I tugged on her halter and led her to a patch of grass under a tree. She tore at the grass with her teeth, as if she was afraid someone would take it away. My eyes filled with tears. “You poor baby,” I said.
Right then, two things happened. Jake appeared from inside the bank, waving his arms and yelling, his lime-green Hawaiian shirt flapping like a flag in the wind. At the same time, a siren went off in the fire station on the other side of the square. Rosie had evidently never been around fire engines or lime-green Hawaiian flags. She jumped and pulled the lead rope out of my hands with a bug-eyed look of pure panic.
“Whoa!” I yelled, but Rosie was headed away from all that scary stuff as fast as she could go. Who would have thought that scraggly horse could move so fast?
“You stole my horse,” hollered Jake as he came puffing and wheezing up to me and Addie. “I’m calling the police. You brats are juvenile delinquents!” He tried to grab my arm, but I twisted away and chased after the pony, with Addie close behind. We lost sight of Rosie, but could hear her hoofs ringing on the pavement as she headed down the street.
We ran and ran; it seemed like for an hour. I worried that Rosie would get hit by a car, but then Addie yelled, “There!” and pointed. Addie had great eyes for finding things. Rosie turned a corner and ran up Mulberry Street, past the post office, past Rice’s Flower Shoppe. I saw her cut through some yards and race down an alley, and then I lost her.
“I’m out of breath,” said Addie.
“Me, too,” I said, “and my side hurts. Let’s just keep walking this way.”
We kept walking and panting, watching and hoping that she would stop somewhere. I could hear dogs barking ahead of us and a car honking. Stupid people. Didn’t they know that honking would just scare her more? A frightened horse would react by trying to get away.
The good thing was that she was headed away from the middle of town, so there weren’t many cars. I looked around and didn’t see Jake anywhere. We must have left him far behind.
Finally, as we came out from behind a big old two-story house surrounded by huge trees, we could see the pony galloping across an open field at the edge of town. Thank goodness there was no fence. Panicky horses didn’t do well with fences. We ran again, across the field and into the woods on the other side.
When we got to the woods, Addie and I stopped, gasping for air, both of us hot in the face and dripping sweat. Addie’s curly brown hair wound around her face like wet noodles while mine just hung flat, dripping in my eyes. There was no sound of hooves, no horse sounds at all. All I could hear over our panting was twittering birds high up in the trees.
“What if she hurt herself?” Addie said when she could talk again. “What if she broke a leg and they have to shoot her?”
“They don’t do that anymore,” I said, feeling kind of cross, because I was worried, too. “My dad can fix a broken leg on a horse.” But I knew that a pony like Rosie might not be worth the cost of setting a broken leg. I also knew that even though she wasn’t my pony, I was going to be her caretaker. I would find her and protect her. I could not let Nasty Jake get his hands on her again.
“Let’s just find her,” I said, kicking through the dry leaves that covered the ground.
After maybe five minutes of wandering through small, scrubby trees, listening and straining our eyes, Addie said, “Piper, look.” And there was Rosie. She stood in a clearing, nibbling grass and violets. The sun shone on her, turning her white mane to snow and making her beautiful.
Chapter Four
~ A Safe Haven ~
Rosie looked so happy nibbling grass in the sun that I hated to make her move. She was frothy with sweat, which stained her brown patches even darker. But with Jake still somewhere behind us and mad, we had to hide her. I eased up to Rosie and picked up her lead rope. She looked at me with a mouthful of grass and flowers and blew a hello through her nostrils.
“I think she was waiting for us,” said Addie. I thought so, too, because she didn’t try to move away.
“Where can we take her that’s safe?” I said.
“What about that shed that we used to play Haunted House in?” Addie said. “It’s way back on the old Applegate place and there’s a little fenced field beside it.”
