“Just a few minutes ago. I snuck out.” Julia lived in one of the largest houses in the Maple Dale Equestrian Community development, if not the largest. It was all the way back on the last cul-de-sac. By way of how a crow flies it would be about a mile. For a human, unless you could walk through solid objects such as houses and garages and gazebos, it would probably be closer to two miles. Mindy glanced at the young woman’s feet. She’d walked all that way here in house slippers.
Julia watched as Donna jumped her horse Tee Time over the course set up for the lesson and sighed. She desperately wanted to be able to learn how to jump but wouldn’t admit that to anyone. Not even Mindy, whom she considered one of her best friends even though the only thing they had in common was horses and Maple Dale. She loved her horse Ichabod too much to subject him to carrying her weight over jumps. Bad enough, she thought, the poor guy had to lug her around with his feet on the ground.
When she grimaced as Donna brought Tee Time into a jump short, Mindy shook her head. “Donna, Donna, oh Donna, Donna,” she sang. “He was listening to you. That could have been costly.”
“Sorry,” Donna said. “Can I try it again?”
“You’d better believe it. You don’t want to end on that note.”
Donna gathered up her reins and urged Tee Time into a canter.
“Give me one full circle of collection, sit, sit, sit…SIT! Yes!”
Tee Time soared over the jump beautifully.
“Keep going! Keep going! Keep going! Sit! Sit! Sit! Half halt! Half halt. Inside rein, inside leg. Beautiful! Beautiful.”
Donna was radiant and beaming. “Oh my God, that felt so right.”
“Poetry in motion,” Mindy said. “Sharon, you’re next.”
Sharon’s horse Bijou had already been ridden today and was quiet and laid back. Sharon’s biggest “hurdle” to overcome was all the chatter in her hands. It drove Mindy crazy. It was as if both Sharon’s hands had minds of their own and were totally disconnected from the rest of her body. On a lunge line exercise, same thing - no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t keep her hands from moving excessively. Even with riding “on the buckle” and reins fully extended, her hands moved up and down.
“Remember what I said last time. Think like an eagle. Think like a swan. Glide. Soar….” The woman had a decent seat, good legs and good balance. Why oh why couldn’t she control her hands?
“Jimmy John never said anything about my hands,” Sharon had once said early on.
“Well shame on him,” Mindy said. “That’s his problem.” It wasn’t until Mindy dismantled an old set of reins, shortening them to the exact length needed for Sharon to have Bijou on the bit that she started making improvement, though not without taking a toll on her balance. “You’ll get it. You’ll get it,” Mindy insisted. And Sharon was showing improvement. Just not fast enough for her internal Type A personality score card.
“Why don’t you just let me show and see what a judge says?”
“Well, for two reasons. One, I know what he or she will say. They’re going to say you would be a phenomenal rider if you could maybe sit on your hands. Two, when you show, you’re not just showing for yourself, you’re showing for all of Maple Dale. We’re a family. We’re a team.”
Sharon rode Bijou into the corner at a trot, asked for a canter and approached the jump. Bijou took the jump easily and gave a little buck.
“He bucks because of her hands, right?” Julia asked in a soft voice.
Mindy nodded. “Because he can. He’d think twice,” Mindy added, speaking to Sharon now, “if you instilled confidence in your abilities. You raise your shoulders with each stride. What are you conveying with that move? What are you thinking?”
“I’m thinking I suck.”
“Eh!” Mindy made a sound like a buzzer. “Not a good answer. Here, here, bring him here.” Mindy had Sharon dismount, asked for her helmet, put it on, and secured the snap and gathered the horse’s reins. Sharon gave her a leg-up.
“Watch what I’m doing.” Mindy worked Bijou at a trot and then a canter. “Notice anything?”
“No.”
“Okay. Watch now.” With every stride, Mindy raised her shoulders. Not a lot, just a little. Not only did Sharon see the difference, but Bijou reacted differently – and this with Mindy not having it impact her hands at all. Nothing changed in the feel of his bit, but there was something about the shoulders going up and down that apparently was familiar and elicited a response from the horse. His head went up, he tried to avoid the bit, and his entire being, his overall balance changed.
