Page 20 of His Wilde Little
At the stable, Mary’s head was over her stall, her hoofed feet clomped down with excitement as she spotted me. “Hey girl,” I said.
“Who?” Jace asked, stopping just inside the stables.
“The horse,” I said.
He sat on the container and turned himself around to face the inside of the stables where I was already leaving the radiators in the center and approaching Mary. “It’s going to be hell,” he grumbled. “I don’t know if I’ll be able to do it.”
“Listen, you’ll be fine,” I said. “Grab a little treat for Mary and come feed it to her. We need to throw you right into this. And what better way than with the horse that’s already here.” We didn’t have time for a slow approach; he had to overcome this fear quickly.
Jace approached Mary and held his hand out with the sugar cubes which she lapped right out of him with her tongue. The infectious giggle he had tickled right out of him. I could’ve listened to it on repeat, it meant that this was working. He would soon have no fear, and we had less than twenty minutes.
There were so many things these horses could be through when they got here, malnourishment, dehydration, parasites, infections, mental trauma. I figured the parasites, and any openwounds would be taken care of by the vet, but I’d have to make sure those wounds were dressed and taken care of.
One was manageable. Two was pushing it. Three was almost certainly going to be a disaster.
The low grumble of a car engine caused us both to race to the door of the stable. That’s where we saw the large white horsebox trailer carefully maneuvering itself around the barn in front of the stables. I rolled my shoulders and took a deep breath. Once I got eyes on the horses, they were in my care, and they had to trust me from the bat.
Tom came walking up behind as a man and woman from the van came out.
“Mr. Wilde,” the woman said, approaching me. “The horses are still under light sedation, I want to do a quick inspection of stables, if that’s ok.”
“I’m not—” I began before Tom butted in.
“I’m Mr. Wilde,” he said. “You can absolutely inspect the stables. They’ve got access to clean water, food, fresh bedding—um, even space heaters and blankets.”
Which they didn’t have in the stable until just twenty minutes ago.
“This is Lorenzo, he’ll be the one taking care of them,” Jace said, stepping beside his father. “I’m also Mr. Wilde; I’ll be working with them. So, anything you’ve got to say, we should know.”
His father laughed. “Ok, Jace, you’re sounding like Olivia now.”
“Well, as long as they have a safe and healthy environment to heal in,” she said. “Oh. I’m Janine, working with the Vermont wildlife department. This is Eric, he’s the vet who will inform you on where some of the problem areas are with the horses while I inspect the space.”
I nodded. “I’ve been working with horses for about twenty years,” I said. “But I’m always open to learn if you’d like to tell me where I’m lacking.”
“Good to hear. One of the reasons Mr. Wilde’s bid for the welfare was accepted,” she said. “Now, I’ll head inside. If you could all wait while I check this place out.”
As she went inside the stable, I headed over to the horsebox. Jace and his father got into it with heated whispers about being sassy. Eric joined me at the door of the horsebox as I looked through the grate to see one of them.
“You’ve got three fine horses, but they’re going to be a handful,” Eric said.
“I wasn’t even aware there were three until the other day,” I told him.
“We were going to split them, but Coal is protective, he’s pretty much a father figure to these two,” he said, pointing through the grate. All three of the horses were laid down, almost on top of each other, by choice, since there was plenty of space for them in there. “Coal’s the Mustang. He’s about twelve. Then you’ve got Bramble, the Arabian Cross, she’s roughly five. And in the back, you’ve got Ashwind, a Quarter Horse. They’re all pretty thin, and very intelligent. They might not want to live in separate stalls. They’ve been cooped up together for so long now.”
Looking into Bramble at the front of their pile, she had a red-brown coat marred with tiny scratches. Her big eyelids flickered open slowly and shut again in her sleepy haze.
“Are you licensed to offload some sedatives to me?” I asked. “In case they need it.”
He sucked on his teeth and shook his head. “Nope. I can prescribe some, if that’s what you mean.”
“Of course. And it’s a last resort, but if they’re in pain, or anxious, I want to ease it while they’re getting better.” Almost like I could feel their pain. While the Mustang had jet black coat,it was faded an almost gray in patches almost like it was matted with scabbing. “People who leave animals in this state should be thrown in jail.”
“Yeah, they should,” Jace said, peering through the slat window area of the horsebox. “They don’t seem too bad either.”
“Still sedated,” I told him. “We’ll see what they’re like soon.”
A couple of claps called my attention from behind. Janine was dusting her hands down the front of her slacks. “Looks like you’re all prepared,” she said. “Let’s offload the precious cargo. And good luck.”
