North Oak 2- Yearling

by Ann Hunter

  "You realize that's what this is all about, right?"

  "With the others, yes, but Promenade?"

  "He's not yours, Alex."

  Alex tried not to suck in a breath, the same way you would when you accidentally cut yourself. I… I know that. Nothing's mine. "Tell me this isn't some late April Fools' joke."

  Promenade swung his head around, and Alex stared into his deep, dark eyes.

  "He's not a pet. He's an athlete," Brooke said frankly. "Athletes get bought and traded to other teams all the time."

  The knot Alex tried to swallow felt more like an avocado pit. "You say that like it's supposed to make me feel better."

  "Sorry, Al."

  Alex's fingers curled against the colt’s chocolaty coat. "Why Promenade? North has a hundred other yearlings he can sell. Why this one?"

  "Because I told him to."

  Every tendon in Alex's body stabbed like needles. A hunk of imaginary steel socked her in the gut. She clenched her fist so tightly, it shook.

  Alex rounded on Brooke and stabbed her with an accusatory finger. She leaned in close, trembling like a livewire. Her jaw locked with words she couldn't muster, but when she finally spoke, her voice was hoarse. "I trusted you."

  She pushed off from her, backing from the stall with fire in her eyes.

  Brooke flushed. "That was my job, Alex. Pop gave me yearlings to prepare for sale, not to putz around with. We're not here to ride ponies at a carnival. We love what we do, but we're real about it. North Oak is a business, not a petting zoo."

  Alex hoped Brooke understood the implied silence as she stormed away.

  Screw you.

  Alex tracked Hillary down in the broodmare barn, all of her pain, embarrassment, and anger renewed. She grabbed the bars of the stall Hillary was in, bracing her face against the cool iron. "I can't believe you did that to me."

  "Did what?" Hillary smiled innocently as she pressed her stethoscope to the side of the mare’s wide belly.

  "Don't play dumb, lady."

  Hillary took the stethoscope out from her ears and hung it around her neck, straightening. "Cade and I wanted to make sure you received a proper education in the birds and bees department."

  Alex pointed in the direction of the breeding barn. "I can't unsee that."

  "You learned the same way Brooke and Laura did."

  "That explains so much." Alex’s chin jutted as she crossed her arms.

  Hillary smoothed a hand over the mare’s neck. "Would you prefer to have the super awkward when a boy loves a girl very much talk? Because we can still totally sit down for that."

  Alex rolled her head back. "Ugh!"

  "What is Teenage Cavegirl Grunts for two-hundred, Mr. Trebek."

  "It's not even about that."

  "Then what's it about?"

  Alex's shoulders slumped.

  "So you're going to be in my face because I took the bull by the horns?" Hillary asked.

  "Just…” Alex paced, running her hands through her hair. She pivoted on her heel and glared at Hillary. “Don't talk to me for five to seven days."

  Hillary laughed softly.

  Alex began to storm away, but she stopped, snapping, "And by the way. There's no crying in baseball.”

  "What?"

  "You said I'd have a good cry and get over myself if I watched your dumb baseball movie. There's no crying in baseball." Alex clenched her fists and pounded back to their house.

  Alex startled awake when the edge of her bed sagged. She looked over her shoulder and scowled at Hillary sitting there.

  "I know you said not to talk to you," Hillary murmured, "but there's something I want you to see."

  Alex grumbled and flopped down on her pillow.

  "I see you're giving me the butt."

  Alex pulled the covers over her head.

  "You seem to have forgotten you're not the first teenager I've raised." Hillary poked her in the kidneys. "Get dressed."

  Alex squirmed and grunted, scooting away. She thought Hillary had gone until she heard her calling from downstairs. "Let's go, puddin' pop. I'm waiting."

  “Why does no one around here take no for an answer?” Alex muttered under her breath.

  "Now, please. Tick tock. You're going to miss it."

  Alex gritted her teeth and kicked off the covers. She grabbed her hooded sweatshirt from her drawer and bumbled down the stairs where they had a momentary stare off. Hillary pushed Alex's Chuck Taylors toward her. "Shoes."

