December

December 1, 2024
Autumn light. It would just get better as the seasons moved into winter, and then early spring.

"Tanner thinks it's gonna be a warm, dry winter" Grace remarked as they surveyed the meadow from the backs of Clay and Rhea.

The girls headed back toward the ranch, taking a detour to walk Chilao creek, long since dry. For a Sunday afternoon on a holiday weekend, the forest was very quiet. Except for the sound of falling pinecones. Girls and horses alike became accustomed to the sound.

Western flickers and tiny little birds Grace could barely see were flustered with their presence in the creek bed.

The girls made one more stop before heading back to the ranch. They wanted to see if their horse thief was still hanging around.

They rode up to the place where Rain Man had been captured.  Skye thought she saw something move. But then nothing. All was quiet.

Grace rode into the rock ravine. The alfalfa hay was gone. There hadn't been much, just a dusting. Could have been rabbits, could have been the wind.

Skye rode in from the opposite direction.

The girls were quiet for a few moments. Grace eventually broke the silence.

"I guess all's well in the forest and everyone's gone home."

A cool breeze found its way between the rocks.

"I think the wind is sending us home" Skye said, turning her mare and heading back out the way she had entered.

The filly was for a moment separated from her mother by Grace's horse. She let out a nervous whinny.

"Take it easy Revv. We'll let you go first" Grace reassured her.

December 8
Grace and Skye watched the newly formed band of horses from a granite perch.
The sun hadn't crested the mountain yet, and the chill of the evening lingered, particularly in the granite, it seemed.

"I'm gonna call this herd the unhappy campers" Skye said. She didn't need to be very quiet. The horses were making plenty of noise.

"Do you suppose that big sabino mare is the lead mare?" Skye asked.

"I'm not sure" Grace responded. "She might just have the least tolerance for all this trouble, especially with a foal."

The big bay mare had joined the herd...sort of. There was a lot of uneasiness between her and Storm, the tyrant stallion. The scruffy little roan mare seemed to feel about the same, but she was still under his unwavering authority.  The Newcomer and his mare and foal were also still with them, at a distance.

Daybreak came at last.  The sun's warmth was welcome.

Grace turned to Skye. "Storm keeps his distance from that bay mare" she said.

"Yeah he does" Skye answered. "Probably wise. She doesn't look like she's in love with him."

Rain Man was also still with the band, although he was no longer constantly sparring with Storm. He would flank the mares and move with them, but he was not remotely as aggressive as Storm. And it was just good to see him free.

December 10
The days were so short. Grace and Skye took the opportunity to go for a late afternoon ride on Sunday. The forecast called for winds to come in the next 24 hours. So they rode while they could.

The big cob gelding seemed to thoroughly enjoy being out in the countryside, perhaps more than Skye anticipated.

"Do you want to trade bridles?" Grace asked, noting that the bosal didn't seem to be offering Skye much braking power.

"I think I'm okay" Skye responded. "He's sort of like a fancy plow horse!"

The ravens were active, and loud, and the girls kept expecting to see something...coyote, bear or perhaps another bird of prey...but they never did.  

Tanner seemed to be right about the weather, Grace noted as they rode. It seemed the warm, dry cycle was returning. Although the month was still young. Snowfall usually came around December 26, so there was still hope.

The girls mulled through the tack room after their ride.  The tack room was relatively in order again. Only La Barilla's saddle remained out by his stall. Perhaps Skye was right, and there was another saddle stand hidden somewhere.

"We'll have to move everything again when Anoush brings her kids up for a play day" Skye remarked.

"I don't think that's going to happen until the new year" Grace replied. "I'm just glad to have things more or less back in order."

The girls headed back to the house, where two pewter cast models awaited them, unpainted.  Grace searched through the tool box and found a file, slightly bent but perfectly viable.

"I think this will be faster than sand paper on the little spurs of material" she told Skye.

"Do we prep these just like resins or plastic ponies?" Skye was none too sure what to do with a metal horse. "And are we sure we want to make these our NaMo ponies?"

