Broken Horse (12 page)

“I’m not going,” Alex replied.

“What do you mean?” Stevie said. “Just because you’re not going with what’s-her-name doesn’t mean you shouldn’t go at all. A lot of kids go stag.”

Alex shrugged. “What would be the point?” He stirred the food on his plate aimlessly, without eating any of it.

“He’s been like this all day,” Chad told Stevie, sounding worried. “I told him he should go and have a good time. That would show her. But he won’t listen.”

Stevie couldn’t really blame Alex for not wanting to go to the dance. She wouldn’t, either, in his shoes. That thought made her stop and think. What would she be feeling if she were the one with the broken heart? Even though she certainly wouldn’t have been as annoying and sappy as Alex
had been, she was sure she’d be just as upset right now. For the first time she started to feel a little guilty about teasing him over the past two days. Before that, when he was still dating Paige, the teasing had been fun. But after they broke up, Stevie realized, it had been more than a little mean.

She gulped. She pretended to hate her brothers, but the truth was she cared about them a lot. She didn’t like the thought of Alex sitting home tonight, alone and sad, while she was out having fun.

Before she realized what she was about to say, Stevie spoke up. “Hey, Alex,” she said, trying to sound casual. “If you’re not going to the dance, why don’t you come to
The Nutcracker
with us tonight? Lisa can’t go, so we have an extra ticket.”

Mrs. Lake’s fork stopped halfway to her mouth. Mr. Lake froze in midchew. Chad lifted an eyebrow. Michael almost choked on his milk. And Carole just stared at Stevie in amazement.

Alex took his time answering, and Stevie was sure he was going to say no. She knew that normally he would rather walk barefoot on nails than go to the ballet.

But Alex surprised her. “Sure,” he said, trying to sound casual but not quite succeeding. “I guess that would be cool.” He took a few quick bites of his food and then stood up. “I’d better go change clothes, right? They probably don’t like it if you wear jeans.”

Nobody spoke until he had left the room. Then Mr. Lake
turned to Stevie. “I know I told you to think of somebody to invite, but I have to admit I’m surprised,” he said. “And pleased.”

Stevie shrugged. “No big deal, Dad,” she said, picking up her fork. “We had a free ticket, Alex had some free time—it was the perfect solution. I’m just glad he said yes.” And to her own surprise, she realized that was absolutely true.

T
HE
STABLE
HAD
quieted down quickly after Stevie and Carole had left. There weren’t many riders around, and those who were there were hurrying to get home for dinner. Soon Lisa was alone with her thoughts and the sounds of horses moving around in their stalls, waiting for their evening meal. She finished dressing the mare’s scratches and cuts. They looked as if they were starting to heal. Then she went to find Red.

He was in the grain shed. “Hi, Lisa,” he said. “Let me guess. Is that gray mare of yours ready for her dinner?”

Lisa nodded. “I just wanted to remind you to add her medicine to her grain.”

Red held up a bucket partly filled with grain. “It’s already done. Feel like playing waitress?”

“Sure.” Lisa took the bucket and returned to the mare’s stall. After she fed her, Lisa left her alone to eat and went to help Red feed the other horses.

When she returned, the mare had stopped eating. Lisa saw that she had finished most of the grain ration and had nibbled at her hay. “You didn’t quite clean your plate, but I guess you did pretty well,” Lisa said.

She stood outside the stall for a moment watching the mare. By now all the other riders had left, and the other horses were quiet as they munched their dinners. Pine Hollow was as quiet as Lisa had ever heard it. It was a little spooky—as if the whole stable were waiting for something.

To take her mind off those kinds of thoughts, Lisa decided to give the mare a good grooming. She hadn’t been outside that day and her coat was pretty clean, but Lisa knew that regular and thorough grooming was one way to get a horse accustomed to being handled.

