Secondhand Horses

by Lauraine Snelling

  “Don’t touch me, I’m polluted!” she cried, pulling away from the helping hands. “That way. He’s gone that way!” She pointed a green-smeared finger toward the side of the house. “Eww! I reek!”

  He was running for his camp in the trees. Toward wherever he had stashed the truck and trailer. He’d escape, and they’d never get him and the jewels.

  The jewels. She patted her pocket. They were still there. They had something. But Sunny wanted The Shirt, too. After all, he had been mean to the zoo.

  “Horses!” Esther cried. “We’ll get on the horses and catch him!”

  Piggles, Major, and Which Way, somehow out of the barn again, milled around. Which Way was happily unconcerned he’d been the cause of a major kink in the Greatest Idea. Sunny darted toward the running man and then back, out and back again, indecisive. “Are you kidding? Do you remember how long it takes us to saddle up one horse?”

  “No way.” Vee’s voice came from the shed. “We’re way too slow. We’ll have to catch him on foot.”

  Esther sighed. “We always end up running. Can’t we ever do a computer search to catch the bad guy?”

  Vee emerged, holding up two rusty objects. “Weapons.” She jerked her head. “Go get yours.”

  “Right!” Aneta dashed into the dim interior. “I remember something.”

  Sunny and Esther were close behind. “Whoa!” Sunny stopped short; Esther ran into her.

  “Oops,” Esther said. “Remember. Blink a lot so you can see in the dark.”

  “I’ve got my weapon!” Sunny ran out.

  Esther said, “I’ll use yours, too, Aneta. Let’s get out of here!” They charged out of the shed behind Sunny. The zoo wasn’t sure what to make of all this yelling and dashing in and out and on the ground and up again, so they made their own noises and circled the girls, causing more confusion until Vee shouted.

  “There he is!” She broke out of the melee and took off.

  Sunny thought The Shirt would have gotten farther by now.

  “Hey!” Esther shrieked in his direction, holding up the end of her weapon. “You better stop. We’re armed and dangerous!”

  He didn’t stop.

  “He’s limping!” Aneta said. Sunny, behind Vee, shouted back, “Probably that fast way down the stairs!” She threw a look over her shoulder to see how Esther was doing.

  “Esther! Aneta! Look at the zoo!”

  Esther turned around. When she turned back, her frowning face had transformed into a bright smile. “They’re so crazy.”

  Of course, the zoo was following them. First Major as usual, trotting along like a famous prize stallion—only bitty, his white mane floating. Sunny’s heart swelled with love for him. He was so wonderful.

  Bob was next, bleating, “Bahhhhhb!” That ought to freak out The Shirt if he heard it floating behind him. Which Way had hitched a ride on Piggles the Pig. Piggles had great ideas too, like being in on all the adventures, but his short legs only carried him until he found a dusty spot or someplace wet. They would have to look for him on the way back and not trip over him.

  Still no lights or Uncle Dave’s voice as she passed his window.

  They must all look crazy, Sunny thought, staggering over the rough ground. The police should be here soon. Why didn’t she hear sirens? Putting on a burst of speed, she came alongside Vee.

  “Where’s the police?”

  Vee didn’t look at her. She wasn’t panting or looking like she was streaking along in the dark in a rough meadow. Sunny stumbled again, her right ankle twisting into a quick sear of pain. What if this Greatest Idea turned out to be terrible, like the others? What would Uncle Dave say? Her parents? It was hard to keep running on that ankle and keep up with Vee, but she did.

  They were catching up. Aneta, Esther, and Bob joined Vee and Sunny. Piggles had indeed stopped a while back. Which Way was flapping and waddling onward. Another couple of minutes and the Squad would take The Shirt down. In the movies, someone always said, “We’re gonna take him down.”

  “Vee! We’re gonna catch up with him, like right now! The police aren’t here. Didn’t you call them?”

  “No.” Vee said it so quietly at first Sunny wasn’t sure it was a no.

  “No?” This was not part of the Greatest Idea. The police were supposed to be right behind them. Now the police weren’t coming?

  “For pizza sake, why not?”

  For a few strides, Vee didn’t reply. Then she said through clenched teeth, “Because I didn’t want to touch the ATP with goose-poo hands!”

