Second Chance (9781743437278)

by Wood, Karen

  So, Grampy meant it. Kit felt tears rush to her eyes, but tried to hold them back. She could feel Grampy’s pain at the thought of sending the mare away.

  Grampy must have seen her sadness. ‘I will help you with her act at the school fete,’ he said. ‘But it would be kinder to let her retire.’

  Kit went to Kismet’s stall and wrapped her arms around her neck. Her favourite horse snuffled her lips through Kit’s hair, making her smile. ‘I will always have you Kismet,’ said Kit. ‘But Chance belongs here with us too.’

  Kismet made a soft nickering sound.

  ‘Yes,’ said Kit. ‘We have to at least try.’

  The night before the fete, Kit opened Grampy’s old trunk and rummaged through Grandma Levinia’s costumes. She pulled out a purple velvet dancing dress. It had a wide twirly skirt that would have been knee-length on her grandmother, but on Kit would skim the floor. She rummaged further and found a belt made from jangling gold coins. With that clipped around her hips, Kit found as many bracelets as she could and slipped them onto her wrists. She added anklets tinkling with bells and long dangly earrings, so that whenever she moved she made music.

  In the morning she styled her hair, pinning the sides back and leaving dark curls trailing down her back. Last of all, she put the clicker inside the sleeve of her dress.

  Before she knew it, Grampy was calling to her to put the horses in the truck. Ruby and Lexie both climbed into the back seat. Analita sat in the front and the Tricketts chugged out of the driveway and into town.

  The schoolyard was brimming with mums and dads and grandmas and grandpas. There were fairy-floss sellers and dagwood dog stands. People sold speckled chooks and women painted children’s faces. There were trampolines and jumping castles and a large ferris wheel.

  The girls found the ring of straw bales that Grampy had set up for them the previous day. There was a big shady tree nearby and they tied the horses to one of its branches.

  In the centre of the ring, they rolled out a large mattress. Kit put down a pillow and a teddy bear and threw out a blanket.

  She put Grampy’s top hat out in front of her performing space and brought Chance to the mattress. With a special signal and a press of her clicker, Chance dropped her rump to the mattress. Kit sat next to her and gave her the command to lie down.

  Chance lay back with her legs hanging off the side of the bed. Kit reached into her bag of tricks, pulled out an alarm clock and set it next to the bed. She adjusted the pillow under Chance’s head and then snuggled up between the mare’s front legs. ‘Good girl,’ she whispered, and slipped her a treat.

  She looked back to the tree where Ruby and Lexie stood with the other three horses. Both sisters gave her the thumbs up.

  Kit reached down and pulled the blanket over Chance’s huge body, closed her eyes and pretended to go to sleep. She waited a few minutes before she snuck one eye open. She was pleased to see half a dozen children standing around staring.

  ‘Look at this,’ a boy called. ‘There’s a horse! Sleeping on a bed!’

  ‘What are you talking about?’ another boy said.

  ‘Come and see!’

  Not many people, it seemed, had ever seen a horse asleep on a bed. Kit kept her eyes closed and waited for the crowd to build. She could hear more people gathering around.

  Right on time, the alarm clock went off. It buzzed so violently that it hopped about on the ground, drawing further attention from the passing crowd.

  Kit sat up slowly. She yawned loudly and stretched her arms. Then she sat scratching her head. She looked at her watch and gave a startled jump. ‘I’m late!’ she shrieked, and leapt out of bed.

  ‘Chance, get up, it’s time to go,’ she said, loudly enough that everyone could hear. When Chance didn’t respond, Kit whipped the blanket off her and briskly patted the horse on the shoulder. ‘Come on girl, we’re late! Get up!’

  Chance let out a big sigh, but didn’t open her eyes. ‘Chance!’ Kit yelled, and grabbed the rope attached to Chance’s halter and started to pull. Chance did not move.

  The crowd chuckled.

  Kit dropped the rope and put her hands on her hips. She looked at her watch again and then reached into her bag. She pulled out a large green apple and waved it under Chance’s nose. The mare opened one eye. She wiggled her nostrils. She lifted her head.

  A ripple of laughter went through the crowd. A few people clapped. Kit held the apple out in front of Chance and asked her to sit up. The old horse stretched one leg at a time before getting up and shaking like a dog.

