Friendships Ch. 03

Ceres told Molly "She got her name because her Dad was into mythology. Molly looked up her Goddess's name. Her major matched the Goddess in some ways.

"Ceres, I looked up your name. Let me know if you need a job after we graduate. You see Miss Sarah will only be in her mid-forty's when we graduate so the plan is I can get fifteen to twenty years to learn the job."

"Miss Sarah has bought many small pieces of land which aren't suited for ranching or she just can't grow too much with her ranch. She is toying with the idea of me managing the farm side to cut down on grain costs. I would be the manager, but will need a good foreman so we can learn together and make contacts."

"Daisy is learning to be a vet. She will be there before us. She will intern with the local vet. We want to bring a whole new generation to the area.

"Just as an aside, no having sex with horses or going into the underworld. No lightning bolts killing my staff either."

"You see I am going to learn both sides, much of which will be the same. Like most of the paperwork will be similar. When I slide into the ranch you will slide into the farm. Staff will be the hard part."

"I would like to invite Krynn, but with that voice, she has to go into music ministry."

One day, Daisy got a call from a sobbing Krynn, "Daisy, please help me. Some of the members of the group have been taking some liberties with me. I am calling from a woman's shelter.

"I asked for a transfer, but they said the groups were balanced."

Daisy told Dawn, "Daisy, why are you talking to me? You are going to be on the next flight out, do you understand? Rent a mini-van and buy boxes and get all her stuff. Don't worry about cost, she is a sister in Christ. We have extra homes

"Molly we are about to board to come home, Molly, they sliced her. We stopped by the cops and got pictures and gave the 'Image of God'address.

"She can't do music ministry Molly."

"Well Daisy, can she work at a vet clinic?

"It is too bad 'Cap' was not there."

Krynn said, "Who is 'Cap' Molly?"

"It is the military rank for 'Buddie'; we use 'Cap' for a military order and 'Buddie' for fun time. He took them all down at the nursing home Miss Joy worked in. He made it clear that it was to their benefit not to move a muscle.

Daisy was very tired, then the door opened and a dog jumped on her.

"DOG! Great to see you boy."

Betsy said, "He is not feeling very well Dr. Daisy.

"You are a little out of the way, but you are the only one I trust with 'Dog'."

"Well Betsy, let's give him a tail to nose checkup."

"Dr. Daisy, I was so relieved when he went chasing after the ball for the first time, I cried."

"Betsy, do you see these worms on his butt? They are dangerous and are causing him great pain.

"Oh, here are some fleas, let's kill them. Remember Betsy, he needs his shots so you need to go to a vet every year, just like people should see their doctor.

"How old is 'Dog' now Betsy?"

"He is ten Dr. Daisy."

"Well, he has a few more pounds than I would like, we can change his diet. My secretary can give you a list you can pick from. Find a dog park near you, he needs more exercise.

"Oh, no, here comes trouble. Guard the door Betsy."

As soon as Molly opened the door Betsy jumped in Molly's arms. This was slightly awkward as Betsy was no longer eight, but six-teen.

"Hi Betsy, it has been a long time."

"'Dog' was sick so I had to bring him to Dr. Daisy."

Betsy was taken aback when she saw Krynn, "I am so sorry Krynn, that was very rude of me.

"I heard you wanted to do a music ministry and something bad happened to you. God loves music.

"Why don't you make a deal with Dr. Daisy if you can keep up with your workload, you can sing, some religious songs, and some not.

"Everyone who comes through that door, has an animal that is sick. They love their animals, so they are distressed and afraid. Some may not make it. Just hearing a song may make it more comforting for them. It may not be big concert halls, but God works on a personal level doesn't He."

Then a goat came in, extremely sick. "Molly, DIY quick."

"Well I can't keep 'Angel' stuck in the trailer, I guess I will just hitch her."

Soon Betsy saw a black horse in her mirror. Molly said, "She has something planned, watch her."

Daisy decided to take the short cut.

"Betsy, she is taking the short cut, she can't because, there is a river back there.", both saw Daisy approach the river, she was coming to it at an odd angle. She cleared the river with room to spare.

"She always did like to show off."

The goat was in severe distress. An IV and some water with electrolytes came first to stabilize the goat. No X-Ray here so they had to gently touch the joints.

"Molly get Doc Brown on your tablet, I don't know anything about goats."

"Doc, got a goat here, he should not be in so much pain. His owner said he was fine yesterday. Should we give him a complete flush to rule out food poisoning? I am at DIY so tools are limited."

