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I hurried into the barn at Happy Hearts Therapeutic Riding Stable, glancing at my watch. Forty-five minutes remained until the students showed up for their last ride of the session. Leah was in the arena setting up the obstacle course for them to complete to graduate from this session. The horse’s heads hung over their stall doors as I jogged down the barn aisle to the last stall. Penny’s little soft nose was barely visible over the stall door. She nickered at my approach.
“Hey, girlie.” I slipped the halter over her little ears. “I’m going to make you beautiful today.” Clipping the lead rope onto her halter, I led her into the wash stall to bathe her.
I was combing out her tail when boot heels clicked down the aisle to the wash stall.
“Hi Delilah, it’s good to see you here early this morning,” Leah said. She leaned against the wall, crossing her long legs and arms.
“Yep, I wanted to get her clean for Tabitha today.” I rinsed off the last of the soap from the pony.
Leah’s lips tugged up into a smile, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “They’d love that.” She grabbed a comb and started to untangle Penny’s unruly mane. “Did you think about taking over the riding stables?”
I nodded. Nothing else had been on my mind all week. I was on vacation and spending all my free time in the library, thinking about the children, the horses, and the riding stable. Some soul searching with my best friend, Melanie Baker, convinced me that taking over the therapeutic riding stable was where my life was headed.
“Good. The property owners will be here, after the show today. You should meet them.” Leah set the comb down and went to visit with another volunteer.
“Did you hear that, Penny?” I whispered in the pony’s little ear as it twitched towards me. “Maybe this will be easier than I thought.”
The crunch of tires and slamming of doors broke the relative peace of the morning, announcing the arrival of the children.
“Delilah! I brought apple slices for Penny!” A giant smile covered Tabitha’s face. Sarah pushed the wheelchair to a stop in front of the stall door. Penny blew out a soft nicker, straining at her lead rope trying to reach her partner in crime.
“She’s going to love those.” I crouched in front of the chair. “I have a surprise for you too.” I reached into my back pocket and pulled out a tube.
“What is it?” She asked in an awed tone.
“It’s glitter paint for horses. I thought we could draw some designs on her for fun.”
Her eyes lit up as we painted handprints, flowers, and small suns on her side. Then, Tabitha wheeled up and down the barn aisle sharing the paint with her friends. My heart felt full as giggles and smiles filled the barn from the children that barely laughed at all.
“That was very nice,” Sarah said, taking pictures of all sides of the pony. “It hasn’t sunk in that this might be her last ride.”
“Yeah,” I slipped the bridle over her ears. I didn’t know if I should tell her or not, but Sarah and I had gotten to be friends in the last six months. “I’m hopefully going to be taking it over...But don’t say anything to the kids until I know for sure.”
Her eyes lit up as she placed a hand on my shoulder. “I hope it works out, and I think you’ll do great.”
Leah clapped her hands. “Y’all, it’s time for the horse show!” A cheer went up as we trooped to the arena.
An hour and a half later, the show wrapped up with Tabitha as the last rider. She dropped an apple into a bucket of water with a flourish. Penny stood stock still with her ears pricked forward as water splashed upon her. Cheers went up from the rest of the students, waiting on the sidelines. Tabitha fist-pumped the air. A large smile broke across her face as Sarah snapped pictures with wild abandon.
“I did it!” She shouted before reaching down to pet the pony’s neck. The volunteers on each side of her gave her a high five. I was so proud of the little girl, almost as if she were my own. When she first arrived at Happy Hearts, Tabitha was sulky, miserable; she didn’t interact with anyone and slouched in her wheelchair. Sarah was at her wit’s end trying to brighten her little girl’s life. Now, she babbled like a high running creek and was bursting with energy. Her transformation was what kept bringing me back to volunteer. In the emergency room, the tensions were high, and things were stressful. But here in the barn, people were excited to be a part of other people’s lives. I sighed with contentment while I stroked Penny’s shiny neck under her mane.
“You sure did, sweetie,” Leah said. She placed a string of beads around Tabitha’s neck, looping it twice, the green beads clashing with Tabitha’s purple shirt. “Excellent job...Hey kids, time for cake and ice cream! Volunteers will untack the ponies and bring them back in for their treats.”
We helped the children dismount and settle back into their wheelchairs, braces, or with their parents. Then, we walked the horses and ponies back to their stalls. The program was smaller than a lot of other therapeutic riding programs. There were only ten horses that the children could ride. Penny, being a Welsh pony, was the smallest. The black Percheron cross, Billy, was the largest. He carried the heavier riders. More gray hairs sprinkled throughout his black coat every year, giving him a distinguished look. Once each horse was in their stalls, we briskly removed the saddles and bridles, gave them a quick brushing, and led them back into the arena.
