Dream On (Dare to Dream Book 2), page 5
“Now now old girl,” he scolded gently as he set her on the kitchen table. He started palpating her sides, and she whined, trembled, and peed on the table.
“Oh puppy,” Kris said, quickly mopping it up as the spaniel hung her head and cringed in embarrassment.
Mike frowned as he gently worked over her, then ran a hand down her bony back and looked at Kris sadly.
“Doesn’t look good, does it?” Kris asked, and he shook his head.
“There’s some kind of mass in there,” he said quietly. “And she’s lost a lot of weight in the past week or so.”
“She hasn’t really been eating,” Kris admitted, chewing at a hangnail.
“We could attempt surgery,” Mike offered, “but I’m not sure it’s worthwhile. She’s old so it’s risky to put her under, and it won’t prolong her life by much…”
Kris was already shaking her head. “No, that wouldn’t be fair on her,” she said slowly. The inevitable loomed, but she couldn’t bring herself to say the words. She’d known that Dottie wasn’t well, but she’d hoped for a little more time to get used to the idea.
“I’ll give her some painkillers for tonight,” Mike said, relieving the burden. “I’m back in the morning anyway. You can make a decision then.”
Kris nodded, her throat constricted by the lump that had appeared in it. “Thanks.”
Mike pulled the needle from his medical kit and prepared the injection. “This’ll make you feel better,” he told the dog. Dottie twitched as he held a flap of skin and carefully injected her, then gave her a rub and set her down in her basket. Groggily, she clambered in, turned around twice and lay down with her head on her paws, slowly closing her eyes and drifting back to sleep.
* * *
The sun was beating down strongly the next morning as Jake stood awkwardly to the side, leaning against one of the apple trees in the orchard as the girls buried their dog. As he averted his gaze, trying not to stare intrusively at the private moment, his eye caught a flapping red ribbon, tied to the trunk of a small tree. Jake wandered over and crouched down in front of it, taking hold of the ribbon and running it through his fingers. It was faded and weather worn, but he could still make out the words printed on the thin strip of fabric. NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS ~ 1ST. Under the tree lay a flat river stone with the word NIMBLE painted across it, and Jake realised that he was staring at another grave.
“He was a good pony, that one.”
Jake startled and looked over his shoulder at Marley, then straightened up quickly, feeling self-conscious. He wiped his hands on his jeans and shrugged apologetically.
“Hey. Um, I’m sorry about your dog.”
Marley bit her lip. “Thanks. It’s sad, but she had a good life.” Her eyes fixed on the flapping ribbon, and a pained look crossed her face for a second before she shook it off. “Dot was ready to go. It’s part of our responsibility when we have animals. When the pain and suffering gets to be too much, we can end it for them. If only we extended that kind of humanity towards people.”
Jake nodded slowly as she lifted her eyes and focussed on his face, unconsciously straightening his shoulders under her gaze. She tilted her head curiously, giving him an appraising look.
“Your eyes are different colours.”
“Yeah,” Jake grunted, looking away. It was certainly his most defining characteristic, and something he was sick to death of people pointing out to him. He was well aware that his right eye was a deep, rich brown, and the left was dark blue. The incongruity was striking, but most people seemed to find it unnerving, and had trouble meeting his eyes straight on. But Marley didn’t seem to mind. She didn’t look away or change the subject, just studied him for a moment longer. Then she smiled, and her whole face lit up, bringing her own green eyes sparkling into life.
“It looks cool. I like it.”
Jake wasn’t sure how to respond to that. “Uh, yeah. I guess. I dunno.”
He wished he could think of something smarter to say, but she hadn’t taken her eyes off his, and he was getting more tongue-tied by the minute. Unaware of the effect she was having on him, Marley stood casually on one leg and scratched her bare foot against the back of her calf.
“You heading in for a cuppa?” she asked, glancing over her shoulder at her sisters and Mike slowly walking towards the house.
Jake shrugged. “Nah, you’re all right.”
