Friendships Ch. 05

Now all the rest of the straps and adjustments were made. "Amy, before you can ride 'Sky' you have to look her in the eye and give your word that you will never whip her, never, ever. If someone else wants to needlessly hurt a fine animal that is their problem. That is not showing respect to 'Sky'."

"My Mom and I have large trophy cases of over 200 ribbons and trophies and we pledged to never whip our horses, if fact, whips are forbidden on this ranch."

"Did you know Dr. Daisy won a trophy when she was nine? You should ask her about it."

"Miss Dawn, why isn't Dr. Daisy with us today?"

"Well Amy, we thought you might have a lot of questions when you first start out, and I would need to help you out more."

When they got back to the stable, Dawn showed Amy what jobs she had to do for 'Sky'. "Amy 'Sky' is your horse. You must do all jobs for 'Sky', the nice ones and the not so nice ones. I will help you set up a schedule so you know when to do things. You need to check up on 'Sky' two times a day. I suggest after breakfast and after Dinner, so you can tell Dr. Daisy at suppertime if there is a problem."

"We want you to go to the clinic once a week; Miss Sarah will tell you if you can go. Consider it as being a reward for being good. You need to tell us if you are having problems with your schoolwork; Miss Sarah will ask for report cards for you at any time."

Amy was not ready to do jobs outside the house, so Sarah gave Amy food prep for her job. She showed her how to hold things so she did not cut her fingers, how to pare things, how to cut round items, find out how many of one item equals one pound and how long it takes you to cut up a pound. She would then know how long it will take her to finish the job. Miss Sarah said, "You will do it faster as you go along."

"Amy, we want you to succeed so we are giving jobs for you to do; it will show us how responsible you want to be. 'Sky' will be a hard one, so I am giving you just one extra job; Dr. Daisy got a lot more jobs."

Amy was to always do the same things for 'Sky' every day so she knew exactly when she would see you. Amy saw she had a lot of gaps in her schedule, she assumed they would fill up. So 'Sky' had to be fed at 10 AM and later in the day. So, Amy checked in on at 'Sky' after breakfast, then at 9 AM she rode 'Sky' in the corral or meadow to practice and then she did everything for 'Sky' at 10 AM. Sometimes she would let her graze with the other horses.

At supper, Sarah announced that she had been getting many calls from owners who liked our ranch so much that some with older horses wanted to start having foals so they are ridable when their horse dies.

Amy asked, "Miss Sarah what is a 'foal'?"

"Amy, it is a baby horse. You can help, we always need someone to talk to the Mom to keep her calm. Dr. Daisy got real lucky, she saw two being born in one night."

Dr. Daisy said, "Amy, you will never forget seeing the miracle of birth. It is just a wondrous sight to see."

"We will probably start in a month, it takes eleven months for horses Amy. We will start with the two oldest mares. It is hard to manage more than two at one time."

Miss Dawn said, "I wonder if they told 'Sky' about 'Dog' yet?"

Finally, it was time for Dr. Daisy to join the group. 'Angel' was going to love it, all those years at school she felt neglected because it just wasn't Daisy on her back. It did not take long for them to ride as one again. At the end of every class she would take 'Angel' up and back on the big meadow, then give her a caring wash down and brush down, just like she did when 'Angel' was one, a faithful friend for life.

Sarah said, "Next year it would be 'Victory' and 'Angel'; she would be over twenty when she foals. 'Apache' would have to do 'Friend' and 'Companion'. Two fillies and one colt would be good."

During that month, things broke for Amy, twin sisters age six moved into town. A boy age five and one age three plus some of the Meadowbrooke couples had some babies; the age groups were starting to fill in. Amy rode 'Sky' down to the stable in town to play with her new friends.

Often her friends rode 'Friend' and 'Companion', as they practiced. Amy told them of the big responsibilities having a horse is; they also gave the pledge. Miss Sarah let them move their horses around so they were all together and they helped each other with all the jobs.

The Mom of the twins called Sarah, "Miss Sarah, we didn't think our twins would ever be horse women, but they love it and we always support our kids. We would like to pay for the stabling of 'Friend' and 'Companion'."

Miss Sarah said, "OK, that would be fine. They are not for sale; they are two of the anchor horses for this ranch. I gave them my two friends I had just before my dad died, Anne and Zoe were life savers.

