My RA Ch. 02

Joy said," Are you sure you want to do that? Let me see a show of hands It is your money, you have to all agree." Every hand shot into the air, no hesitation.

Joy and the kids went to the bank, there was more than $1,000 in the account. Joy said," The kids want this money to go to Miss Sarah. I want each child to give the same amount to Miss Sarah. Could you give me fifty twenty's and leave the rest in the account?"

All the kids piled into the bus, Miss Joy had that special envelope for everyone to help Miss Sarah, and they all could see the animals again. Miss Joy knocked on the door and Miss Sarah answered the door. Miss Joy said," Miss Sarah the children saved a lot of money for your Dad in a special account in the bank. Each one wants to give you their part." Miss Sarah saw the thick envelope and was stunned.

"Children get in five rows of ten each and you can present your money to Miss Sarah." They all lined up orderly and waited for Miss Joy to call them. Joy called the First group. She handed each one a twenty-dollar bill which was then presented to Miss Sarah. They all knew they were doing a good thing, so smiles abounded. Miss Sarah accepted each gift with great appreciation. Joy called all the other groups who did the same thing.

Joy whispered to Sarah," That's $1,000 and there is more in the bank. Each penny comes from their heart, it was a unanimous decision to give you the money."

Sarah was rocked at the news. Sarah found a box to put the money in. "Who wants to see the horseys?" All cheered. Each child got an apple and a carrot to feed the horses. They loved it.

Miss Joy," Why is Beauty so shy?"

"Beauty is about to have a baby; Miss April is going to take care of it. When it has grown it will be hers. Taking care of a baby is a big responsibility. Miss April will stay up all night if it is sick. The animal doctor will have to come often. Let's have a contest, get in your same groups you were in before and think of a name for the baby, a girl baby, and a boy baby name. Try to make them horsey names. I am sure Miss April will have a hard time choosing. Ask your parents for help. The name of things is very important, your name has a meaning that God thought you should have. Maybe you can think of what you want it to mean and Mommy or Daddy you can figure out the horsey names for that." On the way home all the children were chattering back and forth. Names were important so they had to get good ones for Miss April.

Joy was talking to April," April, the kids are going to name your foal. You are going to get five boy names and five girl names, good luck on figuring out how to put all the names together. Joy I will get you for that. How am I going to do that without having favorites? I mean three would be easy but five is impossible. Ask them to give you the meanings also"

April walked down to the club," HI kids, Miss Joy said you were going to name my baby horse for me. I am glad because the name is very important. I do not know if I could come up with the right one. Do you think your Daddy's can give me the meaning of each name? I am sure you will give me excellent names so the meanings would help a lot. Remember, Beauty is a pretty black horse and Daddy is a big brown horse. They call that color chestnut on horses. Maybe that can help.

"Maybe a few days after it is born we can let you see it. It will depend on what the animal doctor tells me. Beauty may need some alone time with the baby."

Joy's 101 finals had come and gone; she surprised herself by getting an A- in the class. Mistress said it was OK to get a good grade like that. Now she was doing the audit and testing in the 201 classes. Joy was really nervous; the classes were much harder than she thought.

One day the kids all came up to Miss April, a little girl was the spokesperson," Miss April, Miss Joy said you did not want to hurt anyone's feeling by not including their name for the horsey. We did not know any horsey names so we asked Daddy if he could show us some horsey names with his puter on the big TV."

"Daddy said," Since Beauty was Miss Sarah's Mommy's horsey and she is in heaven maybe we could think of names like heaven or angel. We all think it is going to be a girl horsey. If it is a boy horsey we can get names when Beauty has alone time with the baby. A lot of the names Daddy showed us were just silly. Daddy wrote down all the names that we came up with and you will not hurt anyone's feelings." The little girl handed the list to Miss April, it read," Angel's Glory, Amazing Grace, American Beauty, Grace like an angel, Heavenly Dream."

April could not respond for a moment," Wow kids, all five are really good names. They show you were thinking about Miss Sarah's Mommy when you did it. I am sure Miss Sarah would be honored to hear it. I think I would have to pick between Grace like an Angel or Heavenly Dream. Then I could just call her Grace of Heaven."