  Sunny desperately wanted to laugh, but she couldn’t and run and breathe at the same time. Besides, Vee’s face made it quite clear it would not be appreciated.

  Pounding hooves sounded behind the girls and Major the mini galloped past them, tossing his head and prancing. The Shirt turned and yelled, “Get that horse away from me. He’s crazy.”

  Then he fell smack into a chuckhole, similar to the one that Sunny already had.

  Five steps later, the Squad gathered around him. Major the mini, done prancing, breathed his warm breath on Sunny’s shoulder blade. He bumped her. Hard.

  “Ow, Major, that hurt.”

  He bumped her again, and she fell on the creepy carnival guy. Way too close to him.

  He shoved at her, tried to get up, and fell back.

  Sunny scrambled to her feet and took a wary step away from Major. “Do you need a time-out?” she asked, brushing off her capris and feeling the bulge of the velvet bag in her pant leg pocket. Major knocked her hand against the bag.

  Tilting her head, she glared at the mini, who was once again ducking his head and butting her with increasing intensity. His head against that pocket in her pants.

  “Is this a Great—whoa, Major!”

  Another—major—bump and Sunny sprawled on the bad guy. This time she rolled off slowly.

  Bob chewed his cud as he watched the guy yell about his foot and stupid girls then bleated, “Bahhhhhb!”

  The Shirt’s eyes bulged. He craned his neck around. “That was a goat not a ghost?”

  Which Way flapped over to the man and hissed, sticking his neck out. The man shrank back, his face turning pale in the moonlight. “What a great idea this was supposed to be,” he snarled, flopping his head back and holding his ankle up. “Just what do you think you four puny girls are going to do to me?”

  “You shouldn’t have been mean to the animals,” Aneta said, advancing on him, holding up something that made The Shirt drop his foot on the ground to get away and then howl in pain. Her face was stern in the moonlight.

  “You shouldn’t have called me fat,” Esther said, coming alongside the blond. “I have a weapon, and I’m not afraid to use it.”

  The man used words the girls were never allowed to use.

  Vee stuck her weapon up close under his chin. “You shouldn’t have made me fall in goose poo.”

  Could the normally gentle S.A.V.E. Squad become a mob like in Uncle Dave’s movies and finish off The Shirt? He had been so mean. He had stolen. Nobody would blame them.

  Sunny smacked him on his chest as he struggled to rise. “I’m armed, too. The police are coming.” I hope. “You shouldn’t have called me stupid.”

  The girls moved in. The Shirt’s eyes widened in terror.

  Sirens whined faintly then gathered volume.

  Chapter 27

  A Major Idea

  Sheriff Bucholtz pursed his lips as he surveyed The Shirt on the ground. A slight tug at the corner of his mouth broke the stern lines of his face. The four S.A.V.E. Squad members stood in a straight line like soldiers. The zoo did not. Major wuffled in Sunny’s ear.

  “Stop that,” she said out of the corner of her mouth.

  “So,” the sheriff said finally, looking up at the crowd gathered in the moonlit meadow. “Sorry we were late, but it appears you girls have everything under control.”

  The girls learned Esther hollering, “You better stop. We’re armed and dangerous” had awakened Un
cle Dave. A quick look out his bedroom window, and he was on the phone with the sheriff. Then he’d called all the parents. Vee’s mom was there with Bill, whose shoulders kept shaking like it was cold out, but it wasn’t.

  Aneta’s mom was there. She hadn’t been home too long coming from the ranch when Uncle Dave called her. Esther’s dad was there; her mom was home with the brothers. And Sunny’s parents and her brothers. “So,” the sheriff repeated, “why was it necessary to truss him up like a turkey?”

  He pointed to The Shirt, wrapped neatly from neck to toes in a very old, very long, dirty rope. Aneta and Esther stepped forward.

  “That was us, sir.” Esther gestured to Aneta who had on her serious face then pointed at herself. “He called me fat.”

  “He was mean to the zoo,” Aneta added, her ponytail bobbing with each emphatic word.

  “Of course.” Sheriff Bucholtz waved a hand at the three creatures doing what they did when they had nothing else to do. Chewing, flapping, whiffling. “This, I take it, is the zoo?”

