Authors: Alan Evans
“You want to set up a catch pen, boss?”
“No, the poor thing has probably had some pretty
scary experiences being trapped in pens. I think she’s had enough of that kind
of stuff. Let’s tell Doc to wait a bit before he comes to check her. That’ll
give her a couple days to get acclimated. Maybe this weekend I’ll have some
time to work with her. As long as she’s eating and drinking it’s not critical
that we get our hands on her right now.”
Terry nodded. That was one of the things that
impressed him about Shane; he never rushed a horse and was always willing to
spend hour after hour with one if that’s what was needed. In all the years he
had spent working with him, Terry had never seen Shane lose his patience with
one of these animals. He had seen him lose his cool with people, but not with a
horse.
The rest of the afternoon seemed riddled with minor
problems, and it was much later than usual when they finished at the barn.
When Shane returned to the house, Jen had his
dinner warming in the oven.
“Sorry, Dad, we got hungry so we went ahead and
ate,” Jacob said over his shoulder while he helped his mom dry the dishes.
“That’s fine, we finished a little late today, then
I went back to check on the new mare before I came in.” Shane sat and dug into
his meal.
“Do you think she’ll make a nice horse?” Jen asked
as she poured him a glass of tea.
“I don’t know, she’s pretty spooked right now. I’ll
have a better feel for her temperament once I’ve spent some time with her.”
Jacob looked at his dad, “If she turns out okay, can
Tina and I have her?”
“We’ll take real good care of her,” Tina added.
“Don’t get your hopes up, you guys. She’s a long way
from making a dependable horse; besides you have Tory to ride.”
Swallowing a drink of his tea, Shane looked at Jen
and told her, “I got a good look at her brand this evening. If I draw a
picture, do you think you could research it for me online?”
“Sure,” she answered as she cleaned up the rest of
the table around him while he finished eating. “Not trying to change the
subject, but how’s Terry’s wife doing with her pregnancy?”
“She’s fine. Terry’s the one who’s freaked out about
it.” The two smiled as Shane stood to place his empty plate in the sink.
Later that night after the kids were in bed, Jen
took the drawing of the brand Shane had sketched and sat down at her computer.
The woman who gave the mare to them didn’t know much about where she had come
from. Jen sighed as the thought occurred to her that this search was not going
to be easy. It wasn’t long before she found out that the Bureau of Land
Management never used a brand that
resembled a broken arrow on any of the mustangs who went through their system.
The BLM was the government agency in charge of
controlling the populations of wild horses through their capture and adoption
programs. These programs were necessary to keep the wild herds scattered
throughout the western part of the country at a healthy number. Since the one
thing they were sure of was that the little horse was from a wild herd
somewhere out west, Jen decided that the BLM was probably still a good place to
start. She faxed them a letter along with a copy of the brand. Who knows, she
thought, we could get lucky and maybe someone there will recognize it.
By Friday afternoon, Shane and his staff were
ready for a break and looking forward to the weekend. When he walked in the
house, he found Jen leaning over the fax machine. She smiled and waved a paper
at him. “This is from the BLM office. Looks like the little mustang mare has an
unusual background. Her brand is from a private wild herd owned and managed by
the Shoshone Indians in Wyoming. Apparently, the horses run free on a part of
their reservation.
“The person who faxed me back, wrote that he’d heard
there was some interesting history with these horses, but he didn’t give any
specifics. He did say that this particular mustang could never have been part
of an adopt-a-horse program and wondered how we ended up with her. I finally
decided to call Mrs. Erickson, the lady who brought her to you.”
Shane grinned. “Wow, you’ve been busy with this.”
Jen shrugged her shoulders. “I’ve always liked a
good mystery. Anyway, Mrs. Erickson told me that she was at a horse auction in
Trenton, looking for a pleasure horse. While she was there she kept hearing a
loud noise in one of the livestock trailers parked outside the ring. When she
looked in the rig, she saw the little mare kicking and pawing hysterically. The
owner turned out to be a cranky old trader who was at the auction to sell
another horse. He told her he thought the one in the trailer was dangerous, and
he was taking the rotten, little nag to the killer market on his way
home.”
“Mrs. Erickson said she couldn’t stand the thought
of the mare being slaughtered for dog food, so she worked out a deal with the
man to buy her, then paid him to haul the horse to her farm.”
Jen paused and took a deep breath before explaining,
“She had read one of your old magazine articles years ago. She knew you had a
training business in the area and figured you’d be the kind of man who could
tame the mare. She didn’t know what she was going to do with her if you hadn’t
taken her. Her two sons loaded her on the trailer through some cattle chutes,
then she brought her over here, kicking and stomping the whole way.”
Shane sat down on the corner of Jen’s desk. “I
didn’t have much time to talk to the lady. I was just about to get started with
a new client when she drove in. The woman told me she felt sorry for the horse.
She offered to pay for two months training, then asked if I’d find her a home
after I started her. She didn’t want any of her money back. She just wanted to
give the mare a chance for a good home somewhere. In all honesty, because of
how busy we are, I probably wouldn’t have considered letting the lady dump the
mare on me if a decent check hadn’t come along with the horse. I took a quick
look at her in the trailer before I agreed. She’s put together pretty well,
even though she looked scared. I didn’t pick up on anything that seemed mean
about her. So, I told Terry to let the lady follow him back to the quarantine
paddock and unload her. I wish now I had taken the time to find out what I was
getting myself into.”
