The Lonely Pony Read online

  Tom nodded. “We just can’t keep up with it all,” he said. “Not with my bad knees and Val’s busy volunteering schedule. We’ve been meaning to ask around for help, but haven’t quite found the time.”

  Janey bit her lip and glanced at her friends. It sounded as if Tom and Val had meant to do a nice thing by taking Lola in. But they’d gotten in over their heads.

  “I see,” Dr. Goldman said with a sympathetic smile. “Did you ask the trainer to take her back?”

  “He can’t,” Tom said. “He suggested we ask around town to see if anyone wants poor old Lola.”

  “You don’t have to do that,” Janey blurted out. “We can do that for you! The Pet Rescue Club will help you find Lola the perfect new home!”

  Project Pony

  Val looked surprised. “The what club?” she said. “Oh, but never mind—I don’t want to bother you kids with our problems.”

  Her husband smiled at Janey and the others. “Yes, we’ll work it out.”

  “No, really!” Zach said. “We have a club that helps pets find new homes and stuff.”

  “They really do,” Dr. Goldman said with a nod. “They’ve helped several local pets already.” She told the couple about Truman and the other animals the Pet Rescue Club had helped.

  Val looked impressed. “How wonderful! What do you think, Tom? Maybe they can help us after all.”

  “We definitely can,” Janey said. “Lola is so cute, I’m sure it won’t take long at all to find her the perfect new home.”

  “What a relief,” Val exclaimed. “See, we’re scheduled to leave on a road trip in about a week to visit our son. He lives out of state, so we were planning to stay for a couple of weeks.”

  “That’s right,” Tom added. “We were worried we’d have to hurry to find something to do with Lola before we leave.”

  “Well, now you don’t have to worry,” Janey said. “Not with the Pet Rescue Club on the job.” She knew they would have to work fast to find Lola a new home before the Valentines left on their trip next week. But she was sure they could do it.

  “Terrific,” Tom said. “Can you take her today?”

  “Today?” Janey gulped and glanced at the others. “Um . . .”

  “We could call the shelter and see if they can take Lola in,” Lolli suggested.

  “Yeah.” Zach grinned. “She’s not any bigger than a Great Dane or something. She’d totally fit in one of the large dog runs!”

  “Well, I’ve never seen a horse there, but I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to ask.” Dr. Goldman dug into her pocket. “Here, you can use my cell phone.”

  Janey took the phone and dialed the familiar number. When Kitty answered, she explained the situation.

  “We were hoping you could keep Lola at the shelter until we find her a home,” Janey finished. “It probably won’t take long.”

  “I’m sorry, Janey,” Kitty said. “I’m afraid we don’t have the facilities to take care of farm animals—not even small ones. I could call the shelter over in Lakeville for you, though. They have a couple of goats and a potbellied pig there right now, and I’m pretty sure they’ve taken in horses in the past.”

  “Lakeville?” Janey clutched the phone to her ear. “But that’s almost an hour’s drive away! How can we help her if she’s not even close by?”

  “What?” Zach whispered loudly, poking her on the arm. “What’s she saying? What was that about Lakeville?”

  “Ssh!” Janey hushed him. Kitty was talking again. “I’m sorry, could you repeat that? Zach was yapping in my ear.”

  Kitty chuckled. “I said, I could ask around about finding a foster home—maybe one of the farms outside of town could keep her for a few days.”

  “That sounds good. Hang on, let me tell the others.” Janey lowered the phone. “Kitty says maybe she can help us find a foster home for Lola. She thinks one of the farms around here might be willing to take her in until we find her a permanent home.”

  “That’s a good idea,” Dr. Goldman said, and the Valentines nodded.

  But Lolli gasped. “Wait,” she exclaimed. “I live on a farm!”

  Janey blinked at her. “Um, yeah, we know.” Then she gasped, too. “Wait! Are you saying—”

  “What if I’m the foster home?” Lolli cried before Janey could finish. “Me and my parents, I mean. We have plenty of room in our pasture. And we already have the goats and sheep, so a tiny little horse wouldn’t even be that much extra trouble.”

  “Perfect! I’ll tell Kitty,” Janey said.

  “Wait,” Dr. Goldman stopped her. Then she turned to Lolli. “I think we need to ask your parents about this. Do they have any experience taking care of horses?”

  “I don’t think so,” Lolli said. “But they’ve had lots of other animals.”

  Zach’s mom still looked dubious. “I know. But horses are a lot of work—more than most animals. You have to be careful about what you feed them, and they need their feet trimmed back every couple of months or so. . . .”

  “Yes, that’s right,” Val put in. “We never did get around to finding anyone to do the foot trimming.”

