Bubba and the Chocolate Farm 2- Where There's A Horse, There's Hope

by Connie Foss

  “Lilly, be reasonable.You already have Zeke.Why do you need a skunk? But to answer your question, yes, the “de-smelling,” as you call it, can be done and Doc could do it. But it would be crazy.”

  “I just can’t let that little defenseless baby loose in the wild. Let me call Doc and see what the process…I remember, it’s called descenting…would cost.” And Lilly was off to the phone.

  In the meantime, Meg and I can’t go jumping until someone takes Stink-Pot out of my stall.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR: A Rough Time

  The winter comes on suddenly. One day Meg and I are out over the jumps under sunny, warm skies, and the next there’s a foot of snow on the ground. I’m so lucky this new stable has such a huge indoor riding arena, for Bill will bring the jumps in so we can jump all winter. I love that thought.

  “Bubba,” Meg says to me one morning,“tomorrow you are going

  and we’ll want to hit the shows again, right? I know this will be hard and uncomfortable, and you will probably hate being away from home as much as we will hate having you gone. But sometimes things have to get worse before they get better.”

  Uh-oh.

  ……

  Doc’s clinic sits on a hill and is surrounded by beautiful pine trees.As I look out the window of my stall at the back of the clinic, I can see the pine boughs bending with the wind and hear the wind howling. It’s a real blizzard out there, and though I’m warm and dry, it’s the kind of weather that makes you feel lonely if you’re not at home. I want to be able to talk to Percy and feel Tom rubbing along my leg. I even miss Chatty and all of her racket.

  “Morning, Bubba. How are you today? It’s been a long road hasn’t it, but I think you’re getting close to being able to go home.Your eye is healing nicely, and you’ve been good about all of the drops you’ve needed. If you do well all weekend, I’ll be sure you’re home before Monday night. Okay?”

  Doc couldn’t have made me happier.Well, yes, he could have if he had told me I’m going home today. But it’s been many days now, so surely I can wait a couple more.

  You know, I’m really surprised how bright the light is since the surgery. I’m seeing so well, even in the evenings and before sunrise. I didn’t realize how bad my eye was. Just imagine how easy it’ll be to see the top rails of the jumps. I feel strong, and even happy to be big. Doc told me that I am one of the most beautiful horses in his practice. Imagine, big old me beautiful!

  I feel renewed, excited, eager to get back into the routine of the stable, to feel a part of all that goes on. I’ll get to be with Percy and Tom, Boo and Mr. O, Zeke and Ten. But best of all I’ll get to see Julie and Annie. I can hardly wait.

  Where is Doc? When is he going to call Meg and Bill to come get me? I prance back and forth, understanding now why Prince used to crib. I am so uptight that clamping my teeth onto something might feel good.

  like he’s been through a whirlwind, all tuckered out, but he comes to talk to me.“Bubba, I’m sorry you didn’t get to go home today. I know I promised, but something came up, something terrible.You see I’ve been out at your stable all day.Your sister Julie was having trouble. Her foal was trying to come early, but Julie was bleeding out. I did everything I could, Bubba, but Julie died.”

  Did I hear correctly? Did Doc say Julie, my twin sister, died? That can’t be. Julie has been with me all of my life. She can’t have left me.

  I whinny at Doc, asking him to tell me it’s not true. But he just turns and sadly walks away.

  Chapter Thirty-Five:

  Days of Pain

  At last, I’m home. But it’s not as wonderful as I dreamed it would be.With Julie gone there is no light, every day is dark and gloomy. I feel worn out with no reason to live.Why should I go on when Julie can’t?

  The warm, homey smell of the stable that I used to like irritates me. It doesn’t have that clean smell of Doc’s clinic. And the sawdust in my stall isn’t as nice as the straw Doc uses. I don’t like Percy any more. He’s just a little twerp, a pain for sure. And Mr. O can just do his hisshooing somewhere else.

  As I stand there with my head down, mad at the world, Tom jumps up on my feed tub, and I snap at him.“What are you doing in my stall? Who asked you to come in?”

