The cow, and calf lead me to the herd, but the herd is much smaller than I remember. None if them seem to be injured so I turn Sophie towards home. I click my tongue, but Sophie doesn't move. I kick her sides, but she doesn't move again. I turn her in a circle, then click my tongue Sophie takes off so fast, I almost fall off. She darts towards the barn, when I hear something, and turn around. A dog is chasing us growling, and snapping at Sophie. Sophie jumps over the fence, and I fall off her back. I hit the ground hard, knocking the wind out of me. I see the dog running towards me, foaming at the mouth. I grab my knife, and try to stand though find it hard, without being able to breathe. I clutch my knife as the dog lumbers toward me.
"Izzy don't move!" I hear Russell call.
Russell shoots the dog, and the animal falls to the ground.
"Help me burn it," he says grabbing the dog by the feet, and dragging it towards the burn pit.
"I can't I have to make sure Sophie's okay," I tell him.
"At least grab me the gasoline from the barn," he says. I run to the barn, grab the gasoline, and run back to Russell.
"Thanks," he mumbles, and dumps the contents on the dead dog.
He takes out a box of matches, lights one, and throws it on the corpse. I turn away, not wanting to see the dead dog. I hurry to Sophie, who's favoring one of her legs.
"Easy girl," I say stroking her neck,
"It'll be alright." I grab her reins, and lead her back to her stall.
I take off her tack, and brush her down. Since the cows were okay, I decided to go ahead, and feed the horses. I got Sophie's feed first, knowing how much to give her. While she was eating, I ran my hand down her leg, indicating I wanted her to lift her for up. No bones feel broken, so I guess that it's just a sprain. I add some extra bedding to Sophie's stall then feed the other horses. I'm feeding the white stallion, when I hear the barn door open. I turn, and see my mom smiling at me.
"Beautiful, isn't he?" She asks. I put on a fake smile.
"Yeah, what's his name?"
"Diabolo," she answers.
"Devil? Really?"
"Yeah, he's Russell's horse. But he's a real fast quarter horse," she says stroking Diabolo's nose.
"Not as fast as Moe," I mumble under my breath.
"Russell told me Sophie's hurt, what happened?"
"Did he tell you about the rabid dog?" I ask. Mom shakes her head yes.
"Good," I say, "So when Sophie bolted, she ran towards the barn. She jumped over the gate, and must of landed wrong. Its not broken, I think its just a sprain." My mom let's out a sigh of relief,
"Thank goodness," she says.
"Mom how come Moe was in the round pen?" I ask.
"Shoot, I forgot to put him back in his stall," she lies.
"Mom, Diabolo is in his stall," I say.
"His new stall," my mom corrects,
"Diabolo, and Moe don't like each other."
"Good," I say in my head.
"Are you done with feeding the animals?" She asks.
"Nope," I reply, "Still gotta do the goats."
"Well you better hurry, its almost dark."
"I know," I tell her, and grab the goats feed.
We have 6 goats. Three male, Marco, Polo, and Russia. As well as three female, Lilly, Sadie, and Molly.
"Hey guys," I say in a baby voice.
Russia bleats when he sees me, so I bleat back. Russia's my favorite, I've know him since he was born, well him ... and Sadie, since their twins.
(@Meg_the_Demon Russia's a goat! Lmao)
Lilly head butts my leg, I laugh, and stroke her head. I feed them, then head to the house.
"Just in time Isabella, dinners ready," Russell says with a smile.
I cringed as he said my full name, but ignore him, and keep on walking. I head to the kitchen, wanting to see if there's anyway I can help.
"Hi sweetheart, I made your favorite," my mom says smiling.
She holds out a plate and sure enough, its homemade chicken, and dumplings. I grab the plate eagerly, and sit down at the table. Russell smiles at me, and digs into his dinner.
"Maybe he isn't so bad," I tell myself.
"No!" I respond back, "Don't trust him! He could be a monster!"
