by Elizabeth Thompkins
I have to get to the barn. I have to save her. I have to. I have to.
These
thoughts whirled through the young girl´s mind as she raced to the barn. Cold,
harsh winds pushed against her as though it did not want her to make it in time
while that dark night loomed overhead. The girl ran harder. As punishment, the
wind whipped her hair against her face, causing a stinging pain.
Almost
there. I have to save her. The wind angrily banged
the barn doors open and closed and the young girl drew near. She could now hear
the stomping of hoofs and the frightened whinny of horses inside. It was as if
they could sense the approaching semblance of death coming closer and
closer.
Gotta
make it in time. Gotta save her. There! She was in the
barn and racing down the aisle, passing horse after horse until she made it to
the stall she was after. The white quarter horse lay on the ground, sides not
moving. The young girl’s heart stopped in her chest as she gazed at the
unmoving horse. She crumpled to her knees as tears welled up in her eyes.
I-I
failed.
Earlier
that morning
¨Don’t
forget, Andi, I want all the stalls mucked out by the time Mitch and I get back
tomorrow morning.¨ Chad looked down at 14-year-old Andi Carter from where he
sat upon his gelding, Sky. He glanced up at the grey, December sky as dark
clouds began to bunch together. ¨Looks like rains comin´. Make sure you don´t
leave any horses out in the storm, especially not Snowflake. Her foal will be
due in a couple of weeks, and I don´t want anything to happen to her.¨
¨Anything
else you would like me to do?¨ Andi sarcastically asked. ¨Want me to do your
laundry and clean up your bedroom as well?¨
¨Just
do what I said and don´t get into trouble¨ Chad grumbled. Even though he acted
grumpily, Andi could see the corners of his mouth twitch at the beginning of a
smile.
Andi
watched as her brothers turned their horses and began galloping down the road.
¨Don`t let the barn door hit you on the way out¨ she called after them.
Mitch
let out a whoop of laughter, and Chad waved his hat in reply.
She
waited for them to ride out of sight before she went back into the barn. They
wouldn´t be gone long, only until the next morning. They had to go attend a
cattle auction in a neighboring town. Normally, they wouldn´t go, but a family
that just moved to the area with whom Chad was acquainted asked for his help in
purchasing cattle. So Chad and Mitch decided to go.
Andi
had wanted to go as well, but Mother had firmly said no. ¨You have chores and
responsibility here, Andrea¨ she said.
¨Like
the mucking can´t wait for a day,¨ Andi mumbled as she pushed the wheelbarrow
into the first stall. After about a total of five minutes of scooping muck,
Andi felt like she was going to scream. ¨I`m going to die of boredom!¨ Glancing
at the wheelbarrow, she thought, It will still be here later… I`ll just
go for a quick ride.
Racing
out of the stall, she ran outside and to the paddock fence where her palamino
mare was grazing. She let out a long whistle and shouted, ¨here girl! Come´ere
Taffy!¨ Gazing around the field, she saw her beautiful golden horse loping
towards her. Taffy came to a halt besides Andi and began to nicker a greeting.
¨Ready to go for a ride, pretty girl?¨
Andi
jumped onto Taffy, not caring that she was currently riding bareback, and broke
off into gallop. Then wind played with her hair, blowing it behind Andi as she
raced across the moorland. In what seemed like minutes, but was truthfully
about an hour, they made it to Andi`s favorite spot on the ranch.
The
creek flowed swiftly by Andi and Taffy as it wound its way around the few trees
that dotted the hillside. It bubbled over stones, making a soothing gurgling
sound.
¨Hang
it all, Taffy! I should have brought my fishing pole!¨ The golden mare snorted her
agreement, then bent her head down and began to graze. ¨I should have also
brought a coat. Who knew it would be so nippy?¨
Andi
glanced up at the sky as she said ¨If only these clouds weren’t covering up the
sun. Now I don´t know what time it is.¨ With a sigh, she turned and looked at
Taffy. ¨I suppose we should head back.¨ Taffy stomped her foot in obvious
displeasure but stood still as Andi climbed on. ¨Lets go, girl!¨
The
ride back felt even quicker than the one going up, and in no time, they made it
back to the ranch. As they rode up, a stablehand walked up to her and said,
¨Oh, there you are, Miss Andi! Your mother was lookin´ for you a bit ago.
Somthin´ about lunch?¨
¨Oh
no!¨ Dread filled Andi as she realized how late it must be. ¨I didn´t realize I
had been out that long! Would you mind giving Taffy a brush down and putting
her in her stall? Thanks!¨ Without waiting for a reply, Andi slid off Taffy and
raced to the house.
