Rescue

by Jessie Haas

  “As if I could afford them!” Mrs. Abernathy said bitterly.

  Tobin looked startled. After a moment, he asked, “Can you?”

  Mrs. Abernathy raised a hand to her mouth. Joni saw it tremble. “Yes, yes!” she said. “Go ahead! It’s only money!”

  Rosita whipped out her phone. “Wow, I’ve got a signal! Okay.” Her thumbs danced. She shook her hair back and put the phone to her ear, stepping away from the group.

  Tobin climbed into the van and dragged the mattress off his bed. He wedged it in front of the cook stove and put a milk crate full of books out of the way between the front seats. Then he jumped out.

  “Ready?”

  Together, he and Olivia maneuvered Kubota to the door. Hands linked behind his haunches, they half-lifted, half-pushed him into the van, and he collapsed onto Tobin’s mattress.

  Tobin turned to Mrs. Abernathy. “Do you want to ride with us, ma’am, or follow in your car?”

  “With you,” Mrs. Abernathy said. “Somebody should sit on him, keep him from rolling.”

  Chess said, “I’ll do that. Please? Let me help?”

  Mrs. Abernathy flushed red and pressed her lips firmly together, turning to Joni. “Get JD home,” she said. “Lock him in the barn. After that—” She gave an undignified gulp, like she was trying to catch her breath. “After that, I never want to see you girls on my place again!”

  TWENTY-TWO

  Brave

  For a second, Joni didn’t understand. Everyone else stopped moving, stopped speaking. Shocked faces turned toward Mrs. Abernathy.

  “Joni didn’t—” Chess started.

  Kubota lay on his side, clunking his head against something. Olivia glanced at him. Red triangles flared on her cheeks, something that only happened when she was very angry.

  “Rosita, hop in and sit on him,” she said in a quiet voice. “You guys go. I’m staying here with my sister.”

  She turned to Mrs. Abernathy. “Are your keys in your car, ma’am?” She made the word ma’am sound like an insult. “We left sixty sheep waiting to be milked, and I need to get back to them.”

  Mrs. Abernathy felt in her pocket and came up empty. “They must be in it.” She turned away, pulling herself into the passenger seat of the van. Rosita lay across Kubota’s body. Tobin closed the side door. A moment later, the van rolled away.

  Olivia looked up at Joni. “That. Old. Bat! You okay, Joni?”

  Joni didn’t know. Her face felt numb and everything seemed far away, everything except the memory of Mrs. Abernathy’s blazing blue eyes. And why was Mrs. Abernathy mad at her?

  Olivia reached up and gripped her hand. “You did not deserve that, Joni!” She paused and took a breath. “No. We need to cut her some slack. She’s very worried—”

  Chess gave a dry, shaky sob. “Will he die?”

  Olivia squeezed Joni’s hand again and turned to Chess. “Probably not. Don’t you think, Joni? I mean, horses can die from colic, but most of the time, they don’t.”

  But ponies were different than horses—tougher in some ways, more delicate in others. Joni didn’t know about minis.

  “It happened so fast!” Chess said. “I did listen to you, Joni! I tried! But I thought they’d stay in their fence, and then I couldn’t catch them, and—I only had them a couple of hours!”

  There was nothing to say. Things could go really bad, really quickly, with animals. People, too.

  “Well, let’s get the other guy home,” Olivia said. “I left the sheep standing in their stanchions. When Daddy gets back, he’s going to think we were abducted by aliens!”

  “Are the sheep okay?” Chess asked in a quavering voice.

  “Oh!” Olivia waved her hand dismissively. “They’re fine! They’re just standing there bleating and pooping.”

  She untied Joni’s complicated knot. JD put his head down to eat, but Olivia pulled it up and marched him across the field. Chess walked beside him, one hand on his back the whole way.

  Archie followed. Joni didn’t guide him. She just let him carry her. She felt so strange, like time had slowed down, and it might take them the rest of their lives to cross this field.

  When they reached the road, Mrs. Ventura stood in the doorway of the white house. She wore a big shirt over her regular clothes, flecked and spattered with yellow paint. She watched them come but kept glancing behind her, probably at Noah.

  “Francesca?” she called, when they were close enough. “What’s going on? Isn’t that one of the ponies from down the road?”