Mom sits down in between me, and Russell. She smiles and tried to start up conversation,
"Isabella, what do you plan to do tomorrow?"
"Give Moe a bath," I say with a chuckle. Russell looks a little disappointed.
"How was the herd looking sweetheart?" Mom asks.
"A little small, but none of them looked injured or sick," I reply, and take a huge bite of my food.
"Honey there's a town competition on Thursday, I think I me, and Diabolo are gonna enter," Russell says.
"What kinda competition?" I ask with my mouth still full. My mother gives me a "Please don't speak with your mouth full" look so I swallow, and repeat myself,
"What kinda competition?"
"Nothin' major, just poles, calf roping, and barrel races. Its just a small rodeo, and they want me to ride since me, and Diabolo won the rodeo last spring," he replies.
"Mom can me and Moe enter? I mean I had a small record before I left. Plus it'll be good for Moe to compete again, he hasn't done anything in a while. What's today Tuesday? Perfect! Tomorrow I can give Moe a bath, and then we'll see how rusty Moe is. Have you seen Moe run Russell? He's a ...," Russell cuts in,
"A paint."
"Yes, a blue, and white paint, which is rare btw's, and he's also 3/4 part quarter horse as well," I say. My mom smiles, but Russell frowns,
"How are we supposed to get two male horses who don't like each other into one trailer?"
"Easy," I reply, "Put one in the very front stall, and one in the farthest back stall. Not that hard." Russell frowns harder as I get up from the table, and load the dishwasher.
"Thank you sweetheart," my mom says.
I smile at her in return, and head to my room. I change into some comfier clothes, and sit on bed. I then braid my hair in two braids along the sides of my head, and fall asleep.
I wake up the next morning, to the smell of bacon. Throwing off my covers, I get out of bed, and head to the kitchen. My mom smiles at me, and slides me a plate full of pancakes, bacon, eggs, and toast.
* Time El Skipo - Brought to you by something I like to call "Highschool ... I hate it!" Lol *
I'm outside now, dressed in jean shorts, tennis shoes, and a dark green tank top. I had pulled my thick black hair into a ponytail, and make my way to the barn. I slide open the door, and head to check on Sophie. Sophie's awake, and not favoring her leg anymore. She nickers at me, and I stroke her nose. Leaving to go get Moe, I stop, and turn to Diabolo, who is sticking his head out towards me.
"Hey boy," I say, "Wanna peppermint?" I hold one out to him, but he nips at me, and I yank my hand back.
"Fine," I say, "Sophie can have it then."
I give her the peppermint instead, and head to Moe's stall. Moe nickers at me, and rubs his head against me affectionately.
"I missed my baby boy," I tell him, and clip his lead rope onto his halter.
Leading Moe towards the wash station, Diabolo pins his ears back, and tries to nip Moe, though Moe didn't react meanly towards Diabolo.
"No," I say, and lead Moe quickly passed Diabolo.
Clipping Moe to the wash station, I turn away from him, and grab the hose. Turning on the water, I spray Moe, who's starts bobbing his head. He loved baths, and water.
*Another Time El Skipo - Brought to you by laziness*
After scrubbing, and about two bottles of soap later, Moe was finally clean. I braided his mane into small braids, and braided his tail as well. Saddling Moe, and putting on his bridal, I lead him to the part of the field where the poles, and barrels are set up. Pulling myself up onto Moe's back, I adjust my stirrups, and begin trotting around the barrels. Making sure Moe was warmed up enough, I begin running him around the poles. I finish, and look back, Moe didn't knock any over.
"Good boy," I tell him patting his neck. Getting ready for barrels, I kick Moe, and he takes of towards the right barrel, then the second, and finally the last.
Finishing strong, I laugh.
"I think were gonna beat Diabolo," I tell Moe.
Moe snorts a response making me laugh even more. I ride towards the barn, and take off Moe's tack. I then brush him down again, and put a blanket on him. I lead Moe to his stall, and stroke his nose.
"We're ready," I say, and place a kiss on his nose.