“Aunt Ginny, thought I told you. He’s gray!” Brody answered.
“Oh, my Dear God!” Ginny said. “Find Uncle Mike and get him on the phone, will you?”
Brody laid the phone down on the kitchen counter and went looking for his uncle.
“Uncle Mike, Aunt Ginny’s on the phone for you! It sounds important!” he shouted.
Mike picked up the phone. “Hey sweetheart, how’re things down south?”
“Why didn’t you tell me about the stray horse?” she asked.
“Oh, gosh, I forgot. I miss you and just wanted to talk about the ranch stuff when we get to talk. You know how busy it is around here. Brody’s been taking care of him and it just slipped my mind.”
“Didn’t I tell you Ali was loose in the Angeles National Forest? They’ve been up there on horseback looking for him for days now. Maybe he made his way down out of the mountains. Maybe that’s the horse you have there. Brody told me he was a gray Arabian stallion. That could be the horse everybody and their pet duck have been looking for.”
“Oh, my gosh! Do you think it’s possible that horse made it all the way here?” Mike asked her. “That poor horse was attacked by something big. He has deep scratches on his flanks and back and bite marks from something looks like could’ve been a mountain lion or a bear. Maybe you’d better come up here and take a look. We put flyers at the feed stores and nobody’s called us.”
“I’m on my way!” Ginny said. “See you in an hour and a half. I’ll bring Sharon O’Neil with me.”
Ginny closed her phone and ran to the back patio where she’d seen Sharon last.
“We gotta go!” she said to Sharon. “Brody just told me they have a stray horse at our ranch. He showed up late Friday. He’s a Gray Arabian Stallion! Brody told me he’s skinny and dirty but pretty. He and Mike told me the horse could have been attacked by a mountain lion.”
Sharon jumped up and ran to her room to grab her shoes and purse. She met Ginny outside and they climbed into Ginny’s truck. Ginny had already told Esperanza they’d be gone for a while. Sharon grabbed her cell phone and started to call Walter and Caroline at the hospital.
“Let’s wait before we call them,” Ginny said. “Let’s make sure it’s Ali first. We know how worried they’ve been. Can you imagine! That horse walking onto my ranch of all places. God, please let it be him! But, let’s be sure before we celebrate.”
“You’re right!” Sharon agreed and put her cell phone back in her purse. She didn’t want to get anyone’s hopes up and then find out it wasn’t Ali.
Ginny drove straight to the ranch and as she put it, didn’t spare the horses. They made the hundred miles in about an hour and fifteen minutes. As soon as they drove up, Mike opened the back door. He, Brody and Clyde came out and walked with them to the barn.
Ginny and Sharon looked into the stall. Ali was standing with his head down. Sharon spoke first. “Ali, is that you?”
The horse snapped his head up at the familiar voice. He stared through the bars in his stall and nickered a greeting to her. He walked over and poked his head out of the stall and began nuzzling Sharon.
“This is Prince Ali!” Sharon shouted with tears welling up in her eyes. “I’d know him anywhere, anytime, anyplace! Boy is this going to make a bunch of people happy!”
Ginny pulled out her cell phone and made the call to Caroline. Sharon pulled her cell phone out and made the call to Chris. They danced in the barn like a pair of lunatics.
CHAPTER TWENTY EIGHT
The same Friday Ali walked onto the Hartley Ranch in the High Desert, Becky felt herself moving out of the fog and into a brighter world. She could hear her mother singing one of the lullabies she sang to her when she was very little. She could hear the words clearly for the first time. She struggled to move. She could move her eyelids just a tiny bit at first. Her mother didn’t notice it the first time or two. She was holding Becky’s hand in hers. She felt the first movement when Becky tried to squeeze her hand. Caroline shot out of the chair and stood over Becky. “Becky, can you hear me? Becky, if you can hear me can you open your eyes? Can you squeeze my hand?”
Becky felt everything all at once but she was so tired by the effort she drifted off again. When Mom saw no movement and got no response from Becky, she hurried out of the room to the nurses’ station looking for Becky’s day nurse.
