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THE RIDE TO SAVE KING
by Camille LaGuire
(copyright 2002 Camille LaGuire, all rights reserved)
What do you do with a horse in a hurricane?
Fourteen-year-old Lysette and her mother have no trailer, and few resources when a killer storm bears down on their home. Their only choice is to ride their beloved horse, King, to safety. With forty miles and perhaps thirty-six hours, they set out on their adventure, finding help and hindrance from people along the way.
(NOTE: This story is an adventure. For those of you looking for real help on taking care of your horse during an emergency, check out the Florida Horse Council hurricane page, or do a google or yahoo search for horse councils or clubs for your state.)
Chapter 1 - 6:00 PM Sunday
Lysette sat in front of the television, watching images of one worried person after another. The hurricane was approaching Florida, and the reporters were interviewing people who said they would not leave their homes.
"I can't leave," said the old woman, who held a little dog. "This house is all I got, and the shelter doesn't take pets." She hugged her dog tighter.
A little dog like that, and the shelter wouldn't take it. It was little enough, you'd think the old lady could have hid it in her purse. Not like a horse. What would you do with a horse?
Lysette leaned back and looked out the window. There was King, his golden head leaning over the fence, trying to reach the long grass on the other side. What did he care about a big whirl of wind and rain? It was almost feeding time, and like any horse, he was thinking about his belly. Lysette turned back to the TV to get the weather report.
What if the hurricane went on to Louisiana after Florida? What if it hit near here? It could. That's what the weatherman said. They weren't right on the shore, but the land was low. Those winds were over a hundred miles an hour. King's shed was just a lean-to. It would never stand up against a bad storm.
King nickered when she got to the barn to feed him. She scooped up his grain and patted him.
"You don't really love me," she said. "You just love your corn."
He nickered again, as if he agreed. She felt his eager, scratchy lips on the back of her hand as she dumped the grain in his bucket. She stroked his velvety nostrils and straightened his white mane. He was a palomino, fourteen years old--the same as she was. She could not remember a time when he was not her horse. She shivered when she thought what it might be like to do without him.
She looked over the shed. It was pretty solid, but a bad storm could knock it down. Even if King was out in the pasture, the place was full of trees. King would never survive a hurricane. And Momma would never let her stay with him, if they had to evacuate. They'd just have to leave him there. Leave him behind.
Lysette suddenly wanted to hear the news again. Even though there probably wasn't anything new, she had to keep track of where the storm was coming. She hugged King and ran inside. She turned on the radio and the TV both.
* * *
When Momma got home, she had lots of groceries with her. Lysette started to help her bring them in, but Momma stopped her.
"We'll need those in the car," she said. "In case we have to evacuate."
"You think we'll have to?"
"Maybe." Momma led the way into the house. Lysette followed her closely.
"What will happen if it hits here?"
"We'll lose our house," said Momma, taking a can of beans out of her sack and putting them on the counter with a thump. "And our clothes, and our things, and we won't be able to buy more, because I'll lose my job. There won't be any Bob's Rib Shack if it hits here."
"And what about King?" said Lysette angrily. Momma hadn't even thought about him. "What will happen to him?"
"If it hits here, King'll just...." Momma bit her lip, and suddenly she started crying. Big heavy sobs. That was when Lysette remembered that King had been Momma's horse first. She put her arms around her mother.
"We can't let him die," she whispered, knowing that they would. Even if they stayed, they'd just die with him. Momma just hugged her back and held her closer.
After a minute, Momma let go, and they both started getting dinner.
"We'll just have to hope that it doesn't hit here," said Momma.
"And a horse will die someplace else." Lysette was sorry she said that. Sometimes her mouth was just too big. Momma didn't get mad, though.
"It's too bad we don't live on higher ground, like Uncle Jeb."
Uncle Jeb lived farther away from the Gulf, too. Up on the other side of the highway. He even had a stone stable, half set in the hillside.
"If we had a barn like his, we wouldn't have to worry," said Lysette. Suddenly her mother looked up from the potatoes. Lysette only then realized what she had said. Momma leaped for the phone.
"Jeb!" she said into the receiver. "Jeb, do you have room for King in your barn?...You do?...Oh." Momma had sounded excited, but now she looked disappointed. She talked for a few minutes more, and hung up.
"What?" said Lysette.
"He'd be glad to take him, but the horse trailer broke its axle. There's no way we can get him there."
"We could rent a trailer!" Momma looked so sad, Lysette felt rotten. "I'm sorry. I know we can't afford it."
"Well, heck, we can't afford anything," said Momma. "Get me the phone book."
Momma called stables all night long, it seemed. Most of them were using their trailer to get their own horses out. Others wanted so much money, that Momma would never come up with it.
"People can be so awful!" said Momma, slamming down the phone for the sixth time. "They want four hundred dollars because they think they can get it from fancy rich people with purebred horses."
She started crying again. Lysette pointed at the news.
"Momma, I think it will miss us," she said. "It looks on the weather map like it's going straight west." She knew, though, that hurricanes can always change direction.
They watched the news together until two in the morning, when they both fell asleep. The hurricane was heading straight into the south of Florida. Lysette wondered about the horses there. Would they live? Would the lady with the little dog live? Even though it now looked like King would have a chance, Lysette was crying when she went to sleep.