Moon Shadow (7 page)

“I don't need your help!” Callie screamed between choking gasps of breath. “Just go back to the pen with your dad. You've got a dead horse to bury!” She saw the hurt look on the boy's face and felt even worse. She covered her mouth to keep more sobs from escaping, then turned and ran the rest of the way to the truck.

Callie climbed into the little white pickup and dragged her sleeve across her wet eyes. When her vision cleared, she could see that Justin was still standing in the same spot, watching her. She crossed her arms and stared defiantly at him through the windshield. He probably thought she was the biggest baby he'd ever seen.

The long-legged boy walked slowly to the pickup and stared in the window. “I'll take care of your filly, Callie,” he promised. “I won't let anything happen to her.”

Callie watched as Justin spun on his boot heels and walked off with his hands jammed in his pockets. She felt like a bigger jerk than ever. He was only trying to be nice to her, and she'd turned on him like a rabid dog. She'd gotten off on the wrong foot with him from the start. After the way she had just behaved, she doubted the young cowboy would ever forgive her. But worse than that, Moonbeam was gone.

She put her head in her hands and sobbed.

Seven

Callie stared out the truck's window at the full moon. She wiped her eyes with a tissue and took a few steadying breaths. It was time to stop crying now. Crying wouldn't help Moonbeam or her orphaned foal.

Susan opened the door of the truck and climbed in.

“How's Moon Shadow?” Callie asked, fumbling with the torn edge of her shirt.

The vet turned the key in the ignition and the engine roared to life. “There was some mare's milk with colostrum stored at the office. We got a good dose of that down her with a feeding tube. I sedated her a little and left the tube in so the cowboys can feed her a couple more times during the night. In the morning, Sam wants to try putting Moon Shadow in with another mare and foal to see if the mare will take her. If not, we'll have to try bottle-feeding her.” Susan glanced at Callie as she put the truck in gear and backed out of their spot. “If she won't take the bottle, she probably won't make it.”

Callie leaned her head against the side window and stared at the shadowy desert that lay under the light of the moon. She'd lost Moonbeam forever. The beautiful mustang would never again gallop over this sage-covered land. She refused to lose the filly, too. She hoped the mare would accept the newborn foal. If not, then she planned to do everything she could to get Moon Shadow to take a bottle.

Clamping her lips together in determination, Callie looked back toward the mustang pens. Somehow, she'd find a way to save Moon Shadow.

“I called your folks and told them what was happening,” Susan said as she turned onto the road that led to Callie's house. “Your mom has your dinner warming on the stove.”

Callie wrinkled her nose. Dinner was the last thing she wanted right now. “Are you going back to the pens tonight to check on Moon Shadow?” she asked.

Susan shook her head. “Sam assured me that he's done this kind of thing a hundred times,” she told Callie. “He'll feed the little filly during the night, and I'll be there first thing in the morning. He has my cell number if he needs me.”

Seeing that Callie was about to protest, Susan held up her hand. “Moon Shadow will be fine,” the vet said. “You need to get a good night's sleep so you'll have a clear head in the morning.” She slowed the truck down and turned into Callie's driveway.

Callie thanked Susan for the ride and made arrangements to meet her the next morning. Then she turned and walked toward the house. Her mother met her at the door with a big hug.

“I'm sorry to hear about that mustang, honey,” she said. “I know how much that little mare meant to you. Susan tells me that her filly is still alive.”

Callie nodded as she extricated herself from her mother's bear hug and bent to take off her shoes. “I'm really tired, Mom. Is it okay if I skip dinner and go straight to bed? I've got to be up early to meet Susan in the morning.”

Her mother started to insist, then gave in to Callie's pleading look. “Okay,” Mrs. McLean said. “I don't suppose you have much of an appetite now anyway. I'll make you a good breakfast tomorrow.” She kissed Callie on the top of her head and shooed her toward her bedroom.

Callie washed her face and brushed her teeth, then crawled into bed and pulled the covers up to her chin. She closed her eyes, but sleep was hard to find. When the alarm finally went off in the morning, her covers were on the floor. With all the tossing and turning, Callie doubted she had slept more than two hours total.