“I think she’s trying to wake up!” she told her. “I’m sure I saw her eyelids move a little and I’m very sure she was trying to squeeze my hand.” Tears welled up in her eyes.
The nurse rushed to Becky’s room with Caroline right behind her. She checked Becky’s vital signs – all good. Becky appeared to be sleeping. The nurse shook Becky’s shoulder firmly. “Becky, are you there? Can you open your eyes?” Nothing. She shook her more firmly a second time. “Becky can you hear me? Can you open your eyes?”
Becky felt like someone was trying to shake her out of a deep sleep. It irritated her. She wanted to sleep. She squeezed her eyes shut and turned her head away from the person shaking her.
“Did you see that?” Caroline almost whispered.
“Yes, I sure did. I think she may be coming around. It might take a while. She’s been out for almost two weeks. Give her some more time but keep talking to her. She hears you now. Her brain is processing information,” the nurse told Caroline. “I’ll be right outside if you need me.”
Caroline called Walter on his cell phone. Walter was in the shower and covered with soap when his phone rang. He opened the shower door reaching for the phone and almost dropped it from his slippery palm. He gripped it and pulled it to his ear. “Yes?”
“Honey, she is waking up. She tried to squeeze my hand. The nurse shook her and she squeezed her eyes shut and turned her head. You have to come back here now!” Caroline told him.
“Be there in ten minutes!” he shouted and ended the call. He rinsed off, dressed and ran out the door. He drove to the hospital, not running red lights, but ignoring speed limits all the way. He ran through the hospital lobby and pressed the elevator button. “Why, oh why, are elevators so slow when you need one?” At the floor for the ICU, Walter sprinted to the entry door and picked up the phone to the nurses station to give him access. When the door cracked open, he shoved it out of his way and sprinted to Becky’s room.
“What’s going on?” he asked Caroline. She was sitting next to Becky’s bed holding her hand.
“I’ve seen her eyes flutter a couple of times. She squeezed them shut when the nurse shook her so I closed the blinds in here. Maybe the light was too strong for her just yet?”
“Has she said anything?”
“Not yet, but she seems to come and go. She’s squeezed my hand a couple of times. I think it tires her out and she drifts off again. Why don’t you sit here for a few minutes and just watch her, see what you think?”
Caroline gave the chair to Walter and sat down on the cot alongside the wall. She was exhausted. She didn’t sleep well and she wasn’t eating well either. Two weeks of this and she was running on fumes. She lay down on the cot to rest a few minutes. She drifted off too.
Walter sat in the chair and stared intently at his daughter’s face for at least thirty minutes before anything changed. He noticed her eyelids flutter a tiny bit. Then he felt the pressure of her hand in his squeezing a little bit. He began to talk to her. He told her how much he and her mother loved her and wanted her back. He told her how her friends at school missed her. Her teachers missed her too. Espie sent her love and many hugs. Luis sent her a kiss on the forehead as was his custom.
Becky heard every word! She didn’t understand what all the fuss was about. She was just sleeping after all.
Becky came and went over the next five days. There were times her parents were sure she would open her eyes and times when they were sure she was trying to speak to them. She squeezed their hands with more force. She moved her legs and feet, tiny movements at first, but more and more purposefully. The struggle to move, speak, an
d open her eyes exhausted her and she fell back asleep, but it was sleep now, not the deep fog and blackness it had been. She heard most of the conversation in the room now and understood the words being spoken.
Tuesday night Caroline’s cell phone rang. Caroline answered, “Hello.” She remained silent and just listened. Suddenly her shoulders began to shake and tears streamed from her eyes. She couldn’t speak.
Walter took the phone from her, “Who is this?” Ginny told him everything. “Oh, my Dear God, Thank you! Our prayers have been answered.” was about all he could say. He cleared his throat, “Thank you Ginny and will you please tell Mike and Brody how much we appreciate what you’ve done. Caroline and I will see you here in the lobby when you get here.”
Caroline stood up and threw her arms around him and cried silently for a while. He comforted her and stroked her back until she regained control of herself.
“Oh, I’m so relieved,” she told him. “He’s okay and coming home soon. In the meantime, he’s in the best place possible.”
