Friendships Ch. 08

Thank you Tigerssman for all your help.

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Northfield was truly magical. No one wanted to leave, not even the children after they grew up. It had to become a township; voters continually voted to absorb more and more towns.

The ranch was going stronger than ever; it now had several ranches under its umbrella. There was a whole new generation of mares and stallions. 'Victory', 'Spirit's' son, sired a filly for 'Angel'. Miss Dawn asked permission to name the foal. Her name became 'Angel's Glory' to honor both mother and grandmother.

'Apache' sired a colt for 'Friend' and a Filly for 'Companion'. Zoe and Anne were thrilled with the pictures that were posted. The twins insisted that Zoe and Anne name the foal from their horse.

Mama died soon after 'Beauty' died. It seemed she had a bond with 'Beauty' and both had to see the town complete its healing, which happened when Krynn, Francine and Molly and friends got home.

The eleventh grader's words rang true: She worked hard and earned the right to be foreman for Ceres. Molly moved to the ranch side. The new foreman got her own staff and they worked well as a team, the age gap just disappeared.

Adam and Mashal grew up to be fine upstanding men; they were heavily involved in the community.

Penny got married and moved to Meadowbrooke. She and her husband never drank again; they celebrated with milkshakes.

Amy convinced her college roommate to change her major to become a vet. They interned under Dr. Daisy, and eventually took over the practice.

Anna and Elsa inherited the ranch in Orlando and they hired Doc Brown to be their vet; in time, they hired Dr. Daisy. All three felt that it was only right, after all Anna was the first person Daisy met.

Daisy and Molly got together to work on a project that neither Dawn or Sarah would know about. They wanted to immortalize the four anchor horses of the ranch and wanted to do it for Sarah and Dawn, as they were big influences on their lives.

They sent fifty pictures of the horses to Michelle to make an artistic rendering of the project.

In Michelle's mind, everything centered around Sarah and 'Beauty'. Michelle recommended black granite.

Michelle's roommates could not believe how Michelle transformed the horses. One said, "Michelle, how did you get these so lifelike?"

"Love. I knew the real ones. This is just the rendering, think what the program and real thing will look like."

Michelle added four scanned pictures of the horses along with the rendering. Money came pouring in from all over the world with pledges of more if needed. People moved, but their heart stayed in Northfield.

Ceres had a 'Top Secret' meeting with all the kids under the age of twenty-four at the clubhouse; Sarah affected the lives of multiple generations.

Children, as you can see there are a lot of adults here, they want to help also. Remember Miss Molly was just four when Miss Joy came here. First things first, everyone raise their right hand, "Do you swear to keep all these projects 'Top Secret'?"

"I do."

"OK children, does anyone know who I am?"

"You are the farm lady."

"What would I give to 'Beauty' that she would like?"

"Apples and carrots."

"So what do you think about having fruit trees the horses at the ranch would like?

Ceres decided to split a parcel of land in half, one side was 'Apache's Apple Orchard the other side was 'Beauty's Apple orchard, two different kinds of apples. 'Friend' had a pear tree orchard and 'Companion' had a cherry tree orchard. Each had their own sign as to where they would be, a living memorial to the horses, complete with park benches.

"You children would have to check up on them, not the adults, unless you spot something wrong with the trees, not all the trees will survive.

"This will be challenging work putting the trees in. We will have to make teams and have the younger ones do easy jobs, and the older ones do harder jobs.

Michelle had just finished her detailed rendering of the monument; she had overlays for detailed areas.

Michelle's boss walked by and looked at Michelle's work.

"What do you have there, Michelle?"

"Sir, it is just a rendering of a monument my friends want to for the four anchor horses at 'God's Image' ranch. The whole concept is based on 'Beauty'. She just passed away and was the owner's horse, so she of course made 'Beauty' hers. The other three are horses she leaned upon during different times of her life or her friends. There were eight to ten horses that were extra special."

"What is the medium?"

"Black granite Sir, 'Beauty' was a black horse."

"Michelle, are you aware that most of the designers here have no clue how to take a knit design and put it on leather because they do not know how leather cuts or how to braid it. You however, can picture two-story wooden stables, granite monuments and what you do here with no problem. Wood is especially hard because of the texture of the grain.

"Take a lot of pictures of it including the detailed areas. If you can, get me a video of the reaction. Depending how they compare, we might just need to have a sit-down face to face sometime."