“Hi there, big girl,” Lisa said as she put the mare in cross-ties and set the grooming bucket where she could reach it. “Ready to have those feet checked out?” Lisa lifted the mare’s left front foot. As she did, she continued to talk to her.

“My friends are probably getting ready to leave for the ballet about now,” she said. For a moment she felt a little wistful. It would have been fun to be going with them. But that feeling didn’t last long. Lisa had an important job to do, and she didn’t really regret missing the ballet. She could see
The Nutcracker
again another year. “I’d much rather stay here tonight and take extra good care of you,” she told the mare, checking the thrush dressing in the foot. She took her time doing it, holding the mare’s foot for longer than was strictly necessary. That was partly because she wanted the horse to get used to being fussed over and partly because once it was over she wasn’t sure what she was going to do next. “You’re getting used to having me take care of you, aren’t you?”

The mare didn’t respond. Lisa wondered if she even heard her talking. She shrugged. Even if the sound of Lisa’s voice in the silence didn’t make the horse feel better, it made Lisa feel better. She decided to describe the plot of
The Nutcracker
to the horse, then she proceeded to do so, taking time out from the story to describe the way the costumes usually looked and to explain some basic ballet moves, as well as to hum a couple of the most famous melodies.

“Anyway,
The Nutcracker
is really great, but I’ve seen it lots of times before,” Lisa said at last. By this time she had finished checking three of the mare’s feet and was carefully examining the last, most seriously infected one. “I’d much rather be here with you. Because if you get better, that would be the best Christmas present ever. I know you can do it. I just wonder if
you
know it.”

She sighed and looked up at the mare’s face. To her surprise, the mare was looking back. Lisa let the foot she was working on drop and stood up.

“Hey, don’t tell me you’re actually listening to me?” Lisa said.

The mare let out a small snort and turned her head away. But Lisa could tell by the almost imperceptible twitches of the horse’s ears that she wasn’t completely disinterested in her presence.

“Well, how about that,” Lisa whispered. “You do know I’m here after all.” Not wanting to lose the horse’s attention now that she finally had it, Lisa continued to talk. She started with the Starlight Ride.

“It’s so wonderful,” she said, reaching into the grooming bucket and picking up a rub rag. “I’m sure you would love it just as much as everyone else does. Sometimes I think the horses must look forward to it just as much as the people.” She began rubbing down the mare’s body, beginning behind her ears and working toward her tail.

“It would be really great if you could be in it this year, but I don’t think there’s any way that will happen,” Lisa said. “But maybe if you get better you can be in it next Christmas. If you stay here at Pine Hollow, that is.” That was a thought that hadn’t occurred to Lisa. What would happen to the mare when she got better? Lisa was pretty sure she would never be returned to her owner. But that didn’t necessarily mean she would be allowed to stay on here.

Lisa decided to put the question out of her mind for now. There would be plenty of time to worry about that after the mare was better.

“Anyway, I hope you get to stay here with us. I know you’d like it a lot better than where you used to live,” Lisa said. “You’ve got to believe me when I tell you you’ve got a long life ahead of you. It could be a happy one if you just give yourself a chance.”

She moved around the mare’s forequarters and began to rub her other side. Out of the corner of her eye, she thought she saw the horse’s head following her movement. But she was afraid to look up and see.

“Sal didn’t have that chance, but you do,” she continued. “He wasn’t as lucky as you were. CARL didn’t find him in time to save him. But we’re trying to save you. We just need your help.” Lisa sighed. “It’s always so sad when a horse’s life is over. I was very sad when my favorite horse, Pepper, died a while ago.” Pepper had helped Lisa learn to love horses and riding. He had been very special to her, but he had eventually become too old and sick to go on. It had been very hard for Lisa to let him go when Max had finally decided to have him put down.

She was silent for a moment, rubbing the mare’s hindquarters slowly as she thought about Pepper. He had been a wonderful horse. Then she brought her mind back to the mare. She could be a wonderful horse, too. Lisa was sure of it. She just had to convince the horse of it.

