Nickel-Bred Read online

  Nickel-Bred

  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

  www.fireandice.com

  Nickel-Bred, Copyright 2013 by Patricia Gilkerson

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you are reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should go to fireandiceya.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you 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

  "Nickel-Bred"

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  About the Author

  Previews

  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 sav
ed 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.”

  “How old is it?”

  “Nine months. Is that bad?”

  “That horse can’t even be trained for riding yet. It’s too young. We have to find an older horse that won’t be excitable and dump you.”

  “Yeah,” she said. “No dumping! Here’s one. Ten year old paint gelding, experienced rider. What’s a gelding?”

  “It’s a boy horse that can’t make babies. But you don’t want that one.”

  “Why not? I like paints.”

  “’Experienced rider’ means it’s a tricky horse to handle. Keep looking.”

  We scanned the cards.

  “Here! Look, Adds! Twelve year old gelding free to a good home. Kid safe.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “That means it’s old enough to be calm and a safe ride even for a little kid.”

  “But I’m fifteen.”

  “So?” I said. “Even better. If a little kid can ride it, then so can you.” I tore the ad off the bulletin board and jammed it in my shorts pocket. We would have to check this one out. We found Sue, said goodbye, and headed home.

  Chapter Three

  ~ A Free Horse ~

  The next morning, I slipped out of the house quietly, while Mom was talking on the phone. I knew from the giggling that she was talking to Sam Applegate, Miss Julie’s son. I didn’t want to interrupt. Mom was pretty cool with me coming and going from the house since getting Dotty, but I didn’t want her to ask me where I was going this time.

  Addie and I met up in her backyard, as scheduled. To go check out the free horse, we would have to ride our bikes because the address was three miles out of town. We could have walked, but I was in a rush to get there and see the horse. I had called the owner, who said he would be there all morning and we should stop by any time before noon.

  As the sun beat down, we pedaled our way out of Serendipity Springs and through the rolling hills and red dirt of Western Kentucky. It was pretty poor farming country, not like the bluegrass part of the state with the big horse farms. It was a long ride and on the way, we talked about next summer when we could get our driver’s licenses and not have to walk or ride bikes everywhere.

  At the top of a long hill that wore us both out, we found the driveway. Addie gave a whoop and I gave a sigh and caught my breath. We turned in and carefully rode down a twisty gravel lane, being careful not to turn our wheels and crash our bikes. Neither one of us had worn our helmets.

  We pedaled up to a seedy house next to a tumbled-down barn. In a small pen by the barn was a freckled gray horse chewing some weeds. It looked at us with interest as we parked our bikes in the shade of a maple tree and walked over to it.

  “He looks big,” said Addie.

  “Yeah, but he has a sweet face,” I said, mentally measuring him. “He’s probably 15 hands.” The animal came over to the fence and sniffed at us. The long whiskers on his muzzle tickled my hand as I reached out to pat his small, velvety nose.

  “Hands?”

  “A hand is 4 inches, see? Like how wide across your hand is? Okay, a grown-up hand. You measure at their withers, where their neck meets their shoulders. From there to the ground. Fifteen hands is a good sized horse, and he looks taller because he holds his head high. He’s got a pretty face, doesn’t he?”

  “How would I get up on him?”

  “You use a wooden box or something. It’s not hard. I’ll help you.”

  A scarecrow of a man walked across the yard from the house. He was possibly the skinniest man I’d ever seen, and what little hair he had was pulled back in a gray ponytail. He was about my dad’s age, wearing a dirty orange tank top and jeans.

  “Hey, ladies,” said the man.

  “Hi, mister, we’re here to look at the free horse. I
called earlier. Is this him?” I said.

  “Yeah, this is him. I thought you were older on the phone.”

  “Well, I’m not, but I’m still interested in the horse. Why are you getting rid of him?”

  “He was my mother’s horse. I’ve had him since she passed last year, but I can’t afford to keep him anymore.”

  “So you’re giving him away?” I asked.

  The man rubbed his face and I got a big whiff of cigarette smoke and beer. “People say there’s no market for riding horses and I got no papers for him. We need the space in the barn. My girlfriend wants me to sell him for slaughter, I owe her some money, but jeez...I had a pony when I was a kid and I loved that pony. This guy here was my mom’s and I guess I want him to go somewhere better than here.” He rubbed the horse on the neck. “Yeah, I’m givin’ him away.”

  Addie and I looked at each other. We both wanted to save this horse and not let him go for slaughter. The horse was rubbing his nose on the man’s arm now.

  “Can we ride him?” I asked.

  “Sure, just gimme a minute. I have a halter in the barn. There’s no saddle, though.”

  As he went into the barn for the halter, Addie and I consulted with each other. We agreed that I would ride on him first and, if that worked out okay, then Addie would try.

  The man held the halter while I clambered from the fence to the horse’s back. His coat was very rough and needed brushing badly. His silver mane and tail were full of weeds and knots, but he stood quietly in the small pen. I asked the man to give me the lead rope while I rode and I guided him around with only that. This was a nicely trained horse. He walked smoothly and I could balance easily. We trotted, then we loped a little, but it was hard to stay on with no saddle; horse hair was pretty slippery. I got off and helped Addie scramble on. She didn’t want to go alone, so I led her around the pen. The horse stopped and started gently and looked at us with big brown eyes full of intelligence.