“It’s all this,” Mindy said, shrugging her shoulders. She dropped her reins and rode with her arms held out wide. Bijou trotted along, paying attention to her legs and seat. And when she raised her shoulders again, he lifted his head. “See.”
Sharon nodded.
“Now watch this.” Mindy picked up the reins and in addition to her raising her shoulders, she now lifted her hands ever so lightly with each stride. Bijou reacted with gusto. Up went his head, his back hollow.
Sharon’s mouth dropped. Even more amazing was the fact that Mindy was a superb rider. If Bijou would do this with her, and her glue-tight seat…. “I got it! I totally got it!” Sharon said.
Mindy trotted Bijou up next to her, dismounted and handed her the helmet. Sharon led her horse to the mounting block and gathered up the reins. “Every time I move my shoulders, tell me.”
Everyone did just that. Each time Sharon lifted her shoulders even slightly, they called out loud and clear. It was an endless song. And then, silence…as they all watched. She was finally getting it. Progress.
“You look a little like a statue,” Mindy said. “But it’ll come. Relax. Breathe. Breathe. There you go. There you go.”
Sharon grinned from ear to ear.
Cherise and her horse Don Pablo were up next.
Chapter Four
Bethann smiled at little David, all soft and cuddly nestled in her arms. Benjamin sat at their side, his eyes filled with love. “How does this happen?” he asked. “I mean I know how it happen. but how? How? I think a tree grow from an acorn is miracle, let alone this. How does this happen? How does baby breathe all this time?”
“Through the umbilical cord,” the nurse said, standing on the other side of the bed, removing Bethann’s IV.
Benjamin smiled. “So scientific.”
The nurse chuckled as she walked out and glanced back from the door. No matter how many times she’d witnessed the miracle of birth, it warmed her heart, and even more, the scene playing out before her. Benjamin leaned over and kissed the baby’s forehead. “My little man. We will hold Oshichiya a week from today to officially name you. No fish,” he said smiling at Bethann. No one in the family ate fish. “Just vegetables, red beans, and rice, so nice,” he added, laughing at his rhyme. “I feel so giddy.”
Benjamin had everything planned for the homecoming, the Oshichiya, his life, their lives. He was a planner by nature. He had his life-planning down to a science. He even planned how much sleep he should have each night for optimal efficiency. “Five hours and forty-five minutes, maybe forty-six minutes if I happen to open eyes in the night.”
The obstetrician tapped on the open door and entered the room. “Well, how are we all doing?”
“Just fine,” Bethann said, smiling down at little David. “He’s so precious.”
The doctor smiled. “Are you comfortable?”
“Yes.”
“What about you?” he asked Benjamin.
“I am recovering well.”
“Good. I have the circumcision scheduled for seven-thirty in the morning. I suggest you not be here.”
Benjamin stared. “But I am American father. I must be there.”
“Not necessarily,” the doctor said. “It’s rare for fathers to be present for the hospital procedure.”
Benjamin’s eyes lit up. “It is?”
The doctor nodded.
“See. I told you,” Bet
hann said.
Benjamin sighed. “Thanks be to the universe.”
The doctor nodded - his thoughts exactly, particularly in Benjamin’s case. He had serious doubts Benjamin would survive. “Well, I’ll see this little one tomorrow morning.”
“Bethann will be with him, right?” Benjamin asked.
The doctor shook his head. “Very few mothers want to be there. It’s up to her.” He looked at Bethann.
“No thank you,” she said, hugging her child. She didn’t even want to think about it, let alone be there. “I’ve heard the babies cry horribly and some even whimper for hours.”
“They forget about the pain,” the doctor said. “It’s fleeting.”
The Beatrice Fitzgerald General Hospital wasn’t just named after a woman; it had a woman’s touch. The birthing room was also the aftercare room. Mother, baby, and other parent stayed in the same room until discharge, barring complications. After the doctor left, Benjamin had the routine privilege of holding little David as long as he wanted, then placed him in the bassinet next to the bed as Bethann dozed. When she woke, Benjamin was asleep on the daybed on the other side of the basinet. Little David was sound asleep as well. She sighed contentedly and closed her eyes.
