Star of Wonder

by JoAnn S. Dawson

  “He won’t fly out.” Mary had declared as they placed him in the box. “His wings aren’t ready yet.”

  Beamer rested on the rafter like a lion on a tree limb, blinking lazily as he watched the girls. He had almost lost interest and was turning to go in search of mice when the sound of Walter’s claws scratching the bottom of the box caught his attention. Beamer’s eyes widened and his ears pricked up as he crouched again, his head shaking slightly with excitement as he eyed the unsuspecting squab scrabbling and pecking at the bottom of the box. Mary and Jody didn’t notice as Beamer crept ever so slowly to the end of the beam until he was directly above Walter.

  “OK, Jody, get the bowls. The cage is almost ready,” Mary said, oblivious to the menace overhead. Jody went out to the paddock to retrieve the small white crockery bowls from the spot in the sun where the girls had placed them to dry. Meanwhile, Beamer gazed down, measuring the distance he would have to jump from the rafters to the top board of Star’s stall. Finally, he gathered himself and leapt, landing nimbly on the board and teetering for just an instant before regaining his balance. Star started at the sight of the cat, but he soon lost interest and went back to munching his hay. Poor Walter, on the other hand, became so frightened upon seeing the cat not two feet above his head that he scrabbled frantically in his box and flapped his wings in terror.

  Then he swooped down upon the escaping cat with every talon bared!

  “All right, all right, Walter! Your home is almost ready. Calm down!” Mary yelled, not turning from the cage to see what the matter was. Then, in the blink of an eye, Beamer was in and out of the box and running across the stable with Walter in his jaws!

  “Beamer!” screamed Mary as the murderous cat flew past her toward the small crack between the stable doors where he had crept in earlier.

  “Walter!” Jody screeched, running in from the paddock and racing with Mary to attempt a rescue. Beamer had not anticipated the size of Walter, who was much bigger than a mouse, and he was finding it impossible to get himself and the pigeon through the crack all at once. With the girls almost upon him, Beamer turned and raced back to the front of the stable where he could make his escape by jumping through the low window there. But just as he crouched to make the leap, Colonel Sanders, from the top board of Lady’s stall, drew himself up to his full height, squawked, and flapped his wings menacingly. Then he swooped down upon the escaping cat with every talon bared! Beamer yowled in pain as the Colonel’s claws found his flesh, and Walter dropped at last from the astonished cat’s open jaws. Beamer escaped the clutches of the Colonel long enough to make it through the window, but the Colonel continued after him, flapping and squawking in full pursuit.

  “Oh, Walter!” Mary cried, kneeling by the squab where he lay on his side on the dirt floor.

  “Mary, is he dead?” Jody asked fearfully, her voice quivering.

  Mary picked Walter up gently, and as she did, he opened his eyes and blinked.

  “Phew! I thought so for a second. He’s so petrified his heart is beating a mile a minute! And,” she said, examining the skin under his feathers, “he’s got a little blood on him where Beamer’s old teeth went into his skin.”

  “Not a very nice first day!” Jody exclaimed, stroking Walter’s head sympathetically. “We’ll have to clean him up a little.”

  “Did you see the Colonel?” Mary asked with a chuckle.

  “I couldn’t believe it!” Jody exclaimed. “Did you ever expect him to do something like that? He’s really earned the name Colonel now!”

  “I have a feeling the old Colonel’s been waiting for years to get that old cat for something, and this just gave him a good excuse! Now, we’d better get Walter cleaned up and in his cage, and we have to make sure the top is secure!”

  So Walter was placed lovingly in his bed of straw with full bowls of food and water, and as the girls watched quietly, he settled into a corner, ruffled his fuzzy breast, tucked his tired head behind his wing, and fell fast asleep.

  8

  Circus Act

  IN THE SPAN of just a few weeks, Walter’ wings had developed so that he could fly effortlessly around Lucky Foot Stable. His favorite resting spot was on the top board of Lady’s stall, close to the Colonel. It was almost as if he knew the old white rooster had saved his life, and he seemed content and happy to be one of the family. Now when Mary and Jody rode their bikes to the stable at the crack of dawn on weekend mornings, the first thing they did was to free Walter from his cage.

