Double Surprise (Short Story): Part 1 of 5

Andi Carter burst into the library of her family’s ranch house with a cry of alarm.  “Mother! Where’s Chad? I need him right away!”

“Settle down, Andrea,” her mother replied with a patient smile. She laid aside the lace collar she was crocheting and gave Andi her attention. “Now, tell me what’s wrong.”

Andi couldn’t settle down. She felt wound up . . . tighter than a spring.

“It’s Taffy!” she explained, tossing her thick, dark braid behind her shoulder. She took a deep breath to quiet her racing heart. “She doesn’t look right.”

“Not again,” Melinda muttered from her place next to a low table, where bits of velvet, lace, and dark blue taffeta lay spread out in front of her. She picked up a half-finished bonnet and frowned at Andi. “We’ve heard about your horse morning, noon, and night for the past three days.” 

Andi turned smoldering blue eyes on her seventeen-year-old sister. “If your horse were acting strange, you’d be worried, too.”

“Perhaps,” Melinda threw back, “but I wouldn’t be racing into the house every ten minutes to yell about it.”

Arguing with Melinda is a waste of time, And decided. She ignored her sister’s remark and turned back to her mother. “Where’s Chad?”

“Chad and Mitch left right after supper for the cattlemen’s association meeting in town,” Elizabeth replied. “They won’t be home until late.”

Andi plunked herself onto the couch beside her mother. “Can’t somebody go into town and get him?”

Elizabeth didn’t answer. But then, Andi didn’t expect her to. She knew it was a dumb question, anyway. Nobody was going to ride an hour into town, based only on Andi’ feeling that something was wrong with her horse. She sighed.

Her oldest brother, twenty-eight-year-old Justin, looked up from reading the Fresno Expositor. His dark blue eyes regarded her warmly. “If you like, I’ll come out and take a look at Taffy.”

Andi considered her brother’s offer. Ever since Father had been killed in that roundup accident a few years back, Justin had quietly taken over as her substitute father. He was especially good at helping her solve most of her problems. But he was a lawyer, not a rancher. She didn’t think he could solve Taffy’s problem.

Justin put down the newspaper and stood up. “I may not be the horseman Chad is, but I’m not exactly inexperienced.” He reached for his hat. “Come on, Andi. Let’s go see your horse.”

Andi raced ahead of her tall, dark-haired brother and into the huge barn that stabled the family’s saddle horses. She unlatched the door to the large box stall set aside for foaling and entered, calling her palomino’s name. “How are you doing, Taffy?  Feeling better?” She gently rubbed the mare’s back.

The golden horse responded with a friendly whinny and reached for another mouthful of hay. She shook her creamy mane, munched the hay, and regarded Andi with large, peaceful eyes.

Justin leaned over the half-door of the stall. “What exactly is it about Taffy that worries you?” He chuckled. “She looks fine to me.”

“No,” Andi insisted. “She’s not acting right.”

Justin shoved his hat back, opened the door, and entered. “A mare only a week or two from foaling isn’t going to look or act right all of the time,” he said. “She does look a bit ungainly—maybe larger than other mares foaling for the first time, but”—he shrugged—“she’s eating. She’s standing.”

“She’s breathing extra hard,” Andi said with a frown. “Earlier this evening, she was pacing the stall. She got up and down a couple of times, too.”

“That’s normal. She’s probably trying to get comfortable,” Justin said. He ran his hand over the mare and examined her closely. Then he turned to Andi. “I don’t see anything out of the ordinary. She looks fine. Let’s go inside.”

“May I stay with her awhile?”

“It’s pretty chilly out here,” Justin said, frowning slightly, “and likely to get colder before long. After all, it is January.” He left the stall and beckoned her to follow.

“Please can I stay, Justin?” Andi pleaded. “I want to watch her, just in case.”

Justin sighed. Then he reached out and snagged a couple of blankets. He tossed them into Taffy’s stall and said, “All right. I’ll tell Mother what you’re up to. But don’t stay out too long.”

Andi grinned. Justin could always be counted on to see things from her point of view. He must know how worried she was about Taffy foaling for the first time.

“Thanks, big brother,” she said, spreading the blankets over the clean, sweet-smelling straw in one corner. She grabbed the lantern and settled herself on a blanket. With a flick of her wrist she turned up the flame.

“You keep a sharp watch on that light, do you hear?” Justin warned with a concerned frown. “You don’t want to burn the barn down.”

“I’m always careful about that,” Andi replied, stung. No one needed to remind her of the dangers of an unattended lantern in the barn! She carefully set the lantern on an overturned metal pail and looked up hopefully. “Do you think Chad will get home in time to take a look at her?”

Justin closed the half-door and leaned over it. “You’re worried about nothing, honey. What do you bet Taffy surprises us with a foal by tomorrow morning?” 

Andi dropped her gaze to the blanket and fingered a handful of straw. “I just feel like something’s wrong.” 

She scooted up against the wall and leaned back with a sigh. “I know Chad and Mitch can’t skip important meetings, but”—she glanced over to where Taffy stood swishing her tail and nibbling daintily at her hay—“Chad knows horses. He knows ’em better than any rancher in the Valley. He can’t help Taffy if he’s at some dumb old meeting about cattle!”

Justin smiled. “He’ll probably be home by midnight. If I hear him come in, I’ll ask him to check on Taffy. Would that make you feel better?”

Andi smiled in relief and nodded. A few minutes later she was alone in the barn with her horse—and her thoughts.

[Click here for Part 2]