Easter in Dry Creek

by Janet Tronstad

  Her father looked down at Jeremy, who stood beside him. “And this young fellow here is going to learn how to tend the animals, too.”

  Jeremy beamed as he leaned back and nodded.

  “’ooster,” the boy said with satisfaction as snowflakes landed on his face. “I like ’oosters.”

  Allie noticed Clay smile down at her nephew.

  “They call him Big Red,” one of the men said as the other one opened the back door of the trailer. “Not sure what breed he is, but he’s a pretty fellow. The boy will like him. All those copper feathers.”

  By then the two men were unloading a crate with what looked like a dozen white hens inside, although Allie had to admit it was hard to count with all the flying feathers and squawking. The men set that crate on the ground and pulled out a separate crate with the red rooster standing tall in it. One of the men turned and latched the trailer door behind them, and then the two of them started carrying the rooster’s crate toward the barn.

  “He goes first?” Allie asked.

  “It is for the best,” one of the men looked back and said with a chuckle.

  Allie thought the golden red bird rode like an Oriental emperor, as though being carried along by two grown men was no more than what he was due.

  “There’s a chicken coop in the back of the barn,” she called out. “You’ll see the door on the right inside the barn. It goes to the coop. It’s closed but not locked.”

  When the men disappeared into the barn, Allie turned to see that her father, Clay and Jeremy had all turned to stare at the open slats at the top of the trailer.

  “Looks like Appaloosa horses in there,” her father finally said.

  “You didn’t even know what kind of horses they were?” Allie asked in surprise.

  “A man doesn’t look a gift horse in the mouth,” her father said. “I knew they were good breeding stock and that the stallion has next-to-pure bloodlines. Like I said, it’s mostly a favor to get them at all for the kind of money I paid. That’s why the bank gave me a loan on them. They figured I couldn’t go wrong.”

  Allie kept her mouth shut. She’d let her father enjoy his bargain horses. If they had to sell them, and she didn’t see how they wouldn’t need to, she would tackle that problem after Easter. If her father wanted to continue the Nelson family tradition of supplying the horses to pull the wagon that carried the Easter cross on Sunday morning, then they would keep the horses long enough to do that. She would have a week after that to find a buyer for the horses before she needed to head back to work.

  Clay walked over to stand beside her. It took her a minute to realize the storm had started up again and that Clay was standing where he was because it broke the force of the wind hitting her. A flurry of snowflakes had already been falling. She could see it on his coat.

  “You don’t even have a scarf yourself,” she protested. “I should stand in front of you.”

  “Not tall enough,” he replied easily.

  He stood there looking like he was having the time of his life; but his ears were turning red. He had left his hat inside, too.

  She shook her head. “We’ll go in once the horses are unloaded and fed. I think there are a few bales of hay left in the loft. And some oats. I’m not sure how tasty any of it will be after all this time.”

  They heard a commotion inside the trailer again. It sounded like something was thumping against the inside wall.

  The two men came out of the barn and ran back to the ramp area.

  “Sorry about that,” one of them said, breathless. “Billy Boy doesn’t like to be left behind.”

  The men moved with an urgency that made Allie curious. She turned to Clay. “I hope they’re not talking about any of those horses. We can’t have a wild horse around. Not with Jeremy here.”

  “I don’t think it’s a horse,” Clay said with a small smile on his face as he watched the ramp.

  Allie turned her head and heard the bleating of an animal.

  “That’s a—” She leaned forward until she saw the thing’s head coming out of the back of the trailer. “A goat?”

  She looked up at Clay, and he grinned.

  “Yup, it’s a goat,” he said. “Apparently he has appointed himself bodyguard for the horses.”

  “Horses don’t need that kind of help,” Allie said as she watched the dark brown goat with a white star on his forehead pick his way down the ramp. His hooves were each outlined with black. He let his displeasure known with every shake of his head as he made the trip. “Those horns look sharp.”

  “That they do,” Clay said. “We’ve been advised to keep on his good side.”

  Allie noticed that the goat’s coat was shining and the animal looked well fed. At least her father hadn’t bought animals that had been abused. When the goat reached the bottom of the ramp, he turned and looked back into the trailer.

  “Don’t they need to keep him on some kind of a tether?” Allie’s father asked.

  “I don’t think so,” Clay said. “Looks to me like he’s waiting.”

  The cold had settled in around Allie, but she was too absorbed in the animal show to feel it much. She decided Billy Boy looked like he’d been in the military and with a rank of some command. She saw why he felt so important when the first horse put its head out the back of the trailer.

  A gorgeous Appaloosa stallion took one step down the ramp and then stopped, as if trying to get a sense of where he was. The horse’s shiny black coat covered the first half of him, and his hind half was white with a spattering of black spots the size of a quarter. His head was lifted proudly in the wind, and his mane blew gently.

  Just when Allie began to wonder why the horse didn’t continue his descent, she saw the goat walk over and climb back up the ramp slightly until he touched the foreleg of the stallion. The horse lowered its nose to the other animal’s back. As the goat made its way down the ramp, the horse followed.

