A Big Life in a Small Town (Bellingwood #2) (29 page)

Polly's stomach was turning upside down with excitement. "Who owns them and what do I have to do?"

"Don't do anything yet. I'm going back out with feed this afternoon and I've called a buddy of mine who is going to come over and string up the electric fence for you in the morning. We'll get those stalls ready tonight and then bring in hay tomorrow. Right now you're only fostering the horses until everything else settles down, okay?"

"Okay. What's my next step?"

"You might want to tell Henry what’s going on. He's going to have four more warm blooded animals in his way while he finishes that barn."

"I'm going to have horses!" she shouted.

"Good. That's the attitude I was looking for. Now, go tell Henry what's coming at him and I'll see you later."

Polly pushed the phone back in her jeans and grabbed her jacket as she ran out the door of her office. She crashed through the side doors and ran for the barn. Henry was up on the roof of one of the overhangs.

"Henry, I have horses coming!"

Everyone stopped working and Henry said, "I'm sorry. What did you say?"

"I have horses coming!" She slowed down as what she said hit her. "I have horses coming," she repeated quietly.

He made his way to the ladder and came down to ground level. "You have horses, plural, coming?"

"Four of them?" she said.

"You have four horses coming. Here?"

"Yes. Here."

"When?"

"Maybe tomorrow?"

"Polly! What in the hell are you thinking?"

"I'm thinking that there are four horses in very bad shape who need out of their situation right now. Mark is going to get the stalls set up tonight and bring in someone to put in an electric fence tomorrow until we can get a real one built."

"Mark Ogden. Great. Damned veterinarian."

"Don't you start. Sylvie and I went up to Stanhope to see why Madeline Black had been paying for feed and when I saw what terrible shape these horses were in, I called him. If he's rushing to get those poor animals out of there, it has to be bad, don't you think?"

Henry shut his eyes, took a breath and in a measured tone said, "And I suppose he's going to teach you how to take care of the animals and he's promised to help you and he thinks it's great that you are so close to his office so he can ensure the horses will be taken care of."

"Well, of course! Why are you having a problem with this?"

"Because, Polly, you don't know much about horses and rather than starting with one healthy, normal horse, you are starting with four horses who are in bad enough shape that the veterinarian has to rescue them. AND, he's finally figured out a way to make sure he gets to spend a lot of time with you."

"Please don't tell me you are going to get jealous. You are here every single day and I keep coming up with more things for you to do so you don't wander off."

"At this point, I'm more worried about what he is thinking than you. He seems to be a man on a mission."

"Well, if you saw these horses, you would do everything you could to help them and why did I build this great big barn if I wasn't going to use it for something like this?"

"Why indeed," Henry responded.

"Are you going to get on board with this? Please?" she asked.

"I don't have much choice, do I?"

"You aren't going to be a creep, are you?"

Henry took her hand, "Do you want to do this? Do you really want four horses who need this much help? Tell me you aren't getting talked into something because you feel sorry for them."

"Well, I do feel sorry for them and I was going to get horses soon anyway. Why wouldn't I go where my compassion leads me? And why wouldn't I take care of these horses when I have Mark around to help me."

"Polly, this is going to be a huge amount of work!"

"I'm not afraid of that and besides, I might know of a good group of kids who are already comfortable with horses."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, when I was in high school, there were always 4-H kids who rode horses in competitions. I'll bet some of those kids would like to make some extra money."

"You are such a soft touch. Pretty soon you're going to have the entire community working here."

"Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. You know that guy I hired as custodian?"

"Shawn Wesley? I don't know him, but go on."

"Well, he didn't show up this morning, but was sitting here when I got back. I don't know what to do about this. How could Pastor Boehm not know he was a loser?"

"Did you fire him already?"

"No, I told him he had one chance left. He didn't want to work on Monday, said he had something to do. He didn't want to work yesterday, said he had something to do and now he was busy with something going on today. That's not terribly impressive, especially if he needs a job."

"Polly, if he isn't going to work out, call Pastor Boehm and tell him. And if you want to ask him for another potential employee, you can do it then."

"We'll see how tomorrow goes. I hate giving up on people, but from the first, this guy struck me wrong. I wanted to help him, but at the same time, I want someone to do the job."

"You'll figure it out; I have complete confidence in you."

