No Time for Horses (22 page)

We’d barely sat down to dinner when the phone
rang. Mom picked up the receiver. She listened on the landline for
a few moments then she said, “Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Who was that?” Kevin demanded as soon as she
hung up. “Dad?”

“No. I already told you, Kevin. He’s busy. I
wouldn’t even suggest calling him. You know how stressed he gets
when it snows and everyone wants tires.” Mom came back to the table
and sat down. “It was Neal Galway.”

“Your old boss at the sub shop?” I slid the
tray on the front of Chrissy’s high chair. “What does he want?”

“For me to help him out tomorrow. He was
short-handed today since most of the employees live too far away to
walk to work. The roads are terrible. It’s snowing again. The store
was swamped all afternoon and he thinks the rest of the weekend
will be even busier.”

“That’s great, Mom,” I said. “Can you bring
home sandwiches for dinner tomorrow?”

“No way, Victoria. I am not walking to work,
making sandwiches all day, and carrying home an assortment for you
kids. If you want subs, bring the kids to the store and buy them
lunch.”

“Can we?” Cathy demanded, bouncing in her
chair. “Will you, Vicky?”

“Of course,” I said. “It’ll be like old
times.”

“And then you can take us to the dollar store
so we can buy Christmas presents,” Kevin said. “Please, Vicky.”

“Sure.” I took the plate that Darby passed me
and cut the serving of potpie into little bites for our youngest
sister. Hearing whispers behind me, I turned and saw Mom and Kevin
with their heads close. “What are you two doing?”

“It’s Christmas,” Kevin said, “we’re
conspiring.”

Chapter
Twenty-Two

Saturday,
December 8
^th
, 4:00
p.m.

It had been a busy day. Holiday music on the
stereo, a string of little lights twinkling around the big picture
windows, and our ‘down-home’ tree in the corner. It totally looked
like Christmas. I sat in the living room and listened to Robin tell
me all about taking care of their animals in the snow. It sounded
like an adventure, mucking through two feet of snow to look after
cows, pigs, chickens, and the horses. “What did Lassie think of
it?”

“Oh, she took the puppies out to play in it.
They rolled, tumbled, raced around, and got soaking wet. Most of
them were fine when they returned to the mud porch, but I had to
towel dry the runt of the litter, your fave. He thought chewing on
my fingers was a great pastime.”

“Sounds like me and the kids.” I picked up my
cup of hot chocolate and sipped. “Mom’s working at Sink-A-Sub this
weekend, so I took them there for lunch. By the time we got back,
they were wiped after walking all over town. People drive like
maniacs in this stuff. Some guy doing spinouts in the dollar store
parking lot nearly ran over Lance.”

“Poor you. I completely forgot that your
stepdad wouldn’t be getting the kids with this weather since he’d
be working overtime at the tire store, and you’d be stuck with
them.”

“It’s not so bad,” I said. “Darby didn’t have
to go to the casino, so she took care of Chrissy while I was out
with the others. I didn’t have to fight the stroller through two
feet of snow. Talk about an easy excursion and Mom’s here most of
the time. She had a meeting of the minds with Ingrid on Thursday.
Your parents’ letter helped Mom and Rick understand that I was
serious about emancipation.”

“Hey, they’re totally jazzed about you moving
in with us.”

“I appreciate that and their input with the
counselor, but don’t all the rules make you crazy?”

“Not really. I can always go run six miles
and call it cross-country practice when I totally want some alone
time. Your mom dumping all the household responsibilities on
whoever’s handy would make me a candidate for the loony bin.”

I giggled and looked toward the arched
doorway when Kevin came in the room. “What’s up, dude?”

“Don’t call me a dude.” He tried to smile,
but still looked worried. “We’re out of wrapping paper. What should
I do? Cathy’s starting to cry.”

“Take her and the twins downstairs with you
to sort out the Sunday comics and the glossy advertisements from
the rest of the newspapers,” I said. “You can use the colored pages
to finish wrapping.”

His blue eyes widened. “Dad had a fit when
you and Mom did that a couple years ago.”

“Yeah, well he was the one who forgot to buy
wrapping paper, and we weren’t going to do what he said, which was
to tell you guys that Santa’s sleigh had a breakdown.” I pointed to
the door. “Scat. Robin and I want to talk about our
boyfriends.”

