Carrie Willis stood at the wooden fence surrounding the pasture,
and brushed the flowing blonde mane of her palomino mare, Lady. Her large eyes
filled with tears as she said good bye to the horse she had raised from a colt.
"Oh, Lady, I'm going to miss you so much. Any minute someone will come and
take you away and I may never see you again."
Carrie still remembered the pain she felt when her father first
told her they had to sell Lady. "Winter will be coming soon," he had
said, "and we cannot afford to buy hay and grain this year. I wish there
was some
other
way, Carrie. But I am afraid we must sell her."
She tried talking her father out of it. She even offered to get
a job after school to help buy Lady's feed. But her father would not hear of
it. So the next week, Lady was sold to the Lion's Club. They were going to give
her away as a prize at the annual Labor Day horse show.
So, engrossed in her thoughts, Carrie did not hear the truck and
trailer pull into the driveway. Only when the doors of the truck slammed shut did she awaken to
see two men walking toward her.
"Hello there, miss," said the tallest man. "Is
this the horse that is going to the fair grounds?"
Carried nodded.
"She sure is a beauty," said the other man, busily tying a rope into a lasso. "I
would like to win her myself."
When the lasso was finished, it was stretched around Lady's neck
and used to lead her through the pasture. Carrie watched as the golden mare
tossed her white-blazed face and reared on her front legs to escape the
trailer's imprisonment. But the two men were experts with horses. And in only
minutes, they had Lady inside. While Carrie watched the truck and trailer drive
away, she
was
left feeling an emptiness she had never known before.
"I must do something," Carrie said as time for the
horse show to begin grew nearer. "I can't sit by and let Lady be given away to some stranger. She could be mistreated, even
beaten."
Then an idea struck her. She ran into her bedroom and emptied the jar where her
babysitting earnings were kept. She counted the money and stuffed the twelve dollars
into her pocket. Then she walked the short distance to the horse show.
The fair grounds were surrounded by hundreds of cars, trucks and
trailers. And the strong odor of horses hung heavily in the warm summer air.
Rushing through the crowd, Carrie ran straight to the ticket booth where she bought as many
tickets as she could with the twelve dollars. On her way to the stands, she
passed the refreshment stand where her father had volunteered to work. She
stopped only for a moment to tell him hello. Then she went to the stands and
found herself a front row seat.
All during the first half of the horse show, Carrie held the
tickets tightly in her hand. She silently prayed that one of them would win Lady back. Maybe then, her
father would change his mind about Carrie taking the job after school. But even
if he did not, and they still had to sell Lady, at least they would know who was buying her.
And they would be sure that Lady would be taken care of.
When it was time for the drawing, Lady was brought to the center
of the arena. The ooh s and aah s from the crowd made it clear that everyone
hoped to be the winner. But no one more than Carrie. She crossed her fingers
and waited for the winning number to be called.
"And the number is ..." came the voice over the loud speaker, pausing
for the winning ticket to be pulled from a cardboard box. "The number is
7657. Will the winner please come to the judges' stand in the center of the arena."
Repeating the number over and over, Carrie thumbed through all
the tickets in her hand. Her heart sank when she saw the winning ticket was not
there. Sadly, her eyes roamed through the stands in search of Lady's new owner.
She saw many sad, disappointed faces. But she saw no one who looked happy that
they had won a prize like Lady. Carrie's mind began to race. Maybe that ticket
would not be claimed. Then they would have to draw another ticket. She was so
excited she was sitting on the edge of her seat. She would have another chance
to win Lady. But when she looked toward the arena, her excitement vanished. One
of the judges was handing Lady's reins over to a small man wearing glasses. He
then shook the winner's hand to congratulate him. It was all over. Carrie had
lost Lady forever.
It was almost an hour before Carrie moved from her seat. She had
stared into space, pretending to watch the second half of the horse show. She
was trying to be brave but the tears she was holding back burned her eyes. And
she did not know how much longer she could fight them. She wanted to go home where she could be
alone. When she walked behind the stands, she noticed a trash can. She ripped
up the tickets and threw the torn pieces away. When she turned around, she was
surprised to find herself face to face with Lady's new owner.
"Hello, Carrie," he said warmly. "My name is
Michael Davis. I am the lucky person who won the drawing. Your father pointed
you out to me. He and I are old school friends. We saw each other today for the
first time in twenty years."
Carrie swallowed hard. He must be from out of town, she thought.
She must find out where he will be taking Lady to live.
"Then you do not live in Boynton?"
"I have been
living in California, but I just moved back here. Carrie, I have a problem that
I think you can help me with. You see, I am a salesman and I am away from home
a lot. I also live in an apartment. Therefore, I have no place to keep Lady. I
just learned from your father that Lady used to belong to you. And I asked him
about boarding her in your stables. I would pay a monthly rental fee of course,
and take care of all expenses. I would even pay you something extra if you
would teach my children to ride. They have always wanted to learn. Your father
said that since you would be doing most of the work involved, it would have to
be your decision. What do you say, Carrie? Will you take care of Lady for
me?"
Carrie was speechless. A few minutes ago she thought she would
never see Lady again. And now she learns that she could see her every day, as
if nothing ever happened. What a day this had been!
"I would love to, Mr. Davis," Carrie said
ecstatically. "I love Lady and I will treat her as if she still belonged
to me."
"Wonderful!" exclaimed Mr. Davis. "Your father
was sure what your answer would be. So he had me load Lady into a trailer that
belongs to a friend of mine. Whenever you are ready we can take her home."
Carrie was bubbling over with happiness. "I am ready right
now, Mr. Davis. Let's take Lady home."
(by Patsy Vaughan, illustrated by Keith Kresge, ‘Child’s Way
Magazine, January-February 1983)