“Anyway, it was sad when Pepper died,” Lisa went on. “But at least he’d had a long and happy and satisfying life. It was much sadder when Sal died. He never had the chance
for that kind of life, just because a human was cruel to him.” Her eyes started to fill with tears at the thought, but she blinked them away. “I don’t want the same thing to happen to you.”

She dropped the rub rag in the bucket and looked up, half afraid that the horse would be standing dejectedly once again. But she was looking at Lisa. One ear still drooped lazily, but the other was perked forward.

“You really are listening, aren’t you?” Lisa said in wonder. Somehow, in the silence of the barn, the mare was coming back to life.

Lisa bent over and picked up the plastic dandy brush. “I think we can use this today, don’t you?” Tentatively, she held the brush out for the horse’s inspection. At first she thought the mare was going to ignore it. But suddenly her other ear perked forward and she reached out toward Lisa’s hand. Before Lisa knew what was happening, the horse had picked up the brush by its plastic handle and was holding it between her big teeth, looking very pleased with herself.

Lisa couldn’t help herself. She burst out laughing. The mare looked surprised but not frightened at the girl’s sudden outburst.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Lisa exclaimed, reaching out for the dandy brush. The mare dodged slightly, moving her head just enough to keep the brush out of Lisa’s reach.

Suddenly Lisa knew what the horse was doing. She was
playing. And if she was playing, that was the most hopeful sign yet. Creatures that had lost the will to live didn’t spend their time playing games. Only creatures that wanted to get better did.

Lisa finally got the brush back. “You funny thing,” she said, staring at the brush in her hands. “I wonder if you have a taste for plastic. Or maybe you just thought I was being too slow about the grooming.”

The horse had quieted down again, but she was still watching Lisa. Lisa reached out to stroke her soft muzzle, and the mare didn’t pull away.

“You really are a beauty, do you know that, girl?” Lisa said. And suddenly, calling the mare “girl” didn’t seem good enough. “You know what? I think it’s time to give you a name,” Lisa commented. “In fact, it’s past time.”

As soon as Lisa started thinking about it, she realized it was easier said than done. She wished Stevie and Carole could be there to help her think of something. But now that she had decided the mare needed a name, Lisa couldn’t bear the thought of waiting one minute longer to give her one.

She stared at the mare’s pale gray coat. “Well, my first idea is to call you something like Moonlight or maybe Starshine,” she told her. “After all, in the right light you glow just like a silvery moon or a bright evening star. But both those names sound too much like Starlight’s name. You need your very own name that just sounds like you.” Lisa
realized her last sentence didn’t make much sense, but the mare seemed to understand.

Lisa started to work on the mare’s coat with the dandy brush while she thought. “Maybe I should name you after something in
The Nutcracker
, since that’s what I’d be seeing right now if not for you,” she mused. “What do you think of being called Sugarplum? You know, after the scene with the Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy.” Somehow that name didn’t seem quite right, either.

Lisa kept thinking. “Well, it is almost Christmas,” she said. “You could have a Christmassy name. How about Merry? Or Jingle Bell? Or Holly?” But none of those names seemed to suit the mare, either.

Lisa sighed in frustration and replaced the dandy brush in the bucket, being careful to keep it out of the mare’s reach. As she stood up again, she noticed that a piece of straw had become entangled in the mare’s mane.

“Let me just get that knot out before I finish brushing you,” Lisa said. She grabbed the plastic mane comb out of the bucket and reached for the tangle. But before she could get to work on it, the mare had reached over and nimbly plucked the comb out of Lisa’s fingers.

“Hey!” Lisa exclaimed. She smiled at the horse. “I guess my first guess was right. You do have a taste for plastic!”

The mare didn’t argue. And she didn’t resist when Lisa took the comb back. Instead of continuing with the grooming,
Lisa leaned back against the wall and looked at the mare for a moment.