Page 40 of Saving Veronica
“Welcome home, Ronnie. Glad you’re back.”
“So am I. Eight wild mustangs?”
“Yes. You would have been proud of Sarge, snapping and biting them down the trail along with Paige and her filly. Well, he wasn’t forcing them down, he brought up the rear of the pack. I had time to open the gate, he drove them in, then screamed at them to stay away from Paige, separating them. Grady took care of the three, and we ignored the wild ones until they calmed. I’ve been working a little with them each day. None of them have names, but we have four stallions and four mares.” Hector stood back and allowed Ronnie to get a good look at them. He passed her a bag of baby carrots and shook his head when he realized she had only one working hand.
“Sorry.”
“That’s okay,” Ronnie said and put the bag on her lap. “I’m still getting used to it, but it’s nice to know it’s only temporary.”
“That’s good. But I have to ask.” When he had Ronnie’s eyes on him, he raised his brows and asked, “Pink?”
“I know, the doctor’s thought because I was female I’d like it. I’m tempted to get out the spray paint and change it.”
“Oh lord,” Maggie said, and Ronnie grinned. They watched as she slowly went down the fence and at each horse, she held up an empty hand, rubbed them on the nose, then gave them a carrot.
“They look young.”
“Grady said they’re around two or younger,” Hector said, as he followed close behind.
“Oh, you’re a beauty,” Ronnie said, when she arrived at a buckskin stallion. “I always wanted a buckskin.” She went down the line and was surprised they stayed there and watched her. “I’m your mama,” Ronnie talked to them and spoke to each and every one as she went down the line, then back up, giving them another carrot when she came back through. They all watched her and she felt good about the horses. “So, where’s Sarge, Paige, and the baby?”
“In the barn.” Hector pointed. “Grady will be out tomorrow after he closes the office to check on them again. He’s hoping this visit will give them a clean bill of health.”
“What’s wrong?” Ronnie stopped dead, and Gerald had to jump to the side, or fall over the top of her, as she’d stopped so suddenly in front of him.
“When Sarge charged down the trail with the others, they were all lathered. Badly. It was dripping off them in gobs.” He held out his hand to show how much. “Grady determined the baby to be less than twenty-four hours old. Paige was lame, along with Sarge. Sarge had thrown a back shoe.”
“He probably left it in my chest,” Ronnie replied, with no heat and tried to rub the horseshoe bruise on her chest. “What else was wrong with them?”
“Dehydrated, and Sarge, well Sarge…” He couldn’t finish his sentence.
“What?” Ronnie asked, and started to get scared, but she looked up and saw Sarge, Paige, and a baby foal emerge from the barn. “How did they get out of their stalls?”
“Yeah, about that, it has been revealed these past few weeks, that Paige is somewhat of an escape artist. She’s learned to open her stall and she’s now opening Sarge’s.”
Ronnie giggled and watched as the three horses came over to the fence. Sarge was the first one to put his head over the top and tried to reach her. She wheeled closer and the large horse treated her like a dog. Eating her hair and kissing her face. Laughing, Ronnie used her good arm to hug him. Paige was next, and by the time she could get a look at the baby, she was sighing in happy contentment.
“A filly.” She checked the baby out and looked at Paige and Sarge. “You two do good work. But from what I hear, you were lucky to make it back.” She paused, then grinned at the humans. “I just thought of a name for the baby.”
“What?” Maggie asked.
“Lucky Lady.”
“I like that,” Hector said, as he looked at the little filly.
“So, what’s wrong with Sarge?” Ronnie asked. “Why does Grady have to give him a clean bill of health? He looks fine from here.”
Hector opened the gate and called Sarge over. With his hand on his halter, he brought him out and walked him around, so Ronnie could see the claw marks on his neck and back flank.
“Oh, sweetie,” Ronnie said, as she reached up and touched the healing scars. “At least we match. Mama’s got the same.” Ronnie inspected the marks, and realized they were healing nicely. She looked at the adults and sighed. “At least he’s healing better than I am.” Hector led Sarge back in and they made their way to the house.
“If the wild ones are around two, where is their alpha? Why was Sarge able to round them up and get them here?”
“We wondered that too,” Hector said. “Angelo and I talked it over, and the two of us, along with a few hands from the Johnsons’ and Pattersons’ went back up to the meadow. We traced tracks back through the forest and we found two dead horses, both stallions. From the scars on one, he’d gotten into several fights over the years. We contacted Grady and he came up and checked them over. One of them was around eight years old. The one that was beat up, was around ten or older.” He paused and when he had Ronnie’s full attention, he sighed. “Grady determined cause of death was the cat.”
“Shit. So I lucked out.”
“Yes,” Hector said. “Other than the dead cat found beside you, there’s been no other signs of cats in the area. And during his exam, Grady realized he had a broken jaw at one point in his life, that wasn’t as a result of what happened to you. It was almost healed. You can talk to him, but he’s concluded the cat broke its jaw around the beginning of spring and has been unable to eat properly. It was starved, which is probably why he went after the horses. Trying to get something to eat.”
