“Sweetie, we should leave,” Angel mimicked him in a nasty voice. “Do you hear yourself? Where are your guts? You need to put gags in all their mouths before I get super ticked. We just need to hurry a little.”
I looked over at Sam, Mom, and Miss Julie, trying to tell them with my eyes that help would be coming. Sam was bruised and had a bloody lip. He must have put up a fight. Mom looked fierce. Her temper would help her out if she didn’t make them angry. Miss Julie was paler than usual and I hoped she wasn’t going to pass out as Chickie put kitchen towels in their mouths and tied the towels behind their heads.
“Now, Sugar-pie, don’t talk like that,” Chickie said. “We decided before we came here what we wanted to do. But all these people make it impossible. We should go.”
“Hold on, bro,” said Earl. “I’m kind of agreein’ with my Angel there. We’re here already, so let’s look for jewelry and silver and stuff. Make it worth our while. We can be gone fast where no one will find us, but let’s get some sparklies to justify our time. A rich old lady like this must have collected a lot of bling over the years.”
“Wait! What do you mean, your Angel? She’s my Angel, if she’s anyone’s,”said Chickie. “Tell, him, Sweetie.”
“I’m nobody’s Angel, but my own,” said Angel. “You two can’t manage to find two dollars between you. Both of y’all are loser dopers. And you!” She looked straight at me with crazy, hate-filled eyes.
“I had a chance with that handsome doctor you call Daddy, but no! You had to poison him against me!”
“No, I didn’t ever...” I began.
“Shut up, brat! Earl, will you gag this child? I have to think.” She paced the living room hardwood floor, looking out the window every now and then. Willie Nelson came mewing into the room and Angel delivered a swift kick to his side. The kitten sailed behind the sofa where I couldn’t see it. Tears of pity leaked from my eyes. What kind of maniac would kick a kitten?
“Stupid cat,” she said. “That cat was supposed to soften up the doc so he’d like me.”
Earl put an old dish rag in my mouth and tied it behind my head. I moved it around in my mouth, tasting grease.
“Earl, you go upstairs and search for watches and good jewelry. You know the kind of thing I like. Then come down and find some fancy silverware.” Angel was good at giving orders to the men and I realized that she was the leader of this pack. The crazy brains behind their scrawny brawn.
“Okay, darlin’, I’m on my way.”
“Chickie, do you think you can manage to take these three people to the basement and tie them up down there so they can’t get away? I’ll bring the brat, but I want to mess her up a little first for causing us problems.”
“Yeah, sure, Sweetie. But maybe you should take the adults, since their hands are tied. The rope is down there and I can bring a little girl downstairs easy.” Angel looked at him, looked at me, and nodded.
“I guess it does make sense for me to take the bigger ones. Let’s go, people!” She poked Sam in the side with her big knife. He glared at her, then looked at me helplessly.
“Head for the basement, pretty boy!” she said. Sam led the way, with Miss Julie and then my mom close behind, glaring at Angel.
“Let’s go, girlie,” said Chickie. “Too bad about this. I was hoping you would give my horse a good home. But once Angel gets something in her head, well, it’s best to do what she says. At least you won’t be up here with her and her knife. She don’t like you.”
As we started to walk toward the basement door, I bumped into a lamp, knocking it hard so it went crashing into a table.
“Hey, stupid, what’s going on up there?” Angel called from the basement.
“Just a little mishap, sweetness,” Chickie called back, picking up the lamp. “Don’t be dumb, kid. Just do what you’re told.”
He directed me to the basement door and down the stairs. The others were tied to various poles around the basement. We were met by Angel, who handed him some rope. Chickie tied my hands together, and then tied me to a pole. Angel stood in front of me, staring and playing with the large knife she held. “Any phones?” she asked Chickie.
“Uh, I don’t think so,” he said.
“Didn’t look, did you, dummy?” She patted me on the butt and the front of my jeans, checking for phones. When she found nothing, she straightened and checked her watch. “We’d better hurry it up,” she said.
“Hey, Angel!” Earl called from upstairs. “I found a bunch of watches, jewelry and stuff. We better get goin’. We’ve been here way too long!”
