King’s ears began to twitch as the traffic made more noise. Lysette shortened her reins to calm him, and stroked his neck, but even as she did so, she leaned too far over. King started to step sideways.
Then there was the sound of tires skidding on gravel behind them, and King was off like a thunder. Lysette was no longer in the saddle, but in the air above him, and beside him. She grabbed his thick heavy mane, and her whole body swung out sideways. Her feet brushed against metal. The white Buick which had frightened King was on the shoulder, driving alongside. It was trying to pass the other cars. It didn’t stop, although it slowed as it came close enough hit her.
She couldn’t think about the jerk in the car, though. King was in a panic, and even though her weight slowed him down, he was nowhere near stopping. Her feet dragged and banged along the ground, and she felt his hooves knock into her boots. His legs started to tangle with hers. She was afraid he would trip, but all she could do was talk to him in a low voice.
“Hhhoooooo, boy. It’s all right. It’s all right, sweety….” Her voice was shaking, and it wasn’t just because she was being dragged along the rough ground. Thank god she had insisted on keeping his long thick mane, even though Momma had wanted to cut it to keep King cool. She tried to put her feet down to slow him further, but his hooves kicked her, and she nearly let go.
Then a force drove her foot into the ground, and she realized he had stepped on her foot. He was stepping on the bottom of her foot, driving the top into the ground. It hurt, but she almost didn’t feel the pain, because the simple force of his weight was so strong, her mind wasn’t believing what it was feeling. The shock of it made her let go.
“Noooooo!”
Lysette started crying before she hit the ground. Now she’d never catch him. Her foot must be broken, and she wouldn’t even be able to get up. He was lost for good. It was over. All over. She would never save him, and he would be lost in the storm.
She lay face down in the gravel, her hands, her arms, her face, her stomach all skinned and sore. She started sobbing like…like she had been stopping herself from ever since Sunday night when she had realized the danger.
She heard the sound of a car pulling onto the gravel again, and she was suddenly angry. If it hadn’t been for that jerk, she’d still have King. She leapt to her feet, leaning on her left foot, but not caring if the right hurt.
She was ready to tear the fender off that car, but of course, it wasn’t the same car. It was that little red convertible that she had passed earlier. The couple inside jumped right over the sides, not bothering with the doors, even though they were both pretty short. They ran to Lysette.
“Are you okay?” asked the woman, while the man cupped his hands around his mouth to curse at the distant white Buick.
“I’m…I’m….” Lysette was shaking, and now crying again, this time not so hard, but she couldn’t stop. “I’m okay, but my horse got away. He’s gonna die in the storm.”
“Stay right here,” said the woman, and she sprinted off in the direction King had bolted.
“Where are you going?” shouted the man.
“To catch the horse!”
“You’re going the wrong way! He went between those two buildings!” The woman grinned brilliantly and changed direction. The man scowled and shook his head. He turned to Lysette.
“You look pretty skinned up, kiddo. Can you walk?”
Lysette slowly put her weight on her right foot, wincing in anticipation of the painful twinge. She didn’t feel one, though. Her foot felt weird, a little sore, but mostly hot.
“I think it’s okay,” she said in surprise. “I can walk.”
Well, she could hobble, anyway.
Just then another car stopped, and an older woman jumped out. She had a large fast food drink cup and she rushed over to Lysette.
“Put this on it, honey,” she said, and she rushed back to the car, which was starting to pull away. The cup was full of ice. Since she had her boots on, and she really didn’t feel like pulling them off, she put the ice against her skinned hands. Then she started to hobble after King and the woman.
“Wait a minute,” said the guy, shaking his head. “Two tons of horse flesh just tromped on your foot. It’s broken.”
“That two tons of horse flesh is named King, and he’s the only thing my Momma and I’ve got!” Lysette’s voice cracked, and she thought she’d cry again, but she was too angry and tired.
“Don’t worry,” said the guy. “Mindy’ll find him.”
