Lullaby

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Race Day long ago...

Thad had washed Velveteen Rabbit and made sure she was sleek for the race. She was supposed to win. In the final turn, she picked up speed and he held onto the reins leaning into her and into the turn like always. The sound of the water was tranquil against her snorting and clacking her hooves against the dirt. She crossed the finish line but just as she crossed it she spooked. Thad held on as she bucked and neighed. He tried to get her to calm down, but she could not be bridled. She ran past spectators and into the thicket toward home. As she came to the stream, she put her head down and cantered she was running faster than ever. Something was wrong. He saw the log before she did and tried to make her slow but she would not listen. She tumbled he didn't remember anything but the feeling of her saddle and then nothing. No water. No light. Nothing. Rabbit had run and he could not stop her. He had blocked out the events after that day until Ingrim had found the book his sister had written in.. The maid was coming around and Fern and mother had gotten on so very well that now he would have to work harder at keeping the boys happy and the girl as well. It was time for another horse to come on the property and reuse the barn. 

Brooklyn straightened his cap and browsed the library where Ingrim sat with Mac looking at pictures of liver chesnut thoroughbred quarter horses. He was not sure they would make good pets but knew that they would be teachable and loyal. He meant to ask the lady of the house if he could apply for stable hand. He could use a distraction. He missed the house before but now it was too loud so he spent his time between the barn loft and the treehouse. The horse had been found and she displayed it proudly. He thought of the doll and the pieces that were starting to slowly come together. The Manor had started to pick its tenants. One summer day a car pulled in the driveway. His sister was in the house loitering in the library with Faith. When the man drove in a trailer Brooklyn watched from the window. What had they brought this time?

A beautiful black stallion exited the trailer and entered the paddock. Mack "ooed "and "Ahhhed" at the animal but he could tell they were not used to being around horses. The horses' nostrils flared. So did Brooklyn's. Finally there was another horse in the barn. He was highwilled and handsome. Something to teach and latch onto and maybe at the end of the summer he could ride the horse down by the river and wonder where it was that things had happened so long ago. Maybe Mack and Ingrim had tapped into something old. There was a great need to be loved. Like Vera's old wish to be young. Bridgette's to be liked. Fern's to have a friend. Same as his sister and mother. The horse bit Ingrim as he took the apple away. Brooklyn would take immense care of the new horse at the manor. He walked down to the barn and found the horse running about in circles. No one was there so he walks up and talked to it. He whinnied he rubbed his nose. Ingrim would be a good one to own this beautiful creature. They had been searching for names. He thought Sable would be a good name. The saddle sat in Ingrim's room unused.  He had meant to seek out its rightful owner. 

Fern was pacing the hall between rooms, but no one had noticed her. Brooklyn felt that Vera and his mom must meet soon. They had history to catch up on and share no matter how different they were. Brooklyn blew his whistle from the treehouse to alert his sister and settled in the quiet. Things would start to look up tomorrow as long as things went the same way it had at one time. As long as Ingrim remembered he was to work with Sable not control him. 

From in the treehouse there was a beautiful vantage point of all the adults and children spoiling the horse and he wished he could take a picture of this moment. All calm before someone wakes up abruptly "dream still dawning." Fern stood in the barn and looked at the huge animal below the loft. She smiled at him and shrugged. Tomorrow, they would try the horse for shoeing and then let the boys try to speak to him and get to know him so that he would know he was safe. Never look a gift horse in the mouth. Especially one that smart.  What no one knew is that no horse was ever just a companion here. They became much more than that...No one but Brooklyn. 

In the middle of the night an RV pulled into the lot and parked beside the barn. A scraping sound awakened Brooklyn and Fern. He watched the elderly man open the door and shuffle to look at the great animal that had come to be loved and cared for in this place. Almost a copy of Sultan. The old man looked around and wiped a tear from his eye. Then, shuffled back and forth nervously sensing something in the loft. He scanned but saw nothing. Maybe it was the cold. The young lad's horse was beautiful.  Brooklyn gasped when he realized who the man was... It couldn't be. The old Irish stable hand stood stroking the nose of the stallion of Ingram's humming a song that made goosebumps come up on his arms.  This place held secrets and that man knew many of them. Greenbriar was about to awake from a dream.  The horse whinied nervously and kicked over the steele pail. The old man cackled and walked out into the night. Tonight, he would go down to the house and tell his mother the news.  

Her long lost love had returned. 




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