Nickel-Bred
Authors: Patricia Gilkerson
Tags: #horses, #revenge, #slaughterhouse, #horse owner, #patricia gilkerson, #gang of criminals, #horse in danger, #horse rescuers, #life in danger, #penny pony, #perfect horse, #save everyone, #save friends and family, #save from slaughterhouse, #vicious criminals
The Horse Rescuers #2
by
Patricia Gilkerson
Published by
Fire and Ice
a young adult imprint of Melange
Books, LLC
White Bear Lake, MN 55110
Nickel-Bred, Copyright 2013 by
Patricia Gilkerson
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for respecting the hard work of the author.
ISBN: 978-1-61235-748-5
Names, characters, and incidents
depicted in this book are products of the author’s imagination or
are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales,
organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental
and beyond the intent of the author or the publisher. No part of
this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any
means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording,
or by any information storage and retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publisher.
Published in the United States of
America.
Cover Design by Stephanie
Flint
NICKEL-BRED
PATRICIA GILKERSON
Piper and Addie, looking for another horse,
find the perfect one in Nickel, but discover the owner is part of a
gang of criminals. Nickel's life is in danger. Can the girls save
him from the slaughterhouse? Will they be able to save their
friends and family as the vicious criminals take revenge?
Dedication
This book is dedicated to all my family,
especially my husband Jim, who helped out with veterinary
information for the whole series. I would also like to thank my
excellent neighbors, Ron and Jari Drassal, who encouraged me for
years and inspired me with horse stories.
Table of Contents
Chapter One
~ Dumped
~
I looked up at the morning sky and tried to
catch my breath. That wasn’t happening. Since I’d been riding in
the middle of a horse pasture, there was no one around to say, “Oh,
Piper, are you okay?” Had I been knocked out for a minute or two?
Maybe. I lay still until finally I managed a shaky breath. Nothing
hurt. I was evidently okay. I had landed in soft grass, and gotten
the wind knocked out of me and dirt in my mouth. This had happened
to me once before, when I was seven, but not since then. I turned
my head and spit the dirt out.
Hoofs clip-clopped nearby, a horse snorted
above me somewhere and whiskers tickled my face. A soft muzzle
touched the top of my head and large lips pulled at my hair. I
swiveled my head to look up at my wayward horse and raised my hand
to touch her nose. She made that snorty gurgle that horses make in
their throats. It was the best sound in the world.
“Enough, Dotty,” I said to the spotted pony
that was now trying to taste my head. “First you throw me off and
then you try to eat my hair.” We’d been cantering in Dotty’s
paddock, but she was feeling good and got a little bouncy. And then
she bucked. I wasn’t expecting it and went flying. She did that a
few times before when she was excited. I could only hope she
settled down and got used to being ridden again.
Dotty was my horse since earlier in the
summer-- mine and my best friend Addie’s. We had rescued her from a
cruel owner and now she lived at the farm of Miss Julie Applegate,
a friend of my family, but most of all, a special friend of mine.
Miss Julie looked old, maybe seventy, but
she didn’t miss a thing. She was just the
best. We had an understanding that Addie and I would take care of
Dotty while we kept her on Miss Julie’s farm.
Since it was still summer vacation, I had
made it a habit to go out to see Dotty every morning. I cleaned her
stall, gave her food and water and brushed her really well. Then I
started riding her. It had gone well-- until she began bucking me
off. I hadn’t told my dad that she did that, because I was afraid
he’d want to get rid of her. Dad was a veterinarian and didn’t
trust most horses, especially the ones with bad behavior. He’d
gotten kicked and bitten a bunch of times.
After getting bucked off, I got to my feet,
collected Dotty’s reins, and walked back to the barn. I liked to
ride, but Addie and I couldn’t ride together with just one horse
between us. I wondered if we could somehow find another horse for
Addie. It didn’t seem likely; horses didn’t grow on trees. I rubbed
my side, which was a little sore, and ran my fingers through my
straight brown hair. After pulling off Miss Julie’s old pony
saddle, I gave Dotty a good brushing and let her loose in the
pasture. She wandered off, and then turned her head around to watch
me. Was she wondering why I had cut our ride short? Well, I didn’t
do it, she did!
I walked home thinking about riding. I lived
mainly with my mom since my parents got divorced, although I had a
room at Dad’s house. The walk didn’t take long—it was less than a
mile, and I didn’t usually bother with my bike. Serendipity
Springs, Kentucky is a small town, so even though I lived in town,
Miss Julie’s farm was close. That afternoon, I called Addie to tell
her about getting bucked off.
“Hey, Adds,” I said when she answered.
“Hey, Pipe. Did you get a new cell phone?”
she asked.
“Yeah. I had to spend every penny of my
baby-sitting money, but it’s worth it,” I said. Then I told her
about getting bucked off.
“Are you hurt?” she asked.
“Nah, just a little stiff,” I said. “The
grass was soft. Do you want to ride Dotty tomorrow?”
“I don’t think so,” said Addie. “My mom wants
me to go shopping with her for a new bedspread. I don’t want to,
but she says it’s for my room, so I have to okay it.
