“What happened to her?” Dee observed the bay mare as Vaughan gave a low whistle. Spiky ribs showed through her sides as she responded and muscle wastage around her flanks gave her a withered appearance.
“I put her up for sale last year as a novice. She’s better suited to someone wanting to ride rather than round up cattle,” Vaughan said, sadness shrouding him. He gripped the fence rail as the mare hugged the rear fence, her eyes flashing in fear. “He seemed genuine but sold her to Gilroy without me knowing. I only found out when he rang me and said she was a dunger. She’s not. It was a big mistake and the mare’s paid the price. How could I know the guy would on sell to Gilroy? His daughter rode her at my place. It’s either a crazy coincidence or he set me up.”
Dee gasped at the sight of the weal marks on the mare’s face and neck. Raw and open, they oozed with infection and flies buzzed around, irritating her. Her dark eyes were lacklustre and beaten and her hooves dragged on the dusty ground as she observed Vaughan. “Sorry, sorry,” he breathed through lips pursed in pain. “I’m takin’ ya home, baby.” Vaughan reached out with a shaking hand, palm upwards, groaning as the mare’s eyes widened and she shied away. “This is gonna be a nightmare,” he sighed. “Serves me right.”
The pretty Kaimanawa appeared to recognise Vaughan but refused to approach him, seeing his maleness as a threat. Wary and skittish, she dodged his gentle attentions until he bent double in pain, breathing heavily. “I don’t have time for this, Hinga,” he told the mare. “You’re the whole reason I’m here!”
“Let me try,” Dee offered, swinging her leg over the fence rail. Her trousers flapped around her knees in the gentle breeze and she approached the mare, eyes down and hands by her sides. A few metres out, she stopped and turned her back as her father taught her, daring equine curiosity to override fear. She glanced across at Vaughan, propping himself up on the fence. “Her head collar’s cut into her face,” she whispered and he nodded.
“I saw. Bastard!”
“Why don’t we just call the authorities?” Dee asked, smiling as the mare snuffed her blonde hair and scented the back of her dress. She focussed on centring herself in calmness and peace, keen for the mare to trust her.
“By the time they pull their asses up here, she’ll be shot and buried. Someone will tip him off.”
Dee nodded, feeling whiskers on the back of her bare arms. “She’s got too little grass and the water trough’s empty.”
“Shut up, Leilah. You’re reminding me of all the reasons I should shoot bloody Gilroy when I need to stay quiet for her.” He pointed his index finger at the mare.
“We’re good, Vaughan,” Dee whispered. “Where’s your truck?”
The mare flinched as he limped away, regaining her confidence as Dee stroked the prickly nose and let her snuff her face. Dee kept her eyes closed, breathing out confidence as the frightened horse lipped her cheeks, tasting the salt in her skin. “Good girl,” Dee soothed. “Let him take you home, sweetheart. He’s a kind man, but you know that already, don’t you? I bet he trained you, didn’t he?”
The mare sighed and lowered her head, signalling her trust. Dee raised her hand and stroked the underside of the strong jaw, feeling the stubbly hairs on her palm. “I’ve missed this,” she whispered. The hitch in her chest caused the mare to nod in alarm and Dee pressed her free hand over her lips. “Sorry, Daddy,” she breathed as unexpected tears fell. “I’ve let you down.”
The mare gave a snuffling breath and rubbed her hard forehead along Dee’s hip. She moved in a rhythmic action, satiating an itch on her face and enjoying the security of decent human company. Dee tried not to look at the overgrown hooves or the cuts on her fetlocks, concentrating on the sound of Vaughan’s battered blue ute as it rounded the corner towing a horse trailer. Dee’s heart clenched in her chest as Vaughan clambered out and lowered the back door, trying not to clang the rusting metal. He walked towards the gate with slow precision and laid a halter rope over the top rung. Noticing the horror on Dee’s face he swore. “I forgot,” he said. “I should’ve warned you. Sorry. Uncle bought up some of the equipment when your dad’s place sold. Leilah?” He took a step towards the gate and the mare lifted her head in a single bounce of fright. “Leilah?”
Dee exhaled and swallowed. “It’s fine,” she said. “I’ll see if she’ll walk in by herself.” Dee stepped towards the gate with exacting steps, avoiding the sight of her father’s favourite halter rope. The metal fixings of the gate jangled as she unlatched it and pulled it inwards on bouncy hinges, almost filling the tiny arena with its presence. Dee pushed it as far back as she could and clicked to the mare. “Come on, Hinga,” she said as sweetly as she could muster, putting all her father’s expertise and willpower into the confident steps between her and the ramp. To her surprise the mare followed, baulking at the sound of her painful hooves on the wooden struts but stepping carefully up and into the trailer. Dee crawled down the other side of the partition and secured the lead rope on the head collar, tying it through the ring on the trailer. “Here you are,” she said with kindness, pulling down a hay net which the horse attacked with naked greed.
Dee exited the horse box and helped secure the mare with a safety strap behind her flanks before closing the door. Vaughan pushed the bolts home and turned to her, his face serious. “Well done,” he said. “You’ve still got it.”
“Na,” Dee replied. “That was easy.” She turned to face the pristine house, her heart sinking into her stomach.
“Get your stuff.” Vaughan caught her forearm in his strong grip. “I’m not leaving you here. Go get your gear.”
Dee shrugged, despondency filling her heart and brain. “Where will I go? He knows where I live.”
“Anywhere, Leilah,” Vaughan replied with surety. “It can’t be worse than here. I’ll drop you at a bus stop or wherever you want to go. But first you need to grab your stuff.”
Dee hovered as Vaughan squeezed her arm, infusing her with a sense of greater urgency. “Leilah, quickly! He’ll be back expecting a gourmet lunch and I don’t want to be here when he doesn’t get it.” His hand moved along her tender skin, finishing over her hand and clasping her fingers in his. “I can fight him, Leilah; I’m not scared. But not today, sweetheart; it won’t be a fair fight, just like it wasn’t before and he didn’t care then either.”
Dee threw her belongings into her suitcase with haphazard speed. She snatched her toothbrush and paste from the ensuite bathroom and hurled it into the front pocket, yanking the zipper closed and snagging her fingers. Her face paled as she skidded to a halt alongside Vaughan in the kitchen. “I left the breakfast mess!” she said, a hitch in her voice. “He’ll go crazy.”
He laughed and handed her the keys. “Best hurry then, woman!”
Dee stared at the keys in her hand, her mouth hanging open. “I haven’t towed a horse box for years! And where did you find those?”
“In his office.” Vaughan raised an eyebrow, warning her not to ask further.
Vaughan heaved himself into the passenger seat, struggling to fix his seat belt in place. The horse clattered around in the box behind and Dee panicked, jumping into the driver’s seat and starting the engine. “Don’t say a word about my driving!” she warned, wagging an index finger in his face. As a final show of defiance, Dee hauled the overlarge men’s boots off her feet and dumped them outside the window. She eyed the trousers and glanced back at her case. “I can post these back,” she said, looking at Vaughan for approval.
He nodded, his action slow and laboured and he said nothing, laying his head back against the seat and sighing with exhaustion. Dee gunned the engine, trying not to make the mare scramble on the metal floor of the box and eased forward, her heart racing with fear and the faintest hint of exhilaration.