  Alex plopped on the bottom stair, pulling them on. Before she could tie her laces, Hillary was out the door beating a quick path to the foaling barn. Alex trudged behind her.

  By the time Alex got to the barn, Hillary darted out from a room with a number of television screens linked to cameras in stalls. She motioned to Alex to hurry up.

  Alex sighed. "What's so damn important that you dragged me here in the middle of the night?"

  Hillary grabbed her wrist and tugged her down the aisle. It happened so fast, Alex didn't have time to jerk away.

  They stopped in front of a stall of a nearly white mare. Her mane and tail were silver, and gray hairs formed a spidery web of dapples across her shoulder. She was sacked out in her stall, nostrils flaring and contracting with rapid breath. Alex's eyes glued to her, cringing as the mare let out a groan. A ripple shivered from her shoulder to her flanks.

  Alex's brow creased. "Is she okay?"

  Hillary glanced at her with a broad smile. "She will be in about ten minutes."

  Alex gripped the bars of the stall, pressing her face against them. Her own stomach tightened when the mare groaned again. Two tiny hooves emerged beneath the mare's tail.

  Alex's breath hitched.

  The mare raised her head, then set it down again. She wriggled in the bedding as if to get ready for something really big. Another few breaths, a heave of her belly, and dark shoulders wrapped in a thick, white film emerged from her.

  It was like a bad wreck. Kind of gross, but so cool Alex couldn’t look away.

  When the last of the brand new foal broke free from its mother, Hillary opened the stall and a small team of workers moved in with her. Alex wondered how long they'd been standing behind them, waiting to get in there.

  The mare started nuzzling and licking her baby clean while Hillary and her team worked around them, cleaning things up. Alex watched with wide-eyed wonder.

  The little foal planted its forefeet and wobbled, blinking with a “What the hell just happened?” bewilderment. His body trembled and twitched.

  Alex watched Hillary grab one of its hind legs and lift. "Colt," the vet announced.

  His mother nickered softly to him, giving him a firm nudge with her muzzle. The colt pushed up on legs so long and thin, Alex thought they might snap. He wavered and, just like any noob stilt walker, collapsed against his dam.

  Alex didn't know whether to laugh or bite her knuckle. Is it like this every time?

  Hillary and her team finished drying off the colt, praising his dam for a job well done. Within a few minutes, the mare was on her feet and ambled to her feed bucket, diving into it with a fervor Alex thought only other teenagers knew.

  The colt's ears swiveled, and he arched his head, whinnying. It took everything Alex had not to turn into a puddle.

  "C'mon, lil guy, on your feet. Mom's waitin'," one of the workers told the colt.

  The colt pushed to his feet again, tripping over those crazy-long legs and flopping down. Another try a moment later found him looking very much like a picnic table, legs spread at slanted angles to keep him stable. He shivered and wobbled, smacking his lips with a bubblegum tongue.

  Hillary's assistants linked arms behind the colt's bottom to help guide him in the right direction. He latched on to his dam and began nursing at once.

  The mare sighed, munching her oats contentedly. She shifted her weight so she stood on three legs, completely relaxed, as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened. Like this sort of thing happened every day.


  Alex looked at Hillary who had this quiet smile on her and a warm glow. The vet wiped her hands clean on a soft rag. "Fifteen years on the job and it never gets old."

  Alex tried to wrap her head around what she had witnessed.

  Hillary leaned against the outside of the stall, folding her arms. "You still haven't told us a whole lot about what happened before North Oak. I know you did some things you're not proud of. We all do. And I know you've seen unspeakable things. Things that tear you apart, things that change you forever. Maybe even things that leave you thinking that there isn’t much good left in the world."

  Hillary dipped her head in the direction of the mare and foal. "So I thought you might like to see that miracles still happen. There's goodness left in the world if you look in the right places. And I know you've lost what's most precious to you. I know you're hurting." She reached toward Alex, but she shied away. Hillary exhaled slowly. "It makes me sad to see you so broken. But I promise you that someday someone will come along and hug you so tight that all your broken pieces go back together."