Stopping by the water pump, she quickly scrubbed her face and took out her
messy braids before entering the dining room. Sitting at the table were Melinda
and a very displeased Mother.
¨Nice
of you to finally join us, Andrea¨ Mother said.
With
a gulp, Andi slid into her place and mumbled, ¨Sorry I am late Mother. I didn´t
realize how late it had gotten.¨
¨You’re
supposed to be mucking out the barn today, where you not?¨ Mother looked at
Andi and tilted her head in that way that made her feel as if all her deepest
darkest secrets were being found out.
¨I…
Um… Yes ma´am…¨ Andi stammered. ¨I can do it this afternoon, though!¨
¨That
you will Andrea. You will muck out every stall until they sparkle.¨
By the
time Andi had finished mucking out all the stalls, the wind had begun howling
and the rain began to fall. She now sat in the loft listening to the rain thrum
against the barn roof. Pitter patter. Pitter patter.
Andi
gazed out the loft window at the downpour inches away from her face.
I´m
glad I´m up here where it’s dry she thought. I
would hate to be out in that storm. It’s a good thing the horses are all in
their nice… warm…
¨Oh
no!¨ With a jolt similar to being struck by lightning, Andi felt horror and
dread sink to the bottom of her stomach as she realized she had forgotten to
put the horses back in their stalls.
Quicker
thank you can say Chad is gonna kill me, Andi was down the
ladder and out the barn doors, racing towards the pasture where the horses were
held. She let out a long, loud whistle as she clambered over the fence.
¨Com´ere
Frisco! Here Peaches! Snowflake, over this way!¨ The howling wind seemed to
swallow every word she yelled. No matter how hard she screamed, no horses came
near.
Snowflake´s
baby could die in this wet cold! And it would be all my fault!
Despair
hung over her head like the thick rain clouds pouring down icy droplets of
water. ¨Snowflake!!¨ she screamed with all her lungs.
Suddenly,
a hand landed on her shoulder. Letting out a little eep of
terror, Andi whirled around to see who had snuck up on her. ¨I already put them
in their stalls, Miss Andi¨ the ranch hand who had scared her so badly said.
¨Snowflake was the first one I put in. She is safe and dry in her stall.¨
Letting
out a whoosh of air, Andi sagged in relief. ¨Thank you so much.¨ She thought
she might hug him she was so relieved. ¨I don´t know what I would have done if
anything had happened to Snowflake.¨
¨No
problem, Miss Andi. I would do anything for the horses. ¨ He glanced down at
Andi´s soaking figure and said, ¨You should probably head inside. You must be
chilled to the bone, not to mention it is getting dark.¨
¨Good
idea,¨ Andi mumbled. Only now had she realized how bone-tired she was. All she
wanted now was a warm bathtub and a comfy bed. ¨Goodnight¨ she said as she
turned and walked away.
¨G´night
Miss Andi.¨
Rushing
through the front door, Andi raced upstairs and into the bathing room. As she
entered, she saw with joy that someone had already drawn the warm water in the
bathtub. Quickly stripping off her soggy clothes, Andi sank into the steamy tub
and relished the feel of heat on her skin, thawing her from the inside
out.
As
soon as she finished her bath and put on her night clothes, she headed to her
room and went straight to her bed. Climbing under the covers, Andi snuggled
down deep into her fluffy comforter. As soon as her head hit the pillow, she
was fast asleep.
Andi
sat up. Something had woken her. Was it the storm raging outside her bedroom
window? No… That was not it. What else could have woken her in the middle of
the night? There! Very faint, Andi could hear the sound of a horse whinnying
and banging against its stall. Normally, this would have not bothered Andi; It
was normal for horses to do that in the middle of a storm. But still, something
felt off about it.
Sliding
out of bed, Andi slipped on her clothes and boots from earlier that day and
headed out her bedroom door, and down the stair. Creeping on tiptoes as to not
wake anybody, she slowly made her way to the back door.
As soon
as she stepped outside, she was greeted by howling wind and freezing rain.
Trudging through the storm, Andi slowly worked her way to the barn. By the time
she made it to the big barn doors, she was soaked yet again to the bone.
Now
that she was closer, she could hear the horse who was making all the racket
even clearer. She headed down the aisle towards the noise. Quickly, she made it
down the aisle of horses and stopped at the last stall. Looking in she saw, ¨Oh
no!¨
Snowflake,
belly heavy with a foal, was banging against her stall door, sides slick with
sweat. The whites of her eyes were showing and she tossed her head up and down,
snorting all the while. The white mare let out a whinny of pain and then nosed
her belly while ripples ran down her sides.