Mike was still treating him like a cancerous growth that he wished he could have surgically removed. Jake had come to the farm that morning looking forward to spending a day away from his stepbrother, and he didn’t really want to sit in a closed room and try to make polite conversation with grieving people he barely knew. He’d never been any good at small talk.
Marley shoved her hands in her pockets and shrugged. “Please yourself. I’ve gotta go get the ponies in. See you round.”
Jake watched as Marley walked away from him, her bare feet picking her way across the grass. He couldn’t help admiring her long slender legs, or keep his eyes from the way that her ponytail swung cheerfully between her shoulder blades. Her air of easy confidence fascinated him. He wanted to follow her, but wasn’t sure he would be welcome.
As he stood awkwardly and watched her, Marley stopped abruptly and plucked a red apple from a nearby tree. After a quick inspection, she bit into it, then turned and looked back at Jake.
“If you get hungry, these are pretty good,” she told him before lobbing the apple in her hand over to him. Jake stepped forward quickly and caught it just before it hit the ground.
Marley grinned. “Nice catch.”
She picked another apple, bit into it and continued her walk across the orchard as Jake looked at the fruit in his hand. He could see the outlines of Marley’s teeth in the apple’s white flesh, and his stomach rumbled again. Jake set his mouth next to Marley’s small bite mark and crunched into the apple. It was crisp and sweet, and the juice was sticky on his lips. He swiped it off with the back of his hand and watched Marley disappear behind the barn, then took another bite.
She was right. It was a good apple.
* * *
Seattle bounded forward as Marley closed her legs more firmly around his dapple grey sides.
“Easy tiger,” she cautioned the young pony as he approached the jump eagerly, leaping boldly over and eyeing up the next fence. He cleared that one too, and bucked happily as Marley steered him around the corner. She laughed and pulled his head up, pointing him towards another jump. With a flick of his ears and a swish of his tail, Seattle flew over it with plenty of room to spare, and Marley gave him a pat as she brought him back to his ground-covering trot.
“You’re going to be a very useful jumper when you grow up,” she told him as she steadied him to a walk and loosened the reins onto his neck.
As she rode out of the arena and down towards the yards, Marley surveyed the progress that Van had made. A lot more had been done in the past few days since Jake had turned up to help, and Marley was intrigued to see that the boy Mike had sworn would be about much use as teats on a bull seemed to be working hard under Van’s supervision. He was there now, holding rails in place as Van nailed them to the posts. Seattle approached the worksite with some trepidation, raising his head and snorting softly.
“Harden up Sea, you’re not going to die,” she reassured him as he tiptoed closer. Van noticed her and looked up with a grin.
“He looked like he was having fun out there,” Van commented.
Marley laughed. “He loves it,” she confirmed. “Trying to keep a lid on his excitement is the hardest part.”
Van paused and leaned on the fence. “Mar, we’ve got a problem. There’s something wrong with the trough in the house paddock. I don’t know why, but it’s not filling up, and that mad bay thing had no water this morning.”
“She does have a name,” Marley reminded her.
“It’s a stupid name,” Van replied. “Majestic, honestly. What a mouthful.”
“It’s shorter than calling her That Mad Bay Thing,” Marley pointed out.
Van shrugged. “You can call it Fruitcake or Screw Loose or anything you like,” she replied. “But either you start bucketing water into the trough, or you try and catch it and move it into a different paddock.”
“Why me?” Marley argued. “I’ve still got Gigi and Breeze to ride, and heaps of homework to do.”
“And I’ve still got yards to build and Jake to babysit,” Van replied, winking at Jake as she mentioned him so he would know she was just using him as an excuse. “Besides, you’re the one who insisted on bringing Crazy McGee over there into our lives, so it’s only fair that you’re the one who has to deal with her sh-, uh, shenanigans.”
Marley rolled her eyes. “Fine. I’ll get a bucket of feed and see if I can catch her.”
“You do that. Don’t get kicked,” she added as Marley started to ride Seattle back to the barn. Van lifted another rail into place, then spun on her heel and called after Marley.