  “Yep.” Sunny gestured toward the house. “Which Way is the goose. Piggles is back there—”

  “We encountered him,” the sheriff interrupted.

  “The pygmy goat is Bob—”

  The sheriff nodded as though being introduced to a zoo were an everyday occurrence. “And the broken bottom of a fan rake propped against the guy’s face?”

  “A lousy goat. It was just a lousy goat!” The Shirt moaned, his voice muffled.

  Sunny raised her hand. “That was me. He called me a stupid kid. Besides, he was using”—she glanced at her brothers and lowered her voice just like her mom did when her brothers had messed up big-time—“inappropriate words. The rake shut him up. Especially when Which Way sat on it.”

  “Oh, Sunny,” her mother murmured, wiping her eyes and coughing. “You are too much.”

  The Shirt rolled so the rake fell off his face. “Get me up. You got nothing on me more than trespassing. Stupid girls.” He began the rumbling evil laugh, but stopped abruptly as Vee’s weapon slid close to his throat.

  “That brings us to the rusty pair of spurs ready to slit his throat?” the sheriff asked mildly.

  Vee stepped close to The Shirt. “He”—she jabbed the green-stained finger in his direction—“made me fall in goose poo!”

  A collective “Ewww” rose from the audience. Sunny looked at her parents and sniffed in Vee’s direction. “Yeah, it’s bad.”

  Sunny’s dad and Sheriff Bucholtz unrolled The Shirt from the rope. While the sheriff put the cuffs on him, The Shirt threw his shoulders back. “You got me on trespassing. That’s it.” Puffing out his chest, he said, “Go on. Search me. I should sue.”

  Sunny folded her arms across her chest.

  Said nothing.

  Made her smile stay on the inside.

  Vee, Esther, and Aneta, however, stiffened then surrounded Sunny and dragged her off to the side.

  “He doesn’t—,” began Vee.

  “Your pocket—” Esther was in a panic.

  “Our Greatest Idea—” Aneta’s eyes brimmed with tears that sparkled in the moonlight.

  “Watch,” was all Sunny said.

  By now Sunny’s mom had taken the brothers back to the ranch to avoid The Shirt’s continuing vocabulary. Sunny wished she had a handful of goose poo.

  When the sheriff got to the cargo pocket on the man’s pants, he patted the pocket, unzipped it, and drew out a soft black velvet bag.

  “The jewels!” Vee, Aneta, and Esther’s voices squeaked together. They whipped around to spear Sunny with the stink eye.

  The Shirt’s mouth gaped. Then his gaze transferred to Sunny.

  “I told you I wasn’t stupid,” she said.

  Chapter 28

  Sunny Finishes

  I finished!” Sunny placed the manure scraper inside the tool closet in the barn, removed her gloves, and spun. “Yayness!”

  Chores were finished, chili she’d made was finished in a humongous Crock-Pot borrowed from Esther’s church, and—she heard high, excited voices of the Squad spilling from the vehicles pulling into the driveway—guests were finished coming.

  Yes, Sunny Quinlan, you’ve got this finishing stuff down.

  “Hey, Sunny girl!” Uncle Dave hollered from the porch, waving a crutch. “Is that frozen pie in the box supposed to be on the counter in the bathroom?”

  For pizza sake: almost down.

  Vee, Esther, and Aneta rushed into the barn; they did a group dance, arms around shoulders, sidestepping. “The Squad did it again!” Esther said, breathless.

  “C’mon, guys, let’s eat before my brothers get all the corn bread. I’m starving.” Sunny led the way into the house. “It’s time to celebrate finishing!”

  “You made corn bread?” Esther sounded impressed.

  Sunny shook her head no. Some things were better to not start.

  The girls had promised each other they wouldn’t reveal any more of the deets to their families until this group supper. Now that everyone was seated around the long kitchen table with a card table on each end extending the space so everyone had room, the Squad looked at expectant faces.

  Esther’s family sat across from Bill and Vee’s mom. Bill was already entertaining Esther’s brothers. Heather and the Twin Terrors were seated next to Sunny’s mom who sat with Dad. Vee’s dad, of course, was out of town. Aneta’s mom sat next to Uncle Dave—Vee, Esther, and Sunny were going to watch that very closely—and then she and the Squad sat together.

