The Auction a Romance by Anna Erishkigal Read online

  All my life I'd hated putting myself at the center of attention, but if Luna was going to pull through, she'd need more resources than I could garner on my own. What would Adam do when he got home and found out that, not only had I bought his daughter a pony, but I'd bought her one with significant special needs? I glanced at Pippa, standing by the front window with Thunderlane, her expression hopeful as she waited for the knacker's truck to appear. I was determined not to make the same mistake as my mother.

  I snapped a picture and titled it: 'Waiting for Luna's arrival.'

  I uploaded the image as well as a selfie I'd taken earlier of me and Pippa cleaning out the stall. I wore a hideous red bandana over my hair, just like Rosie the Riveter, and Pippa's face was filthy, the dirt only accentuating her white-blonde hair and enormous silver eyes. It wasn't about me. It was about Pippa and her love for this little white pony.

  .

  'Hi everyone, it's me, Rosie, and next to me is Pippa. We thought we'd lost her after the doggers out-bid us, but then he called to say he'd sell Luna back to us. She'll cost $200 dollars, delivered which I can cover, but what I'm not sure about is how to keep her alive. What should I feed her? Should I call the vet? How much will it all cost? Help? All advice and support would be appreciated.'

  .

  I then began the arduous task of personally responding to each and every well-wisher.

  Chapter 44

  "They're here!" Pippa bolted out the front door.

  Thunderlane dashed in front of her, his tail wagging as he barked excitedly at the cloud of red dust kicked up by the approaching Holden ute and trailer. I gathered up my wallet as well as a pen. I immediately recognized Ben, the elderly man with the jack-o-lantern grin.

  "Well hello, little lady," Ben greeted Pippa. "I see you're eager to get to know your new pony."

  I shook his hand.

  "I take it you orchestrated this?" I asked.

  "Weren’t me," Ben grinned. "Was the missus. She's good friends with Thelma at the stockyard. Jim, he can't do nothing without Thelma there running the show. Thelma told him he'd better give that little girl her pony or there'd be hell to pay."

  "Thelma sounds like she might be Pippa's fairy queen."

  I gave Pippa a wink.

  Pippa ran around to the back of the trailer and climbed up on the bumper to peek inside. She crooned in a soft, little-girl's voice that everything would be alright.

  "How bad is she?" I asked Ben.

  Ben frowned.

  "Jim went out to make sure there wasn't anything visibly wrong with her besides neglect before we could get him to agree to this," Ben said. "I know you ladies don't like the knackers, but he's a decent man. If she'd been obviously lame or in a great deal of pain, he'd have put her down. Don't matter what Thelma threatened to do to him afterwards.

  I helped Ben unlock the gate and set it down so it made a ramp. Pippa scurried up into the opposite stall in a trailer designed to carry two. I stared at the mare's grey haunches which, from the rear, looked even more emaciated than last night.

  "She's real thin," I said. "What else should I give her besides lots of food?"

  "Don't give her too much at once," Ben said. "Just give her grassy hay until you can get a vet out here to take a look at her. Give her a handful at a time, but nothing too rich or it will give her colic. In a horse this emaciated, if she gets colic it will kill her."

  I nodded. Ben held out the contract, the one Pippa's unknown guardian angel Thelma had no doubt gone in on a Sunday morning to draft up.

  .

  CONTRACT FOR SALE

  .

  We, the undersigned Caboolture Stockyard, do hereby resell an 11.2 hand light grey mare dubbed 'Luna' bought yesterday at the Lockyer auction to Miss Rosamond Xalbadora of the Condamine River Ranch for the sum of $200.00 (two hundred dollars) cash, delivered.

  This mare comes with no warranties of survivability or soundness. She was purchased at auction yesterday in an emaciated condition with an estimated body mass index (BMI) of one (1). Miss Xalbadora has been apprised that the pony may not survive and shall hereby be responsible for any and all veterinary expenses, care and maintenance, and the cost of disposal should the mare die.

  .

  Signed: Jim Fraser, owner.

  Caboolture Stockyards.

  .

  Accepted:________________________

  Rosamond Xalbadora

  .

  "The horse is for Pippa," I said as I signed on the dotted line.