“Okay. Jack’s awesome, not a loser like Dad.”
Kevin vanished, and I heard him calling the others. “Come on. We
have to go sort newspapers for more wrapping paper. If you keep
sniveling, Cathy, you can do it by yourself. Lance and I still have
to build a snow fort so we can take on the guys.”

“Better stir your stumps,” Darby called from
the kitchen. “Chrissy and I will have the first batch of Christmas
cookies ready to hang on the tree when you finish wrapping
presents.”

“Did I hear that correctly?” Robin asked.
“You’re hanging cookies on the tree? I
so
want to come to
your house. Will I get in trouble for snitching a reindeer?”

“No. We made tons of cookies, enough to eat
all month. Have you heard from Rocky?”

“Yes. She and Sierra are up to their eyeballs
in horsy poop. Dad says he’ll drive us over there tomorrow. Do you
want to come? We have four-wheel-drive, and he grew up in Montana.
He says this is nothing compared to a winter there.”

“I’ll talk to Mom and Darby,” I said. “As
long as the kid care is covered, I think it’ll be fine. What
time?”

From there, we discussed how long school
might be closed. If she came home with me on Sunday night, we could
go shopping on Monday if we didn’t have class. I had a lot to talk
to Mom about when she got home from work and nothing seemed
insurmountable, not even my first sleepover in years. When Robin
had to go to the barn, I went downstairs and helped the kids finish
sorting through the newspapers.

“Are you mad at me, Vicky?” Lance asked,
pulling out grocery ads. “When that car almost runned me over, you
yelled at the boy taking pictures.”

“Adam is a major jerk.” I ruffled Lance’s
blond curls. “I was never mad at you. I just got scared by that
creep in the car and then Adam acted stupid. What was he going to
do if you got hurt? Take more pics?”

* * * *

Sunday, December 9
^th
, 9:00 a.m.

I slept late, but I wasn’t the only one. When
I woke up, I looked around the room and saw Cathy and Linda still
sprawled out in the bunk beds. Chrissy was zonked out in her crib.
Tossing the blankets aside, I rolled out of the daybed and grabbed
my robe. I pulled it on and headed for the kitchen to make
coffee.

While it brewed, I turned on the TV and
listened to a news update. Of course, the top story was still the
snow. We’d had a few more inches overnight, but the forecaster said
it was going to warm up a bit. There would be a slow melt, which
was good news. It meant no flooding of the local rivers and
streams. The talking heads suggested cleaning out the drains in the
street to prevent urban overflow.

Another great idea, I thought, going for my
first cup of java, but how was a person supposed to do that when
there was nearly thirty inches of snow out there? I guessed it
would have to wait until the snow began to melt. I heard the soft
pad of slippers in the hall and got a second cup, filling it for
Mom as she came into the room.

“Morning,” I said. “I’m thinking pancakes in
a little bit.”

“Sounds wonderful.” She took the mug of
coffee and went to sit down in her favorite recliner in the family
room. “So, what’s on your agenda for today?”

“Robin and I want to go up to Shamrock Stable
and help out with the horses. By now, Rocky must be feeling
overwhelmed with forty horses trapped in the barns.” I hesitated,
sipped my coffee, and opted to ask, “Would it be all right if Robin
came back and stayed over? If there was school tomorrow, we could
go together.”

“I’m sure there won’t be school. I think it’d
be nice if Robin spent the night.” Mom kept her attention on the TV
for a moment longer before she muted the sound. “You’ve been
spending a lot of time at your friends’ houses with them.
Sleepovers should be reciprocal. If you could have more than one
friend stay over tonight, who would you invite?”

“Sierra,” I said quickly, “but there’s no way
that Rocky can do chores without her.”

“And you think your life is hard. Imagine if
you had forty horses to look after. It’d be nothing but horses from
dawn to dark.”

“Pure heaven,” I said. “I can’t wait.”

Mom laughed and shook her head. “Why do I
even try with you? It’s always been horses with you, hasn’t
it?”

I nodded, and then said, “Maybe Jack and Bill
would step up. I bet if they went in and helped Rocky, she’d give
Sierra tonight and tomorrow off. It’s worth talking to everybody
concerned.”