That’s why I liked Addie. Sometimes she seemed like she wasn’t paying attention and then she came up with a great idea. She was real smart, just afraid to show it. Me, I didn’t have that problem. People usually wanted me to quit talking about what I knew.
We walked deeper into the woods, leading a limping Rosie, who stopped every few minutes to snatch a mouthful of juicy-looking grass. I let her do that, even if it wasn’t good horse manners. She was just so hungry. I started talking softly to her, real close to her head. I told her how Addie and I were going to take care of her and make sure she had lots of water and food to eat. I whispered to her while we walked and sometimes her eyes would look into mine as if she understood me.
“What are you talking to her about?” Addie asked.
“I’m telling her all the good things that are going to happen from now on.”
“Why are you telling her? She doesn’t understand.”
“If I’m going to be a horse whisperer, I have to start sometime.”
“A what?”
“A horse whisperer. It’s a horse trainer that is special. They whisper to horses and get the horses to calm down and do amazing things. It’s really cool. I have a book about it that I’ll lend you.” Addie didn’t like to read as much as I did, but if it was a good book about horses, she’d wade through it.
Beyond the woods, a hilly field opened out and at the far edge of it was the shed, about the size of a one-car garage and missing a door. The best part of that shed was that it was out of sight of the highway and the old Applegate house and barn. Miss Julie lived in a retirement home now and probably wouldn’t care if we were there. She was the one who made my bracelet for me out of Dotty’s mane. Her son, Sam, was a lawyer in Louisville, and came back to Serendipity Springs a couple of days every week. The board fence around the little field was strong and would keep a pony in. It had the kind of wired-together gate my dad called a family gate, meaning it took the whole family to open or close it. We had to work to undo the gate, which was tied shut with a piece of hay rope. Addie undid the knot using her teeth and dragged it open, while I led Rosie into her temporary home. Addie dragged the gate closed again and we both watched as Rosie started munching on the thick, tall grass in the shade of a big oak tree.
“We should find some water for her,” Addie said. I pulled up a foxtail and chewed on the end.
“Maybe there is a tank and hydrant at the house,” I said, so we walked up the hill on the dirt track that would take us to the Applegate house. We stood behind a maple tree and watched the house for a while. Its white boards and green shutters looked dirty, but it was in okay condition. All the windows were shut, and there were no signs of anyone living there now. Nothing in the yard moved. We looked at each other, and then ran across the yard and into the big red barn. The late afternoon sun slanted in through cracks in the ceiling, and dust hung in the air above what looked like a hundred bales of hay. Here was food for Rosie if the grass got eaten down.
“This will be good hay for Rosie. It’s not moldy at all,” I said. My dad had taught me about hay.
“Hey, look,” I heard as Addie wandered outside. Around the corner of the barn was a water tank and hydrant, as I had hoped. “Do you think it works?” I said. I lifted the red handle, pulled up hard and—goosh!—water came pouring out into the tank. Addie and I grinned and high-fived each other.
Addie started to pace around the barnyard. “It’s too far to carry it to Rosie.”
“We don’t have to,” I said. “Horses only need to drink a few times a day. We can take turns bringing her over here.”
“I guess so,” said Addie. “But what if I have problems leading her or something? I haven’t done that very often.”
“You�
��ll be fine,” I said. “We can practice before you have to do it. She’s really gentle.”
We turned off the water and jogged back to Rosie to make sure she was still there. She was standing in the shade of the old oak with her eyes shut, looking like she was in horse heaven. She opened her eyes as we walked up, and snorted at us, then closed them again and sighed. I hugged her neck and whispered that I would take care of her. I loved smelling the warm horsey smell of her, the best smell in the world. I almost couldn’t breathe I felt so happy. We had saved her and I was never going to let Dirty Jake get his hands on her again.