  Chess nodded.

  Mrs. Ventura looked from her to Olivia, then to Joni, and back to Chess. “Oh, no,” she said. “You didn’t!”

  “She did,” Olivia said. “Sorry. The other pony is sick. My friends took it to the vet.”

  Mrs. Ventura closed her eyes. “Oh, Chess. Did your grand—no. We’ll talk about that later. How sick is the pony?” she asked Olivia. “What can we do to help?”

  “He’s pretty sick,” Olivia said.

  “Where’s the vet’s office? I’ll call my husband and have him meet the owner there. Is this one okay?” she asked, frowning at JD.

  “So far! Why don’t you girls take him down the road,” Olivia told Joni and Chess. “I’ll come along with the car in a minute.” She pushed the lead rope into Chess’s reluctant hand. Mrs. Ventura started to say something and stopped herself.

  Wearily, Joni turned Archie around. She felt like she’d been riding up and down North Valley Road for hours. Archie was happy to be with his new friend, but he walked much faster than JD. When he got too far ahead, JD whinnied, and Joni stopped to wait. She didn’t look back, but she could hear Chess crying.

  She felt like crying, too. Mrs. Abernathy was mean and unfair, and Joni shouldn’t even care. Because what did it matter what a mean person thought—a loud, surprising sob burst out of her.

  “Oh, Joni!”

  Chess sounded so sorry that Joni couldn’t stop the tears. She fell forward onto Archie’s neck. “I hate her!”

  A hand closed around her clenched fist. “I’m sorry,” Chess said. “I wish I’d listened to you.”

  “I wish I’d made you listen!”

  “Nobody can,” Chess said. “That’s the problem.”

  Archie jerked under Joni, and she heard a tiny squeal. She looked up as the two horses touched noses. JD squealed again and struck out with his front foot.

  Joni straightened in the saddle, sniffing loudly. “Don’t let him do that,” she said, and Chess pulled JD away. Joni looked down on her bent dark head.

  She had made Chess listen. Not soon enough. Not closely enough. But Chess had listened to her, at least somewhat. If Joni had tried harder, maybe none of this would have happened. It was her mistake, too, a little bit, and if Kubota died, it would be a little bit her fault.

  Be okay! she thought at him, way down there at Countryside Clinic. Be okay!

  They turned up Mrs. Abernathy’s drive, past the potato field and the big garden. Joni remembered the three of them out there, Mrs. Abernathy so big and powerful, and the little team so well behaved. The potato plants looked glossy green, the garden was neat, and beside the barn was a pile of small logs, ready to be cut up for firewood. The minis had helped do all that.

  Joni got off and handed Chess Archie’s reins. She led JD past the cart and the tiny harnesses hanging on the wall and shut him in his barn. Chess stood leaning against Archie, looking scared and exhausted.

  “What were you going to do with them?” Joni asked. Chess was smart. She must have had a plan.

  Chess gulped. “It would have worked. If I was right. I mean—I knew she’d find them and the police would come, but so would the TV cameras, and it would all come out in public, and they’d be saved.” She sniffed, and said in a quieter voice, “And Nana would hear about it.”

  “Oh,” Joni said. There weren’t so many TV cameras here. This wasn’t California. But more was going on than just the animals. It was about Chess’s grandmother. Some of
it—

  “And I wanted to be like you,” Chess said.

  “Like me?” Joni said.

  Chess nodded. “I mean—you wouldn’t do what I did, because you knew they didn’t need rescuing. But you’re brave! You ride all by yourself, you go anywhere you want—you do stuff! Real stuff! And I need to be like that, because it’s just me now—”

  “I’m the biggest coward there is!” Joni said. She’d hardly dared to ride past Chess’s house just an hour or two ago.

  “No,” Chess said. “You’re amazing. If these horses were in trouble, you’d just rescue them.”

  “No, I’d tell Kalysta,” Joni said. She was absolutely clear on that.

  Mrs. Abernathy’s car pulled in. Olivia got out and checked that JD’s gate was shut. “I totally trust you, Joni, but I don’t want—I don’t want her saying you didn’t do everything perfectly.” She paused, watching JD. “He looks okay, doesn’t he?”