"Well I never had a goat before, what is in his feed?"

The owner said, "Well, I feed him just the average stuff."

"Well, after Daisy fixes your goat, I suggest a get better feed from a different brand. Krynn will give you a list."

Betsy said, "Speaking of Krynn Dr. Daisy, she has a favor she would like from you, please grant it, until you start getting complaints."

Daisy said, "What is it Betsy?"

"It is not my tale to tell Dr. Daisy."

By then several hands had gathered.

"Betsy get an apron and different shoes if you can."

"Let's move him to the stable to use the foot pump and have 'Apache' watch."

"OK guys, I am running out of ideas, but I know they flush out horses from time to time. Keep him awake and standing. Betsy gets to work the foot pump. The idea is we pump water in its mouth until it comes out his butt; he probably will explode.

"If he has food poisoning or a tied-up colon or anything like that, it might straighten it out. Keep his mouth open, so we can pump the water in. Betsy keep on pumping, we need to clean him out."

The owner sat on a bale of hay with tears streaking down his face.

"Someone hold down the legs, I rather not get kicked in the gut tonight."

Everyone had their jobs with extras if needed.

"OK Betsy, you are on."

"Why 'Apache' Daisy"

"No one can disappoint 'Apache'."

Two more grabbed the hind legs.

Everyone could see the stomach was bloated. "OK guys, we are down to the small intestine where everything gets chewed up. He will not like it. We are forcing in seventy-degree water into a 103-degree goat."

Then there was a great bellow and everything came out. Daisy was not sure what the problem was. The goat walked over to 'Apache' to thank him.

"See, no one disappoints 'Apache'."

"Somehow his colon must have gotten twisted or maybe just backed up."

Molly said, "Oh my goodness, check this out Betsy."

"What's up Molly?"

"Look at 'Dog', he has been adopted by the entire herd. He is playing with all the foals and the mares don't mind; he will protect them also."

The next day, Krynn came up to Daisy, "Daisy can I ask a favor from you?"

"Maybe, what do you have in mind?"

"Well I was talking to Betsy and she mentioned how much God loves music, then she went on to say, that all the owners are worried because their pets they love are sick. She wanted me to ask you if I kept up with my workload I could I sing during work until you get complaints."

"Well let's see, I get comfort when I hear songs and they all love their animals. I know you have the talent and the voice to sing in any concert hall in the world. I know you would keep up with your work and would stop if I asked you to. I think it is a win/ win."

"Thank you so much Daisy."

"Krynn, 'Grandma Got Run Over by A Reindeer' is out OK. After all, this is a vet clinic."

Krynn was about to burst with laughter, "OK boss, whatever you say."

Betsy was a tireless worker and she did her job well. She had been looking at the internal job postings for some time now. Finally, she found one she was perfectly suited for her, and the location could not be better.

As the executives looked at the applicants, one thing stood out, Betsy was long overdue for a promotion. She was well qualified and everyone knew her work ethic could not be better. She was to get a surprise.

As the mail trolley went by she got a large envelope; this was not unusual as she often got mail. All her supervisors were watching from across the room.

As she read the document her eyes bugged-out. She knew it was unprofessional to scream in the office, so she composed herself and went to the lady's room and screamed and stomped her feet. Then she slowly walked back to her desk.

Betsy signed all the identified areas until she got to an envelope; there were two checks and a piece of paper. The paper said, base pay for position, pay raise for position, signing bonus for base pay plus pay raise.

Everyone in the office got a letter informing them of Betsy's promotion and a mandatory attendance in the big conference room at 12:30 PM. The company went all out for Betsy, she deserved it. There was a huge buffet stretching the entire side of the room; her best friend had betrayed her by telling the company all her favorite foods.

Everyone wished her well, but were sad to see her go. Everyone at the party had an enjoyable time.

When Betsy got home she said, "Ranch?", 'Dog' was out the 'Dog' door in a flash and soon they were off.

When Betsy got there she shouted, "Dawn, Sarah! I got the job!"

"Mr. Larry, may I talk to you?", said Miss Sarah.

"Yes ma'am."

"You see Mr. Larry we have a problem. Miss Betsy has a new job. She has apartment thirty miles that way.", and turned around and said, "Her work is ten minutes that way. And you know how horrendous rush hour can be around here."

