by Chris Platt
Ali slipped into Wind Dancer’s pen and looked him over. He seemed about the same as he had last night. Would it make a difference that the horses had missed a feeding before their big meal?
Why didn’t I set both alarms? She needed to tell her parents. They might know what to do.
Danny hobbled around the corner. “Did they eat all their hay?” he asked.
“It was you?”
Danny tried to coax Wind Dancer over to the fence, seemingly unaware of the anger in his sister’s voice. “No one was up yet, and that white mare kept nickering like she wanted to be fed,” he said. “They’re so skinny; I thought I’d throw them some extra hay.”
“Danny …” Ali tried to control her reaction. “Do you know what you’ve done?”
Danny’s smile turned into a confused frown. “I fed the horses,” he said. “Isn’t that what you’ve been doing?”
Ali closed her eyes, willing herself not to be sick. Up until last night, Danny had never shown any interest in horses—not even Max. No one had bothered to tell him anything about the limited feeding program of these horses because no one expected him to have anything to do with them.
She took a deep breath. “Danny, you shouldn’t have done that. They can’t have that much food. They could die!”
He looked stricken, then his cheeks reddened. “I can’t seem to do anything right these days!” He tossed his hands in the air. “Why do I even bother to try? I should have never come home!” Her brother lurched away, shoulders slumped.
“Danny … wait!” Why had she spoken so harshly? Danny was already struggling. She shouldn’t have blamed him. If she’d only set her alarm. She ran after him.
Danny spun around on his crutches and glared at her. “Don’t follow me!”
The words cut Ali to the quick. They were the exact words he had said before she had followed him into the desert on Max.
Ali watched her brother clumsily negotiate the back steps to the house. Why couldn’t she have found the right words? Danny hadn’t intended to harm the horses. He thought he was helping.
Danny glanced over his shoulder just before he entered the house. The look on his face broke Ali’s heart. She should have kept her mouth shut. Not only had she lost this battle, she’d lost the whole silly war. And worst of all, she’d lost her brother all over again.
Thirteen
Tires crunched on the gravel. Dr. Forrester and Jamie had arrived. Ali stared at the house for a few more seconds, willing Danny to reappear, though she knew he wouldn’t.
She’d deal with her brother later. For now, she had to focus on how to help the horses. “Mom! Dad!” she yelled. “The vet is here. Can you come help, please?”
Her mom stuck her head out the door. “I’ll be there in a minute, dear. Right after I see what’s up with your brother.”
Why do problems always come in big bunches? She’d have to explain the situation to her parents. But first, she had to tell Jamie and his dad just how badly she’d messed up.
Jamie had a big smile on his face. Ali tried to smile back, but it didn’t work. “Is everything okay?” he asked.
Ali took a steadying breath. “We might have a problem,” she said. That’s the understatement of the year.
Dr. Forrester climbed out of the truck. “What kind of problem?”
“It’s all my fault,” she began. “I did a feeding at 9:00 last night and another a little after 1:00AM. I was so tired, I forgot to set my alarm for the 5:00AM feeding. I just woke up. When I came down to feed …”
“And …?” the veterinarian prompted. “Missing a feeding by a few hours isn’t good, but it shouldn’t cause much of a problem. Is there something else?”
Ali waved her hand at the big pile of hay outside of the corrals. “My brother thought he was helping. He didn’t know that the horses were only supposed to get a little bit to eat. I don’t know how long or how much they’ve eaten.”
“Can’t you ask your brother how much he gave them?” Jamie asked.
Ali shook her head. “Danny’s been under a lot of stress since he came home from the war.” She stared up at his bedroom window, wondering what he was doing up there. The blinds were tightly closed. “I kind of accused him of harming the horses and he got upset. I don’t think he’ll talk to anyone for a while. But from what I can tell, he gave them two or three flakes apiece.”
Dr. Forrester looked at the pile of loose hay. “From the looks of it, I don’t think they could have eaten all that much.” He took his stethoscope from his bag and entered Wind Dancer’s pen. “We’ll just have to figure this out ourselves,” he said. “I’ll start with this guy since he’s in the worst shape.”
