A Light in the Dark: The moon

Chapter 6: The big reveal

In the morning, Etta had almost forgotten the whole ordeal. She sat up, ready to start a new day, and was just climbing down the ladder to her bunk when she remembered the events of the night before. An anxiety gripped her, as she realized that it was not impossible for any manner of odd sensation to come back, if someone were touch Stella. She tried to imagine how it would feel to have someone brush Stella as she got dressed, but pushed the thought to the back of her mind, and went downstairs for breakfast. Her friends were already sitting at their usual table, and Etta went over to join them.

-"Well, you slept in!" Said Thomas as he noticed Etta coming their way.

-"We would have waken you up, but Mrs Harvard asked that we leave you alone." Said Maddy.

-"What time is it?" asked Etta.

Maddy looked at her phone.

-"9:07" she answered.

Etta stifled a gasped. That was late! Even for a Saturday.

-"Hey, at least you missed your riding lessons. You won't be in trouble, if that's what you're wondering. I get the feeling that Mrs Harvard meant for you to sleep longer." Said Jeremy.

Etta was relieved. She sank down into a chair next to Maddy.

-"You waited for me," Etta said, noticing the empty cafeteria and realizing that they would normally have had breakfast earlier.

Anne nodded and handed Etta a plate of bacon and eggs. She thanked her friends.

-"We wanted to know what happened yesterday. You weren't on the bus to the auction place, and when it was time for bed, you were already asleep." Maddy explained

-"Not to mention the fact that we weren't even allowed in our dorm t'ill bed time." Added Anne.

So Etta explained to them everything that had happened, while eating her food. When she was done, her friends looked bewildered, and their plates were fully clean.

-"So you and your horse are psychic...? And whenever someone touches her, you have a panic attack...?" Asked Thomas after awhile.

Anne shoved him, playfully scolding.

-"Why didn't you tell us?" Asked Anne.

-"I didn't know until now..." She admitted.

-"So, you've been living a lie...?" Asked Jeremy, joking.

-"Maybe," said Etta, laughing.

-"Hey, I forgot to mention... I think Mrs Harvard is looking for you." Said Anne, a knowing look on her face.

-"Oh, ok." Etta said, standing up.

She put her empty plate in the sink, and set off to look for her math teacher. She didn't have to go far, for she was right inside her office, organizing some papers. Snow drifted gently from a gray sky, out of a window behind her desk.
She looked up as Etta entered the room.

-"Good morning, it seems you had a good night's rest," she remarked.

Etta nodded.

-"How are you feeling?" she asked, scanning Etta with her piercing grey eyes.

-"Much better. In fact, I feel brand new."

Etta did have a feeling of completion that morning.
Satisfied, Mrs Harvard continued.

-"Good. You missed your riding lesson with Kerri this morning. We did want you to sleep in today, to rest up after what happened last night. For today, you won't have a riding lesson. Hansengrove needs some help showering the horses, so you'll be helping her instead." She said.

Happy, Etta went up to her dorm to change into her barn clothes. She loved being around horses, and was looking forward to spending time with her older sister figure, someone she really looked up to and was comfortable with.

In the barn, she found Hansengrove in the tack room, examining a piece of flat metal. She quickly hid it away when she heard Etta coming.

-"What is that?" Asked Etta.

-"It's nothing... You look better." Hansengrove remarked, inconspicuously changing the subject.

-"Yea, I feel complete today." Etta said with a smile," So, should I fetch the hose?" She asked.

-"I would like to show you something first," Hansengrove said, smiling.

It almost seemed like she was jittering with anticipation that morning, like part of the youth from when she was a student had come back to her features. Etta was led down the hall of boxes to Éclair's box. Next to it was another stall. It was usually empty, but Hansengrove encouraged her to look into it, so Etta did. In the box, was a thin, tall, mud crusted mare.
Etta gave a little squeak of excitement. Every little girl could only dream of this moment!

-"Is that-" she started, but couldn't finish.

-"It is. During that meeting, we, in accordance with representative government officials, decided that Stella was the only horse you could ever bond with. We ended up getting her easily. Nobody wanted her." She said, a note of sadness in her voice.

-"Thank you!" Etta exclaimed, forgetting the mention of the government, and threw her arms around Hansengrove's shoulders.

-"Don't thank me, thank the government. They're the ones who sanctioned the mare." Said Hansengrove, "Now, let's find out what stunning pelt shines behind that muddy fur."

In a moment, Etta had Stella tied to the cross-ties in the the shower (the horse shower, of course).

-"We have to be very careful. She is not used to water, or people, for that matter" said Hansengrove, "Now, I want you to reassure her while I gently introduce her to the water."

Etta positioned herself on the left of Stella, by her nose. She petted the tip, and whispered in her ear about ice-cream and things horses could never dream of eating. The mare flinched at the touch of the ice-cold water. The water made it's way up to her belly, and she threw her head, but with Etta's gentle touch, she quickly calmed down. When the mare was finally covered in water, Etta and her teacher gently rubbed in the shampoo. They were careful to always stay where the mare could see them. At one point, Etta even felt as if she was being doused in cold water herself. She ignored it, and carried on shampooing Stella.
Once the shampoo was all brown foam on the mare's coat, it was time to rinse it off, and finally reveal her colour.

-"You do the honors," said Hansengrove to Etta.

She took the hose from Hansengrove, and slowly introduced the water to the mare, starting on her right side, just like Hansengrove had done earlier on. Starting from the neck, the water revealed some very dark brown. This continued as it got down to the shoulder.

-"She must be a seal bay!" Exclaimed Etta.

Sure enough, the water revealed a seal brown coat, with two white half inch tall socks on her back legs. As they got to her hind end however, they could see a handsome spotted blanket, as though someone had poured white paint all over her hind quarters and then spattered large globs of dark brown paint over it with paintbrushes, and a very long black, wavy tail and mane.

-"She's beautiful!" Etta gasped.

Hansengrove looked aghast, and Etta gave her a puzzled look. Hansengrove shook her head and said,

-"It's nothing, it's just... She looks just like Éclair." She said.

This was true, Etta thought. What a strange thing... Stella's coat was only a few shade of brown darker than the old mare. Different from Éclair as well, Stella had a thin stripe of white going from her forehead to her nose, and skewed right at her nostrils, leaving the very tip of her nose white. Though it was terribly matted, Stella's mane was thick and long. Her forelock was vaguely curly, leading the girls to imagine that the rest of her mane and tail would be also once all the mats and clumps of clinging mud were dealt with. There were visible -and recent- scars on her hindquarters and on her chest; the marks of her past.

-"Those should heal with time," said Hansengrove, motioning toward the scars, "Some of them may never leave..." her voice trailed off.