The Time Giver

June 12th: Worry

Days melded into weeks, and before Zach knew it, a month had passed since Kelly had brought him from the center. Every day, he found himself getting up earlier to help Kelly with the chores, feeding horses and cleaning stalls. Some days, while Kelly ran errands or worked with another horse, Zach either worked with Turner or rode Popcorn. On others, she called him into the arena, and had him work a different horse, pointing out different quirks each of them had. It was an easy life, and he was becoming more and more comfortable with all of the animals. Mooney still slept at the foot of his bed, and Piper often accompanied him to the barn, her tongue lolling as she gave him a grin.

Zach closed and latched Turner's stall door, and turned to see Kelly walking down the aisle leading a large bay gelding. "Who's that?"

"Cadillac." Kelly didn't seem too happy. "His owner called this morning, requesting I work with him; she just dropped him off. Apparently, he isn't wanting to listen."

Zach smiled as she pulled up beside him. "Well, that's easy. That's what you always do with Vodka."

Kelly shot a glance at the horse, who was bobbing his head and pawing. She lightly slapped his shoulder to stop him. "Something's off, though," she muttered. "Something doesn't feel right."

Zach cocked his head. "What do you mean?"

"I don't know." Kelly eyed the bay. "But I just have a bad feeling about this one. He's got a lot of spunk."

Zach thought a moment. "What if you let him loose in the arena first? Then, if he wants to run, he can, and he'll burn off energy."

Kelly nodded. "Good idea." She lead Cadillac down to the arena, the afternoon light turning the horse's coat into the shade of fresh clover honey. Zach trailed behind, grabbing the lunge line, and noticed how tense Kelly looked.

When they got to the arena, Kelly made sure the gate was entirely shut and latched, then unclipped the lead rope. Cadillac bolted across the arena, sliding to a stop in front of the fence before rolling back to streak toward another fence. Halfway there, he threw a tremendous buck, throwing sand everywhere.

"Wow!" Zach gasped as the horse wheeled and followed the fenceline a ways before cutting back toward the middle. "He sure is fast!" He glanced over to see Kelly standing behind the gate with her arms crossed, a muscle in her neck taut. Her eyes were glued to the bay as he cavorted around the arena, throwing himself into tight spins and dizzying leaps, beating a tattoo in the air with his quick hooves. The more he did it, the more tense Kelly became.

Finally, Cadillac stopped dead in his tracks in the center of the arena, snorting loudly as his bulging eyes stared down his audience.Every muscle was twitching, and his head and neck were at sharp angles.

Kelly's voice was a whisper. "What in this world..."

Zach looked up at her. "What is it?"

Kelly never took her eyes off the bay, who was stock still. "Priscilla said he just had a few small issues. This, though, looks more like an attitude, not to mention the energy." She bit her lip.

"But you can fix it, right?"

"Maybe." Again, she was silent, never taking her eyes off of Cadillac, who was now pawing the arena, keeping one ear turned toward them. "This'll take a lot more time than usual. He obviously has a lot of problems." She furrowed her brows. "Priscilla's a new customer, so I'm not sure. But considering the pink rig she drove up in, she's probably going to be another usual." She sighed, and for the first time, Zach realized her tense behaviour was because she was nervous.

Was she afraid? She was never afraid!

Shaking her head, Kelly gestured for the lunge line. He passed it to her, noticing the slight tremor in her hand. "What's wrong, Kelly?"