Horseflies

by Bonnie Bryant

  “Thanks,” Judy said softly. She took Starlight’s halter and addressed the riders. “When a horse loses his winter coat and spends a lot more time outside, he becomes a virtual fast-food restaurant for mosquitoes, flies, and gnats, which is not very pleasant for him.” Judy gave Starlight a pat and smiled at her audience. “Think of it. How would you like to spend your entire summer being bitten by bugs with nothing but your tail to protect you?”

  “Ugh!” everyone groaned together.

  Judy smiled again. “Okay. Now you see why horses depend on us to protect them from insects, and with Starlight’s help here, I’m going to demonstrate exactly how to do it.”

  Starlight watched with interest as Judy picked up a plastic bottle and sprayed insect repellent on his lower legs. She talked as she worked.

  “When you spray your horse like this, start with its legs, so it won’t be frightened. Then move slowly up its body, but never squirt anything in its face. That’s dangerous to its eyes and will scare it.”

  She put the spray bottle down and picked up what looked like a bottle of roll-on deodorant. “For their faces, you can use products like this.” She rolled the liquid around Starlight’s eyes and mouth. Starlight wrinkled up his nose, as if the insecticide smelled funny.

  “If the horseflies really get bad this summer, you can use these.” Judy held up a horse blanket made of thin, meshy material that was designed to keep flies away. “Or, if horseflies just buzz around your horse’s eyes, you can use one of these ear nets.”

  She picked up something that looked like a purple sock with two big toes. Carole held Starlight while Judy pulled the thing snug over the top of his head. His ears suddenly became two purple points. A fringe of little purple tassels hung down in front of his eyes. When Carole turned Starlight to face the audience, everyone began to roar with laughter.

  “He looks like he’s got one of my grandmother’s lamp shades on his head!” a boy howled from the back row.

  That made everyone laugh even harder. Even Max was chortling. When Carole and Judy turned to look at Starlight themselves, Carole started to giggle; then Judy joined in. “It’s true.” Carole laughed, and tears came to her eyes. “Starlight does look like he’s wearing a lamp shade!”

  “Well, this contraption may look a little unusual,” Judy said when the laughter finally subsided. “But I guarantee your horse would rather look like a lamp shade than be made miserable all summer by flies.” She grinned and rubbed Starlight’s neck as she removed the ear net. “Are there any questions?”

  Nobody had any, so she gave the lead line back to Carole. “Then let’s have a big hand for Starlight for being so patient and for his owner, Carole Hanson.”

  Everyone cheered and clapped. Starlight seemed to know he’d pleased the crowd. He switched his tail and pranced a little as Carole led him back to the barn.

  “You are such a wonderful horse,” she said, giving him a kiss on the nose as she hurriedly put him back in his stall. “Even if you did look like a big lamp with that thing on your head, you didn’t misbehave once!”

  She ran back out and joined Stevie and Lisa. Judy was just finishing up her lecture.

  “With regular tube worming and spraying and even our little lamp-shade hats, we can keep these horses healthy and comfortable all summer long.”

  Everyone stood up and clapped as Judy ended her talk. She shook Max’s hand again and carried her supplies to her truck.

  “Okay,” Max said. “Everybody go tack up and bring your mounts back out here to the ring. We’re going to divide into teams and play some games.”

  “How many teams?” someone asked.

  “Two. Divide up by the first letter of your last name. A through M versus N through Z.”

  The group raced toward the stables. Lisa and Carole and Stevie hurried along behind the younger riders.

  “I thought I was going to die when Judy put that ear net on Starlight’s head,” Stevie said, still chuckling.

  Carole laughed. “I know. It was hysterical! But he didn’t seem to mind. In fact, I think he enjoyed it.”

  “He was the star of the show,” said Lisa. “Starlight has real stage presence!”

  “I’m so glad I worked all those kinks out of him,” Carole said. “I don’t know what he would have done if Judy had tried to put that fly hat on him a week ago.”

  They tacked up and met the rest of Horse Wise by the outdoor ring. Just to be sure that Starlight wouldn’t act up, Carole decided to run him for a little while before they joined the games. She didn’t want a repeat performance of their last riding class, particularly after Starlight had been the hit of Horse Wise.

