“You can turn this up if you want music,” I told them, bringing my old trusty radio out of my little office. I put it on a shelf, and Annie, the taller of the duo, immediately came to fiddle with it.
“You don’t know how much this means to us,” she murmured. “I didn’t put it in the application, but it’s been a rough year for our family. Cancer scares and deaths in the extended family. So this,” she said, nodding her head subtly to where her wife was opening the twins’ stall door, “is everything we needed right now.”
“I’m glad,” I replied honestly. “Okay, I’ll leave you two to it, but if you need me, I’ll be in the indoor arena. If you need me, please come knock on the door and don’t open it before I say it’s okay.”
Annie smiled and nodded. “Sounds like a good deal.”
“Have fun!” I waved at them in the way only someone who has just shifted the workload off to someone else can.
With my pockets filled with carrots, I walked out of the stable. Lake, who’d greeted the ladies and then smoothly removed himself from the situation as soon as I was done with watering the drafts, jogged toward me from the house.
“Hey, Theo!”
“Yeah?” I stopped, enjoying how he looked in hisgoing to townclothing of nicer jeans and a Twin Star T-shirt Sierra had given all the boys.
“Do you need anything from the grocery store? We’re bringing in a haul so I thought I’d ask,” he said, all breathless and smiley.
I thought for a moment. “If you’re getting ice cream, some Chocolate Fudge Brownie Ben & Jerry’s would be great. I’m also low on ramen, so if you go past it, bring me a handful of different flavors?”
Lake looked taken aback. “You don’t have a favorite ramen flavor?”
I laughed. “No, I pick one at random every time I make it for a quick meal.” I winked, not at all sure where it came from, and added, “Surprise me.”
Lake grinned. “Deal. Rey will stay at the house, but Riv will come with me. We’ll be gone for a while, we’re going to familiarize ourselves with the closest stuff.”
“No rush. I’m going to go play with the twins a bit, and try some basic groundwork with them.”
“Call me if you need me!” Lake called over his shoulder as he jogged to Ruth’s old truck we’d agreed would be best used by the boys when they needed to run errands.
I continued to the arena.
With the row of windows high on the walls, the arena got a lot of daylight. I preferred that to artificial lighting which sometimes could trigger my headaches. I didn’t think it was migraines, but then again, what did I know. Maybe it was?
As I stepped inside, the twins both lifted their heads from their respective piles of hay.
“Hey, kiddos. How’s it going?” I walked to Hope first and patted her side, then did my usual running my hands all over her body to see her reactions. She didn’t care in the least. I gave her a carrot anyway, she’d been good and that deserved to be acknowledged.
Now, Truce, he might be a whole other deal. I smiled as I casually approached the gelding. I liked the names Lake had come up with. I hadn’t thought I was ready to name them, but apparently when the names were right…”That’s what you always said,” I murmured at the spirit of Ruth, smiling a bit sadly.
Truce, either because he sensed my dipping mood, or because he’d realized his sister got a treat, lifted his head and looked at me with curiosity instead of apprehension.
I went to him and placed my hand by his withers. His skin immediately twitched, but he didn’t move away.
“What a good boy you are,” I told him, and left my hand there for a few more seconds, before lifting it. I was always careful to be the one to move away first, instead of going too far and making the skittish horse move. This way, the memory they imprinted from my touch was positive.
I walked around him and picked up some of the hay they’d scattered around. Then I went back to him and held it out.
He took some, then snorted gently. I patted him on the neck, then continued to slide my hand down his leg until I got to his feathers. Since he didn’t tense up, I tugged on the long hairs as I pressed my shoulder against his leg gently.
“Lift.” He lifted. Grinning, I held the leg up for a few seconds, then let it go. “Good boy.”
I handed him a carrot, then lifted the other feet one by one, and he didn’t seem upset in the least.
It wasn’t until the hay was gone that he got tired of me, and I stepped away from him. Instead, I went to clip a lead rope to Hope’s harness, and then started some groundwork exercises with her while Truce observed and gathered any last remaining bits of hay he could find.
This was the part of my job I enjoyed the most these days, and I found myself smiling as I went through some of the basics that would tell me exactly how much she’d been handled.
The only thing she didn’t like was when I backed her up. Her ears started to turn and she tensed up. I made a mental note and moved onto the next bit.
