The meet was back in Snohomish this week. I spotted my parents and Jack in the grandstand with Mrs. Bartlett. Leaving Harry to run the lot, Brenna had shown up with her guy who wore camouflage, another beret, and more combat boots. They sat next to the rest of my personal cheering squad. I popped up to show Mrs. B. the latest pics of Twaziem. Rocky had saddled and bridled him for the first time yesterday, so he looked almost like a horse.
“Is it my imagination or is he a bit thin?” Sergeant Dawson gave me a wary look. “Just a question, not an accusation.”
“Don’t worry,” I told him. “They don’t allow me to have a hose at the meets. And he’s gained a lot of weight in the last six weeks. The vet says he’s put on almost two hundred pounds.”
“Do I want to know what you did with a hose, Robbie?” Dad asked.
“I handled it since it happened at the Corral,” Brenna told him, “And now Kyle knows to stay out of the way when we’re washing cars.”
“What she said.” Kyle Dawson glanced past me. “Some old guy’s waving at you, Robin. Is that important?”
“Yes.” I looked over my shoulder. “It’s my coach. Got to go. Mrs. B., you need to come see Twaz more often. He misses you.”
She straightened her wig. “I will. Go win, honey.”
“Are you sure about that? Your grandkids are running, too.”
“You work a lot harder at things than they do, so go show them what happens when people do their best.”
Good advice. I hurried down the steps and ran over to join my team. Olivia high-fived me. “We’re ready to rock and roll today. Isn’t that the Bartlett beasts’ grandma?”
“Yeah, but she’s a nice lady,” I said. “And we choose our friends, not our relatives.”
Coach Norris came up and gave the usual pep talk. “I know you think it’s going to be easy because we’re down to the end of the season and you’ve won all the other meets. People are going to try harder so you need to do the same. Remember—”
“Winners never quit,” I started up and the rest of the team joined in, “and quitters never win!”
The long distance runners headed over to line up. Once again, we took the lead and held it. The trail was a bit cooler today. We’d had a few rains, although none of the regular storms had hit yet. Once that happened, we ran through the mud and creeks. A breeze ruffled the trees. Gold, red, and green leaves from the alders and maples scattered across the paths. We hit the groves of cedars, up and down the hills, around curves and then along the lakeshore.
The rest of my team was with me as we came down the last slope and hit the track again, running full out for the finish line. I was the first through the tunnel, followed by the rest of the Lincoln High team. I heard Jack yelling. He sounded really loud. When I looked up, I saw Bill next to him. I waved at them and kept going.
Bill wound his way through the audience and came toward me, a huge grin on his face. I was so forgiven. I ran into his arms. He scooped me up and kissed me. He wasn’t mad at me anymore, and I wasn’t mad at him either.
When he lifted his head, he said. “So next time you make a mistake, do I have to send flowers if I yell at you?”
“Possibly,” I said, “but only if you yell at me for something that’s truly not my fault.”
“Okay. It’s a deal.” And he kissed me again.
Chapter Thirty-Three
Thursday, October 31st, 4:05 p.m.
I’d finished up early with the cars. I was too old to go trick or treating, but Porter was having a Halloween party at her house. I needed to do chores so I would be ready when Bill arrived. When I made the barn, Rocky was busy with Twaziem. She’d already groomed, bridled, and saddled him. Now, she was teaching him to ground drive. He didn’t much like the idea so Harry was leading him. Surprisingly, my horse didn’t try to chew on him.
“Why isn’t he going after Harry?” I asked Dani, who was filming the class.
“Horses can see some colors,” Dani said, “and he has blond hair, not black. Plus he looks thinner than Jack.”
“I never thought of that.”
“You might ask Jack what aftershave he uses,” Dani went on. “Because they’re prey animals, horses have a keen sense of smell. If Jack used the same kind of cologne as Caine, then Twaziem would associate the two of them as threats.”
Those were all good points. I went off to clean stalls, wondering if I could convince my brother to wear a hat when he worked around Twaziem. If my horse didn’t see black hair, perhaps he wouldn’t hate Jack so much. I’d ask him to wear the same lime aftershave that Bill did and bring Twaz apples. Every little thing would help.
After I cleaned, fed, watered, and groomed the other horses, I returned to the ring. Rocky was teaching Twaziem to stop and stand square on all four feet so his weight was evenly distributed. She would lead him forward, stop, make him balance, back up, balance, jog forward, and then repeat the same pattern again.
“It’s like what you do in halter class,” I told Dani.
“How do you think that Lady learned it? We do this for hours to get ready for shows.”
Rocky waved at me and I went to her. “Hi. What do you want me to do?”
“The same thing I was,” she said. “You need to review basics with him. Keep him at a walk as much as possible. You probably take in a lot of calories when you run.”
“Of course, I do. I have to or I’d pass out.”
“The same goes for your horse. Hard work makes him lose weight.”
