Holiday Horse (13 page)

That had made Stevie remember her game with Maxi earlier that evening. She had made the baby “fly” by holding her legs. Couldn’t The Saddle Club do the same sort of thing now? Two of their members could lower the third over the wall and hold her by the legs while she shifted the beam off the horse.

The others agreed that it was worth a try. And Lisa, as the lightest member of the group, had volunteered to play the part of Superbaby.

“Here goes nothing,” she said as she pushed her way back into the hall next to Magoo’s stall. She put her hands, still clad in their winter riding gloves, on top of the jagged wall, which was a few inches higher than her head. “Hoist me up.”

Carole and Stevie each grabbed one of Lisa’s ankles. On the count of three, they lifted with all their might.

Lisa helped out, gracefully pushing herself up with her hands. “Maybe those gymnastics classes my mom made me take did some good after all,” she joked. Then she turned her attention to the task at hand.

She could feel her friends’ hands gripping her legs tightly as she pushed herself farther over the wall. Soon her waist was bent over the top. But that wasn’t going to be good enough.

“Give me some more height, guys,” she called back.

Carole and Stevie obeyed, and soon Lisa was hanging awkwardly over the wall. An angled section along the top bit into her left leg, and the weight of her body resting against the wall was starting to cut off the circulation below her knees. But she hardly noticed. She was stretching down toward the beam.

Magoo obviously heard her. His ears twitched back and forth as he tried to figure out what was going on behind him. He let out a few more anxious neighs.

Lisa wasn’t paying attention. She was concentrating on lengthening her body. Her joints protested as she balanced like a giant lever on top of the wall, reaching toward the beam. At least three feet of air still separated her fingertips from the closest section.

“Can you lower me any farther in?” she called back to her friends.

“I don’t think so,” Stevie shouted back. “We’re having trouble hanging on as it is.”

Lisa made one more reach, but she could already tell it was hopeless. “Pull me back,” she said.

Soon she was resting on the messy floor of the neighboring stall. “I’m sorry,” she gasped, rubbing her legs to restore circulation. “I just couldn’t reach. But there’s plenty of room back there in the corner. One of us could easily jump down there.”

“Getting in isn’t the problem,” Carole pointed out. “It’s getting out that’s the hard part.”

The others thought about that for a second. They all knew that in his present state, Magoo was likely to lash out at whomever he could reach. And once the beam was out of the way, that would be an immediate and deadly problem for anyone anywhere in the stall.

“Well,” Lisa said at last, “we’ve got to try. I’ll go in. Maybe if I can touch him, I can calm him down a little before I move the beam.” She still couldn’t bear to give up on the unfortunate horse. “And if not, maybe I can spring up to the top of the wall before he realizes he’s free. Then you guys can drag me over.”

“Are you sure you want to try this?” Carole asked uncertainly. It sounded awfully risky to her. Magoo didn’t seem likely to calm down anytime soon. Still, she knew that Lisa was quite athletic. Maybe she
could
get out in time.

Lisa nodded firmly. There was a halter poking out of Carole’s coat pocket, and Lisa grabbed it. “I’ll take this in with me,” she said. “Maybe I can get it on him. It might help me calm him down.”

She tucked the halter in her own pocket and put her hands on the wall again. “Give me a boost,” she said. “There’s no time to lose.”

The others knew how true that was. Once again, they hoisted Lisa up the broken wall. This time, they let go of her feet once she was up. She balanced again at the top for a second, like a gymnast on a bar. Then she swung her legs over the wall and dropped out of sight.

She landed lightly in the straw. Magoo heard and felt her landing and jerked his head in surprise. He let out a few more piercing cries.

“Don’t worry, boy,” Lisa said. “I’m here to help.” She bent to examine the beam. It looked larger and more solid up close, but Lisa was pretty sure she could move it.

She scooted a little nearer to the horse. Soon she was close enough to reach out and touch his broad, sweaty back.

“It’s okay, Magoo,” she crooned. “Don’t be so upset. You’ve got to stop kicking.”

The horse jumped again at her first touch. But once again, his ears were pricked back in Lisa’s direction, and he seemed to be listening to her.

Magoo’s ears swiveled around to the front again when Carole’s voice came from the stall doorway. “Is everybody okay in there?”