“You are really lucky, brat,” Angel said. “I won’t have time to do what I wanted. But I will have time to start a little fire.” She snickered and trotted up the stairs, Chickie following and arguing.
With Angel, Chickie, and Earl upstairs, we were all left tied and gagged in the basement. We looked at each other, but there was no way I could tell them that Addie had gone for help. My mom was beginning to look scared, Sam looked ferocious, and Miss Julie sagged against a pole, breathing heavily. We heard a lot of clomping back and forth upstairs, and all of us kept looking up and wondering who was going where and with what. I was pretty sure they were cleaning out the whole house and there would be nothing left. I didn’t care as long as they left us alone.
That was when I smelled the smoke. I closed my eyes and tried not to panic. Were we going to die down here in a housefire before help arrived?
Chapter Sixteen
~ Threats ~
As the four of us stared at each other, worried that we were going to die in that basement, we heard the best sound in the world: sirens. Sirens of police cars pulling up to the house, then running feet, slamming doors and shouts. We looked at each other, unable to speak, but silently telling each other that help had arrived and we were safe.
In a few minutes, there was a clomping of feet on the basement stairs and soon Dad was hugging me and pulling the gag out of my mouth. Harvey Martin undid the ties on Miss Julie, then Sam and my mom. Dad went over to check on Miss Julie and then came back to me.
“Are you all right? Are you really all right?” he kept asking.
“Yes, Dad, I’m fine. I’m worried about Miss Julie, though. And Addie. She rode out to call for help.”
Miss Julie was sitting down on an old sofa she had stored in the basement.
“I’ll be all right, child, I just need to sit down a minute. I’m a tough old bird and it will take more than that passel of no ‘counts to finish me off.” She sounded like her old self, at least.
“Addie is okay,” said Dad. “Harvey and I passed her on the way in and told her to wait there until things were under control. She was on that grey gelding. Do you know anything about that?”
“Probably,” was all I could say.
Weak with relief, I hugged Miss Julie, Mom, Sam and then my dad again. I didn’t hug Harvey Martin, but I thought about it for a minute
We all needed drinks of water after the greasy towels in our mouths, and we needed to get out of the basement that had almost become a firetrap. We trooped upstairs and sat around the table drinking water and lemonade while we recovered. A fire truck was parked on the lawn and a large hose ran through to the living room. The smell of smoke was still strong.
“Don’t worry, the fire was small and it’s completely out. You’ll have a little water and a little smoke damage, Miss Julie, and I think your couch will need to get tossed. That’s about it, though,” said the sheriff.
“Tell us what happened,” I said.
“As soon as the 911 call from Addie came in, our operator called me and I happened to be having coffee with Dan here. When he found out who had called and where it was, no way could I keep him from following me.
“When I drove up to the house, two perps were already in their car, with the other one loading bags from the house. With Dan’s help, I held a gun on them and we got them all on the ground in cuffs.” He smiled. “They’re still out there waiting for a patrol ca
r to take them to jail. I called the fire department as soon as I saw some smoke. They were here in three minutes. While they put out the fire, Dan and I ran down to the basement and found all of you. You were really lucky Addie got through as quickly as she did.”
“Piper,” said Dad, “Again, I’m so proud of you. I can’t overstate it. Yours and Addie’s quick thinking saved everyone’s life here.”
I sighed and my heartfelt bigger in my chest. “Addie is the hero. She rode Nickel out in the rain in the dark and I know she was really scared. So, Dad, Mom, can we keep Nickel? He’s a hero, too.”
“Keep him? What do you mean? Of course we have to keep him. I’m never riding another horse,” said Addie from the doorway. She was dripping wet and smiling from ear to ear. “And Piper is the hero. If not for her, Chickie would have dragged me off the horse, or spooked him so he ran away.”
I jumped up and hugged her. “You saved us all,” I said, as she hugged me back. “Did you have any trouble with Nickel?”
“Not a bit. He was an angel. No, I can’t say angel. He was a jewel!”
“Why not an angel?” asked Mom.
