Dante of the Maury River Read Online Free PDF Page A

without any hassle. Of course, I was fuller of medication than I was of myself. That helped his cause, but only temporarily. I just hadn’t had a chance to reload. And the truth is I was glad to smell bluegrass hay in the trailer, same as the kind I loved at home. Home is where I wanted to go. Back to Marey and Melody.
    The ride ended at Edensway, where one of Doctor Tom’s interns walked on the trailer to lead me back into the foaling barn. She tugged on my halter. “Here we go. Let’s get you back with Mama.” We walked slowly to the stall I shared with Marey. I could hear her whinnying for me.
    A welcoming party of family and friends greeted me — Mrs. Eden, Melody, and the whole team, including Doctor Tom. I knew I needed to set Doctor Tom straight once and for all. Who knew what sinister plan he might concoct next?
    My back legs being the only good ones available to me at the moment meant I had to lure him in close but not too near my backside. I lowered my head and feigned the thing everybody wanted from me: surrender. Doctor Tom took half a step, and I walloped him hard in the shin. No lie, I would’ve nailed his other leg, too, but he jumped out of the way.
    “Holy crap,” he complained to the intern. “That really hurt. Here. Let me have him. This colt needs to learn his lesson.”
    He took my lead from an assistant. His anger zipped along the rope, but I wasn’t scared of him.
    “Dante!” Melody burst into my stall and threw her arms around my neck.
    Doctor Tom lightened his grip.
    “Poor colt,” she said, and stroked my neck, then nuzzled my face. “Oh, I missed you so much. I worried about you every day.” She looked up at Doctor Tom. “Will he be okay? When will the leg wraps come off?”
    “He’s going to be just fine, sweetheart. You know how I know that?”
    She nodded. “Because he’s happy to see me.”
    “You got it. He wasn’t happy to see me, though. He kicked me!” Doctor Tom said.
    Melody giggled.
    “Not funny!” Then Doctor Tom’s callused hand rubbed my cheek.
    “He sure likes you. And he trusts you. I think you can help this colt even more if you want to. Lord knows, if he’s going to have a good life, somebody has to help him figure it out.”
    Mrs. Eden spoke up. “Tom, don’t be so melodramatic. You’ve seen plenty of good horses with bad attitudes. The great ones are worth it.”
    Doctor Tom just nodded.
    “You’re not letting me off the hook, are you?” he said to me.
    He appeared to be waiting for something from me. I didn’t lower my head, but I didn’t go after him, either.
    “I know you want to be in charge, buddy. From here onward, every turn your life takes will be because of a choice you make.” Doctor Tom sighed.
    He ran his fingers down my front legs and lightly squeezed the wraps. “Looks like they did a real nice job,” he muttered.
    I was trying not to hold a grudge and, even harder, not to head-butt him. I will admit that I wanted revenge something fierce, but I loved Marey, and she had asked me to try to be a better foal.
    Doctor Tom released his hold, and I went straight to Marey, who nuzzled my poll. I thought she also might want to kick Doctor Tom, so I tucked under her hind. But she didn’t pin her ears or show him angry eyes. Of all the surprises in the paddock, she whickered at him. Like she was thanking him.
    “Son, you look well,” my dam said. “I’m glad to have you home.”
    “Marey, I hardly remember a thing, and what I do recollect is the worst pain.”
    “Oh, you’ll know worse, believe me.” She whinnied right in my face.
    “What’s funny about that? And what do you mean?” I asked.
    “Little Dante, Kentucky is your birthplace. Mine, too. And your father’s and grandfather’s. There is no finer place to claim, but you won’t stay here forever. You’ll travel the land, training and racing. Such a life is not for the weak. Some days every ounce of your body will long to lie down. Every cell will ache and throb