Boundless Dreams by Diane Greenwood Muir

Author:Diane Greenwood Muir [Muir, Diane Greenwood]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2017-09-23T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

“You all did good work,” Eliseo said, standing beside Nan while he stroked her shoulder.

They’d gotten the horses settled back into their stalls and the four of them gathered in the alley. Elva sat down on a bench and brushed sweaty hair from her face. Rebecca sat beside her and looked down at herself, covered in sweat and horsehair.

“I’m a mess,” she said with a laugh. “A hot, sweaty mess.”

“You have water in the fridge, right, Eliseo?” Polly asked.

“I’ll get it,” he replied.

“No, you sit. I’ll get it. Everyone?” At their nods, Polly headed for the feed room. She glanced into the stall that the donkeys shared. “Eliseo! Elva!” she shouted as she rushed in.

Both Tom and Huck were lying on their sides, completely out.

Rebecca came in with Elva and Eliseo.

Polly knelt beside Tom’s head, praying he was still breathing. What had happened? She heard deep, long breaths coming from him and took out her phone. “I’m calling Mark. What happened?”

“I don’t know,” Eliseo said. He rubbed down Huck’s back, Elva following his lead while working on Tom. They were both trying to discover what had taken the donkeys down when Mark answered.

“Polly?”

“Mark. I’m at the barn. Something happened. The horses are fine, but the donkeys aren’t responding. I didn’t think anything of it, they followed me in and they’re just lying there in their stall.”

“What are you talking about? What happened?”

“Too much to explain. Can you come over?”

“I’ll be right there. Have you called Eliseo?”

“He and Elva are here. I should have called you sooner, but they said the horses were okay, so I didn’t think we needed you. Mark, I need you!” The shock of what had happened finally caught up to Polly and a sob caught in her throat.”

“I’ll be there. Hold on.”

She bent over and grabbed her knees, her phone falling into the hay on the floor of the stall.

Rebecca bent over to pick it up and rubbed Polly’s back. “They’ll be okay,” she said quietly. “They have to be okay.”

“They’ve been tranqed,” Eliseo said, holding up a small dart.

Elva frowned. “Where did you find that?”

“This was beside his tail.”

“Nothing on this one. I’ve been all over him.” She nodded as she scooted back up to Tom’s head, shifting it so she could nestle it in her lap. Elva stroked his neck. “If it’s only a tranq, you’ll be back to normal soon. Who wanted to mess with you?”

Eliseo began pulling hay away from the fallen donkeys. “We should find that dart before someone steps on it. We’re cleaning out the stall tonight, you wanna help?”

Polly nodded and went out to get the wheelbarrow. It had been a long time since she’d done this work.

“We’re going to clear it slowly,” Eliseo said. “I’m hoping it fell off in here and not out in the pasture.”

“What if it did?” she asked.

“Depends. The horses’ hooves could have crushed it and buried everything into the ground, or …” He shook his head. “I don’t want to think about it.

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