  “I’ll catch up with you two later,” Carole said to Stevie and Lisa as she led Starlight toward the big paddock. “I’m going to give Starlight one more dose of my antikink medicine, just to be sure.”

  “But he was so good with Judy and the fly hat,” said Lisa.

  “I know,” replied Carole. “But better safe than sorry.” She tugged Starlight’s bridle to keep him from sidling over into Belle.

  “Don’t be too long,” Stevie called. “We need you on our team. We don’t want to be beaten by the last half of the alphabet!”

  Stevie and Lisa continued toward the ring while Carole led Starlight to the upper end of the paddock and climbed aboard.

  As usual, Starlight was fidgety at first, backing up instead of going forward, then going sideways. Carole made him stop and collect himself; then she urged him into a brisk trot. Just as before, the more he moved, the better he behaved. They had covered half the paddock at a trot when she gave him the signal to canter.

  The big bay horse moved seamlessly into the easy, three-beat gait that felt to Carole as comfortable as sitting in a rocking chair. His ears flicked forward, and he seemed to enjoy the freedom of stretching his legs in the green pasture. Halfway down the long field, Carole sat forward in her seat slightly, touched him behind the girth with her right heel, and loosened the reins. Starlight recognized the signals, and zoom! they were off at a gallop. Birds scattered from the underbrush as Carole and Starlight zipped through the tall grass.

  They galloped the length of the paddock. Then Carole pulled him down into a trot. He obeyed instantly. After every gallop he was again the willing, dependable horse she loved.

  “Good boy!” she said, patting his neck. “Now that you’re acting like your old self, we need to get back and help out the girls.”

  Starlight tossed his head as he trotted back toward the riding ring, eager to return to the other horses and do his part in the games.

  By the time Carole and Starlight reentered the ring, the teams were tied. The last event, the tennis racket relay, was almost finished.

  “Over here, Carole!” Stevie frantically waved her arms. “Take my place! You and Starlight are better at this than Belle and I, and our team only needs one point to win!”

  Carole trotted over to Stevie. “Are you sure?” she asked. She knew how much Stevie loved to compete and didn’t want to take her turn away from her.

  “Sure I’m sure,” said Stevie.

  Stevie and Belle moved out of line while Carole and Starlight took their place. Lisa and Prancer were just twisting through the last section of the poles. Lisa held a tennis racket in her left hand with a ball balanced on the face of it. At the last pole, the ball careened perilously to one edge of the racket, but Lisa recovered just in time and passed it to Carole with a gasp.

  “There!” she cried. “Go!”

  Carole and Starlight took off. They had to curve tightly through a series of poles, keeping the ball balanced on the racket strings. She and Starlight had a slight lead, but out of the corner of her eye she could see Joe Novick catching up fast on his big gray gelding.

  “Hurry, Starlight!” Carole whispered as they turned the end pole and began twisting their way back to the finish line. She crouched low over Starlight’s shoulders as she guided him through the curving course. The tennis ball bounced once, and f
or a moment she thought she’d dropped it, but it landed back in the middle of the racket and stayed there. The last ten yards of the course were straight.

  “Go, Starlight, go!” she cried as they rounded the last pole.

  Starlight leaped into a canter. Carole held on to him with her legs and the tennis racket with her hand. With a thunder of hooves, she and Starlight crossed the finish line an instant before Joe Novick. A loud cheer went up from her team. Carole leaned over in the saddle and gave Starlight a big hug. Thanks to him, their team had won by a nose!

  “All right!” Stevie said as she and Lisa rode over. The three girls lifted their hands together in a high fifteen. “We knew you could do it!”

  “Thanks.” Carole smiled down at Starlight. He had been the hit of the day—first by modeling the fly hat, then by winning the relay race for their team. And he’d been a cooperative and well-mannered horse the whole time. She felt a warm glow of pride as she gave his neck a rub. She had known all along what was wrong with Starlight, and she had known exactly what to do about it. Not every horse owner in the world could say that!

  STEVIE COLLAPSED ON the bench in front of her cubby. “That was one of the best Horse Wise meetings ever!”

