The Mysterious Horse

 by Maddy Evans

Andi, age 12, June, 1880

I felt the touch of a single tear on my cheek, and I knew before long I wouldn’t be able to stop the flood of tears building up in my throat.  With a swipe of my hand and a few quick blinks, I raised my head before requesting something from my mother.

“Mother, may I please be excused?” I spoke with a delicate, quiet tone, careful not to give away my pain filled heart.

Mother, who had been talking with Justin, suddenly turned to me with a surprised expression on her face.  “Why, I suppose so, dear.”

I took my opportunity and hopped up from my spot before shoving my chair to its proper position near the table.  I sprinted from the dining room as fast as my feet would carry me.  I barely made it to the staircase and out of my family’s sight before I let the hot tears gush down my face like a rushing waterfall.  A quiet whimper escaped my lips, and I sniffed. The knot remained in my throat as I slowly continued up the steps.  

“Andi is missing Rose.”  Chad’s booming voice rang out loud and clear from the dining room, and I could imagine mother nodding her head understandingly at Chad’s explanation.

I finally reached my bedroom and upon closing the door (I had to remind myself no slamming doors), I allowed my legs to give out, sliding to the ground until I was hunched up in a ball on my bedroom floor.  

“God, how could this happen?”  I looked upward for a minute before burying my head in my floral skirt.  I wasn’t much mad, heartbroken better described how I currently felt.

About three months ago, a cowhand had left the ranch.  I hadn’t known the cowhand well, and his absence didn’t effect me greatly.  However, I was rather happy by what the cowhand left behind.  A beautiful brown horse. The cowhand had stated he was going to “go travel the world”, and he didn’t care too much to bring a horse along. Therefore, the cowhand had kindly donated the horse to the Circle C, and after much convincing, Chad had kindly donated the horse to me.

It took a bit of persuading, but with many, many requests, Chad had granted my desire with a smile, slight shake of his head, and few tips of advice.  “Just remember, you will have as many responsibilities for Rose as you do Taffy.  The ranch isn’t in desperate need of another horse, and while I could sell Rose, I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to please my little sister.”

After Chad’s much appreciated act of kindness, I had grown to love Rose nearly as much as I loved Taffy.  Each day I would take a ride on Taffy and then ride back to the barn, sending Taffy out to the pasture while I enjoyed a ride on Rose.  Sure, I had some extra work, but I had another horse of my own! Then, right before dinner, Chad had told me Rose was nowhere to be found.

I didn’t exactly have much of a choice but to go to dinner and try to hide my sorrow.  Thank goodness all it took was a few minutes of misery before I was able to escape to my room. 

Suddenly, I remembered how Rose would turn her head to one side, and then the other.  Before I could catch it, a smile escaped to my lips at memory of Rose’s unusual character traits.  But soon, my smile was replaced with tears.

I was still heartbroken, because Rose was gone.

---

Several months later, near the end of Dangerous Decision

I let out a sigh as I trudged slowly across the ranch yard toward the barn.  Two and a half weeks.  That’s how long it had been since I had lost my memory.  How long it had been since I had lost my family. How long it had been since I had lost Taffy.  Because when I lost my memory, suddenly my family and Taffy were strangers.

I suddenly kicked the ground in an angry, frustrated manner.  Maybe a ride on Taffy would help, even if I no longer knew Taffy well. I continued my way across the yard, head low as I neared an area where the exhausted ranch hands were talking.  

A sudden sharp neigh caused me to snap my head up in a second. The cow hands, also, were as shocked as I was when a brown horse came galloping into the yard and then approached me.

As the horse grew nearer, it slowed down until it stood silently right next to me. “Hi there.  What’s up?”  I spoke gently so as not to spook the stunning mare only a foot away from me.  I reached out my hand and softly, effortlessly, stroked the horse’s nose.

The horse gave a quiet neigh and then turned its head to one side, then the other, as if it was trying to figure me out.

I laughed a little, and then mimicked the horse’s actions, turning my head to one side, then the other, just as the horse had done.

I extended my arms and wrapped them around the horse’s neck, cuddling my face into its soft mane.  I had ridden Taffy yesterday.  “Surely it won’t hurt to take this beauty around the yard a couple of times,” I whispered, thinking at least maybe I could catch myself a glimpse of this horse’s capability.

I was about to hoist myself onto the mysterious horse’s back, but the cowhands, who had been silent since the horse neared me, all of a sudden had much to say.

“Oh, now, Miss Andi, let’s not get too comfortable with this horse.”

