The Horse Rescuers Read online

  The Horse Rescuers

  Volume 1

  by Patricia Gilkerson

  Published by

  Fire and Ice

  A Young Adult Imprint of Melange Books, LLC

  White Bear Lake, MN 55110

  www.fireandiceya.com

  The Horse Rescuers, Volume 1, Copyright 2014 Patricia Gilkerson

  ISBN: 978-1-61235-881-9

  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

  Dedication for The Horse Rescuers

  This anthology of three horse stories is dedicated to the people whose patience, love and support enabled me to realize my dreams. They are:

  Jim, my husband, who always knew I could do it and who helped me with details of veterinary medicine. My children and their spouses, who knew I was plugging away at it and also thought I could do it.

  My writers’ critique groups over the years: Brenda Whiteside, Diane Pearson, and the Maplewood Writers.

  My good friends, Ron and Jari Drassal, for their constant interest and Jari’s knowledge of horses.

  The good people at Melange/Fire and Ice books, publisher and editors, for their support and encouragement to one of their new authors, and Stephanie for finding such great cover art!

  Authors of all the great horse books I read as a kid, from Black Beauty to The Black Stallion to Misty of Chincoteague, King of the Wind, and on and on.

  Last, but never least, the horses who have trotted in and out of my life over the years, leaving their hoofprints on my heart.

  Table of Contents

  The Penny Pony

  Piper Jones has always loved horses, but little did she know what would happen when she and her best friend, Addie tried to help a neglected pony. When all the adults in her life can’t or won’t help, Piper and Addie take matters into their own hands. They must find a safe haven for the pony and protect it from its cruel owner. A little old lady from Piper’s past steps up to help and a suspected liar proves he’s not a bad guy at all. But as the girls try to solve a mystery involving the suspicious owner, will they be forced into crime themselves in order to save their new-found pony friend?

  Nickel-Bred

  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?

  Turn on a Dime

  Piper and Addie are going to start their sophomore year in senior high school, when their friend, Miss Julie, rents rooms to Cassie and her stepson, Jeff. Cassie’s mare is going to foal soon and Piper has the responsibility of checking on her daily. Piper and Addie disagree about boys, a situation which worsens because of Piper’s initial dislike of Jeff. As she gets to know and accept Jeff, when he is accused of theft, Piper and her best friend defend him to all adults. What will happen when Cassie steals, then leaves the country as her mare goes into labor with no one but the girls and Jeff to help?

  About the Author

  Previews

  The Penny Pony

  Chapter One

  ~ We Find Rosie ~

  The trouble started on a hot afternoon the week after I turned fifteen. I was doing surgery in my bedroom, trying to glue or tape the leg back on an old Breyer horse, when I heard a rock hit the screen on my window. I looked out and saw my best friend, Addie Davis, getting ready to throw another one.

  “Hey!” I yelled out the window. “Stop! You’re going to break something.”

  “Hi, Piper,” she said. “You still sick? I haven’t seen you since your birthday party when you started throwing up. You don’t answer your phone.”

  “I’m okay now, but I broke my phone. Mom says I have to buy the new one with my own money,” I said. “What’s up?”

  “I want to show you something. Come out.”

  “Just a minute,” I said. My mother was mad at me. Would she let me go? I decided that yes, she would let me go out. Since I almost always guessed wrong about things like this, I tiptoed down the hall and out the back door to be sure she didn’t have a chance to mind. My mother had been very unreasonable lately. I had her straight brown hair and skinny body, but not her temper.

  Motioning for Addie to be quiet, I led her through the trees at the edge of our yard and into a small cluster of lilac bushes owned by our neighbors. When they bloomed, they had the best smell in the world, but they were done now and it was hot summer. Out of sight of my house, I turned to her.

  “Are you in trouble?” Addie asked. Stupid question. I was usually in trouble.

  “Not really,” I said. “I think I should lay low for a while.”

  “You are, too, in trouble,” said Addie. “What did you do?”

  “Nothing,” I said. “Okay, I broke some good plates, but I didn’t mean to. I was trying to juggle them. What did you want to show me?”

  “It’s over by the drugstore.” Addie started walking toward Main Street. Serendipity Springs, Kentucky, was a very small town. The good thing about small towns: everyone knew you, so you could walk anywhere. People said “Hi,” and might give you treats. The bad thing about small towns: Everyone knew you; they kept an eye on what you were doing and asked about your parents. See, I was getting used to Mom and Dad being divorced, but I wished everyone else would get over it and quit asking me about it. I mean, it had been a year now and all the arguing and fighting was over. If I was able to move on, why couldn’t the rest of the town? They picked at it like a scab that was still sore, and I guessed it was.

  We walked two blocks, past old houses and old trees dreaming in the hot summer sun. The bare ground had cracks in it from the heat, and even the weeds at the side of the road were drying up. Addie’s brown hair had gone crazy curly with the humidity, and we were both sweaty. Pretty soon, we saw the vacant lot across from the drugstore with its large yellow sign: PONY RIDES- $2.00.

