Shadow Horse (10 page)

“How old is he?” Jas asked. At the auction, Miss Hahn had checked his teeth and guessed his age at twelve.

“About twelve or thirteen. He’s no spring
chicken, but definitely young enough to bounce back.”

Unsnapping the lead line from Shadow’s halter, Jas followed Danvers out of the stall, almost running over Chase, who’d been hovering in the aisle. All afternoon, he’d hung around the vet, just like Tilly would tag after Miss Hahn.

Dr. Danvers walked down to Ruffles’s stall, Chase trotting beside him. “So what’s wrong with the big guy?” he asked.

“We’ll know when the blood test comes back. It will be determined by how much of the hormone thyroxin is present in the bloodstream,” Danvers explained to Chase, who bobbed his head as he hung on every word.

Opening the stall door, Danvers went in to check on Ruffles. Jas couldn’t believe the change in the Morgan horse in just one week. His ears pricked eagerly when someone came in the stall, and his ribs didn’t stick out quite so much.

“Looks good,” Danvers said as he inspected the wound on the Morgan horse’s back. “Healed completely. Tomorrow, you can start turning him out for about an hour each day. Alone, of course.”

“All right!” Chase slapped Ruffles fondly on the neck.

Oh, go away, Chase
, Jas fumed to herself, impatient to talk to Danvers alone.

“How about corn oil in Shadow’s grain?” Jas asked when the vet left the stall.

Dr. Danvers nodded. “Couldn’t hurt. He needs the extra fat, that’s for sure.”

“Maybe we could try him on some grass,” Chase suggested. “That might get him to eat.”

“Good idea!” Jas thrust the lead line in his hand. “Why don’t you turn him out in one of the paddocks? It’s almost six, so it’s cool enough.”

Chase cocked one brow.

“Ple-ease,” Jas pleaded.

“All right.” When Chase went into the stall to get Shadow, Jas hurried after Danvers, who was headed to his truck parked outside the barn.

“Dr. Danvers,” Jas puffed as she caught up with him.

Turning, he handed her a bottle filled with some sort of powder. “Two scoops in his grain. The corn oil might help mask the taste.”

“Thanks.”

“Shadow should thank
you,”
Danvers said
as he wrote the horse’s name on a piece of paper. “For saving him from the killers.”

“For that, he needs to thank Miss Hahn.”

At the mention of her name, Danvers’s eyes slid to the office. “Yes, Diane’s pretty remarkable,” he said, a strangely soft expression on his weather-beaten face.

Jas’s eyes widened, and she followed his gaze toward the office. Did Danvers have a crush on Miss Hahn?

She glanced back at the vet. They
were
about the same age. And neither was married …

Nah
. Jas quickly dismissed the idea. The two were too old to be romantic, and Miss Hahn and her baggy overalls were hardly an irresistible sight. “Dr. Danvers.” Jas went around to the back of the truck, realizing she’d better hurry if she was going to ask him about Whirlwind. Not only was he ready to leave, but at six she had to be back in the house for lockdown. “Can I ask you some questions …” Jas hesitated, then blurted out, “about Whirlwind?”

“Ummm.” He paused for a second. “I would have been surprised if you hadn’t,” he finally said. “I know her death was hard on everybody.”

“Yes,” Jas whispered as the memory of the whole awful afternoon came rushing back. She pressed her fingers to her eyelids, hoping to shut out the image of Whirlwind lying dead in the paddock.

Dr. Danvers gave her his full attention. “What did you want to ask me?”

Jas dropped her hands. “Did the yew kill her?”

“Yes. The blood test confirmed it, though technically it was the convulsions caused by ingesting the plant that killed her. Her intestines twisted and …”

Jas held up both hands. “Please stop.” Her eyes blurred. “I don’t want to hear how she suffered.”

Danvers put a comforting arm around her shoulder. “I’m sorry, Jas. I’m sorry for everything.”

She nodded silently. He handed her a tissue from the truck, and she blew her nose.

“How are the foals?” she asked when she finally collected herself. “And how’s Old Sam? Is his arthritis acting up? I haven’t been back to the farm. Well, I guess you already knew that,” she added, feeling a rush of embarrassment.