"Amy thinks she is just learning how to ride a horse, she knew all that three weeks ago. We are going to get Dr. Daisy, Amy and your daughters up to 'Advanced Teacher'. We expect you and your husband to be mounted up to watch their testing."

"They are just six, how can they?"

"Miss Molly got honors in expert teacher at age six. They will love it doing it all together. The way our tester works is if you can show him you are proficient, you qualify."

The twins came up to Miss Sarah and said, "Miss Sarah, we both feel if we are going to stay for a meal we should do a job."

"Well girls, it would help us if you did the dishes, we have a lot of people to feed."

Obviously, the twins helped with food prep and Amy helped them with the dishes, just like Molly did.

The day was coming; the parents were called so they could be there when their children completed their accomplishment. On the day, there was a convoy of horse trailers, even Miss Anna and Miss Elsa rolled in the night before with 'Amber' and 'Orlando'.

It took a few minutes for the parents to get used to being on a horse. The children were riding circles around them. They were all there, the three girls and Dr. Daisy, Dawn and Sarah, the four parents, Elsa and Anna plus the two neighbors and Molly.

The three girls went first, spread out on a big meadow.

Miss Dawn said, "OK girls, you have practiced real hard, you learned your lessons well. I think you could really surprise yourselves. Go out and impress Mr. Hank. Miss Sarah can't wait to celebrate tonight."

Miss Dawn showed Mr. Hank three fingers, he just shook his head. Their practice paid off; they were so fluid, hardly any excess movement. When the girls were done they rode up to Mr. Hank, "Did we pass Mr. Hank?"

"Not yet girls. Miss Molly, Miss Elsa and Miss Anna can you finish things up with them?"

When Miss Dawn realized what was going on, she rode away crying.

The mother of the twins caught up to Dawn and asked why she was crying.

"Molly, Anna and Elsa are 'Expert' teachers, but the girls don't know that. It was so easy for them to get to 'Advanced'. Hank is just going to finish it off; most of 'Expert' is advanced anyway. Hank only needs to see the move one time while he is testing them."

Mr. Hank yelled, "OK girls, you pass. Take your hats off for pictures and take a few victory laps. I expect to hear some hooting and hollering."

It was getting late, so Dr. Daisy only got to Basic Teacher.

There was a great celebration that night; the girls got Miss Sarah's special milkshakes. Many cheers and confetti spread all over the house. The twins spent the night in a sleep over with Amy.

A week later, the packages came. The girl's packages were large and thick, Dr. Daisy had a very thin envelope. "Dr. Daisy, why is yours so thin?"

"Well, Mr. Hank didn't say I passed, maybe I didn't."

Miss Sarah said, "OK girls, time to open yours up, but you have to do it together."

They all ripped open their packets, it was a little hard to comprehend. They read the letter and spread out all the certificates in front of them. One of the twins put them all in order. "WE ARE 'EXPERT TEACHERS'!"

"Hey Amy, what is that yellow ribbon for?"

Miss Dawn said, "Miss Molly got one of those, she can tell you."

Miss Molly said, "That is an honors ribbon, it is like the normal one with a '+ + +' added to it."

"What did you get Dr. Daisy?"

"It was getting late, I just got 'Basic Teacher'."

Miss Sarah said, "'Friend', 'Companion' and 'Angel' are getting older so we are going to impregnate them next year, it was a promise to some friends."

"You can ride them to the tenth month, but you need to decrease as we go along. Riding will keep the foal strong."

"Wow, we sure are going to have a lot of babies around here."

Miss Dawn said, "Well a lot of mares are just going to live about ten more years and it takes some horses five years to mature. Amy, you can ride 'Sky' because you are so light."

'Friend' and 'Companion' loved to get back to a good routine again. Their new friend brought some excitement to the group, the girls sure liked each other. The owners of 'Peaceful' and 'Courage' lived in one of the South Hill houses, having just graduated from college.

Mr. Moe made a new hopscotch game and he brought out the secret clubhouse.

Several more of the handicapped and lonely people that Sarah always invited, passed away and were buried at the church. It struck the newcomers that a lot of these people never had family, but the whole town, especially Sarah, welcomed everyone and made them family.

It was now time for the 'Thanksgiving Bash'. All the girls spread the invites, everyone in town got a semi-formal invite. Sarah even found out how to get an invite to the judge. Sarah was nervous, she did not know how the new people would interact with the wide class of people she always had.

