Moon Shadow

by Chris Platt

  “Come on,” Sam muttered, casting his gaze to the other side of the pens, but there was still no sign of the Buick. Mr. Jeffers walked briskly toward them, carrying some papers in his hand.

  “He’s going to be really angry,” Callie said. “For some reason, he really wanted Ms. Midland to have Moon Shadow.”

  Sam stood on the fence to get a better view. “She’s still looking at the mare and foal.”

  Callie held her breath. In another second, Mr. Jeffers would look up and see that the blue car wasn’t there. He’d know they’d been up to something. Would he be so mad that he’d forbid her to return to the mustang pens? Would Justin and his dad lose their jobs? If so, it would be all her fault.

  A horn sounded and a large delivery truck bumped down the dirt road toward the office. Callie began to breathe again as the truck rolled to a stop. Mr. Jeffers would have to sign for the delivery and show the driver where to put the load. That might buy them the extra time they needed.

  Moon Shadow finished her milk, and Callie spent the few minutes running her hands over the filly’s body, getting her accustomed to being handled.

  “Here they come,” Sam said.

  Callie crossed her fingers, hoping that the news was good. Justin raced across the arena, bringing his horse to a sliding stop in a cloud of dust. When the dust cleared, she could tell by the look on his face that he’d been successful. She almost felt like hugging him.

  A moment later, Ms. Midland stepped from her car and came to the fence, stretching her arm through the metal panels to grasp Callie’s hand. “You sweet child,” she said. “This young man told me the story of how you worked so hard to save this filly’s life. I had no idea you wanted her, or I would have never put in the adoption papers.” She pointed toward the pinto mare and foal. “Since this little buckskin is in good hands, I’ll turn my attention to that pair over there. They need a lot of help, and there are more of us to take care of the two of them.”

  Callie smiled at her, grateful that she’d stepped aside. “Thank you, ma’am,” she said. “You can always call us if you have any questions.” A movement on the road caught her eye and she turned to see Mr. Jeffers walking toward them. “Uh oh. What do we do now? He’s not going to be happy about this.”

  Ms. Midland hailed the boss with a wave of her manicured hand. She glanced back at Callie. “You let me handle Mr. Jeffers. I’ll get the adoption transferred to my pintos, and then this little orphan will be ready for you to take home.”

  Callie watched as Ms. Midland chatted with Mr. Jeffers. He glanced at them and scowled, but a few minutes later he motioned for Callie to follow him and the lady to the office.

  “We might as well get all the paperwork done at once,” he said.

  Callie gave Justin her best smile. It looked like Moon Shadow was finally going to be hers!

  Thirteen

  The next day, Billie and Justin came by to help Callie and her father build the box stall for Moon Shadow. When it was finished, Callie marveled at what they had done. It was the first real thing she’d ever built and she felt very proud of her accomplishment.

  Billie placed her hammer back in the toolbox and dusted off her hands. “Now all we need is Moon Shadow.”

  Justin checked his watch. “She should be arriving any minute now.”

  “I sure hope Mr. Thompson didn’t have any trouble loading her,” Callie said as she gathered the rest of the tools and put them away.

  Justin tested the stall door to make sure it latched properly. “Well, my dad’s there to help him load up, and I’m sure Harvey’ll volunteer to help. Besides,” he said with a shrug, “she’s small enough that someone could just pick her up and put her in the trailer.”

  “I can’t wait until she gets here,” Callie said. She ran over to her father and gave him a big hug.

  “What was that for?” Mr. McLean asked.

  “It’s for a lot of things.” Callie smiled. “But especially for understanding and helping so much with Moon Shadow.”

  Her father ruffled her hair and grinned. “Just don’t make me sorry I had a weak moment.”

  Everyone laughed. They put out the rest of the fresh straw, then closed the stall door and went to wait in the driveway.

  “There they are!” Callie’s mother pointed to the big, blue truck that was just rounding the bend.

  Celah whinnied when she saw the horse trailer and raced to the fence, her ears pricked, curious to see what was being delivered. Callie had to laugh when the big mare snorted at the sight of the tiny buckskin being unloaded.

