Southern Belle's Special Gift

by Marsha Hubler

  “Right,” Morgan said. “And I can’t wait. My three years of flute lessons are finally paying off.”

  “Youth for Truth?” Tanya expressed slight interest.

  Skye giggled and ran her hands through her hair. “This is nuts, but there are a few kids from our church youth group who come here every Thursday night to jam—some classical but mostly praise music. But it’s all been rewritten with a faster tempo. Morgan and Robin play flutes, Bobby Noll plays the trumpet, Melissa Richards plays a clarinet, and Mrs. Chambers does her cool thing on that.” Skye pointed to a digital piano in the corner. “Chad plays guitar.” Wonderful Chad, Skye thought. “And—hold on now—I play the violin.”

  “Her lessons and long hours of practice are paying off,” Mrs. Chambers added. “She doesn’t do a half-bad job.”

  Tanya hung a smirk on her face that could have won first place in a National Smirk Contest. “Skye? The violin? Here at Keystone Stables, in the middle of nowhere?”

  “Yes, me and the violin!” Skye announced loudly. “I’ve been taking lessons about a year, and it’s awesome. My music teacher writes my parts over so they’re not too hard for me to play. I love playing in the group. We’re not that good, but it’s a blast.” And Chad being here makes it all worthwhile!

  Mr. Chambers stood and yawned. “Don’t laugh, Tanya. Violins are in right now. Something I’d think you would know if you’re up on the latest ‘cool’ music. Isn’t that right, dear?” he said passing his wife on his way to the kitchen. “Coffee time!”

  “Definitely,” Mrs. Chambers said. “And if you’d like, Tanya, you can join the group, although if I remember correctly, you’ve never taken music lessons of any kind, have you?”

  “Nah, I’m not into that kind of stuff,” Tanya answered.

  Mrs. Chambers stood and headed toward the kitchen. “Do you girls want some iced tea or cocoa? We’ll play some games in a few minutes—that is, if your homework’s done.”

  “It is,” Skye said. “Cocoa for me, please.”

  “Me, too,” Morgan added.

  “Now can I go?” Tanya said rudely as she jumped up from the sofa and hurried out of the room.

  The new school year started at Madison with Skye and Morgan escorting their foster sister the first day. For the next week, Tanya fought everything the other two girls tried to do to make her transition easier. She sat alone on the bus and walked through the halls with her nose in the air, all the other kids avoiding her like the plague. Even Robin’s first attempt at making friends with Tanya ended in failure. “She acts like some queen bee,” Robin complained to Skye, “and I’m not gonna waste my time on her!”

  “School is school!” That’s all that came out of Tanya’s mouth when anyone in the house asked her about starting at Madison. In addition to her refusing to discuss school, she made a beeline to the barn as soon as she got home from Maranatha. Her newfound interest in Belle had the rest of the family stumped. She asked Skye to show her how to pet the mare, brush her, and just plain love her. During chore time, Tanya was always the first one to the barn, without a single complaint.

  Tanya willingly learned how to muck the stall and did it like she was cleaning her own bedroom. The floor almost sparkled before she spread fresh straw all around! Skye showed her how to feed and water properly, the exact amount of food and supplements recorded in a journal that Tanya carried with her. And when it came to grooming, there wasn’t a shinier chestnut mare in Snyder County. Everyone agreed that Tanya’s attachment to Belle was a God thing, a miracle. While Tanya lived at Keystone Stables, Belle would be Tanya’s horse.

  On Wednesday evening after supper, the whole family went to the barn to muck out stalls and feed and groom the horses. When the work was finished, Skye showed Tanya how to lead Belle to an open stall and cross tie her between two brackets on opposite walls. Skye watched while Tanya took her first clumsy turn cleaning each hoof with a hoof pick. Then the girls brushed Belle while they waited for Dr. Gonzales to arrive.

  “Hello, Tom!” a deep voice yelled in the barn doorway.

  “In here, Doc!” Mr. Chambers yelled, hurrying from one of the end stalls. “We’ve got her all ready for you.”

