~ Honey Moves In ~
We arrived at the farm and immediately went to the horse’s paddock. We hadn’t seen Miss Julie’s car, and we knew that Cassie and Jeff had gone to the airport in Louisville. No point in going to the house with no one there. Nickel gave a low nicker and walked over to the fence to greet us with Dotty following him. Daisy stood sleeping in the sun in a corner of the paddock, her glossy bay coat shining. Dragonflies hovered low over the grass and flowers.
We went through the gate, patted Nickel and Dotty, who were very interested in our pockets. Not finding apples, they went back to munching grass again. We walked out to the pregnant mare. I rubbed Daisy on the neck, while Addie ran her fingers through the tangled mane. Daisy sniffed at my sleeve and nibbled at my shirt. Her warm horsey smell reminded me of why I love horses.
“Hi, girl,” I said. “How are you doing?”
“So what are we watching for?” Addie asked.
“Dad says to look and see if she’s waxing.”
“What’s that?”
“It’s a kind of white waxy-looking stuff on her udder,” I said. “It’s new milk that leaks out.”
“No way! Horses have an udder like cows?”
“Well, not big ones. They are small and tucked up between the mare’s hind legs. But they do the same thing. They get the milk to the foals.”
“Wow,” said Addie. “Who knew?” She began looking under Daisy’s belly. “I see the udder! But I don’t see anything on it.” I looked, too, and we agreed that Daisy wasn’t waxing yet.
“So what happens when she’s waxing?” asked Addie.
“It means she’ll foal within about a week, and we need to keep closer watch on her.”
We walked back to the barn, entering through the stall doors. The door to Daisy’s stall into the barn was wide open. Looking for the other horses, I closed it quickly. Luckily, they were still in the paddock, dozing now. It could have been a disaster, three horses walking out through the stall then running down the road to who knows where.
“Addie, did you leave this door open?”
“No, you know I didn’t. I was with you. We went into the paddock through the gate out there.”
“How did it get open, then?”
“Don’t know, but it’s really a good thing you saw it. They could all three have gotten out. Who could have left it open?”
Thinking about the mystery, we walked out of the barn into the bright sunshine. I looked up at the house and noticed Jeff on the porch, reading in Miss Julie’s swing. We hadn’t seen him before, so he must have just gotten there. He was wearing a clean T-shirt with “Delta Blues” on the front.
“Hey, Jeff!” I called, as we walked over to him. He lay on his side on the big swing, with Willie Nelson curled up beside him.
“Oh, hi, Piper. Hi, Addie. Jeff closed his book and sat up as we climbed the steps onto the big shady porch.
“Were you in the barn?” I asked.
“Yeah, why?”
“Someone left Daisy’s stall door open,” I said.
“I guess I must have. I took a bunch of paint cans out there for Miss Julie, and then I saw Daisy and petted her. Daisy went back out with the other horses, so I left.”
“Didn’t you realize they could all get loose and run off up the road?”
“Oh, no, I guess I didn’t. Sorry.”
“They could have gotten lost, or stolen or...or...hit by cars!” I sounded too angry, but I was scared by what could have happened.
“Geez! I said I was sorry!”
“Hey, no harm done,” said Addie, the peacemaker. “Right, Piper? Nothing happened.”
“Yeah, but it could have. I thought you were going with your mom to the airport.”
“Well, Cassie picked me up at school, but decided she didn’t want me to come along with my smelly shirt. Said she wanted some sister time without me there. So here I am.”
What could we say? “That stinks,” was all I could come up with. That was a crummy thing to do to him.
“Why did she even pick you up from school?” asked Addie, sitting on the porch floor and crossing her legs.
“I don’t know. I never know what she’s going to do. She asked me to check on Daisy, so I did. Really, I’d rather be reading, anyway. Hey, little guy,” he said to the kitten. Willie Nelson yawned, stretched and climbed up Jeff’s shoulder, where he started licking Jeff’s hair. Jeff’s book slipped to the floor of the porch. He was reading more Ray Bradbury, this time The Martian Chronicles.