  “She’s too little to even be near you right now, old girl,” Callie said as she patted the big mare. “All you’d have to do is sidestep and Moon Shadow would be squished flat.”

  Callie heard a funny noise and turned in time to see a speckled brown goat tromping down the ramp behind Moon Shadow, its long ears flapping as it went.

  “I thought it might come in handy to have your milk fresh on tap,” Mr. Thompson said. “You can keep Matilda here until this filly is weaned.”

  Callie’s father helped Mr. Thompson get Moon Shadow into her stall, and the goat into an outside corral. When the new arrivals were settled in, Mr. McLean shook Mr. Thompson’s hand. “I really appreciate everything you’ve done for our daughter,” he said.

  “It was my pleasure.” Mr. Thompson returned the firm grip. “That girl of yours does twice the work of my boy. I’ve got to keep her happy so she’ll stay on working for the rest of the summer. The show season has started and Luke and Jill will be putting in a lot of time on their halter horses.” He made a shooing motion to Callie. “You run along now and play with your new filly. I’ll expect you over at the ranch bright and early tomorrow.”

  “Yes sir, Mr. Thompson,” Callie said, giving him a snappy salute. “And thank you for everything!” She scrambled toward the barn to join her friends. “Isn’t she beautiful?” she said to Billie as she squeezed between her and Justin and leaned her chin on the stall door.

  “She’s perfect,” Billie said. “Can we go in and touch her?”

  Justin opened the door, letting the girls walk in ahead of him. Moon Shadow seemed to be tired out from the short trip. She ignored the three people standing around looking at her and folded her front legs and collapsed in the sweet-smelling straw.

  “She’s going to need a feeding pretty soon,” Justin said. “Come on, Callie, I’ll show you how to milk that goat.”

  He exited the barn and came back a few minutes later leading the speckled goat with a halter. He dragged over several bales of hay and pushed them close together, then lifted the little goat on top of the hay. “She’ll be easier to milk if she’s up off the ground,” he explained. Then he grabbed a small pan and showed Callie and Billie how to milk the goat. “It might be easier on both you and the goat if you collect enough milk at once to make several feedings. You can keep the extra in the refrigerator.”

  Billie ran her hand across Moon Shadow’s silky coat. “She’s so beautiful, and so soft.” She turned to Callie. “Can I help you feed her?”

  Justin handed the fresh pan of goat’s milk to Callie. “Here you go. Her milk pail is in the corner.”

  Callie poured out a ration of milk into the bucket and handed it to Billie. “Let’s get her up, then you can hold this for her while she drinks.”

  As soon as Moon Shadow saw her meal being delivered, she nickered and tried to stand, but her hindquarters collapsed under her. She had to make several more attempts before she successfully gained her feet.

  “Wow, look at her go,” Billie said in surprise as the filly began to gulp the milk. “It’s almost gone already!”

  When the milk was finished, Moon Shadow pulled her head from the bucket, dripping milk from the curly whiskers on her chin.

  “Can we give her more?” Billie asked.

  Justin took the empty bucket and dipped it into the water trough. He swirled the water to rinse off the sides, then dumped it out the door. “You need to be ca
reful that you don’t overfeed this filly,” he warned. “Too much milk could make her sick.”

  A horn sounded outside the barn and Mrs. McLean called, “Billie, your father is here!”

  “Shoot,” Billie said. “I wish I didn’t have to go. I’d rather stay and help you, Callie. I’ve never been around a foal this young before.”

  “Don’t worry,” Callie said with a chuckle. “I have to feed her every couple of hours for a while, so I’m going to need lots of help. You can come over any time you want, day or night!”

  “My dad could drop me off on his way in to work for the next couple of days,” Billie volunteered. I could stay here for a couple of hours and do some of the feedings while you’re at work, then my mom could come get me at lunchtime.”

  Callie smiled in appreciation of her friend’s offer. “That would help me and my parents out a lot.”