  Sheriff Bucholtz in his uniform, as an unexpected guest, sat at the end by Sunny’s brothers, whose faces revealed they were very pleased about that.

  “We’re pretty proud of how it all turned out,” Sunny’s mom said. “Although I won’t say I’m glad for all your decisions.”

  “Some of them are in the what-were-you-thinking category,” Sunny’s dad agreed.

  “I’m so sorry that Uncle Dave broke his ankle,” Sunny began.

  Her uncle stopped her by pounding a crutch on the floor. “Enough with the apologies. It was my idea to have you come out here in the first place. True, I didn’t expect certain things, like eleven-year-olds buying a zoo, or them capturing a jewel thief, but still—”

  The girls swiveled to look at Sunny.

  “Wait. Your idea to come to the ranch? It was my Great Idea!” she said, leaning forward so she could see him.

  “Sorry, Sunny girl. When your dad called to ask me if I would mind—”

  Now she switched her focus to her dad who was trading looks with her mom. Both of them were stuffing chuckles. “Dad called you to see if I—” He’d done it again. Asked her what she thought when he already knew what he was going to do. “Dad!”

  Uncle Dave leaned back in his chair. “Yeah, I thought it would be great for you to come work at the ranch. We’re a lot alike. We both like stuff to be fun.”

  “Tell her your nickname growing up,” Sunny’s mom said.

  Uncle Dave belted out one of his rat-a-tat laughs. “Sisters never forget. It was Halfway Dave. I finished everything halfway, which—”

  “—isn’t finished at all.” This reminded Sunny of the Adventure Readers and Major. “Hey, I’d like to finish something else,”—she placed heavy emphasis on her next words—“besides catching a jewel thief, taking care of Crutch Man, a secondhand zoo, and an entire ranch”—she swept out an arm to include the Squad who were enjoying this family exchange very much—“with the rocko-socko help of the S.A.V.E. Squad.”

  “What’s that?” Esther asked.

  “I want to finish the Adventure Readers to the end of the year with Major visiting them at the library to read with them.”

  “Me, too!” Aneta said. “I cannot wait!”

  “But, Sunny.” Vee’s face lost all its amusement. “We have to adopt out the zoo. Major isn’t staying here.”

  The room dropped into an unnatural silence. Even the brothers stopped chewing.

  She’d completely forgotten ab
out finishing with the zoo. They seemed like so much a part of the ranch.…

  Ughness.

  Some celebration.

  Now all eyes were on Uncle Dave, who shifted in his seat. He cleared his throat. “Well, Sunny, you know I came here to set up a sport pony breeding stable.”

  “I know,” Sunny said miserably. “You kept telling me.” Her heart hurt. No more wuffling in her ear. No more schoolwork buddy. Her brothers might tease her, but it was highly likely she was going to bust out crying and run out of the room.

  Esther and Vee had both narrowed their eyes and said together, “And?”

  “I’m taking a step back from that. Instead I’m going to create a search and rescue training center with secondhand horses. I’ve been on the phone a lot with some buddies of mine—”

  “You mean all those phone calls weren’t about sport ponies?” Sunny slit her eyes at her uncle, who was grinning hugely. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  “Oh, because I figured you could practice arguing with me and not get in trouble with your parents. So you can rest easy. The zoo has a home here.” He leaned back in his chair. “Remember the kid with Starbright and his dad out of work?”

  Vee said, “Oh yes.”

  Esther snickered.

  Vee dealt her the Vee Stare.

  “Well, he’s a construction builder kind of guy as well as a horseman. I’m going to hire him to build what we need and take care of the horses as they come in. Police departments and border patrol are using horses more and more. Horses are quite sensitive to what’s happening around them.”

  Sunny choked on her corn bread. “They sure are.”

  The sheriff stood up. Sunny had forgotten he was there.

  “I’ve enjoyed this dinner, but it’s time for me to head out.” He looked at the girls. “Dave asked me to come and answer any questions you might have since yesterday.”

  “What’s the story?” Esther asked. “Where did he steal the jewels from? Why did he decide to hide them here?”