Page 9 of Schooling Little Sage

“I don’t think I’ll ever get bored here.” This was one of those times when Papa would ask Mama for some rope for me, yet Warner just kept smiling.

Huh.

At the stables, Warner introduced me to Master Travis, explaining that he was the stablemaster. I thought he had to have the best job ever, but the moment a pretty red-headed girl appeared and was introduced as Wren, I added that Master Travis also had a pretty interesting wife as well. Wren joined me and Warner as we walked through the stables.

Warner said the horses’ names and told me about them. He plucked an apple from a bin against the wall and pulled out a pocketknife.

“This is Snickers, she belongs to Miss Sadie. Don’t ya, sweet girl?” Warner scratched between her ears and cut an apple slice for her. She showed her big teeth as she took it from him.

“Can I feed one of them?” I was nervous and excited all at once.

“Absolutely. Let’s visit with Starling.” As we got to her stall, he cut a slice and handed it to me. “Hold your hand flat and let her take it from your palm.”

“Will-will she bite me?”

“Not likely,” Wren said quickly. “She’s as sweet as they come but they could mistake your fingers for nibbles so keep your hand flat.”

I did as she said, stretching my arm out as far as it would go. The horse snorted and it tickled my palm.

“Can I pet her?”

“She’d like that. Do it just like I did with Snickers,” Warner said.

I copied his exact move, lightly scratching a trail along her head and nose.

“There you go. When we muck their stalls”—Warner read the confusion on my face—“muck means to clean them out, it’s while they’re in the pasture grazing or getting exercise in the arena. All the horses here are gentle. The ones that were spitfires were moved to another ranch down the road.”

“Good to know. I love animals but wasn’t ever allowed to have any.” Rawhide was like the best of all the worlds I dreamed of rolled into one. Well, minus the going to school part. I’d done well enough in my classes but mostly because I hadn’t had any friends to distract me from the schoolwork. College wasn’t where I wanted to be, but I’d try for Master Derek for all he’d done for me.

Wren left us to tend to her own duties, promising she’d be glad to help explain anything I needed. I thanked her and then Warner showed me where the tools were and promised to walk me through mucking, as he called it, properly in the morning. Our last stop was inside a small office next to the stalls.

“Ah, here it is,” he handed me a brochure with a map of the Ranch on it. “There might be one buried in all the paperwork you did with Sadie this morning but keep this one in your pocket in case you get lost.”

“Good idea.” This place was huge and I could easily see myself chasing a squirrel and forgetting where I was.

He reached into a mini fridge and pulled out a couple water bottles. “Here. Let’s go meet Arlo.”

“Is Arlo one of the goats?” I was so excited to play with them if they’d let me. Do you even play with goats? I looked forward to learning all about the animals.

Warner laughed. “Nope. Master Arlo helps run Reese’s petting zoo. Come on, I’ll introduce you.”

“I’m the boss!” a loud squawk said when we walked up. “We’re closed.”

I tugged on Warner’s shirt. “I think we have to come back another time.”

“Don’t mind him, he’s old and grouchy,” an older man told us. “I’m Master Arlo and that grouch is Bossy P.” He pointed to a gray bird. “He’s a rescue with limited vocabulary.”

“All the animals here are rescues, just as most of the horses are too,” Warner said. “Bossy doesn’t bite, go on past him.”

I stared at the bird as I passed by him. His beady eyes glared back at me. I was afraid he’d bite me even though Warner claimed he didn’t.

Master Arlo followed us through. “Master Arlo, this is Sage. He’s a new ranch hand and he’ll be working with me in the mornings.”

“Welcome, Sage. We’ve got a bit of everything here. Goats, pigs, ducks geese. A couple large tortoises.”

“I love turtles.”

“Well, we’ve got tortoises which are quite a bit bigger than your common turtle and tend to live longer. Are turtles your favorite pet?”