The children were all excited that they picked good names for Miss April. They were glad they picked out one for Miss Sarah's Mommy also.

That night April showed the list to Sarah," I thought I could name it Grace of Heaven, but I could name it Angel also. They know Beauty was your Mom's horse so they were thinking of that as well." Sarah started to cry, each name reminded her of her Mom. "These names are perfect, I could not have come up with better names."

The fall semester was coming to a close. David disapproved greatly, but Joy kicked her testing section in overdrive to finish a few weeks before the audit classes were finished. This gave her time to tie things together with both classes if she needed to.

The religion dean asked Joy," When in the winter term semester do you want to take your tests?

Joy said," Two weeks in, I feel this will be twice as hard as the normal final."

The Dean just shook his head and walked over to see the teacher Joy had been learning from. He reviewed her tests for Joy's 201. "She is an exemplary student."

The teacher said," I had to give her an A- for her 101 classes, now she has a chip on her shoulder. An A-is not acceptable in her eyes. Her Mistress, Miss Dawn, told her she expected very high grades from Joy. She still shows Dawn her tests for her approval. Disappointing her Mistress, in anything, is not an option. In order to understand Joy, you need to go to the Lodge to see her rule boards. No one had the heart to take them down. Talk to Dawn and Mei, two of her Mistresses, Alkaia is her other one; they each have different roles." Later that night the dean found himself knocking on the door of the Lodge. Miss Anne answered the door and graciously let the dean in.

The dean proclaimed," Miss Anne, Miss Dawn, and Miss Mei, I want to understand Joy better than I do now. I am told she has rule boards and two of you are here Mistresses. Is that true?"

Mei spoke up, "Dean, I was her roommate and as such, I was her Mistress who held the confidant role. Miss Dawn is her true Mistress. Alkaia has an overseer role so she covers a wide assortment of problems. As I organized her rule boards, I will show you and explain them to you. It all started with the flood, she had to retrograde to a ten-year-old to find a center. We had to use these rules to organize her mind, what was expected of her, how to act and how to have fun with friends."

The dean was shocked when he saw the boards. "They are so detailed; how could she keep up with all of them?"

Mei said," Some are relaxed and some are enforced. That said, even if she violates a relaxed rule she might need to have a podium in the back of the class, she may not have any wish to sit down for a week.

"Right now, of course, David can overrule all of us being her husband. He also has that role of protector as you saw in our meeting. He watches her like a hawk and she does not even know it. We have to call him if we see any red flags. Remember she has 35,000 people who signed petitions to adopt her and to protect her, they take that promise very seriously.

"I was assaulted by two guys after Bible Study. Joy got there late because of her homework. Before I knew it, one guy had a broken jaw and another guy was so beat up he had no wish to get up. Now she has Buddy, so they make a lethal combination."

Dawn said, "Dean, she wanted to be a very good sub. We dishonored her because we wanted to be selfish and make her more than she wanted to be. As a result, she dropped out of school and went home and got a job at the nursing home. After the shootout, she prayed with those who were gravely wounded and would succumb to their wounds in the near future.

That was the point when she realized she wanted to be involved in religion. Her adopted Mistress that happened to be David's Gran, pronounced the two to be soulmates. Both would come here to study. She would study religion and David medicine. They had a bedside wedding and soon after, David's 'Gran' passed away with a look of contentment on her face. I think Joy's drive has a bit of 'Gran' in it, she wants to be worthy to David."

The dean just broke down in tears. He did not know most of Joy's good times, but he started to connect the dots as to what he just learned. Flood, hurting people when Mei was assaulted, that would be abhorrent to her, but she was loyal to Mei, so she did what she had to do.

Having her mistress and her friends dishonor her wishes which led her into a tumult about leaving school. Going home just to be in a shootout where she lost many friends including her Mistress. Then the bank robbery. One by one all of her anchors were gone.