~ * ~
At Maple Dale, Mindy turned off the barn lights and she and Mrs. Butchling headed toward their cars. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”
Mrs. Butchling waved. “Call me if you need me. I’ll be here around five. And don’t sit in the car and talk on your cellphone. Go home.”
Mindy laughed. “Yes, Mom!”
At the top of the driveway, Mindy turned left and Mrs. Butchling, right. Mindy’s house was less than a quarter of a mile up the road. Halfway there, she decided to go get a smoothie at the corner coffee shop and turned around. She was a regular.
“Kiwi or mango?” Finney, the sole employee-owner-barista asked.
“Kiwi.”
Devon and Cherise, two of the women from the evening’s class were sitting at a table off to the right. Mindy smiled. “Oh, just what you two need - espresso.”
The women laughed. “You kicked my butt,” Devon said. “I need this just so I can make it home.”
Mindy paid for her smoothie, waved, and was just about to walk out the door when she noticed the headline on the local newspaper box. “Fracking Comes Knocking.”
“Fracking? Finney, what’s fracking?”
“Drilling for gas,” he said. “They’re marking all up and down the road.”
“You mean like our gas wells?”
“No. Worse. Read the article.”
Mindy fished into her pocket for some change to pay for the paper. She left slurping her smoothie with her eyes glued to the page and almost tripped on the curb. “What?” She glanced around the parking lot as if she expected someone to reply. “They can’t do this.” She climbed into her Jeep and sat with the door open as she flicked on the overhead dash light. “Who told them they could do this? This isn’t right.”
She got out of her Jeep and went back into the coffee shop. Finney looked up from the counter. “Who told them they could do this?” Mindy asked.
“Mister Big Bucks.”
Mister Big Bucks was Finney’s nickname for anyone that disagreed with his far left environmentalist “hippie” socialist beliefs.
“It says it can make animals sick. Some even die. What are they thinking?”
“They’re not. It’s all about the money.”
“Can we just tell them no?”
“Good luck with that,” Finney said. “They mess with my water, I’m history.”
Mindy shook her head. “What is wrong with people?” She pushed the door open with her hip, turned the page, and continued reading the article on the way to her Jeep. As she climbed in behind the wheel, her cellphone rang.
“Hey, Mom. What’s up? Everything okay?”
“Yes. I’m just checking to see where you’re at.”
“I came up to Finney’s for a smoothie. I’m on my way home.”
“Drive careful, dear.”
Mindy rolled her eyes. Their house was less than two miles away. “Mom, do you know what fracking is?”
“No.”
“Well, get ready. It’s coming to our town.”
Chapter Five
Mindy and Bethann’s mother Christine stood watch at the kitchen window for Mindy. When the Jeep came into view around the bend in the road, she ducked away so she wouldn’t be seen - hurried into the living room, sat down, and picked up the novel she hadn’t read in days.
“Oh yeah,” Richard said. “That’ll fool her. Why don’t you close your eyes and pretend to be sleeping. That could be even more obvious.”
Christine smiled. “I’m going to let her grow up someday. Honest. Just not yet.” Having Mindy later in life with fourteen years difference between her two children made for a more worrisome mom second time around. Mindy would always be her baby.
A baby with a head of steam. Mindy stormed into the house. “Dad, do you know about fracking?”
“A little bit. Why?”
Mindy handed him the newspaper. “They’re marking out in front of Maple Dale. They’re going to frack us!”
“What?” Christine looked over Richard’s shoulder as he scanned the article. “How’d they come up with the word fracking?”
Mindy dropped her jaw. “Really, Mom? Is that all you can say?”
Christine pointed to the opening paragraph. “It makes no sense. I’ve never even heard that term before.”
“It’s like a computer virus. Remember that?”
Christine chuckled. For months she swore there was no such thing as a computer virus, until she got one.
