Hercules: A Matter of Trust (8 page)

E
mily whispered to Sapphire to be quiet, and they carefully walked up behind Max, to where the old gray horse was trading secrets with Hercules. “Hi, sweetie.” She kept her voice low and friendly. “It's good to see you again.”

Hercules jerked his head up, his eyes wide, then he turned and sprinted away from her with more panic than spirit. She sighed as she came up next to Max, who was watching Hercules through the fence. “Why is he so scared?”

Neither Max nor Sapphire told her an answer, but Hercules circled back around and came to a stop a moderate distance from them. His little feet were
splayed, his head up and his nostrils flaring, but he was watching Max closely.

Emily narrowed her eyes, and after a minute of thinking, she nudged Max's shoulder. “Come on.”

She and Sapphire led the way to the gate, and she opened it as Hercules bolted across the paddock away from her. Then she led Sapphire into the paddock and Max followed. Sapphire waited patiently while she locked the gate, but Max headed straight for Hercules.

Hercules waited for Max to reach him, his brown eyes fastened on Max so desperately that Emily wanted to cry for him.

She unhooked Sapphire, but he stayed by her side, curious as she walked up to Max. She intentionally ignored Hercules, but the little pony still bolted away as she scratched Max's withers. Hercules stood about forty feet away, scenting her and prancing nervously as she patted Max.

After about fifteen minutes, Hercules sidled up closer, easing his way beside Max, keeping the old gray horse between himself and Emily. She kept talking to Max, and slowly she slid around behind Max until she was face-to-face with Hercules.

He froze, his body went rigid, and she saw the terror in his eyes as he pressed himself up against Max.

“Hey, little guy, it's okay.” She reached out to him, and he started to shake so hard she was afraid he was going to shatter. “Okay, I won't touch you.” She let her hand drop as Sapphire came up behind her and rested his chin on her shoulder, studying Hercules. “See? Sapphire knows I'm nice.”

She didn't move any closer to Hercules, but she didn't back up, either.

Instead she kept talking to him, scratching Max and Sapphire and telling Hercules about her bad day at the show. “So, anyway, I totally know how you feel because I learned I can't trust anyone here, either. You and me, Hercules, we're the same.”

She noticed that the shakes had eased off, and his body wasn't quite as rigid as it had been. But he was still watching her carefully, and she could tell he was ready to bolt if she made any sudden moves. But she was totally encouraged because he was only a few feet from her and he wasn't running away.

Emily grinned cheerfully at him. “Okay, so I know you're probably dying for me to come on over there and give you a bath, but gosh, look at the time. I don't think we can swing it. You don't mind if we put it off to later, do you?”

Hercules gave her a wary look, one ear angling
slightly toward her, to show he was listening. “So I'm psyched we made progress, aren't you? I'll bring Max back with me later today, and we can all hang out again, huh? Maybe watch a movie, eat some popcorn, gossip a little?” She suddenly remembered the apple, and she dug it out of her pocket and held it out to him. “Want some apple?”

Hercules threw up his head in a panic and scuttled backward at her movement.

“Shoot. Sorry.” Emily squatted and rolled it across the grass toward him. It banged into his front foot, and he immediately whirled around and sprinted away from her. She wrinkled her nose as she watched him go. So much for the progress they'd made. “Okay, so clearly I need to work on my soothing and calming approach, huh? Don't worry, Hercules,” she called out. “We'll get there.”

There was a crunch, and she looked down to see Sapphire and Max munching on the apple. Well, Sapphire had claimed it, but he'd dropped half of it when he'd bitten into it, and Max had scooped up most of the rest of it. “Hey!” She grabbed the remaining piece off the ground. “That's for Hercules! Shame on you!” She hooked Sapphire back up to the lead shank, grabbed Max's mane, and started to tug them toward
the gate, tossing the last piece of apple at Hercules before heading out the gate.

When she looked back, Hercules was already at the apple, munching on it. He'd gone for it far sooner than he'd mustered the courage to go for the carrot yesterday, and she was still in sight.

He lifted his head to look at her, little bits of mushed apple decorating the whiskers on his chin. He looked so little and vulnerable, a tiny pony in that big paddock, so scared of the world.

Emily leaned on the fence and peered over at him. “You and I are going to make a great team, little guy. By the time I'm done with you, you're going to be sticking your head in the kitchen window at dinnertime like Max does. Trust me, the entire head of iceberg lettuce will make it completely worthwhile to put up with the family dinner.”

His ears pricked forward for a split second, and then he turned and ran off, his stubby little legs pumping to get him as far away from her as he could.

She rested her chin on the fence rail as she watched him. “You're going to challenge me, aren't you?” He came to a stop on the other side of the paddock and ignored her.

