She Sure Can Handle That Big Ol’ Horse Well To Be Such A Little Thing
A Short Story by Charity M. Richey-Bentley
Copyright © 2014 Charity M. Richey-Bentley
Oh no. He was out. Again.
She had gotten up a little early to finish studying for her Social Studies test. She had already showered and was in the front room of the house when the only phone in the house shrilly rang.
Whenever the phone rang at that time of the day, everybody knew it was for one of two reasons: the cows were out or he was out. ‘He’ was Charity’s leopard appaloosa stud horse, Topper.
She rushed to get the phone before it could ring again.
“Yes, sir. I got it. If I go out the back side of our property, go straight across the highway at the crossroads, I’ll see him behind your barn at the second house on the right. Right?”
“That’s right, honey. Who’s coming to get ‘im, honey?” He sounded concerned as if it had to be someone other than her to get him.
“It’ll be me, sir. Mother will bring me, but it’ll be me that gets him and either rides or leads him home.”
“You sure, honey? He’s a mighty big horse.” She could hear doubt in his voice.
“Yes, sir. I’m the only one that can get him. I’ll be there in a few minutes.”
There was a long pause before he finally said, “Ok, see you in a few.”
She undressed and redressed in her overalls and boots. She raced to the barn, got a halter, lead rope and a small bucket of shelled corn. Her mother was already in the car waiting for her. “The school bus will be here in less than an hour. Can you make it back?” Her mother sounded tired. She had worked a double shift at the hospital and had been in the bed for only a little while before the phone rang.
She nodded and said, “I’ll make it”.
“Ok, just let me know somehow when you get him and I’ll so glow behind y’all.” It wasn’t if she’d get him, it was when. Her mother had no doubt.
As it was less than two miles to the wandering app’s new digs, they were there really fast. Charity thought she saw a young girl about the same age as herself as she went around the side of the house. She was on the porch, but when she looked back to wave, the young girl was gone.
As always, Topper knew when Charity showed up. He didn’t have to see her to know she was there. And as always, he got the same “look” on him. It was a look that said, “I know I’m going home, but I’m going to make it as hard as I possibly can.”
He was in a small corral attached to their barn and as she got close, he pinned his ears back, spun around and put his rump to her. And that wasn’t the worst part. He lifted one of his back feet in warning. Then, he just stood there daring her. Ears back, foot up, chewing on whatever the kind man had given him to occupy him.
Charity moved an inch to the right. Topper put his foot down, moved an inch to the right and lifted his foot again. And so it went for a few more times until she had him going right in his head. During this, the kind man asked, “Don’t you need something? Like a whip or something?” Without taking her eyes off Topper, she said, “No, sir. Just a few more minutes and I’ll have him”. She couldn’t look at the man, but she could feel the skepticism.
She moved right. Topper moved right. She moved right. Topper moved right. She pretended to start to move right. Topper moved right. She lunged to the left and had the lead rope wrapped around his neck before he had his foot lifted again. He knew he was caught and dropped his head a little bit. She slipped the halter on, attached the lead and it was done.
“My goodness, honey,” the man said. Charity stuck out her hand. “Thank you so much for calling us. I’m sorry for the trouble.”
“No trouble at all.” Charity was walking him out the corral toward her mother in the car. As she got close, she told her mother that she had to hurry to change and be there when the bus came. She looked back over her shoulder and saw the young girl standing with the man on the porch. She yelled out, “Thanks again!” The man threw up his hand.
Charity had no way of knowing that 37 years later the young girl on that front porch would contact Charity by a world-wide social network program called Facebook and tell her how her daddy was impressed with how she handled that big ‘ol horse so well.
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