No Horse Wanted by LLC Melange Books

I’m so turning you in.”
    Jack laughed. “Go talk to the cop, Ms. Wimpy.
He’s probably lost. Stay downwind so he doesn’t have to smell you,
and I’ll put away Jaws. After that, hit the shower.”
    “Okay,” I said. “I’ll hurry so I can come
back down and help after I clean up.”
    “Don’t stress over it. I do chores all the
time and I’ll make the dinner table. You’d better, too, or Dad will
have a fit and fall in it.”
    I nodded and started toward the cop car,
peeling off the plastic gloves. The big, burly guy in a dark blue
uniform climbed out and came toward me, carrying a metal case with
papers attached. “Hi,” I said. “Are you lost?”
    “Not if this is the Gibson place.”
    “Yes, it is.” I stared at him, aware of the
white powder on my arms and the smell. So much for looking decent
when people came to visit. That wasn’t happening. “Why?”
    “I’m Officer Yardley.” He started to hold out
his hand like he wanted to shake hands and be polite. “I’m from
Animal Control.”
    He stopped when I shook my head and didn’t
take his hand. “No, I stink. What are you looking for?”
    “It’s more of a who.” He smiled, but it was
still scary because he didn’t look all that friendly and the smile
didn’t touch his dark eyes. “I think I saw the horse, but I’m
looking for Maura Gibson.”
    “That’s my mom,” I said and jerked my head
toward the house. “And what do you want with my horse? We just got
him last weekend.”
    “According to his previous owner, Maura
Gibson is the person who has him now.”
    I heaved a sigh. “I hate being sixteen. He’s
mine, but Mom has her name on his papers until I’m an adult.”
    “Okay, then let’s go talk to your mother. And
after that I want to see the horse. What were you doing with
him?”
    “Can’t you smell it? I was delousing him. The
vet said he had to have it done again today, and my brother made me
do it this time. I majorly stink. And Jack said I couldn’t come in
the barn until I had a shower.”
    “But your horse can?” The cop walked beside
me toward the house. “Why?”
    “Because it’s supper time and he has to eat.”
I eyed him. “Don’t you know anything about horses? Jack says if
Twaziem doesn’t get his food at regular times, he’ll colic and that
would totally suck. I have a ton of homework, and I don’t want to
walk him all night.”
    “I can see where that would be a problem.”
The cop looked like he was trying to hide a grin.
    “Yeah, and you don’t even know my teachers.
They so need to get lives.” I led the way into the back porch. I
opened the back door and saw Mom in the kitchen stirring something
at the stove. “Mom, this cop is here about Twaziem. Don’t let him
arrest my horse.”
     

Chapter Thirteen
     
    Tuesday, September 17 th , 6:05 p.m.
     
    Mom turned off the burner, then came toward
us. “What have you been doing, Robin?” She sniffed and caught a
good whiff of the delousing powder. “Never mind. I know. Go hit the
shower, and on your way, tell your father to come join us. And
after that, put supper on the table for me.”
    “But, what about Twaz?”
    “He’ll be fine,” Mom said. “Before the county
can remove him, they have to serve us with papers and that takes
time. Believe me, if your dad has to wait for dinner, that will be
worse than anything you’ve ever seen. Get busy.”
    “Okay.” I headed for the study.
    Behind me, the cop called, “It was nice to
meet you, Robin.”
    “Yeah. Me, too,” I said, but I was lying. I
didn’t trust the cop. Actually, when it came down to it, I didn’t
trust anyone but us to take care of Twaziem. A lot of people would
look at him and see death walking. They’d be like the guy who
wanted to take him to slaughter, not put the time and energy into
saving his life.
    When I told Dad about the Animal Control cop
coming to see Twaziem, Dad hurried off to help Mom. He paused long
enough to pat my shoulder. “It’ll be okay,