“Dad, we have to stop them. The horses’ll get sick. The dogs’ll get sick.”
Both dogs, two pampered spoiled rotten Irish Setters lifted their heads in disdain. It was as if both of them were questioning disparaging terms of their own. “Dogs?”
Mindy patted them both on the head. “Sorry.”
Christine snatched the newspaper out of her husband’s hands. “Babies and children get sick? What?”
Mindy hadn’t read that far. “How?”
“The water becomes contaminated. They pump in chemicals.”
The three of them looked at one another. “This is probably an exaggeration,” Richard said. “Let’s not jump off a cliff without researching it thoroughly first.” An attorney by profession, albeit semi-retired, he was a “gatherer” of data by nature. He took nothing at face value.
Mindy sat down on the floor next to the dogs. “Finney says he’s moving if it comes.”
“Finney is an alarmist. He’s not going anywhere,” Richard said. “Not without giving me the recipe for his mocha latte first. I’ll track him down.”
Mindy smiled. Her dad always had a way of making her believe everything would be okay. Her mother on the other hand….
When the two dogs sat up and put a paw on Mindy’s arm she gave them both a hug. Named Jack and Jill, they were eight-year-old litter mates rescued from a house fire in the Maple Dale development two years ago. Their owners perished, good friends of the family, upstanding in the community. Drugs were later found in the rubble along with evidence of arson. No one had any idea.
Jill rolled onto her back to get her belly rubbed as Jack doggie-crawled closer to lay his head in Mindy’s lap. It was then Christine noticed Mindy still wearing her barn boots.
“They’re clean,” Mindy said. “Sorta.”
The phone rang and they all turned, dogs included. Richard glanced at the Caller ID. “It’s Benjamin.”
“All is good,” Benjamin said, accustomed to alarming only himself. “Bethann wants to say goodnight.” He handed her the phone.
“How are you doing, honey?” her father asked.
“I’m doing fine.” Her voice had a faraway surreal sound to it. “David is so darling.”
“I hear him. Is he crying?”
“No. He’s just making noi
se.”
Richard smiled. “We love you, honey. Here’s your Mom.”
Christine drew a breath to try to keep from crying. “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine. I just breastfed David for the first time.”
Tears filled Christine’s eyes. “Did it go well?”
“Yes. The nurses were kidding me. They said for someone who doesn’t do dairy, I have a lot of milk.”
Christine heard Benjamin cooing to the baby. “Here’s your sister,” she said, handing the phone to Mindy.
“Hey, Mindy. How are you?”
“I’m fine. How about you? You sound sleepy.”
“I am. Just a little. I feel like I’ve just given birth.”
Mindy laughed. “Mom’s bawling.”
Christine wiped her eyes and glared at her. “What?” Mindy said. “I just thought she’d like to know.”
“Give her back the phone,” Bethann said.
Mindy handed it to her.
“Mom?”
“Yes.” Christine sniffled.
“I love you,” Bethann said.
“I love you too, baby. You take care now. Okay? Get some rest. Give David a kiss for all of us.”
“I will. Good night, Mom.”
Richard and Mindy watched as Christine set the phone down and wiped her eyes. This was a woman who could no doubt move mountains. The fact that she would probably have tears in her eyes the whole time only added to her strength.
~ * ~
Mindy was in the habit of waking up on her own right around six-thirty in the morning. For some reason, today she slept in. She dressed quickly, grabbed a bag of Bethann’s homemade granola and headed for the barn to feed the horses. Malaki nickered when she heard the Jeep pull up outside.
“I know. I know,” Mindy said. “I’m late.” She climbed the ladder to the hayloft and threw down six bales of hay. Malaki grabbed hold of one and dragged it halfway into her stall. Every horse on both sides of the aisle nickered and pawed. Mindy opened the bales in turn with her pocket knife, hayed the horses, and went into the feed room to start mixing their grain. The barn cats Piggly and Squiggly rose from their sleeping positions on the oat sacks and stretched and yawned.
Maple Dale ~ My Forever Home (Maple Dale Series) Page 3
