New Hoofprints in the Snow, page 2
Emma stood there a moment, unsure of what to do until she did it. With steady steps, she moved closer to Maia and put a hand on her shoulder. Maia fell into her embrace, arms around her waist, and put her forehead on Emma’s shoulder. “Selena’s going to be fine out here,” Emma murmured, stroking Maia’s back as she cried, her heart drumming quickly in her chest. “Mom’s always saying when she dies, she wants to come back as one of her horses. We give them the best care possible.”
Maia nodded and lifted her head to rest her chin on Emma’s shoulder. “I hope so.”
“I know so.” Emma pulled away reluctantly from Maia so she could look her in the eyes. “Sometimes, I think the horses get better care than I do.”
“What happens if you can’t find her a new home?” Maia’s voice was barely above a whisper, and she backed away from Emma slightly, now that the crying spell was over.
Emma wanted to squeeze Maia’s shoulder to help assure her, but she didn’t. Instead, she said, “She’ll live out her life here with our herd.” She pointed out the door at the horses in the pasture. “She’ll have plenty of space to run, lots of hay and grain, and you’ll keep coming out to visit her.”
“Then I hope she doesn’t find a new home.” Maia sounded steadier. Calmer. The cry seemed to have done some good. “I’ll definitely come out and visit her. Lots and lots. Maybe one day we can find a way to bring her home—well, when we have a home again.”
Emma swallowed the knot that had developed in her throat. Are they becoming homeless? Is that why she has to give up Selena?
“Girls, did you get the horse settled?” Emma’s mother called from the open barn door.
“We’re about done,” Emma called back. “Be out in a second.” She wanted to give Maia the chance to dry her tears if she wanted to. She leaned close to Maia’s head. The sweet smell of her shampoo swirled around Emma. “You going to be okay?” she whispered.
“Somewhat.” Maia sniffled and wiped her eyes on her sleeve. “Thanks for helping me feel better.”
In that moment, Emma wanted to do everything she could to help Maia feel better. “Hey, if you’re going to be coming out here, we’re going to be friends, and friends are supposed to help each other out, right?”
“Right.” Maia stepped away from Selena and gave Emma a quick hug. “Thanks. Take good care of Selena. I’ll see you both soon.”
Before Emma could say anything in return, Maia dashed out of the barn, and then the sound of a truck door slamming echoed across the property. Emma closed and locked Selena’s stall and walked toward her mother, standing in the barn doorway. She heard the truck start and watched it leave. Maia would be back out to the center—soon, Emma hoped—to visit Selena.
3
MAIA PUSHED Ramon’s wheelchair around to the back of the truck and hefted it into the bed. Once she closed the tailgate, she leaned against it and took several deep breaths.
“Thanks, mija.” Her mom smiled as she put the bags of groceries in next to the chair. “I really appreciate all your help.”
“It’ll be easier once we get the van.” They’d been on a list to get a van for two years. Her brother’s accident had been three years ago. The excuse the charity gave when her father asked about the van was that the economic downturn had made it difficult for them. People weren’t donating to charities as much as they once did. Even the food bank had trouble. The first time they’d gone, the shelves were piled high like a Sam’s Club or Costco. As time drew on, more shelves became vacant and the selection dwindled. Her mother stopped going the year before when she decided there were others in the community who needed the food more than they did. They were lucky enough to have friends and family who could help them. Others weren’t so lucky. Maia often wondered if they’d kept going whether they would still have needed to move in with her abuela.
“But we don’t know when that will be.” Her mother held out the now-empty shopping cart to Maia for her to take it to the shopping cart stall a few places from them. “At least there should only be a few people ahead of us on the list now.”
Maia sighed as she took the cart. “There always seems to be a few people ahead of us for everything.” She didn’t wait to hear if her mother replied. She pushed the cart over to the stall and shoved it in with the others. Nothing in her life was going the way it should. Since moving in with Abuela Sylvia, she hadn’t been able to find any quiet time for herself. There was always something going on—most of it school- or Ramon-related—and her abuela required a lot more assistance around the house than Maia realized. She missed being able to just go out back to the barn and be alone with Selena.
