Wind Dancer by Chris Platt

horses to help take some of the load off.”
    “We all should have communicated a little better,” her mother said. “Maybe then this wouldn’t have happened.”
    “What if the horses do get sick?” Ali asked.
    “We don’t have time to worry about the
what-ifs
,” the vet said. “Let’s concentrate on
what is
and where we go from here.”
    Ali kept her eyes on the ground and nodded. She didn’t want anyone to see the tears that were forming in her eyes.
    “Come on, Ali,” Jamie said. “My dad is right. Sometimes stuff happens that’s out of our control. It’s not time to give up. There’s still plenty of hope.”
    “I haven’t given up,” she said, willing back the tears. “I just hope they’re going to be okay.”
    Dr. Forrester drew a blood sample from each of the horses, then carefully packed the vials for transport. “The labs are normally closed on Sunday,” he said. “But a good friend of mine runs the local one, so I’ll drop these off as soon as I’m done here. In the meantime, I want to give them some intravenous fluids. We need to make sure they’re getting someelectrolytes and essential vitamins and minerals back into their system. That’ll help keep them from getting refeeding syndrome.”
    “What do you want me to do?” Ali asked. “How can I help?”
    “Yes, Doctor,” Ali’s mom said. “If there’s something that we can all do, please let us know.”
    “I want you to keep them on the program I gave you,” Dr. Forrester said. “Feed small amounts of alfalfa every four hours. Maybe walk them a little bit in their pen if they seem up to it. You can even brush them a bit to make them feel good and improve their circulation. We’ll be back in a few hours once we get the results of these tests.”
    Jamie helped his dad pack up the truck, then waved goodbye as they drove away.
    It was going to be a long few hours before they heard from the vet. Hours of wondering if she had caused a catastrophe. She needed to think of other things.
    Dr. Forrester had suggested walking the horses or brushing them. Ali frowned. If it helped them get better, maybe she should do it.
    “I’ll check on Danny,” Ali’s dad said, heading back to the house.
    Ali’s mom leaned on the fence rail. “I’ll stay out here until your father has had a chance to talk to him.” Ali grabbed the brush bucket and handed the new body brush to her mom. “Can you help me groom them? I’ll use the curry comb. You can go behind me with the body brush and sweep off all the dirt and hair.” She opened the gate to Wind Dancer’s pen.
    She moved the rubber curry comb in circles across the gelding’s coat. Wind Dancer blew through his lips and twitched his ears. He seemed to be enjoying the rub, but hestill didn’t respond to her like he had her brother.
    “So, what exactly happened with you and Danny?” her mother asked.
    Ali shrugged. “He was just trying to help, and I came down on him pretty hard,” she admitted. “He got mad and stomped off.”
    “I see.” Her mother ran the brush across Wind Dancer’s back. “Your brother has had a very hard time adjusting, Ali. I’m sure you’ve noticed. We’ve been trying to get him some help, but he doesn’t want it. He’s a grown man now. We can’t force him into anything he doesn’t want to do. Your father and I are kind of at our wit’s end.”
    “It doesn’t help that he’s stubborn as a dang mule,” Ali said.
    The corners of her mother’s mouth lifted a bit and Ali smiled too.
    They finished up Wind Dancer and moved to Misty’s corral. The mare nudged Ali’s shirt when she came near. No doubt about it, Misty was in much better shape than Wind Dancer. The mare nudged her again. Misty definitely wanted to be friends.
    “Danny’s not the same as when he left,” Ali continued. “I knew things were bad, but you and Dad never talked to me about it, so I looked up some stuff on the internet.”
    Ali looked at Wind Dancer. What was it was about