"First off, congratulations ma'am. Rush hour is maddening (one car every ten to fifteen minutes). I see 'Dog' loves it here. As you can see, we did a massive overhaul of the bunk house. The women felt safer with their own house; it can hold up to thirty women. Mandatory items, at least one pair of cowboy boots for outside, at least of pair of sneakers for inside, and work shoes. All rooms come with a bootjack so you can take your boots off. We wake up at sunrise, learning to ride and jump at least two rails. We can figure out the rest later."

Sarah could not believe what she was seeing, "Betsy get out here now!"

There 'Dog' was with the queen mare standing next to him, the queen doe inspecting him. 'Dog' felt quite honored by the visit, and the queen mare gave her support. The deer were constantly being harassed by hunters. The deer stayed away from the mares for the most part, so an alliance might be beneficial. 'Dog' was accepted.

"Sarah, I can't ride. I will probably hang upside down."

Sarah said, "The girls can teach you and Penny can use practice."

Betsy knew this getting up at sunrise would be a challenge. At least she would get some good meals.

On Saturday Betsy slept in, being used to the take it easy weekend mode. She was surprised when the girls woke her up to go riding.

"What? It is Saturday."

The girls laughed, "The sun rises every day and breakfast is over, and it was yummy."

One girl said, "I especially liked Miss Dawn's secret recipe sausages, rolled in maple syrup."

The other said, "The flapjacks were very good today, nice and fluffy. The fresh orange juice was to die for."

Betsy sighed, "I get it, sunrise or starve."

When all three made it to the stables Penny stepped in front of Betsy making a big display of eating a nice, big, thick cut piece of bacon that was cooked to perfection. The three girls failed at their attempt to hold in their laughter at Betsy's expense.

"OK, OK, what horse do I get?"

"You can ride 'Friend' next to 'Angel' probably the tamest."

Betsy was very detailed oriented and she asked questions about anything she didn't understand. She caught on very quickly to the riding part.

Then the girls said, "Let's have some fun" and the girls took off on a full gallop. Well Betsy wasn't having it, she knew how to hang on for dear life. "Let's go 'Friend'."

Now 'Peaceful' and 'Courage' were the best endurance horses they had. 'Friend' just didn't get many opportunities like this, a flat out run. Penny was left behind.

Now Penny took off, she had to see the faces of the girls. Penny was barely staying on her horse.

The girls were about ten feet apart and just having too much fun to notice what was going on behind them, both Betsy and Penny were gaining fast.

Betsy and Penny were not even holding onto their reins, just the manes from time to time, at a total full gallop.

The girls were just going at a canter by now, just having a fun time, thinking they left the others in the dust.

By the time the girls found out what was going on, it was too late. You just can't go from a canter to a full gallop in a matter of a few seconds. Betsy, followed closely by Penny both ran right between 'Peaceful' and 'Courage'.

Then they came to a river and Betsy said, "Jump it.", they both stopped at the creek two farms down to let their horses drink and to wash them down.

There were 'High Fives', 'Low Fives', and 'Middle Fives'. The girls were best friends.

The girls, now disheartened, dismounted and let their horses get a drink at the first creek.

Coming in for dinner, emotions of the two pair could not be different. The one pair had their eyes looking at the floor, slumped shoulders and not speaking. The other pair came in chattering away with an air of superiority to them.

"Um, well . . . OK, Betsy followed by Penny blew right by us near the first creek, then they jumped it and went down to the second creek."

Betsy said, "Well, you see, my best friend, Cathy, and I always had lunch together. It was always 'my horse did this or my horse did that'. She would bring her horse to shows in hopes to pick-up a few tips. She loves that horse."

Sarah said, "Dawn, would you like to help her?"

Dawn said, "Bring her down early on my next day off. We can see where she is and where she has to go."

That weekend, ten minutes before dawn Betsy's friend was unloading her beautiful Appaloosa.

Sarah said, "Mind if I tag along Dawn? I love Appaloosa's."

"What is his name Cathy?"

Cathy said, "His name is Joseph, after Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce band."

"Well let's see what you got Cathy!"

Dawn was taking notes and scoring Cathy.

When Cathy came back to the group Dawn said, "Here is the deal, you are almost up to the rider level. I will switch up everything. You will often be ahead of your level; you may even do two levels at one time. You will learn to jump. We may just have some fun days, no lessons. Now knowing all that, what do you say?"

"I would be crazy to say 'No' to the best teacher around. I saw you at the fair."

