Heart and Soul (rewrite)

Chapter Twenty Two

Once Esperanza left I turned my attention to my surroundings. I was alone in the field, but another horse was in a pasture close by. Near enough to touch noses over the fence. I trotted across the field, no great distance, and reached over the fence with a nicker. The pony raised its head and walked to me. It was a pale palomino, with a thick mane and long forelock that partially obscured a thin blaze. When our noses met a warmth of familiarity washed over me. it had been nearly two months since I had last bonded with a horse. I learned his name was Gold Rush, and he had been here for over ten years. I didn't think I had ever spent ten years in one place. He kept me company during the day, but went inside when the sun sank below the distant mountains, leaving me to my own devices during the dark hours.

Esperanza brushed me nearly every day, and continued talking to me in her lilting accent. She even sang me a song, that was oh so familiar. It went something like this:

"She put him out, like the burning end of a midnight cigarette. She broke his heart, and he spent his whole life trying to forget. We watched him drink the pain away, a little at a time, but he never could get drunk enough, to get her off his mind."

I listened quietly until she reached the chorus, at which point I threw up my head with a  snort. I did know this song! I tried to draw the person who sang it out of the murky waters of my mind, but all I could see was a vaguely feminine shape. I sighed, and Esperanza continued brushing me, humming the tune.

The next day a new person came to see me, a tall man with mousy brown hair and a soft, young face. His cocoa eyes danced with laughter. I liked him the second I saw him. He did a peculiar thing, that man. When he saw me he bowed at the waist, and clasped his hands behind his back. As I reached my muzzle out to touch him he blew into my nostrils, like a horse. I snorted for a moment, but found myself drawn to this strange human. He chuckled and let me sniff his hand. No cookies there. I allowed him to rub my forehead, working his fingers through my thin forelock, and expanding star. His energy was calm and relaxed, like he had all the time in the world. A volunteer opened my gate and led me as he spoke to them. They put me in my stall, explaining to the man, whose name, I found out, was Chris, that I refused to tie. He chuckled.

"Spirited little mare, then. She looks great for twenty three. I have everything in the back of my truck, could you grab it for me? Set it up in the ring as you'd like."

The man rubbed his hands all over me. I lifted my lip as he scratched a bug bite in my mane and pinned my ears as he ran his hand across my heart girth. He hummed at this, but continued touching until I stopped responding. He suddenly slumped on my side and I looked at him, both ears up. Was he okay? He stood up, and walked behind me, then leaned on me from the other side. I sighed. This man was insane. Then, he quietly lifted my saddle and pad off the door and placed it gently on my back. Once he had his helmet secured he fitted the soft snaffle in my mouth and led me from the stall into the ring. Barrels and buckets and poles and flags and brooms and all manner of things were strewn around the ring. I snorted at a flag, but Chris rode me straight up to it and wouldn't let me leave until I had touched it. We walked around the strange setup several times. Chris allowed me to touch anything that interested me, until I walked around the mess of objects with my ears flopped to the sides. Then he put me to work. With feather light hands he put me on the bit, through I was stiff and found bending much harder than I remembered. He extended my trot and collected it, and foggy memories of Molly emerged. I put more spring to my step, remembering how wonderful it felt to gallop down the long side, leading a line of horses, a blue ribbon around my neck and Molly radiating pure joy from her saddle.

After we cantered and Chris asked me to walk again he suddenly tipped to the side so quickly I thought he was going to fall off, so I stopped. He righted himself, and asked me to walk on. Then he screamed. I flipped my head, but he dropped a hand to my neck and I relaxed, if only slightly. He continued to nearly fall off, produce random and sudden noises, and flop around in the saddle. Eventually, I stopped caring what he did, though I still stopped if I felt him slide too far to one side. Then, he asked a volunteer to lead me. I walked calmly, I'd given pony rides before. The next time around I was led and someone walked beside me, and the third time three people surrounded me. One on either side, and the woman leading me. I walked on, not minding the attention at all. Then, Chris dismounted and stood next to me. I waited for him to walk, but he didn't. We stood still for what must have been ten minutes. I dropped a hind foot, but stood calmly. By then, I had tired of this strange new game. Next, Chris untacked me in the arena, and then, something hit me in the side. I jumped to the side to see a stuffed animal laying in the dirt. Ironically, it was a horse.

The stuffed animal was followed by a ball, and I could see Esperanza tossing them. They were light throws, and eventually I just sniffed the various objects as they fell to the dirt after colliding with my sides, shoulders, and hindquarters. But I had one more test to pass. Chris threw a cape over my back, draped baling twine down my shoulders and neck so that the ends tickled my legs. He placed giant sunglasses on my face and a crown around my ears. I stood still for all of it. Chris let a wild grin take over his features. He took the wild clothes off me and put everything back in his truck and my tack away while I wandered around the arena, rolling in a sandy spot to scratch the itches left by my saddle. Then, he put me back in my field, and vanished into the barn.

Three days later, I was off to my new home.