  “I know,” Lisa agreed as she pulled off her tall black boots. “Carole, you and Starlight really saved the day.”

  “Thanks.” Carole smiled with satisfaction. It had been a good day. She had finally worked Starlight through all his difficulties, and they had had a good time doing it. She loosened her dark hair from its braid and let it fall to her shoulders. “Hey, are we still going shopping for Jamie this afternoon?”

  “I think so,” said Lisa. “Can anybody’s mom or dad take us to the mall?”

  “Mine can’t,” grumbled Stevie. “They’re poring over their law books. They’ve both got big cases in court next week.”

  “My dad’s reviewing a dress parade even as we speak,” Carole said. “How about your mom, Lisa?”

  “No, she had to go and see the decorator about getting the living room redone.” Lisa shook her head. “I can’t wait to see how that will turn out!”

  “I guess we’ll have to walk to the shopping center where TD’s is, then,” said Stevie. “Maybe that little gift shop will have something Jamie would like.”

  They walked over to TD’s but for once passed by the ice cream shop. “I wonder if our favorite waitress is there?” Stevie cupped her hands around her eyes and peered through the front window.

  Carole laughed. “She probably thinks that last ice cream concoction you ordered killed you and she’s hiding out from the police.”

  “It didn’t kill me in the least.” Stevie patted her stomach. “In fact, it restored me to health.”

  The girls trooped past the supermarket and the electronics store and turned into the small gift shop. Just inside the door stood a circular case filled with small crystal animals. Dolphins and dragons and unicorns glittered like diamonds on the black velvet shelves.

  “Look!” said Lisa. “Aren’t these beautiful?”

  Stevie and Carole crowded around her. “They’re gorgeous,” said Stevie. “But I don’t think a six-year-old boy would get much of a charge out of them.” She turned toward another part of the store.

  Carole was about to follow her when a strangely familiar shape caught her eye. “Wait!” she cried. “There’s Pegasus!”

  The girls peered at the figurines again. Sure enough, at the very back was a small crystal horse rearing on its hind legs, just about to spread its wings and fly.

  “Isn’t he fantastic?” Carole said.

  Lisa nodded. “He’s beautiful!”

  Carole looked at the price tag attached to Pegasus. Though he was expensive, he was on sale, and she had just enough money to buy him and still contribute to Jamie’s gift. She knew it would wreck her budget, but maybe she could do some extra chores around the house for her dad to make up the difference. Pegasus was worth it. Creatures that beautiful didn’t come along very often.

  “I’m going to buy him,” Carole announced decisively. “I’m going to take him home and look at him every day. That way I’ll be inspired when the time comes to do my project.” She dug in her purse for her wallet. “Why don’t you two go look for a gift for Jamie while I pay for Pegasus. That way we can save some time.”

  “Okay,” Stevie agreed. She and Lisa sauntered off to browse through the gift shop while Carole paid for Pegasus. By the time the clerk had wrapped him securely in bubble wrap and given Carole her change, Stevie and Lisa reappeared, their faces flat with disappointment.

  “We’ve looked at everything they have.” Lisa sounded frustrated. “And it’s either too babyish or too grown up.”

  “Unless Jamie would like some rose-scented potpourri,” griped Stevie. “There’s just not much here for a six-year-old with chicken pox.”

  “What shall we do?” Carole asked as she put Pegasus safely inside her purse.

  “Maybe we could just go over to Jamie’s house for a visit,” suggested Lisa. “Since we’ve all had chicken pox, we could talk to him and maybe help cheer him up.”

  “That’s a good idea,” said Stevie.

  “Fine with me.” Carole happily patted her purse.

  The Bacons’ house was not far away. The girls crossed the street in front of TD’s, then turned down a little side street that curved along a small creek. Soon they were standing on Jamie’s front porch, ringing the doorbell.

  For a long moment no one answered. Then Mrs. Bacon opened the door.

  “Why, Lisa, Stevie, Carole! What a surprise!” She smiled, but there were deep lines of fatigue around her mouth, and her face looked pale and tired. The girls had seen the same signs on Max and Deborah, and they knew exactly what had caused them—a small child with chicken pox.