  A tall, thin Hispanic man wearing a bright red baseball cap and a dark green jump suit walked in from the darkness. Dirty rubber boots covered his legs up to his knees. Both arms were filled with bulging black bags. “I’m so glad the January thaw is here,” he said, walking toward Belle. “December’s weather wasn’t fit for man or beast. I’m finally getting caught up on my house calls—or should I say barn calls.” He gently set the two bags down, placed his hands on his hips, and stared at Belle from head to tail. “Well, she’s looking a lot better than she did when I saw her last, Tom. Somebody must be giving her the Queen for the Day treatment. Every day!”

  “Hi, Doc.” Skye pointed to Tanya, still brushing her heart out. “Here’s part of the reason. This is Tanya Bell from Philly. She’s been taking care of Belle for the last few days.”

  Never turning around, Tanya continued to groom the horse. “Is she going to be all right?” she blurted out.

  Mr. Chambers joined the group. “Whoa, Tanya, the doc will tell us soon enough,” he said. “Let him do his exam first. Then we’ll know a lot more.”

  Slowly Dr. Gonzales took several steps toward the horse. “Easy, now,” he whispered and put his hand under Belle’s muzzle. “Take a good whiff, girl. You’ve met me before. Now let’s see how you and your baby are doing.”

  Mr. Chambers went to the front of the horse and clutched her halter. “Girls, I’d like you to step back now. Belle tends to get a little panicky when she realizes who’s working on her. Some horses are just like kids. Give them a shot once, and they never forget it—or the one who gave it to them.”

  While Mr. Chambers held the horse’s halter, Dr. Gonzales slowly smoothed his hand down over Belle’s neck, across her back, and under her belly. Belle let out a soft nicker, nodded her head, and relaxed her back leg. “Good girl,” the doctor said. “Getting used to me, I see.”

  Skye and Tanya stood behind Mr. Chambers, watching every move the doctor made.

  Dr. Gonzales eased away from the mare, reached into one of his bags, and pulled out a stethoscope. He plugged it into his ears and eased himself close to Belle again. “Easy, girl. Now this won’t hurt.” Gently he placed the round end on the horse’s distended barrel. He listened, slid the instrument around, and listened again, then he slipped to the other side and carefully repeated the procedure.

  “What’s he doing?” Tanya whispered.

  “Listening for the baby’s heartbeat,” Skye answered. “Sh-h.”

  Dr. Gonzales inched his way to the front of the mare, placing the stethoscope on a half dozen places on her neck and chest. “Belle sounds a little better today, Tom. Her heartbeat is much stronger than it was during her last exam. I’m still concerned about the foal, though. That sonogram I took last month indicated an underdeveloped baby. The heartbeat is still pretty weak. I sure hope Belle can carry it at least eleven months. I don’t want to see this foal any sooner than early May.”

  “Why? What’s wrong?” Tanya blurted out.

  Mr. Chambers stroked Belle’s face with his gloved hand. “Tanya’s kind of claimed Belle as her own, Doc. She’s like an old mother hen with this horse.”

  “That’s quite all right,” the doctor said softly. He lifted Belle’s upper lip and looked at her teeth. “This mare needs a lot of TLC right now. Young lady, you just might help both of them pull through.”

  “Pull through?” Tanya asked. “Is it that bad?”

  Skye touched Tanya’s arm. “Now don’t get yourself all wound up in knots. She’ll be okay.”

  “You have been pumpin’ her full of all kinds of vitamins, haven’t you, Tom?” the veterinarian asked. He stepped to his bag and pulled out a thermometer that looked like a fat pencil. He stepped to the mare’s side, gently slid his hand over Belle’s back, then lifted her tail and slid the the
rmometer inside her.

  “Yes,” Tom answered, still holding the halter tightly. “She’s getting the best of everything we can afford. And now since Tanya’s here, Belle has her own private nurse.” His mustache twitched with his friendly smile.

  “Now what’s—” Tanya started to say.

  “He’s taking Belle’s temperature,” Skye interrupted. “I figured you’d wanna know that too. Horses don’t get their temperature taken in their mouths like we do. They’d chomp the thermometer into a zillion pieces.”

  The doctor slowly pulled the thermometer out and read it. “A hundred flat! Well, that’s as normal as normal can be. A good sign!” He stepped away from the mare and once more looked her over. A broad smile beamed from his face. “Well, despite the poor start both of them got, things seem to be shaping up. I look for a healthy foal in about four months. I had planned to do an internal today, but I think I’ll wait another month. That’ll give the baby a few more weeks to mature. By the end of February, we should know a lot more.”