"Uh huh. That's why you don't believe I can handle four Percherons."

"Draft horses? Polly, those horses are huge!"

She held her finger up to stop him. "Confidence. Remember? You believe in me."

"We have a lot of work to do today and tomorrow if you're bringing in four horses. I'd better get back to it."

"It's going to be great, Henry. I promise. You wait and see."

"I have to believe you, right?"

"You do."

"Then it's going to be great."

Polly went back in and found Jeff and Sylvie in the kitchen looking at her laptop.

"Look at my calendar Polly," and Sylvie turned the computer so Polly could see it. "We're filling up my weekends with work! I'm going to be fine after all!"

She smiled, "I knew it! You should think about catering out of here one of these days. I'll bet you could make some good money doing that as well."

"Shut up! We were just talking about how that could work," Sylvie said. "Mark called me to get Amy's phone number. He said you are going to take the horses? I said he was crazy."

Jeff dramatically fell over the counter. "Horses? You're getting horses now? I knew you might do this someday, but now?"

"Now. And don't you dare act this way."

He stood back up and laughed. "Polly, I think you're wonderful, but why didn't you become a zoologist?"

"Because I am doing this. Now, leave me alone or I'll make you ride them."

"Not happening. Not ever. I'll stay in here. You play out there. It works for me."

She laughed. "We'll see." She turned to Sylvie, "What did Mark say about Amy?"

"He's going to talk to her about transferring ownership to you. You're actually going to take this on?"

"Why is everyone surprised by this?" Polly exclaimed. "I took this building on. Why wouldn't I take in four animals that need me?"

"Because if something bad happened to the building, you'd do something else, but if one of those poor animals dies, you will be crushed!" Sylvie said.

"They're going to be fine. Mark is a great vet, right?" she prodded Sylvie.

"He's a great vet," Sylvie responded.

"He will help me do this and yes, it's going to be a lot of work, but if I wanted an easy life, I could have married Joey Delancy and lived in Boston in the lap of luxury." She shuddered at the memory of her kidnapping at his hand and said, "I'd rather work hard than be stuck in that life any day."

"What does Henry say about this?" Jeff asked.

Polly slowly turned her head and raised her eyebrows at him. "I don't think I understood that question. Surely you aren't implying that if Henry doesn't approve of my decision, I should be a good little girl and change my mind. I can't imagine that's what you were asking?"

Jeff gulped and looked at Sylvie for help. She turned her back on him and he said, "Umm, no. Just ignore the last question. I didn't ask it, you shouldn't answer it."

"So, Sylvie," Polly said, "When is your first wedding?"

"We have two in April. I'm meeting with one of the brides tomorrow and the other next Wednesday. And Jeff has booked something every Saturday in May. There's even a wedding and a class reunion on Memorial Day weekend."

"That's exciting. Well, I'm going to grab the laundry and take it upstairs, then I'm going to read everything I can about Percherons. If you need me, I'll be hiding in my office."

New experiences didn’t frighten her, but walking into the feed store with all of the guys who had chosen her name in their local dead body pool wasn’t something she had hoped to do any time soon. But, no one had said a word to her.

Mark had picked her up at four o'clock and had taken her to get wood shavings and feed. She laughed when she'd gotten into his truck. "Do you live like this at home?"

"What?" he protested. "I have everything in here that I need."

"Where's your other glove?" she asked, picking up a filthy work glove that had fallen between the passenger seat and door. "Obviously you don't have too many human passengers." Before she could even get in the truck, he gathered up papers and empty containers; she recognized a bridle and halter, which he set on the floor behind her seat.

"Don't worry," she laughed. "I won't take up much room." She scooted things with her feet on the floor, so she could get in and pull the door shut.

He laughed abashedly, "Okay, so I don't ever have anyone else in my truck, but my house is perfectly clean."

Mark had introduced her to several people at the feed store, most of whom had plenty of advice and offered help if she needed it. They'd loaded the bed of his truck with bags and bags and when they got back to her barn, he showed her how to lay down bedding in the stalls. They hauled the feed into what he now called her feed room at the end of the barn and he went back to his truck to find a piece of paper and pen. What he found was the back of an instruction sheet for some medication for sheep.

He started writing out a list and said, "You need to go down to Boone tomorrow and pick these things up. Can you take care of that in the morning?"