MAIA’S COMPUTER booted up. For the first time since they’d moved in, she finally had an Internet connection. It wasn’t very fast and it had a data cap on it, but at least it was the Internet again. She never had enough time to check her e-mails at school. Unlike the kids who checked their phones and messages during class, she tried to keep nonschool stuff to homeroom or lunch, the two times she was allowed. Before she made it very far in her inbox, a chat window popped up from Tess.
Hey girl, you at the library?
Finally online at Abuela Sylvia’s, Maia replied.
Yay! How’s things at Fountain-Fort Carson High? I’ve heard they’re a lot rougher there.
There’s a couple of gangs in school, and more drugs are around, but nothing I can’t keep ahead of. They’re city kids. A smile crossed Maia’s face. They all treated her like she was some kind of bumpkin, transferring in the middle of the fall semester from Falcon, but she didn’t care.
Gotcha. When are you headed this way?
Don’t know. Maia’s chest heaved, and she bit her lip in frustration. For two weeks, she’d hoped to get out to the rescue to visit Selena. She wanted to see how the mare was integrating with the herd, where she was in their pecking order. It would probably make things even harder for her if Selena had problems, but she hoped that Emma wouldn’t let anything happen to her horse.
Well, keep me posted. It’s easier to catch up on gossip face to face. Typing gets old, and I have to do enough of it for homework. Still don’t have your phone back?
A heavy sigh slipped from Maia. Phone services had been the first expense they’d cut when her dad lost his job. No data service, and talk time was severely limited. She missed calling her friends—their cellular minutes per day were split among the four of them: her parents, herself, and Ramon—but since her parents had turned the Internet on so they could look for work, communications would be a little easier. She hoped so anyway. With no call-waiting or voice mail, Abuela Sylvia and her parents had reserved the landline for emergencies only. Not to mention the only phone was in the kitchen, and it wasn’t even cordless. Ancient technology and definitely no privacy. So much had changed in so short a time period. Right. We’ll catch up soon.
Better. Billy is driving me nuts asking about you.
And he couldn’t send me an e-mail? Maia shrugged and rolled her eyes as she typed. Billy was cute, sure, but she hadn’t heard from him since they moved. As much as she had wanted to get to know him the year before, now it didn’t seem to matter that much. Boys just seemed to be… well, difficult, sometimes. She wasn’t sure about a lot of things where boys were concerned. Having a good husband and children, though… she knew her mother—and the rest of her family—expected that from her. Sometimes the hints weren’t even that subtle—like when her cousin and her husband visited with their two kids last year for her quinceañera. Her cousin was only four years older than she was—but she had two kids, one two-year-old and the other was six months. Maia loved playing with the kids and, one night at dinner, her father had prayed that Maia find a young Catholic man and have lots of healthy, happy children.
The thing was, yeah, she was attracted to boys. She also really liked girls. There was something about the way they moved, their soft curves and delicate skin. Not Tess though—there was a certain type that tended to draw her eye. Emma was more of that type. Her short black hair with long bangs enthralled Maia. She knew her mom would have never let her cut her hair that short. Never mind what her family would think if she had a girlfriend. And there was something about Emma—the way she’d taken the first step to make sure that Maia knew what would happen with Selena—that showed that Emma cared enough about Maia at their very first meeting to help her through the roughest decision of her life.
He’s a boy. What do you think? Anyway, I need to go get some homework done. I’ll look for you in chat later.
L8R.
Closing the chat window, Maia turned her attention back to her e-mail. A lot of it was junk e-mail from various colleges hoping she’d enroll and “save now,” they claimed. She still had a year and a half before she graduated, but she wasn’t stupid. She deleted the obvious spam and e-mail from colleges she knew she wouldn’t be interested in, but there was one address she didn’t recognize. The name on the e-mail was HCHR. She opened the e-mail, and there was a picture of Selena standing out in a pasture with other horses around her. Maia’s heart leaped as she read the e-mail.