Grace studied the foal. "Well, we might as well try. And the boss said she was going to primer her NaMo horse this week, so if we get ours prepped, she'll primer them for us. And maybe then they won't look so scary."

"Maybe" Skye replied. "Right now I'm pretty scared."

December 15
Skye went out to watch the moonrise. A meteor shower was under way, and Skye imagined how fun it would be to watch another meteor shower, perhaps this time from the back of the Pavement Queen. But this time, they would need all of their blankets...because it was chilly at night now.

December 16
Grace and Skye were surprised to find the boss in the arena by herself. She was fiddling with the fill lights. The wrinkles on her brow suggested that she wasn't getting what she wanted.

"Hey" she greeted the girls and after a few moments, let the lights alone and turned toward them.

"Getting ready for a photo shoot?" Skye asked.

The boss began with a deep sigh. "Yes. Oh my gosh. This is not what I wanted, not at all. But yesterday was so bad. I can't go through that again."

"What happened yesterday?" Grace asked.

"I was going to take pictures of this mare for a client. Got her out to an arena Tanner set up, on the hill, got her into the arena, no problem. And then before I got a single picture, all hell broke loose. This mare...she exploded, and she basically did a somersault. She flipped herself. I'd never seen a horse do that before. It was crazy."

"Is she okay?" Skye asked.

"Are you okay?" Grace asked.

"She doesn't have a scratch on her. And I'm fine. But it shook me up. So, yeah...I still have to get pictures of her, but I'm scared to turn her loose in the outdoor arena again."

"Can we help you with her?" Grace offered.

The boss nodded. "Sure. I'd like that."

Grace walked the mare down to the indoor arena with the boss and Skye following behind, watching the big, lanky three year old walk. She was moving just fine.

In the arena, Grace removed her halter and stepped back. The mare stood, calm, looking around. The girls then watched from behind the rail, and waited. The boss took pictures. The mare walked around, and as if on cue, returned to the area where the boss had set up lights and camera. It wasn't the beautiful, natural lighting outdoor image that she'd promised her client, but at least this time, the boss got a picture.

The boss wanted to photograph a few other horses. The white Arabian stallion was one of them. She seemed perpetually perplexed with her results.

"You know I swear by this big lens...but I think it's getting tired. I think I'm ready to go mirrorless."

"Can I have that old lens and camera?" Skye blurted out.

The boss laughed. "Sure. But we need to sell some horses before I can buy new camera gear. And that's always difficult, you know? Choosing between a horse and a mechanical object..."

Luna was the last horse of the day. She made the boss think of Anoush and her girls.

"Were you able to sort out your feelings regarding Anoush and the wild horses?" the boss asked.

"Yeah, we're okay" Skye responded. "The day we decided to go out looking for the wildies with them was the day we discovered that Rain Man had been captured. And they had no hesitation tearing down the fence and letting him loose. We were immediately like...a sisterhood on a mission."

Grace nodded. There wasn't much she could add. Skye had summed it up nicely.

"Is Anoush going to bring her foster kids over for Christmas?" the boss asked. It was the first time the boss has mentioned anything about Christmas. Which was strange, because ordinarily, the boss loved Christmas, and particularly, showering the girls with gifts.

"I don't know when" Grace replied. "It might be after the holidays."

"Well, we can set the arena up for them, so you don't have to tear the tack room apart. We can put up some pipe corral across a portion of it and keep her kids more or less contained."

Grace and Skye looked at each other.

"Fantastic idea" Skye replied.

December 22
Skye was a bit distracted by the sunrise. It was likely a hybrid sky, but she was pretty sure some of the clouds were the real deal, and the light kept changing. She would run outside as it was vibrant pink or purple, and by the time she got to the knoll to photograph it, the vibrant color was muted. By the time she got back to the house, bright again.

She couldn't take pictures all morning though.  Today was the day.  The girls loaded the Jeep with Christmas decor, and headed to the indoor arena.

