What Fills the Heart by Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy

Author:Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy [Murphy, Lee Ann Sontheimer]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Astraea Press LLC
Published: 2012-05-24T03:53:35+00:00

Chapter Seven

Sabetha Mahoney Devaney

She thought they would make the trek to this store, get the supplies, and go home, lucky if no one asked about Payton. Nothing was ever so simple, though, and here she was now, at the edge of a corral watching her husband step up beside the wildest horse she had ever seen. Sabetha felt no dark sense of danger, however, nothing more than a wife’s apprehension, so she made no move to stop him but waited with the young store clerk at her side. When she heard her man and his brother were off somewhere to tame a devil horse, she left the cloth on the counter with the other things and followed the crowd.

If he had the same skill with horses he had displayed with her cow, as she remembered from the evening when he'd first come to her, before he became so ill, Johnny would be fine. Without conscious thought, she moved forward, pressing through the gathered men so she could stand at Davey’s side to watch. Jenny followed in her wake, drawn by the excitement or maybe the chance someone would be hurt. Sabetha thought it might be the girl—she seemed so young—fancied Davey but she wasn’t sure. For this time, her attention focused on Johnny and the beast.

Johnny stood inside the corral, still and silent. If he moved at all, she couldn’t see it. As he waited, the stallion broke and galloped toward him, missing him by scant inches. Although she gasped, her husband made no sound at all and did not even flinch. The horse circled the corral and came past again, even closer. After several more rounds of the same, the animal slowed as it passed the man but he still made no movement. Something agitated the horse and it reared, its massive hooves pawing empty air near Johnny. It whinnied again, a wild, angry whinny, and ran once more, this time rearing with hooves flying, coming down at Johnny’s feet.

Sabetha watched, mesmerized, unable to breathe. One hoof out of place could strike his head and knock him either senseless or dead. At the least, the sharp unshod foot could slash him like a knife. He knew it too, but he stayed calm as a tree, still before a storm. Her lips, dry now, trembled through the Hail Mary in her native Irish but no sound escaped her throat. All those ringed about the corral were silent as well, as if each knew the wrong sound could spook the horse into a worse frenzy.

After a dozen near misses, the horse slowed and began to walk with precise gait around the corral, blowing and snorting. On what must have been the sixth walk past, Johnny fell into step with the stallion, walking alongside without touching or looking at the horse. They continued for what seemed to be a long time, in step together.

Although she did not see Johnny signal his brother in any way, Davey stepped into the ring and walked beside the stallion in tandem too.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.