She sighed, realizing that if she didn't find a way to
reach him, poor Hercules was going to spend his whole life alone and terrified, when there were people who wanted to love him and help him right there, if only he could let them near.

She clenched her fists and hopped off the fence to go back to the barn. She would
not
let that happen to him. Somehow, someway, she'd find a way to help him. And she wasn't going to do it for Aunt Debby, or to prove herself capable. Emily was going to do it because she knew what it was like to be scared, and no one deserved to feel the way Emily did, even a little pony.

One of them had to be happy, and she was going to make sure it was Hercules.

E
mily took Max and Sapphire to visit Hercules three more times that day, but she couldn't even get close enough to Hercules to see the color of his eyes. He was agitated and nervous, and only Max could calm him down when Emily was there, but even with Max, he wouldn't let Emily near him. By the third trip, Emily was starting to have some difficulty keeping up her positive attitude, and she was getting frustrated.

Not
at
Hercules but with herself, for being unable to reach him. In one weak moment she had even wondered if Aunt Debby and her dad had been right to limit her independence at the barn, but she'd quickly ditched that idea.

Minor setbacks. She'd get through them. She always did.

By the end of the day, Max wouldn't even leave the ring, so she locked him in with Hercules and some food and water so the two of them would be taken care of for the night, at least feeling better that Hercules had a friend.

Sapphire had been thoroughly entertained by all the trips back and forth, and he'd been excellent, not once trying to rip the lead shank out of her hand and bolt away. She'd taken off his wraps, and his legs were cool and not swollen, so she was confident there'd been no lasting damage from his romp around the ring.

She was leaning on his stall door, watching him eat dinner when she heard her aunt calling her. Emily made a face, then turned toward her aunt. “What?”

“How's Hercules?”

Emily filled her aunt in on the situation and saw her aunt's face soften in sympathy for the little pony. True sympathy, and she remembered her aunt really did care about the horses.

Emily suddenly was hit with a feeling of intense yearning, of longing. To see her aunt look at her like that, just once, like she really cared. Like they were the family that everyone kept claiming they were.

“You think he'll follow Max down to the barn?”

Emily blinked, trying to remember what they'd been talking about. “Who?”

Her aunt raised her brows. “Hercules.”

“Oh, right. I don't know. Maybe.”

Aunt Debby nodded thoughtfully. “Tomorrow morning, bring Max to the barn and let Hercules follow. See if you can get the two of them into a stall.”

“A stall?” Emily frowned. “Won't that scare him?”

“We need to get a look at him, Em. Make sure he's healthy. We'll be careful. How about after your lesson? You can go get him?”

“My lesson?” She kicked her toe in the dirt, thinking of the jump standards in back that she'd passed. “I'm not sure—”

“I am. Lesson in the morning. No debate.” And then Aunt Debby walked away without even waiting for Emily's response.

Emily stared after her, chewing her lower lip as Sapphire stuck his head out the door. “Sapphire?” Her voice sounded so small she didn't even recognize it. “I don't think I want to jump,” she whispered to him, then she swallowed hard as she wrapped her arm around his head and rested her cheek against his. She'd kept herself so busy with Hercules and the other horses today that
she hadn't even thought about jumping, but now…“I'm not ready—”

“Scared?” Kyle's head suddenly popped up from the next stall, startling both of them. Sapphire snorted and jumped back, clanking his jaw into Emily's head with a smack that made her reel.

She rubbed her head where Sapphire had whacked her. “No, I'm not scared. Why are you hiding in there?”

“Wasn't hiding.” He held up a hoof pick and made a face. “Mom's making me clean all the rescue horses' hooves today for playing my Game Boy during dinner last night. Want to help?”

“No, but it does make me feel better to know that she gives you grief, too.” It did, actually. Emily wasn't accustomed to having siblings who were facing the same thing she was when it came to the adults in the family. It made her feel a little less picked on. “Doesn't it bug you?”

“Yeah, but you never show it. That's the trick.” Kyle leaned over on the door, hanging his elbows over the lip. “So you crashed bad, huh? Is that why you're freaking about jumping again?”

Was she freaking? Emily realized that Kyle was sort of right, and that was not good. First, that Kyle was right, and second, that she was freaking about horses.
Her true love? That had to end
now
. Emily pulled her shoulders back. “I'm not scared. I'm going to do the lesson tomorrow.” She would, too. She'd never been scared of horses in her life, and she wasn't about to start now.

“I hate riding,” Kyle said.

Emily blinked in surprise. “You do? Seriously?”

“Yeah. Game Boy's way better than riding.” Kyle gave her a pained look that was so melodramatic she had to stifle a giggle. “When I turn eighteen and move out, I'm going to play Game Boy all day every day and never touch a horse ever again.”