Hi Maia!
Thought you’d like a picture of Selena since you haven’t had a chance to come out yet. She’s settling in real nice. The vet said she’d been well taken care of, something we don’t often see in horses that come in out here. The farrier trimmed her hooves up too. Your mom had said something about her needing shoes to be ridden, and the farrier definitely confirmed it. But, first, I think we’re going to evaluate her, do some desensitivity training, then decide if she’d work in the hippotherapy program Mom’s wanting to start. Until then, Mom wants to wait to put shoes on her. If she’s just hanging out in the field, there’s not a big reason to put on shoes. But she’s getting along great with the other horses. She and one of our geldings, Carl, have nearly become inseparable, and that’s a good thing. He’s in the middle of the herd (Oops is our alpha mare) so Selena doesn’t get picked on by everyone. And fortunately, I haven’t seen any wounds on her so she’s either good at avoiding hooves and being bitten or no one has really gone after her. Sometimes I think it’s pretty hard being a horse, what with trying to fit into their hierarchy and all. Jockeying for position all the time just sounds like a pain, kinda like high school would be. I think that’s one of the reasons I love being homeschooled. Hope you can come out and see her soon. It would be great to see you again, and I’m sure Selena misses you. Next weekend, we have an open house and auction to raise money for the center. You and your mom should come out.
Emma
P.S. We could probably sneak off and go riding too!
A single tear slid down Maia’s cheek, but she smiled faintly and ran a finger over the picture of Selena on the screen. I’m glad Emma’s taking care of Selena. She’s so…. Who could she get to go with her? After dinner would be the best time to ask her folks about going to the open house. If neither of them nor her abuela wanted to go, maybe she could borrow the truck? Sneaking off to go riding with Emma would be exciting, and it had been so long since she’d ridden Selena. Below Emma’s name and postscript was a phone number. After she talked to her folks, she’d call her and let her know if she could go. It would be so good to get a break from Fountain and back to the country life she understood so much more than the cramped suburban life she’d been thrown into.
4
WHEN EMMA saw Maia get out of the truck that parked alongside her driveway, she turned Selena’s head in that direction and rode to meet her. So far, the fundraiser was going really well. According to her mom, they’d already made the money they needed to pay for the party and to help with supplies as well as startup fees for the new hippotherapy clinic. The only thing that had been missing, Emma felt, was Maia.
“Hey Maia!” Emma waved a hand as Maia walked toward them. She halted Selena, then leaned forward to rub her neck. She’d been riding with a bareback pad, just to see how Selena would react to the different feel.
“Emma! Selena!” Maia held out the back of her hand for Selena to smell and then scratched the underside of her neck. They both laughed as Selena’s head went higher and higher up, so Maia would be able to scratch more. “I’ve missed you so much!”
Wish she was talking about me, but it’s definitely nice to see her happy. “Did you want to go for a ride while you’re here? Mom’s busy entertaining.”
“Oh God, yes! Can I ride with you to the barn?”
“Sure.” Pulse racing, Emma walked Selena next to a large tree stump. “Can you get on from here?”
“No problem as long as I’ve got you to help me up.” Maia climbed onto the tree stump and slid one leg behind Emma before pushing herself up with the other. Emma braced herself as Maia held on to her to help adjust herself behind Emma.
“You good?” Emma looked back at the beautiful girl behind her.
“Yeah. Sorry, though, that felt kinda clumsy.”
“Yeah, it can be awkward without a saddle or stirrups, but you did fine. We use this stump as a mounting block all the time.” Emma turned around and squeezed Selena’s sides to get her to move forward. “Just make sure and hold on to me. There’s another helmet in the barn you can use when we get there.”
“I think, if we walk, I should be fine.”
Maia slid her arms around Emma’s waist, and Emma took a deep breath, a smile breaking through on her face. Could she be interested? Maybe, anyway? I don’t even know if she likes girls, though. She evened her reins again out of habit as the horse carried them toward the barn.
