Chapter Three
A few weeks later, Julia was fully settled into her new life. She had her clothes and had gotten used to the way life was to go. Every morning, she got up before the sun rose and would quickly throw on some clothes, eat a slice of bread, and then go out and work with the horses. Some days she would exercise them, some days she would train them. Those were the days that she liked the best; the training days. She liked them because they were different each time. You were never just going through the motions of the same old routine, as you were when you exercised. Each horse was different, and so the training for each was different. She loved trying to figure out just what method would be easiest to train which horse. Some responded well to coaxing and repetition. Others needed a bit stronger touch to them. Sometimes you had to teach them who was boss. Sometimes you had to show them that their purpose was to work and that laziness would not be tolerated. Yes, life was going well and everything was great.
At first, Julia had not been able to sleep well at night. She was not used to sleeping near someone, let alone a man. She would lay awake at night and wonder if Eric would ever try to take advantage of her, as others had tried. She knew she could take him down and escape if ever the need were to arise. A hard life on her own had taught her how to do that. Still she worried. When she was not worrying, Julia was trying to sleep, yet even there, the same nightmares plagued her. Nightmares caused her to wake in a cold sweat, with a silent scream on her lips.
These sleepless nights kept on her about a week or two. Soon, however, Julia learned that Eric was an honest man, with no intention of harming anyone but those who might try to hurt his horses. His devotion toward them was that of a man toward his children. Eventually, too, the work with the horses helped to calm her soul and a steady routine calmed her mind. Julia felt almost at home in the country she was in, but she was not entirely sure what home should feel like. She had never had a home of any sort that she could depend on, so she could not be confident that this was home. Still, she felt a sense of belonging, to the horses and the friendly people of the town, and the feeling put her at ease.
As Julia worked with Eric, she learned many things. Her vast knowledge of horses did not help her at all when it came to dealing with people. Many times people would come for help or advice about their animals, and many times they would become angry when Julia told them that they were doing this all wrong, or that if they would only use common sense, things would go along just fine. On more than one occasion, Eric had to have a serious talk with Julia.
“Julia, you just can’t be that way with the customers. Things that make perfect sense to you may not make sense to them because they do not have your gift. You must talk to them nicer, or you will lose your job. I can’t have people saying that I employ the wrong people. Please, try to go easy on them.”
“But I can’t believe that some people treat their animals this way! If you can’t take care of them, you have no business owning them at all!” Julia’s frustration was evident on her face and in her body language. Whenever she thought of these kinds of things, she would pace around and turn beet red in the face. She was rather adamant about what she did.
“I know you feel that way, but many times that is why people come to me. They don’t know what they are doing, but at least they recognize that enough to come and seek help.”
Eric was also learning things from Julia. He had always known that hoses were intelligent and that, if you paid close enough attention and knew what signs to look for, you could understand what they wanted. She showed him that horses had a language all their own. It was not so much a vocal tongue as it was an articulation of movement. The movement of a hoof, the jerk of a head, the toss of a mane could often say more than any words. Slowly, as each learned from the other and fell into a pattern that could accomplish much in a short amount of time, Julia and Eric began to become the best of all teams.
The ranch prospered better than Eric could ever have dreamed. Before Julia had arrived, Eric had been pressed to keep up with the horses and still be able to sell enough to stay on top of all his expenses. Now that he had Julia to help him, things were not only running along much smoother, but also much quicker. He could now leave the horses for more than just a day or two at a time and trust that they would be taken care of. He could now go out into the mountains and expand his business farther than ever without having to depend on customers traveling in from the far away places of the world outside the Valley. He could leave the ranch knowing that the horses were being fed and that work would still be going on while he was gone. Yes, it was true that Julia and Eric made a fine team and life prospered for
the both of them.
__________
“Julia, I need to go into the mountains to do some business.” Eric called from the house to the arena where Julia was working. Her hair shone gold in the early morning sun as she walked her thoroughbred toward the house. Eric noticed how good she looked in her tan tunic and riding pants. It outlined her body and the colors highlighted her skin. He thought back to the day that he first met her and chuckled to himself. The girl he saw that day and the one he was seeing now were two totally different people, and he was glad for it.
“Since when do you just tell me when you’re leaving?” she teased. “Why don’t you just leave a note like you usually do?” She stopped her horse at the front door, eyes glimmering with the joke.
“Well, I’m not going to be gone for just one night this time. I need to go farther into the mountains and I will most likely stay anywhere from a few days to over a week. A man has a mare that is close to birthing and he believes that she is going to have twins. This is the first time he has had a pregnant mare and he is afraid he might lose his horse and the colts at the same time.” Julia grimaced at the thought of what could go wrong in a situation like that. Twins were rare for horses and birthing was often complicated enough with only one colt involved. If you didn’t know what you were doing, many problems were likely to arise very quickly and dealing with them was another issue all together.
“Do you know how long will you be gone exactly?”
“It depends on how long it takes the horse to go into labor. I am guessing it will be four days at the least and a week to a week and a half at the most. If she does not go into labor after a week, we will have to try and find some way to force labor, or put her down.”