  "A child cannot legally sign a contract to buy a horse," Ben said.

  "I know."

  Oh, did I know. When I'd demanded the police arrest my mother for putting Harvey down without my permission, the policeman explained that the horse had never belonged to me, but had been awarded to my mother as 'marital property' in the divorce.

  Pippa untied Luna's lead from the head of the trailer, but the mare was skittish -- most horses were after being transported. Ben grabbed the lead and backed her down, and then hung on tight as Luna searched for a pathway to bolt.

  "It's okay, Luna," I spoke to her in my most soothing 'horse' voice. "Welcome home. You won't have to go back to that terrible place ever again."

  Luna had a terrified white ring around her brown eyes, and had she not been so weak, I had no doubt she would have bolted. Pippa came up beside me very slowly so the mare could see her move, and then held up her hand and waited for Luna to come to her. As she had done last night at the auction, Luna responded to Pippa best. She lowered her head and allowed Pippa to stroke her forehead.

  "That's a good girl," Pippa crooned. "Wait until you see your new home. It's nice and clean, and the fairies promised not to keep you awake until the wee hours of the morning."

  Ben raised an eyebrow at Pippa's imagination. I gave him a shrug and mouthed the word, 'kids.' He handed me the reins and waited until we led Luna away before hauling out two bales of grassy hay and carried them into the stable behind us. Luna spooked as we opened the door to her stall.

  Luna backed up and nearly yanked my socket out of my arm.

  "Whoa, girl!" I grabbed her noseband and pulled her head down so she could see me. "I've handled much bigger horses than you, little girl. So let's try this again, and this time you're going inside." I glanced at Pippa. "Stay out of the way in case she bucks."

  This time, we got Luna into the stall. I shut the door quick, just in case she tried to bolt.

  "I'll be going now," Ben said. "It's a long way back to where we live."

  "Thank you," I said. "And please thank Vera for intervening on our behalf."

  Ben gave me that jack-o-lantern grin.

  "It's our pleasure," Ben said. "The missus … she grew up on a station. Horse got too old to work, they gave it the dignity of a bullet in the brain and burial in the pasture. Thanking a pet by sending it off to slaughter? Vera says it's no different than eating the family dog."

  The aforementioned family dog sat down and whined. My hand went automatically to pat Thunderlane's furry head.

  The old man got into the truck, surprisingly spry despite his seventy-odd years. I waited for the dust to settle, and then walked back into the barn where Pippa had already filled Luna's hay-feeder with hay.

  "Not too much, nipper," I told her. "You heard what Ben said. Just give her a handful at a time."

  We spent the next three hours trying to figure out all the places Luna was broken. Her hooves were so long they looked like elf-boots, she had the nasty cut on her head, the one Pippa swore was where the trolls had cut off her unicorn horn, and all over her hide were hundreds of nasty-looking scabs, all of them infected and leaking pus. I used up every bit of hydrogen peroxide Adam had in his medicine cabinet to disinfect the wounds while Pippa curried the filth out of her coat with a pair of her grandmother's livestock brushes. After a while, Luna began to relax and settle down. She placed her head on Pippa's shoulder and regarded me with her large, brown watchful eyes.

  She reminded me a bit
of the girl on the white pony's steed…

  "You know Pippa saved you. Don't you, pretty girl?"

  "Can we give her a bath?" Pippa asked.

  The sun had already set and the temperature begun to drop.

  "She has no body fat to keep her warm," I said. "Why don't we wash her tomorrow, after it gets warm again? Did your grandmother happen to leave any horse blankets behind?"

  We rummaged through the old tack room and found none in any of the bins, but I did find a hoof-pick and a few other articles of horse care. I retrieved our picnic blanket out of the boot of my car and draped it over Luna's back, pinning it as best I could.

  "C'mon, nipper," I told Pippa. "It's past your bedtime."

  "Luna is scared," Pippa said. "I want to sleep out here."

  I glanced at the pony that stood alone in her stall.

  "We'll leave the light on for her, okay? The Fairy Queen will make sure your horse is fine."

  "She's a unicorn," Pippa said. "The Fairy Queen said so."

  "Then so she is," I grinned. "Her Royal Majesty Luna, Queen of the Unicorns."

