Sapphire: New Horizons

by Heather Brooks

  “There you go,” Emily sang, making up a soothing tune. “Now we’ll find a place for you to rest while we’re waiting, waiting, waiting.” She almost laughed at how bad the song was, but Precious seemed to be listening, so she kept talking and singing as she led Precious away from the frenzy to a shady tree to await her turn.

  14

  Two and a half hours later, Emily helped her dad lift the ramp on the trailer, latching it shut behind Precious. Emily wiped the sweat off her brow as she looked around at the now-empty barn. All the horses except Precious were now at Running Horse Ridge, getting cleaned and fed and checked on by Uncle Rick and Aunt Debby. The cops were gone, the owner had been carted off to jail, and the humane society had come down to document the condition of all the animals. Judi and Mark, the neighbors who had brought their van to help transport the horses, had offered to foster some of the horses, but Uncle Rick and Aunt Debby had insisted on taking all of them until they could check them over.

  Running Horse Ridge was packed now, and some of the healthier horses had been turned out in the back pastures to run so the injured ones could be put in stalls.

  Only Precious was left. It was almost over.

  Emily’s dad walked around to the back of the trailer and checked the latches. “All set?”

  “All set.” Emily was so tired, and her clothes and cast were covered in dirt. She was worried that the plastic bag she’d wrapped around the cast wasn’t doing enough to keep it from getting drenched with mud and manure and other stuff she didn’t want in her bed.

  “Let’s go, then.”

  Emily limped over to the front of the truck and climbed into the cab. Her dad eased the truck into gear and slowly started the tires rolling, so as not to jar Precious. They’d had to shift the divider to the side so she’d fit in the trailer, and even then, it had been tight.

  Emily let her head drop back against the seat and closed her eyes. “I’m so tired.”

  The truck rolled to a gentle stop at the end of the driveway. “How are you holding up?” her dad asked.

  Emily opened her eyes. “I’m a little freaked out,” she admitted. “That barn was…awful.”

  Her dad pulled out into the road. “I know it’s hard to see the animals neglected like that, but they’re all going to be taken care of now, thanks to Trooper breaking out and leading us to them. He’s a hero.”

  Emily grinned. “He is, isn’t he?”

  Her dad looked over at her. “We think he hurt his leg when he broke free, but the wound on his side had been infected for a long time.”

  Emily rubbed her jaw. “So he hurt himself to get all the other horses free?”

  “He did.”

  Emily thought about that as her dad drove them back to the farm. “Trooper should have a medal or something.”

  Her dad smiled. “I think he’d like that.”

  “I think he would, too. I think I’ll make it out of carrots so he can eat it. And maybe apples, too. “Just thinking about doing something for Trooper made her feel better. “So, um, if I hadn’t taken Sapphire out and fallen off, we might never have found Trooper, huh?”

  Her dad raised his eyebrows at her. “I understood why you took Sapphire, but he’s not my horse. You’re going to have to talk to your aunt about it. She hasn’t forgotten.”

  Emily sighed. “Yeah, I figured as much.” She leaned her head back and looked out the window, watching the fields go by, when suddenly there was a crash and the truck shuddered and she realized Precious was freaking out. “Dad! Precious will hurt herself!”

  “I know.” Her dad slammed the brakes on, jammed the truck into park, and jumped out of the truck and raced back to Precious as the whole trailer shook even harder.

  15

  Her dad threw open the door and disappeared into the trailer before Emily could even get her cast untangled from the saddle pads at her feet. The trailer shook again, and Emily finally got out and tottered back, her heart racing.

  By the time she stuck her head in the door, her dad was soothing Precious, who had her head in the air, her eyes wide. Her legs were trembling, and her nostrils were flaring. Her dad was soothing her in soft tones, stroking her neck.

  “What’s wrong?”

  “She just got scared being in here alone. Broke her halter.” As he talked, Precious slowly lowered her head and stopped trembling. She took a big breath and then snorted on the hay net hanging in front of her.

