CHAPTER FOUR

WHEN HE IS GONE, Gran and Lily and Gramp just stand for a moment looking at Beware. Beware’s head hangs low. Slowly, slowly she tips toward one side. Then she catches herself and slowly, slowly tips the other way. Her lips droop. Her ears flop limply.

“Well, let’s get her comfortable,” Gramp says.

Gran starts toward the door. “I’ll get supper going. You two come up when you’re ready.”

The blanket Gramp finds for Beware is big enough for a workhorse. It reaches almost to the floor. A mouse has chewed the edge, and the lining hangs out.

Gramp helps Lily fold the blanket so it fits. Then he goes to get some baling twine. Lily lifts the blanket and listens to Beware’s right side.

“You won’t hear any change yet,” Gramp says. “It’ll take awhile.” He ties the baling twine around Beware’s middle. “There. Not handsome, but it’ll stay.” Gramp and Lily make a deep bed of shavings in the nearest stall, and they help Beware inside. “Let’s go up and get some supper,” Gramp says.

“You don’t think she’ll start to roll?”

“All she wants right now is not to fall down,” Gramp says. “While that shot’s working, she’ll brace against it. She’ll be all right.”

The kitchen is warm, and it smells good. Lily is glad to sit down in a chair. Gran hands her a big plate with pot roast and red cabbage and potato, and Lily eats it all.

“Your mother’ll be home around eight,” Gran tells Lily. “She’s working late at the store.” While they eat, Gran tells Gramp about bringing Beware down the hill. “We weren’t sure it was the right thing to do, Linwood,” she says, “but it didn’t seem to be doing her any harm.”

Gramp smiles at her. “We’ll make a horsewoman out of you yet, Gracie!”

“It would be strange if I hadn’t picked up a thing or two living with you all these years!” Lily feels them both looking at her.

“Apple crisp?” Gran asks.

“Maybe I should go check her.”

“Eat your dessert, Lily,” says Gramp. “We haven’t been up here but twenty minutes.”

When Lily goes back to the barn, she is warmed up and full. Gramp walks down, too. Loose change jingles in his pocket. “She’ll prob’ly be feeling better,” he says. “We’ll find a nice pile of manure in the corner, and she’ll be asking for her hay.”

But there is no manure, and Beware just stands there. She turns her face away when Gramp brings her the water pail.

“It’ll take a little time,” Gramp says. “Come on back to the house.”

“I’ll watch her,” Lily says.

Lily sits in the corner of Beware’s stall. The two walls push against her shoulders. The shavings smell fresh and piney. The barn is very quiet. Beware does not stir.

After a while Mom’s car drives up, and Mom goes into the house. A few minutes later she comes to the stall door. “How is she?”

“The same, I think.” Lily listens to Beware’s stomach. It sounds the way it did before. The ridges of muscle are still tight along Beware’s sides.

“Well, she’s no worse anyway,” Mom says. “I brought you some tea.”

Lily wraps her cold fingers around the mug. The tea is milky and sweet. “I wonder if Beware would like some.” In the summer Beware shared Lily’s soda. Lily would pour a little in her hand, and Beware would lick it off. Lily pours a warm pool of tea into her palm and holds it out to Beware.

Beware’s ears prick up. She sniffs the tea. Slowly she licks it off Lily’s hand. Then she looks down at the hay on the floor in front of her. She winds a few strands into her mouth and chews.

“That’s encouraging!” Mom says. “Come up and get warm, Lily. You can check her again in an hour.”

In an hour the pile of hay is no smaller. There is no manure in the stall. Beware’s belly is making exactly the same noises. She is no worse, but she isn’t any better either.

“Well, I’ve seen sicker horses,” Gramp says. “Why don’t you go to bed, Lily? I’ll check her again before I turn in.”

Lily thinks maybe she should stay up all night. But what would she do? That is the worst thing about this. There is nothing she can do for Beware, nothing at all. She can’t rub her, she can’t walk her, and she can’t even feed her.

Gramp thumps Lily on the shoulder. “Don’t worry. She’ll be better in the morning.”