  We crossed over to the sign and the low rail fence enclosing part of the vacant lot. At a corner of the fence was a hitching post with a small spotted horse dozing under a heavy western saddle. About ten sacks of feed leaned upright against the fence, next to an old rusty aqua and white trailer. There were no people in sight. We stared for a few minutes at the scrawny animal sweating in the sun.

  “She looks exactly like Dotty,” I murmured.

  “Who’s Dotty?” Addie wanted to know.

  “A pony I used to ride out at Miss Julie’s. Miss Julie Applegate? The pony died years ago, and she looked just like that, only not so skinny.” I touched the horsehair worry bracelet I always wore. It was brown and white and made from Dotty’s mane. I twisted it when I was nervous. We walked over close to the hitching post, and I shook my head sadly as I looked at the thin little horse. Her bony shoulders, ribs and hips stuck out; her matted mane and tail needed brushing.

  “When Dad sees horses like this one,” I told Addie, “he explains to the owners that they should worm their animals and feed them better. We both think people should have to pass a test to own animals.”

  “So, is it a pony or a horse?” Addie asked.

  “Well, it goes by the breeds. You can have a large po
ny and a small horse that are about the same size. And cow ponies are really horses: they’re only called ponies. Dotty was a POA pony, a Pony of the Americas, but she was pretty good-sized.”

  My dad was a veterinarian, and sometimes when there was no school, I got to go on farm calls with him. I helped out by holding things and handing stuff to him when he needed it. He explained to me as he worked, so I knew a lot about horses and medicine. I had made it my business to learn as much as I can for when I have my own horse. I’d been saving my baby sitting money, but now I had to use the little I’d saved to buy a new cell phone.

  “Oh, you poor thing,” I said as I ran my hand down the pony’s bony shoulder and shooed away some flies that her tail couldn’t reach. I bent over and checked under her belly. I knew how to tell a mare from a gelding, and this was a mare. She had patches of brown on her creamy body, just like Dotty, and even had the same white tips on her ears, making them look like feathers. My eyes prickled with tears when I saw the raw sores on her legs, probably from being hobbled with ropes.

  “She looks terrible,” said Addie. In answer, the pony yawned and licked her lips as though asking for water. She looked at me with huge, sad eyes, whuffed at me, then closed her eyes again.

  “You girls want a ride? You got two bucks, you can ride her,” a loud, rough voice said. A fat, oily man walked toward us. He smelled sweaty and wore a lime-green Hawaiian shirt.

  “She needs some water, mister,” I stated, staring up at him. “It’s hot today and she’s thirsty.” Even if I had any money in my shorts pocket, I wouldn’t give it to him.

  “And she’s hungry, too,” added Addie.

  The smelly man lost his grin for a moment, and I saw something mean in his beady blue eyes. Then he put his fake smile back on for us. “Oh, you don’t need to worry about Rosie. She’s fine. Just came back to feed and water her, in fact. Why don’t you girlies run home and get some money and tell your friends about the pony ride? We’ll be here till five o’clock.”

  “Okay, mister,” I said, needing to get away and think about this.

  “Name’s Jake,” he said, mopping sweat from his face. “See you later.”

  “Piper,” said Addie, as we walked away. “What are we going to do?”

  “I don’t know,” I said. “But we have to help her. We can’t wait. We have to do something!” I glanced back over my shoulder and saw Jake’s enormous bulk settling itself in a folding chair in the shade. He was talking on his cell phone and ignoring the pony. As we watched from behind a car, some creep in a dirty tank top crouched down by Jake’s chair and started talking to him quietly. Jake got up and went into the small beat-up trailer. The skinny, creepy guy followed him.

  “Look,” I said. “He lied about feeding and watering her. He’s another grown-up that can’t be trusted. What a jerk!”

  “Can we take her some food and water later when he’s gone?”

  “Yes, I think we should, but we should also turn Jake in for animal neglect. We have to protect that pony from him.”

  “Who do we tell about him?” Addie asked. “How about your dad? He’s the only vet in town.”

  “I don’t think he can help. He’s pretty busy, but let’s go try,” I said. Maybe Dad was at the clinic and not out on a farm call. We could only hope. We headed down Main Street, wondering aloud to each other how long a horse could live without food and water.

  Chapter Two

  ~ Asking for Help ~

  My dad’s clinic was on the edge of town, but since Serendipity Springs was small, we were there in five minutes, walking quickly. We came up to the small, green, cement block building from the side, so I could see there were four cars in the front parking lot, and Dad’s truck was parked in back. This was good and bad. He was in the office, but there were lots of clients, which meant he was busy. We went in the back door so as not to bother clients and their pets. I sniffed the clinic smell of dogs, cats, medicine and air freshener, and listened to the yipping and the Easy Listening radio station. Some people don’t like the smells and noises, but I’ve been coming here all my life, so I’m used to it.