"Don't remind me, I could have lost 'Apache'."

"How so?"

"I entered him in the cross country. He never trained in it, and barely knew four rail jumps. He could have slammed into a concrete barrier and broke his back."

This put Dawn in a bad mood, so they headed to the stables. Cathy was invited for supper.

Cathy certainly loved to talk about her horse; it is a shame that she hooked up with bad teachers who took her money and didn't do anything.

Dawn felt sorry for Cathy. She was going to work hard so she could get that first certificate. Dawn wanted to work one-on-one with Cathy to get it; Betsy and Penny would have to wait. It took three weeks of training. Cathy couldn't understand why it was taking so long to learn her items she needed to learn.

Dawn called Hank, "Could you test out a friend for me? She got in with bad teachers who just took her money, then she lowered her voice.

There were three long horse trailers being towed by big vans; they knew what was up. A lengthy line of horses lined up on the back meadow.

Dawn said, "Cathy, I want you to show everything you got. I do not want to miss out because you forgot to do one."

Dawn saw Hank pulling out a check list, "You getting too old to remember how to test someone Hank?"

Hank said, "When you are involved with it I am."

Cathy thought of everything Dawn had taught her, it will take forever to do it.

It took two hours for Cathy to finish her program. Then she trotted up to Hank and asked him, "Did I get it?"

Hank nodded his head.

Dawn said, "Yippee- she found the 'The Freedom', time for victory laps. Cathy has to be hatless."

Hank nodded to Dawn with two winks and then again with two winks.

Dawn gulped.

The victory lap pictures were captured in every angle by every person with some videos.

A week later she walked into supper with a large envelope, bigger than she thought she would get. "I didn't want to open it without you guys being here." Everyone from the bunkhouses poured into the house.

Cathy was very confused about of the letter.

Dawn said, "What do the other pieces of paper say?"

As Cathy looked through several other pieces of paper.

"DAWN! You knew all about this didn't you!"

"Well yes I did, but you surprised me with the second one. I am sorry you had bad teachers who only wanted your money. It only took Daisy four days to become a rider, and she was a slow learner at that point."

"Well Betsy and Penny need to catch up and it is hard to teach more than one person at a time. What do you say?"

Cathy knew Dawn wanted her to teach her best friend Betsy. "Only if you just give me a check list for a rider or one with honors."

Betsy exclaimed, "You got honors? Let me see those!"

"You got honors in 'Basic teacher'?"

"Does Dawn want you to teach me?"

"I think that is the idea, so you can bore me with your horse tales."

Betsy said, "You want a horse tale?" There was grumbling at the end of the table. "After I was teased about sleeping in and missing breakfast, I had my first horse riding lesson. Our teachers just said let's have some fun and they took off."

"Now with all that teasing I was not about to let that go. You taught me how to do that release move and drop the reins to go out at a full gallop."

"Now Penny saw what was going on and she took off; I think she almost fell off. Our teachers were only going at a canter and just having fun thinking they left us way in the back. By the time we almost caught up with them, it was too late. They were just doing a canter and then Penny and I jumped the creek."

"How could you jump a creek Bets?"

"You taught me how to do the human part, so we just jumped it."

"How did you know 'Friend' could jump it?"

"Logic really, I was told I had to be able to do a two rail jump to stay here. They have jumping corrals. 'Friend' is one of the household named horses, plus all horses had to learn how to jump." Betsy smiled, Cathy punched her in her arm.

After a severe windstorm, Betsy was wheeling the garden cart to pick-up sticks. She saw a very old weather-beaten piece of wood, it had the name 'Dog' carved on it. It occurred to her every time Betsy wanted to talk about Daisy's 'Dog' the topic was always changed to Betsy's 'Dog'. They probably had to put him down after a torturous amount of suffering.

Through her tears, Betsy asked Mr. Larry about Daisy's 'Dog'.

"You mean this was her first experience with death and she watched a suffering dog slowly die until she asked Miss Sarah to kill it with her shotgun, then she wanted to bury it so she could visit it to make sense of why she had to go through it?"

"No wonder she didn't want to talk about it."

"Can you get me a better kind of wood that will last far longer? Also think about some short wooden fencing so no one steps on it."

A week later Betsy came into the vet clinic with a box: she brought Daisy to a back room. "Daisy I found your 'Dog' marker while I was cleaning up. Daisy, God used Dr. Brown to teach you l lesson with your 'Dog'. A very important lesson that will always be a part of you.