  On one such warm and sunny morning, the girls met in the stable early as usual. After feeding and grooming Star and releasing Walter—who immediately flew to his roosting spot and began preening his feathers—they went to sit under the weeping willow tree in the middle of the big pasture and talk about their plans for the day.

  “Mare, it’s such a nice morning, and you know we haven’t ridden since Lady and Star were separated,” Jody hinted as they watched Lady and Gypsy graze peacefully with the cows.

  “I know, it seemed like she was too upset before, and we didn’t want her to see Star. What do you think she would do if she saw him now?”

  “I don’t know, Mare, I still don’t think they should see each other, at least not until Willie says it’s OK. So we can’t ride past Lucky Foot, and the only way to ride off the farm is past Lucky Foot,” Jody moaned.

  “That means we can’t go to Secret Place, or the Piney Wood, or even the field where the Christmas trees are.”

  The girls sat in perplexed silence, watching the ponies swat flies with their tails.

  “Mary, I have an idea!” Jody suddenly said. “Why don’t we practice our circus act right here in the pasture? The cows could be our audience!”

  “Not bad, not bad,” Mary said thoughtfully. “Let’s ask the ponies what they think. Gypsy! Ladabucks!

  Do you want to practice our circus act today?”

  The girls laughed when Lady snorted loudly and Gypsy shook her head, just as though they had understood the question.

  “Lady thinks the cows are too stupid to appreciate our death-defying trick riding!” Mary chuckled.

  “And Gypsy is just lazy!” Jody added. “But I think it’s a good idea. Cows are a better audience than nothing, I guess. And we do need the practice.”

  Mary and Jody weren’t practicing for a real circus, of course. But they had come up with a real circus act anyway, and it had been a long time since they had worked on it.

  “Let’s run to the stable and get our helmets and the bridles. And we can say hello to Star and make sure Walter isn’t getting attacked again,” Mary said, jumping up from the grass. “Be right back, Lad and Gypsy!”

  The girls were back in the pasture with the necessary equipment almost before the ponies knew they were gone. Bridles and helmets were put on in a jiffy, and the girls mounted up bareback. It was time for the circus act to begin!

  As Mary and Jody cantered around the pasture to warm up, the cows continued to graze peacefully, unaware of the exciting events about to transpire. Of course, Mary decided it was her job to get their attention. She reined Gypsy to a halt in the center of the pasture and stood on the cooperative pony’s back, her sneakered feet planted firmly on the generous flesh on either side of the mare’s backbone. Jody giggled as she watched from a seated position on Lady.

  Holding the bridle reins in one hand and gesturing grandly with the other, Mary addressed her audience.

  “Ladies and gentlemen!” Mary hollered in her best ringmaster voice, “today we will present to you our act, a circus act, an act of death-defying courage and riding trickery such as the world has never seen! Was that bad grammar?” Mary asked Jody. Jody nodded and giggled some more. A few cows raised their heads.

  “Anyway, ladies and germs, we shall begin today by introducing our fearless, beautiful, and well-trained steeds—the indescribable flaxen chestnut mare from the highlands of Europe, Gypsy Amber . . .” (Jody applauded enthusiastically.) “And accompanying her in the fantastic and
incredible spectacle you are about to witness, straight from the wild and untamed Western plains, raised and trained by the Indians, the painted mare, Lady White Cloud!”

  At this, Jody raised herself to stand on Lady’s back and bow grandly to the audience. Several more cows looked up at the curious sight of the girls standing side by side on the ponies, but they soon lost interest and dropped their heads again to graze.

  “Now, let’s start the show!” bellowed Mary.

  On cue, the girls clasped each other’s hands in the air, dropped their reins, and raised their free hands in a majestic salute to the audience. At the same moment, their feet slid down the ponies’ sides and they were seated on the pony’s backs for just an instant before sliding back with their hands still clasped, off the hind ends of the ponies, landing on their feet in the pasture. The well trained and amazing Gypsy and Lady stood perfectly still while Mary and Jody, in unison, took three giant steps backwards, then ran and vaulted onto the pony’s backs again from behind.