Polly chuckled and pulled out her phone, then began entering the items into her notes program.

"Fine," he laughed.

"You know, something like this might save you a lot of hassle and mess in your truck."

"I know, I know. Marnie has been yelling at me. I keep telling her it's because she wants flashy gadgets at the office."

"Listen to her. You hired her to keep you put together, didn't you?"

"Shut up," he laughed.

Since Jason and Andrew were watching her dog, they brought him out to the barn before leaving.

"Are you really getting horses, Polly?" Jason asked.

"I am. Are you ready to learn how to help me?"

"I am! I am!" Andrew replied.

Mark ruffled the boy's hair, "You boys can help Polly a lot. That will be wonderful."

"Mom is waiting for us. Do you want us to take Obiwan back upstairs?" Jason said.

"Leave him here with me. Thank you and I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Will the horses be here tomorrow?" Andrew asked.

"They probably will."

"I can't wait!" Andrew turned around and started to run back to the parking lot, but stopped and said, "Come on, Mom's waiting!"

"I'll see you tomorrow, Polly," Jason said and handed her the leash. "Mom said the horses are sick. Will they die?"

"Not if we can help it," Mark replied. "Don't worry. You're going to watch four horses become happy and healthy again right before your eyes."

"Cool. I'll be here every day after school if you need me."

"Thanks, Jason. I'll see you tomorrow." Polly watched the boys walk away and she realized how big her family had gotten.

Mark pulled the outer doors shut on the barn and said, "Let Obiwan loose so he can get accustomed to the smells around here. He's going to have to make friends with these new additions to your life. You do know you are about to spend enormous amounts of time with these beasts."

"I know. Maybe when we get all the fencing up, I won't worry about him running out onto the highway and can let him run out here on the property, too."

"That’s great. Now, first things first. Once the horses are here, you're going to start calling this a pasture. Got it?"

She giggled. "I'll try. What did that farmer tell you about these horses?"

"He wasn't ready to talk to me at first. I think he thought I was going to have him arrested for neglect, but he got himself in a bad way with the drought last year. He didn't have the nerve to ask Madeline Black for any more money and he just kept feeding them less and less as things got more expensive. He was also spreading feed out to some of his own animals. I'm glad you caught this."

"Did he tell you why her husband even bought the animals?"

"Once you get these farmers talking, they don't stop, so yes, I heard some of the story."

"Dean Black worked with some of the few horses in Korea during the war and fell completely in love with the animals. I guess he had two when they were first married and had kids, but somewhere along the line when the kids were small, the boy, what was his name?"

"Laurence the twit," Polly said.

"Well, Laurence fell or got hurt and absolutely threw a tantrum every time he was around the horses. It got so bad, Madeline made her husband get rid of everything and he forgot about it. Then one day after his kids were long gone, he realized he was missing part of his soul, so he started looking for some horses and found a good deal on these Percherons.

"He was over there every day, right up until the day before he died. The farmer said Madeline couldn't bring herself to sell them until several months ago. He was hoping to have a good year and bring them back to good health. He knew what was happening, but didn't know how he could fix the problem."

"Did you talk to Amy?"

"Just for a few minutes. She was completely baffled by the fact that her mother never said a word."

They had finished up and Mark left. Polly took Obiwan back upstairs, popped some microwave popcorn and was ready to call that supper when there was a knock at her door.

Henry was there with a bag of sandwiches. "I figured you might not make supper for yourself tonight," he said.

Polly pointed to the bowl of popcorn and said, "Well, I kind of did, but thank you. Come in!"

"I'm sorry I didn't listen to you today. I jumped to a bunch of conclusions and that wasn't right."

Polly unwrapped her sandwich. He'd even made sure to put cucumbers on it. "That's okay. I know all of this came way out of the blue."

"You know I'll help you if you need it."

"I know that. But, you can't freak out if Mark is here a lot."

"Well, if I freak out, I will try not to tell you about it. How's that?"

"Better, but not perfect."

She told him some of what Mark had said about the horses and he asked, "Did you find out what their names are?"

Polly put her sandwich down and dropped her head into her hands. "What kind of moron am I? No, I didn't ask." She looked at him and rolled her eyes. "I guess I'll find out tomorrow."

