Silas’s hand returns to Cupcake’s velvety head.
Indaja doesn’t push. Instead, she waits patiently for his answer.
“Blueberry failed at search-and-rescue.” Silas grins at this fact. “She was a bit of a diva about the heat.”
He rubs his hands together and exchanges an amused look with his fathers.
“She was amazing in therapeutic spaces though. They only used her for the most difficult trauma cases.”
His answer is slightly interrupted when Ronan shifts in his seat again. Ant grinds his teeth, and Erik wraps his long arm around his husband’s narrow shoulders.
Indaja finally turns to the other end of the room. “You seem uncomfortable, Ronan. Would you like to tell us the source of your discomfort?”
Ronan, who still has not looked up from the table, fidgets, pulling on his fingers. His hands are shaking.
“I don’t think my opinion is welcome here,” he finally says, his voice soft.
“Say it anyway.”
His hands go still as he at last makes eye contact with Indaja.
“Silas harms animals. I can’t imagine endangering an animal just to teach a kid like that a lesson.”
Ant stands, and Erik grabs him, pulling him back down, barely keeping him in place.
Indaja turns to Ant and holds up her hand, effectively ratcheting down his anger.
She turns back to Ronan. “And what do you think a five-year-old could do to a two-thousand-pound horse?”
“He could bite her. He’d clearly been eating animals. He could have snuck in a knife.”
Indaja turns her attention to Erik. “Talk to me about some of the people Blueberry worked with before she worked with Silas.”
Erik nods.
“We saved her for the trafficked kids.” His eyes track to his husband. “Some were quietly devastated. Others were furious at what the world had allowed to become of them. All of them had endured unimaginable trauma.” He takesAnt’s hand. “Actually, some don’t have to imagine it. They lived it.”
Indaja lets that hang in the air for a moment.
“Had any of those children ever gotten violent with Blueberry?”
Erik grimaces. “Yes. We have a protocol designed to keep both the horse and the child safe, but sometimes a child will surprise you. Blueberry sometimes got bit, kicked, and one time a child got a pen and stabbed her in the flank.”
“Did Blueberry have to be taken out of service after these incidents of violence?”
“No.No. We used those incidents to tighten precautions, but Blue loved working with the kids. And…” He tips his head, letting his beautiful long hair spill forward. He smiles. “I think the most troubled ones were her favorites.”
“What happened to the child who stabbed Blueberry with the pen?”
“He continued to get the help he needed, including sessions with Blueberry.”
“How did you make that happen?”
Ant and Erik exchange a look, amused by the thought that they’d ever had any control over any of it.
“That was all Blue. When we introduced them again, she stayed calm and nuzzled his shoulder, her way of saying she’d forgiven him for losing control.” Erik shakes his head. “He immediately broke down and apologized to her.”
“And where is that little boy now?”
