A choked whinny answered him from the ground.
“Come out, Adam! Come out!” Jake yelled.
“Haki’s pinned down by the pole and the wall! They’re wedged! I can’t shift them,” Adam called desperately.
“Come out!” Jake implored him, but Adam still struggled to free Haki.
In the elephant shed Sonda was nearly going mad. She trumpeted and stamped. Bill led her out and away from the rain of sparks.
“Is Haki out?” he shouted to Jake.
“No! He’s trapped. Adam won’t leave him. They’ll both be burned alive,” Jake cried in horror.
Bill did not hesitate. “Come on, Sonda!” He led her up to Haki’s stable. One side and the end of it were blazing furiously. The straw inside was alight too. Dimly Bill could see Adam, outlined against the flames, trying to lift the debris off Haki.
“Lift, Sonda! Lift!” Bill cried. “Get Haki!”
Sonda often helped to lift tent poles and this was her word of command. She was shaking with fear but she heard Haki’s desperate neighing. Her love for Haki was greater even than her dread of the flames. She plunged into the smoke and felt round with her trunk.
She found the pole and wooden wall that was pinning Haki down. She thrust the blazing wooden wall aside and tugged at the pole which was wedged. It snapped off short but Haki’s leg was free.
“Come on, Haki! Come on!” Adam urged, choked by the smoke. Haki struggled to rise but flopped back again. His foreleg had been broken by the falling pole.
“Up, Sonda, up!” Bill cried.
Sonda did not hesitate. Once again she thrust her trunk among the smoke and sparks and blazing straw. This time her trunk curled round Haki himself and lifted him clear of the stable. She backed away, her trunk round him, beyond the range of flying sparks. Adam stumbled from the shed, beating the fire from his clothes, in time to see Sonda place Haki gently on the ground at Bill’s feet.
Haki lay there, his maimed leg doubled up, his mane and tail burnt away by the fire, but he was still alive. Adam fell on his knees beside him, forgetting his own burns.
“Oh, Haki! Haki!” he cried, the tears streaming down his face.
Jake spread blankets over Haki. “The Boss has gone to phone for a vet,” he told Adam. He shook his head when he saw the sorry condition of the little animal.
“Your hands need bandaging too, Adam.”
It was only then that Adam realized that his hands had been burned in trying to free Haki.
The rest of the company quickly ran up hoses to fight the blaze and connected them to the stand-pipes on the circus ground. The flames began to dwindle and die down.
The veterinary surgeon arrived quickly in his car and George Wiggins brought him to the pony. The vet gently removed the blankets and felt Haki’s legs.
“The right foreleg is broken above the fetlock,” he pronounced. “No other bones seem to be broken but he’s got several bad burns and the poor little fellow is badly shocked too. He’s in a bad way.”
“Adam, maybe you’d better let the vet put him out of his misery,” Mr Wiggins said gently.
“Oh, no! No!” Adam started up. “Not that! He could get well again, couldn’t he?”
“Well, I could set his leg, but it will take a longish time for the bone to knit. I could dress his burns too, and give him penicillin to prevent infection. The skin would heal very slowly and he’d need almost as much nursing as a hospital patient.
“But he might recover?” Adam persisted.
“With care he would. But I doubt if he’ll be fit enough to take part in the circus again.”
“Better let him go, Adam. I’ll get you another pony you can train,” George Wiggins offered.
“No! I don’t want Haki to die!” Adam cried wildly. “Listen, Mr Wiggins! You said I could buy back Haki any time in a year if I had fifty pounds. I’m only five pounds short. Will you take the forty-five pounds and let me pay you the rest out of my next wages?”
“There’s no need for any money at all,” George Wiggins said gruffly. “I’ll give him back to you, Adam. Look after him if you want it that way.”
“Please can I buy him back?” Adam begged. “He might not be any more use as a circus pony.”
Mr Wiggins laid a hand on Adam’s shoulder. “Let’s leave it just now, Adam. We’ll argue it out in a few months’ time when we see how Haki goes on. You do your best for your pony, lad. Jake and the others will help you.” Mr Wiggins blew his nose hard. He turned to the vet. “Go ahead and make that animal as comfortable as you can and set the leg. You can send the bill to me afterwards.”
