Trickster

Chapter Four

The next morning, Dr. Mac drives the van past the wooden sign that reads “Quinn’s Stables.” David feels good to be back. Green pastures stretch out on both sides of the road, surrounded by white fences. There are horses of every color and size. The volunteers ooh and aah at the beautiful animals grazing in the fields. At the top of a long hill, a collection of smaller buildings circle around a large, modern barn. The Quinns’ house sits off to the east.

Nothing has changed since David was last here. When he gets out of the van and takes a deep breath, it smells familiar. A tanned woman in jeans walks up to Dr. Mac and introduces herself to the group as Linda. David steps forward and introduces himself, too. He briefly explains that the others haven’t been around a lot of horses, but he’s had lots of experience.

Zoe speaks up to correct him, saying that she knows how to ride. She even won first place at horse camp last summer. She shrugs, saying she doesn’t like to brag about it. Linda smiles, and says that it doesn’t matter if someone is new or veteran. They have more than forty horses here, and there’ll be one that’s just right for everybody.

Linda begins to lead the volunteers away for a tour. David says he doesn’t need a tour. He’ll just help Mr. Quinn with Trickster while the others do the tour. Linda shakes her head and says Mr. Quinn has asked them all to stay together and run a shovel this morning.

This is not what David planned.

David glumly follows the others into the largest barn. When Zoe asks if Mr. Quinn owns all of the horses, Linda explains that he owns about half. Six are his prizewinners. The most famous one is Starfire. The others are used for lessons. The other twenty are boarders, so their owners pay Mr. Quinn to look after and house them.

The volunteers follow Linda down the concrete aisle in the middle of the barn. Stalls line both sides, and each stall is about twelve feet wide and ten feet deep, and has a barred window to the outside. They pass a teenage boy, Jared, pushing a heavy wheelbarrow filled with straw and manure. Linda says she wishes they had more like him. Extra hands to keep things clean. Which is why it was so nice of the volunteers to come help.

Another stable hand comes by leading two old friends of David’s, Gus and Gertie. He walks up to Gertie and pets her shaggy face, explaining she was his favorite when he was little. Linda shoos the volunteers to the side so Gertie and Gus can pass by. The volunteers stop at the center of the barn, where they can see a shorter hall. That’s where the wash blocks, grooming stalls, feed room, cleaning supplies, and office are. The tack room, where saddle and riding equipment are stored, is upstairs. The other end of the short hall is the exercise ring.

Linda leads the kids to a room with shovels. It’s time to clean the dirty stalls. Linda explains each stall must be cleaned out, since there’s a couple days’ mess in there. Maybe David can show the others how it’s done. This isn’t the type of activity David would normally pick for show-and-tell, but he’s trying to do everything right today. He demonstrates how to push the manure and dirty straw to the front of the stall and scrape the floor clean. Once all manure is in the center aisle, then somebody can come along and dump it into the wheelbarrow. That’s the worst job. It’s heavy and smelly.

David turns to Linda and asks if Jared is going to do it. Linda grins, and says Mr. Quinn specially requested that David be in charge of the dumping. Linda assures them that after this, they’ll get in the saddle.

As they work, David finds it’s impossible to keep up with four stall shovelers. When the wheelbarrow is full, it has to be pushed outside, around the barn, past a toolshed, and through the parking lot to the manure pile. He feels like his arms are about to fall off. They don’t need him; they need a superhero.

During his fourth load, he has to stop to take a break. If only the manure pile was closer to the barn. He looks over his shoulder and doesn’t see anybody watching. He quickly dumps the muck behind the toolshed. He’ll deal with it later.

When Linda comes back, she’s surprised to see all the stalls are clean. She asks David if all the muck was dumped out back. He nods curtly. Brenna says she should check behind a truck or look under a rug. David’s the best corner-cutter they have. Before David can think of a witty reply, Linda interjects. It’s time to head to the tack room. They each need a helmet, safety vest, and gloves.

Zoe and Maggie dash off, and Brenna and Sunita follow a little slower. David really wants to ride, but he wants to see Trickster first. He approaches Linda and asks how Trickster’s doing. She’s busy washing the shovels, but explains Mr. Quinn and Dr. Mac are with Trickster. They shouldn’t be bothered right now.

David asks if he can go to the bathroom. It’s embarrassing to say, even if it’s a lie. She nods, and David waits until Linda goes up to the tack room before he hurries to the far end of the barn. He has to see Trickster.