  We left the light on and shut the door behind us.

  When Adam called that night, Pippa gave him a fanciful tale, and then he asked her to put me on the phone.

  "Good evening, Miss Rosamond." His warm, friendly voice filled my chest with a sense of longing. "I'm almost afraid to ask, but what have you done to make my daughter so happy?"

  A pang of guilt settled into my gut. If Adam and I were ever to have any kind of future, that future would need to be built upon a foundation of trust, but having already had one horse ordered killed by the very person who was supposed to love me more than anyone in the entire world, my mother, I felt less than confident about Adam’s reaction to Pippa’s pony. Until I knew how much this strange horse rescue would cost, maybe it was better if I avoided the conversation altogether?

  "Oh, you know, girl stuff," I lied.

  I hung up the phone, decidedly unhappy.

  Chapter 45

  Harvey carried me to the edge of the river. Adam sat at the edge of the water, no doubting waiting for me to come and sit beside him. He looked so handsome, so tall and virile, the kind of man you'd find in a romance novel, thoughtful, considerate, and oh so heart-wrenchingly tormented. My body ached to throw myself into his arms and confess I'd broken my promise to make Pippa wait to get a horse until he was settled, but that older sense of self-preservation, the heart which had been broken by Gregory, by my mother, and even, dammit, my father when he'd abandoned me to deal with my mother, all gnawed at my gut and whispered caution.

  I signaled Harvey to fade back into the gum trees and watched my beautiful employer until the first kiss of dawn brightened the sky. Adam stood, his expression disappointed, and disappeared back into the waking world.

  I woke up to find that Pippa's bed was already empty, the covers cast off, with no sign of her or the dog. I rushed out to the stable and found her feeding Luna handfuls of hay, still wearing her pink My Little Pony nightgown.

  "Next time," I chastised her. "Tell me where you've gone. I thought for a moment a kidnapper broke in to take you."

  "I'm fine," Pippa giggled. "Look!" She pointed at Luna. "Doesn't it look like she's doing better?"

  Other than the fact the horse looked a wee bit cleaner, she looked exactly the same as she had last night, a painfully thin greyish-white mare with missing hair and hundreds of small wounds which looked to be infected. I'd taken on an enormous task, and the magnitude of that responsibility sat on my shoulders like a boulder.

  "Scrub out her water bucket and fill it up with fresh water," I said. "It's time to go ring the vet."

  I hunted through the phone book and dialed the vet from Adam's land line. A warm, male voice informed me he'd be out making his rounds all day today, but if this call was an emergency I could call his mobile, otherwise, I should leave a message.

  "Hi. My name is Rosie Xalbadora. I'm staying at the Condamine River Ranch with the Bristows. I just bought a pony and she's very thin. I was wondering how much it would cost to have you come by and take a look at her? My number is 46-951-000."

  Next, I logged onto Facebook and read the responses of the people who'd written to promise money. While I earned enough to keep Luna in a steady supply of hay, I worried how much the vet would cost and, if Adam balked, how much it would cost to hire a stable to board her. Unlike my mother, who'd been too mortified to let people know her illusion of wealth was carefully cultivated debt, if Luna was to survive, then I needed to swallow my pride.

  .

  'Pippa was out to the barn at sunrise, feeding Luna by hand because we can only give her a little bit at a time. She looks more relaxed this morning, but she's so thin! Thank you everyone who offered to help. As soon as the vet gets back to me, I'll have a better idea of how much it will cost to make her well. Thank you, everybody, who offered to wire money. Here's my account number. I'll get you a receipt as soon as I can.'

  .

  I uploaded a video of Pippa feeding Luna. No matter what her sorry condition, the pony was a natural little ham, taking each handful of hay delicately from Pippa's fingers and eating it eagerly as though she hadn't eaten in years. I also uploaded images of where Luna's bones protruded, her significant injuries, her overgrown hooves, and all the places I knew she would need attention. Before I asked people to hand over their hard-earned money, I wanted to make sure they understood how it would be spent.

  That done, it was time to go buy Luna some food.

  "Pippa!" I called.

  Pippa came trotting out of the barn with Thunderlane on her heels.

