Jo Ann - The Amish Christmas Cowboy

The kinder began to cheer when Ned brought the first horse and Toby went into the paddock. She hushed them as the big black shied when it came off the ramp. She wasn’t sure if her warning or Toby’s scowl silenced them. Either way, none of the youngsters made a peep as Ned guided the horse into the first paddock, shoved the reins in Toby’s hand and, leaving, closed the gate.

Toby began to give the sleek horse a quick examination. “I need to make sure, while the horse was in the trailer, he didn’t injure himself without us noticing,” he said, answering the question she’d been thinking but hadn’t wanted to ask out loud.

She watched how Toby ran his hands along the horse, keeping it from shying away or rearing in fright. He kept his motions to a minimum, and if the horse began to tense, he soothed it with soft words.

Satisfied the horse was fine, Toby led him into the inner paddock and took off the lead rope. The horse galloped, happy to be out of the trailer and able to stretch out his legs.

“Pretty horse,” Natalie said in a wistful tone. The girl was as obsessed with horses as her daed .

The second horse, also dark in color, took his arrival in stride. He pranced into the paddock, dragging Ned with him, and stood like a statue during the examination. When Toby turned him out in the other paddock, he walked in as if coming home.

“That was easy,” Alexander said with a grin. “Too bad they aren’t all like that.”

Toby nodded but didn’t smile in return. Maybe his lips grew a little less taut.

When Alexander looked at her with an expression that asked What did I do wrong? she smiled and said, “Mr. Christner needs to concentrate. I’m sure he’ll be more ready to talk once he’s done.”

She wasn’t sure of that or why she was making excuses, other than she didn’t want Alexander to be hurt. The boy nodded, and she turned as the kinder did to watch the final horse being taken from the trailer.

Even she, who didn’t know much about horses beyond the quiet buggy horse she drove, could tell the bay prancing around Ned was magnificent. Muscles rippled beneath the sheen of his coat, and his black mane and tail floated on the air with each movement.

As soon as the horse was brought into the first paddock, Toby began the same swift examination he’d done with the others. He was squatting, checking the horse’s legs, when a gray barn cat flashed through the paddock. The horse started, whinnied, then reared in a panic.

Sarah tightened her grip on the younger kinder’s hands and called to Natalie and Alexander to back away from the fence. The horrified youngsters froze as the bay’s hooves pawed the air as if fighting off a giant invisible rival.

Mia screamed, “Look out, kitty!”

The little girl tore her hand out of Sarah’s and lunged toward the fence. Sarah grabbed Mia by the shoulders, tugging her back as the horse bucked toward them.

“Hold my hand and don’t let go,” Sarah ordered in not much more than a whisper. She didn’t want her voice to upset the horse more, though she doubted it could be heard in the paddock over the thuds from the horse’s hooves on the ground. “Nobody move. Nobody say a word.”

She stared at the paddock, horrified. Toby tried to calm the horse. He kept the horse from bucking by guiding it away from the fence. The horse jerked forward. He stumbled after it, refusing to let go of the lead. He grimaced and stutter-stepped. Dropping to one knee, he pushed himself up again. Fast.

Not fast enough. The horse was spinning to strike out at him again. It yanked the lead away from him.

Releasing the kinder’s hands, Sarah pushed aside the gate and ran into the paddock. Toby shouted as the Summerhays kids cried out in fear. Ned called a warning. She ignored them and tried to grab the rope, ducking so it didn’t strike her.

She’d handled a frightened animal before. When a new buggy horse had been spooked by a passing truck, she’d known she needed to reassure the horse and show it there was nothing to fear.

Not looking at the horse directly, she kept talking as she evaded its flashing hooves. She was relieved when Toby grabbed the horse’s halter. He stroked the shuddering animal but didn’t say anything while she continued to murmur. The horse began to grow calmer.

When she thought it was safe, she asked, “Where do you want him?”

“The inner paddock with the others.” Toby’s voice was clipped.

Was he upset with her for stepping in? No time to ask. She walked the horse to the gate and into the paddock. Unsnapping the lead, she moved slowly to keep from scaring the horse again.

The moment Sarah closed the gate, Alexander called out, “That was cool, Sarah!”

“Quiet. There’s no sense upsetting the horses more.”

Not waiting to see if the kids would cooperate, she went to where Toby was leaning against a fence post.

“How badly are you hurt?” she asked.

Instead of answering her, he asked, “Is Bay Boy okay?”

“He’s shivering,” she said, glancing at the other paddock, “but he’ll be okay.”

“You’ve got a way with horses.”

When she saw how he gritted his teeth on each word, she said, “You are hurt! Where?”

“I twisted my ankle. It’ll be okay once I walk it off.” He pushed himself away from the rail and took a step to prove it.

With a gasp, he sank to his left knee and grasped his right ankle.

She scanned the yard. Where was Ned? She didn’t see him anywhere.

“Alexander,” she shouted, “go inside and call 911. Right now!”

“I can call them from here.” He pulled a cell phone out of his pocket.

“Quickly!”

Later, she’d remind Alexander he wasn’t supposed to have his phone for another week. He’d gotten in trouble while prank calling his friends because he was bored. By mistake, he’d reached the private phone of the police chief in the village of Salem. She wondered how the boy had retrieved his phone. She’d asked Mr. Summerhays to put it in his wall safe. With a grimace, she guessed Alexander had watched his daed open it often enough that he’d learned the combination. She’d have to find another way to make him atone for bothering the police chief.

At that thought, she added, “Dial carefully.”

He averted his eyes, a sure sign he knew a scolding would be coming his way once Toby was taken care of.

The call was made, and Alexander reported the rescue squad was on its way. He gave her the phone. Dropping it into a pocket under her black apron, she looked at Toby, who was trying not to show his pain.

Just as he hid every other emotion. What was he worried about revealing?

* * *

Everything, in Toby’s estimation, had gone wrong since J.J. had pulled the truck into the Summerhays’ long drive. The moment Toby had gone to the door and found an Amish woman there, he should have known this wasn’t going to be like other deliveries they’d made on this trip from Texas. He hadn’t guessed he’d be hurt by a horse he’d trained himself. A beginner’s mistake. After years of working with horses and convincing them it was better to behave, he should have been prepared for every possible move Bay Boy could have made.

At the worst moment, as the cat decided to chase something right under Bay Boy’s nose, Toby had let himself be distracted by Sarah and how the reflected sunlight off her gorgeous red hair seared his eyes. Dummkopf , he chided himself. He spent the past dozen years avoiding relationships, romantic or otherwise, and he’d been at Summerhays Stables less than two hours and already was thinking too much about her.

“Ned?” he managed to ask.

Sarah shrugged her slender shoulders. “I don’t know where he went. Komm with me,” she said in a tone that suggested he’d be wasting his time to protest. He guessed she used it often with the Summerhays kids. “You need to get your weight off that ankle before you hurt it worse.”