Reaching over to turn off the alarm clock, Callie squinted at the first rays of dawn spilling through the gap in her hand-stitched curtains. She slid her legs over the side of the bed and quickly pulled on her jeans and a T-shirt, then padded down the hallway.

Mrs. McLean smiled when Callie entered the kitchen. “I made your favorite breakfast: oatmeal with cinnamon toast and a big glass of orange juice.”

Callie shook her head and reached for her boots. “I'm not very hungry. I'll just wait outside for Susan.”

“Have a seat,” her mother said firmly as she pulled out a chair. “Susan called about ten minutes ago. She had an emergency to attend to on the other side of town and won't be out to the pens for at least an hour or two. She said to tell you that the filly made it through the night.”

Callie heaved a sigh of relief and sat down to breakfast. She still didn't have much of an appetite, but she knew her mother wouldn't let her out of the house without eating something. She stuffed a big bite of toast into her mouth and chewed quickly. She had to get to Moon Shadow as soon as possible. “Can you give me a ride to the pens this morning?” she asked as she reached for the glass of orange juice.

“Your father's already taken the car into town to deliver some fresh lettuce and asparagus to the local stores.”

Callie couldn't hide her disappointment.

“Why don't you take Celah?” Mrs. McLean suggested. “The pens aren't that far away. The tractor's still broken, but your father won't need the mare until later today. I'll drop him by the pens after lunch so he can bring her home. You can catch a ride with Susan when you're finished.”

“Thanks, Mom.” Callie rose from her chair. “I'll go get Celah ready right now.”

“Just a minute, young lady,” her mother said as she pointed to the untouched bowl of oatmeal. “You're not going anywhere until you've eaten a few more bites.”

“Mom!” Callie complained as she sat back down and stirred the bowl of cooked oats. “I really need to see how Moon Shadow is doing.” She gulped a couple of spoonfuls of the hot cereal, hoping it would be enough to satisfy her mother.

“Moon Shadow?” Mrs. McLean's eyebrows rose. “You didn't tell us you'd named the little mustang.”

Callie looked down at her oatmeal. By the time she'd come home last night, she'd been too upset to think. She'd forgotten to mention a lot of things—like her plans to adopt Moon Shadow if the foal survived.

She knew her parents wouldn't be happy about that idea. The mustang would be an
unnecessary frivolity
, as her father called anything they couldn't sell or that didn't earn its keep.

Callie frowned. Did everything on the farm have to have some big purpose? They raised their own beef cows, grew their own vegetables—which Callie helped her mother can every fall. To pay for things they couldn't grow, her parents sold the vegetables and herbs from their garden.

“Look, honey,” her mother said as she ran a caring hand over Callie's hair. “I know how much it hurt you to lose that palomino mustang. Maybe it's not such a good idea to get attached to her foal.”

Callie tapped her spoon against the bowl. This definitely wasn't the right time to mention adopting Moon Shadow. She couldn't bear the thought of her parents saying no. She had to figure out a way to bring the filly home. She might be Moon Shadow's only hope.

Callie slugged down the rest of the oatmeal and finished off the glass of juice. “Can I go now?” She scooted out of the chair before her mother had a chance to answer.

“Here, take this,” Mrs. McLean said as she handed her an apple. “And make sure that you get a couple bites of it before you feed it to Celah.”

“Thanks, Mom. You're the best.” Callie grabbed the apple and headed for the door. “I'll see you later,” she hollered as the screen door banged shut behind her. She hurried to Celah's pen and whistled for the big black. The mare lifted her head from the hay pile, turned toward Callie and flicked her ears, then went back to eating.

“Oh, no you don't,” Callie said as she grabbed the lead rope from the fence. “You'll be dining on government hay today. You can eat when we get to the mustang pens.” She slipped over the fence and snapped the rope onto Celah's halter, pulling several times before she persuaded the big mare to go with her.

She tied the draft horse to the hitching post outside the old barn, offering her a handful of sweet feed to make up for the early ending to her breakfast. She quickly brushed and bridled the mare, then coaxed her over to the nearest barrel and hopped onto her broad back. When they reached the sand trail that led to the back of the mustang corrals, she prodded Celah into a trot.