He must know everything, she realized.
Hugh had probably told him the whole story.

Dropping his arm from her shoulder, Danvers turned away. “I don’t know, Jas. I haven’t been back to the farm, either.”

“Why not?”

“Hugh’s using a new vet.”

Jas caught her breath. That didn’t make sense. Danvers was the best in the area. “Why?”

“Well, part of it’s my fault. I’ve just been so busy. And you know, Hugh, he likes VIP treatment.” He smiled at Jas, but she thought it seemed forced. “If Hugh or Phil calls, the new vet drops everything and rushes out there. Then Hugh wanted me to put Sam to sleep, and I refused.”

“Put Sam to sleep!” Jas gasped. “But he can’t. Sam’s Grandfather’s dog.”

“That’s what I told him. Hugh said if I wasn’t going to do it, he’d get a vet who would.”

He started to pile boxes of worm medicine in Jas’s arms. “Diane said she needed to worm five horses.”

As if in a trance, Jas hugged the boxes. “Was there any other reason why you left?”

Danvers leveled a stern gaze at her. “I’m sorry, Jas. I can’t discuss my business with
you.” Closing the cab of the truck, he walked around to the passenger side.

“Why? Because I’m just a kid?” Jas jogged after him. “Or because you know something about Whirlwind’s death!”

Opening the truck door, Danvers slid into the front seat, then turned to face her. “I signed the death certificate stating Whirlwind died from complications of poisoning. I wasn’t there when she died, so I don’t know what else might have happened.”

“But you don’t believe Hugh’s story about Grandfather accidentally putting the yew in Whirlwind’s paddock, do you?” Jas insisted.

“Let’s just say I think your grandfather is one of the finest men I know.”

Jas caught the door handle so he couldn’t close it. “Then tell me one more thing,” she pressed. “If Grandfather didn’t put the yew in there, who did?”

Danvers’s bushy brows dipped in a frown. “That’s enough, Jas. I already told you I wasn’t discussing this with you, which means I’m certainly
not
going to go around accusing anyone.” He pointed a finger at her. “And neither should you,” he added sternly as he turned and started the truck.

Jas stepped back, and he slammed the door shut. When he wheeled the truck around, she noticed Miss Hahn standing in the office doorway, watching. Miss Hahn waved at Danvers when the truck drove past, then looked curiously at Jas before ducking back into the office.

Spying again
, Jas thought. At least she was too far away to hear what they had said.

When the truck disappeared from sight, Jas exhaled in frustration. She hadn’t learned anything from their conversation. She knew exactly what she’d already known—that Grandfather hadn’t killed Whirlwind.

Scuffing the toes of her sneakers in the dirt, she walked slowly back to the barn. She stuck the worm medicine on the shelf in the feed room, then went out to the paddock. Shadow was cropping indifferently at the grass, ignoring the chickens who milled around his legs eating crickets.

Jas couldn’t believe the horse didn’t mind the brainless birds. Whirlwind would have pranced and snorted in mock fright. Then, with a toss of her head, she would have playfully chased the squawking things from the paddock.

Sighing, Jas crossed her arms on the top of
the board fence and propped her chin on her wrists. Maybe she made a big mistake saying she’d work with Shadow. He might never turn into anything but a plodding old school horse.

But, according to Chase, a plodding old school horse was just as valuable as the winner of the Triple Crown.

Jas watched as Shadow ambled over to a patch of weeds. He tore at a flowered stalk, then with a wiggle of his lips, spit it right out.

Suddenly, Jas smacked her forehead with her palm. Why hadn’t she thought of it before!

Whirlwind was fed the finest, sweetest feed available. Why would she eat something as nasty as yew?

She wouldn’t
. Not unless she’d been really hungry.

But how could Whirlwind have possibly been hungry? Jas knew that she had fed her the night and morning before.

But then it all started to make sense. Phil and Grandfather had left for two days to take the stock trailer to Maryland to pick up cattle. That same night, Jas had rushed through the horse feeding at High Meadows because she’d had other horses to ride at a nearby farm for one of Hugh’s clients. Then, the next morning,
she’d had to catch the bus early for school. So on the morning she left for school, Hugh had been the only one at the farm.