AFTER AN hour of riding around barrels and obstacles in the large arena near the pasture, they decided to rest for a moment and pulled their horses up facing the fence.
“You ride really well, Emma.” One of Emma’s favorite saddles on Selena, Maia guided Selena sideways and closer to Emma and Carl so they could chat.
“Thanks. Been riding most of my life. Mom’s had the center for about five years now, and I’ve been riding for about ten. We even still have Clover, the first horse I ever rode. She’s the old mare over there next to the hay. Oops, the sorrel next to her with the white stockings, is my mother’s. She’s the alpha mare of our little herd, like I mentioned.” Emma pointed at a red roan and a sorrel eating from a pile of hay in the pasture. “Now Carl, here, came to us three years ago.” She bent over to stroke his neck.
“Was he a rescue?”
“Yeah, one of the saddest cases Mom’d ever seen.” Emma could still see Carl when he’d first come out of the horse trailer. Her mother tried her best to keep Emma from seeing the horse, more bones than anything, but once he was on the property, it had been impossible. Carl’s condition had cemented the need for the rescue in Emma’s mind and helped her focus on doing whatever she could to help her mother and the horses that came to the center. “He’d been tied to a post in someone’s yard with another horse and left there to die. Both were skin and bones—literally—by the time we got there. The other horse—we named her Violet—didn’t survive the first month here. She had a severe infection in a wound on her belly, and it had progressed too far, according to the vet.”
“That’s awful!”
“Yeah, I know. But that’s why Mom started Heart of Colorado. We had the farm and when Dad died—ˮ Emma swallowed hard. “—Mom just threw herself into a cause that she really believed in.”
“Oh, wow,” Maia said quietly. “What happened to your dad, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“He… he was stationed in Afghanistan in the Army. He’d been there for about three years.” Emma stared off in the distance, remembering. Her mother had just put Clover in a stall to prepare for the farrier. Emma saw the car come down the driveway—it wasn’t one that she recognized. The men who exited the car were dressed in the same uniforms that her father wore in the pictures hung on the wall inside. “One day, two men in uniform showed up at our house and told my mother he had died. I was twelve. I don’t remember exactly how he died—only that the casket at the funeral was closed.” She blinked and wiped a couple tears from her eyes.
“God, I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” Emma said, wishing she had a tissue, a paper towel, or something. “Mom lost it for a while. Then she opened the rescue. Since then, well, we’ve been doing okay.
“As for Carl, we don’t know how long he’d been tied up to that tree before we got to him. At first, I was the only one he’d really respond to. It took us six months to get him to a better weight. We didn’t know whether he’d ever be able to be ridden, and I waited even longer than that to start working him under saddle… but now look at him!” Emma smiled and rubbed Carl on the neck. “He’s a great horse. Where’d you get Selena?”
“I wanted a pony for my tenth birthday, and Mom and Dad got her for me. She’s been”—Maia fiddled with Selena’s mane—“she’s been my best friend ever since.”
“I understand that. I’m sorry about… that she’s here.” Emma couldn’t imagine being forced to give up one of her beloved horses. Especially Carl. They had been through a lot together, just in the three years she’d had him.
“Dad lost his job, then Mom lost hers. It’s been a wild couple of years.” Maia looked off into the distance. “Dad’s working two part-time jobs so we can stay in Fountain. Mom’s working as a waitress at some bar in town. I don’t remember the name of it, but she hates it with a passion.”
Emma remained quiet and Carl shifted under her to rest on one back foot. “Oh” was all she could think to say. “Sorry” only went so far.
“Yeah, and I hate it!” A couple of tears fell down Maia’s cheeks and she wiped them away. “We’re living with mi abuela, and Mom and Dad are always so sad. They try to hide it from me, but I can see it. And what with Ramon’s problems….”
“What’s an ‘abuela’ and who’s Ramon?” Emma adjusted Carl’s reins in her hands.