“Doesn’t your mother want you to talk to your aunt?” Addie asked.
“Look,” he said, “she’s not my real mom, she’s my step-mom. My mom died when I was five and, after a while, Dad got remarried to Cassie. Then he died two years ago and I’ve had to live with Cassie ever since. There’s no one else I can live with. So I’m not really related to her or her sister.”
“Wow, that’s tough,” I sat down in Miss Julie’s rocker.
“Oh, I’m used to it. I just follow her around, wherever she moves to, and try to stay out of her way. She does her own thing and doesn’t tell me much. I don’t even know how she got that horse. All of a sudden, last winter she had a horse—maybe she won it in a poker game. Anyhow, in a year, I’ll be eighteen and can do what I want.”
“Do you drive?”
“She won’t let me get my license till I can afford the insurance and I can’t pay for insurance until I get a job. And I can’t get a job because I don’t have any way to get there. I could walk, if it was in town, but with school starting and all, I haven’t looked. I help Mr. Simpson around the biology lab a little after school, but that pretty much just buys a Coke here or there. Hey, Piper?”
“What?”
“Cassie will be home pretty soon. You aren’t going to tell her that I left the stall door open, are you? She’ll really go off on me.”
I looked at him for a minute. Cassie was beginning to sound like a bad deal of a step-mom, and I liked him better now. “I won’t tell her if you will remember to close it from now on.”
“Deal. I will close it every time. I’ll close it even if it doesn’t need closing,” he said, with a wink and a smile for me.
As we hung out and relaxed on the big porch, Miss Julie’s blue Cougar came rolling up the drive. She parked it in her usual spot next to the crabapple tree, got out and looked in the back seat. She got something out and walked around to the front of the car, holding onto a strap with one hand and her cane with the other. As she cleared the front of the car, a small golden brown and white dog with a heavy fur coat walked behind her on a leash.
“Come on, honey,” she said. “This is your new home and these are your new friends.” She led the dog up onto the porch. “Look what I have,” she said to all of us.
Addie crouched down in front of the dog, holding out her hand. “Awww! What a pretty dog! What’s his name?”
“It’s a girl and her name is Honey,” said Miss Julie. “Piper’s dad helped me find her. She was living with an old lady that had to go live in a nursing home. No one in the family could take her, so I said I would. You can pet her, Addie. She loves people.”
Addie sat on the floor of the porch and ruffled Honey’s soft fur. Honey leaned into her arms and panted happily.
“She looks like a little collie,” said Jeff. “What kind of dog is she?”
“She’s a sheltie. A shetland sheepdog.” I held out my hand for Honey to sniff.
“That’s it,” said Miss Julie. “She’ll be my little companion and let me know if someone tries to get in the house at night.”
“She’s beautiful,” I said. Honey wagged her tail and licked my hand. I patted the soft fur on her head and she stared at me with big brown eyes. “How old is she?”
“Seven, so she has a lot of years left in her. I think she’s just glad to have people to pet her. Her owner was very ill and wasn’t able to give her much attention,” said Miss Julie. “Piper, would you mind going to my car and getting the dog food, bowls and dog bed? I brought her things from her old home, so she can have what she’s used to. Plus, I picked up some dog treats and new toys for her.”
“Sure, Miss Julie.” I headed to the car while Miss Julie headed into the house with Honey.
“I’ll help you,” said Jeff, following me. I grabbed the bowls, the bed, and a grocery bag full of treats and toys, while he hauled a twenty pound bag of Purina into the house.
“Just put them in the corner there,” said Miss Julie, taking a bowl and filling it with water. She set it on the floor near the door and Honey came over, smelled it, and lapped it up like she was dying of thirst. We watched her drink, then start sniffing around the kitchen. Willie Nelson wandered in, took one look at Honey and hissed. Honey wagged her tail and sniffed at Willie’s rear end, the way dogs always do. Willie pretended to ignore Honey after that, but jumped up on a kitchen chair to watch her. Honey lost interest in the kitten and walked away, following her nose around the living room, dining room and the hall. Very peaceful, no drama.
