Nickel-Bred (3 page)

“Piper, there are no free horses.”

“Duh! Yes, there are, Dad! I found an ad for
one yesterday!”

“What I mean is, honey, you end up paying for
feed, for training, for saddles and bridles, maybe even for more
fences and gates. Every horse costs money, even if you don’t have
to pay money up front for it.”

“But it could go in the paddock with Dotty
and eat the grass there. We can use my babysitting money for its
feed, if you won’t pay for it. I’ll advertise and babysit more.”
Was he going to start being a tightwad now? He hadn’t mentioned the
cost of feed before, and we went together every couple of weeks to
buy her oats at the feed store.

“Where is this horse and who is giving it
away? Before you get all excited about it, I think I should look at
it and make sure it’s sound.”

This sounded promising, like maybe I was
halfway there with my argument. But Dad’s phone jingled his
business ringtone, “On the Road Again”.

“Dr. Jones. Yes, hello, Jerry. Have you got
her in where I can look at her? Okay, I’ll be right out.” Dad hung
up and stood. “Gotta go. Cow having trouble calving. Look, Piper,
let me think about the horse and I’ll call you later when I get
done with this farm call.”

“Okay, Dad, talk to you later.” I let myself
out and walked home in the warm summer evening. Honeysuckle scented
the air and I smiled to myself. Life was good.

Chapter Five

~ Crooks in Town ~

I got back to
Mom’s and put the pizza back in the fridge because I wasn’t hungry
after Dad’s mac and cheese. I curled up on the couch and turned on
the TV, looking for something to watch, but it was the same old,
same old. We didn’t even have any movies worth watching. I flipped
around the channels for a while and was turning it off when my mom
walked in the door.

“Hey, Mom,” I called so she would know I was
here. “How was it? Did you have a good time? What did you have to
eat?”

“Oh...yes, sweetie, I had a really good time.
Sam is a great guy. We both had beef filets and we split a bread
pudding for dessert. It was delicious. I shouldn’t eat again for a
week,” Mom sighed as she came in the family room and sat down in
our old green recliner. “He asked me to go out again next weekend,
maybe Saturday.”

“You’re going, aren’t you?”

“I said I would, but I don’t want to rush
things. Dating is so new for me and it seems a little odd still.
But I have to tell you something!”

“What?”

“We saw Harvey Martin at the restaurant. He
and Sam go way back, so he came over to our table to warn us to
keep our doors locked any time we were gone. There have been a
series of break-ins and thefts all over the county, including
several right here in town.”

“Thefts like stolen TV’s or what?” Harvey
Martin was our town sheriff and even though I’d had my differences
with him when we were rescuing Dotty, he was an okay guy.

“I guess they’ve taken TV’s and computers,
but also some jewelry and silver. Pretty much anything they could
walk off with that was worth anything.”

“Has anybody gotten hurt?”

“No, they seem to hit houses where no one is
home,” said Mom.

“Do they have any idea who’s doing it?” I
asked.

“I don’t think so,” said Mom. “Harvey didn’t
say. So keep the doors locked, even when you’re home, if you’re by
yourself. And be sure you have your house key with you when you
leave, even for a few minutes.”

“All right, but Mom? We’ve never had to lock
our doors.”

“I know, honey, but things change. This may
be a small town, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t some crooks
around. I’m going up to bed now. Oh, did you eat the pizza?”

“No, I went over to Dad’s and had some supper
over there.”

“What did you have?”

“He fixed some macaroni and cheese. It was
yum and I ate enough that I’m not hungry anymore.”

“Oh, yuck!” said Mom. “You and he could live
on it, but I never did like that stuff. I wouldn’t fix it for him.
Well, goodnight. See you tomorrow.”

“Night, Mom.”

After Mom went to bed, I turned off the
lights and went to my room to read. I pulled out my latest book, a
horse story, of course, and flopped on my bed, settling in. It was
still warm enough that we had the air conditioner running and I
couldn’t hear any of the outside noises. In the summer, I always
loved to hear the whippoorwills’ calls-- the best sounds in the
world. Feeling one of my commune-with-nature moods, I crept
downstairs, stepping softly, and out the back door.

