Four Dead Horses by KT Sparks

Author:KT Sparks [Sparks, KT]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Regal House Publishing
Published: 2021-04-15T00:00:00+00:00

Once they figured out the horse was starving, they had no problem moving ersatz Chopo. Julie held a Red Delicious from the bag she had brought along in front of the snorting animal’s nose. She did a slow, and to Martin’s eye, dangerous dance, waving the fruit, then jumping back as the pony bared its yellow teeth and lunged at her outstretched fingers. He flashed back for a moment to the beach at Twin Bluffs, when Julie risked her life to save Buster and Martin did naught. This time, he’d be an equal partner in the equine rescue and maybe even the hero he could not be four years ago.

As Julie inched her way across the dark and open paddock toward the truck, Martin joined Lattner and prepared to load the beast. They pulled out the two-by-fours that Mrs. Trinkle had thought to add to the pick-up bed to serve as a makeshift ramp.

“Shit,” Lattner barked. “Splinter.”

Martin hushed him, and Lattner answered, “No need, James Bond, we’re the only ones here. Us and that probably rabid nag waltzing with Julie.”

Julie worked her way to the end of the plank leading into the truck bed. The pony dove at her, and she jumped behind the wooden boards.

“How are we supposed to get it up there?” Julie asked, crouching lower as the pony snarled. “It would help, Mr. Cowboy Poetry, if you had some idea how to get the harness on.”

Martin sighed. “The body of work with which I am familiar is heavier on lyricism than on practical advice. It’s got a lead rope on.” He nodded toward the noose around the animal’s neck. Lattner, a finger to his lips, tiptoed to the side of the horse and made a grab for the loose end of the rope. The pony kicked laterally and viciously at Lattner’s hand, missing it, but just barely.

“Wow, he must be double-jointed,” Lattner said.

Julie tossed the apple to Martin. “Throw it in the cab. Maybe he’ll go after it.”

Chopo’s rectangle of a head swung toward Martin and a rope of spittle from its foaming mouth slapped his shoulder. The pony’s eyes were bleeding red, and it gurgled and growled. Amoya had been right: the demon Keshi. Martin relayed the apple into the back of the truck, and the pony leapt up the ramp in two hops. Lattner kicked the boards away and slammed the tailgate.

“He’s so hungry,” said Julie. They watched the pony finish the apple in one bite then submerge its snout into a bucket of water.

The pony’s back glistened. Someone had put some sort of salve on his saddle sores, the ones that had made a front-page appearance over Martin’s story, and they looked a little better. But the animal had had no food for days, it seemed.

“Why do you think Dewitty left just him?” Julie asked, tossing another apple into the truck bed.

“He was on the front page and not looking too good,” Martin said. “It’s going to be kind of suspicious if he’s not around for the big inspection.

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