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The list went on and on... His strength, his bravery, his kindness, his considerate nature... Justin looked up at Carly, and his eyes contained something akin to awe.
“I found more than a hundred things, so I just kept going,” she said, and she felt a little shy about it. He was still staring at her, and it made her a little nervous. He didn’t have a problem reading her handwriting like he did with printed material, but maybe he thought it was a silly idea or—
“I don’t know what to say,” he rasped and blinked rapidly. “No one has ever... God, Carly, thank you. I’ll treasure it, always.”
Carly crawled up onto Justin’s lap and put her arms around his neck. He held her, and they both looked past the Christmas tree to watch the falling snow.
Justin found Carly in the barn and took a deep breath before speaking. He didn’t want to yell at her, but he had been worried when he couldn’t find her anywhere. The barometer indicated a storm was on its way, as though the dark and lowering clouds were not enough warning.
Tigger and Sam were right outside of Shadowfax’s stall. Justin had cleaned it out that morning, and it had a thick, comfortable layer of straw on the floor. There was large helping of hay suspended in a wood rack on the side of the stall, but Shadowfax hadn’t touched it. She was restless, pawing the ground and pacing. Justin had removed the door to her stall so Shadowfax could come and go as she pleased, but she stayed within it, despite the way it shortened the distance she could pace.
Carly looked back at Justin, her forehead wrinkled with worry. “Something’s wrong with her.”
“I was worried about you,” Justin said, addressing his primary concern. “There’s a storm coming.”
“I know. That’s what you said at breakfast,” Carly said in an absent tone. Shadowfax stopped her pacing and lowered her head for Carly to pet.
Justin took a deep breath. She wasn’t taking this seriously enough. “You shouldn’t have come out here. If the blizzard came—”
“I’d follow the rope.” Carly’s brows crunched together with worry as Shadowfax tossed her head and let out a soft whinny.
“What?”
“You said there might be a blizzard, so I took a rope from the barn and tied it to the porch railings beside the door.” She pointed to the end of the rope, which lay on the floor inside the barn door. “I’d just follow it back if I couldn’t see the house.”
Justin had to smile. “Carly, that was very clever of you.”
“Thank you.” She smiled, too, but hers was tense. “Justin, I’m really worried about Shadowfax. I knew something was wrong when she didn’t come to the kitchen window today to get her treat. Could it be she can sense the storm and is worried?” Carly’s eyes grew hopeful at this last idea.
“I don’t know, honey.” He pressed his thumb into one of the horse’s ears. Her temperature felt normal, as far as Justin could determine. Her huge, bulging belly seemed to have developed a point toward the front. He hadn’t had a chance to check it out when Carly wasn’t around. He hoped to God it wasn’t a tumor. He didn’t know how Carly would cope if her beloved horse died, or worse, if he had to put her down to spare her a slow, painful death. God, it would kill him to have to do it. Shadowfax, Sam, and Tigger were part of the family, and it made his heart ache to think of losing any of them.
Shadowfax pawed the ground and tossed her head. Carly made soothing noises but the horse snorted and pawed again. Justin slowly moved up to Carly’s side in case the horse reared or kicked. He didn’t think Shadowfax would intentionally hurt Carly, but Carly could get in the way of a flying hoof or knocked down by a butting head. Shadowfax resumed her agitated pacing and then went over to the corner of her stall and lay down.
“Oh, my God,” Carly whispered. “She must be really sick.”
He wanted to send Carly into the house, but he knew she’d refuse to budge. To his alarm, she went into the stall and sat on the straw by Shadowfax’s head. The horse made a soft grumbling sound and laid her head on Carly’s lap. Inches away from his unborn child. He was about to go into the stall and remove Carly by scooping her up into his arms when he saw something strange.
Something was emerging from the back of the horse, some type of membrane. Justin knelt to examine it more closely. An intestine? he wondered. He was horrified and started thinking of ways he could grab Carly, cover her eyes, and convince her to stay in the house while he—
A small hoof appeared, and the membrane broke with a sudden gush of fluid, splashing Justin from head to toe. He laughed; it was the only way he could react after having just been soaked in such a fashion. “Carly, she’s not sick. She’s having a foal.”
“What?” Carly gasped. “Really?”
“Yes. I can see one of the feet.”
Carly hugged Shadowfax’s head, and tears dripped down onto the horse’s hair. “Oh, thank God. Thank God.”
“I can’t believe I didn’t think of her being pregnant.” Justin shook his head with a rueful grin. “She must have gotten pregnant before the Crisis. Your horse book said they have a gestation period of almost a year.”
She smiled at him and craned her neck as much as she could without disturbing Shadowfax’s head. “What can you see?”
“One little hoof sticking out, and here comes another.”
“Justin, run and get the horse book,” Carly urged, “so we’ll know if everything is going right.”
“No, Carly, I’m not leaving you alone in here with her. I know you trust her, and I do, too, but she could hurt you without meaning to if she starts to thrash around.” Justin kept his voice low, his tone as soothing as possible. “Try to keep her calm.”
“Do you think she’s in pain?” Carly gently stroked Shadowfax’s long jaw. The horse’s body heaved with the effort, and her tail was raised high.