This was more like it. What a beautiful
night! A whippoorwill called to anyone who would listen, the
fireflies were thick over the grassy lawn, and honeysuckle breezes
kissed my face.

A siren somewhere broke the stillness. It was
sounded like it was right downtown. Probably the sheriff’s office.
Another robbery? I went inside and went to bed.

Chapter Six

~ The Exam ~

The next
morning, after my usual breakfast of a piece of toast with peanut
butter, I went out to visit Dotty and maybe go for a ride. I rode
my bike to get there quicker. Parking outside Miss Julie’s barn, I
opened the gate and walked over to my pony. She was grazing the
thick grass that grew in her smallest paddock. There were three
paddocks that we used for Dotty, taking turns, so the grass could
stay thick and not get eaten down.

“Hi, Dotty, how are you doing today?” I
rubbed her neck and shoulder. I found the itchy place on her chest
and Dotty nodded in pleasure as I scratched her warm,
horse-smelling skin. She made snorty noises in her nose when I
turned away to fill her water tank. She followed and nuzzled me,
looking for treats, but I didn’t have any today.

“Hey, Piper!” Addie came through the gate and
Dotty turned from me to see if Addie had any goodies. She got lucky
and scored a small apple. Apple chunks and horse drool fell on the
ground as Dotty crunched.

“What’s up?” I asked.

“I was going to ask
you
that,” Addie
said. “You never called and told me what your dad said.”

“He got a farm call and had to leave. I think
he’ll go out and look at Nickel with us, but I can’t be sure. You
know how parents change their minds all the time.”

“I know, right?”

A rumbling sound broke the stillness. I
looked up, and saw my dad’s green Ford rolling down Miss Julie’s
long driveway. It pulled into the barnyard and Dad got out. When he
saw Addie and me, he walked over to us, at the same time checking
out Dotty.

“She’s looking better, isn’t she? Just needed
some good feed for a while,” he said. “Hi, Addie. Piper, I didn’t
call you back last night because it was so late when I got home. I
knew I’d be out this way this morning and was hoping to catch you
here so we could talk.”

“Did you hear about the break-ins?” Addie
asked him. “My mom can’t talk about anything else. She’s really
freaked.”

“Yeah, I heard out at Ben Hurn’s place. His
uncle had a television and computer stolen. Piper, I talked to your
mother, and you do what she said. Keep the doors locked and your
key with you when you’re out of the house.”

“Got it,” I said, waving the key that was
attached to my horsehair bracelet. Miss Julie had made me that
bracelet from Dotty’s tail hairs when I was little and I wore it
all the time. Well, not swimming or in the shower. I don’t want it
to get all wet.

“Hey, Dad,” I said. This might be a good time
to ask. “Can you go look at that horse with us?”

“I can do that if we hurry,” he said. “Why
don’t you two get in my truck while I say hi to Miss Julie, and
we’ll run out there. You said it was about three miles? And can you
find it again?”

“I can find it,” chimed in Addie. “I can
always remember places and how to get to them.” She was right. It
was amazing how she could do that.

So we climbed into my dad’s truck with the
veterinary body on the back of it.

“Wow,” said Addie, squirming to see what was
behind the seat. “I’ve never been in your truck before.”

Dad climbed in and turned the key. “Do you
like it?”

“It smells like...uh, medicine. And animals.”
Addie wrinkled her nose, not loving barnyard smells, like I
did.

“Well,” he said, “I have to carry everything
I might need with me. Sometimes people tell me what they want me to
come out on a farm call for, but then they have a dog that needs a
vaccination. Or maybe a cat with an infected eye. I just have to
have medicine, bandages, and instruments with me. Have to be
prepared.”

“Cool,” said Addie.

It only took us a few minutes to drive out to
Chickie Hyde’s place, partly because my dad drove fast and partly
because it really was only three miles. We talked in the truck
about calling to see if he was home, but my dad said he remembered
going out there earlier in the spring. He knew who Chickie was and
wanted to see the horse without Chickie knowing we were coming.

As we pulled into the yard, Nickel was in his
small paddock watching us. Dad yelled a loud “Hello!” at the house
as we walked the other way toward the gray horse. We stood on the
far side of the fence from the horse, watching him.