  Emily climbed into the trailer and patted Precious. “It’s okay, sweetie. It’s just a short ride.” Precious’s neck was soaked with sweat, and her muscles were tense. “Poor thing. I wish it was close enough to walk her.”

  “She’d never make it.” Her dad pulled a backup leather halter out of the small trunk in front and strapped it around her head. Precious ignored him as she took a bite of hay, munching it with a relish that made Emily smile.

  “She’s hungry.”

  “I’ll bet she is.” Her dad hooked Precious back up to the cross ties and gave her a pat. “She seems happy now. Let’s go.”

  Emily hopped down, and her dad followed, but the instant they stepped out, Precious’s head went up and she started to dance in place again.

  Her dad jumped back in, and Precious settled down right away and started eating. He rubbed his hand over his forehead, and Emily suddenly realized how tired he looked. “Did you go to bed last night?”

  “No.” He sighed. “You’re going to need to stay back here with her.”

  “Really? Cool.” She climbed in and wrapped her arm around Precious’s neck. “I’ll stay right here.”

  “No, you won’t.” Her dad grabbed a hay bale that had been shoved against the front wall of the trailer and pushed it up near Precious. “You’re going to stand against that wall, and you’re going to keep that hay bale between you and the horse. Don’t try to grab her if she panics, and keep out of reach of her hooves. If she starts to act up, I’ll come back.” He gave her a stern look. “Do you understand?”

  Emily blinked at the expression on his face. He’d never looked at her like that before, like he was so serious and that she’d be in major trouble if she didn’t do what he said. “Yeah, okay.”

  He narrowed his eyes. “Promise?”

  “I promise. Really.” And she did. She didn’t want to get stomped.

  He reached past her and cranked open the window. “Yell if you need me. I’ll be able to hear you.”

  “Got it.” She got into place as he stepped out of the trailer, gave her a final warning look, and then shut the door.

  Precious snapped her head up, then saw Emily and went back to eating.

  “Everything okay?” her dad called from just beyond the door.

  “Yep. She’s fine.”

  “Good.” There was the crunch of his boots on the road and then the slam of the car door. Emily heard the engine roar to life, and she grabbed onto a hook to brace herself, her heart starting to race as the wheels began to roll every so slightly.

  What if Precious went crazy? “You doing all right, Precious?”

  But Precious didn’t even blink. She simply munched her hay and took an occasional look at Emily to make sure she was still there.

  By the time they arrived at Running Horse Ridge, Emily and Precious were best friends, and Emily couldn’t stop thinking if it wasn’t for Trooper, Precious would still be stuck in that horrible place…with a baby on the way. Emily shuddered and gave her a hug while her dad lowered the ramp. “You’re safe now,” she whispered.

  Emily hovered while Precious was unloaded and put into a stall. She was relieved when Uncle Rick announced Precious was in good shape, just undernourished.

  Then Emily went and peeked in on Trooper. He was lying in his stall, his forelegs tucked under him as he rested on his chest, his nose drooping to the ground and his eyes half closed. “Hey,” she whispered as she opened the door and crawled in to sit beside him. She scratched his ears and gave him a carrot she’d filched from the tack room. “Just so
you know, all the horses are safe now. Even Precious. She’ll be fine.”

  He snuffled her hand for more treats, and she smiled. “So now you don’t need to worry about them. Just focus on getting yourself better. I’m making you something.” She yawned. “I’ll bring it in the morning, okay?”

  Her eyes were itchy, and her head felt heavy, so she gave him a final pat and pulled herself to her feet, trying not to clunk her cast too loudly, because he looked so tired. She frowned as she looked at him, then she squatted next to him and gave him a hug, rubbing her face against his rough coat, which someone had cleaned up so he was no longer covered in mud. “You did great, Trooper,” she whispered. “Really great.”

  He tossed his head, and she grinned. “Yeah, you already know that, don’t you?”

  She stood up again, and he watched her leave, making no effort to rise from his bed of thick, clean shavings.

  Why would he? He was home now. He could rest.