Jeff leaned close to me and whispered, “Here comes Cassie. Remember, you promised not to tell.” The sound of a truck on gravel came in through the open window, then a door slamming.
Cassie clomped up the steps to the porch and walked in the backdoor, holding a small package wrapped in brown paper.
“Oh, hi everybody!” she said. “I wasn’t expecting to see all of you here this time of day.” She slipped the package into her jeans pocket. “Jeff, did you check on Daisy like I asked?”
“Yeah, I did.”
“I looked at her, too,” I said. “So did Addie. She looks fine and she’s not waxing yet. She won’t be having that baby for a while.”
“Waxing...right,” said Cassie. “Okay, well, I have to run upstairs for a minute.”
“Cassie, did you pick up your sister at the airport? Where is she?” Addie asked.
Cassie looked at her questioningly. “Oh, yes, I did. She’s at the Blue Parrot for a couple of days. We didn’t have room here.” She turned and walked down the hall toward the stairs.
Five seconds later, we heard Honey barking frantically. Cassie came rushing back into the kitchen.
“What is that? Whose dog is that?” she demanded, pointing at Honey, who had followed, still barking at her.
“That’s my new dog. Honey, hush!” Miss Julie crouched down by the trembling dog and hugged her. “Shhh! It’s okay, it’s only Cassie.”
“I can’t believe you got a mean dog like that and brought her here! Did you see her snarling at me?” said Cassie, who glared, then stalked back to the stairs and ran up two at a time.
Honey whined in Miss Julie’s arms and licked her face. She panted the way dogs do when they are nervous.
“I wonder what that was all about?” said Miss Julie. “I don’t know what could have upset Honey. She’s really a very gentle, sweet dog.”
“Well, she’s calm now. Maybe Cassie just surprised her and she got scared. Besides, Honey wasn’t snarling, she was only barking,” said Addie.
I looked at Jeff. “I thought Cassie liked dogs.”
“I don’t know,” he said. “She flies off the handle sometimes, but I’ve never seen her do it over a dog barking. Of course, the dog was barking at her this time.”
“Maybe she’s having a bad day,” I said.
“She has a lot of bad days,” Jeff replied.
Miss Julie led Honey over to the table and sat down with her hand still on the dog. “Sit, Honey.” Honey sat, eyes never leaving her new owner. “Maybe she’s just nervous being in a new place. You’re a good girl, Honey.” She smoothed the fur on Honey’s head and ears. Honey panted and grinned a doggie grin.
“Can I take her for a walk?” asked Addie.
“In a little while,” said Miss Julie. “Let’s let her settle down some more. And when you do, I want you to keep her on a leash until she’s used to living here. I don’t want her to wander off.”
“I think it’s great you got a dog, Miss Julie,” I said. “You won’t have to be alone out here anymore, even if Sam is gone and Cassie and Jeff are out. Well, besides the kitten.”
“That’s what I thought,” said Miss Julie, watching Honey lie down beside Miss Julie’s chair and put her head on the floor. She was still alert, with her ears up and eyes watching every movement in the room. Her head rose as Cassie walked into the room from upstairs. A low growl came from the dog’s throat.
“I have to go get my sister, Jeff. I’ll be back later. I hope that dog isn’t going to be a problem when I get home.”
“I’ll keep her in my bedroom with me tonight,” said Miss Julie.
“Okay. See you.” And she walked out the door.
We all sort of stared at each other. Not a word of apology for yelling at Miss Julie. Who was that person?
Jeff cleared his throat, mumbled something about homework and went upstairs. Miss Julie ruffled Honey’s thick golden coat and hummed to her softly. Addie and I looked at each other, connected our brains and decided to leave.