  JD was wandering around the barn picking up stray wisps of hay. He kept lifting his head to listen, probably wondering where Kubota was. “He’ll be back soon,” Joni wanted to tell him, but she couldn’t force the words out. They might not be true.

  “Hop in, Chess,” Olivia said. “I’ll drop you back home. You okay by yourself, Joni?”

  Not really. Joni wanted to be the one getting into the car. She wanted somebody to take care of her. But she and Archie had to get each other home. She nodded. Olivia looked hard at her for a moment, with a worried frown swirling her eyebrows together.

  “Be safe,” she said. “I’ll see you at the farm in a few minutes.” She drove away, and Joni rode slowly after her. Shrill whinnies from JD followed them down the road. When Joni passed Chess’s house, Mrs. Abernathy’s car was still parked at the bottom of the driveway. Chess and Olivia sat in it, talking.

  What would happen to Chess? Would she have to go to court? Because what she did was stealing. It was even abuse.

  But she tried. She did the best she could, with the little bit she knew. If Chess had to go to court, Joni would have to go, too, and stand up and say that.

  And what if Kubota died? It wouldn’t be murder. He was an animal, and Chess didn’t mean to do it. But she would have killed him. Don’t die! Joni thought.

  Halfway across the big field, she saw Mrs. Abernathy’s car sweep into the farmyard. So, good, Olivia was back. But Joni couldn’t just go to the milking parlor. She had to take care of Archie first, give him a rubdown and some carrots. Archie was the hero, and he’d worked very hard. He must have been tired, because he let Joni hug his neck for a long minute before he got bored and walked away.

  Joni went into the milking parlor. Dad was back, milking sheep and listening to Olivia with a wide-eyed, amazed expression. “Joni!” he said when he saw her, and opened his arms.

  The hug made Joni cry again. Dad patted her back and rested his chin on her head, and she hid in the dark space next to his chest until she absolutely had to blow her nose. Olivia handed her a piece of paper towel.

  “Mom’s on her way home,” Dad said.

  “You didn’t need to call her.”

  “Yeah, I did. She’d be really upset if I didn’t. You hungry? Want something to eat?”

  Joni shook her head. “I’ll just help you guys milk.”

  Not that there was anything for her to do, but this was a good place to be. The swish of the milking machines drowned out other sounds. The clean smells of wet concrete, disinfectant, and milk, the gray-white sheep on their metal platform, under the whitewashed ceiling—it all made a small, safe world, and Joni wanted to stay right here.

  They were milking the last batch of sheep when the Bears began to bark. Joni braced herself. Mom would have so many questions. She’d have to tell the whole story …

  But the person who walked through the door was Tobin, and behind him came Mrs. Abernathy.

  TWENTY-THREE

  “One of Us”

  Mrs. Abernathy came straight to Joni, looking her directly in the eyes. “Will you accept my apology? I was angry and frightened, and I took it out on the wrong person.”

  “That’s okay,” Joni said stiffly.

  Mrs. Abernathy tipped her head slightly to one side, like she was replaying Joni’s words, listening very carefully. With a quick, sad smile, she said, “No, it’s not. I’m sorry. I need to get my phone from you, Joni, and then I’ll take myself out of your way.”

  Joni had forgotten the phone. She looked down at her pocket and saw that her good shirt was dirty from tackling JD. The corner of the pocket was ripped. The phone was still there, though. She held it out to Mrs. Abernathy. Take it, she thought. Go away.

  But when their fingers brushed, Joni felt a tremor in Mrs. Abernathy’s hand. Startled, she looked up. Mrs. Abernathy’s face was white and exhausted. Her eyes stared off at something that wasn’t here. She looked like Chess, like Kubota.

  “How is he doing?” Joni asked.

  Mrs. Abernathy’s face relaxed a little. “When I left, he was nibbling hay.”

  “Great,” Joni said. It was an excellent sign when an animal started to eat again.

  “The little beasts aren’t very stoic,” Mrs. Abernathy said. “He perked right up after a dose of painkillers. I’m actually more worried about JD. I imagine he just kept pigging out. Was it you who tied him up?”

  Joni nodded.

  “Thank you,” Mrs. Abernathy said. “That was exactly the right thing to do.” She hesitated. “I’m ashamed to have lumped you girls together. It was stupid and unwarranted—as Rosita and Tobin pointed out to me—and I hope you’ll forgive me. I’ve enjoyed your friendship, Joni.” She sounded humble and respectful, and that made Joni feel grown up, like someone who could have an adult friend. Who did have an adult friend.

