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The rain had stopped, so she harnessed Brulee for an outing. She’d financed an animal rescue on her property, a double-wide trailer they’d outfitted with everything needed for the comfort of rescue dogs and cats, and friends of Maggie’s ran it, with her help from time to time.
Her childhood friend Annie, who was pregnant, was out in the yard with the dogs, taking advantage of the end of the rain.
“Hey, what’s up?” Maggie called out.
“We are swamped, like, overnight,” Annie explained. “Kelly just went to pick up another mother and pups, and her mother is inside bottle-feeding a litter of kittens that were brought in without their mother.”
“Oh, man. It’s feast or famine.”
Brulee went right to Annie to sniff and beg. “What’s with your dog? She usually ignores me.” Annie squatted down to pet her and get dog love.
“I’m not sure. Of course Brulee likes you.”
“What’s going on at the cottage?” Annie asked.
Maggie told Annie about the new band and the encounter with the pregnant mare.
“Wow, that’s so cool. That means we’ll have a little horse here this summer.”
“Yes, after your baby is due to come! Justin said she’s about halfway through, so that means she’s due maybe in July. The other horses are truly wild, but she came right up to me. I still can’t get over it.”
Feeling antsy, she needed to get moving.
“What can I do to help you? I’m trying to stay away from my refrigerator.”
“Don’t go inside, Maggie. Beverly has been on a baking spree since she’s been going to AA. I’ve probably gained five pounds since Wednesday.”
“Forget it, then. The last thing I need is a cookie.”
She stayed outside with Annie, playing with the dogs, and Brulee was in the yard, running around too.
Annie and her husband, Steve, had recently had a major issue when she caught him cheating with a student teacher. But before they could consummate their relationship, the girl found Annie and Steve’s wedding album while he was in the shower. The beautiful bride, so obviously in love with Steve, touched the young girl’s heart, and she fled before he came out.
When he saw the album on the bed and leafed through it, the pictures of his lovely Annie made a big impact on him. He regretted straying and was attempting to make amends by being extra considerate.
Meanwhile, Maggie was dying to ask how things had been the last few days but fought the urge to bring it up. As long as Annie wasn’t saying anything, they must be okay.
After chatting for a while, Maggie was ready to get back to work.
“I’ll come by later tonight to toilet the dogs, so tell Kelly she can stay home.”
“Okay, I will. Talk to you later.”
Annie squatted down to hug Brulee and Maggie had to look away, her baby bump hanging was just too much reality.Poor Annie.
That night, after dinner, Justin got called out on an emergency, so Maggie carried out their nightly ritual with Brulee, having a cup of tea on the porch before bed. They’d had a Twelfth Night party at the cottage weeks earlier, and she was still waiting for the horses to return for their visit after sundown. They’d disappeared when the band played too late into the night and even though they hadn’t had any activity since, something was keeping the horses away.
But on this night, no moon light to illuminate the scene, the new band of horses, unaware of any prior shenanigans, ventured into her yard. She heard them, their light whinnies, blowing raspberries as they came down the trail. Brulee’s ears stood up, alert, but she didn’t growl this time.
Leading the band, the black mare who had made contact with her that morning, the experience still spellbinding, unlike anything she’d ever experienced before. She didn’t tell Justin, but she felt she’d made some kind of connection with the mare, something spiritual. Chuckling to herself, she knew he was a skeptic, and she didn’t want to ruin what she felt by listening to his mocking comments.
She watched them grazing, the black mare raising her head from time to time to make sure Maggie was still there. Justin had said he thought she was about five or six months along. Her girth amazed Maggie, that she could look so sleek and athletic and be so pregnant. The bulge didn’t seem to impair the way she moved or interacted with the other horses. The father was most likely the boss of this band, the dominant stallion, who was keeping his distance. Adolescent males were in the group, but not the boss, who might be back in the woods, observing.
The mare kept some distance from most of the others, like she was protecting her foal from being knocked about inside her. The other females surrounded her but not too close. Justin had said there would be other pregnant mares unless the group had been inoculated. It was possible they had inoculated the black mare, but it had been ineffective.
Sitting still in the candlelight, Maggie watched her bravely come up to the porch, pressing her muzzle against the screen.
“Hey, girl, you’ll rip my screen.”