“Fine,” Lisa called. “Magoo and I are just making friends. I’m going to try to get the halter on him now.”

A few tense moments followed. Lisa had to lean forward over the horse’s neck to get the halter on, putting her hands within reach of his big teeth. She prayed that Elaine was right in saying that the gelding didn’t bite.

He didn’t. He shook his head for a while, but eventually he held still long enough for Lisa to slip the halter on him and buckle it closed. She had already attached a lead line, which she drew back over his withers where she
could reach the end when necessary. The horse actually seemed to calm down a bit when the halter was on. His legs slowed in their incessant pumping, and he snorted.

“I’ve got it,” Lisa called to her friends. “I’m going to try to move the beam now.”

She put both arms around the thick piece of wood and lifted. It was heavier than she had thought, but she managed to dislodge it from the corner and raise it an inch or two.

“He’s thrashing harder again,” Carole reported.

Stevie’s head popped over the top of the broken-off wall. She had chinned herself up to see what was happening. “Can you lift it?” she asked.

Lisa couldn’t spare the energy to look up. She gritted her teeth and did her best to hold on to the beam. If she dropped it now, it would most likely land squarely on Magoo’s side. “Barely,” she gasped.

Out of the corner of her eye, she could see that Carole was right. The horse was jerking around excitedly on the floor. If Lisa lifted the beam another few inches, he would be able to roll over, and that could be very bad news for both of them. Lisa could see now that the timing wasn’t going to work. By the time she had moved the beam far enough to the side, the horse would certainly have rolled over and started kicking.

Lisa carefully lowered the beam, praying that it would
take hold again in the corner instead of falling on the horse. It did.

“I don’t think this is going to work,” she said. She felt tears welling up in her eyes. After all their efforts, would they have to give up? If only Magoo could understand that his fear was sealing his doom! If he were calmer, the girls could do it. The vet’s tranquilizing shot would have done the trick. But the vet wasn’t there.

Carole was peering into the stall. “He still looks pretty agitated,” she said. “Maybe you should just get out of there.”

Lisa gulped. “I feel like crying,” she admitted to her friends, wiping the sweat off her forehead with the back of her hand. She did her best to crack a smile. “But I’m afraid if I do, my eyeballs will freeze solid.”

“It
is
getting awfully cold in here,” Carole said, staring at Magoo, who was covered with sweat.

Lisa could guess what her friend was thinking. If something didn’t happen soon, Magoo would be in danger of dying from exposure.

Stevie had chinned herself up on the wall again. “Hey, it could be worse,” she said. “It could be snowing.” She jerked a thumb at the gaping hole in the roof above them. Unfortunately, the motion made her lose her balance, and she dropped out of sight again with a thump.

Lisa sighed. She knew that Stevie was just trying to
lighten the mood with a joke, but it wasn’t working. “Who knows?” she said. “At this point I think I’d welcome a little snow. Maybe we could pack Magoo’s legs in it so that he couldn’t try to kill us while we’re trying to save him.”

“Good point,” Carole said. “Let it snow!”

At that, despite the grimness of the situation, Stevie and Lisa couldn’t resist. They both started humming the tune of “Let It Snow.”

For a second, Lisa felt guilty about doing something as silly as humming during such a dire moment. But she figured a little music might calm her down and help her think of a new plan. She broke out singing on the first chorus, and Stevie joined in.

Carole looked a little surprised at first. Lisa could tell she didn’t quite approve. But she and Stevie kept singing. And suddenly, Carole’s expression changed.

“Don’t look now, guys,” she said, “but I think Magoo likes this song!”

Lisa looked down at the horse. His legs were still moving, but they were waving more slowly now. His ears were pricked in her direction.

Lisa’s eyes widened. She thought Carole was right. She didn’t dare say so, though, because she didn’t dare stop singing. Stevie was back on top of the wall again, but she was singing, too. And on the next verse, Carole joined in.

When the girls ran out of words to the first song,
Stevie called out, “Okay, now let’s do ‘On Top of Old Smoky’!” The others followed her lead as she started to sing.

But Magoo didn’t seem to approve. As soon as the girls started the new song, he tossed his head and started kicking harder again.

