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Then she stopped, and I heard a… neigh? It took me a moment of scanning, but then I managed to look low enough and—“Ponies?”

What the hell? There were three ponies, bigger than Shetlands but definitely not horse sized. Where they’d come from and how they ended up here, I had no idea. There was nothing behind my property other than more Harrington land, and there hadn’t been any hoofprints on the yard’s side, so they hadn’t come from there.

They seemed a little hesitant when I approached, so I stopped. Shit. I needed to catch at least one. They didn’t belong here and were in danger.

“Come on girl, you stay and watch them, I’ll go get rope, okay?”

As if understanding every word, Nyx plopped her butt down and glanced at me before continuing to stare at the ponies.

I jogged back to the truck and exhaled with relief when I found an actual lead rope, and a rope halter. It would be too big since it was a horse sized one, but it would be something. I dug around the truck bed and found some horse treats in a little bag. There were more in the glove box, and I had some mints in my pocket because Nelson liked those.

Okay, I could do this. They were just ponies.

Turns out, ponies were evil.

I rubbed my thigh where the smallest of them, a filly by the looks of it, had kicked me after I managed to catch the mare. The third one was a gelding and the most hesitant to approach me, but he ate a few treats off the ground when I tossed them to him. The filly came to grab a mint and then squealed and jumped back. Dramatic little bugger.

The mare was nonchalant as she munched on the treats I kept feeding her as I tried to get the halter to fit her a bit better. There wasn’t much I could do, but I’d made a couple of extra knots where I could and it was around her head. She didn’t mind it when I started to lead her toward the hitching post where we left our horses whenever we rode here.

The others followed her, probably because she was the leader and because Nyx was tagging along well behind them.

My thigh near my knee was throbbing when I finally got them to the yard. I tied her up and gave her some hay I had in a large tub nearby. I tossed a couple of tasty flakes to the gelding and the filly and then got my phone out.

I took a photo of them and sent it to Bodhi.

He called back twenty seconds later. I counted.

“What the hell?” He sounded as confused as I felt.

“Nyx found these three in the back of my property. Not the front. I have no idea where they came from.”

“Do they look okay?”

I loved him a bit more for that being his first question.

I tilted my head as I examined them. “They need food and hoof care. There’s some cuts and scrapes. Nothing big that I can see.” I sighed. “Look, I don’t have the paddock ready. I need some extra hands here to get the boards up. They delivered them a day early, which I’m not mad about given the situation.”

“You have everything there?”

“Yeah. I’ve nails and a couple of hammers and other tools. But I think we need the cavalry.”

“Okay. I’ll call Mom so she can radio everyone to see who’s available. I’ll head over to you right now.”

“And I’ll call Matigan so he knows and can come when he has time.” Because these guys needed to be thoroughly checked over by a vet.

“Sounds good, see you soon.”

I ended the call and found Dr. Matigan’s number. I had it because I was a horse owner now, too, and Hawk had told me I needed the number anyway.

I might’ve been a horse owner, but I absolutely refused to take responsibility for these ponies. I hoped the assorted Harringtons would get here soon, because I was in over my head and my thigh was killing me.

Chapter 19

Bodhi

Iwas the first one to arrive at Wren’s, which made sense because not only was I closer but I jumped in my truck the second we’d hung up. I still had a ridiculous feeling of pride that I had made it to my boy first, like that was some kind of accomplishment. I shook my head at my own foolishness, parked, and jumped out. I didn’t want to park too close and spook the ponies. Only the mare was tied up, but her foal stayed right by her side and the other one hadn’t wandered far, all three happily munching on hay.

“Hey.” I kept my voice low as I approached and Wren smiled and exhaled, as though seeing me was a relief. There went my pride again. I kissed that smile, loving the way Wren leaned, but we both kept it chaste and short since we had more pressing matters. “Gimme a sitrep.”