He listened to Wind Dancer’s heartbeat. The gelding stood with his head down and his ears out to the side, a little more alert than he’d been in the previous days, but still not very active.
Ali waited anxiously while the vet moved the instrument around on the horse’s belly. “What are you checking for?” she asked.
“Gut sounds,” the vet replied. “A horse with a healthy stomach will have a lot of noise going on in there after they’ve eaten. If you don’t get much sound after a meal, that might indicate trouble. I’m also listening to his heart and lungs to see if anything is amiss.” He took another few minutes to examine the gelding, then straightened and pulled the stethoscope out of his ears.
Ali’s parents joined her at the fence. “What’s going on?” her father asked.
“Danny came into the house with a full head of steam and went straight to his bedroom,” her mother said. “What happened out here?”
Ali didn’t know where to start. Thankfully, Dr. Forrester stepped in. “It looks like Danny didn’t know about the feeding instructions. He thought he was helping by giving the horses a big pile of hay.”
“Oh, no!” Her mother looked at Ali. “I guess that explains a lot.”
“I’ll talk to Danny in a bit,” Ali’s dad said. “He needs a little time to cool off.” He turned to the vet. “How are the horses faring?”
Dr. Forrester motioned for Jamie to halter the white mare. “Wind Dancer’s heart rate and breathing are a bit lower than I would like,” he said. “But he seems to be digesting his food okay. I haven’t examined the white mare yet, but I’ll have to monitor these horses closely for the next several days to see if they’re showing any signs of refeeding syndrome. I’m going to take some blood samples from both of them and see what their electrolyte balance is. That’ll tell us what’s going on with their organ functions. Their electrolyte levels will drop significantly if they’re going into refeeding syndrome. If that happens, we’ve got big trouble.”
“I’m really sorry, Dr. Forrester.” Ali hung her head. “This is all my fault.”
The veterinarian smiled. “Don’t be too hard on yourself, missy. You’re taking on a big load of responsibility here with some very sick horses. Even with the best of care and no mistakes, they could still have trouble.”
Ali’s mom put her arm around Ali’s shoulders. “It’s mostly our fault, honey. Your father and I shouldn’t have let you shoulder so much of this job.”
“I know you wanted to handle most of the work yourself,” her father said. “But we should have stepped in and insisted that we help you a little more, Ali. We’re the parents. We’re supposed to know this stuff.”
“It’s okay.” Ali crammed her hands into her jeans pockets and stared at the ground. “You guys are dealing with a lot right now with Danny. I wanted to do most of the work with the horses to help take some of the load off.”
“We all should have communicated a little better,” her mother said. “Maybe then this wouldn’t have happened.”
“What if the horses do get sick?” Ali asked.
“We don’t have time to worry about the what-ifs,” the vet said. “Let’s concentrate on what is and where we go from here.”
Ali kept her eyes on the ground and nodded. She didn’t want anyone to see the tears that were formin
g in her eyes.
“Come on, Ali,” Jamie said. “My dad is right. Sometimes stuff happens that’s out of our control. It’s not time to give up. There’s still plenty of hope.”
“I haven’t given up,” she said, willing back the tears. “I just hope they’re going to be okay.”
Dr. Forrester drew a blood sample from each of the horses, then carefully packed the vials for transport. “The labs are normally closed on Sunday,” he said. “But a good friend of mine runs the local one, so I’ll drop these off as soon as I’m done here. In the meantime, I want to give them some intravenous fluids. We need to make sure they’re getting some electrolytes and essential vitamins and minerals back into their system. That’ll help keep them from getting refeeding syndrome.”
“What do you want me to do?” Ali asked. “How can I help?”
“Yes, Doctor,” Ali’s mom said. “If there’s something that we can all do, please let us know.”
“I want you to keep them on the program I gave you,” Dr. Forrester said. “Feed small amounts of alfalfa every four hours. Maybe walk them a little bit in their pen if they seem up to it. You can even brush them a bit to make them feel good and improve their circulation. We’ll be back in a few hours once we get the results of these tests.”