  "Yes?"

  "We've got to go to the feed store."

  "Can't I stay here with Luna?" Pippa crossed her arms across her chest. "Please?"

  "You're too young to stay alone."

  "But she's so hungry!" Pippa exclaimed. "She keeps begging for more like a hungry little dog."

  I drove to the bank to withdraw money from the ATM, hoping $100 would be enough to buy feed and pay the vet bill. I'd never handled the money when Harvey was still alive, but towards the end my mother made me work at the stable to offset his board.

  The grain store employee was a young man, unmarried, I assumed, because he flirted with me something fierce. He recommended 'senior mix' to supplement the hay, as well as some probiotics. I forked over my $100, silently lamenting the fact I hadn't even seen the vet yet and already I was broke. I jammed as much hay into the boot as I could, and buckled Pippa in amongst the rest in the back seat of my car. The sharp scent of dried grass tickled our noses, and by the time we pulled into the long dirt driveway, my eyes watered like Darwin during monsoon season.

  Thunderlane ran out the barn to greet us, barking as he circled around Pippa. I'd left the dog outside to reassure Pippa that Luna wasn't alone.

  "Go and check on Luna," I said. "I'll see if the vet has called us back."

  The light on the answering machine blinked there was a message, but when I pressed play, all I got was a string of hang-up phone calls. I pressed the 'erase' button with a self-satisfied smirk.

  Bitch. I just played the horse card right back at you…

  From the direction of the barn, Pippa shrieked.

  "Rosie! Rosie! Luna's gone down!"

  I ran into the barn, my heart pounding at the sound of Pippa's high-pitched, frantic voice. On the floor lay Luna, her emaciated ribs heaving with every breath as she let out a painful moan.

  "What happened?"

  "I thought she was sleeping, but I can't get her to stand back up."

  I kneeled in the straw and placed my hand on the little mare's neck.

  "What's the matter, Luna? Are you just tired, little girl?"

  The horse let out a painful sigh. There was a raspiness to her exhalations, not phlegm, but it sounded as though she was in a great deal of pain.

  "Get her blanket," I told Pippa.

  I ran my hand down to her withers. Everywhere I touched my
hands met protruding bones, dry skin and places where the hair had rubbed off and left her bald … all symptoms of an extended period of neglect. I ran my hand over her tummy, a bit larger than it had been this morning, glanced at the hay dispenser and saw that it was empty.

  "How much food did you leave her with?" I asked Pippa.

  Pippa hesitated.

  "Pippa," my voice grew sharp. "How much food did you give her?"

  "She was so hungry," Pippa's eyes welled with tears. "I didn't want her to run out while we were gone."

  "Pippa! You heard what Ben said? You can only give her a handful at a time!"

  "It was only a half a bale," Pippa wept. "When I was at riding camp, we gave them a full bale!"

  Dammit! This was my fault. I'd entrusted a 10-year-old to give water to a sick horse. I should have checked back in on her after Pippa refilled her water bucket.

  "It's okay, nipper," I said. "Just don't do that again. Okay? She hasn't eaten in so long that her stomach has forgotten how to digest her food. Keep patting her, and I'll run in and tell the vet we need him right away."

  I jogged back into the house and called the number with the warm, male voice, this time jotting down his satellite phone number and dialing it immediately. The phone rang six times, and then it picked up and the same male voice said 'hello.' In the background I could hear a cow moo.

  "Doctor Ryan?" my voice warbled with fear. "My name is Rosie Xalbadora. I'm staying at the Condamine River Ranch with the Bristow family. I think my pony has colic."

  "Colic, you say?" the veterinarian asked. "What are the symptoms?"

  "She's a rescue pony," I said. "We saved her from the knacker. He said not to feed her too much or she would colic, by my little girl, uh, I mean Pippa, Mr. Bristow's little girl, she thought she was helping by giving the pony extra food."

  "Is her stomach distended?" Doctor Ryan asked.

  "It's hard to tell," I said. "She's so thin … but yes … there does seem to be a little bloating."

  "I'm on the opposite side of town," Doctor Ryan said. "It will take me about forty-five minutes to finish up and get there. In the meantime, walk her in her paddock."