So I told everyone about Angel’s threats, Chickie’s phone call and how I walked out to get Nickel and rode him back in the storm. Everyone stared at me as if I had somehow become a superhero, but really, who wouldn’t have done it to save a horse’s life? I did what I had to do.
Mom came over and hugged me tight. “I am so glad we will be rid of those horrible people.”
“Angel was the ringleader,” I said. “Earl went along with her. Chickie wanted to leave, but she talked him into staying and putting us in the basement. He wasn’t all bad-- at least he wanted a good home for Nickel.”
“Maybe he wasn’t all bad,” said Dad, “but he was bad enough to take you into that house and leave you tied in that basement while Crazy Lady set a fire. That’s plenty bad.”
“You said it,” said Harvey Martin. “You make choices like that, you should expect to pay for it.
“I hope those people get put in prison for fifty years,” Mom said. “I was scared for all of us, but then you came in. You’ll never know how it feels until you have a child of your own. And as far as I’m concerned, you can have all the horses you want.”
“Could I have that in writing?” I said, and everyone laughed. They thought I was kidding. “But where is Nickel now?”
“I tied him to your dad’s truck bumper a minute ago,” said Addie.
“I think I’ll go take him to the barn and give him a special treat.”
“I’ll go with you,” said Addie, “I would have taken him myself, but I had to make sure everyone was okay.”
“Well, folks, if y’all are okay now, I think I’ll go out and wait for the patrol car,” said the sheriff. “I’ll follow it to the station and make sure everyone is tucked in for the night. Miss Julie? Miz Jones?” Miss Julie and Mom nodded that they were fine, so the sheriff waved and ducked out the backdoor.
“Dan, what about Willie Nelson?” asked Miss Julie. She was holding the kitten.
My dad took the little ball of fur and cuddled it in his arms. He felt around on it, moved its legs and looked in its eyes.
“He doesn’t seem any worse for wear. Maybe a bit bruised, so watch him for any limping, but I think he’ll be fine. Nothing seems broken.”
He deposited the kitten in Miss Julie’s lap again, where it curled up and purred so loud we could hear it across the room. She stroked it and smiled.
Addie and I went out the backdoor and stood a minute, watching the criminals tied up on the lawn. They looked angry and uncomfortable.
“You!” shouted Angel, looking at me. “Hey, brat! Come over here! I have something for you!”
Having someone hate me that much made me nervous, so we gave them a wide berth. We walked to where Nickel was tied to my dad’s truck bumper. I wanted to ride him with a saddle on, so I mounted and turned him toward the barn.
At that moment, Angel came flying across the lawn with a large tree branch clasped in her handcuffed hands, swinging it at Nickel’s head. I saw it, but the horse didn’t. Luckily, his blindness had prevented him from shying away. I turned him away from Angel as Dad jumped on her and wrestled the branch away from her. Sheriff Martin grabbed her and pushed her back with the others, where he put her on the ground and tied her feet together.
“You jerk!” she shouted to Dad. “You had a chance and you blew it! And you and your little brat kid will be sorry. I should have put a bullet in the stupid horse’s brain a long time ago.”
At that point Harvey put a gag in her mouth, as a patrol car arrived. ”Well, girls, I think we’re done here. Put the horse up and go get some rest,” said Harvey Martin.
And that’s what we did.
Chapter Seventeen
~ Riding Together ~
We had to wait another day for Addie to be able to ride again. She had reinjured her ankle when she had jumped down off of Nickel. Dr. Williams didn’t want her to stress it any more than she already had and told her to rest it another day. I couldn’t rest when there was a new horse in our barn, so I spent the day brushing Nickel and Dotty, riding them one at a time around the corral, and generally spoiling them both with apples and carrots
Dad came out and watched me ride, shaking his head at how I had gotten an extra horse. Mom and Sam spent lots of time with Miss Julie, partly to keep an eye on her after our ordeal and partly because they were getting more and more friendly. Miss Julie spent the time reading or dozing on her porch with Willie Nelson purring in her lap.
The day Addie could ride, I had a dentist appointment and Addie had a swimming class, so we agreed to meet at the barn after supper. Mom made hamburger casserole and when we had finished and cleaned up, she drove me out to Miss Julie’s. We got out of the car and there was Sam, with a big smile on his face. He hugged Mom and kissed her forehead. Then he hugged me, too. They walked up to the porch swing and sat there like two lovebirds, Mom gently patting his cut lip.