  After a night of around-the-clock feedings, Callie dragged herself out of bed again so she could get Moon Shadow fed and all of her chores done before she left for work at the Thompson ranch.

  She quickly milked the goat and fed Moon Shadow, leaving the extra milk in the fridge for Billie to feed the filly in her absence. Callie took a few extra minutes to work with her before she did her chores. Even though the tiny mustang was less than a week old, she needed to be handled several times a day so she’d become used to human touch.

  Callie ran her hands over Moon Shadow’s body and picked up her feet. The filly twitched and stomped her hind legs when she hit a ticklish spot. Callie had to be careful when lifting the filly’s front feet. She’d discovered that Moon Shadow liked to play tricks. One of her favorites was nipping Callie on the pocket when she bent over to pick up a hoof.

  When Callie finished, she let herself out of the stall and leaned on the door, observing the little buckskin as she shuffled around the stall on unsteady legs. The mustang found a spot in the center where the straw was deep and lay down in the straw.

  It worried Callie that Moon Shadow didn’t seem to be getting much stronger, despite the fact that she continued to have a good appetite. She decided to give Susan a call and have the vet give Moon Shadow a checkup.

  “I’ll be back in a few hours,” Callie told the foal as she locked the stall door and went to the house. She left a message on Susan’s cell phone, then fetched her bike. She pedaled down the road to the Thompson ranch, whistling a happy tune. The warm breeze blew through Callie’s hair and she dreamed of the day when she’d be able to ride Moon Shadow across the open desert.

  Jill was just pulling her prize yearling from the stall when Callie arrived. “Morning,” Jill said, sounding almost businesslike. “You can start with Poco Queen’s stall.”

  Callie nodded a hello. Jill seemed totally different than her goofball brother, Luke. Luke had dark hair, and Jill was a blonde. All Luke could think about was teasing and playing jokes on people, while Jill was super serious. Callie really admired her for being so dedicated, but in a way she was afraid of the older girl. She wished she wasn’t so unapproachable.

  Callie set her things down on a bale of hay and grabbed the wheelbarrow.

  “Make sure you use three full bags of shavings to finish it off,” Jill instructed. Then, with a small smile, she added, “Please.”

  The door at the far end of the barn banged open, and Luke came out of the barn’s office with a cream puff in one hand and a maple bar in the other. “Hey, how’s your mutt doing, Callie-o?” He smiled broadly, showing raspberry filling between his two front teeth.

  Callie steered the wheelbarrow into the first stall, trying hard to ignore him. She knew he was just hoping to goad her into a fight. She picked up the muck rake and began to separate the good bedding from the bad, determined to forget that Luke was even there.

  But the annoying boy wasn’t about to let her off the hook that easily. He leaned on the door frame and popped the rest of the cream puff into his mouth. “So why’d you adopt a stupid mustang, anyway?” he asked.

  Callie warned herself to keep cool. “Why not?”

  Luke laughed and powdered sugar sprayed off his lips onto his clean shirt. “I can give you a hundred reasons not to buy a mustang, but it would take too long,” he said. “My sister and I are practicing for our halter class this morning. Why don’t you come out and see what a real horse can do?”

  Callie paused with the muck rake in midair. She really wanted to throw some manure on the smarty-pants, but she knew Luke would run straight to his father and tattle on her. She went back to cleaning the stall, but the thought of watching a halter lesson did intrigue her. Maybe she could pick up a few pointers that would help her train Moon Shadow to lead.

  Two hours later, she dumped the last load of manure and took a break. She grabbed a root beer from the refrigerator in the office and headed outside, squinting when she stepped into the glaring Nevada sun. It wasn’t even ten o’ clock and the temperature was already over eighty degrees., She put the ice-cold can of pop to her forehead, enjoying the coolness against her hot skin. Luke and Jill were in the small arena with their horses, so Callie found a shady spot beside the barn and sat down to watch what they were doing. One of the grooms, who Callie remembered was named José, came out for a break and stood beside her.

  “Square your horse up, Luke,” Mr. Thompson called from his spot in the arena fifty feet away.