During the 'Thanksgiving bash', 'Buddie' was doing his job when he felt a strong pull to an elderly woman; all eyes turned to her.

The woman said, "What does he want, I have no treats?"

Joy said, "Ma'am, my dog is a pet therapist. You seemed to have sent off strong feelings of emotional need."

The woman said, "I am the sister of the manager for the seamstresses. She told me to take a few days and come up here for your 'Bash'; I am sorry I gate crashed Miss Sarah. She said It would help me heal. I don't think I can ever heal. My daughter died in a helicopter crash over the ocean. We couldn't even say goodbye to her."

Miss Sarah said, "Think nothing of it, everyone is welcome here, stay as long as you like, we have plenty of room. Tomorrow I suggest you go greet the real 'Beauty' and 'Apache'. They seem to give a sense of calm to people. We have a group of people who we just made into a new family. We have a double 'Gold Star' woman, who knows your anguish. We have a pastor and his wife if you need Spiritual help. We have a host of children that give hope for the future."

"You have the real 'Beauty'? I so admired the picture in her shop. No wonder my sister told me to come up here. She is going to pay for this."

"I will even bring her doll likeness to church and attach her to her carriage; everyone will love it."

The woman said, "I've heard tall tales about that carriage."

This town is rebuilding itself with people, children in fact. We know it was a disaster when we didn't have children playing with each other."

Mayor Jones said, "I was just thinking the other day, if we got about twelve more children three to seven, we would have about twenty kids to flood the club." Most around the table were thinking, what is he up to now?

This was Mr. Mayor, his comment had nothing to do with the number of kids needed to fill the club. This was all about the kids period. He lost his base of kids because schools from 6th to 12th grades were never rebuilt and many families left the town. His town was literally starting from scratch.

Many ideas would come, many dismissed, but in the end the puzzle would come together. The only viable section of town now was the ranch and the colleges.

Mayor Jones got a letter from an intriguing source., It mentioned many ideas for Mayor Jones. It also mentioned that he should think about this in a short, mid and long-term ideas, but because you will always have another two, five and ten year they all occur at the same time and they recycle as well as adding more short, mid and long-term goals.

The Mayor loved one of the ideas, they were counter-intuitive ideas so he didn't think about it. He brought a map and drew three concentric circles on it then called the realtor and told her of his plan and how they will both live or die together. This created an influx of money to the town as the realtor needed marketing ideas, signs, cards, banners and other needs. The Mayor was right, so she went out to the very tip of the last leaf of a limb for him.

The Mayor called for a meeting with all parents with families of the surrounding cities to have a meeting at Northfield. All the cowhands were helping the realtor to put her signs in place.

The next day, each mayor brought three busses full of parents. It was an eerie sight as the busses moved through the town to get to City Hall. Along each road at almost every property there were 'For Sale' signs; this was a brand-new town. The Mayor had started to set his trap. The walking tour of the town and all the schools were to impress the heck out of the parents; they were told the teachers were seniors in college now. The realtor handed out multiple cards so people could give them to friends.

A week later, the realtor knocked on The Mayor's door and said, "Mr. Mayor, I need your help with something. Do you have time?"

An interested Mayor said, "Yes I do."

After a short drive, the car was parked. She handed the Mayor a hammer and two nails and said, "Hold this for me please." The Mayor turned over the sign with a huge smile, "You said we were going to build this town together, so I thought we should nail in the first sign together." The sign read 'SOLD'.

On the way back to City Hall, the Mayor joked, "Congratulations on your sale, now you can afford your property taxes."

The spokeswoman's plans were never to be a cure for the town, just to get some more people into the town to entice others to join them.

The realtor did her homework of who would want to invest in a town that had to build itself four times (original, flood, lack of school system, current). She was the only one at the sheriff sales; she poured money into the town at rock bottom prices. She also owned acreage for when corporate buildings come. Greek row was a God send; several plots had been sold already. She basically owned the whole town.

Now was the waiting game to see if anyone from the tour would come. Family oriented advertisements were placed in several magazines. This was a 'Full court press'.

She knew the town was unique. It was very tight knit, and her best asset lived in a little house with a white picket fence in the center of town. She always took the people on a walking tour when she knew Joy would be home. Many would be wary of living in a new town with an unproven school system. Then they would meet Joy.