Once the leg was set and the burns dressed, Haki was lifted gently by the men into a well-lined horsebox.
“I’ll stay beside him,” Adam said.
“I’ll help you, Adam,” Jake said quietly. “We’ll take it in turns sleeping and watching. I’ve got to go along and see the Boss first, though.”
In his living-wagon George Wiggins questioned Jake. “Have you any idea how that fire started?”
Jake hesitated, then he held out something on the palm of his hand. It was a petrol-operated cigarette lighter, charred and twisted.
“One of the lads found this just inside the stable.”
Mr Wiggins looked up sharply. “Does Adam smoke?”
“No.”
“Do you recognize the lighter?”
“It’s one of a very common pattern. There are thousands of ‘em. All I can say is Willie Baxter had one like it.”
“Mm. So it looks as if the owner of that lighter set light to the hay in the stable near the wall and dropped his lighter as he scrambled out. And there’s been bad blood between Willie Baxter and Adam Cromarty.”
“Willie was black-jealous of Adam.”
“Mm! We’ve no real proof, but you can send Willie Baxter to me and I’ll ask him a few questions.”
“I can’t do that, Boss.”
“Why not?”
“Willie Baxter and his brother and the chimps lighted out of the circus in their two wagons about the time the fire was discovered. They’ll be miles away by now.”
“I’ll catch up with Willie Baxter, wherever he’s gone,” Mr Wiggins said determinedly. “We’ll have difficulty, though, in proving he started that fire. Now, see Adam gets all he wants for the pony. But I doubt if Haki’ll ever be fit to do his turn in the Big Top again.” Mr Wiggins shook his head dolefully.
11. The Show Goes On
It was a long, hard time for Adam and Haki in the winter quarters. Adam had a shakedown in the stable at the farm and slept alongside his pony. Every day he renewed the dressings on the colt’s burned skin. He massaged Haki well where there were no burns, to keep him in condition.
At first Mr Robinson, the vet, called every day. At the end of the week he gave Haki a careful examination.
“He’ll get better. He’s got a good strong heart and a hardy body. It must be all those heather shoots and seaweed your ponies feed on when they’re young,” he joked. “But don’t try to force the pace with him, boy. Nature must take her own time with healing.”
“Will he be able to walk again?” Adam asked.
“Aye, he’ll walk, but I can’t promise he won’t be lame. Don’t let him put his foot to the ground for a long time yet. It’ll be time enough when he shows signs of wanting to use that leg himself.”
Every day Haki had two devoted visitors, Bill and Sonda. When Bill took Sonda out for her exercise he brought her round by Haki’s stable. Every day Sonda swung out her trunk and Haki responded by licking her.
“As long as Haki remembers Sonda, there’s hope he’ll recover altogether,” Bill told Adam.
One day Adam called Jake into the stable. “Look! Haki’s skin has all healed except for one little patch on his flank as big as a shilling. Even that is beginning to skin over now, though it may leave a mark,” he said sadly. Adam had been so proud of Haki’s shining coat.
“You’ll soon be able to start grooming him again and
then you can brush the hair over that patch,” Jake consoled him.
“And see, Jake! His mane and tail are growing again.”
“Bless me! So they are!” Jake declared. “It’ll take a time to grow as long and beautiful as they were before, but perhaps, by the beginning of the next tenting season, he’ll be showing several inches.”
“The next tenting season?” Adam looked at Jake. “Jake, do you think we shall see Haki under the Big Top again?”
“Adam, I can tell you it was a miracle Haki lived, burned as he was. If one miracle can happen, there’s no reason why another shouldn’t. Keep your faith, lad!”
At last there came a day when Mr Robinson stripped the plaster from Haki’s foreleg. Adam watched him anxiously. He felt the limb all over with great care.
“The break’s reunited all right,” Mr Robinson said. “It’s a good mend. The leg will be a bit stiff, though. Let him take his own time in using it. Give it a gentle massage every day.”