  “What in the world?” Allie said as she looked over at Clay.

  He’d been watching the duo, too. “I think the horse is blind.”

  “And the goat is what—like a Seeing Eye dog?” Allie asked, astonished. “I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

  Allie noticed her father and Jeremy walking closer to see the horse.

  Clay didn’t answer her question, and she saw he was watching another Appaloosa horse walking down the ramp. This one, a very pregnant mare, took delicate steps. She seemed hesitant and swung her head often. Again, the horse’s coat was sleek and looked well tended. She was spotted all over, a creamy white with brown splotches.

  “She’s lovely,” Allie said with an appreciative sigh.

  “Something is very wrong,” Clay countered, frowning toward the ramp where a second Appaloosa mare was starting the descent.

  “They look like someone took care of them,” Allie said, turning to Clay. By now, the third mare was descending the ramp. “I know that only one of the mares looks pregnant, but the other two might be due later. Maybe it says something in that paperwork Stan has.”

  The third mare stood at the bottom of the ramp, though, her head lifted like she was hunting for some scent or sign. She nickered softly and waited as though expecting a response.

  “She’s looking for the rest of the herd,” Clay finally said. “There had to be more than the four of them, and she was expecting the rest to be here.”

  As soon as Clay said it, Allie knew it was true. The mare looked distressed.

  “She misses her family,” Allie said softly.

  He nodded. “Wanting to be with one’s family is only natural—even if they’re no longer there.”

  The driver of the pickup herded the mares into the barn. Not that he had much to do since they seemed inclined to follow the stallion and the goat.

  “I never knew,”
Allie said softly. “If you missed your own family. When you came to our place.”

  She hadn’t been very sensitive to Clay back then. He listened to all of her complaints and problems, but she didn’t remember him ever talking about any of his troubles.

  Clay shrugged. “It didn’t help anything to miss my parents. They’d been gone a long time before I came here. I had no brothers or sisters. Not everyone needs a family.”

  Stan walked back to where Allie and Clay stood. Her father and Jeremy were still over by the corral, leaning against the poles.

  “That’s about it,” Stan said. “Except the pig. I’ll get her out now.”

  Allie was glad she’d have another moment with Clay. She wanted to say something even though she couldn’t think of what it was yet.

  “Those horses are blind,” Clay said, making the man stay. “Why?”

  Stan shrugged. “They have moon blindness. Not that uncommon in Appaloosas. Actually, the mares are only blind in one eye. It’s the stallion that doesn’t see at all. The ranch where they came from had a herd of over a hundred Appaloosas. These are the ones the buyer wouldn’t take.”

  “So they were left behind,” Allie said, her heart sinking. “They’re used to a herd.”

  Stan shrugged. “They’ll adjust.”

  Allie had no idea how to treat homesickness in a horse. Not that it would be the biggest challenge they faced. “How sick are they in their eyes?”

  “If you treat them with corticosteroid drops, they’ll get some better,” Stan said. “At least I expect they will. We have what’s left of the medicine with us, and we’ll leave it. The rancher had us bring over what feed he had, too. You’ll do fine for a couple of weeks.”

  Allie nodded. They would never be able to sell these horses. No one would buy them. The horses themselves had no hope of becoming part of a bigger herd. “How much do those drops cost?”

  She wondered if she could pick up another shift at work. Or maybe she could get work as a waitress at the coffee place in one of the big resorts and pick up some extra hours that way.

  “I don’t know how much,” Stan said, and he turned to leave.

  Clay was quiet for a bit after the other man left.

  “I never did ask,” Clay finally said. He’d turned to look down at her, his eyes serious. “Speaking of me coming here, why did your family ask for a foster kid back then?”

  Allie smiled, remembering. “I was the one. My mother had died and I wanted—” She stopped then. She should have thought this through before she started her answer.

  “You wanted what?” Clay asked. He didn’t look like he could be put off, and she knew he wouldn’t like it if she lied.

  “I wanted a little sister. Someone to be silly with and do things like make cookies.”

  “I was to be your playmate?” Clay asked incredulously.

  Allie shrugged. “They wouldn’t give us a young girl because we didn’t have my mother. They wouldn’t give us an older girl, either. They thought any girl needed a mother in the house.”

  “So you ended up with me?” Clay asked.

  He’d turned away so she couldn’t see his face.

  She put her hand on his arm. “I was never sorry that it was you who came.”

  By this time, Stan had put the horses in the barn and walked back up the ramp. He was bringing down what looked like a little dog now.

  “I mean that,” Allie said because Clay was still looking off into the distance.

  “You don’t need to worry about me,” Clay said before taking a step toward Stan and that thing he was carrying. “I like my life.”

  “In prison?” Now it was her time to be baffled.

  “I won’t be in prison much longer,” Clay said, staring at whatever Stan was carrying.

  Allie realized it wasn’t a dog when she heard the squeal.

  “If you need money, you can always sell the pig,” Stan added as he lifted the animal up so they could see it.

  “This is Julie,” Stan said like he was introducing them to royalty. “They call her a teacup pig because she’s small. Only eighty pounds and she’s full grown.”