  “A trick we learned from watching the unforgettable Western movie actor, Mr. John Wayne!” Mary announced proudly. Again in unison, the girls gently slapped the shoulders of their mounts with their right hands and then raised them to the sky in another grand gesture of the circus.

  “For our next feat, we will demonstrate the astounding agility and dexterity of these fearless beasts as we guide them through the serpentine! Note the flying lead changes executed by Lady White Cloud and Gypsy Amber as they maneuver around each pole!”

  The girls clasped each other’s hands in the air, dropped their reins, and raised their hands in a salute.

  The serpentine was a straight line of rickety fence posts at the side of the pasture that had not been removed when the new fence was put up. The ten posts were just the right distance apart for a pony to snake through, in and out all the way down the line.

  “The challenge, ladies and gems, is to ride this difficult course at a canter—that is, faster than a trot and slower than a gallop—without the rider’s legs touching the posts, or banging into them, which is a most painful occurrence, as we well know from our years of practice!”

  The girls trotted Lady and Gypsy to opposite ends of the serpentine and then turned to face each other. The ponies pranced with excitement, remembering this trick from previous rehearsals.

  “Aaaaannnddd . . . on your marks, get set, GO!” screamed Mary. Jody leaned forward and Lady took off at a canter, swerving through the posts at a fearful rate but with such skill that Jody’s legs never brushed any of the posts. At the end of the line, Jody slapped Mary’s outstretched hand, and Mary took off in the opposite direction on Gypsy, whooping and hollering through the posts with one hand in the air.

  After the last post, Mary reined Gypsy in and trotted calmly to Lady and Jody. The girls again saluted the crowd, none of whom were paying the slightest bit of attention.

  “And now, ladies and gents, for our final and most awe-inspiring performance of all, we will attempt—and I did say attempt—a stunt that has not been performed since Buffalo Bill’s Wild West Show, by none other than the world famous Miss Annie Oakley! Now, riders dismount!

  The girls swung their legs over the ponies and landed at the same instant on the ground.

  “But before we attempt this trick, we will demonstrate the quiet nature of our mounts once more, while at the same time rewarding them for a job well done so far today!”

  At that, Mary crawled behind Gypsy’s front legs and Jody behind Lady’s, and sitting cross-legged, they each grasped a front leg of their pony in each hand, looking at their audience between the pony’s legs as if behind bars. A sugar cube was produced from each girl’s pocket and held just beyond each pony’s reach as Mary continued:

  “Now, Gypsy. Now, Lady. You may accept your rewards, and take a bow!”

  The ponies dipped their heads to take the sugar cubes held in the girls’ outstretched palms, giving the illusion of a bow to the audience.

  “Thank you, thank you!” Jody and Mary exclaimed grandly to the imaginary applause.

  “Enough of this nonsense, now for the grand finale!” Mary shouted as the girls crawled from under their ponies and faced the audience. “Watch carefully now, as we vault onto our fearless steed’s backs at the trot, and without missing a beat, retrieve a minuscule scrap of cloth otherwise known as a handkerchief from the ground while hanging precariously by one leg! And all with no visible means of support! Jody, the handkerchief, please!”

  “The handkerchief?” Jody asked blankly.

  “Yes, the handkerchief!” Mary repeated loudly. Jody searched her pockets frantically.

  “The one around your neck,” Mary finally whispered from the corner of her mouth.

  “Oh! Sorry,” Jody said sheepishly, untying and whisking the red bandana dramatically from her neck and handing it to Mary with a flourish.

  “Now, we will drop the handkerchief halfway down the field while avoiding the cow pies, and after a running vault which will amaze and astound you, we will canter down and retrieve it from the ground using methods previously described!”

  Jody’s heart began beating a little faster in anticipation of this, the most difficult trick in their circus repertoire. The last time they had attempted the trick, the pickup item had been a very large burlap bag, not a very small handkerchief. But Mary didn’t seem the least bit worried as she dropped the handkerchief in the middle of the cow pasture and trotted back to where Jody stood with Lady. As Mary dismounted from Gypsy, Jody made her first announcement of the day.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, Mary and Gypsy will be first!” she declared grandly.