Chapter Five
~ I Play Dumb ~
It was evening by the time I slipped in the back door and snuck upstairs to my room. We had taken Rosie to the barn for water and talked for a long time. Addie practiced leading her, but tomorrow I would get up and take care of her first thing. I fell on my bed and shut my eyes. My mother wouldn’t have forgiven me for being gone so long without telling her where I was going, even though she knew I didn’t have a phone yet. Addie was lucky because her mother was still at work and wouldn’t know how late she got home.
“Piper, will you come down here?” Mom said. My mother sounded like she had been waiting for me. I slouched down the stairs, ready with my excuses and my attitude, and stepped into a roomful of trouble. Sitting on our couch was dirty, sweaty Jake and next to him were Sheriff Martin and my father. My father! This was bad. Mom had called him to help, and she hated to do that. They don’t always get along.
My mother started in on me, “Piper how could you possibly think you could...”
“Wait, Jean,” said my dad. “Let me start this, okay? Piper, do you have anything you want to tell us?” His brown eyes gazed into my scared green ones.
I said nothing.
“Piper?” repeated Dad.
“Look, Dan, this has gone too far,” said the sheriff. “We have witnesses that were at the bank that saw the girl with the horse. Jake here has a right to his property”
“That old nag is a registered purebred POA, a Pony of the Americas, and it’s worth a lot of money.” Jake glared at me. I could smell him across the room. What a creep.
I glared back at Jake. I said nothing. They could put me in prison and throw away the key and I would say nothing to him.
“Piper,” said my mom. “If you’ll just tell the sheriff where the horse is, then they can collect it and everything will be okay.”
I looked at my mother. “It’s a pony, a skinny pony that’s in terrible shape. He didn’t feed her or water her or take care of her. He left her in the hot sun all afternoon. She’s got sores on her legs and she was limping. He shouldn’t be allowed to have her. And I tried to get Dad or Mr. Martin to help.” I took a deep breath and lied, “She ran off when we got to the woods. Addie and I looked and looked, but we couldn’t find her. We almost got lost. I don’t know where she is. I tried to find her. I really did.” My being so tired helped me then and I started to cry. Thinking about how sad a shape Rosie was in made me cry harder. Even though I hated to lie to my parents, there was no way I was going to tell Jake where that pony was.
Mom and Dad looked at each other. They seemed to be getting along pretty well today, probably because they were worried about me. That made me feel even guiltier, so I kept on crying.
Mom came over and hugged me, which she hardly ever did.
“Honey, I’m sorry I yelled at you,” she said. “I know you feel bad for the pony and you maybe should have stopped and thought for a minute. But we’ll all try and find it.”
Dad started talking to Jake and Sheriff Martin in a low voice. I couldn’t hear what they were saying and that made me twist my bracelet. I tried to quit crying, but I was really worked up and kept hiccuping and dripping tears. I wasn’t faking. I was just crying for a different reason than they all thought. And Mom being nice was making me cry more.
I blew my nose loudly as Jake raised his voice, “I want my horse back, and I’ll be calling Sam Applegate in Louisville. He’s the sharpest lawyer in the city. He knows how to get things done. Your girl knows where that nag is and she’d better tell, or you’re going to have a lawsuit on your hands.” He heaved himself off the couch and stalked out the front door, slamming it after him. As he walked down our front walk, I saw him talking on his cell phone.
My dad glared at the door and said, “What a jerk. Harvey, what can we do?”
Sheriff Martin looked at me. I was still leaking tears. “Guess someone will have to search for the pony. If your girl doesn’t know where it is, then it’s probably running around loose and scared. I’ll see if I can get some guys to drive around and look for it.”
After he left, it was just me and my parents. Mom said, “Piper, you go get yourself some supper. I left a plate of spaghetti on the table and it’s still warm.” Mom always wanted to feed me when she thought I was sad. It was a good thing I don’t eat much.
Dad said, “Honey, do you have any idea where the pony might have gone? It would give Harvey a place to start looking. I know you don’t want Jake to have her, but a pony on its own can get hurt easily. And maybe if I talk to him the sheriff will look into the abuse charges.”