“And if you do, don’t tell Kris that this was my idea!”
Marley was nervous as she unlatched the gate to the house paddock and walked in, carrying a bucket of chaff and oats. She’d even tossed a couple of apples on top to try and entice the pony, but she wasn’t convinced that it would work.
“Come on Majestic,” she called softly as she walked across the paddock towards the mare, who was watching her warily from the far corner, and twitching every time she heard Van hammering nails into the yard railings.
“I’ve got a nice feed here for you,” Marley told the pony. “You’ve just gotta come and get it.”
Majestic eyed her warily, then stamped a hind leg. Marley hesitated, wondering if it was a fly or a threat, then told herself to just be calm and walked slowly closer. The pony’s ears flickered back and forth, but she didn’t move until Marley was a few metres away. Then she raised her head and spun on her hocks, cantering to the other end of the paddock.
Marley watched her go, then turned to the trough, which was nearby. Van was right, it was almost dry, and it was a hot day. She walked towards the pony again, but stopped before she got close enough to make Majestic feel that she needed to run away. Marley set the feed bucket on the ground, then turned and walked back to the gate.
Jake was standing there, watching her. Marley slung the halter onto the gate and unlatched it, walking through.
“Come to help me tame the beast?” she asked him.
Jake shook his head. “Van sent me to make sure you don’t get kicked in the head or trampled into a bloody pulp,” he explained. “Her words.”
“Yeah, I bet.”
Marley shut the gate behind her and leaned on it, watching Majestic slowly approach the feed bucket.
“Are you giving up?” Jake asked, and Marley shot him an annoyed look.
“No. But she has no intention of letting me walk up and catch her, so I need her to realise that I’m here to help her, not hurt her.”
“How’re you going to do that?”
“With a bucket of water.” Marley turned and walked back towards the barn, and after a moment’s hesitation, Jake followed her. She filled a large bucket and he helped her to carry it back to the paddock. Majestic eyed them cautiously as she ate her feed, but she didn’t leave the bucket. Together they lugged the water to the trough, and poured it in.
“Doesn’t look like much,” Jake said, looking critically at the water sitting at the bottom of the trough.
“It’s going to take more than one bucket to fill it,” Marley said. “But I’ll do it progressively. I want her to realise that when I go into the paddock, it’s to give her something, not to take her freedom away. She’ll start getting used to me bringing her things, and hopefully eventually let me get close enough to catch her.”
They started back towards the gate, walking slightly closer to the pony this time. She let them get within about four metres before spinning around and cantering away. Marley detoured to the feed bucket and picked it up. Tipping the remnants of the feed onto the grass, she carried the bucket back to the gate, swinging it loosely from her fingertips.
“That’s the plan, anyway,” she told Jake. “Who knows if it’ll work.”
He nodded, pushing the hair out of his eyes as he watched Majestic slurping greedily at the water in the trough. “Good luck.”
“Thanks. I’ll need it.”
They stood at the gate and watched the mare for a moment longer.
“Why’s she so crazy?”
Marley shrugged. “I wish I knew. She’s scared, mostly. Horses are prey animals, so they’re not naturally aggressive and they’ll generally pick flight over fight. My best guess is that somewhere along the line, someone took away her ability to flee from whatever pain or trauma she experienced. When you do that to a horse, they either shut down emotionally or they learn to fight back. And once you’ve woken that fight, it’s hard to teach them to trust again.”
“Think you can?”
Marley shrugged. “Who knows? It’s not my job to try. While she’s here, I won’t give her any reason not to trust me, but any decision is hers to make.” She sighed and looked at the bucket by their feet. “C’mon, let’s give her a bit more water.”
CHAPTER 3
Over the next few days, Marley continued her routine of bringing Majestic’s water to her, one bucket at a time. Van had told her not to waste any more feed on a worthless pony that wasn’t doing any work, so Marley took armfuls of hay into the paddock instead. After a couple of days, the mare stopped running away when she saw Marley coming, and as the week drew to a close, she tentatively stood her ground as Marley brought the hay to her, but still spun away when Marley tried to touch her.