“What do you want?” yelled a woman’s voice
from the house. We all turned and saw a woman walking toward us.
She was older than Addie and me, but not as old as Dad. She wore
extremely short cutoffs and a low-cut pink tank top. I mean, it was
hot out, but she didn’t have to look so trashy. The woman was
chunky with a wild mane of blonde hair and dark roots blowing
around her head. She checked out the green truck and then she
checked out my dad.

“Is Chickie here?” asked Dad.

“No, he ain’t here. He’s gone to town and I
don’t think he’ll be back till late. What do you want?”

“We’re interested in this horse he told my
daughter she could have free,” said Dad, pointing at Nickel. “I’m
Dr. Jones, and I want to check him over before we agree to
anything. This is my daughter, Piper, and her friend, Addie.”

“Well, I’m Angel and it’s nice to meet you,
doctor.” Ignoring Addie and me, Angel put out her hand to Dad and,
as she did, leaned up close to him. “I was telling Chickie that I
hoped some real nice folks would adopt that horse. So go ahead and
look all you want.” She smiled as she said that and stuck her hip
out so we knew she wanted my dad to look at her, not the horse.

Dad sometimes forgot to be geeky and acted
cool, like he was doing this time. Totally ignoring Angel, he
turned around and went through the gate to Nickel. Addie and I
smiled at each other and followed. Addie climbed on the fence for a
better view. Angel stayed behind the fence, hands on hips,
watching. Dad gestured to me to hold the horse’s halter, and took
out the stethoscope he carried in his shirt pocket. He listened, he
looked, and he walked around Nickel several times. He looked in the
horse’s mouth and spoke softly to him, “Easy, son.”

Addie and I watched and were quiet. Angel
paced around, occasionally tossing her mop of hair and sniffing.
Dad waved his hands in the horse’s face a few times, looked in its
eyes with an instrument.

“What’s that thing?” Addie asked.

“This is an ophthalmoscope,” he said, “It
gets me inside the eyeball, so I can see what’s going on.”

He looked a few more minutes and said, “Okay,
Piper, you can let go of him.”

“Well, Dad?” I said.” Dad turned and looked
at us for a minute.

“This horse is healthy, around twelve years
old, as advertised. The only thing wrong with him is that he’s
blind in one eye.”

Chapter Seven

~ Possibilities ~

Addie and I
stared at each other, seeing our chances of getting this horse
going down the drain. How could we ride a blind horse? How could we
trust him with Addie, who wasn’t a brave rider?

“Mom even said she’d help pay for horse
feed,” Addie said, her lip quivering. “I had her convinced that it
was a good thing for me to have a whole horse for myself.” I patted
her on the back, but I felt rotten, too.

Dad looked at both of us, then he looked at
Angel. “Did you know this horse was blind in one eye?”

“Oh,...um...I didn’t know. Maybe Chickie
knew. It’s really his horse. Hey, I need to get back to the house.
So Doc, you call and let us know what you want to do. I mean, I’ll
help you with anything you want.” Angel ignored Addie and me,
giving my dad a wink and a smirk as she wiggled back to the
house.

“Have you ridden him?” Dad asked us.

“Yes,” I said. “He went just fine.”

“I rode him by myself and didn’t want to get
off!” said Addie. “He’s fantastic. He’s just the gentlest, sweetest
horse.”

“So how bad do you want this horse?” Dad
asked.

“Can’t you tell?” I said. “Addie loves him.
She’s crazy about him. We really did want him. A lot. But if he’s
blind in one eye...”

“That is not a deal-breaker,” Dad said.

“It’s not?” Addie asked.

“No, you can ride a horse that’s blind in one
eye. You can even ride one that is totally blind, if you know what
you’re doing.”

“No kidding?” I said.

“When you rode him, he was calm and steady?
Didn’t spook or startle?

“Right,” I said. “He was perfect.”

“Then I don’t see any reason not to get him,”
he said. “Let’s go home and check the barn you have Dotty in to
make sure there’s plenty of room for this one. What’s his
name?”

“Nickel” said Addie. “’Cause he’s a
nickel-bred son of a...”

“Addie!” I stopped her. None of our parents
like to hear us cussing and I didn’t want to ruin our chances here.
“Dad, he’s got an Arabian mother who jumped the fence into a field
of cross-bred colts. He’s not a purebred or anything.”