Centaur Rising (18 page)

He sure screamed a lot for a grown man.

Hobbling out of the stall, he yelled for his lawyer. “Daniel! Daniel Pickens! Get over here now!” His voice began rising higher, almost if he was singing. “I'll sue you for assault, Hannah. I'll have this farm and everything you own. Daniel, get over here. I need to go to the hospital right away!”

I ran out after him, tears flooding my eyes. Not tears for me. Not even tears for Robbie or Kai. But for my father, who would never be able to make his way back to us after this. Not that we wanted him to—not ever.

He never looked back, just climbed into his car, a bright red Corvette convertible, and, with his lawyer in the passenger seat, spun out of the driveway. It rained gravel.

When I returned to the stall, Agora was once again head down in her oats bucket, placidly munching away. In the corner, Kai—a bit awkwardly—was helping Robbie up onto his back while Robbie clutched his mane. They both saw me at the same time.

“Look, Ari!” Robbie called. “I can ride, too!”

“Robbie, that's—” I began, meaning to say how dangerous it was.

“Not without a helmet, young man!” It was Mom behind me. Behind
her
stood Dr. Herks. And behind
him
was Martha.

“And not until you learn how to do it right,” Martha said. I wasn't sure if she was talking to Robbie or to Kai.

Dr. Herks plucked Robbie from Kai's back. “Kai's still too young to carry this much weight. It will hurt his back and harm his legs. But at the rate he's growing, I bet you'll be able to ride him safely by the fall.”

As he brought Robbie back to his wheelchair, Dr. Herks added to Mom and Martha and me, “It's not just the boy part that's growing fast, his horse half is growing at a phenomenal rate, too. He's already taller than Agora, just not filled out.”

“That's because he's
magic
!” Robbie said. “And when I'm on his back, I'm magic, too.”

Magic
. What I'd always wanted.

Besides, it turned out to be the best explanation we were ever to get.

*   *   *

Back in the kitchen, we talked about what had just happened, and who had hurt whom.

“He didn't really hurt me, Mom,” Robbie said. “Except my feelings.”

“Well, Agora hurt
him
!” I'm embarrassed to say I grinned at the memory.

“Then I hope he has to go into the hospital.” Martha was busy pulling the rubber bands out of her hair and combing out the snarls with her fingers. “Hospitals can make you sick, you know. Doctors, too.”

Dr. Herks laughed.

“Oh, not you, Herkel,” she said. “You're not that kind of doctor.”

Mom shook her head. “Hospitals make you
well,
Martha.”

“A lot
you
know. When have you ever been in a hospital?”

Mom got that exasperated look on her face, her forehead crossed with lines like notebook paper. She held up her hands and started counting on her fingers: “Appendix, tonsils, Arianne, Robbie, oh—and a bout of pneumonia when I was a child, and a broken arm from falling off a horse when I was fifteen. Is six times enough?”

Martha gave a loud humph, and Dr. Herks laughed again.

He's enjoying this way too much
, I thought. But with very little urging, he called his lawyer, and we all listened in shamelessly, at least to his part of the conversation.

Afterward, he assured us that Mom's insurance would probably cover any doctor bills that a horse of hers inflicted. Furthermore, Dr. Herks' lawyer doubted Dad's lawyer would ever let him sue us, given the fact that Dad had as good as assaulted his daughter and his handicapped son, and had been vocal about his plans to steal a valuable asset from his ex-wife's farm (Kai). Plus the knowledge that Dad's reputation could be ruined by any revelation of what had happened here would—Dr. Herks' lawyer said—“guarantee his silence.”

Still, she promised to give Mr. Pickens a call in about an hour just to be sure.

And so we weathered two storms—the reporters and
Wolf Hurricane
, as Robbie called it.

 

22

Plan A+

T
HAT NIGHT
, exhausted by the day's revelations, I fell into a deep sleep and had the same dream again: Robbie sitting astride a horse, looking tall and whole.

I woke up, and it was still dark. The clock said it was twelve thirty, but I didn't feel sleepy at all. In fact, I was incredibly excited about my dream and what I thought it meant. So I got up, put on my robe and slippers, and went into Mom's room to tell her all about my idea before I forgot it or dismissed it as just a dream.