“Miss Andi, we don’t know where this horse came from.”

“I really don’t think this is a good idea, Miss Andi.”

My favorite comment came from Sid. “Well, gentlemen, this girl here has got her share of gumption. I’m just gonna go grab Chad real quick, better than trying to fight with Miss Andi.”

Against many protests, and as the cowhands tried to convince me not to climb onto the horse, what did I do? I climbed on the horse. “Oh, don’t you worry.  I’ll be just fine,” I assured them.

Just as I was getting my grip on the horse’s mane, I didn’t have a saddle by the way, Chad and Sid came striding from behind the barn. As soon as Chad entered the yard, his words shocked me and I sat speechless, eyebrows raised. “Andi can ride the horse.  It’s fine.”

I was slightly suspicious, sure, but I didn’t remember Chad from before being shot. With only the character traits of Chad I had learned in the past several weeks, I didn’t know Chad well.

For the rest of the day, I rode the strange horse around the yard.  What a delight it was to have a nice day.

At lunch, Chad made an announcement.  “Until further notice, Andi, you can treat the new horse as if it was yours.”  

Though I was certainly surprised, I didn’t think it was all that unusual.  After all, inspections from Chad and me had proved the horse had no brand, no tag, no note. The horse truly was mysterious to me. However, I don’t think the horse’s appearance was all that strange to Chad.

“Should we tell her?”  I overheard Chad talking to Justin in the dining room.  We had just had lunch, and I was heading outside when I couldn’t pass up an amazing eavesdropping opportunity.

“What good will it do?” I heard Justin say.  “It’ll just remind her of one more thing she can’t remember.  She won’t remember how heartbroken she was, so therefore she won’t be able to experience much happiness since she doesn’t know what she was missing.”

After waiting around for a few more minutes to make sure the conversation was finished, I ran out to the yard and rode the horse around some more.  I was full of curiosity, but not so much that I would waste my time asking what was going on, especially when I could be riding.

For several days, I continued to ride the mysterious horse.  The horse that had aroused so many questions.  Where was the owner?  Was there an owner?  Was it wild? And though I suspected my family had some, if not all, the answers to my questions involving the mysterious horse, I hadn’t bothered to ask. 

I was so thankful God had provided me with another horse!

---

Several days later

I was sitting at the dining room table with my family.  I had regained my memory just the day before.  We were enjoying a nice meal, when suddenly a realization hit me. “Rose!  Rose is the mysterious horse! Rose is back!” I knew my voice was nearly a yell, but I was so excited! What I thought was lost forever was found!

“Andrea! Please, use your inside voice!” Mother scolded me gently, but I could see a smile growing on her face.

My siblings shared in my excitement, and Chad offered an explanation at my question: “Where did Rose go?”

“Well, you see,” Chad was saying, “John, the cowhand who gave us Rose, returned three months after giving us Rose, saying he had traveled enough and was going to head to Montana, where there was a cooler climate, to work and then hopefully get a ranch of his own. He asked if we were willing to give Rose back, that a horse would be helpful now, and I said yes.”  

Chad paused and held up his hands. “I mean, John had given us the horse in the first place, and we weren’t in desperate need of Rose, so I figured it would work out well to give John his horse back. After all, John had often been a well behaved cowhand, obedient and hard working.”  

Chad winced a little. “Unfortunately, I didn’t know how you would feel about giving Rose up, and decided to keep it a secret. Now you know where Rose went. Well, John visited a few days ago and asked if I was willing to buy Rose. I agreed, deciding you would appreciate another horse, and the price really was nearly too good to pass up.”

I opened my mouth to ask another question, but closed it again when Chad held up his hand. “Now, just a minute, little sister. The reason Rose came galloping into the yard is because I went out to check the cattle with Wyatt, and I took Rose.  After we arrived, I hopped off Rose, thinking Rose would stay put.  She probably would have, had a branch not snapped.”  

Chad used hand gestures to make it look like Rose just took off.  “Away that girl went, galloping in the wind.  It wasn’t any big deal, though, cause Wyatt offered me a ride back to the house, and I figured Rose would find her own way back to the barn.  Sure enough, she did.”  Chad smiled at me, and I felt a sprout of joy being planted in my heart.

God, you really do amazing things.  I’m so blessed, I silently Prayed.

I let out a laugh.  What an experience I had gone through in the past several weeks. I had lost so much, yet found so much. And because of a horse God had blessed me with, I had gone from tears to laughter.