“And we want him to put on the pounds,” I said, “not take them off. I got it, Rocky.”
I clicked to Twaziem, and we headed off to do the same pattern he’d already learned. We had a half hour more to work before I finished chores. Then, I’d go up to the house, shower, and get into my dance-hall costume for Porter’s party.
* * * *
Thursday, November 7th, 3:45 p.m.
The next week rushed by. Between a haze of classes, barn work, training Twaziem, riding lessons, cross-country practices, visits from the Animal Control guy, and my internship hours with Dr. Larry no wonder sometimes I felt like I didn’t have time to breathe.
The last meet was back at the park outside of Arlington where the first one took place. It’d rained a few times, and Coach Norris told us they’d changed our route to bypass the wasp nest. All we had to do was win this time and we’d be school champions. He promised us that we could hang a banner in the school gym. Mom was already designing it. Talk about having faith in us.
We lined up with the other long distance runners. Ashley Bartlett scowled at me and Wanda flipped me off. Those two so needed to get a life. I wondered where Caine was hiding. I hadn’t seen him anywhere today. The starter fired his pistol and we were off, Lincoln High taking the lead as usual.
The trail wound up hill and down, twisting through the maple trees. I heard the gurgle of the creek up ahead. It was higher than last time, but I didn’t have to run through it yet. I leaped over it and kept going. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Porter right behind me. We were making great time. A log up ahead and a couple evergreen branches lay across the path. Were they the same ones we’d seen last time? We raced through a grove of pine trees.
This time, the trail led along the river. I heard a dog bark a few times, then yelp. What was going on? There shouldn’t be any hikers out, not during a cross-country meet. Gwen caught up with me. She pointed and I saw Caine on the bank. He held a big white feed sack, the kind that held horse grain. A gold and white collie mix leapt around him, barking at him.
Oh my Gawd. Not again!
We ran toward him. He waited until we were closer. He swung the bag over his head. The dog went nuts. He hurled the sack right into the river. The collie broke for the bank. She dove into the water.
She. I knew it was a she. And she’d had pups. Her nipples hung down below her belly. They were still nursing.
“You son of a...” I gave him a hard shove. He landed on his butt in the path.
; Then, I was past him and running for the water. It had barely rained, I told myself again and again. The water wasn’t high. If I got them now, they wouldn’t drown. I wouldn’t let them die. I splashed into the river. The rocks slipped beneath my shoes.
“What are you doing?” Olivia screamed from the trail.
“Puppies. He threw them.” I saw the bag floating ahead of me. “Send Cedar and Kanisha. They have to win.”
“Okay.”
I grabbed for the bag. Missed it. The mom dog snarled at me. I gave her a quick pet while I splashed toward the bag. “Come on. Let’s get your babies.”
I heard high pitched yelps and puppy barks now. I snagged the feed sack this time. It was heavier than it looked. Of course. It was waterlogged, or rather the pups were. I pulled it toward the bank.
Steve and Lew waded toward me. As soon as I was close enough, Lew grabbed the bag. He carried it to the bank. “If a single pup dies, I’m kicking the hell out of Caine. He’s just sicko.”
“We don’t have time for that,” Steve said. “It’ll be better if the girls beat his cousins to the finish line.”
“Gwen went too,” Olivia said as we climbed ashore. “Hustle up. We can still get there and win.”
Lew and Steve ripped into the bag. They began pulling out puppies. Porter took the first one, a black and white furball. Olivia caught the second, a little gold one. They couldn’t have weighed five pounds each. The next three were even smaller. The mother danced around us, sniffing each one and us, of course. She must have realized we were helping since she didn’t try to nip us.
Wet, yes. Dead, no! Thank heaven, the rainy season hadn’t started. Thank Gawd, the river hadn’t risen to its normal winter height, or they’d be goners. I took the next pup and snugged it close. I heard runners coming. We were losing our lead.
“Let’s go. We have to win today if we want that banner my mom’s making.”
Still holding the pup, I turned and ran for the trail. After less than a moment, Olivia and Porter followed me. Steve whistled to the mother dog, and then he and Lew were with us. We had a race to finish. There were people ahead of us, but they wouldn’t be for long. I increased my pace.
I ran six miles a day, every day. And my team ran with me, so we were beyond ready for this course. I saw Wanda ahead of me, but Caine’s trick wouldn’t do her any good. I booked past her, then I was by Ashley and still going. When I hit the track, there were only three girls in front of me, and they wore Lincoln High blue and gold.
Cedar was first, Kanisha second and Gwen third, but I came in fourth. They cleared the finish line funnel for us, then whirled back to meet us. “Did you save them?” Gwen demanded.
“All of them.” I headed for the grass where Coach Norris waited. “Go grab the towels.”
“Why?” Kanisha asked. “We’re in shape. We never use them.”