  “They’ve got to make it,” Tanya said. “They’ve just got to.”

  Chapter five

  That was great, kids,” Mrs. Chambers said at the digital piano in her living room. The Youth for Truth music group sat in a circle behind her. “This ensemble is getting better every week. You’ll soon be ready for Carnegie!” She smiled at the group, then turned a few pages in a large black binder that she had posted on her piano rack.

  “Aw, Mrs. Chambers, we’re not nearly that good.” Robin Ward giggled, grasping the flute like the baseball bat she’d rather be swinging.

  “Yeah,” Skye said, her eyes riveted on Chad who sat on the sofa adjusting the strings on his guitar. “The only part of Carnegie we’ll ever see will be from the auditorium seats, lookin’ up. But this ‘Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring’ is so cool. I never thought in a zillion years that I’d like anything Bach wrote.”

  Morgan held her flute with the same care she would a newborn baby. “There’s so much awesome music that was written back then. You don’t know how cool it is until you actually try to play it.”

  “Yeah,” Bobby added. His chubby hand poked at wire-rimmed glasses that slid down on his nose. He wiped his hand over the top of his spiked brown hair, pretending to arrange it. “I like this kind of music, but maybe that’s because my mother made me take lessons since I started breathing.”

  The room filled with giggles and snickers.

  Bobby, you’re so lame! Skye thought. Her glance bounced briefly to Bobby, then back to Chad.

  “I’ve been taking lessons forever too,” Chad said, his dark brown eyes highlighting his wavy blond hair. “But I’ve always loved music. Any kind of music. Of course, my parents won’t let me listen to the hard stuff. That doesn’t bother me much, though. There’s so much cool Christian music and other neat pieces, I don’t care about rock and rap.” Just as his glance met Skye’s, his dimples captured her heart.

  Chad, you are so sweet, she couldn’t help thinking. And you’re so wise.

  Melissa swept her fingers through her long blond curls. She grabbed a cloth from her case, removed her mouthpiece, and wiped out the barrel of the clarinet. “Some Christian kids get all bent out of shape ‘cause they can’t listen to their favorite music. Well, duh! Some of that stuff is just plain gross. The words are, like, creepy! What are we gonna do next, Mrs. C.? And by the way, where’s your new foster kid—isn’t her name Tanya something?”

  Skye glanced from Chad to Melissa. “It’s Tanya Bell and she’s from Philly. She’s in her room.”

  “How come?”

  “She says she’s a loner, and she hates just about everything but books.”

  “Give her a little space, kids,” Mrs. Chambers said. “It’s going to take awhile for her to get settled here. Robin, I’m very anxious for you to meet her. Maybe you can become friends, since you’re so outgoing. After practice, we’ll see if we can get her out here to meet all of you.”

  “Well, I did—sort of—meet her,” Robin said with a disgusted look.

  “Maybe this time the queen will let you into her court,” Skye said, snickering.

  “What was that?” Mrs. Chambers asked.

  “Oh, nothing, Mom,” Skye answered. Pushing her long hair back from her face, she shot a glance at Chad, who was still playing with his guitar strings. She then looked at Mrs. Chambers. “Hey, Mom, can we try ‘Shine, Jesus, Shine’? Last week it almost sounded like a piece of music.”

  “Yeah,” Bobby said. “Move over, Bach. It’s time to do our thing! I bet if Bach ever heard us in concert, he’d turn over in his grave.”

  The room burst with laughter.

  “Bobby, you are so ridiculous!” Morgan laughed.

  “Where would we be without him?” Robin giggled.

  Mrs. Chambers smoothed the pages in her music book. “Okay, kids, dig out that praise tune. Oh, I forgot to tell you—Skye’s violin teacher, Mr. Baker, has been working on a special upbeat arrangement of ‘Lord, Send Me Anywhere.’ Do you think if we get started next week we can be ready to play that for the missions conference in April?”

  “No way!” Morgan said, grinning.

  “For real?” Skye beamed.

  “You kids aren’t as bad as you think,” Mrs. Chambers said, facing the group. “All it’ll take is a little extra practice. Are you game?”

  “Sure.” Chad’s dimples flashed.