Leah brought each of us a piece of cake and ice cream while we held our charges. Then, the children came around and gave each one a piece of apple or a carrot. At the end of the party, an older couple walked through the door as Tabitha was giving Penny one last hug. Tears streamed down her cheeks and she hiccupped into Penny’s mane. Penny wrapped her short, chubby neck around the little girl’s frail shoulders to rest her chin on the girl’s back. A fracture worked its way through my heart, causing my eyes to mist as I watched the pair. Sarah sniffled behind me. Her camera clicked as she shot a couple of last pictures of the two of them. Finally, Tabitha untangled her arms from Penny’s neck and wiped at her tears.
“Are you ready to go, sweetie?” Sarah asked, leaning down to Tabitha’s level. Tabitha nodded and turned to me.
“Are you going to take care of her?” Her little girl's voice squeaked.
“Yes, I will,” I promised. I didn’t know the logistics yet of how I would do that, but I would. She stuck up her little pinkie and I wrapped mine around hers. “Pinkie swear,” I whispered to her before Sarah pushed her out to the parking lot.
“Delilah, there is someone I want to introduce you to,” Leah said. She led the older couple over to me. The woman picked her feet up high and carefully set them down, trying not to get dust or horse manure on her Italian flats. Her bejeweled fingers spread out to the side to help her balance and her husband held her other hand. His suit was crisp and clean. Obviously, they didn’t spend time in the stables.
“Mr. and Mrs. Peterson, this is Delilah Allen. She’s the one I was telling you about, how she’d like to take over my lease on the stable and continue Happy Hearts Therapeutic Riding Center.”
“Oh yes, it’s a pleasure to meet you, dear,” Mrs. Peterson drawled as she held out a limp hand for me to shake. “Bless your heart for wanting to continue what our dear Leah started. We’re sure going to miss her.”
“Yes, ma’am. I just love this place and helping the children,” I said.
“Young lady,” Mr. Peterson said, as I shook his hand, “We want to continue the program. We’ll talk to our lawyer to draw up a lease for you.”
“That would be great.” Mrs. Peterson handed me a little notebook where I scribbled my contact information down and handed it back to her.
Mr. Peterson glanced at the page. “Excellent. Look for an email tomorrow with the contract and lease.”
My head already was spinning with everything I had to do. I couldn’t wait to start on this adventure. I shook their hands one more time. The promise of the future never looked so exciting.
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FIVE DAYS LATER, MY phone buzzed as I was jogging down the sidewalk after a long night at the ER. I fumbled with my water bottle until I was able to get the phone out of my pocket. The screen said, UNKNOWN CALLER. I hit the answer button on the sixth ring.
“Hello, this is Delilah Allen.”
“Hello, dear this is Mrs. Peterson. How are you doing this blessed morning?” Her Texas drawl came through the phone.
“I’m good. How are you?”
“Just fine, dear. I wanted to call and talk to you about the riding stable.”
“I sent back the signed lease and I mailed you the deposit a couple of days ago...Did you not get it?” My heart pounded in my chest as my breath came in short puffs. I tried to control my breathing so as not to be panting on the phone.
“Yes dear, we received your check this morning with the mail.”
I leaned against the side of a brick building. The blood pounded in my ears for a totally different reason than that I was out jogging. “Okay,” I said hesitantly.
“The thing is that we got an offer from a developer for that tiny bit of land, and we just can’t refuse his offer.”
The thudding in my head increased as I processed her words. The sun beat down warming my already warm face. “But what about the stables, the horses, and the children?” I asked.
“Well, honey, we are going to return your check and void the contract. As for the horses, they are Leah’s problem. She has a month to move them. I’ve got to go. Bye, dear.”
The phone went dead in my ear as I continued to stand there. Now what? I had already closed out my retirement to have enough money to buy the horses. They weren’t Leah’s problem anymore; they were my problem, too. I had given my two-weeks’ notice at the hospital and going back to request to stay made me sick thinking about it. And the children and the horses. There wasn’t anywhere else in San Antonio for them to get those experiences. I shuffled my way over to a bus bench as I dialed Leah’s number.
“Hey, Delilah.” Her voice cracked when she answered the phone on the first ring. “I was expecting your call.”
“I just finished talking to Mrs. Peterson. So, it’s true?” I twirled the end of my ponytail. I heard her sigh on the other end.
“Yep, and I don’t know what to do. I’ll return your money because I know you don’t have a place for them. A month isn’t long enough to find the horses good homes and I don’t want to see them end up on the kill truck.”
I shuddered at the thought of old Billy’s greying muzzle poking through the slants on the truck, heading for a long drive to Mexico, confused as to why he was packed on a trailer with strange horses.
“No, we can’t have that.” I agreed.
“What are we going to do?” She cried into the phone, the sadness and despair clear in her voice. “I can’t take them with me. We have a small house and no funds to care for ten horses. I’m going to have to sell them at an auction.”
“Can you give me a week to figure something out before you do that?”
“Do you think you could find homes for them?” Her voice pleaded with a touch of hope.
“I hope so,” I said before disconnecting. Hopefully, inspiration would strike, and I could save those horses, get a new job, and help the children; otherwise, the horses would be sold, I’d be stuck in my burnt-out career, and the kids would have nowhere to ride.