Jen asked, “Did you mess with the mare today?”
“No, I didn’t have time, but I plan on working with
her some this weekend.”
“What will you do if you can’t tame her?”
He shrugged his shoulders and gave her a lopsided
smile. “I don’t know, I’m pretty sure she’ll come through for me. She’s
probably never been around someone who knew how to get on her good side.”
Chapter 2
Shane made his way to the small bar in their living room, and mixed
himself a stiff drink before heading for the shower. The kids were staying at
friends’ houses tonight, so he and Jen were planning to have dinner somewhere
nice. “Let’s get cleaned up,” he said as he started up the stairs of the
two-story farmhouse. “I’m really looking forward to a night out.”
Considering the amount of steam that had built up
through the large bathroom, he must have lost track of time while standing
under the soothing water. He’d barely stepped out to dry off when Jen
appeared through the steamy mist. That’s when he slid his gaze down her slim,
fit body, and noticed the pink lace lingerie she’d changed into for him only
moments ago.
“Surprise,” she whispered in his ear before she
wrapped her arms around his neck then softly pressed her warm inviting lips
against his.
Shane looked deep into Jen’s emerald green eyes as
he brushed back the few strands of her natural blonde hair that had fallen
against the side of her face. Then he slowly picked her up and carried her into
their bedroom.
After twelve years of marriage they knew well how to
satisfy each other’s desires, and both of them enjoyed taking their time before
reaching the always passionate end. He knew he wasn’t the most attentive guy in
the world for her to live with, and he truly appreciated the effort she made to
keep their romance strong. Beside the physical attraction they had for one
another, and beyond even their love and family ties, they were best friends.
After lying in each other’s arms and enjoying this
rare evening alone without the kids in the house, Shane spoke up jokingly, “Now
that I’ve fulfilled my husbandly duties, can we go eat? I’m really starving.”
“So am I,” Jen replied with a laugh. They
reluctantly got out of their soft, comfortable bed, dressed, and headed out.
On the weekends, the farm had a separate staff that came in to take
care of the horses, and Shane was looking forward to sleeping past his usual
5:30 a.m. wake up. Days like this were considered family time, and he truly
looked forward to spending them with Jen and the kids.
In his younger days, he was considered pretty wild.
He had partied a lot, chased a few ladies, and had a reputation for being able
to hold his own in a bar fight if it was necessary. Back in those days, he
spent most of his weekends hanging out with friends. He had a lot of good
memories from that part of his life, but these days he usually stayed home with
his family. Not because this was where he was supposed to be, but because it’s
where he wanted to be. He still enjoyed going out and having a couple of drinks
every now and then, but his priorities were with Jen and their two kids. He
knew how quickly the children’s younger years would fly by, and he had no
intention of missing this time with them.
As they got out of bed late this Saturday morning,
Jen could tell Shane was a bit out of sorts. “Is there anything wrong?”
“I’m okay. It’s just that I had the weirdest dream
last night.”
Jen looked at him with an inquisitive squint in her
eyes.
“I was high up on a mountain, sitting on the mustang
mare. There were all these Indians around me. Some were on horseback, some
weren’t. I can remember feeling so distraught, so absolutely miserable. I don’t
know what had me so sad. The Indians were just sitting there with consoling
looks on their faces. They weren’t saying a word, but I could tell they knew
how bad I felt. I asked them what was going on. One of them pointed down toward
the base of the mountain and said, “Stay on your path, and you will find what
was lost to you.”
“What the hell does that mean?” he laughed. “I guess
between the couple of whiskeys I drank last night, and all the talk about the
mustang coming from a reservation, my mind was in a bizarre dream mode or
something.”
“I don’t know,” Jen said, “that’s pretty strange.
Are you sure you haven’t been dipping into that bottle of pain pills in the
medicine cabinet?” she joked.
Shane scratched the back of his head. “I don’t know
what brought that one on, but I haven’t been able to shake it off.”
Jen raised her eyebrows and shrugged her shoulders
as she headed downstairs to fix breakfast.
It was late morning before Jacob and Tina got home from sleeping at
their friends. As soon as they walked in the door they asked, “Hey, Dad, can we
saddle up Tory and go for a ride?”
Sometimes it was hard to work up any excitement
about going out to the barn on his days off, especially after he’d been there
all week working his tail off. But he knew how much the kids enjoyed it. “Eat
your lunch, then we’ll go for a ride.”
The two immediately started bickering over who was going
first. Finally, Jen stepped in, “If you both don’t knock it off, neither one of
you will be riding.” Shane chuckled, and shook his head as he walked out the
door to go check on the mustang while the kids ate.
When he arrived at the paddock, the mare was
enthusiastically munching on her hay, but she was still jumpy and acting
worried about everything around her. Shane could only get within about ten feet
of her while she was eating. So he relaxed, leaned on the fence, and talked to
her in a calming voice. “You’re a long way from home, aren’t you, girl? You’ll
figure out soon enough that this isn’t such a bad place.”
After a few minutes he slowly moved away, leaving
the mare to finish her meal. She was by herself in the paddock, and he felt
that her herd instinct would soon have her looking for a friend to hook up
with. He knew he could use the fact that she was all alone to his advantage
while he was gaining her trust. For now he was happy she’d let him get this
close.
When Shane got to the barn, the kids and Jen were
brushing off Tory. “We’ll ride him in the arena. Terry dragged it yesterday so
the footing should be good.”