  “Oh, we will, will we?” Mary laughed. “Alrighty, then, my partner has nominated me to be the first to attempt this death-defying demonstration of riding skill not seen since the days of the Wild West! Oh, and one more thing—do not attempt this at home!”

  Mary slapped Gypsy lightly on the hindquarters, urging her into a slow trot. Trotting along beside her, Mary grasped her mane and vaulted onto Gypsy’s back just as she began to canter.

  “Mary, be careful!” Jody yelled as Mary approached the handkerchief at a brisk canter. Her breath caught in her throat as Mary grasped Gypsy’s mane firmly in her left hand and slid off to the side, as the lower half of her left leg hooked over the mare’s back and her free hand reached for the small scrap of red cloth.

  “Yeeehaaa!” Mary screeched as she grabbed the handkerchief and twirled it in a circle above her head while Gypsy cantered on. Then, “aaaaaghhh!” she continued, trying to right herself on Gypsy’s back but instead tumbling off into the cow pasture in a heap. The minute Gypsy felt herself with no rider, she stopped in her tracks and turned to look at Mary as if to say, “Whatever happened to you?”

  “Mary! Are you OK?” Jody asked breathlessly, reaching her friend seconds later.

  “Of course I’m OK!” Mary declared. “And if I hadn’t landed smack dab in the middle of this fresh cow pie, I’d be perfect!” she continued, holding out her right hand, which was completely covered in greenish muck. “Can you help me up?”

  “Help you up? Not with that hand, I can’t.” Jody laughed. “Eeewww!”

  “Well here, then, this one’s clean,” she said, offering her left hand for Jody to pull her to her feet.

  “Eeewww, Mare, look at your britches! And your hair!”

  Without thinking, and being right handed, Mary reached around with her muck-covered hand and felt the back of her muck-covered hair, and continued down to touch the back of her muck-covered britches. Jody burst out laughing uncontrollably as Gypsy extended her muzzle and sniffed the offending area and snorted loudly, curling her upper lip to the sky as horses do when they smell something particularly unpleasant. Mary, undaunted and mindful of her showmanship, simply turned to her audience with a flourish.

  “Ladies and gents, as you well know, even with the best and most accomplished of trick riders, mishaps do occasionally occur—at times due to the unpredictable n
ature of the mount and at other times due to the clumsiness of the rider. What you have witnessed today was an unsurpassed demonstration of the clumsiness of the rider!”

  Jody continued to laugh and the cows continued to graze.

  “Anyway, and with no further ado, we thank you for your patience today and we hope you have enjoyed at least most of our show. We look forward to seeing you at our next event, and please, watch your step as you exit.”

  Mary turned from her audience, and the girls unbridled the ponies and watched as Gypsy and Lady trotted off across the pasture. Then they turned and walked to the pasture gate with Jody still giggling and Mary’s head held high with as much dignity as she could muster, all the while limping slightly as she favored the wet side of her britches.

  The first thing Mary did when the girls got back to Lucky Foot Stable was to raise the handle on the red water pump, wash off her hands, and bend over, flinging her hair upside down under the running water. Star nickered curiously from his stall at the sight, and Colonel Sanders and Walter cocked their heads inquisitively from their perch on the top board.

  “Can’t do much about the britches right now,” Mary murmured to herself as she craned her neck, hair dripping, to try and assess the damage behind. Walter chose just that moment to glide from his perch and land squarely on Mary’s head, pecking at a wet strand of her hair.

  Jody, about to hang her bridle on its rack, turned just in time to witness the spectacle of Mary curled around for a view of her stained britches, trying to remain motionless so as not to disturb Walter, who busily squeezed a drink of water from her hair with his beak.

  “Joodde . . .” Mary giggled low in her throat to keep from jiggling Walter, but Jody couldn’t help it . . . she laughed so hard she dropped her bridle and fell to her knees on the dirt floor of Lucky Foot Stable.

  9

  The Reunion

  THE NEXT DAY dawned warm and bright, and Mary and Jody had just arrived at Lucky Foot Stable when Willie appeared in the doorway, scratching his head and pulling on his earlobe the way he always did when he was about to make a pronouncement.