  ‘It’s time for our dancing lesson, Chance,’ Kit said. ‘Are you ready?’

  She gave Chance the signal to nod, clicked and then gave her a treat.

  Meanwhile, Ruby and Lexie began riding their horses in a circle around the edge of the ring. They put them into a trot and started the warm-up exercises.

  In the centre, Kit turned to her bag, pulled out a music box and put on some Romani music. While her back was to the crowd, Kit heard them roar with laughter. She smiled to herself, but straightened her face before she turned around.

  Chance was lying down again!

  ‘Hey!’ Kit put her hands on her hips and stomped her foot. She stopped the music and picked up Chance’s rope again, making a big show of trying to drag and cajole her out of bed. Finally she took out a carrot and Chance got up.

  Kit waggled her finger. ‘Now stay out of bed,’ she scolded. She turned away and put the music back on. As she bent down to push the button on the music machine, Chance gave her a gentle shove and Kit went catapulting over the bag, somersaulting and landing on her bottom. The crowd erupted.

  The sound of laughter and the lively music drew more people to the trick-riding ring.

  Kit put on her cross face. Chance started waving her rump back and forth in time to the music. Kit stood and brushed herself off. She started dancing with Chance. She gave the mare a signal to twirl around on the spot.

  Ruby and Lexie kept cantering around the circle. They did shoulder stands and side fenders; they took hold of their saddle horns and spun around. But all eyes were on Chance.

  Kit asked her to stomp her front feet. Kit hooked her thumbs into her belt loops and did a few steps of line-dancing. The crowd cheered like crazy.

  Finally, she asked Chance to give a small bow. As Chance knelt down on one knee, however, Kit noticed the mare toss her head. Her muzzle went tight. The bracelet on Kit’s arm flashed with cold. Something was wrong.

  ‘And that is the end of our show!’ she said quickly, and clapped for Chance. She told the mare to stand and gently took her back to the bed. She didn’t need to ask. Chance sat on the bed, flopped back and lay down again. Kit pulled the blanket over her and tucked the teddy bear under her front leg.

  The crowd cheered and clapped, and Kit was delighted to see people putting coins into Grampy’s top hat. Chance had done it. If it wasn’t for the icy bracelet around her wrist, she would have felt a surge of hope.

  Kit fretted the whole way home. She just couldn’t understand what was happening. She led Chance into the barn and waited while Grampy called the vet.

  Chance was pacing around in her stall. Kit gave her some food, but the mare wouldn’t eat. This made Kit even more worried. Lexie and Ruby stuck close by her, their brows furrowed.

  Kit could hardly breathe while the vet listened to Chance’s heart and felt her temperature around her ears. ‘She is a little bit hotter than she should be,’ said the vet. ‘And she seems quite restless.’

  After a thorough examination the vet stood back and removed the stethoscope from around her neck. ‘I have good news and bad news,’ she finally said.

  Kit’s throat tightened and a huge weight formed in her chest. ‘What is the good news?’ she whispered.

  ‘It seems Chance is carrying a foal. She is going to give birth. Very soon.’

  If aliens had landed in the barn at that moment, Kit could not have been more stunned. Chance turned her amber eyes to her and n
ickered softly. Kit melted. ‘Oh, sweet girl. Is that what you have been trying to tell me?’

  ‘But how could I have missed this?’ said Grampy.

  The vet shrugged. ‘If she hasn’t been fed properly, the foal could be quite small.’

  Kit brushed Chance’s forelock from her eyes and stroked her forehead.

  ‘No wonder she’s so tired all the time,’ said Ruby.

  ‘No wonder she’s so hungry!’ said Lexie.

  ‘Oh, dear. I feel terrible,’ said Kit. ‘I’m so sorry, Chance. We didn’t know.’

  ‘No harm has been done,’ said the vet. ‘But she will need a nice clean field to have her baby in. I think it is coming very soon.’

  ‘What’s the bad news?’

  ‘At Chance’s age, there are more risks with having a foal. Even though she seems much healthier now than she was, she might find it difficult.’

  ‘Well, we didn’t expect this, did we?’ said Grampy, with a worried look. ‘Two for the price of one.’