  Alex winced as Ashley's fading eyes pierced her memory. That would take a miracle.

  UNRULY

  Alex slammed the door of the Showmans' home so hard, the cups in the cabinet beside it jangled. She had hoped she could let go of how upset she was with Brooke after a good night’s sleep, but the second she saw her in the training barn this morning she couldn’t help but be angry with her all over again.

  Hillary turned abruptly from her seat at the kitchen table. The house still smelled of bacon and orange juice from breakfast. A girl Alex thought might be her own age sat beside Hillary.

  "Alex, I want you to meet someone."

  Alex stood there glaring at the girl. She reminded Alex of a marshmallow, with her puffy white shirt, plush cheeks, and toasty, wavy, walnut hair. So Alex showed her the two skewers in the middle of each hand, flipping her off before running up stairs.

  "Nice, Alexandra," Hillary called after her. "Real nice."

  Alex slammed her bedroom door and collapsed on her bed, facing the morning light from her window.

  Stupid Brooke. Stupid horse.

  The door creaked open, and Alex could almost hear Hillary's disdain. Alex kept her back to her.

  "That was awfully polite, you know," Hillary said.

  Wasn't it though!

  "Her name's Carol, if you want to know."

  She didn’t.

  "She's going to come over every day and help you get caught up with school, so I suggest you make nice."

  "School is for losers," Alex growled.

  "Well, in that case, I'll be handing you your state-issued loser card by August."

  Alex curled up into a ball, summarily giving Hillary 'the butt'.

  Hillary sighed. "Really? That's what you're going to say about all this?"

  "Buzz off."

  "Look. The way I see it, you've got two options here. You can go downstairs with a shred of dignity and apologize, or Cade can throw you over his shoulder like a toddler and plunk you in the chair next to Carol. You pick."

  Alex rose on her elbow and turned her head enough to give Hillary a scowl that said You wouldn't dare.

  Hillary folded her arms, her mouth twisting slightly. She leaned back and yelled out the door, "Caaaaaade!"

  Alex jumped out of bed and glowered at Hillary. "Some days I hate you."

  Hillary shrugged. "Perks of being a mom."

  Alex huffed and stomped down the stairs. She ripped a chair out across from this Carol chick and stared at the table top. From the corner of Alex's eye, she thought she saw Carol tilt her head to try to meet her face.

  "Hello Princess Charming," Carol said.

  Hello, Marshmallow.

  ***

  Alex stared at the toothpaste barnacles on her toothbrush. It had been more than a week since she fought with Brooke. She swished the minty cool foam around her mouth and spit distastefully.

  What had once been one of her favorite times of day, spending time with Brooke and the yearlings, had become a war of silence and just doing what Alex had to do to get through things without making eye contact with someone she thought had been her friend and ally.

  “You can't avoid me forever,” Brooke had said one morning.

  Alex stared at her reflection in the mirror, jaw set and brow lines edged in hard. Yes I can.

  She wiped her mouth with the back of her wrist, tossing her toothbrush into the holder with the others.

  She stomped downstairs and opened the door, only to come face to face with Marshmallow.

  Carol smiled brightly back at her. "Morning."

  Alex leaned against the door frame. "Don't you have somewhere else to be?"

  She shrugged, hugging a stack of books to her chest. "Nope."

  Alex rolled her eyes and pushed past her, wordlessly.

  "Where are you going?" Carol called.

  Alex shoved her hands into her jean pockets and continued skulking towards the barns, not looking where she was going Horses to feed, yearlings to train, and…

  She bumped right into Brooke, only to round back into Carol. Alex stumbled and caught herself on a stall, her eyes darting between the two girls.

  Frick, there were two of them now!

  She had been so lost in grumpitude and sorting out her morning, she didn't realize she would have to deal with both Brooke and the Marshmallow.

  Convinced that life sucked and then you die, Alex pushed past both of them and continued down the aisle. How was she going to face both of them? She darted into the tack room and sagged against the wall.

  She listened to them chatting as they approached the tack room, and groaned. This is ridiculous. What was she supposed to do with both of them?

