Starlight Christmas by Bonnie Bryant

Author:Bonnie Bryant [Bryant, Bonnie]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 978-0-307-82494-3
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2012-12-19T05:00:00+00:00

“SO, ARE YOU all ready for Christmas?” Judy asked Carole as they bounced around a back country dirt road. It was the day before Christmas, the day of the Starlight Ride. The two of them had been working together since dawn to take care of all the urgent calls so that Judy could spend a quiet Christmas with her husband, Alan.

“Well, I finished my dad’s socks last night,” Carole replied. “They’re all wrapped. I bought the fun stuff for his stocking last week. After the Starlight Ride tonight I’ll have to fill it and sneak it downstairs when he’s asleep.”

“I tried that with Alan’s stocking once,” Judy said. “We ended up bumping into each other in the dark. Now that was a Christmas surprise!”

“Don’t you think two people is kind of a lonely number for Christmas?” Carole asked.

“Not if they’re the right two people,” Judy said. “But somehow, I don’t think that’s what you’re really asking, are you?”

“Not really,” Carole admitted. “It’s just that my father is such a terrific guy and it’s hard for me to make his Christmas as good as I want it to be.”

“I bet he feels the same way,” Judy told her. “I remember—oh, here we are,” she interrupted herself. They turned into a driveway and saw the stable next to an old house. “I don’t know these people,” Judy said. “They called my office yesterday, saying they had a horse with a foot problem. Let’s go see what we find.”

Judy and Carole climbed out of the truck and knocked on the door. They met the owner, Mr. Alonzo, and he took them to the stable. Working with Judy, Carole had seen all kinds of stables—big ones, small ones, new and old, well-lighted and dark. There were stables made for two horses and stables made for eighty. She’d found tidy ones and messy ones, but she’d never seen one like Mr. Alonzo’s.

Four horses were housed in a cramped, dark building. The minute she entered, the stench hit Carole’s nose and turned her stomach. It smelled as if the place hadn’t been cleaned in months. Of course, that wasn’t true. A stable could smell unclean if it was left untended or inadequately tended for just a day or two. But horses needed to be cleaned up daily, and these horses clearly weren’t so lucky.

Mr. Alonzo left to bring the patient into the paddock, where Judy could examine the horse’s hoof in the daylight because there was no electricity in the stable. As soon as the man was out of earshot, Judy leaned over to Carole and murmured, “Thrush, I’ll bet you anything.”

It only took a few seconds for Judy to examine the hoof and confirm her diagnosis. She asked Mr. Alonzo to bring out the rest of his horses. It turned out that one of the others had it, too. Carole remained silent, but she was furious. She knew that the thrush infections were caused by the filthy conditions of the stable. It was as if Mr.

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