Twenty minutes later, Callie halted the big horse on the ridge overlooking the corrals. She squinted into the early morning sun and noticed movement in the center pen below. Shielding her eyes with her hand, she made out Justin's black Stetson. A flash of jealousy stabbed through her chest when she saw that he was handling Moon Shadow. With Moonbeam gone, Callie knew that the little buckskin filly would imprint on those closest to her in her first few days. And she wanted it to be her!

She pressed her heels into Celah's sides and guided her down the gentle slope to the back of the pens.

Justin's head snapped around as Callie and Celah came nearer. It was hard to miss the echo of the two-thousand-pound horse's huge feet as she plodded down the trail.

The boy straightened and waved her over to the pen where Moon Shadow was teetering around on unsteady legs. “Come see your filly,” he said. “We got a couple more meals into her during the night. My dad just pulled the feeding tube. He wants to try fostering her onto this other mare as soon as the vet gets here.”

Your filly
, Justin had said. Callie felt a pang of regret at her jealous thoughts just a moment ago.

Justin tucked his thumbs into his belt loops and watched Callie and Celah approach. “That's an awfully big horse for such a little girl,” he said.

The words “little girl” hung in the air. Callie frowned at him and swung her legs over the mare's side, dropping to the ground with a bone-jarring
thump.
“I can handle her,” she said, in a more snappish tone than she had intended. Her lack of sleep was making her touchy. She opened the gate of an empty pen and stood on her toes to remove Celah's bridle, then grabbed a flake of hay from a nearby pile and tossed it in the feeder.

Justin pulled his Stetson down on his forehead and grinned. “I'm sure you can.” He looked over the big mare. “I've never been on a horse that large. Maybe you'll let me ride her sometime?”

Callie glanced over her shoulder to see if the young cowboy was kidding. Her rotten neighbor, Luke, was forever teasing her about the draft mare. Justin's sleek paint would rival any of the horses on Luke's ranch. Maybe he had the same stuck-up opinion of Celah.

She noted the open smile on Justin's face and decided that he might not be making fun of her after all. “Sure,” she said. “If you're not worried about falling off.”

Justin laughed. “Don't worry. When I've got that far to fall, I'll be extra careful.”

Callie studied the young cowboy again. He seemed sincere. Maybe he was just trying to make up for the bad start. He was definitely trying to help save Moon Shadow, so he couldn't be
that
bad.

“The last time I fell off Celah, I couldn't sit down for a week.”

“I bet.” He motioned her into the corral. “Come see your filly.”

Callie followed him, smiling to herself. He'd said Moon Shadow had been fed a couple times during the night. That meant there was hope. She entered the pen where Moon Shadow wobbled around on her long, spindly legs. “She doesn't look like she's improved much,” Callie said in concern as she took in the filly's gaunt sides and weak appearance.

“Well, I wouldn't exactly say that she's thriving,” Justin said, walking up to the skittish filly. He crooned soft words to her as he extended his hand to touch the foal's golden coat. “But at least she's still alive.”

Callie felt another wrench of jealousy when Moon Shadow gave a soft nicker to the boy.

“She's improved a little,” he added. He wrapped his arms around Moon Shadow to stop her from running away and motioned with a nod of his head. “Come touch her. She's really soft.”

Callie stepped forward slowly, extending her hand toward the filly's neck. She knew that the center of a horse's forehead was like a blind spot. Patting a wild horse there might cause it to react in fright. Horses were prey animals. In the wild, they were the hunted instead of the hunter. They needed vision that enabled them to see forward, to the sides, and behind them; that's why their eyes were on the sides of their head. Callie softly stroked the filly's neck, then trailed her hands up toward the filly's cheekbones.

“You're good with horses,” Justin observed with an approving smile.

Callie felt herself blush at the unexpected compliment. “I want to be an equine vet like Susan someday,” she told him. She ran her fingers through the filly's wispy, black mane, marveling at its soft, silky feel. “Then I can help save horses like she does.”