Page 61 of Save A Horse
“Kind of early for that, isn’t it?”
“Ah, he said he needed a break, so he’s not in any hurry. He knew we’d be a bit. He told me to help you out. I know you went riding to see the sunrise this morning, so you probably still need to feed and water the horses.”
“How’d you know what I did?”
“Well, besides the fact that you made it out of the house before we did, it was always one of your favorite things.”
He remembered so much about me, like he had kept a list in his head all this time, hoping one day he would be able to put it to good use. It made me feel a little guilty that I had ever tried to forget this place. No matter how hard I tried, though, I couldn’t forget Colt. I didn’t want to. He had once been my go-to person, and there were too many memories there to wash away.
Colt was shoveling out the stalls while I gave each horse food and checked their water. I loved moments like this, being able to slow down with the hustle and bustle of life. The sunlight filtered through the wooden slats, and I was starting to feel the heat. I rubbed Domino on the nose, feeling a little mist as he neighed, then walked back to hang up the bucket. I picked up the water hose and sprayed a little in Colt’s direction.
“Hey!”
“What?” I was definitely flirting with him.
“You’ll get some back.”
I sprayed him again. He ran towards me, trying to take the hose from my hand, but we ended up spraying it everywhere. It was a good thing Walt was in the house, so he couldn’t see us. He wrapped his arms around my waist, moving me around to try to free my hands. I held on a little longer before dropping the hose. Colt walked over and turned it off.
“Told you you’d get some, too.” We laughed, but it was cut short.
Suddenly, a loud, whiny sound broke the lightheartedness between us. We turned our heads toward the sound. Titan jolted, and his ears pricked forward. Colt tried to react quickly, while I was unsure of what to do. Titan knocked over a bucket of feed, and Colt walked over to steady him. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a small snake slithering across the barn floor. It was little and harmless, but the sight of it startled Titan.
“Colt!” The snake was small, but I still didn’t like them. I was with Titan on this one. Colt stepped back with the urgency in my voice. Titan was dancing around nervously.
“It’s just a snake. He’s okay.”
Titan didn’t listen, though. He continued moving around, pure chaos ensuing. His instincts kicked in as he tried to escape. Titan moved, showing pain in his hoof. Colt rushed to him, trying to calm him down more. I froze. What was wrong? What had happened? Was he hurt? I walked over to the stall. During it all, Titan had stepped on a loose nail sticking out.
“No, no, no, Titan!” Titan was still agitated but slowly coming down from the rush of the incident. I brushed his mane, trying to keep him calm so Colt could take a look at the injury.
“Shh, you’re alright, Titan. We got you. You’re safe.” I continued brushing him, speaking softly. I could feel him trembling underneath me.
I peered down to Colt handling Titan’s hoof and could make out a small cut on his leg from where he had stepped onthe nail.
“We need to get him treated.” Colt looked at me with concern, and I was scared. It had been a long time since I had to deal with anything like this. It made me nervous.
“Let’s get your dad.” I think Colt could see my jitters, so he shook his head in agreement.
“Go get him. He’ll be able to help.” I dashed out of the barn, running as fast as I could to the house. I found Walt sitting in the kitchen, drinking some water.
“Walt! Walt!” He rose quickly, walking over to me and putting his hands on my shoulder.
“What’s wrong?”
“It’s Titan! He…he…” I was out of breath and couldn’t get the words out.
“Slow down, Daisy. Take a deep breath.” I did, Walt coaching me through it. “What happened?”
“Titan got spooked by a snake and hurt his leg. There's a cut on it. Colt needs help treating it.”
“Show me.”
Walt’s expression went from confusion to concern as we made our way to the barn, me running in front of him. When Walt walked into the barn, he went straight to Titan and Colt, assessing the situation.
“Alright, let’s get a good look at him.” Colt held the horse steady while Walt examined the cut. “It’s not too deep. We need to clean and bandage it.” He looked up at me. “Daisy, can you grab some clean water and a cloth?”
“Yes!” I hurried to gather the supplies. I wasn’t good in a crisis. Colt always was, which made us a perfect pair. I could lean on him during times like this. I returned in a flash with the supplies. Walt cleaned the wound while Colt continued to keep Titan calm.
