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Prologue

Heading into the woods that bordered her yard, Maggie Angel, owner of Bayou Cottage, and her boyfriend, veterinarian Justin Chastain, stayed on the trail the wild horses used to reach her property, a well-worn path that was fairly dry that day despite being in the marsh.

The horses in the woods stopped munching and looked up as the couple passed, familiar humans who wouldn’t interfere while they grazed. On the other side of the wood, in the clearing on the state side of the fence, a small band of horses stood statue still, hearing intruders approaching. Brulee, Maggie’s adolescent German shepherd, lost her manners and woofed at the new arrivals, and they took off as a group up a small incline and back into the trees.

“Brulee, naughty,” Maggie said, frowning.

“Aw, Brulee’s okay. She’s a pretty smart pup,” Justin said.

“Justin, there are more horses on the hill.”

“That must be the new band. They’re on the state side of your fence. That’s a good thing as long as they stay over there unless you don’t mind them on your land. At our next wild horse meeting, we’re going to have to address this.”

He approached the fence and took out a small pair of binoculars from his coat pocket to spy on the band.

“There’s a pregnant mare! She looks about six months along. That’s pretty exciting.” He handed her the binoculars. The wild horse preservation group the couple worked with had a plan in place to inoculate the wild horse population with contraception, but this new band might not have had it yet. “See the black mare between the two spotted horses? I don’t see any other pregnant mares. They might have been inoculated, and it didn’t work on this one.”

“Yes!” Maggie watched the mare, elegant and poised despite her girth because of the pregnancy. Proudly, the mare tossed her head, like she knew she was being observed. “I wonder if she’ll stick around. I really don’t mind if they get on my land. I might actually like it.”

“We can take a portion of fencing down between your property and the state land. It’ll mean more manure to muck on your side.”

“I don’t mind more horses. I’m pretty upset since my Twelfth Night party scared the horses away, and none of them have come back.”

“They will. They’re right in the woods, waiting to see if you’re alone and quiet. If we let this other group in, they’ll come to the cottage. You watch.”

“You got time to take the fence down now?” Maggie asked, cozying up to him with a grin.

“I’ll make time for you.” He leaned down and kissed her on the lips. “How can I resist?”

Returning to the cottage, they got the tools necessary to cut a portion of fence between Maggie’s one hundred acres and the state land. Wire cutters, a saw and pliers in hand, after she got Brulee back into the cottage, much to the doggie’s chagrin, they hiked back to the location where they’d seen the new band. Working quickly, they removed six feet of fencing, carefully crimping the ends of the wires so no horse got scratched.

“That should do it. I hate to cut this time with you short, but I’d better get moving. When I checked the book last night, the appointments are back-to-back solid today.”

“I know,” Maggie said. “I need to work today, too.”

They turned their backs and were less than ten yards away when they heard a little snort. The pregnant black mare had come through the opening in the fence and headed right to Maggie in a brisk trot.

“What the…” Justin shouted, trying to barricade Maggie.

“Oh, man, she’s on a mission.”

“Be careful, Maggie.” He pulled her closer to him, but she wanted to see what the mare was up to.

“Let’s see what she does,” she said, pulling away.

Maggie stood statue still as the horse slowed down, walking around Justin and stopping at Maggie, sniffing her, gently nudging her with a soft muzzle.

“I have seen nothing like this before.”

In heaven, Maggie wished she had a camera. “No one would believe this. I’m just mindin’ my business. Can I pet her?”

“Try it.”

Maggie slowly reached her hand up to the horse’s head and gave it a little scratch. Shaking her mane, the mare backed up, turned around, and strolled away.

“I guess she didn’t want to be touched.”

“I don’t know what that was, but that was the darndest thing I have ever seen as a vet. For a wild horse to approach a human like that, well, it’s unusual. I wonder if she was someone’s horse at one time and then put out.”

Source: www.allfreenovel.com
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