Page 24 of Justice for Daesha

“Got a beer?”

“Sure do. I’ve got about five different kinds.” As she recited them, he picked a Bell’s brew. He’d always had a fondness for their products, and he was surprised and glad that she had an Oberon in her refrigerator.

Once he opened it, he took a swig and set it on the counter. She’d walked to the back window and was looking out when he heard her mutter, “Oh, shit.” There was no time to ask what was wrong before she threw the back door open and took off.

“What the hell?” he yelled.

“Help me!” she screamed as she ran, and he chased after her, surprised at how fast she could move on the prosthetic.

She threw open the gate and ran toward the pond. He wasn’t sure what she’d seen, but he kept running and when he got close, he saw it.

A horse. It was in the pond, thrashing about, and she’d already dropped to the grass and was pulling off her shoes, pants, and prosthetic. “Don’t! I’ll do whatever you need me to! What do I do?” he bellowed, pulling off his shoes, socks, and jeans.

“She won’t trust you! I have to do it! Help me get out there, please?” she yelled, and Amos grabbed her arm and let her hop along beside him until they got to the edge of the pond. “The bottom is kind of slippery, but you’ll figure it out in a few seconds.” As soon as he dropped down into the pond, he helped her slide down into it and worked to stay upright while acting as her crutch. They moved along and he listened to her.

“Ivory, baby, it’s Mom. It’s okay, honey. I’m going to help you. You’ll be fine. Calm down. You got too close again.” To his surprise, the horse began to quiet, and before they could reach it, it had rolled to a lying position. “That’s a good girl. Now, come on. You can stand up. It’s not too deep. Come on, baby, you can do it. That’s a good girl.” They reached the horse and Daesha stroked her neck. “Come on, pretty baby. Stand up. Come on. You can do it.” Amos watched in amazement as the horse worked until it was standing. “Okay. Come on. I’ll help you. This way, sweetie,” Daesha crooned and grabbed the mare’s halter with her free hand. They walk-hopped along, her leading the horse, until they reached the edge of the pond. When they did, she took her free hand, lifted one of the horse’s front legs, and put it on the bank. That was all it took, and the animal climbed out of the pond, stood on the firm ground, and shook.

Amos helped her climb out and get to the horse. “Oh, poor old girl. It’s okay, baby. You know not to do that. Why did you do that?”

“What the hell? Why was she doing that?”

Daesha cut her eyes to look at him, still stroking the horse’s neck. “She’s blind, Amos. Blind as a stone. She rarely comes over here, but she must’ve gotten disoriented and fallen in. She’s done that a few times, but I guess I’m going to have to put a fence around the pond. I hate to do that. Felix will be upset.”

“Felix? Who’s Felix?” A loud noise came from behind them, and Amos turned to look at the source.

A donkey stood there, a little guy barely three feet at his withers, and he was braying his head off. “Felix! Cut it out! Ivory’s fine! Mom got her! She’s okay.” At the sound of her voice, he got quiet, but he came straight to them. As he did, Amos noticed he was walking oddly.

“What’s wrong with him? He’s walking funny.” Then he noticed something odd.

The donkey didn’t have any ears.What in the hell?he wanted to shout.

“He belonged to these hicks who thought it would be funny to cut his ears off. He was just a little guy when they did it. Without his ears, stuff fell down in his ear canals and he was always getting ear infections. When that happened, he’d lose his balance and fall down, which they thought was funny for a while. After a while, he wasn’t that entertaining anymore, so they broke one of his back legs and left him to die.”

“What? No!” Amos was appalled. Who were these idiots?

“Yeah. A neighbor saw him and called the sheriff’s office. They came out and arrested the people. Of course, they got almost no jail time and paid almost no fines. Animal control came and took him away to a vet’s office. They wanted to put him down, but the vet said he could save Felix, so he did surgery and put a rod in his leg. That’s when I found out about him. They were having a fundraiser to pay for his treatment. When I saw him, I paid his vet bill and brought him home with me. He’s been here ever since, haven’t you, boy?” she said sweetly and scratched the donkey’s mane. The little fella sidled up to her and rubbed his face against her thigh.

“What’s that on his head? Are those… tea strainers?”

She laughed. “Yeah. I managed to string them together with leather straps and make that contraption to put over his ear canals. It keeps the dust and debris out without impeding his hearing. I’ve got like six of them. Sometimes Azalea chews them off.”

“Azalea?” Amos looked around, and that was when he saw her.

There was a goat standing across the way from them, and when she heard Daesha call her name, she came running, bleating the entire way. As she got closer, Amos noticed that she looked weird. “What happened to her?”

“Kid set her on fire. Burned her skin pretty badly. They did skin grafts and saved her, and we were all surprised when her hair grew back. Of course, it doesn’t look right, but at least she’s got hair. Right, girl?” Daesha asked the goat and scratched its face. It nodded and butted the donkey, who turned and licked its snout.

“This is quite the bunch you’ve got here,” Amos said and smiled.

“I did have a three-legged dog, but he died last year. But gosh, he was like sixteen or so, so he had a good long life.” She stroked the horse’s face. “I’ve got to get inside, get cleaned up, and get my prosthetic back on. Can you help me in and come back and get my stuff?”

“Yeah. What do you want to do about the horse?” Amos asked as he helped her hop toward the house.

“As soon as I get all cleaned up, I’ll put her in the barn for the night, and tomorrow morning I’ll put her in the back pasture. She’ll be safe back there. Before I go to rehearsal, I’ll brush the mud out of her coat.”

“No. I’ll come out in the morning and do it before I go to work,” Amos told her as he picked her up and carried her up the deck steps.

“You don’t have to do that.”

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