Jamie helped his dad pack up the truck, then waved goodbye as they drove away.
It was going to be a long few hours before they heard from the vet. Hours of wondering if she had caused a catastrophe. She needed to think of other things.
Dr. Forrester had suggested walking the horses or brushing them. Ali frowned. If it helped them get better, maybe she should do it.
“I’ll check on Danny,” Ali’s dad said, heading back to the house.
Ali’s mom leaned on the fence rail. “I’ll stay out here until your father has had a chance to talk to him.” Ali grabbed the brush bucket and handed the new body brush to her mom. “Can you help me groom them? I’ll use the curry comb. You can go behind me with the body brush and sweep off all the dirt and hair.” She opened the gate to Wind Dancer’s pen.
She moved the rubber curry comb in circles across the gelding’s coat. Wind Dancer blew through his lips and twitched his ears. He seemed to be enjoying the rub, but he still didn’t respond to her like he had her brother.
“So, what exactly happened with you and Danny?” her mother asked.
Ali shrugged. “He was just trying to help, and I came down on him pretty hard,” she admitted. “He got mad and stomped off.”
“I see.” Her mother ran the brush across Wind Dancer’s back. “Your brother has had a very hard time adjusting, Ali. I’m sure you’ve noticed. We’ve been trying to get him some help, but he doesn’t want it. He’s a grown man now. We can’t force him into anything he doesn’t want to do. Your father and I are kind of at our wit’s end.”
“It doesn’t help that he’s stubborn as a dang mule,” Ali said.
The corners of her mother’s mouth lifted a bit and Ali smiled too.
They finished up Wind Dancer and moved to Misty’s corral. The mare nudged Ali’s shirt when she came near. No doubt about it, Misty was in much better shape than Wind Dancer. The mare nudged her again. Misty definitely wanted to be friends.
“Danny’s not the same as when he left,” Ali continued. “I knew things were bad, but you and Dad never talked to me about it, so I looked up some stuff on the internet.”
Ali looked at Wind Dancer. What was it was about her brother that the horse preferred? She really shouldn’t care. He wasn’t her horse. But, still, it picked at her. Danny didn’t even like horses.
“What did you find out?” her mother asked.
Ali paused with her brush in midair while she tried to form her thoughts. There was no easy way to say it. “I think Danny has PTSD.”
Her mother nodded sadly. “Your father and I think so too. But Danny keeps insisting that he’s fine.”
“There’s an organization called the National Center for PTSD.” Ali grabbed a comb and concentrated on Misty’s mane. “They’ve got a lot of helpful information. I could show you and Dad where it is on the internet. And the Department of Veterans Affairs has a huge website with all kinds of stuff. There’s even a psychologist who wrote a book called Taming the Fire Within. She’s giving it away for free online to help soldiers with PTSD.”
“There’s a lot of help out there,” her mother agreed. “The problem is getting your brother to seek that help.” She rubbed the chain she wore around her neck and stared off into the distance. “I think your brother is … ashamed.” She looked Ali in the eye. “I don’t know what it’s going to take to get him to see that he needs help.”
Danny had almost killed them yesterday, all because of a backfire from a car. If that wasn’t enough to scare him into seeking help, what would it take? She thought about telling her mom about the incident. She’d promised not to. And she wanted Danny to know he could trust her. But what good was keeping a promise if it didn’t help the person it was supposed to protect?
“Ali?” her mother broke into her thoughts. “Is there something bothering you?”
Ali shook her head. “No, I’m just worried about Danny.” If things didn’t get better soon, she’d tell her mom and dad about the trip to the feed store.
“There’s a local branch of the VA here,” her mother continued. “Your father and I have decided to attend one of the meetings they hold for families. I guess it’s a good place to start. We’re finally realizing that this isn’t something we can handle by ourselves. Maybe you’d like to go with us?”
“I think that’s a really good idea, Mom.” Ali tossed the brushes in the bucket and hugged her mother. “We’ll find a way to get through to him. We have to. Even if it’s tough.”
