One Unhappy Horse Read Online Free PDF Page A

area.
    "Thanks, honey. I got dressed up for my daughter. She was going to take me out shopping, and I must have bored a hole in the front door watching for her. But just now she called to say she couldn't make it. She's so busy, you know. She's an executive at a big company here in Tucson." Mattie was stroking Dove's neck. He muttered and turned his head into Jan's shoulder as if to ask who this stranger was.
    Mattie frowned and stopped in midstroke. "Now, why can't I remember right? My daughter quit that job so she could stay home and be a consultant. A consultant just tells companies what to do, and they pay her good for it. I think that's what she said. It's so she doesn't have to work so hard. But—" Mattie looked at Jan as if Jan might unmuddle her, but Jan couldn't.
    "Anyway," Mattie said with renewed cheer, "it's not that my daughter doesn't want to see me. She and I are as close as—Why, once she even sent me a card that said I was her best friend."
    "Uh-huh," Jan said.
    "Yes," Mattie assured herself. "But she's busy. So I thought I'd take myself for a little walk in the fresh air. And
I'm sure glad I did because here you are, and isn't this nice?" She leaned her cheek against Dove's warm neck.
    "The vet looked at Dove's leg today," Jan said. "But she isn't sure what's wrong. She's got to do x-rays."
    "X-rays? They did those on my head after the car accident, but they couldn't find anything." Mattie laughed. "I guess that's because there's not much up there to find." She knocked her fist against her skull.
    Jan tried to smile, but she couldn't quite manage it.
    "Well, don't look so sad," Mattie said. "Whatever's wrong with this big horse can be fixed. He's young, isn't he?"
    "Dove's sixteen."
    "Oh, that's a good age for a horse. You'll be grown up and married before he's too old to patch up."
    "But we don't have any money to get him patched up," Jan said.
    "Umm." Mattie frowned and shook her head. "Money's a nasty business, isn't it? I gave all mine over to my daughter so I wouldn't have to think about it. There're always people in trouble and needing help, and I didn't have enough to help everyone. At least, that's what my daughter kept telling me."
    Dove dipped his head down and nudged Mattie's shoulder. Although it was a gentle nudge, it nearly knocked her off her feet. Jan scolded him, but Mattie seemed delighted by his acknowledgment of her.
    "He likes me!" she cried. "There, big fella. You like me, don't you?" And she reached up to stroke his cheek. "Next
time I'm gonna ask Stella for a carrot to bring you," she told Dove, nose to nose with him.
    Jan smiled down at Mattie. The woman was so small that she made Jan feel like a giant string puppet, all legs and arms. "How's your friend, the tall one who can't see so well?" Jan asked.
    "Amelia? She's fine. But you know, she's not really my friend. We room together because I've got to be economical and share.
She's
got money, but she needs someone with her because of her eyes."
    Jan was confused. "You mean, you don't like her?"
    "Oh, I like her. I like everybody. But Amelia—she's kind of
sour
about things, you know?"
    Jan didn't know, but she was shy about prying. Dad had never hesitated to ask people personal questions, and they'd never seemed to mind his asking. Too bad she wasn't more like her father, she thought. He might have been a spendthrift like Mom claimed, but everybody had loved him. And
he'd
known how to enjoy life.
    "Well, now, when are you coming to visit?" Mattie asked. "I want to show you a picture of my old horse."
    "Oh, I don't know. Soon, I guess," Jan said evasively.
    "Why not right now? You can't ride this fellow, can you?"
    "No. But I think I'd better—"
    "It won't take long. I'll just show you the picture and you can leave. We're not going to lock you in or anything." Mattie's smile was mischievous. Jan was embarrassed that
Mattie had somehow sensed her reluctance to enter her old home.
    "Okay," Jan said, because she