She wasn't there.

Robbie?
I thought.
Kai?

And then the worst thought of all:
Dad's come back!

I kicked off the slippers and was heading toward Robbie's room when I heard a noise in the kitchen. It was Mom, and it sounded as if she was crying.

I took off at a run. “Mom!” I shouted.

She was sitting at the kitchen table, a cup of tea in front of her. Dr. Herks was on his knees on the floor, a look of pain on his face.

“What's wrong?” My heart seemed to be pounding out a strange rhythm in my chest.

Dr. Herks looked up at me, then got laboriously to his feet. “I'll let you know when your mother gives me her answer.”

“Answer?”

Mom's hands left her face. Tears ran down her cheeks. “Yes,” she said. “That's my answer. Yes.” She took a deep breath. “But only if the children agree.”

Dr. Herks put his arms around her. “Let's start with Ari.”

“What's going on?” I asked, but my face was hot because I'd already guessed.

“I've asked your mother to adopt me,” Dr. Herks said and winked.

I laughed. “I don't need another brother, Dr. Herks,” I said. “I need a dad.”

He gathered me into their embrace. “Then you've got him. But only if you call me Gerry.”

That's when I remembered why I'd been looking for Mom and pulled away, trying to look serious, which was hard because I had this ridiculous grin threatening to split my face in two. “Listen, I have an idea.”

“Better than
this
one?” Gerry asked.

Holding hands, they looked at me with goofy smiles, maybe even goofier than mine. But I couldn't wait to tell them.

“Maybe,” I said, “since it includes all of us.”

“Go on,” Mom said, and Dr. Herks … Gerry … said it at the same time.

“So, I had a really strange dream several nights ago and now again.” I told them all about it. They looked at me oddly, as if I'd gone crazy or something.

“Ari…,” Mom began. “It's nearly one in the morning.”

“No, Mom, listen. I think it's about Robbie on Kai's back. Up there he had a kind of power. A kind of…” I waved my hands around as if I might pluck the word I was looking for out of the air.

Gerry nodded. “A kind of wellness?”

“Presence,” Mom offered.

Taking a deep breath, I nodded and then spelled it out. “Maybe Kai could learn how to carry handicapped riders like Robbie, to help them become stronger in their bodies—and in their hearts.”

Mom clapped her hands. “Yes!” she breathed. “Yes!”

Leaning toward me, Gerry grinned. “Arianne, it's brilliant. Why didn't
I
think of that?” He turned to Mom. “I've read about this sort of thing in Scandinavia. A woman—I can't remember her name—had had polio and couldn't walk without canes. But she'd been quite the horsewoman before and went back to riding as soon as she could. She even won a medal at the Helsinki Olympic Games for Dressage.”

“You're talking about Lis Hartel,” Mom said. “She won two silver medals.”

“
That's
the name!”

Mom sucked in her upper lip, something she did when she was thinking hard. “There are a couple of places in America that do a kind of riding for the handicapped, though not around here. I never paid much attention. I thought Robbie would never be able to sit on a horse, much less ride. Even yesterday in the stall, seeing him on Kai's back, I didn't make that connection. I was too afraid he was going to fall.”

“That's the beauty of it, Mom. With Kai's help—”

“We'll have to
ask
Kai,” Gerry said. “Not
tell
him.”

“Of course,” Mom said. “Consensus.”

“I can't imagine anything that would please him more. Except…” I smiled. “Except maybe when he finds out you two are engaged! He already calls you his mom and dad.”

They looked at each other as if ready to burst out laughing.

“So he does,” Mom said.

Gerry added, “It's what gave me the courage to ask your mom to marry me.”

They looked at each other again with those goofy smiles.

I turned to go upstairs and said over my shoulder, “I'm going back to sleep, you guys. My work here is done.”

*   *   *

I woke with such a sense of relief and joy, I couldn't wait to break the news about the marriage to the boys. I thought they'd probably be stunned.

