The Midwife's Dilemma by Delia Parr Page B

dismissed the thought because he would have given it to her directly. “Even if I could figure out who did this, a horse of any kind is worth far more than anyone owes me,” Martha said, but her heart swelled with such joy that her chest actually hurt. “The horse is for me!” she gushed as she rushed out of the kitchen and down the hallway, Ivy and Fern following.
    Her pulse was racing and her mind was churning with thoughts of how much easier her life was going to be and how much faster she would be able to reach each of the four women she had in mind as her replacement now that she had a horse of her own again. She opened the back door slowly, half afraid she would find the horse gone, but her fears were unfounded.
    Bella was still there, and she was as fine a mare as Martha had ever seen. To her surprise, the horse was still licking at that baking pan, and she nearly chuckled at the idea that this horse had a sweet tooth just like she did.
    â€œGood Bella,” she whispered and stepped outside to stand next to the post in front of the horse. Fern and Ivy, however, remained standing side by side in the open doorway. As best as Martha could judge, Bella was only three or four years old. Now that she was really studying the mare, she could see that it was not pure white, but a softer cream color. Her mane and tail were flaxen, but it was the pale, irregular star on her face, just between her eyes, that made her extraordinary in Martha’s eyes.
    She stroked the mare’s face and found brown eyes staring back at her, a bit wary, but definitely interested in the person who was paying such close attention to her. “I don’t know you very well right now, Bella, and you don’t know me, but I promise to take very, very good care of you. We have a lot to learn about each other, but we’re going to have some amazing adventures together,” she whispered and leaned forward to nuzzle the horse’s face with her own.
    She never got close enough. Without warning, Bella hit her square in the chest with her muzzle. Hard. Jolted back, Martha hit her shoulder on the post and landed square on her bottom on the hard-packed dirt.
    She heard Ivy and Fern scream and would have screamed herself, but the air had been knocked right out of her lungs and her brain was too scrambled by the jolt she had taken to have any thought but one when she saw the horse lift a foreleg: Get out of Bella’s way.
    Acting out of pure instinct, she used the heels of her hands and feet to scramble back, well out of the mare’s reach, before she was able to stand again.
    Even though her fear that Bella had been about to kick her never materialized, she kept her attention focused on Bella to take stock of the situation, more surprised by the mare’s odd behavior than anything else.
    Despite the fact that her hands were stinging from scraping against the ground, her back and shoulder ached, and she was still trying to draw measured breaths of air, she had nothing more to complain about than a rather large bruise on her pride.
    After reassuring Fern and Ivy that she was fine and sending them back inside, Martha took a few moments to wipe the grit and grime from her hands before she brushed off her skirts. Shemade no attempt, however, to go near the horse to retrieve the baking pan, now covered with dirt.
    Unfortunately, Thomas chose that precise moment to appear, and Martha took what solace she could from the fact that he had not actually seen her fall so ignominiously.
    He took hold of her elbow as if she were not capable of remaining steady on her own two feet. “I was just passing by when I saw the horse knock you off your feet. Are you all right?”
    She slipped her arm away and ignored the growing pain in her shoulder. “I’m fine. Just getting acquainted with my new horse, who doesn’t appear to be very open to the idea that she now belongs to me.”
    He looked back and forth from Martha