No Horse Wanted Read Online Free PDF

death, and if
he did, he’d have a more humane end if you just turned him in with
your cougar.”
    I almost cheered, but I didn’t. Go,
Mom!
    “You have a point.” Mrs. Bartlett glanced
past us to Mr. Johnson. “I appreciate you coming out, but Twaziem
should have a chance for a happy life. And Robin will give him
one.”
    “Got that right,” I said. “Nobody will ever
hurt him again. I swear it.”
     

Chapter Five
     
    Saturday, September 14 th , 5:05 p.m.
     
    Mom went off with Mrs. Bartlett to sort out
the registration papers. Mr. Johnson handed me the can of grain.
“You got yourself a horse, missy. Take good care of him. Don’t
water him for at least two hours.”
    That was a weird thing to say. I watched him
leave, and then turned back to Twaziem. “What do you think?” I
asked Felicia. “Should I give him the rest of this?”
    “Sure. It can’t hurt him, and he’s already
had enough that he has to stay away from water anyway.”
    “I don’t get it. Why?”
    “Colic, Robin. If he waters up, it’ll flush
the grain into his gut and cause an impaction. So, we’ll feed him
when we get him home, but we’ll wait to fill his tub.” She headed
off to the truck and came back with the halter and lead I’d gotten
for my birthday. “Okay, he’s all yours. Get him ready to go.”
    She held the barbed wire strands apart so I
could climb through them. I walked up next to Twaziem and slid the
noseband of the halter over his face, buckling the headstall behind
his ears. The whiskers on his nose tickled my hand when I offered
more grain. He didn’t care who fed him. He kept nuzzling me. Now, I
was his best buddy.
    Felicia walked away to meet Mom, and while
she was gone, I told Twaziem about not particularly liking horses
or really wanting one. “I want my car. Well, it’s not mine yet, but
it will be. I just have to start earning money for it. No offense,
Twaz, but I stopped loving horses when Cobbie died. Even if I don’t
love you, I’ll never let somebody kill you or starve you or abuse
you. Deal?”
    He nosed me for more food, and I figured we
understood each other. I scooped out more grain. He wouldn’t ask me
for a lot of emotional stuff, and I wouldn’t let anyone hurt him.
He’d been hurt enough. He nickered softly and nudged my arm. I gave
him the last of the grain from the coffee can and began talking
about the Thunder Kittens, who lived in the hayloft and stomped
around on the ceiling above the stalls.
    “You just have to remember that to them it is
the floor. They like to make noise. If you ignore them, you’ll be
fine. They love to annoy Singer because she always has
conniptions.” He didn’t care about kittens or my talking. He pushed
at me with his head. “There’s no more grain, but we have a lot of
hay in the trailer. Come on. Let’s go find that instead.” I led him
over to the gate, unlatched it, and gave it a push away from me.
The bottom hinge let go and the thing fell partway on the ground.
Twaziem looked at it like the gate was some kind of performing
clown. He snorted, but he didn’t spook. He just stepped around it
and followed me to the back of the horse trailer.
    Loosening the rope so he could graze beside
the driveway, I unlatched the door and opened it. I stepped up into
the two-horse trailer and gave him a little tug. “Hey, you. Step up
here.” He did. He balked at the opening, but I pretended not to
notice. I could reach the hay in the net and grabbed a handful. I
held out the alfalfa to him. “Want it? Come here and get it.”
    He stretched out his neck and tried to reach
the hay in my hand. When he couldn’t quite get it, he hesitated.
Slowly, he lifted one foot and cautiously placed his left front
hoof up inside, on the trailer floor. He tried again. The hay was
still too far out of his reach. He picked up his right front, put
it beside his left. Okay, so now he was halfway in the rig. I held
out the hay, and he got a taste. He wanted more and I wanted him