“Yes, it is.” Mom studied the depths of her
coffee then asked, “Who else?”

“Mom, you’re going overboard here. I haven’t
had a sleepover in ten years. I can’t pay everybody back in one
night. Besides, where would all of us sleep? They couldn’t fit in
the bedroom I share with the girls.”

“The living room.” Mom sipped coffee while I
stared at her. “You were the one who told me that we should take
over the whole house. If you had too many friends for that room,
they could spread their sleeping bags into the dining room.”

“How many can come?” I asked, cautiously.

“Oh, I think we need rules. If you have a
slumber party, your brothers and sisters will want ones too. At
least I don’t have to worry about Chrissy for a while yet.” Mom
smiled at me over the top of her cup. “You’re responsible for your
friends. I’d say five to start with and then we’ll build up to
eight.”

“You’re a crazy woman, and what did you do
with my mother?”

She finished her coffee and switched off the
TV. “You have some calls to make. I’ll start French toast. I like
it better than pancakes. Have your friends bring snacks and sodas.
I’ll be in charge of sub sandwiches for dinner. When will you be
back from the barn?”

“Probably about five-thirty or six.”

“Good. I don’t have to be at the sub shop
till eleven-thirty. Darby said she’d watch the kids, and since the
older ones will be playing with their friends, it’s pretty easy
duty.”

I nodded. “I’ll take over when I get here
since she’ll be ready for a break.”

* * * *

Sunday, December 9th, 11:00 a.m.

It took twice as long as usual to reach the
stable located between Marysville and Stewart Falls. The driveway
had been plowed, but the piled snow was easily five feet tall in
places. “It looks like Sierra went crazy with the tractor,” I said.
“I can’t blame her. If I was stuck home, I’d want a hobby too.”

“I’ve been thinking a lot about a tractor
these past couple of days,” John told us as he parked the
four-wheel-drive truck, “especially when Jack and I were shoveling
the walks.”

I had to grin at the notion of Jack clearing
the pathways around their place. He didn’t mind mucking stalls and
pens, but other than that, he pretty much avoided his mother’s
gardens and the lawn. “My mom said I could invite Sierra to stay
over with us, but I hate to leave Rocky in the lurch with all these
horses. Would you bring up Jack and Bill to help her tomorrow?”

John nodded. “Sure. You make it happen,
Vicky, and I’ll be glad to play chauffer.”

“Awesome.” Grabbing my helmet, I followed
Robin in the direction of the indoor arena. When we arrived,
several of the horses inside the ring spooked and bolted back the
other direction. I recognized some of the mares and their adult
offspring. I leaned on the low wall and waited while they romped,
bucked, and played.

“What do you call that?” Robin asked.

“Free longeing,” I said. “It gives them
exercise and plenty of opportunities to work the kinks out. They
can’t go to paddock for extended periods of time when the weather
is this nasty.”

“I should do this with Twaziem and Singer
when we get back,” Robin said. “Once they have some run-around
time, they can switch off with Buster and Nitro.”

“Sounds good. I’ll help you.” I spotted
someone moving in the stall area. “Come on. Let’s go jump in on the
cleaning. That’s why we’re here.”

Sierra looked thrilled when she saw us. I
grinned at her. “Hey, got any poop to share?”

“You know it. And water tubs to wash, hay to
feed. Once we get through lunch, then it’s time to do it all over
again for supper.”

“Well, maybe we can do some riding too,”
Robin told her. “There’s more to life than mucking.”

“I wish,” Sierra said, “but I don’t think
so.”

With all three of us working, we zipped
through the first half of the barn chores. We put the ten horses in
the arena back in their stalls and rotated out the others. As soon
as he arrived in the ring, Aladdin dropped to his knees and rolled.
Summertime followed suit. I could see that I’d spend the afternoon
grooming them even if I didn’t ride.

When we finished cleaning, watering, and
feeding, we put the last ten horses away. All of them immediately
began eating as if we’d starved and mistreated them. Yeah, right.
If this bad weather kept up, we’d have to cut their rations. We
didn’t want them to founder.

Sierra looked at her watch. “I don’t believe
it. We will have time to ride today. Let’s go help Mom and Autumn
finish up the old-timers barn.”