  “Whoa, there, Bubba,” Tom says as he takes a step back.“I know you miss Julie and feel the whole world is against you, but it’s not true. We all love you and hurt, too. She was your sister, but she was our friend and we care.When you look at all the friends you have here and the chance to bring beautiful babies into the world, you can’t give up. So buck up, guy, when I come see you later tonight, you’d better be your cheery self again.”

  Tom had just gone, when Meg comes into my stall. Her hand on my neck feels warm and familiar, soothing. Soon her arms are wrapped around my neck, and she’s crying.“Bubba, I’m so sorry.We’ve always had Julie, and now we don’t. It really hurts, doesn’t it? But did you know her baby made it?” With that, Meg dries her eyes and says,“Would you like to go see him? Come on.”

  to live, since it came early. Now I don’t know how to feel. Should I be mad at the baby because if he hadn’t come early, Julie might still be alive? Or should I be happy for Julie that she was able to give of herself so this foal could live?

  As Meg and I walk down the aisle, all of my friends nicker at me, giving me their love. They know I’m going toward Julie’s stall, but do I want to see her stall with her not in it?

  I don’t have a choice, for we are there. We look over the stall wall through the bars, and there in the corner is the tiniest of foals, a mother-less babe alone in the world. But he’s not alone, for curled up around him is Boo. How strange!

  “Boo is a little bigger than Herry…that’s the foal’s name, well, his nickname, for his full name is TCF Heritage.The Heritage is because he carries and will pass on all of the qualities of Julie which are what The Chocolate Farm stands for.”

  Boo doesn’t even get up to greet us but looks at me with loving eyes, as though to say,‘It’s okay, Bubba. I’ll take care of him. He won’t be lonely, for he will have me.’

  And he will have me. I will help all I can to make him what Julie would want him to be.

  “He’s a cute little guy, don’t you think, Bubba?” Meg asks. And he is. He has Julie’s white star in the middle of his forehead and is the Chocolate Farm color all over his body, except…yes, except for the four white stockings. Maybe cute isn’t the right word. Maybe it should be beautiful.

  As we head back to my stall, Meg says, “Bubba, the jumps are in the arena and no one has been over them in quite some time. How about you and I going for a jump around?”

  We do, and it’s a wonderful feeling, soaring over the jumps that I can see, really see. I feel the heaviness and grayness leave my body, as though I’m reborn. Losing Julie is hard, but life goes on, and I have a reason to live. I need to be an involved uncle to Herry, and to help Bill and Meg with The Chocolate Farm.

  Chapter Thirty-Six:

  Show Season Again

  Herry is growing like a weed.The Mare’s Milk Replacer is doing the job and now he’s eating hay, too. On warm spring days, he’s out in the paddock cavorting around with Boo right at his heels.They make a good pair and are hardly ever separate. Zeke doesn’t seem to care, for he and Stink-Pot are bosom buddies, about the same size and both are still in their “childhood.”

  ride, but he still spends most of his time with Boo and Herry.With the constant noise coming out of Chatty’s beak, Julie’s stall has become the noise-center of the barn.The lullaby Chatty sings may help Herry sleep, but it keeps the rest of us awake. No one is

  complaining…except the constant complainer, Percy. The rest of us are just glad that Chatty and Boo are helping Herry not miss having a mother.

  Surprisingly, Chatty helps The Chocolate Farm in other ways, too.The other day when the farrier came in, he was smoking a cigarette.

  shoulder and grabbed the cigarette with his beak, letting it fall on the man’s hand
. Meg, coming out of the tack room, saw the whole thing, including the farrier’s reaction.

  “Serves you right. Even a bird knows you don’t smoke in a stable. If you want to continue as our farrier, you won’t smoke in here.”

  Chatty went back to Boo then singing.At least, it was her version of singing.To me it sounded like a broken sound track from an old black and white movie.

  Nancy on her own to take care of the stable while we’re at the show, Bill decides to drive home every night to relieve Nancy.

  “Bill, how about taking Baby for the Yearling Filly Class? Though I haven’t done a lot with training her to show at halter, I think she could do okay. She isn’t entered, but I doubt the class is full. ”

  “It’s alright with me, especially since she could come home with me after her

  class.”

  Other than Baby, the usual group is going, except Percy. There aren’t any classes for him, and he is pouting over in a corner of his stall.