Julia grimaced again, trying not to imagine just all the things that could potentially go wrong. “All right then. I’ll stay and look over things. I can handle it.”
“I’m sure that you can,” replied Eric. “But I brought a security guard from town this morning just in case.”
“A what?” Julia’s quizzical yet slightly aggravated look amused Eric. He knew exactly what she was thinking. Her independent spirit often caused her to think she was more invincible than she really was.
“A security guard.” The look on Eric’s face displayed openly the amusement he was feeling. He obviously knew something about this “guard” that Julia didn’t.
“Where is this guard?” Julia asked with just a slight undertone of sarcasm.
Eric winked, then, putting two fingers to his mouth, he let out a rather loud, high-pitched whistle. Julia looked around half expecting someone to jump out and scare her. A few moments later, something did jump out from behind the house, something more surprising than what Julia had been expecting. A large furry streak came bounding out from around the back of the house. It was a dog! The bodyguard was a furry, black, smelly, tail wagging, hand slurping, flea scratching dog. Julia’s horse was about as surprised as she was. The mare spooked and reared up on her hind legs pawing at the air and showing the whites of her eyes. It was all Julia could do not to fall off. The dog saw the enormous animal on its hind legs, and immediately turned around and ran back the way he came. Julia clucked and cooed at her horse, talking to her in soothing tones and trying her best to get her to calm down. “Easy girl. Whoa!” Eventually and with enough coaxing, she succeeded in calming the panicked animal. Some body guard! she huffed to herself. The creature was probably afraid of it’s own shadow if it turned tail that quickly at the mere sight of a horse. Julia was not impressed in the least.
“Sorry about that. I didn’t expect him to do that.” Eric called the dog again. This time, the animal peeked wearily around the side of the house and looked at the still jittery mare. “Here Jason. Come on boy.” Jason slunk slowly past the mare to Eric’s side.
“Where did you dig this thing up? The sewer? He’s filthy!!!” Julia’s remark was a bit sarcastic, but it did have some merit. She could smell him from where she sat atop her horse and the smell was not pleasant in the least. The dog was filthy beyond all compare. He was covered from head to foot in dust, weeds and manure of all sorts. His fur was matted together in spots with dried up mud and there were cockleburs all over his tail and haunches. And the unpleasant odor, which had Julia wrinkling up her nose, was that of stink weeds and manure. Jason was quite a sight to behold.
“He belongs to a friend of mine that lives on the other side of town. I told this guy that I was going to be gone for a day or two, so he offered to loan me Jason to help look after the place. He says the dog doesn‘t stay at home much anyway.”
Julia was still not impressed, especially hearing that the animal liked to wander off. What made Eric think that if it wandered around at home, it would not do the same here? And how was it supposed to ‘protect‘ her if it was never even on the premises. To top it all off, not only was this dog filthy, he looked like he was too good natured and friendly to protect anything. Julia thought he could not even protect the ranch from a fly, let alone any one strong enough and evil enough to steal horses from a ranch protected by only one woman.
“Take him back.” Julia’s statement was firm. “He’s filthy and probably afraid of his own shadow. I can look over the ranch myself. Take him back to wherever he came from.” Eric looked slightly hurt, as if his bringing Jason had been a marvelous gift and Julia was rejecting it. Julia noticed the look, but did not care. “I mean it! I will not put up with this... this... THING! I mean, it’s not even a dog! It is a chicken hearted, smelly, dirty, runaway, and one more hassle that I could do without while you are gone.”
“I admit, he may not look like much, but he really is a good dog. Just let him stay. He will be good.”
Julia was not convinced in the least and she did nothing to disguise the fact from Eric. “Well, at least give him a bath. I won’t let him in the house while you’re gone unless you give him a bath.”
Eric thought for a minute. “I don’t think that I can. I need to finish packing and then as soon as I’m done I need to leave. I have to get to that mare as soon as possible to make sure that nothing goes wrong, and the sooner I leave the better. It is not just a walk in the park to get through those mountains, you of all people should know that.” He paused for a minute, then noting the expression on her face, asked, “Why don’t you wash him?”
Julia was mortified that Eric had even suggested such a thing. “Are you kidding me? There is no way anybody or anything could convince me to even get close enough to that thing to even touch him. I’m serious Eric, give him a bath or send him home, I don’t want that thing around here while you are gone.”
Eric‘s tone held an undercurrent of authority. He was her boss, and he was going to do things the way he saw fit. “Julia, look, he’s going to stay and that is that. I have to go and you could use some help watching the horses for more than a week. I need the extra insurance on my animals, understand? Now, I don’t want to hear about it any more. He is staying, and that is final.” Julia’s face took on a defeated look. “I’m sorry but if you think he needs a bath so badly, you will have to give him one yourself. I simply just don‘t have the time.”
Julia just huffed, turned her horse around, and went back to
work. To herself she thought, I’ll just ignore it. He can’t go in the house and he will probably just run off anyway. I’m not going to put up with it. She continued with her work and Eric left soon after.