“Uh-oh,” Carole said. “Maybe we should go back to ‘Let It Snow.’ ”

Stevie stopped singing, too. “Maybe,” she agreed. She paused, and a thoughtful look crossed her face. “Or maybe Magoo is just in the holiday spirit. Let’s try another Christmas song.”

Lisa rolled her eyes. “Come on, Stevie,” she said. “We don’t have time to experiment. Let’s just stick with what we know works.”

Stevie ignored her. She launched into “Jingle Bells,” and the other two girls shrugged and joined in. Going along with Stevie’s wild ideas was almost always easier than trying to resist them.

By the time they reached the second chorus, Magoo’s legs were still. Only his ears were active, flicking around to try to listen to all three girls at once.

“I don’t believe it,” Carole said as she paused for breath before the chorus. “Stevie was right. Magoo
is
a real holiday horse!”

Stevie stopped singing as Carole started again. “I wonder if he only likes Christmas songs,” she mused. “Maybe we should try ‘Here Comes Peter Cottontail.’ ”

Both Carole and Lisa turned to give her a murderous glare. This time Stevie gave in meekly. She started singing “Jingle Bells” again at the top of her lungs.

Without speaking further, the girls knew what to do. Carole crept forward a short distance into the stall, still singing. Magoo watched her warily, but he kept still. Lisa leaned forward over his withers and tossed Carole the lead line. Carole caught it and scooted back out of harm’s way, just as Stevie switched to “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.”

Lisa grasped the beam again. Her arms and shoulders were already aching, but she gathered her strength for one more round. Lifting slowly and carefully, she moved the beam up an inch, then two inches, then six inches. Meanwhile, Carole was tugging gently on the lead line. Now that Magoo was calmer, Lisa hoped that Carole could keep him from flipping over. She wished she could cross her fingers, but they were busy. And her toes were almost frozen in her boots. She concentrated harder.

It didn’t take long for the horse to realize that he was finally free. He let out a few loud snorts, and his eyes started to roll as he wiggled against the floor. Carole started to sing even more loudly, and he flicked his ears toward her.

Lisa lifted the beam as high as she could to give the horse room to rise. As he scrambled to his feet, she dropped the beam beyond his hindquarters, then scurried
for the side wall. Before Magoo had all four feet under him, Lisa was safe on the other side of the wall.

Carole kept a wary eye on the horse as he tossed his head. He seemed to be surprised to be on his feet again. He was still nervous, but the worst of his panic seemed to have passed. Still, by mutual though unspoken agreement, the girls kept singing until they had led him safely through the rubble, down the aisle, and out the door—right past an astonished-looking Elaine.

A
FEW MINUTES
later, the entire Hedgerow herd was on the move. Heeding Elaine’s advice, Carole and Starlight were leading Magoo, who seemed too exhausted to cause much trouble. Most of the rest of the horses seemed happy enough to go along the wooded path. The girls had used the tail hitch method to tie one nervous two-year-old colt to the tail of the calm, steady Appaloosa mare that Carole had rescued.

Carole was at the front of the pack this time. Stevie, carrying Maxi, brought up the rear. Lisa kept Topside somewhere in the middle, urging along reluctant horses and soothing panicky ones.

And the whole way, the girls kept up a steady stream of festive holiday carols. Why mess with success?

Before they were halfway home, Lisa kept having to interrupt her singing to yawn. She couldn’t remember the last time she had been so exhausted. And there was more
work ahead. The horses would have to be groomed, checked and treated for injuries, and bedded down at Pine Hollow.

But that was okay. It would all be worth it. They had saved all the endangered horses—even Magoo.

As Carole launched into a rousing rendition of “Frosty the Snowman,” Lisa yawned again and glanced at her watch. She was surprised to see that it was after one o’clock in the morning.

“Hey, you guys,” she called out, interrupting her own singing. “Happy New Year!”

Carole and Stevie paused, too. “Wow,” Carole called back. “I guess we missed midnight.”

Stevie didn’t say anything. Lisa held Topside back for a minute, allowing Belle to catch up to them. “Did you hear what I said?” Lisa asked, glancing over her shoulder as a couple of Hedgerow stragglers passed by. The horses looked almost as tired as Lisa felt, and she smothered another yawn.

“Shhh,” Stevie said, putting a finger to her lips. She pointed to her front.