  “Percy, I know you love to go to shows, but this show is for Arabians and part-Arabians only. I heard Meg say that the next show is one for just you and me.You rest up so we can bring home lots of ribbons, just the two of us.” I don’t think he heard a word I said, for he’s into his funky, poor-Percy mood.

  I won’t have to guess at any jump, for I will see it clear as day. We get to the show early, and Meg is a busy gal saying hi to all

  of the show people she hasn’t seen since the fall shows.

  Once the show starts, The Chocolate Farm area of the barn

  gets really busy. It’s a good thing there are three people to do all of the

  bathing and brushing and tacking that need to be done.

  Baby’s stall is next door to mine, so we spend a good chunk

  of our time talking. All in all, Baby seems to have a good head on her

  shoulders. If she’s going to be a jumper, that will stand her in good stead.

  before we all had our breakfasts so Baby is clean and shiny.“Here, young lady, let’s practice,” and Meg puts Baby’s show halter on and leads her into the aisle. I notice Meg has a piece of crumpled cellophane in her hand. Aha! I know why, for Baby is afraid of the noise that crumpling cellophane makes. As Meg stands Baby up, getting her attention is easy, for all Meg has to do is squeeze that cellophane that’s in her hand. Hearing that noise, Baby’s ears prick forward, she arches her neck, and lifts her tail. Perfect! You’d think she’d been doing this her whole life.

  “I believe you can do it,” says Meg with a smile. “I’ll put your number on my back and we’ll give it a whirl, Baby.”

  I know how exciting this must be for Baby. I remember the

  people hollering, horses whinnying, and trucks and trailers pulling in and Julie never did, but she accepted them as part of her life. Thinking about Julie, which I do often, makes me miss her even more, and I so wish she could be here to watch Baby. She’d be so proud.

  I watch Baby prance and dance along side Meg as they head toward the arena. She’s a pretty leggy yearling, looking like a future jumper for sure.

  Bill told me this morning that I don’t get to go in the arena until evening, when they have the jumping classes. I’m ready now, but I’ll just have to wait, knowing when I do go in that arena and see the series of jumps laid out and hear the announcer call my number I’ll be rested and ready…ready to do my favorite thing.

  I’m peacefully chomping on the last of the alfalfa, when there is an audible shockwave of voices coming from the arena.Then people are running, all going away from our barn. I don’t know what’s happening.

  Bill has been getting Geoffrey ready for his Western Pleasure class, but he comes out of Geoffrey’s stall and runs with the others out of the barn.

  “Geoffrey, did Bill say what’s going on?” I ask.

  “No, all he did was drop the brush and take off. I haven’t a clue. But if Baby’s class is over, where is she? Why hasn’t Meg brought her back?”

  Chapter Thirty-Seven:

  A Jump of Faith

  Running full tilt to my stall, Meg says, “Bubba, I need you! Baby is lost.” Meg doesn’t say anything else as she quickly saddles me, hops on and we hurry out of the barn.

  Where are we going and why? Does Meg know where Baby is? Meg isn’t telling me, but she heads me toward the fence on the outside of the show grounds. There is no gate there, yet we’re heading right toward it.

  “Bubba, I need to have you jump the highest you’ve ever jumped. Finding Baby depends on you.”

  But why? Where is Baby?

  “That young gal is all too good at jumping. She freaked out when the judge started to hang a blue ribbon on her halter, pulled loose, jumped the arena fence and took off. People out on the grounds saw her head for the outside fence. She’s probably so confused that all she

  Meg is totally focused ahead, as we dodge people in our path, and I feel her urgency. “Not far now. See that fence, Bubba? There’s no gate on this side of the show grounds for there are no roads there. If Baby is in those trees on the other side or running frantically through

  That fence? Gosh! That is the tallest fence I’ve ever even thought about jumping. It’s a wire fence to boot, so there won’t be any loose rails on the top that I can knock off. I hope I can do it. Otherwise, how

  “Okay, Bubba! You can do it. Here we go.”

  I look at the fence and decide there’s a reason I am so big. If I weren’t as big as I am, I could never clear that fence. But I am big, so I can do it. I will do it! “Baby, here I come,“ I neigh and gathering myself I take off.