Marley looked at her helplessly. I can’t help you if you won’t let me, she thought. She walked back to the gate and reached for the latch, wishing there was something she could do for Majestic. She’d wanted to bring her home to help her, to try to understand why she was so difficult for Stacey, but all she’d uncovered was more damage than she’d thought possible. It was clear that there was going to be no easy answer for the pony’s troubles.
When Marley got home from school on Friday afternoon, she found Van in the barn, tacking up Covergirl and singing a pop song badly off-key. Marley grimaced as she leaned against the edge of the stall and watched her sister bridle the chestnut mare.
“You’re making my ears bleed.”
“Jealousy gets you nowhere in life, Mar.” Van tightened Covergirl’s throatlatch and checked her girth. “Stacey’s dad came to pick the Mad Hatter up today.”
Marley was startled. “She’s gone?”
Van shook her head. “Unfortunately, no. They couldn’t get near her. Tried for hours, chasing the poor thing around the paddock, but she wasn’t having a bar of it. She’s certainly got some stamina.” Van sounded faintly impressed by the mare’s tenacity.
Marley couldn’t explain why she felt so relieved. “So they’ve left her here?”
“Said they’ll be back next Friday to try again. Tried to tell me that it was my responsibility to have caught the pony by then. No gratitude for us taking her home or anything, just kept plugging on about how we shouldn’t have turned her out in the first place. Like we were supposed to know she’d be this feral. And when I mentioned the vet bill she’d given poor old Miles, he asked me why I would put a pony as valuable as his in with another horse anyway, in case she got kicked! The man’s as mad as his pony.”
“Sounds like it.”
“He said he’ll pay us a bonus if we can catch her though, so if you want to try getting a halter on her then knock yourself out. Just don’t let her do it for you. Oh, and I fixed the trough, so you won’t have to keep lugging buckets out there,” Van added as she pulled the reins over Covergirl’s head and led her out of the barn.
Marley was too busy with her ponies to spare more than a glance at Majestic, but after dinner she took her maths homework out to the paddock, picked a shady spot under one of the trees, and sat down with her books. Majestic looked at her sceptically, and went to graze in the furthest corner. With a sigh, Marley bent her head over the page of equations, and became lost in a sea of algebra.
Almost an hour later, as she was finishing up the final sum and hoping that at least one or two of her answers were correct, a soft thudding noise made Marley look up. Majestic stood in front of her with her ears pricked.
“Hey you.” She dug into her pocket for a treat, coming up with a soft piece of carrot that had been there for a while. She held it out to the mare, who eyed it suspiciously, then reached forward and softly lipped it up.
Marley smiled. She reached up and gently rubbed the mare between the eyes. “Don’t worry pony. You’re going to be okay,” she assured her. “I’ll take care of you.”
“Marley!”
Kris’s voice carried from the house, and both she and Majestic startled. Marley stood up and the pony moved away. She could see Kris walking towards the barn, looking for her, so she gathered up her school books and headed towards the gate. Majestic started to follow her, then stopped and started cropping grass. Marley slipped through the gate and latched it behind her.
“I’ll be back,” she told the pony. “And maybe next time you’ll let me catch you.”
It took Marley several attempts and the better part of an hour, but eventually she managed to slip a rope over Majestic’s neck and put a halter onto her. She spent several minutes just talking to her, leading her gently around the paddock, then slid her hand back towards the mare’s withers and scratched her at the base of her mane. Majestic watched her for a moment, then lowered her head, licked her lips, and yawned.
Marley’s smile widened. “Does that feel good?”
She knew that licking and yawning were signs of relaxation in horses, and as she continued to rub the mare, Majestic relaxed further. Marley continued talking to her in a reassuring way, not saying anything of consequence, just speaking calmly to encourage the mare to stay relaxed.
