Nickel-Bred by Patricia Gilkerson Page B

her phone turned off. I finally left her a
message, which was risky because she doesn’t always check her
messages. “Hey, Adds, it’s Piper. Call me right away, it’s real
important.”
    The sun began going down as I trudged along
the two-lane blacktop. County Road 5 was not the main road into
town, so very few cars passed me. I made a plan for when someone I
knew stopped and asked where I was going. I would tell them I was
lending my halter to someone. Another lie, but luckily no one
stopped. About the time the wind started blowing my hair around, I
stared at the sky and noticed black clouds on the horizon.
    I started whistling and spinning the
horsehair bracelet on my left wrist, while I held the halter slung
over my shoulder. It was kind of awkward, but twisting the bracelet
always calmed me. Whistling was supposed to make you feel braver. I
wasn’t sure it did, but it was worth a shot.
    Since an hour-long hike was time enough to
think, I had pretty well planned out what I was going to say to my
mom and dad about Nickel. Same deal as Dotty, right? They were
proud of me for rescuing her, and they should be equally proud of
me for saving Nickel from the slaughterhouse. I was banking on that
reasoning.
    It was full dark by the time I turned in at
Chickie’s. I walked slowly down the bumpy, rutted driveway,
watching for cars and headlights. A half moon rose over the
woodland on the far side of Chickie’s property. I didn’t want to
take Nickel through the woods. It would be hard to walk through. At
least there was a little moonlight for me to see by. For now, until
the clouds moved in. The wind was blowing in my face and causing my
eyes to burn.
    My phone rang and I hurriedly answered.
    “Hello?”
    “Piper, it’s me, Addie! I saw you’ve been
calling me.”
    “Where have you been?” I was talking in a
whisper in case my voice was carried by the wind. “I’ve been
calling you for hours.”
    “I told you, I had to go visit my Aunt Amy.
What’s up?” I explained about Angel harassing my father, about
Chickie’s phone call, and how Nickel’s life was in danger.
    “Where are you now, Piper?”
    “I’m at Chickie’s, getting Nickel. I’m going
to ride him to Miss Julie’s.”
    “At night? In the rain?” Addie sounded
worried about me.
    “I’ll be okay, but what about you? Can you
walk?”
    “I’m pretty klutzy, but I can do what I need
to do,” she said.
    “Can you meet me at the barn in about an
hour? Maybe someone could drive you?”
    “Yeah, I can. Mom is going somewhere and I’ll
get her to drop me off. She’ll nag me to be careful on my ankle,
but she’ll do it.”
    “Don’t go to the house. I don’t want Mom or
anyone to know what I’m doing until it’s already done. Once Nickel
is safe, they won’t have the heart to send him back to get
killed.”
    “Piper, there are thunderstorm warnings.”
    “I can’t help that. I’ll have to get
wet.”
    “Okay. Listen, good luck. I’ll be in the barn
with some towels.”
    “And a change of clothes.” We wore the same
sizes in everything, which was lucky for me. Addie had lots more
clothes than I did. “Thanks, Adds. See you in a while.”
    Wishing I had a plastic bag so my cell phone
wouldn’t get wet, I stuffed it back in my pocket, hoping it would
stay dry enough there. Sure enough, sprinkles began as I let myself
into Nickel’s pen. The horse had seen me coming and was standing
close to the gate. I rubbed his neck and he put his head down. I
remembered that he had liked having his head rubbed, so I ran my
hands over his cheeks and nose. He nickered softly and sniffed my
hair.
    I stood on my tiptoes and lifted the lead
rope over Nickel’s neck, catching it from underneath. His head
jerked up and he stepped away.
    “Easy, boy,” I said. “It’s time to put this
on.” Still talking softly to him, I slid the halter over his nose
and buckled it up high on his head.
    “Good boy! Now we need to get me up on you.
We’re going