Adam worked on the limb very carefully. He and Haki seemed to have grown even closer friends, if that could be possible. Haki lifted his head with joy every time Adam came into the stable. Then, one day, when Adam went back to him after eating dinner at the farmhouse, he found Haki standing on three legs with the injured one held in the air. To Adam’s surprise, Haki poked the foreleg at him with the old gesture that meant he wanted Adam to shake hands with him. Adam gave the fetlock a gentle shake, then, hardly daring to say the word aloud, he gave the command “Down!”
Haki set the hoof neatly on the ground and when Adam said excitedly “Stand still, Haki!” he stood four-square firmly on all four legs.
“Keep still, Haki!” Adam cried. He rushed from the stable calling “Jake! Bill! Ella!”
They came running.
“What’s wrong, Adam?” Jake panted.
“Nothing’s wrong! Come and see Haki!”
They peered through the stable door. “Look! He’s standing!” Adam cried, his voice broken by joy. “Shake hands with them, Haki!”
Haki lifted his foot to each of them in turn and “shook hands,” then set it down easily on the ground again, to everyone’s joy.
“Looks like you’ll be able to start training Haki again, Adam,” Jake remarked.
“I mean to!” Adam said with determination.
“Take it easily, though, son. Don’t rush Haki,” Jake warned him.
“I shall take him just step by step, adding a bit of his act each day if he’s able to take it,” Adam promised. “Will you all help me, Bill, you and Ella, and Sonda?”
“Of course! Sonda’s been pining for Haki. She’ll perk up when she sees him moving round again. We shan’t be able to work them together just yet, though. I’ve got to take Sonda for a few days to the Christmas show in Manchester.”
When Bill and Sonda did return, Bill was bubbling over with some news. At supper he told his tale.
“We met old acquaintances at the Christmas show. You’ll never guess! The Baxters and the Chimps!”
“That scoundrel Willie Baxter?” Ella exclaimed.
“He didn’t look overjoyed to see us and I’m sure he’ll never want to clap eyes on us again,” Bill chuckled. “Sonda saw to that!”
“Why? What happened?” the others demanded.
“We met him face to face along one of the outside paths in the park and Sonda recognized him. He turned to run but Sonda flashed out her trunk and lifted him up in the air. He let out an awful scream. I was frightened too, for fear of what Sonda might do to him.”
“What did she do?” Ella asked.
“She flung him away from her as hard as she could. Luckily for Willie there was a duck pond nearby! He went into it with a mighty splash. When he came up he was smothered in mud!”
“Serve him right!” Jake said.
“Call off your elephant! Call her off!’ he yelled. Do you know it took me quite a time before I recovered my wits enough to pull Sonda away? An awful sight Willie looked, standing there in the middle of the pond plastered in mud! He had the cheek to say he’d have the law on me and my elephant.”
“And what did you say, Bill?”
“I just told him he’d better not mention the law! ‘There was a little matter of a fire at Wiggins’ Circus last autumn,’ I told him. ‘You never found your cigarette lighter, did you?’ I tell you, he turned yellow. Once he got out of that pond he took to his heels like mad.”
“That’s the last we’ll ever hear of Willie Baxter,” Jake said.
Soon Sonda and Haki were practising together in good earnest. Haki was quickly recovering his old suppleness.
Mr Wiggins was on the Continent looking for new turns and also looking for a new pony to take Haki’s place. Jake sent a telegram to Mr Wiggins, saying, “Don’t bother about new pony. Have seen one here that might suit.” He chuckled as he handed it over the post office counter.
When Mr Wiggins returned, he found the Big Top was erected in a field near the farm.
“What’s the big idea of putting up the Big Top?” he asked Jake.
“Oh, Ella thought the canvas could do with patching a bit. And we’ve been doing some rehearsing with the animals. Some of them were a bit stiff,” Jake said, keeping a perfectly straight face. “Oh, and I’ve got that Shetland pony here that I wired to you about. You can see him go through his paces tonight.”
“No hope of him being as good as Haki, I suppose,” George Wiggins said dismally.
“Do you know, I shouldn’t wonder!” Jake said with a chuckle.