“I agree with you. We’ll talk to Ginny when she and Sharon get here.” Walter held her close.
“Mom? Dad?” Becky spoke for the first time in two weeks. The words were clearly spoken and stopped her parents in their tracks.
Mom and Dad spun around dumbfounded, split and went to each side of the bed and reached through the side rails to hold her hands. As they stared at her face, her blue eyes shined at them. She smiled.
“Mom, is Ali okay?”
“Yes, dear. Ali is fine. He is waiting for you!”
Becky sighed, closed her eyes and fell back into a peaceful sleep.
CHAPTER TWENTY NINE
Ginny and Sharon arrived at the hospital two and a half hours after the call to Caroline. They called upstairs and waited in the lobby for the Howards.
When Caroline and Walter stepped out of the elevator, Ginny and Sharon rushed to hug them. They were all in a celebratory mood.
“I have something else to tell you guys,” Caroline said. “Right after we got your call, we were standing at the foot of Becky’s bed. I was crying out of happiness and Walter was holding me. All of a sudden we heard Becky say “Mom? Dad?” out loud and clear as a bell. We rushed to her bed and her eyes were open looking at us. She asked me if Ali was all right. I told her “Yes, and he’s waiting for you!” I know she heard me. She smiled and went back to sleep. But this time it was really just sleep. She’d been trying to wake up since last Friday. Wasn’t that the day Ali walked onto your ranch? Well, anyway, I think she’s just tired out from trying to wake up but how great can this be? We find Ali and Becky is waking up!”
Everyone was overjoyed. Walter called Brian Nelson to give him the news about Ali and Becky in the middle of the night. Brian didn’t mind one bit. He was happy to get that kind of good news.
The following morning, Brian let his boss know about the developments of the previous evening, including the current location of the horse. Calls went out fast and furiously once again. The news media was alerted by the Sheriff’s Public Information Officer. Hartley Ranch was mobbed by print and TV reporters, as was the hospital. Brian Nelson called Deputy Ramirez in Little Rock to let him know the horse had been found and where he was.
Deputy Ramirez got in his four wheel drive patrol car and drove up the mountain to Carl Nixon’s cabin. Carl was just saddling Max for another day of searching.
“You can stop searching for Buddy now,” Deputy Ramirez told him. “He’s okay and he’s been found on a ranch about seventy miles from here in Pinon Hills.”
“Oh, thank goodness,” Carl said. “Can I go see him?”
“I have a better idea. I’ll take you there myself. I know my car will make it. I’m not sure your truck can get that far,” Ramirez chuckled.
The Deputy had two good reasons to make sure Carl Nixon saw the horse at the Hartley Ranch. It was important for the case that Carl could positively identify the horse as the one sold to him by the Hix brothers. The second reason was more personal. Ramirez knew Carl had spent every daylight hour over the past week or so looking for that horse and hoping he wouldn’t find his remains. He knew Carl would want to see him personally and know he was in good hands.
Carl put Max in his corral, fed him some extra grain and topped off his water. The two men climbed into the patrol car and made the trip to the Hartley Ranch. They arrived to find a mob of news media people clambering for specific details.
Detective Ramirez talked to Mike privately away from the reporters so he could explain the reason for his visit. After their conversation they took Carl Nixon to the barn. When they got to Ali’s stall, Deputy Ramirez asked Carl if Ali was the horse he bought from the two men.
“Can I go in the stall?” Carl asked.
“Sure, go ahead,” Mike told him.
Carl slid the stall door open and slowly walked inside. “Hey Buddy! How are you?” he asked Ali. Ali lifted his head, dropped it over Carl’s shoulder and nuzzled him. Carl reached out and scratched his withers. He turned his head and told Deputy Ramirez “This is the horse I bought from those two guys for sure.”
Carl spent a few minutes scratching Ali and looked him over. “He’s lost some weight and needs a bath. Those wounds were probably from the she-lion that lives near my cabin. If the bear had gotten to him, I don’t think he would have survived. He’s lucky the cat didn’t finish him off.”
Carl patted Ali’s shoulder affectionately before leaving the stall. “I’m one hundred percent sure this is my Buddy.” He stood for several minutes just looking at Ali. His lip trembled a bit once or twice. “So this is what a two and a half million dollar stallion looks like?” he asked.