  She carefully shut Trooper’s door and then lumbered down the aisle toward Sapphire’s stall, her cast clomping loudly on the cement with each step. When she opened it, she saw a fresh bandage on his injured foreleg, and guilt came rushing back even when he gave a whicker and hurried over to her when she walked in. “I’m so sorry I hurt you.”

  He nuzzled her hand, and she opened it. “I gave all my treats to Trooper. That’s okay, right?”

  She rubbed Sapphire’s neck, marveling at how soft and shiny his coat was in comparison to Trooper’s. He was so fit and well fed. Clean. A sparkle appeared in his eye as he gave her a shove and knocked her over before she could catch her balance. She grinned up at him, her heart suddenly feeling lighter. “You don’t care about your injury, do you? You think it was fun, running around until you found Trooper, don’t you?”

  Sapphire put his nose in his water bucket and drank, then moved his head so all the water dripped off his chin onto her face.

  She laughed and wiped off her face, amazed at how good it felt to laugh. “It was a long day,” she told him. “I needed to see you. You make me feel better.”

  He nickered softly and started surfing her jeans with his upper lip.

  “No ice cream today, sorry.” She rubbed her palm over the white blaze on his nose, letting her head drop back against the wall as he nibbled on the hem of her shirt. She closed her eyes with a sigh, breathing in the scent of fresh shavings, of hay, of the fresh water in the bucket next to her head. She listened to the sound of his teeth grinding as he began to munch on his hay, snorting occasionally when he got a noseful of dust.

  She smiled and felt herself drift. Just a couple minutes…she’d get up soon…she just needed a moment with him….

  Emily was riding Sapphire in the Norfolk Open instead of Rhapsody, and Rhapsody was watching them with this totally sad look on his face, like he knew he’d been replaced—

  “Em?”

  She opened her eyes to find her dad squatting in front of her. She was still in Sapphire’s stall, and she was curled up on her side in the shavings. She blinked. “Dad? What are you doing here?”

  “Looking for you. It’s late. I was worried.” He scooped her up in his arms and stood. “You had a long day, sweetie. It’s time for you to go to bed.”

  She yawned, too tired to protest being carried, and wrapped her arms around his neck and let her head rest against his chest. “What time is it?”

  “Almost ten.”

  “Ten?” She must have been asleep in Sapphire’s stall for hours. She yawned and let her eyes fall shut, too tired to keep them open. “I need to make Trooper’s medal.”

  “You can do it in the morning.”

  “Yeah…” She sagged against him as he carried her out of the barn, her brain already starting to float. “Morning works…”

  She felt her dad kiss her forehead and smiled faintly when he whispered, “I love you, hon.”

  “Me, too,” she mumbled. “Precious?”

  “She’s fine.”

  She nodded faintly, too tired to answer, barely even noticing when her dad set her on the bed and pulled the blankets over her. She just rolled over and snuggled into the sheets and let herself dream of Sapphire…and Trooper…and Precious…and the awful barn with three feet of mud and the horses being hungry and not having enough food and her leg hurting….

  She bolted awake, her heart racing and sweat running down her back. The room was pitch-black, her ankle was throbbing, and she could hear the murmur of adult voices coming from somewhere in the house.

  Voices raised, and she recognized them as her dad’s and Aunt Debby’s. They were arguing.

  About her!

  She nearly fell out of bed in her rush to get to the door to find out what she could hear.

  16

  Emily crept down the hall on her hands and knees so her cast didn’t clunk on the wood, pausing at the top of the stairs. The adults were in the living room, and their voices carried up the stairs.

  She stretched out on her belly to listen, then frowned when she realized they weren’t talking about her anymore. They were talking about the farm.

  “I don’t care about the money,” Aunt Debby said. “We have to take care of these horses. It’s what we do.”

  “I know, hon, but there are forty extra horses in the barn today, and we’re not getting paid for any of them. The stipend we’ll get from the state won’t cover even a fraction of the care. We don’t have the money to pay for them,” Uncle Rick said.