“Dad, is she really worth a lot of money?” I asked.
“Well actually, hon, no. Even purebred POA ponies aren’t bringing much lately. That’s why I don’t get why Jake is so upset.”
“It would be great if you’d talk to Sheriff Martin,” I said. “I think the tracks started going south of town toward the lake and picnic grounds.” Applegate’s farm and Rosie were north of town, but I had to stall until all the grown-ups agreed with me that Jake didn’t deserve to own an animal.
Later, after Dad went home and Mom said goodnight, I lay in bed and stared at the twenty-five plastic Breyer horses that I had collected as a kid. Not one looked like Rosie. She was one of a kind. I thought about all the fibs I had told that day and how I would have to keep telling them. It took me and my conscience a long time to fall asleep.
Chapter Six
~ Miss Julie ~
I tried to be calm while eating my cereal and milk the next morning, but I was so excited about seeing Rosie I could hardly hold my spoon. Mom came in with a resume to redo and sat down at the table.
“What are you going to do this morning?” she asked.
“Oh, I think I’ll go over to Addie’s and we’ll try to figure out where the pony might have gone.”
“Okay, but if you find it, you let me or Dad know. That Jake character is not someone I want you around.”
“Yeah, I don’t want to be around him either,” I said as I snagged an apple and slipped out the garage door. Easing my way out of the garage, I couldn’t let Mom see the plastic bucket and purple dog brush I had with me. We used to have a Sheltie with a really thick coat, so that brush was a good solid one
Rosie whinnied when she saw me and came over. Her limp was gone and she looked much happier today. I rubbed her forehead and chest while she ate her apple. I whispered what a good girl she was and led her to the barn for a drink. I checked the sores on her legs, which had scabbed over. After we came back to the shed, I brushed Rosie with the dog brush and told her how good life was going to be for her from now on, away from Jake. Rosie nodded, enjoying the scratching of the brush. I sang as I walked back to town in the morning sun. I had a plan. I needed to ease my conscience and let one particular adult know what we were doing.
I whistled under Addie’s bedroom window. Addie poked her head out, her gaze darting around to see if anyone was listening. “What happened last night? I saw the sheriff’s car at your house.”
It took a few minutes to explain everything, and by that time Addie was climbing out her window. Her mother was at work, but Addie always liked to climb out. I thought it made her feel dangerous. I told her that we had to go find Miss Julie Applegate in the retirement home and get permission to keep a pony in her shed. We had to trust her not to tell on us, but at least then if we were arrest
ed for stealing, they couldn’t add trespassing to the charges.
The Serendipity Springs Retirement Home rested on a quiet, shady street. It was a one story, red brick building, new-looking with small trees planted around and lots of bright red, purple and pink flowers.
Inside, it was cool, after the heat of the sun, and was decorated in cheerful colors. It seemed like a happy place to live if you needed to be in a home with someone to help you. We tiptoed to the front desk and asked for Miss Julie. The smiling receptionist said she lived in Apartment 10 and we could go knock on her door.
“How old is Miss Julie?” said Addie as we walked down the hall.
“I don’t know,” I said. “One time my dad said she wasn’t all that old and could have stayed at the farm if Sam had stayed with her. But he wanted to live in the city.” I had really good memories of riding on Dotty with Sam leading her. It broke my heart back then when I realized that my parents were not going to buy Dotty and let her live in our backyard.
We found a wooden door painted the color blue my mom called Wedgwood. There was a gold number 10 and some silk flowers in a glass holder on the door. We knocked softly. The place was like a library, where you didn’t want to be loud. The door opened and there was Miss Julie. She was thinner, grayer and older than I remembered, in her purple track suit, but Miss Julie’s smile and bright blue eyes were the same. She leaned on one of those silver walkers with rubber tips on the feet, and took her earbuds out of her ears.
The Penny Pony Page 2