Mike nodded his head in the affirmative. “Yup, he’s the one. My wife is in San Juan Capistrano with the family. Becky is doing much better. Looks like she’s going to make it too.”
Carl wiped his eyes quickly and looked away. “He’s probably worth more than that!”
On the way back to Carl’s cabin, Deputy Ramirez handed his business card to Carl. “If you ever need anything, please call me. I will get the name and phone number of the owners for you. I’m sure they would love to hear from you when this all settles down. I heard they were very grateful for the way you treated their horse.”
In Orange County, Brian Nelson and Ron Bentley were called into the Sheriff’s office for the final update on the case of the Million Dollar horse. They briefed the Sheriff personally on the entire case from beginning to end and gave him the location of the horse trailer and the horse. All witnesses in the case were clearly listed for him in their case book. The Sheriff was pleased he could close the book on this one at last. All the missing pieces were in place and the case now proceeded to the District Attorney’s Office for prosecution.
Newspapers and TV stations across the country carried the news of Ali’s discovery. Photos of him carrying the red, white, and blue banner for the Colorado Mavericks were on the front pages of the papers.
Becky woke up the next day. Mom and Dad filled her in on the travels of Prince Ali in bits and pieces, not too much at one time, over the next few days. Dr. Spencer moved her out of the ICU and into a regular hospital room on Thursday. Becky was scanned, x-rayed, poked and prodded, blood tested and examined by a number of specialists at the hospital. They found her to be healthy in general, no mental deficits presented themselves and she was ready to be sent home four days later – with restrictions. Dr. Spencer was very clear with her parents and with Becky what she was allowed to do and what she was NOT allowed to do. Unfortunately riding a horse was on the No list. Becky was most upset about that particular restriction and told Dr. Spencer. She and Ali spent hours and hours getting ready for the Youth National Championships in July. It was now late March. She couldn’t be off riding for long and still be able to compete.
Dr. Spencer said, “I’m sorry about the no riding restriction, but we really do need to enforce that right now. I will see you in a month and we can take new x-rays then.
I will let you ride again when your body is healed enough, but never, under any circumstances, are you to ride without a helmet!”
Becky reluctantly agreed to comply with the restrictions. She knew her Mom would enforce them anyway so there was no arguing her way out of them. She promised Dr. Spencer she would follow his orders to the letter.
Becky had her cell phone back and called Brody at the Hartley ranch for updates on Ali every day. She knew Brody but hadn’t spent much time with him in the past. They got to know each other very well sharing information about Ali. Brody also told Becky about Maryann and how Maryann helped with Ali.
Becky called Todd in Colorado after she talked with Brody to give him the daily updates. They had been close friends for a long time and Todd loved Ali almost as much as Becky did.
Ali had his own form of medical poking and prodding. Before Ginny left her ranch the night they confirmed who he was, she had a list as long as her arm for their vet to do. Ali was not a stray horse. He was a Million Dollar horse. She wanted him checked out thoroughly. She told Mike to have the vet pull x-rays on the tender back foot and the sore stifle for sure. She suggested he do blood tests to make sure Ali hadn’t picked up something bad during his travels. She wanted to make sure he was getting the very best medical care. All the x-rays came back normal. So did the blood work which the vet personally ran to the lab. He was fit as a fiddle, just needed to gain some weight and get back in shape.
There was one other matter Walter Howard wanted to address. He spoke with his wife first and got her agreement. That was the matter of the one hundred thousand dollar reward for information to locate Ali. Their first thought was Carl Nixon who had been so kind to Ali. Carl flat refused the money. He didn’t need it or want it. “I never did get down to the sheriff’s station to report him anyway. I was going to, but Ali escaped. And I wouldn’t take it if I had gotten down the mountain and reported him.”
The Howards settled on someone else. Brody Hartley had taken care of Ali since he wandered onto the Hartley Ranch. They talked it over with Mike and Ginny. They set up a scholarship fund for his college education with the reward money. With what that fund would grow into in the next five years, Brody would be able to go to any college he wanted to.
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