  “We’ll find the money. We always do.”

  “Not this time.” Uncle Rick’s voice was gentle. “Deb, we don’t even own these horses, so we won’t be able to sell them and make our money back. They’re just a money drain.”

  “Then we’ll sell Sapphire now,” Aunt Debby said.

  Emily sucked in her breath and nearly fell off the top stair as she lurched for the railing to get closer so she could hear better.

  “No. That doesn’t make sense,” Uncle Rick said. “We’ll get so much more money for him if we wait and get him sharper.”

  “Well, what choice do we have? Pa didn’t leave us much money to run this place—”

  Emily’s dad interrupted. “Why don’t I look at the finances? I’ve been running my own business for years. I can see where we stand—”

  “We?” Aunt Debby asked.

  Yeah, “We?” Emily thought.

  “We,” her dad repeated. “I inherited half of this farm, as well, and it’s just as important to me.”

  “But you haven’t been here in ten years.” Aunt Debby sounded surprised. “You don’t care about it.”

  “I do care. I’ve been caught up in my life in New Jersey, but being back here makes me remember how much I love it.”

  Emily frowned at the wistfulness in her dad’s voice. It almost sounded like he didn’t want to leave. What would happen in a few days when they were supposed to go back to New Jersey?

  “I’ll go over the finances, and in the meantime, I can contribute to some of the immediate cash needs of the farm.” He cleared his throat. “Unless…you don’t want me involved. I know it’s your deal, and I’ll let you run it.”

  Emily put her hand over her mouth to stifle a squeal of protest. Was that the money her dad was keeping in reserve to buy Rhapsody when they got back home to New Jersey?

  “You’ll let me run it?” Aunt Debby asked. “I doubt that.”

  Tension began to hum in the room, and Emily pressed her face against the railing, trying to get closer.

  “Deb,” Uncle Rick said, his voice soothing. “Don’t get possessive. Scott’s offering us money, and if you want those horses kept here, you’ll have to take it. It’s a compromise.”

  The room was quiet for a minute. “You’ll really loan us some money for operating expenses?” Aunt Debby sounded so grateful, Emily immediately felt ashamed for getting upset.

  But she was still upset. Ashamed and upset. Her stomach hurt, her head was pounding, and she was on the verge of running down there and—<
br />
  “Of course,” her dad said. “We’re family.”

  Family? Emily chewed on her hair while she thought about that. Family. Her dad was the only family she had. Yeah, technically, Aunt Debby and Uncle Rick and everyone were family, too, but they were strangers more than family.

  “Thanks, Scott,” Uncle Rick said. “We appreciate it.”

  “Don’t thank me now. I get bossy when my money’s involved,” her dad said.

  Aunt Debby laughed, but there was relief in her voice now. “He does. We’ll never be able to deal with him now.”

  The adults then started talking boring stuff, and Emily crept back to her bed, trying not to wince as her ankle throbbed with pain. She crawled back onto the soft quilt that Caitlyn had told her their grandma had made like fifty years ago, and she stared at the ceiling.

  She counted the number of cracks in the plaster while crossing her fingers that Aunt Debby wouldn’t sell Sapphire and that she could still have Rhapsody when she got home…

  Home.

  When she left here, it wouldn’t matter if Sapphire was sold. She’d never see him again. Maybe she could get her dad to buy Sapphire and Rhapsody. She started getting excited, and then realized her dad would probably make her choose.

  Choose between Sapphire and Rhapsody? That would be easy. It would be Rhapsody…wouldn’t it?

  She bit her lip and realized maybe it would be more difficult than she thought.

  Emily got up early, realized she couldn’t get her jeans back on over her cast, and threw on a pair of loose shorts. She clomped downstairs to the kitchen to make Trooper his medal.

  She was finishing up the third layer of sliced apples artfully placed around the outside so it looked like a star when Caitlyn shuffled in, still wearing her pajamas. She yawned, then climbed on a stool next to the counter where Emily was working. “Whatchya doing?”