Kyle's words made Emily think of her dad and how he'd walked away from the family barn. Had he been like Kyle? Pushed into horses until he hated it? She couldn't imagine hating horses. Then she frowned, thinking of how Aunt Debby was forcing her into the lesson. If she didn't like horses in the first place, living on the farm…well, it might be kind of yucky. “Your mom does get kind of pushy when it comes to horses, doesn't she?”

Kyle rolled his eyes. “Um,
yeah
. I—”

“Kyle!” Aunt Debby's voice rang out down the aisle.

Kyle winced. “Gotta go. Later, cuz.” He jogged
down the aisle, hoof pick swinging in his fingers as he disappeared around the corner.

“Cuz,” huh? For the first time ever, Emily wasn't completely disgusted by the fact Kyle was related to her. It made her feel good to know that someone else struggled under Aunt Debby's rule, especially her own kid. Made Emily feel like maybe she wasn't alone. Not that Kyle would support her, but at least he was suffering with her.

She turned back to Sapphire and started when she saw Caitlyn standing there. Her littlest cousin.

“Hi, Emily.”

“Hi.”

“So, I heard you got hurt.” Caitlyn's brow furrowed.

“I'm fine.”

Her cousin nodded. “That's good. I like you. I don't want you to get hurt.”

Emily couldn't help but grin at the serious expression on Caitlyn's face. “Thanks.” She hesitated. “Did you really win a Maiden class?”

Caitlyn bobbed her head again. “I really did. Do you want to know how to do it? I'll tell you my secret.”

Emily couldn't help but laugh. Somehow, Caitlyn didn't make her feel bad or silly or embarrassed, even though she'd apparently done far better in shows than
Emily. “Please, tell me your secret.”

Caitlyn leaned forward and lowered her voice. “My mom told me that I had to connect with my pony to win, so before the class, I promised Copper, the pony I was riding, I'd give him an ice cream cone if we won. So he was perfect.” She put her finger over her lips. “Don't tell anyone, though. It's a secret.”

Emily struggled to keep a straight face. “I won't. I appreciate you telling me. I know that would work with Sapphire. He loves ice cream.”

They both turned to look at Sapphire, whose ears had perked up at the mention of ice cream. Caitlyn nodded. “I agree. He's definitely the ice cream type.” She patted his head, which he'd politely lowered so she could reach him. “That's why he was bad for Alison at the show. Alison would never give him ice cream.”

“That's why,” Emily agreed.

Caitlyn cocked her head. “So how come you didn't ride Sapphire in the show?”

Emily resisted the urge to tell Caitlyn how annoying her mom was. Kyle might understand, but she wasn't about to make Caitlyn feel bad. “Um, his leg was still a little sore from last week.”

Caitlyn frowned, then suddenly her face cleared and she nodded. “From when you took him without
permission and got lost in the woods and fell off and they had to send out a team to rescue you? From then?”

Emily cleared her throat. “Um, yeah.”

“So, really, it's because you're in trouble with my mom and she won't let you, right?”

Emily laughed at the knowing expression on Caitlyn's face. “Okay, you got me. That's part of it, yes.”

Caitlyn nodded and leaned forward, lowering her voice. “The ice cream thing doesn't work with my mom.”

“No? Too bad. I was about to try it.”

“But tears do.” Caitlyn gave a serious nod.

Emily raised her brows, surprised that even Caitlyn understood her mom was demanding. “Tears work on your mom? Seriously? But she's…so tough.”

Caitlyn shrugged. “I'm just saying. Tears work.” Then Caitlyn smacked her hand to the side of her head. “Oh, I forgot. I'm having a party in the hay barn tomorrow afternoon. I'm inviting my friend Tanya and you. Can you come?”

Emily couldn't help but be amused by the earnestness on Caitlyn's face. She might be only seven, but she was Emily's friend. “I'll come.”

“Really? That's awesome! Make sure you dress up. It's a fancy party.”

“Fancy? What kind of fancy?”

But Caitlyn was already skipping around the corner, singing a song about horses and beach balls that Emily was quite certain Caitlyn had invented.

Sapphire craned his head to watch Caitlyn as she darted out of sight, then he snorted and gave Emily a gentle shove with his nose, not enough to hurt her back.

She grinned and patted him. “Yeah, I agree. Let's keep her. She's okay.” Her happiness faded as she saw Kyle pass by the end of the aisle and she remembered his comment. Was she really afraid?

Yeah.

She kind of was, and despite her claim to the contrary, she really didn't want to ride Moondance over fences tomorrow.

And that scared her even more. Horses were her life. She couldn't afford to be afraid of them. She looked at Sapphire. “I'm going to take that jumping lesson tomorrow and prove it. You think I should?”

He stomped his foot and nodded his head.

She wrinkled her nose at him. “I was hoping you were going to say no.”