Cedar elbowed her. “For the pups, you idiot. We have to dry them off before they catch cold. And I’m so telling my cousins what Caine did. He’s evil. They’ll kick his butt all over the rez.”
The two of them headed to our bags of stuff and spoke to Coach Norris. He hurried to us. “What did you ladies find?”
“Puppies,” Gwen said. “Caine threw them in the river.”
“What?” He looked at me, then at the other girls and the collie dog that followed us to an open spot. “Robin, I know you have issues with the boy, but that’s a serious accusation.”
“And she’s not making it,” Gwen said. “We are.”
“Got that right.” Kanisha handed out towels, then dropped to her knees to rub on the adult collie. “You don’t have to do anything, Coach. We’ll handle it.”
He looked at us again, then at Olivia and Porter as they came toward us. “I’m talking to the race officials. I can’t believe you were able to save them and still come in first.”
“Hey, our leader runs us at least six miles a day,” Lew said. “We could have saved more dogs, but we don’t want to do that again.”
Coach Norris walked away. I rubbed my puppy dry, then put him down by his mother to nurse. “I wonder if they have burgers at that concession stand.”
Steve handed me the gold and white female pup he’d carried. “Finish drying her and I’ll go see.”
“What are we doing with them?” Olivia asked me.
“I’m taking them home,” I said. “We haven’t had a dog in ages. They can move into the back porch.”
Porter hugged her puppy tightly. His dry fur fluffed up and he licked her chin. “I want this one. Will you save him for me while I talk my folks into it?”
“You bet.”
* * * *
Thursday, November 7th, 5:45 p.m.
“I don’t believe this.” Smiling, Dad watched the dog family settle into the corner of the back porch. “Only you could go to a cross-country meet and bring home six dogs, Robbie.”
“Blame Mom,” I said. “She’s the one who stopped to buy puppy kibble.”
Dad wrapped his arm around my shoulders. “I can’t send you girls anywhere. You know that when you tell Felicia about them, she’ll want one of the babies.”
“She’d have to move out of the dorm if she intends to take it to Pullman,” I said. “Jack and I will look after it for her at home. Then, Lassie won’t freak over losing her babies.”
“Lassie?” Dad eyed me and then looked at the momma dog again, content with her family. “I can see that. She does look like the dog in the movie.”
“I couldn’t believe it when Officer Yardley showed up and took our statements, then sent the cops out to arrest Caine for animal cruelty,” I said. “That was incredible.”
My phone vibrated and I dug it out of my pocket. “It’s Bill. I’ve got to tell him that Caine is going to jail. And after that, I’m going to the barn.”
“Why?” Dad asked. “It’s almost dinnertime, and I’ve already fed all the other animals.”
“Because I have to give Twaziem carrots and tell him that he’s safe.” I answered my cell and told Bill all about the events at the meet.
“But, where did the dog come from?” Bill wanted to know. “Will her owners be looking for her?”
“No, she’s a stray. Officer Yardley got the truth out of Wanda when he threatened to arrest her as an accessory. She said the dog was just hanging around, looking for handouts, and that was how Caine trapped her.”
While I was talking, Lassie looked up from her puppies and barked. I heard the knock on the back door a moment later and went to answer it.
Bill stood there. He tucked his phone into his pocket. “Hi.”
“Hey.” I ended the call on mine. “I was on my way down to give Twaz some carrots and share the good news. Want to come?”
“Always.”
He took my hand and we headed for the arena together. Everything had changed in the last two months for the better. I could live with that. And it was all due to Twaziem, the horse I hadn’t known I wanted.
THE END
Coming Soon...
“No Time for Horses”
Book Two of the Shamrock Stable Series
Sixteen-year-old Vicky Miller feels overloaded since her parents filed for divorce. Her mother got the house and a new job. Her step-dad has the new car and a new girlfriend. Vicky has the five kids, her younger half-brothers and sisters who range from 18 months to 10 years old to look after, and her own life now comes second to their needs and wants.
It’s been six months of house-cleaning, baby-sitting, cooking, non-stop laundry and Vicky is through waiting for her life to improve. She has plans for her sophomore year at Lincoln High and they don’t include being an unpaid servant. If it takes a constant battle to attend her riding classes and complete her internship at Shamrock Stable, she’s ready to fight for her goal to be the best natural horse trainer around.
Her parents may not have time for her to be with horses, but she has dreams no one can steal. Why should she give them away? But, will keeping them mean she loses her
family.
About the Author
Shannon lives and works at her family business, Horse Country Farm, just outside of Granite Falls in Washington State. Teaching kids to ride and know about horses since 1967, she finds in many cases, she's taught three generations of families. Her life experiences span adventures from dealing cards in a casino, attending graduate school to get her Masters in Teaching degree, being a substitute teacher, and serving in the Army Reserve—all leading to her second career as a published author.
Website:
www.shannonkennedybooks.com
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