"I'm so glad we are finally doing Christmas!" Skye exclaimed. Grace held back a smile.

"What? Aren't you happy about Christmas?"

"Yes" Grace responded. "Your face is covered in glitter Skye. Don't wipe it off. It's very festive."

The boss pulled the Pavement Queen and trailer up the drive in front of them.   There was someone in the passenger seat.  Grace and Skye couldn't make out who it was.

The girl who opened the doors on the trailer was not familiar to them.  Skye jumped out to help. The trailer was full. Full of...Skye wasn't exactly sure what, perhaps toys. And a pony. 

"Hi, I'm Skye, and that's an adorable pony!"

"I'm Jessica, and this is Chance. Where are we going?"

"To the indoor arena! I'll show you." Chance was a plucky pony with a thick mane and a sturdy build. Everything about him was round and fluffy.

The girls got to work inside of the arena, hangin lights and decorations and arranging a huge assortment of play things.

"Did I get this right?" Jessica asked Grace of her fence decoration project.

"That looks great. The boss just brought those home on Wednesday so I don't think there's any wrong way to do it."

"What's this?" Skye asked. It was a jumbled pile of snap-together something. "Jessica shook her head. I don't really know. Let's see if we can figure it out."

It snapped together easy enough...a playful set of stairs that went up and up...but it wasn't very sturdy. Jessica shook her head.

"Let's not do this" Jessica said. "This is an accident waiting to happen. Maybe let's just leave the base and one set of steps."

Skye took the bulk of the thing and set it on top of a box behind the Christmas tree.

"What's in this box?" Skye asked.

"It was already here" Grace said. "I have no idea." Together the girls lifted the stair toy over the rail and out of sight, and got back to setting up the other toys.

Jessica lugged a big silky bag towards Skye. "Can you set these toys out Skye? I need to go get Chance ready. "

"Sure!"

The bag was full of plastic cats and dogs. The strange ensemble of other toys made sense now. Skye took a moment to look at each of them. But not too long of a moment. The girls would be here soon.

Crystal and Heather kept a watchful eye as the three young girls explored their play place.

The toys were fun, perhaps the sheer volume of them overwhelming, but the arena sand itself...the feel of the sand was often what seemed to engage them the most.

And then they began to run around the tree. Crystal and Heather scrambled to move things out of their way. They shreaked with delight. Skye strained to hear words, but there weren't many words. Most of the young girls' communication amongst themselves was visual and tactile.

The little blue eyed girl ran to Heather and hugged her.

Skye turned to Anoush. Anoush anticipated her question. "Heather looks a little bit like her mom" Anoush whispered.

"Do you want to ride a pony?" Heather asked. The little girl smiled.

Jessica rode Chance in, one hand on his lead, the other balancing a big teddy bear behind her.

Jessica swung to the ground, holding the teddy bear. "Good morning! I'm Jessica, and this is Teddy, and that's my pony Chance! Chance is going to give you all a ride this morning!"

The un-decorated side of the arena provided a whole new set of sensory input.

"But first", Jessica continued, "Heather is going to ride Chance!"

Crystal trotted toward Heather and Chance to give Heather a leg up.

Chance was a perfect gentleman.

When the pony rides were over, everyone went outside to have a picnic lunch. Grace, Skye and the boss stayed behind in the arena.

"I'm glad we did this in the arena" Grace said. "The sand made a much better play surface."

"Yes," the boss replied enthusiastically, "I think the sand was as much fun as the toys. Don't worry about cleaning up Grace. Anoush and the girls will come back later and get everything."

"What's in this box?" Skye asked.

"Oh! The box! I forgot all about that" the boss said. "Go ahead Skye, open it. It's a prize from The Collective show. I thought you might have fun with it."

Skye was slightly perplexed. A pony blanket?

"That's a face hood and neck blanket" the boss explained. "If it ever got really really cold...or if we had show horses, you would have seen one of those before."

The body blanket was also in the box.

"Can I go try this on somebody?"