Miss Julie was in her wicker rocking chair with Willie Nelson on her lap and a big glass of iced tea on the table next to her. She put down her book and looked at me. “Piper, do you think you have enough horses now?”
“Yes, ma’am, I think I do,” I said, grinning. I turned and walked to the barn to find the tack we would need.
Addie showed up a few minutes later.
“Okay. Let’s do this!”
Some horses were hard to catch when you wanted to ride, but not ours. Addie walked right up to Nickel and took hold of his halter. I threw a lead rope over Dotty’s neck, and then slipped the attached halter onto her head. We led them into the barn and brushed them both, Addie with Nickel and me with Dotty.
“I think I need a mounting block,” said Addie.
We pulled a wooden crate over by the barn door for her to use. I held Nickel’s head while she pulled herself up and threw her leg over his back. She settled into the saddle, took the reins and walked carefully around the corral. I opened the gate, turned and got on Dotty.
We clicked to our horses and walked past the old house with Mom, Sam, Miss Julie and Willie Nelson watching.
“Have fun,” said Sam.
“Be careful,” said Mom.
“Don’t get lost,” said Miss Julie.
“Give me a break!” I said. “Let’s go, Addie, or they will give us advice till it’s too dark to see!”
“Where to?” she wanted to know.
“Down the road,” I said, leading the way on the pony.
Waving goodbye to the adults, Dotty and I walked down the lane and toward the woods, heading west. Addie followed until we could ride next to each other. We rode side by side past Dotty’s old shed where we hid her from Ugly Jake. We rode till the sun got low in the sky and turned the trees to shadows.
“You know what, Piper?”
“What, Addie?”
“We can always ride together now, whenever we want to.”
“Of course we c
an, that was the point of getting Nickel. Hey, Adds? You surprised me when you got right on Nickel to go get help.”
“Why? I just needed a reason to get on him. I’m only afraid when I start thinking and worrying, but there wasn’t time. I knew I could ride him.”
“Adds, do I boss you around too much?”
Addie was quiet for a minute, considering the question. She turned in the saddle so she could look me in the eyes.
“The truth, Pipe?”
“Always the truth,” I said.
“Truth is, sometimes, yeah. Sometimes you are too bossy. But that’s who you are and you’re my best friend. And I don’t have to listen.”
“Okay, then.”
“Okay.”
So my best friend and I rode together to the best sound in the world, the clip-clop of horses’ hoofs riding into the sunset.
Turn on a Dime
Chapter One
~ I Meet Cassie ~
I walked down the dirt road to the barn, chewing the inside of my mouth till it was raw. Why hadn’t Addie called me? It had been days since we argued about starting senior high school. She wanted to jump in and be Miss Social, while I wanted to keep doing my thing with horses and just survive sophomore year. Our first day of school was less than a week away. Thick dust made little puffs as my sandals scuffed the dirt. My limp brown hair was already hanging in strings. It was only ten in the morning and would get much hotter, as it usually does in Kentucky summers. I arrived at Miss Julie’s farm and was surprised to see a red truck I didn’t recognize parked by her house. Addie and I kept our horses at Miss Julie Applegate’s farm, and have since earlier in the summer, when we rescued them.
I walked over to the little paddock that the horses were in that day. The two horses stood under the shade of an old spreading oak tree, stamping feet and switching tails against the flies. Watching your own horses dozing in the warm clover-scented air had to be the best sight in the world. I made sure the gate was latched behind me as I made my way through the grass, clover, and dandelions to the horses. Dotty looked up first, gurgling in her nose the way horses do. Her nostrils went in and out, sniffing to see if I had anything juicy and delicious in my hands. When she smelled the apples, she walked toward me with her ears pricked forward. The sun shone on her brown and white spots and on the white tips on her ears that make them look like feathers. She was a POA—a Pony of the Americas, which are pony-sized appaloosas that must have at least one spot on them somewhere. Dotty had lots of spots.
The Horse Rescuers Page 11