"Remember Michelle, the reaction to a finished product or the vision of our designers get to that finished product is how we know what the people want."

The sculptor called Molly. "I just got the detailed drawing of what you want, and I am honored to do the project. It is the biggest thing I have ever done. Could I see the space and the animals?"

"Sure thing, how about tomorrow? Just remember if we see Miss Sarah or Miss Dawn we will just go to the stables. When you need to do the ground work after the sculpture is done, we will send Miss Sarah and Miss Dawn to Florida for a week."

When the sculptor came, Molly explained where 'Beauty' was buried and where 'Apache' would be buried. The space was perfect, nice and firm ground for the foundation. He was in awe about 'Apache', 'Friend', 'Companion' and 'Angel'. He studied them so he knew exactly how every muscle felt. "Miss Molly, I will make burial markers for the four horses and 'Angel' when they are needed."

He was the newest sculptor in his plant. Everyone else was working on a job when the order came in, everyone in the plant was jealous. Slowly he removed the granite, so others could see the statue that lay inside.

Molly sent invitations to her Russian friends' programs and a translation would be made in Russian for them. She included a picture of herself in her flower girl gown to remind them. Also she sent invitations to her Euro Disney friends, but did not ask for money from any of them. Molly put on all the invites that the date is yet to be determined.

When Minka heard about the invite, her maternal instinct went into overdrive; Molly saved the wedding. The translated version of what she told her son was. "Call Molly and get all the information, do all the translations she needs. I will call the others and ask them to learn some English phrases." Her son just smiled, imagining what those calls would be like.

The son would set up a phrase list of about ten basic phrases, so everyone knew what the other was saying such as 'Greetings, hello, thank you etc.'.

"Miss Dawn, Miss Sarah, Elsa called and said she would like you to come down to Orlando for a week or so. The change of scenery will do you a world of good. I packed your bags, here are your tickets. Ceres is going to take you to the airport; Anna will pick you up."

"Well Sarah, you are paying her to make executive decisions. I guess you didn't think they would be for us."

When the statue was three-fourths done a co-worker called an owner to look at it. "Look at the bone structure, every muscle and tendon, just like the real thing and different than each other. He used "Angel' as a model for 'Beauty'. He is sculpting from memory from when he went to the ranch; I could never do that."

The owner said, "That is because it is not a job for him; he now has an emotional attachment to his work. He has spent long hours on it; it is all he thinks about. To tell you the truth, I could never do it either."

Molly wanted to limit the number of people coming, but have many groups come. Marie and Loui were the French delegation but promised full videos to the Disney troupe and other French friends, eight were allowed from the Russian delegation and the rest Molly had no control over. She expected 150-200 people, four of which, came from the sculpting company.

A team from the company came over and put in the foundation quickly. "It will take three days to set. By then, he should almost be finished.

"Would you mind showing us the horses Ma'am? They have grown on us."

They looked at the horses with an artist's eye. They had true respect for all the horses, but concentrated on 'Apache', 'Friend', 'Companion', and 'Angel', as she has the same body form that 'Beauty' would have had.

The children made four cornets made of flowers and two horseshoe flowering collars as ''Angel' and 'True guardian' would also be in attendance.

Once Anna got the call from Molly that the statue was in place and ready, Anna made the calls for tickets.

Molly called the Sheriff, "Hello Sheriff, this is Molly. As you know Miss Sarah and Miss Dawn are coming in tomorrow, would it be OK to blindfold them from time to time, so they can't see what they are not supposed to see?"

"I have no problem with that. I will tell the duty officer for the next three days."

Sarah and Dawn did not like to be blindfolded. When they got to the house they were told they had restricted access to the ranch and were told where they could and couldn't go.

Dawn raced to the stables, saddled up 'Apache' and went off on a moonlit ride. Dawn felt whole again.

Earlier Dawn asked Daisy, "About how much longer do you think 'Apache' will live?"

"Well Dawn, a natural horse lives anywhere between twenty to thirty years old. We keep good care of our horses, so I would imagine about twenty-five to twenty-seven years old."

"So, you are saying just two or three more years?"

"Without complications Dawn, and we should expect some near the end."

Dawn's ride was full of introspection and melancholy; 'Apache' could sense it but was glad they were a team again.

