Wild and Free #1: Freedom

CHAPTER FOUR: THE FIRE

When Claire finds out that her father sold Livia, she bursts into tears.

"How could you do this?" She shouts at him. "How could you sell Grandpa's favorite horse?"

"Look Claire," Mr. Timmons replies. "I didn't want to do it any more than you wanted me to, but I had to. We needed that money."

"I still can't believe you!" Claire shouts. "What would Grandpa say?" She pauses, and then adds, "Now Sable will be lonely!"

"Claire, Sable is a horse," Mr. Timmons says. "He won't be lonely. Horses don't think like that."

But Claire ignores him, and runs out of the front door and into the barn, heartbroken.

Mr. Timmons is heartbroken too. Heartbroken that he had to give up his father's favorite horse, just for money. Heartbroken that he had to upset his daughter in the process. But, there is nothing he can do about it now. He can't turn back, though he wishes he could.

In the barn, Sable is lying down in his stall alone, still upset about his mother. Mr. Timmons was wrong; horses do feel lonely, especially if they are a young foal who has had their mother taken away from them.

Sable is extremely angry with Mr. Timmons for selling Livia. How could this human whom he trusted have been so heartless and selfish? He just doesn't understand it. He would have never thought that Mr. Timmons would do something like this.

Suddenly, Claire comes running in. With a flood of tears flowing from her eyes, she wraps her arms around the foal's neck.

Inside his heart, Sable is weeping with her. He has never felt so close to Claire as he does now. Both of them are upset over the same problem, and each is now gaining comfort from the other.

Sable knows that he will miss his mother, but he hopes now that it will be this way forever... just he and Claire.

The weeks go by. Sable still misses his mother very much, but the more time that passes, the more he begins to forget a few things about her. He slightly forgets what she looks like, and even what she sounds like.

But he never forgets her stories about Kelay. He especially remembers his favorite, about Kelay saving her herd from that forest fire. He's not sure if he could ever forget that story, even if he wanted to.

As the days pass, and Sable begins to grow bigger, he also grows closer and closer to Claire. But the older he gets, the more he begins to think that those "Kelay" stories were just that... stories.

Finally, he turns two years old. His bond with Claire has continued to grow stronger, and it is now unbreakable. She comes out to the barn every day and grooms him. After that, she saddles him up and takes him for a ride in the beautiful countryside. Back at the barn, they talk to each other. Claire tells Sable all about her day, and Sable tells Claire about his day... even though all she can understand is a bunch of grunts and neighs.

Mrs. Timmons even spends some of her free time with Sable every now and then. She will come out to the barn and pat him on his side, then give him a carrot or two, which he happily chomps on until there isn't a single bite left. He then gently licks Mrs. Timmons's hand affectionately, and she smiles, though he isn't sure how much she really likes it.

Mr. Timmons rarely comes out to the barn, but when he does it's just for a check-up. He cleans the dirt from Sable's hooves, changes out the hay in Sable's stall, and looks to see if Claire groomed him well enough. If he doesn't think she did, he will quickly run a brush over Sable, and then leave.