“A horse that size only weighs about half a ton,” she said.
“Oh, is that all? I guess you must feel great, then.” He laughed, but then he shook his head. “You aren’t going anywhere on that foot.”
“Watch me.”
Lysette sniffed and continued to hobble. The guy hurried to catch up with her. He was a short guy, a little overweight, but quick. He wore mirror sunglasses, which seemed to go right along with the little red sports car.
“I’m Elliot,” he said.
“Lysette,” she replied.
When they went between the buildings, they came across another street. At least it wasn’t busy, but there was no sign of King, or the woman, Mindy.
* * *
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Chapter 6 – 1 PM Tuesday
* * *
IT WAS A suburban street, which curved off in two directions. Trees and houses blocked the view either way.
“Mindy!” called Elliot, but he got no answer. Lysette tried to figure which direction would look more appealing to a frightened horse. There was grass in both directions. Nothing particularly frightening in either direction. She looked down. There were not many places to show hoof prints. The street and the sidewalk were paved, and the well cared for lawns bounce back and don’t show marks. Except…there was one small area of newly planted grass, where the loose dirt was raked smooth and sprayed with that green stuff that’s supposed to keep away birds. One thing it didn’t do was keep away horses. There were three big, deep hoof prints right across it.
“He went this way,” said Lysette, hobbling faster.
They found a couple more prints to confirm where he was going, and when they rounded the corner, they found the open gateway to a trailer park. There was a fence around the place. Thank goodness! The gate, however, was permanently open, and there was no one around to help. Everybody had already evacuated, it seemed. The two of them moved in, calling for King and Mindy.
As she moved among the abandoned trailers, Lysette realized that they would soon be gone. Trailers never stand up to the weather. Chances were that even if it was not a direct hit, the storm would damage everything here. Some of these people would lose everything. Maybe all of them. And they knew it. That’s why they were gone already. Lysette thought of her things back home; her clothes, the picture she painted of King, her tapes….
She had to save King. She had to. He could be all she had left.
“There he is!” shouted Elliot. Lysette saw a flash of gold between two trailers.
“He’s headed back toward the entry gate!” said Mindy, coming around a trailer. Elliot turned and ran flat out toward the gate. Lysette stumbled toward King, and nearly fell. A pain shot up her leg, and then went away. She stood shaking and feeling helpless. What could she do? What should she do? She could not chase him. She would just limp around and round the park until the storm came and blew everything away. And then Momma would have nothing left at all.
She felt a firm hand take her arm. Mindy was behind her.
“Come on,” she said. “I need you at the gate with Elliot, to block King from getting out.”
“How are we going to catch him?”
“You let me worry about that.”
Elliot was standing in the middle of the gate, panting. His hair was now in wild disarray, but his mirror glasses stayed firmly in place.
“He was heading out, but I stopped him,” he announced. Then he paused, and frowned. “I think
I scared him, though.”
“I’ll try to sneak up on him,” said Mindy. “If I can’t catch him, maybe I can drive him this way.”
“This place is too big,” said Elliot. “You won’t get near him.”
“I wish I had his grain can,” said Lysette. “He’s used to coming at the sound of grain.”
Mindy turned around and looked at them. She put her hands on her hips and tilted her head.
“What? You got an idea?” asked Elliot.
“Hush up,” she answered. Elliot grinned and turned to Lysette.
“Don’t worry,” he said. “Mindy has an idea.”
“Hush!”
Mindy turned around and took a deep breath. She cocked her head and nickered. It was a deep, throaty nicker, just like an excited horse.
Lysette and Elliot looked at each other.
“What’s she saying to him?” Elliot whispered. Lysette shrugged.
“Shh!” said Mindy, and she nickered again. This time there was an answering nicker, higher pitched, in the distance. Lysette recognized it as King’s relieved nicker; a little desperate, but happy. Mindy answered with a longer, louder nicker, which did not sound quite so much like a real horse. King let out a high, trumpeting whinny, and they could hear his hoof beats as he trotted forward.
