the filly was there. Celah was prancing up and down the fence line and snorting. “Where is she, girl?” Callie wailed.