Jas bit her teeth into the skin of her wrist.

Hugh had set the whole thing up! He got rid of her, Phil, and Grandfather so that he could be alone in the barn. So that he could remove Whirlwind’s feed both times. Now she knew why Whirlwind was hungry enough to eat yew.

Now she knew how Hugh had killed her.

“
YOU HUNGRY, JAS
?”

Startled, she quickly spun around.

“The way you were chewing on your arm, I figured you needed a snack,” Chase said, smiling.

“Nope,” said Jas calmly, even though she was still bursting with thoughts about Hugh.

Chase tapped the face of his watch. “It’s almost six, you know.”

“Oh, shoot. I’ve got to get to the house for lockdown.” Immediately, Jas took off running.

“Hey, Cinderella!” Chase hollered after her. “You dropped a sneaker!”

Jas raced across the barnyard, scattering the geese. When she reached the kitchen, she could hear the cuckoo clock cuckooing six o’clock.

She just made it.

Miss Hahn was working at the counter, slicing a cantaloupe. Beside her, something was sputtering and popping around in a lidded frying pan. “I was just about to holler for you,” Miss Hahn said.

Jas gasped for breath, holding her side. “No need. I made it.”

“Chase is going to stay for dinner,” Miss Hahn added. “So I’m actually cooking a decent meal for once. Fried chicken. It’ll be ready in about half an hour.”

Jas straightened and rubbed the stitch under her rib. “Doesn’t Chase have a home? On Saturday night, we all stopped for burgers on the way back from the auction, and last night he ate that takeout pizza with us in front of the TV,” Jas said, protesting.

“His folks are still at the lake,” Miss Hahn explained.

Jas feigned disgust when she heard the screen door slam and Chase sauntered into the kitchen. Reaching around Miss Hahn, he grabbed a slice of cantaloupe and took a big bite.

“Wash first, please,” Miss Hahn scolded.

“Really,” Jas muttered as juice dribbled down his chin. “You’re such a slob.”

Chase pointed at her stained T-shirt. “And what about you?”

“Oh, shut up,” replied Jas. “Miss Hahn, may I use the phone? I forgot to ask Dr. Danvers something about, uh, Shadow.”

“Sure. You better call him at home, though. He’ll probably be there for dinner before going off to the office or on another call. That man works night and day.”

Jas hurried into the living room and plopped down on the sofa next to Fluffy. Both of Dr. Danvers’s numbers were on the list of emergency numbers by the phone.

As Jas dialed, Chase came and stood in the doorway, slouched against the frame. He studied her as he ate another slice of cantaloupe. She shot him a “get lost” look that he totally ignored. Jas couldn’t decide if he was too dense or too rude. When Danvers answered, she turned her back on Chase and lowered her voice. “Hi, Dr. Danvers, I’m sorry if I’m interrupting dinner, but I need to ask you a couple more questions.”

“Go ahead, Jas. I was just about to stick one of those frozen things in the microwave.”

“Really? Well, actually, the first question I wanted to ask is, Would you like to come over
for dinner tonight? You left so quickly, Miss Hahn didn’t get the chance to ask you.”

“Oh?” There was a pause. Jas couldn’t believe she’d invited him to dinner, but then again, maybe she’d have more of a chance to quiz him about Whirlwind.

“Fried chicken,” she said enticingly.

“Sure. I’d love to.”

“The other question is about Whirlwind’s autopsy. Did she have anything else wrong with her?”

This time there was a long pause as if Danvers was measuring his words. “No. She appeared very healthy other than the complications from the poison.”

“Last question—did she have anything in her stomach besides the yew?”

“Her stomach was pretty empty.”

Jas swallowed hard. She was right. “Thank you. I just wondered why she ate the yew in the first place. So we’ll see you in fifteen minutes?”

“Yup. And Jas, no more questions about Whirlwind. Okay?”

Jas crossed her fingers. “Okay.” As she hung up the phone, her mind raced. Whirlwind
had
been hungry. And yew was so toxic
that eating only a small amount would have caused her death.