Star of Wonder (9 page)

14

The Rescue

WHEN AT LAST the big truck rumbled down the slope and into the livestock yard, Mary and Jody could wait no longer. Flinging
open the door of the old red pickup the second Willie put his foot on the brake, the girls fell all over each other in their
haste to run over and see Star.

“Hey!” Willie yelled in his sternest voice. “Hey, I said. You just stop right there.”

From the tone of Willie’s voice, the girls knew he expected to be obeyed. They stopped in their tracks and turned to him with
imploring looks.

“You two wait right here. You can’t just go runnin’ up to that man, scarin’ him half to death. I’ll see what’s goin’ on, and
then when I say, you can come over.”

“But, Willie . . .” Mary began.

“No arguin,’” Willie insisted. “And no movin’ from that spot.”

The real purpose of Willie’s scolding was to prevent the girls from seeing something they may not want to see in the back
of the truck, and Willie was feeling a little nervous himself as he hobbled over to speak with the truck driver. Mary and
Jody linked arms and jiggled anxiously by the pickup, watching Willie gesture toward the back of the livestock truck. The
driver shook his head, and together he and Willie walked back and peered through the slats of the thick wooden doors. After
what seemed an eternity to the two distraught girls, Willie beckoned for them to come and see for themselves.

What Mary and Jody saw when the truck driver finally swung open the right back door and they squinted into the dim interior
of the truck was a miserable weanling colt with his head hanging down and his front legs splayed for balance, trembling in
fear in a back corner while the calves bawled all around him. At the sight of the two girls, he raised his head a little and
managed a weak nicker.

“Well, I’ll be . . .” the driver mumbled, looking incredulously from Star to the agitated girls.

“Star! Oh, poor Star!” they exclaimed together while trying to find some way to climb into the high bed of the truck.

“Now, just hold yer horses,” Willie said gruffly. “We got to back up to the loadin’ ramp to get him out of there. He ain’t
gonna jump out, is he?”

“Oh, hurry, Willie, he wants to come home!”

So the truck was backed up to the ramp, and the doors opened once more. Mary and Jody stood anxiously at the bottom of the
ramp while Willie stepped into the bed of the truck, lead rope in hand, whirring softly in his throat as he approached the
frightened colt.

“Hey, little buddy,” he said soothingly. “You ornery little bugger. You got yourself in trouble this time, didn’t you?”

Star extended his muzzle and sniffed at Willie’s outstretched hand, nickered low in his throat, and took a tentative step
forward. Willie snapped the lead rope onto his halter and scratched gently between his ears while Star rubbed his head up
and down, up and down on Willie’s arm.

The girls were laughing and crying all at the same
time as they wrapped their arms around Star’s neck.

“Willie! Can you bring him out? Is he still too scared?” Jody asked in a whisper.

“We’re comin,’ we’re comin,’ Willie said brusquely, clearing his throat and rubbing a gnarly hand across his eyes before turning
to face the girls. As he turned to lead Star from the truck, the cantankerous colt pushed him with his muzzle as if to say,
“Let’s get out of here, quick!”

“Daggone ornery bugger!” Willie exclaimed as he led Star down the ramp and into the hands of the two girls, who were laughing
and crying all at the same time as they wrapped their arms around Star’s neck and kissed the end of his nose. He reciprocated
by snorting wetly in their faces, sending them into a fit of giggles.

“All right, now, enough of this foolishness. I got to get back in time for milkin,’” Willie insisted. “You girls hold him
right here, and I’ll back the truck up to the ramp. Then we just gotta hope he’ll get in.”

It almost seemed as if Star knew he was going home as Willie led him easily onto the thick layer of straw covering the bed
of the truck. Willie tied him with a slip knot, and he immediately dropped his head to munch on the pile of hay the girls
had arranged for him. After giving him one last grateful pat, Mary and Jody helped secure the back doors of the makeshift
trailer and climbed wearily into the old red pickup. They were on their way home at last.

15

Manners

MARY AND JODY spent that evening and the whole next day fawning over Star—grooming him, giving him extra sugar cubes and carrots,
fluffing up the bed of straw in his stall, and making sure he had plenty of good green hay. Neither girl would leave his side
for a moment. Of course, Star responded to the special treatment by acting like a spoiled celebrity. He stretched up his muzzle
and knocked Colonel Sanders off his perch. Then he reached over and lipped at the latch on his stall door until he almost
got it open. Just after the girls fluffed and arranged his bed of straw just so, Star pawed at it, flung it all over, lay
down, and rolled. And when Jody brought a scoop of grain into the stall to dump into his manger, he brazenly knocked it out
of her hand! It was just at that moment that Willie entered Lucky Foot Stable.

“What in the . . .” Willie exclaimed when he saw the grain go flying. Then Star used his head to push Jody out of the stall
door and stamped his foot as if to say, “Get out now and leave me alone!” At that, Willie strode to the front of the stall,
clapped once, and deep in his throat gave warning.

“Hey, now. You settle down and behave yourself,” he growled. Star threw up his head and looked curiously at Willie. Upon seeing
the stern expression on the farmhand’s face, his ears swiveled back, and he lowered his head as if ashamed of himself. Then
Willie turned to Mary and Jody, who stood right outside the stall with their mouths hanging open.

“Shut your mouths and listen to me,” he began. “You two are spoiling this colt rotten, and he’s just gonna take advantage
of you until he gets out of control.”

“But Willie,” Jody began, “he had such a hard day yesterday . . .”

