Welcome to Horseland

See You Around

I hugged Molly and spoke, "See you around Molly, and Stay Safe! Go straight home and give Will a call to make sure you got home all right?"

Molly smiles and stated, "Alright Sarah I will."

She steps on up into the city bus. I shook my head and wondered aloud as the bus moves off she sat down and was waving to Alma and me and we waved back.

"How do her parents not get worried sick about her not having a good way to contact her, Alma?"

"She doesn't have parents, it's just her Dad, her and her little sister. She won't talk to anyone about her Mom's passing." Alma sighs. "And as far as being a dentist goes it is pretty much a pretty full time job, Sarah. Molly does put in hours at the vet practice here in Silversprings she is really good with animals she really wanted a puppy someday as she thinks it will be great for her and Blissa."

"It would be especially if you got a puppy that is a lot Shep he or she could protect the true of those young girls from unseen and untold dangers, Believe me dogs can scare off not smart thugs."

I wasn't saying that to be cool even little dogs can be menacing to people who are not very smart. Heck even cats can be that way. I would know I was allowed to not only just have Scarlet I was allowed to raise a Kitten.

"Whelp, we better be heading back your Driver will be back say why didn't your parents come with you and why didn't they drive you?"

I chuckled. "My parents hate driving their cars they own they don't want to learn to drive them. I may live in a family of wealthy people but I have to deal with parents who are terrified of car steering wheels and gear shifts. Plus they believe it's better to hire someone to get me around as it gets the family members out of poverty. And my Dad has gotten really annoyed with car alarms being so obnoxious these days. He has sensitive ears kind of like the animals at Horseland. So what exactly happened with Will?"

"No one knows Eva found him outside a burning barn as a kid her first brother her twin died in the fire trying to safe his wife. Sometimes Chloe and Zoey wonder if being in that burning barn had something to do with his development of dyslexia which is ridiculously impossible Sarah. Don't believe everything they say they love to lie and pretend they care about stuff." Alma says.

""But they're siblings surely they care about each other, right? What pair of twins wouldn't be concerned about their twin sister right, Alma?" I questioned.

"Come to think of it, Chloe and Zoey won't hug me or any of my friends and I have never ever heard them say things like I love or something similar to each other."

"Well, now that's just a sad tale to let unfold especially between sisters," I spoke we went back down the road crossed onto the diagonal path thankfully by the time we were halfway to the hill Horseland outside lights were on and we could see the rest of the way down the paths without use of the trail signs. Will and Bailey were bringing in their horses from the paddock. Alma picked up Calypso halter and opens the gate as I picked up Scarlet's and we called them by their names.

"Scarlet!" I called gently. She walked up to me and lowered her head towards me. I was able to easily slip the halter on over her head. And I turned standing on the left side of my horse's head holding the lead rope that was attached to the halter as well I watched Alma as she called the Apaloosa mare over.

"Calypso, come on, girl." Alma coaxed quietly. Calypso must really realize Alma and Molly are best friends. She lowered her head and allowed Alma to slip the halter on making sure it didn't get caught up on her ears just as I had made sure Scarlet's ears weren't tangled up. Alma made a clicking sound with her tongue I wasn't very familiar with but Calypso seems to be responding to it. Alma led Calypso out of the paddock. I followed a horse space behind her with Scarlet. I stopped at the barn door giving Alma space to turn Calypso around before entering the stall together.

"Sarah!" Alma poke her head out of the stall. "Watch out! Bailey you need to be more careful with your mucking rakes!"

"Hey, it's not my fault the Stilton Sisters don't muck out their stalls. This is a pet practice which they totally will flop at."

Alma had caught the rake and stated. "While you're at it, Bailey you better check there's no rattlesnakes in range hiding in each and every nook and cranny."

"Hello, our move population is low and I haven't seen a snake in years that I have grown up in that blue house, Alma Rodrigeuz."

"Don't call me by first and last name, Bailey please it's embarrassing. It's just Alma."

"It won't be if we get invited to another Heritage Parade, Alma." speaks Bailey back. "They announce your full name what are you going to do to deal with it then?"

"I deal with that problem when it arrives Bailey. Just check for sneaky snakes please. You're pretty much the only boy we ever see around or in the barn, and you pick up a lot of the dirty work anyways."

"Hey! Are you trying to insinuate that I like dirty work?" inquires Bailey. "I still don't think there will be any snakes they're not enough mice to go around here. Angora's doing her job too well."

"Pretty Please!" Alma sighs and winked at him.

"Oh, alright! Fine who can say no to that adorable pleading Bossy Alma face." Bailey mumbles as he checked each room in the barn for snakes and new mice which would attract snakes.

"Horse stalls mucked, each horse is back in its stall Sarah how did Scarlet do that?" He asked.

"Do what?" I inquired as I saw my horse out of the stall in front of me. She nudged me in the head.

"You silly young Arabian mare," I sighed. "My parents trained me to do that with her so she wouldn't get stuck in a stall in a barn caught on fire."

"Well, that's actually a really good idea, Horses shouldn't stay tied down or stuck in a building especially if said obstacles-landscapings are burning." Alma says. "You taught her to unlatch her door so she can escape during dangerous events."

"And she won't do it just for herself," I informed them. "At my old riding school the horses that were ridden daily would have been lost in the fire we had because they were  so hard to unlock stall doors but Scarlet knew the lock and she saved them all led them into the ranch wilderness and they were there for a couple of weeks 3 at most. Scarlet now please, back in your stall, I will see you in the morning."

"Your horse still walks loose in the wilderness? Isn't that dangerous? Couldn't someone have stolen her?" inquires Bailey.

"Bailey not every horse needs to be tethered," states Alma. "The horses that were brought from the Spanish survived not drowning in the oceans and sharks and were perfectly able to adapt to living here years before we realized they were once Spanish horses, but that does not include Calypso she's an American horse she's partially descended from one of the breeds that the Native Americans used to ride and was well trained and bred for cross country riding aka what's out in the wild and endurance training."

"That's the same thing about Scarlett being an Arabian horse she's built for endurance training and she can stand really high temperatures," I stated. "Her breed came from way out in the Desert countries of the Middle East. She will be a leader here just like Jimber is."

Scarlet neighs from her stall. As long as a horse has spent emotional time with you you do not need to worry about it not finding its way back to you because it will find its way home eventually even a wildfire can't always damage a bond of soulful friendships. If there were a fire nearby burning would you let the horses run free if you thought it might reach their stalls? I know I would animals are still lives and being burned literally or figuratively is no fun at all. Would You?