  Kit immediately started thinking of midwifery herbs. She had seen them mentioned in Grandma Levinia’s diary. She would find a way to help Chance through this.

  Kit leaned against the fence watching Chance pick at the grass. The day was turning into night, but she could not tear herself away from the old mare. It had been a whole week since the vet had come and Chance still hadn’t had her foal.

  She felt Analita’s arm around her shoulders. ‘It won’t be long now.’

  ‘She won’t eat,’ said Kit, staring into Chance’s feed bucket. It was still full of chaff and herbs.

  ‘That’s normal,’ said her mother.

  ‘I don’t want to leave her.’

  ‘It would be kinder if you did.’

  ‘But, what if something happens? What if … ?’

  ‘Grampy will check on her. You need to get a good night’s sleep.’

  But before she went to bed, Kit busied herself making more of Chance’s favourite tonic. This time she added the midwifery herbs that Grandma Levinia had written about.

  That night, Kit lay staring at the ceiling. No matter how she tried, she could not sleep. Eventually, she heard tiptoes on the wooden floorboards as Ruby and Lexie came to squeeze into bed next to her.

  Outside their three little square windows, the sky glittered with stars. Wisps of clouds floated through the moonlight. Kit took Grandma Levinia’s diary from her bedside table and clutched it to her chest. ‘Chance is too old for this,’ she whispered. ‘She’s not strong enough. What if she dies?’

  The scent of orange blossom was suddenly with them, and a warm glow illuminated the sisters’ faces. Kit heard her grandmother’s voice.

  Being loved by you

  has given her courage.

  Kit lay there for an hour, watching the clock on her bedside table tick over. Either side of her, Ruby and Lexie’s thoughts ticked louder than the clock.

  Finally, Kit could bear it no longer. ‘I’m going to go and check on her,’ she said.

  ‘I’m coming too,’ said Ruby.

  ‘Wait for me,’ mumbled Lexie.

  The girls pulled on their dressing-gowns and gumboots and made their way through the front garden. A soft mist hung in the air and a silvery moon shone brightly overhead.

  ‘Grampy said we mustn’t disturb her while she has her foal,’ said Lexie.

  ‘I just want to see her and make sure she’s okay,’ said Kit.

  Chance wasn’t visible from the yard. They entered the paddock and crept through the shadows under the trees, and still they couldn’t see her. They walked down the hill and sloshed through the small creek. They crossed the open grassy stretch and looked in the shelter. But they could not find Chance anywhere.

  Finally Ruby called out, ‘The back gate is open! She’s gone!’

  Kit felt a jolt of panic. ‘Let’s get the horses and look for her,’ she said, and began running back to the stables.

  As they ran past the house, the front porch lights came on. Grampy emerged in his boots.

  Analita came too, pulling her robe tightly around her shoulders. ‘What on earth are you doing?’

  ‘Chance has opened the back gate,’ Kit called on her way into the barn. ‘She’s missing!’

  Moments later Kit reappeared on Kismet, and Grampy clambered on behind her. ‘We’ll check in the forest,’ he said. ‘Ruby and Lexie, you check along the creek.’

  Grampy and Kit rode down every trail in the forest. They walked through the field to the Trickstars headquarters. They called the old mare’s name. Nothing.

  ‘Maybe she is hiding,’ said Grampy. ‘Some mares do that when they foal. It makes them feel safe.’

  ‘No,’ said Kit. The bracelet on her arm was so cold it nearly burned her skin. ‘Something is very wrong. We have to find her.’

  They pressed on into the darkness, calling and searching. Eventually the sun began to rise.

  ‘Maybe we should go home and find the others,’ Grampy suggested.

  ‘Can we check the old flower farm one more time?’

  Grampy nodded and soon they returned to the open field. The sun came up over the old cottage and cast a glorious light over the tangled mess of flowers. They scanned the knee-high grass and finally, in the patch of chamomile flowers, Kit saw a scruffy mane and a pair of ears.

  ‘There!’ she almost screamed. ‘Grampy, there she is!’

  Chance was not moving.

  She was curled up in a ball with her legs tucked up. Her neck curled around something wet and shiny.

  ‘I think her little light has gone out,’ said Grampy.