  Carol saw Alex peek out from a room between stalls. Alex tipped her chin up, almost in defiance, as she buckled her helmet. Her eyes locked on Brooke, or maybe it was Carol. Carol mockingly scowled back, only to realize Alex was fixed on the space between them.

  "You two getting along okay?" Brooke asked Carol.

  "Dunno. It's only been a week. What's her deal anyway?"

  Alex ducked back into the room as the girls drew closer. "Probably doesn't help that we had a fight last week."

  "What about?"

  "She thinks I screwed up. It's easy to get attached to the horses, but at the end of the day North Oak is a business. I'm only doing my job. She needs to accept that."

  Carol glanced at Brooke. "You don't sound too sorry about it."

  Brooke nodded to the pile of texts in Carol's arms. "There's stuff in life that books can't teach you." She paused near the room Alex had darted back into, and rubbed the toe of her boot against some stray straw and oats on the floor. "She's had it rough."

  Carol leaned to see if she could peek around the corner of the room and catch a glimpse of Alex. Brooke hung her thumbs in the front belt loops of her jeans.

  "I probably shouldn't tell you this, but Alex has been through some things that no one should have to deal with." Brooke's shoulders hunched. "She already thinks I've betrayed her once, and this will probably come back to haunt me, but I think you should know about it." She sort of held her breath for a moment. "Her best friend was shot last year. Ashley, I think her name was. They were both in an abusive home before Alex came to North Oak. I don't know all the details. Al won't really talk about it with anyone."

  Brooke looked at Carol guiltily. "She acts tough, like she's got this shield to hide behind, but I can see the hurt in her. I want to be her friend, but she gets so skittish sometimes. Especially when you touch the wrong nerve."

  "Like a yearling?”

  Brooke's mouth tilted as though she were impressed Carol would catch on. She nodded slowly. "Kinda. Yeah."

  Brooke took a step forward and leaned in to the room. "Your two favorite hosers are done talking if you'd like to get a move on."

  Alex finally came out a moment later with the same stormy expression on her face as before. She looked
between them as though sizing them up.

  Carol's gaze wandered between them. Alex finally nodded at her.

  "Hey. Marshmallow. Why don't you come back later?"

  Carol's brow furrowed. "Marsh…mallow?" She found herself staring at her toes, trying not to let her chin tremble.

  "You heard me," Alex growled.

  Carol backed away slowly, then turned and jogged out of the barn.

  Alex watched her go, inwardly kicking herself for hurting the Marshmallow's feelings, but she wasn't sure how else to pare the problem down from two to one. Her eyes remained fixed on the brightness of the barn opening when Brooke spoke.

  "Well aren't you Captain Courteous."

  Alex rounded on her. "Still not talking to you, Stick."

  "Stick?"

  "Stick in the Mud." Alex backed down the barn aisle.

  Brooke shrugged, mumbling, "Guess it's better than Stretch."

  "Whatever. Let's just get to work."

  Alex came face to face with Hillary and Laura when she came back into their house after working with the yearlings. Hillary's face was drawn and her arms were folded. Laura leaned back in one of the dining table chairs.

  Alex looked between them, pulling her shoes off by the door. "Can I… help you?"

  "Yes," said Hillary, "as a matter of fact you can. You can help me understand why Carol Daves had me drive her home before the two of you could work on your schooling."

  Alex shut the door and leaned against it. "I told her to come back later."

  "She looked like you smacked her," Laura said.

  Alex raised an eyebrow, pitching her heel against the bottom of the door. I didn't touch her.

  "Not literally," Hillary murmured. "But you had to have done something to hurt her feelings. I offered to pay her for giving up part of her morning."

  Alex's eyes wandered to the ceiling corner, she exhaled a long breath like this wasn't worth her own time. "Did she take it?"

  "No," Hillary answered. "And you're darned lucky she'll be back in a few days."

  Alex chewed her lip, still avoiding eye contact with them.

  "What did you say to her, Alex?" Laura asked.

  "Does it matter?" Alex muttered.