Andi
felt sick with horror. ¨No, no, no, no, no! You’re not supposed to have your
foal for a couple of weeks! You’re supposed to have it when Chad is around so
he can safely deliver it, not me!¨ Snowflake replied with another whinny, then
collapsed to the ground with a thud. Despair clung to Andi like a cloak. She
couldn´t just watch the horse suffer in pain. She would save
her!
Tearing
into a run, Andi raced out of the barn and ran towards the house. Her mind went
through the list of items she would need to deliver. She had seen many horses
give birth before, so she knew what to get.
Finally
reaching the house, she bolted through the door not caring if she woke anybody.
She glanced at the big clock as she raced by; 4:08 AM. Opening the linen
closet, Andi grabbed as many towels as she could. Then she raced over to the
pump in the sink and scrubbed her hands clean. That completed, Andi sped back
to the front door.
The
storm seemed to have gotten worse when she was inside. Sleet was pouring down,
soaking her before she had even stepped off the porch. The wind that had seemed
so playful earlier that day was a beast now. For every step Andi took forwards,
it shoved her back two.
You
can’t stop me, she mutinously thought. I have to save her. I have
to. The wind howled back, seeming to laugh at her petty struggles to
reach the barn. Undaunted, Andi pushed ran harder. I have to make it to
the barn. I have to save Snowflake.
Finally,
she made it to the barn. Andi noticed as she entered that all the horses seemed
to be restless; pacing around and tossing their heads. The one thing she didn’t
notice was the unusual silence coming from the stall at the back of the barn.
Andi
headed straight for that stall. Only when she was a few feet away did she
notice how quiet the stall had become. Flinging open the door, she looked down
and saw Snowflake on the ground. Not moving. Not breathing. Just lying
there.
¨No no
no no no No NO!! No God!! Please don´t have her be dead!!¨ As if an answer to
prayer, the white mare drew in a shuddering breath as her sides rippled. Andi
threw herself next to her and began to massage the horse’s stomach. ¨Com´on
girl. You can do it.¨
After a
few minutes of struggling, Snowflake began to push the little foal out. Andi
switched to the rear end to help. A hoof stuck out. Then another. Andi gripped
the hoofs and gently pulled. Soon, a little tail poked out. ¨Oh no! Its head
should be coming out first!¨ She tugged harder. Snowflake let out a sharp
whinny of pain and Andi realized that only one horse would make it out
alive.
¨Push
girl, push!¨ With a heave, the mare pushed the little foal farther out. Bit by
bit, the foal slowly began to show. As soon as it popped out, Andi broke the
sack it was trapped in and began to rub it fiercely with towels to warm it up.
When she got to its head and began to rub its neck, it looked up at her with
soft brown eyes, let out the tiniest of nicker that seemed to say, ¨I trust
you,¨ and gave its last breath.
Sorrow
clutched her heart and squeezed it until she thought it might burst. Tears
began to fall down her face like the raging storm outside. Snowflake rose shakily
to her feet and turned to look at the foal in Andi’s lap. She nudged it with
her nose, softly at first, then more vigorously when it didn’t move. She let
out a heartbreaking whinny as Andi covered the body with a blanket. Tears had
blurred her vision to the point that she couldn’t see anymore.
The one
thought that rang through her head was, I couldn’t save it.
Andi
couldn’t remember what else had happened from the night before. All she
remembered was waking up in her bed with the rain beating against her
window. Fitting weather for a day like this.
Now,
she stood in front of the little mound of fresh dirt under a tree in the field.
The rain that had been so horrible the night before had slowed to a drizzle.
She didn’t know how long she had been standing there, but it was long enough
for her to get soaked. Footsteps sounded behind her, and she felt a hand land
on her shoulder.
¨I
couldn’t save it, Chad. I couldn’t save it.¨ Andi felt tears trickling down her
face, warming her cheeks. A warmth she didn´t deserve.
¨There
was nothing you could have done, Andi. It was too soon, and in this weather,
any foal could have died.¨
She
looked up at her older brother as she said, ¨You could have saved it. I know
you could have! I just wasn´t good enough.¨
¨I´m
not sure I could have.¨ Chad looked Andi in the eyes. ¨Some things are just
meant to happen. For some reason, God wanted this foal to die, and nothing I,
or anybody else could have changed that.¨
Andi
flung herself at her brother as she burst into tears. ¨It’s not fair!¨
¨Life
wasn´t meant to be fair, but we have to live on anyway. Do you think you can do
that for me?¨
She
nodded her head and mumbled against his chest, ¨I´ll try.¨
¨Good.
Now I know a mare that could use comforting right now. You think you can help
her? She just lost her foal, you know.¨
Andi
nodded, and with Chad leading her, the two of them headed towards the barn and
one sorrowful horse.
Why must sorrow always come with the storm?
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