  “Hi, Mrs. Bacon.” Lisa spoke for the group. “We finished with our Horse Wise class and wondered if we might come over and say hello to Jamie. You know, to try to cheer him up.”

  “Well, how nice of you girls. Please come in.” Mrs. Bacon held the door open. Her normally spotless living room was cluttered with the morning paper, a half-empty cup of coffee, and a scattering of Jamie’s crayons and coloring books.

  “I’m sorry the house is such a wreck. It seems like I spend all my nights trying to keep Jamie comfortable and all my days trying to keep him entertained. I’m afraid I’m way behind on my housekeeping, and I don’t know when I’m going to catch up.”

  “That sounds a lot like what our friends went through when their baby girl had chicken pox,” Lisa said.

  “Well, it’s not that chicken pox is all that dangerous. As childhood diseases go, it’s usually not serious at all. But it just makes whoever has it so cranky. It breaks my heart to see Jamie lying in there so itchy and miserable.” Mrs. Bacon gave a heavy sigh. “Now he’s awake from his nap and I’m so tired I can barely keep my eyes open.”

  “Why don’t you go and rest for a couple of hours and let us take care of Jamie?” Stevie said. “Lisa can read him a story and Carole can play charades with him and I can teach him all my good jokes. We came over here to cheer him up, anyway. Now we can cheer him up and let you get some rest at the same time.”

  Mrs. Bacon blinked. “Would you girls really be willing to do that?”

  “Sure!” Lisa and Carole said together.

  “Well, I’m certainly not going to turn down such a wonderful offer.” Mrs. Bacon smiled in gratitude. “Let’s see … Lisa, you know where things are in the kitchen, and where the telephone is if someone calls.” She shrugged her shoulders and grinned. “You’ve got a deal!”

  Mrs. Bacon turned to lead them down the hall, then stopped. “Oh, just one thing,” she said. “All of you have had chicken pox, haven’t you?”

  “Oh, yes,” the girls reassured her. “We all had it years ago.”

  “Perfect,” Mrs. Bacon said. “Then follow me.” She led them to Jamie’s room and tapped softly on the door.

  “Come in,” a
small, woeful voice responded.

  “Hi, Jamie.” Mrs. Bacon peeked in the room. “I’ve got a surprise for you. Look who’s here!”

  She opened the door wider to reveal Carole, Lisa, and Stevie standing there. “Hi, Jamie!” they greeted the sick little boy.

  “I’ll leave all of you to have a nice visit,” Mrs. Bacon whispered, hurrying down the hall to her own room. “See you in a couple of hours!”

  “Hi, everybody.” Jamie smiled as the girls sat down on the foot of his bed. His face and neck were covered in red, blotchy pox.

  “How are you feeling?” Lisa asked softly. “We haven’t seen you since Wednesday.”

  “Pretty itchy,” he replied with a sigh. “But I haven’t thrown up anymore.”

  “That’s good,” said Carole. “As I remember, we ate some pretty weird stuff Wednesday.”

  “Yeah.” Jamie smiled. “But it sure tasted good. And the rides were great. Did they ever fix the merry-go-round?”

  “Nope,” Stevie reported. “I was there until late Wednesday night, and the merry-go-round hadn’t turned an inch. You didn’t miss a thing.”

  “Gosh, Jamie, you’ve got some neat books over here.” Lisa bent over and looked at the books beside his bed. “Would you like us to read you one?”

  Jamie nodded.

  “Let’s see.” Lisa ran her finger along the titles. “How about Where the Wild Things Are?”

  “Okay.”

  Lisa plumped up Jamie’s pillows and sat beside him to read. Carole and Stevie relaxed on the end of the bed, listening as Lisa read the words and Jamie studied the pictures. When Lisa finished, he looked up and smiled.

  “That’s one of my favorite stories,” he said softly. “Sometimes at night I think there are wild things under my bed.”

  “Shall I check for you, just to be sure?” Stevie asked, leaning upside down over the bed till her head touched the floor. She lifted up the bed skirt and peeked underneath. “Nothing wild down here,” she reported. “But look what I found!” She held up a game of Candy Land. “Want to play?”