Santa's Daughter (1st bk of Santa Series) (Completed)

Chapter 12 (Edited)

I was hit by a sweet aroma of chicken, when I reached the door that lead to the pantry. My mouth started to water because it smelt so good. I followed John out of the pantry and looked around, my stomach started to grumble.

"Well, well, well, look who finally came out from wherever they had been hiding for the past few minutes," Madison said, when she spotted us. There was a smirk on her face, while she gave me a knowing look, making me blush.

"Madison," Mom warned, glancing at her. She knew about my crush on John, and she did want me to say something. However, I had this fear of getting rejected by my best friend that kept me from saying anything about it.

Madison glanced at my mother. There was an innocent smile on her face before she went to get some food. "I didn't do anything," she said. "So, I don't deserve that tone."

I rolled my eyes at my best friend when she sent me a smirk. I glanced at the food, amazed by how much she had meade, even though it in was a short period of time. "Wow, Mom. You can feed millions with all of this." I gestured towards the food while I started to get a plate. "And it all smells good."

"Well I have a few hungry kids that eat a lot, and it is snowing outside. We, also, have a new guest with us, so I thought why don't we just celebrate?" She shrugged her shoulder, while she nodded her head towards Frankie.

"We do have a girl that eats a lot, even though it doesn't look like it," Madison said, smirking. She glanced at me, raising an eyebrow. "Isn't that right?"

I shrugged my shoulder. "I don't know," I shot back, smirking. "What do you think?" She was right though, since I was really skinny, even though I do eat like a horse. I shook my head at her before glancing at my mother, thinking of something. "Hey, Mom, do you think that we might be able to go to the auction tomorrow?"

"Well, we do have a guest, you know. And, with the guest it might take time out of going to the auction and finding horses."

I sighed in defeat, but I knew that she was right. We did have a guest, and we had to make sure that he was comfortable with it. If he wasn't, then I guess we wouldn't be going to this one, even though we went to most of them.

"Don't mind me. I would like to come, also, and see what you all do when you are not on school grounds." Frankie glanced at me, raising an eyebrow.

I shrugged my shoulder, acting indifferent. "We work with horses every day. In the winter, we have snowball fights and go sledding. We, also, just exercise ourselves, making us have muscles." I made a fist and showed a muscle before I walked towards the dining room. My plate was filled with everything that was on the table. I sat down in between Madison and John, having more food than them.

"Her eyes is bigger than her stomach, Frankie," Mom said, sitting down at the head while Tyan sat down on the other side along with Frankie.

"I think it's a mother and father trait with the whole eating thing," Frankie replied, smirking at me. He started to cut up his chicken.

"No, it's more of a father trait," Mom replied. "It is definitely not from my side of the family." She smirked, also, making me blush slightly. "However, she works it off with doing all that work she does everyday."

"Anyways, what do you do at the auction places?" Frankie asked, turning it back to the conversation that we had done.

"We look at horses and see if they had been abused or not. We, also, look to see if some were about to be sold as dog food. We try to get them away from the auction place and help them trust in humans again," I replied.

"It doesn't matter if they have been abused or if they have a small problem. They will take the animal and bring them back here. If they are skinny, then they will feed them before they start working with them," Tyan added. She glanced at me. "And, will I be able to get an abused horse of my own?"

I nodded my head, yes. "You earned it, Tyan," I said, smiling at the younger female.

"What do you mean by that?" she asked, curiously.

"Well, you had put up with a girl, like me, for almost a year now, and that is a big thing. You still work through this, even though you had been bucked off, kicked, bitten, and being rammed into a stall by multiple horses. I, also, really appreciate the hard work that you had done this past year and your quick learning attitude."

"But you helped," Tyan said, raising an eyebrow. "You were the first one to appear, when I got hurt from doing something, even if it was my fault."

"Well, of course. I thought your mother would hurt me, since I was letting her girl get injured by horses that could kill you." I raised an eyebrow.

"So? I still worked with horses, anyways. It's because that you were the one that helped me with anything that I had a problem with. I, also, love how a horse starts to know that it is no use on fighting us, and they start trusting in us again," Tyan said, grinning. "You are a great leader, and you know a lot about horses and people. I can't believe that you just saw me at a meet that I was at, and you started talking to me after you helped me with my horse. I remember you telling me that you were impressed with me, because I had remained calm, even though my horse was rearing up at me and tried to scare me away."

"So, she started to work with horses because you saw her at a horse show where her horse was rearing up, Mary?" Frankie asked, kind of confused on the whole monologue.

I nodded my head, knowing what she meant. "I told her this many times, that she had potential and that she is perfect for the job because she listens," I replied, glancing at Tyan to see her blush.

"Listens to what exactly?" Frankie asked, looking between me and Tyan.

"Listen to what the horses are saying with their bodies," I replied. "Some people can do it naturally while others have to work on it. Tyan had the gift of being able to understand from the beginning."

Tyan nodded and shrugged her shoulder. "Well, it's nothing like you do, Mary."

"And what does Mary do?" asked Frankie, glancing at me before looking at my mother. There was a frown on his face, and he looked pretty confused on what I do.

"I can talk to animals with my mind," I said, blushing. I looked down at my plate. "It doesn't matter what type of animal it is, I can talk to them." He was the only adult, beside my mother, that knew about my gift. I could talk to animals with my mind and understand what the problem was with them before others.

"Oh, she can speak to animals with her mind," Frankie said, sounding amused and maybe a little disgusted with me and my "gift". "Can she do that, Marie?" He glanced at my mother, raising an eyebrow.

Mom nodded her head. "Yes, she can talk to animals with her mind. She had been able to do that for a very long time.

I was a bit uncomfortable with my secret out and told to him. I was, also, uncomfortable with being talked as if I wasn't in the room. I knew that I had to get out of there, so I wiped my mouth with my napkin and looked at my mother. "Excuse me, please, but I need to see if the dogs had been fed." I stood from the table after I had gotten a nod from my mother, indicating that I could go and check on them.

"Is it something I said?" Frankie asked her, while I turned around to leave. Confusion filled his voice, while I ignored them.

"No, it's what you didn't say," she said, watching me go through the door that lead to the kitchen and backyard. "And, it might've been the talking as if she wasn't here in the room."