"You sure can." Grace and the boss were pretty sure they knew who was going to get to model the blanket.

December 28
Grace and Skye made their way down to Mustang Rock. But as the afternoon sun sank low, the birds were very busy in the trees. Scrub jays and woodpeckers and towhees were all aflutter.

"Hold still!" Skye said, chasing a woodpecker through the branches with the camera.

They saw nothing, heard nothing. But the domestic horses were a reliable source of intelligence with regard to when and where the wildies were present. So the girls settled in.

Grace was having trouble getting comfortable.

"Why do rocks have to be so hard Skye?"

Skye couldn't answer. The dun mare emerged from the rocks, took a wary look around, slipped back out of sight. Skye hoped the sound of the shutter hadn't traveled that far.

Moments passed. Then minutes. Then they appeared.

The light was amazing. Skye tried to capture each individual horse. Grace was looking behind Highlander's band, hoping to see Petrichor and his harem following.

Highlander whirled around to take a last look at Grace and Skye as his mares moved ahead of him. And that was when Skye realized the dun mare's colt was missing.

The girls waited. Listened. Nothing. The colt was not with the herd.

There was silence for a while as the girls navigated the steep terrain, heading gb back to the ranch.  

"What's the chance that the horse thief got him?" Skye wondered out loud.

"Oh...the horse thief. I don't know. Seems like that mare would've put up a fight for her foal...but then how did Rain Man end up getting captured? That's a good question."

Back at home, Skye made her way to the top bunk, and stayed there.  Grace looked at her photos on the laptop.

"You got some really nice photos" Grace said to a disinterested Skye.

"Oh! Awesome!" Skye made no attempt to see her pictures.

"You probably already know this Skye but I'll say it anyway. If a horse thief got that colt, as long as the capture went well, it's probably the kindest thing that could've happened. Between this rocky terrain and mountain lions and bears and even bobcats, I'd say predation by horse thief would be the best outcome. If you want, we can go out tomorrow morning, or Monday morning, and look for him."

Skye thought about it for a moment. "Let's take the dogs" she responded.

"Good idea" Grace replied.

December 30
When Grace suggested they could go looking for the dun mare's colt, and Skye said "Let's take the dogs" Grace had a different interpretation in mind. And maybe Skye did too, on Saturday evening. But now it was Monday morning, the sky was mostly blue, the sun was warm, and they had almost every dog on the ranch with them. And a cat. And they weren't looking for anything. Skye seemed content to watch the dogs and soak in the sun's warmth while the wind tussled her hair.

Charles did seem to be picking up the scent of something.  After a time they all followed Charles.

"I feel like I am this guy's emotional support human" Skye said of the Great Dane mix.

"I think you are" Grace replied.

Grace found herself rather hoping that Charles would locate something other than the colt. Or perhaps nothing at all. Skye seemed to be surrendered to the reality of his absence, and finding him alive was highly improbable.

Charles eventually wandered up to a spent yucca stalk. His body language was anticlimactic. Whatever he had found was not anything of consequence. Curious, Grace dislodged it from underneath the stalk.

A fragment of an herbivore jaw bone.

"Deer?" Skye asked.

Grace nodded. "I'm guessing a young one, but from a long time ago. It's pretty well decomposed."

Upon their return to the ranch, the boss invited the girls down to the indoor arena. They were surprised to see a new horse.

"Let me guess" Skye said. "Another historic Spanish riding horse recreation?"

"Criollo" the boss answered. "But that's a heck of a guess Skye."

"Is he a keeper?" Skye asked.

"I'm not sure" the boss answered. "I committed to purchasing him before the Bridge fire. Now, I probably shouldn't have done that because I was already saying we have too many horses for this remote of a location. But I mean, look at him. He's gorgeous. He's very well trained and has a great temperament. "

"And, blah blah blah, he's sort of Spanish" Grace added, smiling.

"Yeah" Skye said, "but he's not golden."

Grace sighed. "You're right. Maybe I won't fall in love with him."

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