Paternity Lessons. Maris Soule

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СКАЧАТЬ did slow, then came to a complete stop. Only when she looked up, could Shaunna see the tears. She wanted to reach out and draw the girl close, but she knew Lanie would only resist. So she stood where she was and looked down at her, waiting for Lanie’s next response.

      “I hate you,” she said.

      “I don’t hate you.”

      “I hate everyone.”

      “So I’ve noticed.”

      “I want to ride Magic.”

      “You can’t. Not yet.”

      Shaunna watched Lanie chew on her lower lip, struggling not to cry. “You’re never going to let me ride him,” she said, her voice trembling.

      “It’s not up to me whether you ride him or not. It’s up to Magic. We have to give him time to decide that he wants to be ridden. We have to let him know that he can trust us.”

      “Magic used to trust me. He was sweet and loving before the accident. It’s you people who’ve ruined him.”

      “Don’t include me in that ‘you’ people. I didn’t harm him. You’re the one who hasn’t shown me that you won’t harm him. Look at what happened today. Right there by Magic’s paddock, you got into a fight with Bobby.”

      “He said my horse was ugly.”

      “So you had to push him into that pile of manure?”

      “He pushed me into it, too.”

      “And that makes it right?”

      Lanie stood, glaring at her, her breathing shallow.

      Shaunna met her gaze without wavering. “What happens,” she asked, “if Magic doesn’t do what you want? Do you shove him around? Beat him up?”

      Shaunna could tell that the suggestion surprised Lanie. “I wouldn’t hurt Magic,” she said.

      “How do I know that?”

      “’Cause I love him.”

      “Words are cheap.” Shauna remembered how many times her father had said he loved her. Then she’d do something he didn’t like, bring home a math paper she’d done poorly on, and he’d hit her.

      “I really mean it,” Lanie insisted.

      “If you love him, then you’ll take care of him. You’ll give him time to get used to his new surroundings, time to get used to seeing you around. Every time you go into his stall or paddock, you leave your scent. I want him to associate that scent with good things. A clean paddock. Food. Clean water. I want him to see you around the other horses. And I want you watching him, watching how he acts and reacts. I want to know you’ve got the patience he’s going to need. Otherwise, forget it. I am not going to help that horse just to have you turn around and ruin him.”

      “I won’t ruin him,” Lanie said defiantly, the tears gone. “I love him.”

      “And now we’ve gone full circle. You say you love him. I haven’t seen it. Come on.” She nodded in the direction her truck was parked. “I’ll take you home. You can think about this. If you’re willing to do as I ask, then show up tomorrow. If not, have your dad find someplace else for Magic.”

      Lanie didn’t move. “You’re not being fair.”

      “Then what do you think I should do?”

      The question seemed to startle the little girl. Lanie stared at Shaunna, then finally answered, “You should let me spend more time talking to Magic.”

      “Okay. I will.” Why not? She’d seen that Lanie knew the basics about horses. She didn’t need slave labor, no matter what Lanie thought. And Magic had calmed down enough that he might start responding to Lanie. “Are you ready to go home now?”

      Shaunna started heading toward her truck and hoped Lanie would follow. For a moment, she feared she hadn’t succeeded, then she heard Lanie’s footsteps. The girl walked slightly behind her, but she did go with her toward the truck.

      “And I think I should bring him carrots,” Lanie said. “He always liked carrots. I used to bring him one every time I went out to see him.”

      “Okay.” Shaunna didn’t particularly like feeding horses treats by hand, but if Magic was used to getting them from Lanie, it might help. “Only don’t try feeding him by hand right away. Until we’re sure he remembers it’s you, I don’t want to chance his biting your hand off.”

      “He won’t bite my hand off.”

      Shaunna stopped and looked at the girl, simply lifting her eyebrows and saying nothing.

      “Okay,” Lanie said, unable to return Shaunna’s gaze. “I won’t feed him by hand. Not right away. But someday I will.”

      “Someday,” Shaunna agreed, and began walking to her truck again.

      

      Tyler paused at the entrance to the building. Just down the street, he spotted Shaunna and Lanie. Shaunna pulled open the door of a battered blue truck, then glanced back at Lanie. For a moment, the girl stood where she was, then she walked stiff-legged around the front of the truck.

      He decided not to call out to them. Shaunna seemed to have the situation under control. She’d said she would take Lanie home. He would call his neighbor and have her keep an eye on Lanie until he got there. By then, maybe he’d have come up with an idea of how to handle this situation.

      

      Shaunna let out a quiet breath of relief when Lanie buckled herself in on the passenger side. “When you first got Magic,” she asked casually as she turned the key in the ignition. “What was he like? What did you do with him?”

      As Shaunna drove toward the section of Bakersfield where she knew Tyler lived, Lanie talked, describing how she and her mother had first picked Magic out from all the other Mustangs being offered up for adoption, how they’d trailered him to the barn behind their house and how her mother had had someone come over and break him. Shaunna shook her head, cringing when Lanie went on to tell her how the man had tethered Magic to a post and sacked him out, then tied up one of the horse’s hind legs so he couldn’t buck when the saddle was put on.

      “I don’t break horses that way,” she said when Lanie was finished. “And I don’t train horses that way. I want a horse’s cooperation, not his submission.”

      “My mother said—” Lanie started.

      Shaunna interrupted. “We’re not talking about your mother, we’re talking about me...me, you and Magic.” She pulled up in front of the address Tyler had given as his residence when he signed the papers to board Magic at the stable. “This where you live?”

      Lanie stared at the house and for a moment said nothing, then she looked back at Shauna, her expression cold. “My mother broke Magic the right way.”

      “Your mother probably broke Magic СКАЧАТЬ