Joy would tell them she personally knew many of the school teachers and they were upstanding people who would educate their children to the highest standard. We also have a ranch where your children will learn how to grow things, and take responsibility and to take care of animals.

"Hi Miss Joy."

"Hi Amy, hi 'Sky', come talk to these people who are looking at homes here."

"Hello everyone, I am Amy. I live up at the ranch. This is my horse 'Sky', I just came from the clinic. I have to go back to the ranch to do my schoolwork, and then I picked food prep for my job plus 'Sky' and my friends picked doing dishes so we help each other."

"You do schoolwork at a ranch?"

"Yes ma'am, I live at the horse ranch. Miss Sarah has education high on her priorities list, you can't slack off with her. You never know when she will ask people for a report card."

"This is a wonderful place to live, we just need some more kids my age. You can't get a better friend than Miss Joy. Nice meeting you." Amy rode away back to the ranch.

Joy said, "Miss Sarah is the proud owner of 'Image of God' horse ranch. She makes sure her charges learn their lessons. If it is hard to learn the traditional way, she will find a fun way so the kids don't even know they are learning things. So far, with the two charges she had, they were ahead of level when they left for school. Dr. Daisy, the town's vet, was a very slow learner when she came here.

"Amy was right, we need more kids her age in town so they can play together and develop socially and have less learning problems. Amy is lucky, a pair of twin girls her age moved in, and now they do everything together.

"Would you like to see the ranch? If you move here, chances are your children will spend a lot of time there."

The husband and wife were now intrigued. The husband said, "If you think it would help in our decision, I think we should go. I have never been to a ranch before."

"Great, come into my house so I can get you some things before we go." Joy came out with her boots and David's boots, plus a second pair of sneakers for her. "Here try this on for outside."

As they arrived, they could see Dawn was losing the battle with whatever job she was working on. Dawn looked up from being on all fours in the mud. "Hello folks. Good to meet you. My name is Dawn, I do a little bit of everything around here; you need teamwork when you are on a ranch."

All the sudden, the deer ran out from the woods into the meadow, "Excuse me folks, we have an emergency here.

"Molly, Ceres, can you give these fine folks a tour of the ranch? Amy, we got poachers, want to ride?"

Joy said to the couple, "Watch what the deer do."

Within five minutes, 'Friend', 'Companion', 'Sky' and 'Apache' were set to go; 'Apache' was allowed to use two of the bigger steeds. Molly and Ceres were greeting the new people, and the deer were merging with the mares."

"Why are the mares allowing that?"

"We have a loose alliance with the deer, horses, 'Dog' and us humans. Dawn and 'Apache' top the list. He is the Sire of the stable and the guardian of the ranch."

Sarah came bolting out the door with her shotgun. "Dad taught me to track, now is the chance for me to prove it. We don't know how many guns are out there."

One of the gunman doubled back to try not to get caught, not knowing Amy and the twins were there. Amy saw the gunman, she got up to a full gallop on the trail before going off trail. As 'Sky' caught up to the gunman Amy jumped off 'Sky' and tackled him breaking her nose in the process. 'Sky' came back and stood right before the gunman and Amy.

One of the twins grabbed Amy's phone, "Hello Molly, we got one bad man. We are going to tie him to 'Sky'. Amy broke her nose. The others are further up ahead. We are coming back to get Amy's nose fixed and to give this guy to the cops. Call Miss Sarah to tell her we are going back to the ranch."

By now, Sarah and Dawn had two each. Sarah had two marching in front of 'Beauty' and Dawn had two tied off behind 'Apache'. She was traveling at different speeds to make them stumble.

"Hey Dawn, if these two try to get away, I will let you chase after them. I am sure the two you have would not mind being dragged through mud and over stones."

Dr. Daisy and Betsy found 'Dog'. It was very clear to both that 'Dog' was very sick. Dr. Daisy said, "Betsy, I think he is just looking for a good place to die. I can help with that."

"Not yet Daisy. Let his friends say goodbye." With that Betsy walked out into the meadow and put 'Dog' in front of the 'Queen Mare', the deer came out of wood. Betsy was crying uncontrollably as the procession of horses and deer said goodbye. A true friend was leaving them.

"Daisy, can I bury him next to your 'Dog'?" Daisy agreed.