  The black pig wiggled in the man’s arms until she saw Allie. Then the animal lifted its head and inspected her.

  “She’s a princess all right,” Stan said. “The woman of the house where we came from kept Julie inside the laundry room at night. Thought she was a guard dog. She’s not, but her personality grows on you.”

  Allie just stared. “That’s all of the animals, isn’t it?”

  Stan nodded and started to walk back to the barn.

  Clay started to chuckle then, and she looked up at him. His laughter grew deeper, and his eyes danced with humor.

  “You never know what you’re going to get around here, do you?” he asked, his voice light and teasing. “One day a pig, another day a teenage boy.”

  “You were never a surprise like this,” Allie interrupted, her voice firm. Then she saw his face and knew he was teasing.

  “Oh,” she said. “You.”

  “That goat looks dangerous and the pig way too intelligent for a barnyard animal,” Clay continued.

  Allie leaned over and whispered. “Shh—I don’t think either of them see themselves as barnyard animals.”

  “Probably not,” Clay agreed. “But they could mount a rebellion if they wanted. Mutiny in the cowshed. I can see it now.”

  Allie looked up and saw that her father was over by the corral signing the papers Stan had. When he finished, Stan sorted through them and peeled off a handful that he gave back to her father. Meanwhile, the other man had been pulling hay bales and sacks of grain out of the back of the trailer. He left everything just outside the barn door.

  Stan started back toward Allie and Clay.

  “We better get going,” he said as his partner put the ramp up. “We want to get back on the interstate before the weather turns bad again.”

  Allie nodded. The wind had shifted again, and she didn’t want to delay the men. “Thanks for the feed.”

  Stan reached out and shook hands with both Allie and Clay, then he ducked his head and turned around to jog back to the pickup.

  By that time, her father and Jeremy had returned to where Allie stood.

  “We better get everything inside the barn and dole some feed out to the animals,” she said. Snowflakes were falling faster. “It’s not going to get any warmer out here.”

  Allie heard the pickup and trailer drive out to the main gravel road as she led everyone into the barn. “It’ll be quick work if we all do it. Then we can go inside for breakfast.”

  “With bacon?” her father asked eagerly.

  “Just this once,” Allie said as she opened the barn door.

  “Nothing like a good crisp piece of fried bacon,” her father said with a satisfied sigh. “The Nelsons have always liked their bacon.”

  “We shouldn’t let Julie hear anyone say that,” Clay leaned over and whispered in Allie’s ear. “It’ll make her nervous.”

  “What?” She looked up and then she giggled. “No one would dare turn her into breakfast meat. She doesn’t need to worry.”

  Allie had forgotten how much she and Clay used to tease back and forth.

  It was warmer inside the barn than outside, but they still worked fast. The wind had gotten stronger and rattled some of the windows as they led each of the horses to a stall.

  “As I recall there are a few horse blankets here somewhere,” Clay said as he was rummaging through the tack room off to the side.

  “I think they’re up in the loft,” Allie said.

  Clay walked out of the tack room and headed for the ladder leading to the loft. “I can find them, if the rest of you want to go back inside the house. It’s getting colder every minut
e. It’ll probably be zero degrees out there before long.”

  “Maybe you should take Jeremy inside.” Allie turned to her father. He should be inside in warmer temperatures, but she knew he wouldn’t go for his sake.

  Her father hesitated and then nodded. “Don’t be long.”

  He took Jeremy’s hand and led the boy out of the barn.

  By this time, Clay had reached the hayloft and had several old horse blankets in his arms.

  “Look out below,” he said and then dropped them to the main floor before scrambling down the ladder.

  “Stan said the horses had their eye medicine already this morning,” Clay said. “If we scatter one of those bales of hay and put these blankets on their backs, they should do fine until I can get back out here later today and get the barn more organized.”

  “Cleaner, you mean,” Allie said with a grimace. “I had no idea we had let it go so badly.”

  Clay shrugged. “I don’t mind some dirty work.” Then he looked down at the sheepskin coat. “I don’t want to get this messed up, though. I wonder where it came from.”

  “My dad will know,” Allie said. “But, don’t worry. We have lots of old jackets in the house.”

  “I need to get that pump running, too,” Clay said suddenly.

  “I forgot about that,” Allie said as she started walking over to back of the barn where the valves were. “The water’s turned off, so it will take some doing to get it back on.” She stopped to examine the water trough and pump apparatus before she even got to the valves. Everything was frozen. At least the pipes had been empty, so they hadn’t burst. “Maybe we’re best to carry a few buckets of water out from the house until we can get the pump set up again.”

  “I’ll come back,” Clay said.

  “We’ll both come back,” Allie answered.

  Clay gazed at her sternly, and Allie felt like looking away, but she didn’t.

  “I’m the hired hand.” Clay smiled as he studied her. “You don’t need to outwork me to prove anything.”

  “I’m not going to leave you with everything to do,” Allie insisted. For some reason, she felt shy around him. “Especially when you are not getting paid.”