Morning Star (5 page)

She waited for Nate to make the first move, and eventually he did. Initially she tried her best not to be overprotective while he walked the tightrope of acknowledging his feelings for another woman and the guilt that came with having them.

Their relationship fast tracked when Dannie became sick. She had grown to love that girl as much as she loved Nate. She moved in with them not just to comfort Nate but to be comforted in return. Then, as now, she never needed anyone as much.

Cindy watched Morning Star in the corral. He pranced about as some of the other horses followed him. The horse once again held court.

"Have you wondered where he came from? How he came to be here?"

Nate put down his drink. He leaned back and closed his eyes. "Every minute of the day. I just don't know Cin. Everything that's been happening lately, everything that's happened in the last couple of years. All these thoughts in my head and not a one makes any sense."

He leaned his head back and closed his eyes. "My  mother-in-law had a dream that the horse had come to save Dannie. What do you think?"

Cindy wanted to tell him why she thought the horse had come to The Rising Sun. She wanted to tell him her theory about Morning Star. She would wait for another time. She couldn't afford to be wrong and she wasn't sure. So she kept to herself her thought that mirrored Margaret's dream. Morning Star had come here to save Dannie. 

"This morning when Dannie petted him I saw shooting stars in his eyes."

"Morning Star?"

"Yes, Morning Star."

"I wish I knew what is going on here," he said. "A mysterious horse comes from who knows where and makes himself at home. This horse can jump higher than any horse I've ever seen and he seems to have a special bond with Dannie. Do you know why she named him Morning Star?" He didn't wait for an answer. "He told her in a dream that's the name he wanted to be called."

Dreams. So many dreams. She had one last night. It had been forgotten until now. Now she recalled it vividly. She was a little girl walking barefoot through a starlit sky in a field of beautiful flowers. She had lost her parents, ran fast and left them behind. She needed to be alone for a while in this wondrous place. She hummed to herself as she walked, thinking she could walk forever and never find the garden's end.

One star, one of many in the sky, brightened. It glowed with such intensity that it lit the garden in a brilliant whiteness. She had wandered into a field of blue flowers. They looked like roses, only larger and stretched as far as the eye could see. The light from the star grew brighter and the ground began to shake. She wanted the shaking to stop. It might wake her up and she didn't want to wake up because she knew something was going to happen. A miracle, and she wanted to see. She remembered this in her dream, that she wanted to stay in the field of blue flowers and she remembered that right before the dream ended, right before she woke up, the flowers blossomed, every one of them.

Cindy turned to Nate. But his eyes remained shut and she thought that maybe he was trying to figure things out on his own. She turned her eyes back to the corral and didn't say a word. 

15

Nurse Edmonton spoke up as soon as Nate and Cindy entered the bedroom.

"She wants to walk and I want her to rest."

Dannie sat up in bed. Her still warm breakfast tray,  its contents uneaten, lay in front of her.

"She needs to eat," the nurse added.

"Tell you what. You eat your breakfast, and I mean every bit of it, and you can walk for a while." Nate looked over at the nurse. Her permanent scowl had deepened.

"Deal," Dannie said and began shoveling food into her mouth. 

The nurse sighed in a
I can't win
manner. 

"I'm sorry, I seem to have forgotten your first name," Cindy said. She was being polite. The nurse had yet to divulge that information. 

"It's Martha," Dannie said between mouthfuls. "She doesn't like me calling her that though."

The nurse's face bloomed a deep red. "Nurse seems more appropriate under the circumstances."

"Dannie must consider you more a friend than a hospital employee, under the circumstances," Nate said. "Wouldn't you agree Martha?"

The nurse stared down at the child. Dannie stuffed more food in her mouth and winked at her.

"I would agree it does seem more appropriate." She smiled at her patient. "And a healthy appetite. My word."

"Care to join us for a walk Martha?" Cindy asked the nurse who had now regained her natural pale white complexion.

"I believe I will," the nurse replied at the exact same moment Dannie gulped down the last of her egg.

As before, Nate and Cindy gripped her tightly as they made for the corral. Dannie's mood had brightened considerably since she'd been home. Her father and his fiancé both noticed it. Nate had noticed something else too, though he didn't speak it. She seemed to be walking better today. Yesterday they held Dannie's hands in front of her for balance. Today they were at her side. Martha Edmonton followed closely behind them.

Nate saw Morning Star approach the enclosure in front of them. He waited for their arrival. 

"Good morning, Star," Dannie said as they drew near.

The horse reacted immediately, shaking out his mane and nickering.

Cindy looked at the horse then down at Dannie. She knew horses to be loyal to their owners. She had seen this type of reaction many times before. What she found a bit puzzling, however, was how quickly this horse had developed a relationship with Dannie. And another thing, technically Dannie didn't own Morning Star. She was pretty certain no one did.

"Lift me up," Dannie said when they were at the barricade.

Nate climbed up and straddled the makeshift wooden seat at the fence's apex. Cindy lifted Dannie up and he sat her down next to him, his hand grasping her upper arm. Cindy soon joined them.

Morning Star moved closer to Dannie. His head reached her chest. The horse nuzzled her. Not much, just a gentle touch. Dannie laughed.

"He tickled me."