Her mom kissed the top of her head. “I know you’ve been trying really hard to make your brother feel at home, and it hasn’t been easy,” she said. “But we’ll keep trying. Danny fought for us. Now it’s our turn to return the favor.”
Her mother opened the gate. “Do you think we should find another person to care for the horses, Ali? Is this too much for us to handle?”
“No!” Ali was surprised by her sudden outburst. “I promised that I would help these horses. School is almost out. I’ll have more time then and so will Cara. When they’re back in good condition we can talk about finding them another home.”
But even as the words came out of her mouth, Ali wondered, if the horses made it through this crisis all right, would she really be able to let them go? She hated to admit it, but try as she might to keep her distance from them, Wind Dancer and Misty were working their way into her heart.
Fourteen
The phone rang as Ali finished her tuna sandwich. Her mother answered it and cupped her hand over the mouthpiece. “It’s Dr. Forrester,” she whispered. Ali waited anxiously to hear what he had to say.
“Thank you, Doctor; we’ll see you in a few minutes.” Her mom hung up the phone and turned to her daughter. “The electrolyte levels in both horses have dropped, which isn’t good. And Wind Dancer’s results showed some other troubles too. Let’s go outside and wait for the vet.”
Ali pulled on her boots and followed her mom out to the corrals. She had a sick feeling in the pit of her stomach. Misty nickered to them, but Wind Dancer just stood in the corner, his bottom lip drooping. Though they’d just brushed him, his coat still looked dull and lifeless—just like the gelding himself.
Ali spoke softly to Wind Dancer as she ran her fingers through his thin mane. She didn’t get the kind of response she was hoping for, but the gelding did rotate his ears once or twice at the sound of her voice.
The day was beginning to warm, and pesky flies started to appear. She made a mental note to pick up a couple of fly masks at the feed store. Ali leaned against the fence and wiped the moisture from her brow. A large whiskered muzzle blew warm breath on her cheek and tickled her ear and she jumped.
“Looks like you’ve got a friend,” her mothe
r observed. “I think Misty likes you. She keeps trying to get your attention. Let’s get her water bucket filled before it gets too warm and she needs a cool drink.”
“I’ll get it, Mom.” Ali turned on the hose and crawled through the fence into Misty’s pen. “You keep an eye out for the vet.” While Ali filled the bucket, Misty bobbed her head and turned to nuzzle her shirt. “You’re a lot friendlier than Wind Dancer.” She pushed Misty’s spotted muzzle away.
Dr. Forrester and Jamie pulled into the drive just as Ali was putting the hose away. She walked out to greet him. “How bad is it?” she asked, chewing her lip nervously.
“It’s not as bad as it could be.” He pulled out the test results. “Misty’s blood work is okay, everything considered, but I’m concerned about Wind Dancer’s electrolyte levels. They’re dropping pretty significantly, and that’s not good. If they go much lower, it will indicate that refeeding syndrome might be setting in. I don’t like the looks of his liver function either.”
“What does that mean, as far as treatment goes?” Ali’s mom asked. “Is there something that can be done?”
The vet walked to the back of his truck and opened the compartment that held all the medicines. “Hold these for me while I get the IV drip.” He handed Jamie several small plastic tubes. “Yes,” he said to Ali’s mom. “There is definitely something we can do to fight this. We need to keep their electrolytes up. The tubes I just handed Jamie are electrolyte paste. It can be given orally. I’ll show you how to administer it and give you a dosage schedule before we leave. If we can get the electrolyte levels back up, that might improve the liver function too.”
He motioned for Ali to halter Wind Dancer. “I’m going to give them a dose of electrolytes intravenously, along with an antibiotic to start with. Have you tried feeding them since they had that big breakfast?”
“No, sir.” Ali slipped the halter over Wind Dancer’s head. “You said to feed them every four hours, and it’s just a little past that since they last ate.”
Jamie picked up Misty’s halter. “I’ll feed the mare while you’re working on Wind Dancer.”