  “Me, too,” she said. “I mean—yes.”

  Mrs. Abernathy’s face softened. “Thank you. I appreciate that.”

  She held out her hand, and Joni shook it awkwardly. She wasn’t used to shaking hands. Something more needed to be said now, didn’t it? Something about Chess?

  But Mrs. Abernathy was already turning away. “I need to get some medicine into JD.”

  “Do you need help?” Dad asked.

  Mrs. Abernathy shook her head. “No, thank you. The day I can’t take care of them myself is the day I find them a new home. I will need my car keys, though.”

  “They’re in it,” Olivia said, not turning from the sheep.

  “Thank you,” Mrs. Abernathy said. “Thanks to all of you.”

  Nobody said anything until they heard the car door slam. Then Olivia turned around. “Wow, Joni! You are so much nicer than I am!”

  “Joni is a gentle soul,” Dad said, wrapping one arm around her shoulders.

  “Actually, she’s very strong,” Rosita said. “Maybe you mean that kind of gentle?”

  “And brave,” Tobin said.

  “And smart and responsible,” Rosita said. “We pointed that out to Mrs. Abernathy. She was apologizing before we got to the end of North Valley Road!”

  Joni felt her cheeks burn. She turned her face into Dad’s sleeve.

  “She’s one tough old lady,” Tobin said. “She wouldn’t even talk to that kid’s father!”

  Dad said, “I can understand that! If somebody stole one of my animals and injured it, I’d find it hard to be forgiving.”

  Tobin said, “He told the vet to send him the bills.”

  “Good. Ruth doesn’t have much money to spend.”

  It’s only money! Joni remembered her saying. So that was irony or something. The potato field and firewood weren’t hobbies. Mrs. Abernathy needed them, and she needed her minis to help do the work. She loved them, too, obviously, but that was nobody’s business as long as she took good care of them.

  “I need to call Chess,” she said.

  Dad looked down at her, eyebrows raised.

  “I want to tell her that Kubota was eating,” Joni said.

  “So—friends again?” Dad said. “Even
after all this?”

  “She’s not a bad kid,” Olivia said. Joni was startled. “We talked in the car for a while. Call her, Joni. She was pretty devastated.”

  Joni did call when they all went back to the house. All she got was a robot lady’s voice, inviting her to leave a message.

  Rosita’s supper plans had been completely upended. When Mom walked in, she was making toasted cheese sandwiches again. Mom sat down at the table, and everyone told her the story at once. The voices came from all sides, and soon there were more. Somehow the news had gotten out. Willow called, and then Li Min, and then Grandma DeeDee, all wanting to hear the story. So did Kate, from way down in South Carolina. When she’d gotten the whole thing from Olivia, she wanted to talk to Joni.

  “Hey,” she said. “I just told Olivia—today’s the day you turned into one of the Big Girls. You’re not just this cute little kid anymore. You’re one of us.”

  “Oh,” Joni said. “Wow.” Coming from Kate, that was huge. “Thank you.”

  “Don’t thank me!” Kate said. “Thank yourself. You’re the one who did it.”

  Joni hung up, feeling a glow in her chest—but also starting to feel like she did at the end of a long school day, hungry for peace and quiet. She slipped away from the table and went out to check on Archie. He seemed perky and bright-eyed, ready for more. Joni got him a carrot. As she stood it on end in her hand, she remembered that first day when Chess fed him a carrot and laughed, and they became friends. What was happening to Chess? After the dog crate incident, her parents moved all the way across the country. How could they top that? Boarding school? The moon?

  The day replayed in her head like a video—an indie docudrama with a shaky handheld camera. She kept seeing Chess’s wet, white face, and her insanely well-made, completely useless baling twine fence. Then the tiny work harnesses hanging so neatly on Mrs. Abernathy’s shed wall popped into her head. Mrs. Abernathy’s shed and barn were so carefully set up, so precisely maintained—

  Like Chess’s fence.

  What if Chess actually knew anything? She’d be a horsewoman just like Mrs. Abernathy—everything correct and by the book. They really should be friends—