"Do any of you see what has happened to this child? She has rule boards that tell her what is expected of her. She had to leave school because all three of her Mistresses betrayed her, even though she was doing what she was supposed to do. I bet her behavior changed radically before she left to try to fix the problem.

Then she got a new anchor at the nursing home who was shot and finally died because of it. Now she lost four anchors and only has David left. She does not know if he will leave her. She is living in true fear, so she is burying herself in schoolwork just like many others do while going through grief. Having her friends and her husband going through grief, and she had to work through that did not help."

All four were weeping deeply, self-introspection will be on everyone's mind by night's end. Dawn called Alkaia," Alkaia, we need to have a mass meeting about and including Joy. We have failed her." When all were assembled for the meeting, Mei, Anne, and Dawn were crying. Dawn took the floor," Joy, it happened over time so we did not see it, but that is no excuse. Before you left you did exactly what we expected of you to do. You even talked to us and changed your behavior to help with the situation. We not only ignored your wishes, but we betrayed you. We pushed you away and we broke our commitment to you. I no longer have the right to be your Mistress. If you feel you are going through the motions just because you are expected to do it, then that rule is null and void. We did not realize until recently that all your anchors were gone."

Mei was next," Joy, I now realize that in the end, we became somewhat distant. You mainly talked to your Mom, did Bible studies and schoolwork. I was too wrapped up into myself that I did not see your desperate need. I also broke my commitment to you, and I have no right to be called your Mistress, but I still want to be your friend."

Alkaia was next," Joy, even though I am more of a hands-off Mistress I should have spotted the problem before the others. I too was insensitive and I pushed you away and you had to drop out of school. I betrayed you, all three of your anchors abandoned you and Gran was shot down before her time and you lost that anchor as well. I have no right to be your Mistress. Could you please give your collar to your dean as I do not feel I have the right to receive it?"

All eyes turned to David. "Joy, I am not your master in any sense of the word. We are equal partners, soulmates, which I have proclaimed before God. I want to keep you from harm. My words are not written in stone. I will not allow rule boards in our house. You have a first-class brain, able to take bits and pieces you hear from friends to form your own opinion."

"I must insist you do have a rule book with you whenever you go out. The Holy Bible. It is non- negotiable. As equals we need to be accountable to each other in reading it. Tomorrow, I want you to buy a dry board eraser. I want you to go to the Lodge and look at your rule boards. Pray about everyone. Ask God if this rule is still useful to you. If it is not, then erase it. Then on the next pass ask God, and say this rule is still useful to me, but am I already doing it so no one needs to tell me to do that. Erase all of those that apply. Write down on a piece of paper all the remaining ones and we will pray over them together as a team. Once we have brought them to God you will burn the list.

"It is your decision and it does not have to be made today. You may be in too much of an emotional state now. You decide when or if you wish to talk to each one of them to convey your wishes." It was almost a solemn occasion as Joy took off her collar to give it to her dean. With tears streaming down her cheeks and first needing to sit down to compose herself before she went to the dean," Thank you, dean, for all you have done for me. It is obvious, that you being here means you had some part in discussing this problem. I hated keeping things from my friends, but I saw no way I could express my feelings without them feeling anger against me."

"Joy, what do you want me to do with this collar? Would you want me to keep it on my desk or would you want me to incinerate it? I will do as you wish."

"Dean I just don't know yet, this is a lot to take in. I need some good sleep and get some comfort from David."

"Very well, I will hold off any action until you tell me what action to take." It all was a huge relief for Joy, she did not like to deceive or hurt people. She only hurt people as a last resort. At the nursing home and bank robbery, there were multiple gunmen. With Mei she was being actively attacked, being loyal she had to do what she could.

When she got home; she just said two words. "' Buddy Love'" She opened her arms wide. Buddy was there at a wag of a tail. Joy just hugged Buddy. The more she hugged Buddy the more she felt at peace. She didn't have to keep secrets from her friends, she knew David would be with her and he wanted accountability from her and God to do it. She wanted to open her heart to him in the same way. With those weights lifted from her, she was more settled and saw her classwork in a whole different light.