The horses were not stupid. They knew exactly where 'Beauty' was buried, and took comfort that her presence was still on the ranch.

About 1:00 PM the next day, the busses that Molly hired to collect everyone from central points started to arrive. Sarah and Dawn did not know what to think of the growing throng of people; all had white roses and what looked like programs. Molly thought it would be easier for everyone to get their things before they arrived.

After Dawn and Sarah were front and center with their blindfold removed, the statue was unveiled. It was a thing of beauty; the sun struck brilliantly off the polished surface.

Molly and Daisy had a monument with a six-foot tall base that was placed near where 'Beauty' and 'Apache' would be buried, visible from the road. It had four horses side by side, 'Beauty' and 'Apache' were in the center with 'Friend' on the left and 'Companion' on the right with six-inch lettering under their hoofs with their names. On the base It read:

"Our Four Anchor Horses.

'Apache'

"The Sire and guardian of our ranch."

'Beauty'

"My beloved Mother's horse and Queen to 'Apache'."

'Friend' and 'Companion'

"For those friends who got me through the death of Dad."

A young girl walked up to Sarah and said, "My job was to make this for you. We want you to climb the ladder and place it on 'Beauty's' head; the others have theirs already.

At that point Anna brought out 'Apache' and handed the reigns to Dawn. Next Daisy brought out 'Angel', Molly brought out 'True' and Anne and a twin brought out 'Friend' and lastly Zoe and the other twin brought out 'Companion'. They all were adorned with their garlands.

A tearful Sarah climbed the ladder with the garland. She hugged 'Beauty' and cried, "Mom I miss you so much, I think of you every day. I called your horse 'Beauty', and made her mine. She just passed away, so we are here honoring her and some of the other horses we had here at the farm."

When Sarah got down and started drying her face, 'Angel' and 'True' were very agitated. 'Apache' looked on as he saw 'Beauty's' son and daughter both walk over to Sarah and then started to nuzzle her. It was if they were saying, "Mama is gone, but we're here for you."

The occasion transcended all language barriers, everyone knew what the feeling of loss felt like.

Mr. Jacob and Miss Noel came over to Amy and said, "Amy could you bring "Sky' down to our house tonight? We need to talk to you about something important. You can stay the night." Amy nodded.

After dinner, everyone sat down to talk. "Now Amy, Miss Sarah wants us to talk to you because this issue is about her and she does not want to sway your decision. This issue is very complicated so I want you to listen to everything I say before you say 'Yes' to anything. Miss Noel may have thought of a better idea than Miss Sarah."

"Now, we thought ahead and froze some of 'Beauty's' eggs and 'Apache's' sperm. The doctors make the baby in a test tube until it is fertilized. Then they would put it in a young mare who would carry it until it gave birth to it. The drawbacks are, it doesn't work all the time and it is expensive. That is what Miss Sarah was thinking, now listen to Miss Noel,"

"Amy, isn't 'True' somewhat close in age to 'Sky'?"

"I guess so."

"Do you remember who 'True's' parents are?"

"'Apache' and 'Beauty'.".

"Remember Amy, we can always give the eggs and sperm to a different mare. You may want to pick from 'True' or 'Victory' or 'Freedom'." If I would pick, I would pick 'Victory' or Freedom' so we do not have two sets with the same parents or grandparents."

"I think 'Freedom' would be best. he does not have 'Apache' or 'Beauty's' blood in him.

"I think you are right Amy, the blood lines have to be cleaned up. We should just keep 'True' as the main line."

The next day, at suppertime, at the ranch, Mr. Jacob brought up the subject. "Dr. Daisy, there is a whole lot of 'Apache' blood out in that stable, 'True' is the only direct descendant. Is that going to be a problem? Should we just keep 'True's' line going, and have the others get watered down, perhaps from outside?"

'Apache' was buried on the left side of the gate and 'Beauty' on the right, just like a bride and groom. 'Friend' and 'Companion' were buried near the monument.

Michelle's boss watched the video and was surprised there was no response from the audience. The statue spoke for itself; it was breathe-taking. Michelle's rendering was one of the best he ever seen. They made a position for Michelle that boosted her two levels in the company.

She still did the things she loved, but was responsible for more people. She was a hands-on manager; first people thought she was micro managing when she came to the workshop. She always let the designer go with the vision they had for the project. She never intervened unless asked.