  Robin flipped her pigtails back. “I’ll just do a double practice on rainy days when the softball team is grounded. This sounds totally cool.”

  “There’s nothing that would make Pop happier than me campin’ out in the basement with my trumpet,” Bobby said. “That way the walls downstairs will go out of their mind. But he won’t.”

  Everyone laughed again.

  By now, Mrs. Chambers’ blue eyes were sparkling. “Well, this is great. If you want to go for it, I’ll tell Pastor Newman to put you in the program for the conference. Of course, now you need an official name. So how shall we introduce this infamous group to the world?”

  “Well, we’re all part of the Youth for Truth church group,” Melissa said. “Can’t we use that somehow?”

  “Hey, I got it!” Skye said. “Mom used the word ‘ensemble’ before. Why don’t we just say the Youth for Truth Ensemble?”

  “Yeah, I like that,” Chad said. “That sounds very professional.”

  Everyone agreed.

  “The Youth for Truth Ensemble it is,” Mrs. Chambers said before turning back to the keyboard. “Okay, everyone, ready with this next piece? I’ll use the harpsichord setting. We’ll take it real slow the first time. I mean, really, really slow. We’ll do double time when you know your parts better.”

  They all prepped their instruments.

  “And I’m not goin’ flat at the end this time,” Skye declared, carefully positioning her bow.

  Mrs. Chambers counted, “Then on four…one and two and three and four…” and the group played their hearts out.

  Snyder County’s ears never had it so good, Skye mused, sliding her bow gracefully across the strings. She smiled, pretending she and Chad were on center stage at Carnegie with thousands of people cheering them on. She turned to her last page, her foot keeping 4/4 time with the rest of the group. Carefully, she slid into the last chord and held it for the eight slowing beats.

  “Hey, I did it!” she said. “I didn’t flat on the ending!”

  “Way to go, Skye,” Chad yelled.

  Mrs. Chambers smiled at the group. “You’re getting it, gang. Morgan and Robin, you’re both doing better on those triplets. Now, that’s the way!” Her eyes darted to the arched entrance into the living room. “Well, hi, Tanya. How long have you been standing there?”

  Everyone looked at Tanya.

  Tanya crossed her arms and leaned up against the archway. “I just came in. I’ve been listening in my bedroom—I couldn’t help it. The walls were dancing! But I’ve never heard such cool music. What was that you just played? And
the one before it?”

  Melissa rose from her chair next to Morgan. “That was a praise chorus we’re learning for our missions conference.”

  Skye slid onto the sofa next to Chad and then looked at Tanya. “And the other one was ‘Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring’ by Bach. My music teacher arranged these with more of an upbeat. Aren’t they cool?”

  “You mean that was classical and religious music?” Tanya’s mouth fell open. “I thought all that stuff was for elevators and funerals. Of course, I’ve never really listened to it.”

  Mrs. Chambers pivoted toward Tanya. “Why don’t you join us? I’d like you to meet everyone.” She pointed, starting at her left. “Bobby Noll on trumpet, Chad Dressler on guitar, and you know Skye plays the violin. Melissa Richards plays the clarinet, and Morgan and Robin Ward each play flute. They’re all better known as the world-famous Youth for Truth Ensemble. They start their tour of Europe next week.”

  Giggles intermingled with a barrage of hellos. “Yeah, right,” Skye joked. “Not in this lifetime.”

  “Do you play an instrument, Tanya?” Melissa asked.

  “Yeah,” Bobby added. “We could always use a tuba.”

  The room exploded in laughter.

  “He’s just kidding,” Morgan said. “But, for real, do you play one?”

  Tanya shifted her weight and leaned against the wall again. “Nah. When I was little, Mother wanted me to take piano lessons, but I just wanted to listen to music, not play it. I guess if I had to choose, I’d rather just sing.”

  “Well, it’s never too late to learn,” Mrs. Chambers said. “Why don’t you come over here and sit next to me while we finish practicing. If you’d like, just sing along. Most of these pieces have words to them.”

  “Nah—I’m not into that kind of stuff,” Tanya said.

  “Ah, c’mon. It’s awesome,” Skye said. Maybe this will get her out of her bedroom.

  “Hey,” Bobby added, “for now you can clap to the beat. We need some percussion anyway.”

  Everyone laughed. Tanya gave a half-smile. “Well…”