  We found Dad in an exam room, sewing up a cut on a golden retriever pup’s leg. I waved at Sue, his assistant. She was my babysitter when I was little, but now she was just my friend. She had a two year-old and I babysat for her sometimes.

  “Hi, Piper. Hi, Addie,” Dad said. “Be with you in a minute.”

  “Hey, Dad, we found a pony that’s being mistreated and we need you to help us.”

  “A pony? Where?”

  “Over in the vacant lot across from the drugstore. Can you come look at it?”

  “Later, hon. I won’t have time till tonight.”

  “But Dad, it looks really bad.”

  “Hold him still, Sue. I’m almost done. There! Now, what about the pony?”

  “It’s pitiful looking! It’s hungry and thirsty and isn’t being taken care of. We need you to turn the guy who owns it in for animal neglect.”

  “Whoa, Piper.” Dad held up his hands in their bloody exam gloves. “I can’t do anything about it unless I look at the animal. And I have four more clients out front and three farm calls to make after that.”

  “But, Dad, we have to take care of it now. She has sores on her legs!”

  “Look, Piper, honey, I’m sorry, but I can’t right now. I’ll call you, or come by tonight. Tell your mother I might be over.” My mother didn’t like Dad to just drop by. She had to brush her hair and look in the mirror when she knew he was coming. And she would kill me for telling this to anyone. Dad thought it was because she wanted to straighten up the house, but I knew she wanted to look better since the divorce. She’d lost some weight and lightened her hair, too.

  Sue had left the room and now she stuck her head back in.

  “Dan, there’s a beagle that just came in that’s having convulsions.”

  “Put it in Room 2, Sue. I’m coming. See you later, Piper. Bye, Addie.” Dad picked up the pup and left the room. Addie and I walked out into the parking lot and looked at each other.

  “Wow, your dad is really busy. I want to be a veterinarian when I grow up, if I don’t become a marine biologist. But who else can help us?” Addie wondered.

  “I don’t know,” I said. “I don’t like to count on adults too much. If we have to, what about your mother?”

  “Not mine,” said Addie. “She’s working on a big project that’s late and said not to call her unless I break an arm.” Addie and I had a lot in common, since we were both horse lovers and had divorced parents. We would both start high school this fall. Addie’s dad lived in Wisconsin and she only saw him a few times a year, so I felt lucky that my parents were at least in the same town.

  “My mom is still mad at me,” I said, bending over and picking up a penny off the sidewalk. “I think she’ll yell at me about the plates I broke. They were my grandma’s Haviland.” It wasn’t just the plates, although I shouldn’t have tried to juggle them. Mom was really angry that I fibbed about them and generally mad at the world because she was trying to find a job and nobody seemed to be hiring.

  “Well, we don’t have a Humane Society in town,” said Addie. “Maybe the sheriff? We have to get help somehow.” So off we hiked to the sheriff’s office. I was kind of frustrated and angry that my dad didn’t have time for us, but the fairness side of my brain reminded me that he really was awfully busy and didn’t know how bad the pony looked.

  We sat in the air-conditioned law enforcement office for twenty minutes, waiting for Sheriff Harvey Martin to see us. The office was in the old courthouse on the town square. The jail was right underneath it in the basement, but I don’t think anyone had been in that jail for years. Maybe Stinky Jake would be the one to go there next. The sheriff’s office smelled of century-old wood, dust and Harvey Martin’s cigar.

  “Hi, little ladies. What can I do for you today?” said a gravelly voice. Sheriff Martin was tall, thin and old, probably in his forties.

  “
We want to report a case of animal neglect,” I began.

  “Aren’t you a Jones? Doc Jones’s girl?”

  “Yes, sir,” I said. Adults always responded better when I was ridiculously polite. “I’m Piper Jones and this is Addie Davis.”

  “Just saw your dad yesterday in the coffee shop and asked him about my old yellow lab. How’s your mom doin’? Shame about that divorce. They’re both good people.”

  “Thanks, just fine,” I said. Why didn’t people let it go? “Um, we appreciate your time and we want to report a case of animal neglect. That guy giving pony rides across from the drugstore. He’s not taking care of his horse.”

  “Animal neglect?” the sheriff said, scratching his neck. “First of all, has it happened more than once? And second, can you prove it?”

  Addie and I looked at each other. “Well, you see, sir,” I began, “we just saw the pony today and realized that her owner isn’t taking good care of her, so we—”

  “So you decided to come and tell me about it,” he interrupted. His mother evidently hadn’t told him about politeness. “Well, you girls can quit worrying. He’s got a license to give pony rides. Came in and showed me yesterday. I’m watchin’ out for everything that goes on in this town and if that guy breaks any laws, I’ll take care of it. You just go home and try on some makeup, and leave the law up to the grown-ups.” He held the door open for us, so what could we do but leave?