  Luke’s dark bay colt was standing with his left hind leg six inches ahead of the other. But when Luke tried to fix the problem, the colt stepped forward, moving all four of his legs out of line.

  “Try it again, son,” Mr. Thompson said, then turned to his daughter. “Your filly looks good, Jill. Now walk her toward me on a straight line and stop ten feet away.”

  Callie watched as Jill did as she was told. Her filly was behaving perfectly, and Callie could tell that Jill must have done a lot more work with her horse than her brother had done with his. Jill stopped her filly ten feet from her father and made sure all of Poco Queen’s legs were square. What puzzled Callie was that Jill moved to the other side of her horse while her father was inspecting it.

  “Why is she doing that?” Callie asked José.

  The older man smiled. “Mr. Thompson is acting as the show judge,” he explained. “It’s Jill’s job to make sure she stays out of the way. If she gets between the judge and the horse, that could cost her points. When the judge finishes his inspection, Jill will move back to her horse’s left side again.”

  “Maybe I could try that with my new foal,” Callie said.

  José gave a deep laugh and patted her on the head. “Miss Jill’s been working with this filly for over a year. If you’ve got a brand-new foal in your barn, I think you’ll find there are a few extra steps you’ll need to do before you take that little horse to the show ring. These things take time, Callie.” He walked away, shaking his head in amusement.

  Callie frowned. She had no idea why José was laughing. But several hours later back in Moon Shadow’s stall, she found out exactly why he’d found her comment so funny. She took down the new blue halter that Billie had given her and hooked it over Moon Shadow’s petite head. Every time Callie tugged on the lead rope, Moon Shadow stubbornly pulled back, and one time she even tipped over backward. After battling the filly for several minutes, Callie sat in the straw and tried to catch her breath. To her dismay, Moon Shadow stepped forward and nuzzled her hair, then folded her front legs and plopped down beside her. Callie was glad the groom wasn’t there to witness the fiasco.

  “This isn’t working,” she said as she played with the filly’s wispy black mane. “Maybe my parents will have some ideas.” She sighed and rested her head against Moon Shadow’s neck, breathing in the warm horse scent. It was the best smell ever.

  A few minutes later, she heard her mother’s voice from the barn door. “Are you in here, Callie?”

  Callie stood up and waved. “Over here!”

  Mrs. McLean peeked over the stall door. “Looks like you two have been taking a nap to
gether.” She let herself into the stall and quietly approached the filly.

  Moon Shadow scrambled to her feet and bobbed her head, taking a couple of steps forward. Then she stopped and sniffed Mrs. McLean’s clothes.

  “Actually, we were both taking a rest,” Callie told her mother. “Do you know anything about teaching a foal to lead? She doesn’t want to walk on a lead rope.”

  “We had horses when I was growing up,” Mrs. McLean said. “Moon Shadow’s a little young. I wouldn’t expect too much yet, but there’s no reason you can’t get her started.” She went to retrieve a long rope that hung on the wall of the barn. “Hook this to one side of her halter, and run it around her hindquarters and back up to the other side of the halter.” She showed Callie how to do it. “Now, when you give the rope a gentle tug, it will tighten around her haunches, making her think that something is pushing her from behind. She should step forward.”

  Callie gave the rope a pull. It startled Moon Shadow, causing her to jump forward several feet. She eased off on the pressure and tried again. This time the little mustang took several tentative steps forward. Callie patted her and told her what a good girl she was, then tried it again. Soon Moon Shadow was following her hesitantly around the stall. “She’s walking on a lead rope!” Callie said excitedly.

  Her mother clapped her hands in delight. “You’ll probably have to keep that rope around her hindquarters for quite a while since she’s so young,” she said. “They’re pretty stubborn for their first few months.”

  “You can say that again!” Callie laughed. “It’s a good thing she makes up for it by being so lovable.”

  “Well, time for a break. I’m making us a late lunch,” Mrs. McLean said. “Come on up to the house when you get the halter off that little filly.”