She rubbed the horse's forehead as she did the day before. Morning Star stood perfectly still while she did so. 

"You like that, boy?" Dannie asked.

The horse moved his head up and down.

"Are you seeing this Nate? Are you seeing what I'm seeing?"

"I'm seeing it," Nate responded. "Dannie, ask Morning Star something else."

"Okay. Hey Morning Star, am I your friend?"

The horse's head rose and lowered several times. 

Maybe he's a show horse, trained to react to certain word or voice cadences. Maybe he escaped from a circus. Nate thought these things as Dannie laughed and petted the horse, her horse from the looks of things. 

"He knows what I'm saying, doesn't he?" Dannie asked to nobody in particular.

"Yes he does," Cindy replied.

Nurse Edmonton, who had raised herself onto the fence's first slat and now appeared to be gripping the top rail for dear life, looked over the proceedings. Morning Star looked her way and snorted.

"Oh my," she said.

16

Morning Star proved to be quite the entertainer. While all four watched, the horse pranced around the corral's perimeter, occasionally rising on his hind legs and walking a few steps in this manner.

The horse's actions solidified Nate's show horse theory. The others, Martha Edmonton included, found the act a marvelous joy. They applauded with every trick (the nurse had to lean forward to do this).

Nate looked down at Dannie. She smiled and laughed as her eyes followed the horse's every move. When was the last time he'd seen his daughter this happy? Over the last few months he'd talked to many doctors, and they had all said the same thing. Sorry, Mister Walker, your child has a rare disease, it's proven fatal in all known cases. He never told Dannie, no one had, but she knew. He was certain she knew she would die.

He couldn't afford self pity. He lived each day for Dannie. He lived each day just to see his daughter smile.

Morning Star had concluded his show and now stood once more in front of Dannie, his most ardent admirer. 

"Good show boy," she said as she patted his head.

"She shouldn't be too long in the sun," the nurse said from her still somewhat precarious perch. She had nearly fallen twice while applauding Morning Star's antics. Now it seemed she had again found her
nurse
mode.

"Could I ride him one day?" Dannie turned to her father. "Can I?"

Nate looked at Cindy, who shrugged.

"We'll see," he said.

"I want to sit on the porch in the shade where I can watch him. Can I?"

Nate now turned to Martha who gave him a I guess so lift of her shoulders.

"I don't suppose it would hurt for a little while," she said. 

"Getting with the program, Martha?" Cindy said softly from the corner of her mouth.

"I am the program, Miss Bannister," the nurse replied.

The three drank iced tea in the shade while Dannie's nurse changed the sheets on her bed and tidied up her room.

"She means well," Dannie said, showing wisdom beyond her years.

Morning Star stayed at the fence and watched. His eyes never left Dannie. Every once in a while she would wave at him.

"So when are you two getting married?" 

"Filled with questions today, aren't you?" her father asked as soon as he finished coughing up some iced tea that went down the wrong hole.

"So when?" 

He glanced at Cindy, who would be no help. She stared straight ahead vainly attempting to whistle a tune. 

"Well, we haven't really set a date," he finally said when he realized he was on his own.

Dannie looked at him and pursed her lips. She had her father right where she wanted him, on the spot.

Nate sighed. "Is the last Saturday of the month too soon?" 

Dannie swiveled her head to Cindy and caught her smiling. Cindy turned to Dannie then to Nate. 

"The last Saturday of the month will work just fine," she said to him. 

"I want to be the flower girl," Dannie said before lifting her cup to her mouth. Adults are so easy, she thought and waved again to Morning Star. 

17

Dannie slept in her room while Cindy mopped the kitchen floor. Nurse Edmonton sat by her patient's bed, her chin on her chest, napping. Nate worked the horse barns with Kenny, a high school student from two ranches over, who helped out with the barn chores on Sundays and a couple of afternoons during the week. Morning Star stood at the fence line. His head faced the house. His eyes stared at Dannie's room. He had done this for close to an hour without moving when he caught a movement from the corner of his eye. He slowly turned his head to the left. A vehicle approached the house from the dirt driveway. It contained three people.

Nate heard the engine before he saw the jeep. He stepped from the barn nearest his house into the sunlight. A jeep slowed to a stop near him.

"Howdy Bill," Nate said to the vehicle's driver.

Bill Travers stepped out of the jeep. His two sons followed.

"Curtis. Tommy." Nate nodded in their direction while brushing his arm across his sweat covered brow.

"We were on our way back from town and thought we'd stop by to pay our respects," Bill Travers said. 

The screen door opened and Cindy appeared on the porch, wiping her hands on her apron.

"Afternoon Ma'am." Travers doffed his hat in her direction.

"Afternoon, Bill. Can I get you and your boys something to drink?"

"Kind of you Ma'am but we won't be staying long."

"Suit yourself. I'll be in the kitchen if you need me." 

The screen door had barely closed when Travers turned to Nate.

"Bout that black horse."

Nate raised his hand. 

"He's dark blue and he's not for sale."

Travers turned to the corral. Morning Star stared at him.

"Check that big fella for markings?" he asked with his back to Nate.

"No markings."

Travers took some time to let that sink in.

"I'll give you a thousand dollars for him. A thousand cash money."