She pushed the sandwich away and sat back in the couch. "Tomorrow is going to be a hell of a day. I have to train Shawn Wesley, then I have to go to Boone to get supplies for the barn, Mark has people coming to string up a quick electrical fence, I have to talk to you about putting a real fence in, the first load of hay is coming and four horses are coming to a new home. If I think about this much longer, I'm going to totally freak out."

"Give me your phone," he said.

Polly handed him the phone and he handed it back saying, "Cute. Unlock it, please."

She giggled, unlocked the phone and handed it back. He scrolled through her calls list and pressed dial, "Jeff? Sorry to bother you buddy, but will you manage training that Shawn Wesley for Polly in the morning. We're heading down to Boone to get supplies for the horses and I want to have her out of here and back before too late in the morning."

He waited for an acknowledgment, then said, "Thanks. See you tomorrow."

Handing her back the phone, he said, "You need to remember that you hire good people and then you have to let them do the work. He's glad to do it."

Polly shoved at him with the feet she'd pulled up on the sofa. "Thank you, but I could have taken care of that call. You don't have to manage everything in my life, you know."

"I like it. It's fun."

"Well, stop having so much fun. You make me crazy."

"And not in a good way, I'm guessing. Are you done with this?" he pointed at the last half of the sandwich.

"I think so. Eat it if you want it." She reached down for the bowl of popcorn and placed it in her lap. "Do you want to watch television or something?" She had the remote in her hand and turned the power on to the system.

"Are you going to fall asleep on me if we watch a movie?" he asked.

"Maybe," laughter bubbled up from her belly. "You know your way out of here."

"I'm not walking your dog tonight."

"If I say please?"

He tossed the empty sandwich wrapper at her and it landed in her popcorn bowl. She flung it back at him and when he ducked, the wrapper hit Leia who jumped up and ran.

"See what you did," she said.

Henry's only response was to toss a pillow, which she deflected to the floor. At that point, Luke scrambled off the back of the couch and ran for the bedroom.

"You meanie, you're upsetting my cats."

He laughed and sat back and she tossed the remote to him, set the popcorn back on the table and picked up her laptop. "I'm learning about horses. What would you like to know?"

"I have no idea," he said.

"Well, did you know that in the late eighteen hundreds, Iowa was home to one of the largest draft horse importers in the U.S.?"

"Really," he said, clearly unimpressed.

"Look," and she pointed to a horse, "they had an immense Percheron that was at the World's Fair and was a Champion Stallion."

"Wow. That's a big horse. And you're going to have four of them in your barn."

"Yes I am," she declared, “and I'm going to have the best time ever with them. You wait and see."

"You know you can't bring them up to your apartment and snuggle with them at night, don't you?"

"You're pushing it tonight, aren't you?"

Henry reached into the bag which had held the sandwiches and pulled out two chocolate chip cookies. "Will these help?"

"Gimme!" she said and reached over. He held it out of her reach and said, "What's the magic word?"

"Now?"

"No, the other magic word."

"You're going to make me say please?"

"Maybe."

Polly swung her legs off the couch and set the laptop on the table. Then she put on her best pitiful face and said, "Please sir, may I have a cookie?"

Henry brought them back in front of his body and she grabbed both of them, ran for the bedroom and shut the door. She slammed the door shut between her bedroom and bathroom and sat down on the bed. Although both cats had been sitting in their tree looking out the window, they watched as she ate one of the cookies. When she didn't hear anything and hadn't roused a response, Polly made her way to the door and peeked out a crack she opened. Henry was quietly sitting at his end of the couch eating a cookie.

"Hey!" she said, swinging the door fully open. "That's not right!"

"I'm not stupid. You have the craziest sweet tooth I've ever met. I bought extras."

She dropped back down on the couch and said, "Well, that made it less fun to hide and eat it in my room."

Henry just smirked. They'd ended up watching an old Cary Grant movie and he had left around ten o'clock. Polly was glad for the company to distract her from worrying over another new venture. But once he left and she took Obiwan for a walk around the barn and out through her pasture, her fears seemed a little overwhelming. Maybe she wasn't going to be able to do this. These were big animals and what if she couldn't get them to respect her? What if one of them couldn't be brought back to health? What if Obiwan didn't get along with them? What if her guests complained about horses? What if everybody thought she was crazy?