”You’ll just get another purple one.”
“I know, but there are lots of different
patterns and stuff.”
“So what about riding?”
“I guess not,” she said.
“You haven’t ever ridden her! Are you
planning to someday?”
“Well, I don’t know....I don’t want to get
bucked off. You are more used to horses than I am.”
“She doesn’t do it much. Just once in a
while. All you do is get some of her energy out before you
ride.”
“I don’t know, Piper, I...maybe you should
ride her and not me.”
“Addie Davis! Are you scared?”
“Well, maybe a little.”
“But you helped break into Sam Applegate’s
office when we had to rescue Dotty! And creepy Jake’s trailer! And
you were there when we captured Jake and sent him to jail! How can
you be afraid of a little horse?” I couldn’t believe what I was
hearing.
“Piper, we did all those things together, but
it was different then. You were a Warrior Princess and we were on a
mission to rescue Dotty. I forgot to be scared most of the time,
but I don’t know if I would do it again now that I’ve had time to
think about it. We actually did break the law. We were really
criminals, you know.”
“How can you say we were criminals?” I was
amazed that she was talking like that. “We did what we had to do.
We saved Dotty and now we have a horse. And she needs someone to
ride her.”
“I don’t think I want to.”
“Well, maybe you don’t, but I’m still going
to ride
our
horse. And you will too, if you have any
gumption!” And I hung up on the best friend I’ve ever had in my
life.
Chapter Two
~ Two Heads are Better than One
~
I felt really
bad about hanging up on Addie, so after supper that evening I
walked over to her house and tossed a pebble at her window. I
thought it would be better to apologize in person for hanging up.
And also she couldn’t hang up on me back. Sometimes we both got
hotheaded. I guess I was like my mother about that. When Addie
stuck her curly head out, I said, “Sorry I hung up on you,
Adds.”
“Why did you?”
“I wanted you to try riding Dotty. You love
horses and she’s part yours.”
“What if I’m too chicken?”
I snorted. “As if!”
“No, really, Piper. I’m scared.”
“I didn’t know you were scared of
riding.”
“Well, I didn’t think about it when we were
rescuing Dotty. She was this poor pony and needed our help. And I
do love horses. I was just embarrassed to admit to you that I was
scared to ride one.”
“Dotty’s not hard to ride, she just bucks
sometimes. What if we could somehow find you another horse to ride?
One that doesn’t buck. One that is gentle and easy-going?” The idea
seemed better and better as I said the words.
“I think I could maybe ride a safe one, but
my mom would never spend the money for a horse,” said Addie. “She
complains about buying everything, and a horse isn’t something I
need. And she’ll say I already have half of a horse now.”
“Then we have to figure something out,” I
said. “Want to go get a Slushy Slosh?”
“Yeah!”
So Addie slipped out her window—she said it
made her feel mysterious-- and we walked to Main Street and the
Dairy Dog Drive-in, home of the best frozen drinks in the world. I
ordered my usual raspberry and Addie ordered a cherry Slushy Slosh.
We sat at a picnic table and considered what to do.
“Here’s my plan,” I said. “Someone is always
selling animals, and sometimes they give them away free to good
homes because they can’t take care of them anymore. Usually they
give away kittens, but once in a while a dog or a horse. They put
up index cards on my dad’s clinic bulletin board.”
“Why would you get a dog or a horse and then
give it away?” Addie wanted to know.
“It’s the bad economy,” I said, quoting my
father. “Hard times. People can’t afford the feed.”
I knew the clinic was open until 8:00 that
night, so we had about an hour. The problem was, I didn’t want my
dad to know I was already looking for another horse. We hiked the
three blocks to the clinic and I checked the back entrance. No cars
or trucks out front, and my dad’s truck wasn’t parked in back.
Excellent! He was gone and there were no clients, so I led the way
in the back door.
Dad’s assistant and receptionist, Sue, was
cleaning dog cages, making the whole clinic smell like Pine-Sol on
top of the doggy smell. She was getting the place spruced up before
she closed for the night.
“Hi, Piper! Hi, Addie! Whatcha doin’?” she
asked.
“Oh, we came to see if there are any horse
magazines left in the waiting room. We’re looking for some riding
tips.” I didn’t like telling lies-- it always made me feel guilty.
I told some big ones when we were saving Dotty and promised I would
never do it again. But sometimes I just had to. Sue would tell Dad
if she knew I was checking out horse ads, he would ask why and then
the secret would be out.
Addie nodded her head, agreeing with me and
reinforcing my lie.
“Take what you want, Piper, just don’t take
them all. Leave some for the clients to read. Hey, how is that pony
doing?”
“She’s great. We love her,” I said. Sue went
back into the laundry room with an armful of dirty scrubs.
We went through to the waiting room and
grabbed some magazines--that way I wouldn’t be lying. Addie took
Western Horseman, I took Horse & Rider, and we began checking
out the bulletin board by the front door.
“Look, Piper! Here’s a purebred Arabian horse
to give away to a caring owner.”