When the dean greeted Joy for her first test outclass, he saw a whole new Joy he never met before. This was the fun, light-hearted Joy. This was not the dreary, downcast and overworked Joy the dean first met. After every test was scored the dean would personally walk and give the test and results to Joy. After he handed her the final test, Joy just could not contain her excitement, she hugged the dean. She did not tell David what the scores were, she wanted to surprise him.

The dean was dumbfounded. They had to be the hardest tests he ever created; Joy had to know even the most insignificant piece of information. Joy said jokingly while holding up one of her tests," I must have been tired when I took this one, I only got an A, and I demand a recount!" The dean doubled over with laughter. Yes, the real Joy was back. A party was called for, Joy asked," Dean, can you stay for dinner? We would be honored if you stayed and celebrated with us."

David had been saving for this very event. He bought the highest-grade meat he could find and bought a few extra pieces for the dean and friends, and lots of vegetables he could grill up also. "Please, stay Dean, I have all this food I am going to grill up and you look like you have not eaten dinner yet." The dean loved grilled food and it was true he missed lunch and did not have dinner yet. "I accept under the condition if you would give me the honor of saying grace at the table tonight."

David saw Joy was just beaming, this was the Joy he fell in love with, this was the Joy he married, this was the Joy he wanted to go on a honeymoon with and grow old with.

April had a new "spring in her step." She and Sarah had been getting all the medical tests the farmers suggested they get for Beauty. Everyone was sworn to secrecy. April even knew what sex it was, but was forbidden to tell. If everything went as expected, Beauty would foal soon after Joy and David got back from France.

April, Sarah, and Zoe were really excited now. The foal will be coming soon, April was a little sad at finding out when the kids could see it. She would have to make it up to them. The timetable depended on Beauty— four to six months alone time plus three weeks before the kids can see it.

The vet was coming every week now to check on Beauty; everything was going fine with no problems. He would teach Sarah and Noel new things every time he came out. They would always have questions.

The farm was like a beehive now. Sarah was glad Noel was learning with her. It was a lot to learn. During the evening hours, Sarah was reading up on everything about the stable area so they could do a better job taking care of the boarded animals. Noel was reading up on how to take care of pastureland, feed, storage, etc.

Sarah called several high-end boarding stables to see what she could do to provide better service for her animals. Two accepted, they knew Sarah was just starting out but was a dedicated owner. Her asking to make her farm better and getting other people's advice showed her dedication. Noel went with Sarah to the two places as their jobs overlapped. After they toured the stable area, they went to the pastureland on horseback. Noel was unsure of herself on a horse; she would need to learn if she wanted to do her job properly. Zoe would have to teach her, Sarah and Noel asked many questions.

The high-end places did not view Sarah as competition, many had waiting lists. As Sarah was more or less starting from scratch, many places called the farmers to suggest how she make her ranch. They let the farmers know what the need in the area was. In that way, Sarah could concentrate on certain areas. Boarding horses at a quality place was a huge need. Milking cows could be phased in after the ranch was well-established breeding or training could start.

Noel started doing ride alongs with the vet once a week. She did not want to be a vet but wanted to handle some problems that may occur. If she learned more complicated lessons all the better. The vet was grateful for the extra hands. The deal was the vet would have exclusive rights for Sarah's growing ranch unless the problem was too big for the vet.

Sarah tasked April, Zoe, and Anne to watch out for her health. Sarah knew she would push herself too hard so she may get sick or stressed out. Sarah was a rising star in the area; she took an average home farm to an excellent farm. People tried to help her in any way they could. Every improvement she made her deeper in debt. In the long run, it would pay off, but she was hurting right now. She was a good farmer doing all the right things, but she was not making enough money. It was an innate problem a farmer had. She called Noel to activate the prayer chain about it. She had a foal on her hands also. She prayed to God and also Mom as she always got good guidance from her.

Then the worse came, Beauty got sick. Sarah and April stayed up nights with Beauty. The vet was called in. The examination was making April a nervous wreck. Sarah held on tight to April. The vet finally said," Well, do you want the good news first or the bad?"