That night the Boss sat in state in the Big Top while the animals were paraded before him. The strains of the bagpipes echoed down the approach alley. In strutted Adam followed by Haki placing his feet surely and lightly and Sonda following, pounding out the rhythm.
“Why! The new pony’s like Haki except for his mane and tail. I wouldn’t have believed it possible to train a pony in such a short time. How on earth did you manage to persuade Sonda to accept him? She was dotty about Haki.”
“She still is!” Jake told him. “As for the pony’s mane and tail, they’re growing nicely again.”
“Why, it is Haki!” Mr Wiggins cried. “I just can’t believe it! Jake Bradley, I’ll sack you if you pull my leg like this again!” The Boss broke into a thundering roar of laughter too. He jumped from his chair and went to join Adam in the ring.
“Well done lad! You’ve worked a miracle. Haki will be able to do his turn when we go tenting again.”
“Please, Mr Wiggins, can I buy Haki back now?” Adam asked. “I’ve been saving all winter and I’ve got the money in the post office. You did promise I could buy him back again.”
Mr Wiggins looked upset. “Aye, I know I did. But you’re not thinking of leaving me and the circus yet, are you, Adam? I’d be sorry to part with you.”
“No. I still want to stay with you and the circus, Mr Wiggins. But I want Haki to belong to me, to be all mine.”
“I see.” Mr Wiggins wrinkled his brows. “No, I won’t sell him to you, Adam.”
“But you promised, Mr Wiggins—” Adam began.
“Wait, boy!” Mr Wiggins held up his hand. “I won’t sell him to you, but I’ll give him back to you.”
“I’d rather keep my bargain,” Adam began with Shetland pride.
“I know! I know! But I’m going to make another bargain with you, Adam. If I give you the pony, you’ve to promise to stay with the Wiggins’ Circus for three years.”
“But it’s too generous of you, Boss,” Adam stammered.
“No, it’s not. Haki was near dead but you brought him back to life. But for you there might have been no pony at all. Keep your money and your pony, Adam, but you can sign this paper to say you’ll stay with me three years, in exchange for Haki.”
Adam signed, his heart full of gratitude.
“Right! Now, don’t go and spend all the money you’ve got in the post office bank at once, lad,” the Boss advised him.
“Well, I’ve got a notion lined
up already,” Adam said self-consciously. “Some day I might like to have a pony herd. So I mean to buy a little Shetland mare as a wife for Haki.”
“Now isn’t that strange?” Mr Wiggins replied, twinkling. “I had a notion that we might raise our own strain of circus ponies too. But this time, Adam, I’ve beaten you to it. I sent away a week ago to Ian’s uncle, Mr Sinclair, to find a good little mare for me. She should be here any day now.”
“Jings! Sonda’s going to have an awful busy time acting as nannie to a whole herd of ponies!” Bill laughed.
“Don’t look so dumbfounded, boy!” Mr Wiggins told Adam. “Maybe we can arrange to go into partnership over the ponies.”
“I’d like that,” Adam replied. “I was wondering what I was going to do with the money I’d saved. I’ve got one thing lined up though.”
“What’s that?”
“My father and mother have never been out of Shetland. I’d like to see they got a good holiday. I–I left home in a bit of a hurry, you know, Mr Wiggins.”
“And it’s been on your mind, Adam?”
Adam nodded.
“Maybe they’d like to come and see what you’re doing in the circus? I reckon we could fix up accommodation for them. How’s that?”
“Just dandy, sir!” Adam said gratefully.
Copyright
Illustrated by Victor G. Ambrus
Kelpies is an imprint of Floris Books
First published in 1968 by Lutterworth Press, London
First published in Kelpies in 1985
This edition published in 2018 by Floris Books Copyright © 1968 Estate of Kathleen A. Goldie
This eBook edition published in 2018
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced without the prior permission of Floris Books, Edinburgh www.florisbooks.co.uk
The publisher acknowledges subsidy from Creative Scotland towards the publication of this volume
British Library CIP Data available
ISBN 978–178250–505–1
Haki the Shetland Pony Page 11
