Sweet as Apple Pie
‘’Aunt Kass, come quick!’’ William’s voice rang into the alley. Kassandra’s head whipped up from her work. She leaned on her pitchfork, wiping her sweaty forehead with the back of her arm. She had been busy mucking stalls when her nephew had called from the far door of the stables. She arched her back, peaking out from the box she had been working in. Her eyes found the boy standing in the doorway, glancing back outside over his shoulder anxiously.
‘’What’s up, Will?’’ she asked the teenager. His head whipped back towards her.
‘’There’s a loose pony outside! Not one of ours…’’ This information was enough to make Kass’ brain switch into business mode. She took off running down the alleyway towards her nephew, letting the pitchfork to fall on the floor. ‘’Where?’’ she asked as she met up with him. Will backed a few steps, giving the woman space to exit the stables as she scanned around for the loose horse. She did not see it at first, until the teenager pointed towards one of the far pastures. ‘’Over there!’’
Once she looked into the right direction, Kass could make out a purplish-grey shape standing at the fence of a paddock, nose to nose with a couple of her own ponies. ‘’I saw her coming down the hill. She ran right past me, I think it’s a mare.’’ William supplied. Nearly as soon as she had made eye contact with the intruder, distant whinnying on the wind made it to both of their ears.
Crap, that’s Blue’s paddock! Kass thought in alarm. The stallion was enjoying some turnout time with their gelding, Toast. While both of them were good tempered, a loose mare would likely make Blue a little excited and pose a safety risk to all involved horses. Furthermore, they had no idea where she was from and whether she was healthy.
‘’Try getting closer, but don’t spook her. Don’t let her out of her sight, I’ll be back in a minute!’’ the red-head called over her shoulder, going back into the stables. She ran to the tack room, grabbing an old rope halter and a packet of treats before running out again. She immediately started making her way towards the visitor, following in Will’s steps.
Within a couple of minutes, they were standing together a few meters away from the paddock. The mare was still there. Blue was trotting up and down the fenceline pompously, occasionally stopping and standing nose to nose with her. They would sniff each other, then they would squeal and the stallion would reprise his prancing all over again. Toast stood at the fence too, curious though much quieter. The lavender mare had glanced at the humans a few times during their careful approach, but so far had seemed quite uninterested in them.
From this shorter distance, Kass could appraise the intruder more accurately. She was at a good weight and her greyish coat seemed healthy, shining with subtle purple hues in the sun. Her golden eyes were bright, and judging by her trimmed tail she most definitely had an owner. Kass looked at Will, silently gesturing at him to stay put.
‘’Hey girl,’’ she called softly. With the halter in one hand, she took a couple of steps towards the horses as she opened and shook the bag of horse muffins slightly. The sound made the visiting mare’s head turn towards her and away from Blue’s little show, ears pricked in the woman’s direction. She did not move, but did not appear scared either. Kass reached into the bag, pulling out a couple of treats under the mare’s watchful gaze. She tossed them a few feet away from herself and towards the short horse, careful not to do so too strongly. The loose pony watched them fall to the ground before walking towards them, after a few seconds of consideration. She munched lazily on the muffins, her tail swishing at flies as she ate. Once they were gone, she looked up at Kass expectantly, apparently approving of the tasty offering. The young trainer reached into the bag again but offered her palm to their little visitor instead. When the mare began walking towards her, Kass took another few steps forward as well, closing the distance between them.
While the mare lapped up at the treats, Kass took the chance to pet the pony’s neck slowly with the hand holding the halter. When there was no reaction from the mare, she pulled it over her muzzle and behind her ears, making quick work of securing it in place. With a few tentative steps, the horse began to follow the woman easily.
As they walked away, both of Kass’s boys whinnied in disapproval behind them. Blue from losing his new girlfriend, and Toast from not being handed out treats. ‘’Sorry guys!’’ she called to her ponies. ‘’We better try to find this lady's owner,’’ she told Will. ‘’I’m glad she was easy to catch.’’
They brought their guest to one of their quarantine pens, where she was offered hay and fresh water. A few times as the pair worked, the lavender mare had pressed her nose to their arms, silently asking for pats. ‘’She’s sweet as apple pie! Maybe we should call her… Appeltaart!’’ William had joked. Once the newly nicknamed Appeltaart was all settled in and Will had been put in charge with finishing mucking the stalls, Kass headed inside and opened her laptop. Time to sleuth and figure out where this sweet lady had come from!
