|
The Horse Trailer Page 3
 "I'll say." Katy
put out her hand for the beautiful mare to sniff. "What's her name?"
"She doesn't have
one yet. Strangely enough, she isn't even registered. She does have papers,
though."
The mare snuffled
Katy's hand, and the girl was sorry that she had given away all her sugar. She
ran her hand over the well-toned muscles and the fine, firm ridge of the horse's
spine. She took in the way the horse stood perfectly square even at rest, and
admired the sparkling clean coat. Katy was examining the gorgeous mare when Mike
called her over to him, where he was checking Jewel's legs for travel sores. She
obliged. "Yes?"
Mike straightened
and rubbed his back, eyeing her. "You know, these horses really need some
exercise. They've been traveling nigh on six hours by now. Don't you think
they'd like a chance to stretch their legs a bit? How would you like to walk
them around with me? It'd go a lot faster that way"" his voice carefully
lowering as he watched Katy for a reaction.
"Oh, yes, yes,
yes!" Katy squealed, barely restraining herself from jumping up and down. She
couldn't remember being this excited about anything in a long time.
Katy took
Jehosephat's lead rope from where it was tied to the trailer and waited while
Mike took Ruling Dancer. The two led the horses to the grassy area under the
trees behind the restaurant. The horses put their heads down to nibble on the
lush carpet of emerald green grass. When they had grazed for a number of
minutes, Katy and Mike coaxed their heads up and walked them around the Taco
Garden several times. Then they took two other horses.
"Um, do you mind" Katy's voice trailed off as Mike handed her Phantom's lead rope. "I mean, would
you - may I please lead the gray?" she burst it out, expecting a negative
response.
Mike turned from
Jewel and looked at Katy, unable to figure out why the girl was reluctant in her
question. "Go ahead, Katy," he said, puzzled. "I'll take Jewel and Phantom in
the same turn. I suppose I can get Phantom to act right."
Katy cheered
inside. She took the gray mare's lead from the side of the trailer and started
walking the horse. Even just walking her, Katy could see how free flowing and
graceful the horse's strides were. "If you were my horse," Katy whispered to the
mare, "You would be the most pampered horse in the world. You are the epitome of
elegance. I wish I could ride you. Now I'll never see you again, and I bet I'll
never find a horse more perfect than you." After five or ten more minutes, Katy
reluctantly turned the mare back over to Mike.
After assisting
with the loading, Katy thanked Mike countless times. He bid her a friendly
farewell, and with a final wave, the truck and trailer disappeared down the
highway. Sighing, Katy lowered her waving hand and turned back to the
restaurant. In her mind's eye she could see the mare floating across the field
with Katy on her back. They flew on and on, the mare's stride never faltering"
"Katy! Where are
you?" her grandfather's gruff voice jerked her mercilessly back to reality, and
she waved to them. She met her grandparents coming out of the restaurant and
together they walked out to the truck.
Once they were on
the road again, Katy filled her grandparents in on what had happened while they
were eating. Both adults said they were happy for her, but it was doubtful that
she would ever discover the gray mare's destination. In fact, there was almost
no chance at all that she would ever even see the horse again. Crestfallen at
their cynical attitude, Katy was silent until the next rest stop.
Previous
Next |