“How do you do that?” asked Lysette. Mindy grinned and shrugged. The grin was shy but pleased. Lysette realized that she really liked Mindy.
King trotted into view and stopped, his ears twitching in confusion. He did not see any horses around. Mindy nickered again. King seemed to lose all doubt. He stepped forward and Mindy walked slowly up to him, nickering all the way. He jumped a little when she grabbed his reins, but she blew softly into his nostrils, and he paused to sniff her.
Suddenly they were old friends.
“I think he’s calmer, now,” said Mindy, as she led him back to Lysette.
“Thanks.”
“Don’t mention it.” Mindy looked down at Lysette’s foot. “You are going to have trouble getting back on.”
“I know.”
It took a moment to work out a way to give her a boost up, without putting any weight on her right foot. Finally, she leaned heavily on Mindy, while Elliot cupped his hands to give her a knee up. They all struggled for a moment, and Lysette was afraid King would take off again. He seemed too interested in Mindy, however, to run away.
They headed back for the highway together, with Mindy in the lead. Mindy and King kept nickering back and forth, like a pair of doves.
“Hey,” warned Elliot. “I’m beginning to get jealous here.”
Mindy turned and nickered at him, which made King jealous. He snorted and nipped at her hair before Lysette could hold him back.
“This is weird,” said Elliot. “Are you sure you’re a human?”
“I used to be a horse,” said Mindy, “but a wicked witch turned me into a human.”
“Does that mean if the horse kisses you, you turn back into a horse?”
By then they had reached the little red convertible.
“Get in the car, wiseguy,” she said.
“Thanks for the help,” began Lysette.
“Wait, wait, wait,” said Elliot.
“We’re not done yet,” added Mindy.
“We aren’t leaving until you see a doctor.”
“Or at least your mother.”
“Where was it you were meeting her?”
“At the Burger Maker, up ahead a mile or so.” Lysette sighed. “She must be worried sick by now.”
They looked at each other and frowned thoughtfully.
“So how we gonna do this?” said Elliot.
“Maybe I should ride,” said Mindy. “You and the kid should drive.”
“Are you kidding? You don’t know that horse.”
“I beg to differ. We are on the most intimate of terms.”
Elliot cocked his head.
“So just what have you been saying to him?”
“Wait a minute,” said Lysette before they could take the conversation much further. “He’s my horse.” She was beginning to get jealous herself now.
“Okay,” said Mindy. “Elliot drives. You ride. And I’ll walk along to help watch traffic, and keep control of him if some other jerk comes honking his horn.”
“Are you sure that’s safe?” asked Elliot.
“Sure,” said Mindy. “King promises to be good.”
Two people controlling King would be safer. Lysette was tired after all the excitement. It would help a lot.
“Thanks,” said Lysette. Mindy just grinned, and jerked her head toward the restaurant. Lysette urged King on to follow.
“I’ll stay right along side,” said Elliot.
“You won’t be able to in this traffic,” said Mindy over her shoulder. “If you do, you’ll just make people honk their horns, and frighten King.”
Elliot settled for watching them protectively before he got in the car and eased into traffic.
As they moved along, they talked about horses. Mindy had never had a horse of her own.
“That must have been awful!” said Lysette. It was obvious that Mindy not only had a way with horses, but a great love for them.
“The disaster of my life,” agreed Mindy. “We didn’t have the money, but we did live within biking distance of a stable, so I probably got more time with more horses than most of the people who owned them.”
When they got to the Burger Maker, there was no sign of Momma’s little blue car.
“Well,” said Lysette uneasily. “She did have to get gas.”
“The gas lines were long,” added Elliot.
They decided to wait just a bit. King, however, needed water. They could ask the restaurant for water, but Momma had the water bucket.
“Restaurants have buckets,” said Elliot. “I’ll get it.”
He came out fifteen minutes later, his face red and angry, carrying an extra large soft drink cup.
