AllFreeNovel
Share Us
After filling a bucket with water from the nearby pump, Spring climbed into the enclosure. Cass handed the bucket to her, and Spring set it on the ground by the fence. Lady immediately came over and Spring spent a few minutes quietly telling her what a good girl she’d been for watching over the mare and gave her a big hug. “Come, let’s get you a drink.”
Spring had been watching the mare the entire time, who in turn had been watching Spring and Lady.
“Cass, climb in and sit behind the bucket for me, please.”
With everyone watching, Cass complied and took a seat.
“Put it as close to you as you can get it.”
Once Lady drank her fill and moved off, Spring said to the observers, “I need everyone to be quiet now.”
No one made a sound.
“Call your mare, Cass. Let her know you understand how thirsty she is, that you care about her, and whatever else you can think of to entice her. We need her to associate you with her well-being.” Willing this to work, she waited.
Cass played her role well. Enticing the mare with words, she also placed her hand in the bucket and held it so the mare could smell the water. Spring was impressed. The mare remained skeptical, however, and kept her distance.
Thirty minutes passed, and as word spread, more people gathered to watch Cass and Queen, including Garrett and his family. Spring acknowledged him but stayed focused on her task. To tempt the mare even more, Ed brought Cass a bucket of feed. He’d purposefully withheld food for this moment, and Cass let the mare see the contents in her outstretched hand. Lady walked to the feed and helped herself then whinnied to the mare as if to say, “Get over here and eat, little girl.”
Everyone noticed the mare’s rising interest by the way she kept eyeing what Cass had in her hand, so Spring warned the crowd, “When she does eat, anybody who cheers will have to deal with me. We don’t want her spooked after all this.” She punctuated the edict with a hard glance.
Finally, an hour after Cass took her seat, the mare walked over and drank from the bucket. Cass cried, and told her how proud she was. She reached out to touch her, but the horse shied and took off, but a moment later, returned for the feed. Spring saw Ed’s grin. Audrey Nelson’s tears matched her daughter’s. Spring was pleased, and by the look on Cass’s father’s face and the shine of water in his eyes, he was, as well.
After her drink, Queen raced back to her spot on the far side of the pen, but Spring wasn’t bothered by that. The mare was beginning to trust Cass. It was the big first step in the many to follow to help the horse and rider become one.
Most of the onlookers drifted away. Ed left to oversee other doings, and the Nelsons followed their daughter to where the mare stood, so she could continue familiarizing Queen to her presence and the sound of her voice. Spring watched for a moment then finally turned to Garrett and his family.
Garrett said, “Spring. I want you to meet my parents, Hiram and Fannie. My sister Melody and family friend Vernon Babcock. This is Spring Lee. Dr. Lee’s sister.”
“Pleased to meet you,” Spring replied.
“What a lovely name,” his short, wren-brown mother said, smiling.
“Thank you.”
His father, as tall and lean-framed as his son, eyed her and her leather attire questioningly for a silent moment as if not sure what to make of her or what to say. “That was quite a show with the young lady and the mare. Is your family’s business horses?”
“No. Just mine.”
He cocked his head.
“Ed Prescott and I are business partners,” she explained. “This is his spread. We sell wild mustangs.”
Fannie said, “How interesting.” She turned to Garrett with the same questioning look on her face as her husband’s.
Garrett said, “She’s a rancher, Mother.”
“You own a ranch?” she asked, turning back to Spring.
“Yes, ma’am.”
Garrett’s father asked, “Along with your husband?”
She shook her head. “I’m not married.”
He glanced from her to Garrett. “I see.”
Melody, whose bright skin and chestnut hair made Spring wonder if she was mulatto said, “I’ve never met a lady rancher. Truthfully, I’venever met any rancher. Odell said in one of the wires that you’ve been taking care of Garrett. Thank you for that.”