  I can do it, I can do it, I can do it. Oh, yes, I did it! We’re over!

  We land in a stand of tall weeds, and they cushion the impact. In a jiffy we head into the trees on our search for Baby.

  “Bubba, you are the best. Now keep your eyes open for Baby, and give a whinny every time you think about it. Maybe then she will

  I whinny for all I’m worth, but it’s not happening. We aren’t

  “We can’t give up, Bubba, keep whinnying for her. She can’t have

  will.”

  in it last year but has yet to be planted for this year. Good thing, for we’re probably trampling anything that’s growing. I hope it’s just weeds. The ground is pretty soft and I’m having trouble trotting. I wish Meg knew that, but I mustn’t think about myself now. I have to focus on Baby.

  “Bubba, let’s go back to the fence and look for Baby’s hoof prints. If she did jump the fence, we should be able to see where she landed.”

  If Baby cleared that tall fence, she is amazing. I wondered if I was good enough to clear it, and if she, just a yearling, jumped it? Wow!

  As we’re looking, Lilly comes to help. She went out a gate on the other side, I guess, and ran around. “Any sign, Meg? Have you checked all the woods?” Lilly asks.

  “No sign yet, so we’ve doubled back to look for hoof prints. If she did jump the fence, we should be able to see her prints in the dirt. Surely Bubba is the only other horse that’s been here, and his prints are a heap sight bigger than hers. Lilly, you go that way along the fence, and we’ll go this way.” Meg and I start to the left along the fence, while Lilly heads away from us.

  I’m not seeing anything that could possibly be Baby’s prints. There are some coyote prints, even deer. But no Baby. I’ m getting worried, and I can tell by how tense Meg is that she is too. Then we hear Lilly hollering. I can’t tell what she’s saying, but maybe Meg knows.

  “Meg, these have to be Baby’s, don’t you think? See how they’re going away from the fence into the woods? And they didn’t come from somewhere else. She has to have jumped over the fence here.”

  “You’re right, Lilly. Now we just have to follow them. I’m going to walk along with you. I can see better when I’m not on Bubba.”

  And then to me Meg says,“Bubba, please keep on whinnying, and maybe Baby will answer.”

  Please, Baby, hear me!

  Chapter Thirty-Eight:

/>   Where Oh Where?

  The ground is wet under the trees and, by searching carefully, Meg and Lilly are able to follow Baby’s hoof prints. “Lilly, it looks like she slowed down a bit here, don’t you think? The prints are closer together and not so deep.”

  “Could be, but I’m seeing some other prints following along. They look like dog or coyote prints to me. I hope she hasn’t gotten into it with a coyote!” says Lilly.

  We continue on and can see what Lilly was pointing out… coyote prints. I don’t like the sounds of that. I’ve never been friends with a coyote, so I can’t really say what they’re like. I just know what I’ve heard…about their killing sheep, and chickens, and even little dogs like Zeke.

  I start to whinny again, and this time I hear an answer, but it’s

  She might be lost and chased by a coyote. “Baby, we’re coming,” I whinny, “we’re coming!” And she answers!

  “Lilly, did you hear that? That’s Baby, and she’s in trouble. Bubba

  saddle, and we hurry along Baby’s trail.

  We’re getting closer to the whinnying and yelping, when we hear Baby screaming. We hurry, following the sound, and just as we get

  expected. A coyote is scampering away, his tail between his legs, but a rough looking man is grabbing Baby’s halter.

  “Oh, good, Bubba. That man has chased the coyote away and saved Baby. Let’s go.”

  enough, for the man has loaded Baby into a big box truck and is driving away before we can stop him.

  “Oh, no!” cries Meg, “he’s taking Baby. Oh, but he’s probably taking her back to the show grounds. He has to know she’s from the show. That fancy show halter is a dead give-away. Let’s go back to the show grounds, and we’ll get there about when he does.”

  we settle down and do our best, but we’re really not into it. What if that man doesn’t realize Baby is from the show? What if he doesn’t want to bring Baby back? Where else could he be taking her?

  Meg is thinking the same thing, for I hear her talking to Bill about it. “What if that man has no intention of returning Baby but is stealing her? How can we track him down?”