Mom and I told Robbie and Martha about the proposal at breakfast.

Robbie didn't look stunned at all. “I wondered how long it would take him to ask. I knew you'd say yes, Mom.”

“How come
I
didn't know?” I said.

“You were too busy hoping,” he told me. “Instead of paying attention to what was really happening.” He turned to Mom. “Guess it's okay for me to call him Gerry now?” He smirked. “Or Dad! I've never had anyone to call Dad before. I think I am going to like that. A lot.”

Then he burst into song.

Oh Dad, oh Dad,

The first and best

I've ever had.

A vet to care

For seal and pony

He will be our

One and only.…

“I made up that song a while ago when I figured it out.”

“Pretty smart for a kid,” I said.

As for Martha, she gave one of her huffing noises, folded her arms across her chest, and said, “It's high time we had some good news.”

*   *   *

We all trooped out to the barn to tell Kai, and he was just as unstunned as Robbie had been.

“Now Hannah Mom will be married to my dad,” Kai said. “I like that.”

“There's a question we need to ask you, Kai,” I said. “It's about…” I stopped, not sure how to put it.

But Mom knew just what to say. “Kai—you know that everyone at a farm has a special job. We have an idea for yours. Or rather, it was Ari's idea.”

“Tell me, tell me!”

“We think you could help children like Robbie, letting them ride, helping them have strength and faith in themselves,” Mom said.

“You'd be their special friend—” I began, thinking he needed more encouragement.

“Today?” Kai squealed. “Can I start today?” He clapped his hands.

“When you're bigger and stronger,” Mom said, “and we have all learned the best way to work together.”

“I'm going to help,” Robbie added.

“Help, shmelp,” I said, “you two are going to
lead
the way.”

Robbie was aglow with this thought.

“You know, it was you on Kai's back yesterday that gave me the idea. Oh, and the dream.”

“What dream?” Robbie and Kai asked together.

So I told them.

“This new venture needs a name,” Mom said. “How about the Robbie Foundation?”

Robbie shook his head. “No, it's not about me. It's about Kai.” He looked up at the ceiling for a moment, then said, “How about Kai's Kids?”

*   *   *

We waited four months till Kai was big enough and strong enough to start his actual training. By then, Mom and Gerry had gotten married at the farm, outside under a big striped awning near the fence. The guests included all our riders and horse owners, Dr. Small, Gerry's lawyer, who had become Mom's new best friend, and the horses watching from the meadow.

I was maid of honor in a light blue dress. I got to push Robbie, who was in a light blue suit. He carried a big blue pillow, with the wedding rings sewn onto it with a single strand of thread so they didn't roll off.

Mom wore a short white dress and a crown of white roses twined with cornflowers. I wore a similar crown. Robbie had a single rose and blue cornflower in his buttonhole, just like Gerry.

Kai stood near the fence in an actual shirt that Mom had made for him. It had puffy sleeves and a floppy collar, like something a medieval swordsman would have worn. He had a garland of flowers around his neck, matching Mom's crown. As the minister spoke, Kai translated his words into Horse for the herd in a wonderful cascade of whinnies and snorts.

Martha—who actually owned a blue dress and sandals—gave away the bride, saying, “But I'm not giving her away too far!”

At the end, when Gerry and Mom kissed, Bor bugled and reared up on his hind legs. Agora made a sound that was very much like a chuckle before racing along the fence in an ecstasy of emotion.

“Cool!” Joey Angotti said.

Even Angela Angotti smiled, which must have been a first.

Mr. Angotti was there with his wife. He was not at all what I'd imagined, being tall and handsome with very white teeth, hair long enough to braid, and a gold hoop in one ear.

The Proper kids applauded wildly.

Professor Harries wiped a tear away. I guessed she thought no one had seen her cry.

The newspaper reporters and photographers and the UPI guy and even the awful, weaselly Mr. Fern were there, too, all standing farther back, kept in place by several town cops. Mom and Gerry had given them permission under the advice of Adam Harding, the New York publicity man we'd hired to work on the newspaper and television coverage of anything to do with Kai and the plan to start up Kai's Kids.