Helping Hands by Laurie Halse Anderson

quickly, but I catch a few phrases.
    Never, never, NEVER hire Gustav Blusterfeld.
    . . . the most incompetent, dishonest worker I have ever met
.
    . . . The sad thing is, his sister, Gloria, was a top-notch pony handler. But when she passed away and Gus took over, everything changed.
    . . . Dishonest business practices, driving without a license, and mistreatment of his ponies, among other things.
    . . . Cruel, neglectful, and just plain mean.
    . . .
I wanted to press charges, but he left town . . .
    Mr. Snyder looks at Dr. Gabe. “What have you seen?”
    â€œThere’s certainly been evidence of neglect. Ask him for the vaccination records and the name of his vet,” Dr. Gabe says. “I guarantee you’ll come up empty.”
    â€œStay here,” Mr. Snyder tells us.
    The Animal Control officer walks over to Gus, shows the pony handler his identification, and starts talking, but they are standing too far away for us to hear them.
    David jogs out to us. “What’s going on?” he asks.
    â€œShowdown at the Wrenches and Roses Corral!” I say.
    â€œYou can’t do that!” Gus hollers at Mr. Snyder.
    Buster shifts his feet nervously, and I reach out to pet and reassure him.
    Mr. Snyder says something quietly, but Gus steps up to him and pokes his finger in the middle of his chest. My dad and Dr. Gabe both tense up.
    â€œDo you think we’re needed?” the doc asks Dad.
    â€œNope.” Dad points to the police cruiser that’s turning into the parking lot. “Looks like the cavalry just arrived.”
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    It takes more than an hour before everything is sorted out. At first, Gus was yelling at Mr. Snyder and the police officer, and Mom didn’t want the Vet Volunteers to watch or even listen. I could tell she wasn’t too happy with Gus’s cursing. It got a little scary, but Dad convinced her that we were old enough to learn about things like this.
    After Mr. Snyder had taken a look at Buster and his hoof, he told Gus sternly, “You can’t work an animal to the point of lameness. And from the looks of those e-mails, this isn’t the first time this has happened. Normally, I might be able to let you go with a warning and a fine, but this has gone beyond my jurisdiction.” And then the policeman took over. It was so cool! Just like one of the cop shows that Dad and I watch.
    The police officer put handcuffs on Gus and made him sit in the back of his squad car. By then, Gus looked a little sad, like he’d given up, and I almost felt sorry for him. But mostly, I was just happy that Buster was okay.
    Meanwhile, Dr. Gabe brought Babe over to where we were standing with Buster. Now that Buster had been treated and was with Babe again, he was like a brand-new pony, nuzzling Babe and nickering softly. The whole time David was announcing what we were watching like it was a tennis match, making everyone crack up.
    I sat on the ground next to Sunita. We didn’t talk to each other, but it was a comfortable silence, and that made me feel pretty good.
    After chatting a bit longer with Mr. Snyder, the officer tipped his hat in our direction, got in his car, and drove off.
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    Mr. Snyder had all the answers we’d been dying for.
    â€œGus has a half-dozen warrants out for his arrest—for everything from theft to drunk driving,” he says. “Plus, his truck isn’t registered or insured, and Gus had his license to drive taken away years ago. When he realized that he was going to be arrested, he was finally honest about the ponies: they haven’t been seen by a vet or gotten any vaccinations since his sister died.”
    â€œSo what happens now?” I ask. “What about Buster and Babe?”
    â€œI gave him a choice,” Mr. Snyder says. “He could let me take