  Kit slipped off Kismet and sprinted to the mare. Chance’s eyes were closed and she looked like she was sleeping. But when Kit put her hand on her shoulder, she was cold.

  Kit looked at the wet bundle snuggled against Chance’s belly. She held out her hand and the little creature snuffed at it with its warm foaly breath. It let out a tiny bleating sound and Chance suddenly stirred.

  Her eyes opened. Her feet shifted but she barely moved. Kit took in a gasp of air. She hadn’t realised she’d been holding her breath.

  ‘We need to get them home quickly,’ said Grampy. ‘They need food and warmth.’

  ‘But how?’ said Kit. Her trembling hands were on the mare and she didn’t want to leave her. ‘She’s too weak.’

  ‘Kit!’ Ruby and Lexie cantered across the field of flowers and stopped a short distance away.

  ‘She’s so weak,’ said Kit in a quiet voice. Tears stung her eyes.

  Lexie knelt down next to the mare and cradled her head in her arms. ‘Don’t give up,’ she whispered. ‘Be strong.’ She untied the scarf that held her golden belt buckle around her waist and tied it around Chance’s neck. Kit hoped it would give her the courage to fight.

  ‘I’m going to go home and get some of her favourite tonic,’ said Kit. She mounted Kismet and galloped towards the farm, ducking under low-hanging branches and weaving around rocks and shrubs. She clattered down the driveway and leapt off Kismet’s back before the mare had even come to a stop.

  In the kitchen she shoved the four fresh bottles of tonic into an old backpack, tossed it over her shoulder and sprinted outside again.

  When she got back to the flower field, the bleating foal was trying to stand up. It was jet black all over with four white socks; no patches at all. Its mane and tail were also white.

  ‘A colt,’ said Grampy. He seemed mesmerised by the little fellow. Something in his eyes flickered like an old memory. ‘He is magnificent.’

  Ruby had found a blanket in the old cottage and arranged it over Chance. Lexie still held the mare’s head.

  ‘I added midwifery herbs to this mix,’ Kit said, dismounting and pulling the bottles out of her backpack. ‘Levinia says they give energy and make healthy milk.’ She poured two bottles of the tonic into an old bucket and placed it in front of the horse. ‘Drink, Chance,’ she whispered.

  ‘It smells so good I could drink it myself,’ said Lexie. />
  Chance lowered her nose into the bucket and took a small sip. Then she made loud slurping noises as she drank the entire thing. When she had finished, she licked it clean.

  Kit’s heart lifted.

  Grampy was still staring at the colt. His eyes sparkled in a way Kit had never seen before.

  The colt took his first few steps, lifting his knees high before stumbling and nearly falling over. Then something amazing happened. The colt gathered his legs again and tottered straight over to Grampy. He stretched out a whiskery chin and sniffed up and down Grampy’s cheek. Then he turned around and trotted back to his mother.

  Grampy laughed. It wasn’t loud, for he was quite out of practice, but his whole face lit up.

  ‘Grampy,’ said Kit. ‘I think he just chose you!’

  ‘Maybe he did,’ said Grampy, looking thoughtful. ‘But I still wonder who is the mare’s special person. They must be somewhere.’

  ‘Perhaps we will never know,’ said Kit.

  When Kit turned her eyes back to Chance, the mare was standing. Her legs were unsteady and she still looked exhausted. But her eyes were bright again.

  Chance nickered to her foal and began licking him. The little colt began to feed.

  ‘I think we should call him Destiny,’ said Grampy.

  When the foal had finished drinking, Grampy and the triplets led Chance slowly back towards Windara. Destiny whinnied noisily and tottered alongside her. Grampy barely shifted his eyes from the colt the whole way home.

  Weeks later, Destiny frolicked around in the sunshine while the girls practised trick riding at the headquarters. The colt had grown into a magnificent creature with a proud crest and finely dished face. His coat shone as black as coal and his white feathery feet fluttered with every stride. His eyes glowed amber, like Magnifico’s.

  Kit cantered around the trick-riding circle on Kismet. From a standing position, she arched backwards, flicked her feet in the air and tumbled all the way over. ‘Ta-da!’ she said, holding her arms out wide.