Page 28 of Caleb's Cause
“How many workers are there?”
“Unfortunately, not enough. There are four taking care of almost thirty horses, and Erin would like at least a dozen more people. It’s hard with the background checks.”
“Why?” They headed back to the car, and climbed in.
“People aren’t agreeing to them, or if they do, they don’t pass. Don’t quote me on this, but I believe that out of thelast six applications, four of them were arrested for outstanding warrants.”
“Damn, that’s bad.” She nodded as he started the car and slowly drove to a gigantic barn. When he parked the first thing she saw was a man playing ball in the fenced area beside the gigantic red barn. She didn’t know if that caused her to smile, or the steam coming off the grass as the sun hit it.
“You’re here early,” Caleb called out to the man who had just tossed a ball, and smiled when the horse kicked it back. He looked at Katherine when she joined him. “That’s Reid, the man, and that’s Katie, the horse.”
“Oh my god, a horse plays ball?”
“Yes,” Reid said as he tossed it again, and watched as the horse ran after it. “It’s not only good exercise for her, but also for me. I know you told us your story when you first arrived, but you don’t know all of our stories. I’m sure if you stay here, you’ll eventually hear them, but if I could get you to understand something first, then I think you’ll work out well here.”
“What’s that?”
“Just remember that with every person comes a story of how they got to where they are in life now. Think of your own story. You’re here because your life is in danger for what someone else did to you and others.”
“Okay, I understand that.”
“Good, then please understand that all the horses here at Broken have a story too.” At her confused look, he laughed when he was hit in the back of the head by the ball, turned, took it, and then threw it for the horse to run after. “Katie was abused by her former owner. That owner did time in jail for his mistreatment of her. When Erin got her, she was depressed. Yes, she would eat and drink, but she never ran, she never even picked her head up. One day, I was standing in the middle of the aisle trying to remember what I was supposed to do, because I sure as shitdidn’t know anything about horses, when I was almost knocked flat on my face.”
“What happened?”
“Katie. She was behind me and she nudged me with her head. I didn’t think, I reached out and found a ball, it was in sad shape, dirty, patched, and was almost completely deflated. I threw it outside, and imagine my surprise when she brought it back to me. I went out and played with her. Little did I know that Erin and Tom were watching. Tom, he’s the vet, had come to talk to Erin about putting Katie on anti-depression medication.”
“Holy smokes.”
“Yep, she doesn’t need it now, and I come over here definitely once, sometimes twice a day for two hours to play with Katie. I’m here early today because I have things to do over at Erin’s Way, but no matter how busy I am, I will always make time for her.” He held out his hand, then patted his chest, and the horse stepped up and rubbed her head into his chest, then actually kissed him on the cheek as she turned and walked away. Reid looked at Katherine and Caleb with a grin. “That’s my signal, patting my chest, that I’m done for the day. If she rubs her head on my chest, then she’s fine with it.”
“What happens if she’s not?”
“She’ll run away and refuses to play.” He laughed as he leaned in. “Don’t tell her, but she gets in a snit. So, Katherine, everyone has a story, whether it’s human, equine, canine, or feline. They all have a story. I just wanted you to know that before you entered the barn, because the ladies and men inside are still working with some of them to get them to come out of their shells. Don’t expect that if you put your hand out, they will come running to receive affection from you.”
“I have to earn that affection and trust from them.”
“Exactly.” Reid nodded and looked up and nodded with his head. “Looks like they’re waiting for you.”
Katherine turned and saw several women waiting for her, and before she took a step forward, Reid whispered. “It’s okay if you don’t remember our names for a few days.”
“Thank you,” Katherine said on a sigh, looked at Caleb and took the first step forward.
CHAPTER 11
“Morning,”a woman said as she smiled at Katherine. “I’m Naomi. I’m the manager of Broken.”
“Oh, so you tell us what needs to be done, and assign jobs to us?”
“I used to, but they have everything under control that I just basically sit in my office and do paperwork all day.”
Katherine wrinkled her nose and shuddered. “I hated those days. I was better at putting out fires than the paperwork. Don’t get me wrong, I did it, but I preferred the busyness of dealing with problems.”
“Yeah, I hear you, but I like to think that with me doing the paperwork for Broken, then that’s one less iron out of Erin’s fire.”
“Okay, I understand. What will I be doing here?”
“First, you’ll follow the ladies and listen to them. Have you ever ridden a horse before.”