“King can’t get his nose in that,” said Lysette.
“It’s ice for your foot,” he said, handing it to her. He turned to Mindy. “You speak Horse. Do you speak Slug too, maybe?”
“What species of Slug?”
“Assistant Manager Slug. She won’t lend us a bucket. Health regulations, she says. She charged me a buck for the cup of ice, too.”
Lysette looked at the cup. Maybe if they ripped it half open…but then it would spill out. It would almost be worse, because King would get only enough to tease him. She looked up at the restaurant.
“You told her that he was thirsting to death?”
“Yes! I tried everything.”
Mindy went in, and she came out looking red faced and angry.
“I guess I don’t speak Slug,” she said.
Lysette, in the meantime had come up with an idea, as she watched other customers with children come out of the restaurant.
“I’ll be back in a minute,” she said, and she hobbled into the restaurant. She went up to the counter. “I’d like a Kiddie Meal.”
“The Kiddie Burger, Kiddie Cheese, or the Chicken Licks?”
“It doesn’t matter.”
“You’ve got to say which one.”
Lysette looked up at the menu and saw that the burger was cheapest.
“I’ll have the burger bucket,” she said. “Hold the burger, and the fries.”
“Huhn?”
“You can even hold the toy. I want the bucket, and the drink.”
“But you have to have the food,” said the clerk.
“I don’t want the food.”
“Wellllll. What kind of drink do you want with that?”
“Water.”
“I have to charge extra for water.”
“All right. Just put the water in the bucket.”
Suddenly the clerk grinned.
“You’re with the horse guy!” he said.
“Actually, he’s with me. It’s my horse.”
“Okay, I can give you the
water, and the bucket, but I have to put food in it because it will mess up the inventory if I don’t, and I’ll get in trouble.”
“Okay. Just as long as I get water, and a bucket, in some form.”
Lysette limped out in triumph, bearing the clown-shaped bucket, and yet another large drink cup. This one was full of water, no ice. She gave the food to Elliot and Mindy, and the toy to a passing kid, poured the water into the bucket, and finally gave King a drink.
By this time, they had attracted quite a crowd, and Elliot began to tell the story of the Cruel Assistant Manager and the Dying Horse. People began to go buy more water to fill the bucket for King.
* * *
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Chapter 7 – 3 PM Tuesday
* * *
THEY WAITED FOR more than an hour. At least it seemed like that long. Lysette didn’t have a watch.
“Maybe I ought to go look for her,” said Elliot after a while. “What kind of car does she drive?”
“A blue one.”
“Okay, but what make?”
“American, I think.”
“That’s helpful.”
“It’s old and rusty, and it’s small. It’s a hatchback!” Lysette felt triumphant at remembering it was a hatchback, but Elliot did not look impressed.
“Is it a Chevy? A Ford? Olds? What?”
Lysette bit her lip and tried to remember. She wasn’t quite sure she ever knew. She could spot a Quarter Horse from a Morgan at a hundred yards, but a car was a car.
“You don’t know what kind of car your mother drives?”
“No,” she admitted. “I think I better go with you.”
He opened the door of his car and waited for her to get in. Suddenly she realized she was about to get into a car with a stranger. Well, a virtual stranger.
“Um, I don’t want to offend you or anything, but I think I better go into the restaurant and tell somebody where I’m going and who I’m going with….” She felt herself blushing. These people had been nice to her. She didn’t want to treat them like criminals. They looked at each other and grinned.
“So who’s offended?” said Elliot with a shrug.
“I was ready to bop you one if you got into that car with him without doing something,” said Mindy.
Lysette hobbled one more time into the restaurant and gave the clerk the license number of the red sports car. Then back out again to climb into the car.
She was glad to sit. Her foot was beginning to ache, and her other leg was tired of taking her weight. The little car purred and shot out of the parking lot, where it promptly stopped. The traffic was bumper to bumper going north. They could not turn left onto the southbound lane.