“No, I noticed last week how he was startin’ to push you around,” Willie interrupted, “and spoilin’ him even more now just
because he had a hard day ain’t gonna do him any good. Raisin’ a colt is just like raisin’ a human. They need guidelines and
discipline, or you got yourself a good-for-nothin’ . . .”

“But he does behave most of the time. He lets us put his saddle and bridle on, and he doesn’t bite or kick . . .” Mary insisted.

“That’s all well and good, and it’s good to praise him when he behaves, but when he acts up, you got to let him know it’s
wrong, or he’ll think anything he does is OK with you,” Willie explained.

The girls stood quietly and let this information sink in. “But Willie,” Jody finally asked, “what do we do? We can’t beat
him. He’ll hate us! And we could never do that anyway!”

“I didn’t say nothin’ about anybody beatin’ anybody,” Willie snorted. “There’s ways to train a colt without that. Now if we
can get him in shape, we might . . .” Willie stopped in mid-sentence.

“We might what, Willie?” Mary asked curiously. “What?”

“Well, I wasn’t goin’ to say nothin,’ seein’ as how you girls are gonna bug me to death,” Willie continued.

“Say nothin’ about what?” Jody asked.

“Well,” Willie said, tugging on his earlobe, “I was talkin’ to that truck driver yesterday for a minute after we got Star
loaded up. He was sayin’ what a right nice lookin’ colt he is.”

“Of course, he’s a nice looking colt! He’s gorgeous!” said Jody proudly.

“But I mean a good show colt,” Willie continued. “The man raises quarter horses and he holds a show at his place twice a year.
He has halter classes and everything—for all breeds.”

“Halter classes? What’s that mean?” Mary asked.

“It means that you show your animal in hand, not saddled up or anything, and he’s judged on his conformation, his trueness
to the breed, the way he handles, and his
manners,
” Willie put a lot of emphasis on the word manners, glaring at Star as he did so. “They have classes for yearlings.”

Willie’s meaning slowly began to sink in with the two girls. “His conformation, Willie? Does that mean how he looks?” Jody
asked excitedly, looking proudly at Star.

“How he’s put together. And I guess you could say that little cuss is put together pretty well,” Willie admitted, smiling
at Star in spite of himself before turning sternly to Mary and Jody.

“But if you keep spoilin’ him rotten, he won’t be good for nothin’ but the meat truck.”

“Willie! Don’t say that! We won’t spoil him rotten anymore. You’ll have to help us. We’ll get him ready for the show, and
he’ll be the best paint colt anybody has ever seen!” Mary exaggerated.

“Well, we’ve got some time to work with him,” Willie said. “Show won’t be for another six months or so. Now I gotta go fix
fence.” And as abruptly as Willie had entered the little stable, he turned to go.

“Willie! Wait!” Jody called, just as he reached the door. When Willie turned back, Jody clamped her mouth shut and turned
beet red.

“What? I don’t have time for any more foolishness.”

“I want to read something to you. And you too, Mare. I wrote it last night after we rescued Star.”

“It’s a poem! A poem, I bet. Willie, did you know Jody was a great poet?” Mary asked proudly.

“A great poet? No, I never heard nothin’ about that,” Willie said, shaking his head. “But if there’s any poetry to be heard,
let’s hear it, ‘cause I got to put up a fence board before I turn the cows out of the barnyard,” he continued kindly, noticing
Jody’s embarrassment.

Jody took a piece of paper from her pocket and shook it out, trying to smooth the wrinkles against her jeans.

Mary went on, “Willie, you never even heard Jody’s Christmas poem! It was great, and she’s going to write a whole collection
of poems and get them published, and then she’ll be rich and famous and buy a farm just for Lady and Gypsy and Star! And me,
of course,” she said smugly.

Willie said nothing as he stood waiting patiently for Jody to begin her poem.

“This isn’t like the Christmas poem, Mary—it’s funnier. So it’s OK to laugh.” And she cleared her throat and began to read:

Star of Wonder is very bright,

Except when he sees a curious sight.

Then due to his curiosity,

He sticks his nose where it shouldn’t be!

He walked up the ramp and got in the truck,

And before he knew it, he soon was stuck.

Riding with calves who were meeting their fate,

We were so afraid we would be too late!

But Willie drove fast and saved the day,

And Star is back home. Hooray! Hooray!

Now we can’t let him out of our sight,

We’ll watch him morning, noon, and night!

‘Cause the minute we look the other way,

The ornery bugger might run away!

Jody looked up from reading her poem in time to see Willie take off his hat, scratch the side of his head, and after passing
a weathered hand across his eyes, turn and walk from the stable.

“Uh, oh, Mary, I don’t think Willie liked the poem. He didn’t say anything!” Jody worried, going to the stable door as if
ready to follow Willie out to the field.

“No, Jode, I think Willie liked it. I think he liked it a lot,” Mary said quietly. “I bet nobody has ever written a poem with
him in it before. You should have seen his face when you were reading it. I think he liked it so much, he couldn’t say a word.”

Jody sighed with contentment, and walking over to Star’s stall, she opened the door and went in, holding the wrinkled paper
up for Star to see.

“How did you like it, buddy?” she asked. Star responded by taking the paper in his teeth and ripping it from Jody’s hand.
Then he turned to the back corner of the stall, lowered his nose to the ground, and stepped on half of the paper with his
front hoof. When he raised his head, the poem was torn perfectly in two, one half still in his teeth. Star shook the scrap
of paper up and down, up and down, snorting and stomping his foot all the while. Mary and Jody speechlessly watched the frisky
colt, then looked at each other. And in that moment they agreed without a word that the training of Star of Wonder must soon
begin in earnest.

When he raised his head, the poem was torn perfectly
in two, one half still in his teeth.