  Tom nodded. “Been meaning to call the race trainer to ask for his help, but he’s awfully hard to reach.”

  “We won’t have Lola long enough to worry about that sort of stuff,” Janey told Dr. Goldman. “It’ll just be for a few days.”

  Dr. Goldman scratched her chin. “Well, I suppose it’s up to your parents,” she told Lolli. “You’d better call them and see if they want to take this on.”

  “Kitty? We might know about a foster farm,” Janey said into the phone. “We’ll call you back in a minute, okay?” She hung up and handed the phone to Lolli. “Call your parents right now. I’m sure they’ll say yes!” She crossed her fingers as her friend took the phone.

  Soon Lolli was talking to her father. She told him about Lola and what Kitty had said about finding a foster home. “She wouldn’t be any trouble at all,” she finished. “The Pet Rescue Club would do all the work to take care of her. It will probably only be for a day or two.”

  Janey couldn’t hear what Mr. Simpson said. But when Lolli hung up, she was smiling. “Dad said it’s okay as long as we do all the work.”

  “Oh, thank you!” Val exclaimed. “I can’t tell you what a load off our minds this is, kids.”

  Janey grinned at her. “You’re welcome. I’ll call Kitty and tell her.”

  When Janey hung up a moment later, Dr. Goldman stood up. “Thanks for the lemonade, Tom and Val,” she said. “We’d better get going if we want to get Lola settled in tonight.”

  “Yeah, let’s go tell her the good news!” Zach exclaimed. He raced off down the porch steps. The little dogs all barked and raced after him.

  “Come back, you rascals!” Tom whistled loudly, and the dogs turned around and ran back to him.

  Adam patted a couple of them. “They’re well trained,” he said admiringly.

  “And cute.” Janey grabbed the smallest dog for one last snuggle. “Thanks for the lemonade, Mr. and Mrs. Valentine. We’d better go get Lola!”

  “We’ll come along and say good-bye,” Val said. “Just let us put the dogs in the house first.”

  Janey waited impatiently while the couple herded the excited dogs back inside. Then the whole group hurried back down the road.

  When they arrived at the pen, Lola was still standing by the fence. “Look, she was waiting for us,” Lolli said.

  “She must have known we were coming back to get her,” Zach said. “Come on, it’s time to go to your new foster farm!”

  Adam blinked. “Yeah, but wait,” he said. “How are we going to get her there?”

  Travel Plans

  Janey didn’t know why her friends looked so worried. “It’s not very far to Lolli’s farm,” she said. “And Lola is little. Why can’t we just put her in the back of the car? That’s how we’d carry a dog the same size, right?”

  Dr. Goldman glanced at her hatchback, which was still parked besi
de the road. “Uh, I don’t think so,” she said. “Lola may be small, but she’s not a dog. Her hooves will make a mess of my upholstery.”

  “Yeah” Zach grinned. “Besides, horses aren’t house-trained.”

  “Don’t you mean car-trained?” Lolli joked.

  Janey looked at Val and Tom. “How do you take her places?” she asked.

  “We don’t.” Tom shrugged. “My racetrack friend dropped her off here with a big horse trailer.”

  “Oh.” Janey bit her lip. “Well, maybe we can find someone with a pickup truck we could borrow. Lola could jump into the back and ride over that way.”

  Adam looked alarmed. “That doesn’t sound very safe for Lola,” he said. “What if she jumps out while we’re driving?”

  “We could ride back there with her and hold her in,” Zach suggested.

  “No,” Dr. Goldman said immediately. “Out of the question. That would be much too dangerous.”

  Tom sighed. “Sorry, kids. Maybe we need to leave Lola to the experts after all. The shelter in Lakeville might have a trailer they can use to pick her up.”

  “No!” Lolli’s eyes filled with tears. “I really want her to come to my house.”

  “I understand, dear,” Val said kindly. “But if we can’t get her there . . .”

  Janey frowned. Why did this have to be so complicated? All they needed to do was transport Lola a mile or so down the road. . . .

  “I’ve got it!” she blurted out. “We can do it the old-fashioned way.”

  “You mean hitch Lola up to a wagon and drive her back that way?” Zach said. “Cool!”

  Janey shook her head. “We don’t need a wagon,” she said. “We can just walk her to Lolli’s place.”

  “I suppose we could, at that,” Dr. Goldman said. “It’s not very far. Probably less than a mile.”

  Tom looked relieved. “I think we have a halter and lead rope around here somewhere. Let me take a look.”

  He let himself into the pen. Lola followed him halfway to the shed, but when Zach called her name the pony returned to the kids.

  Janey patted Lola as Tom disappeared into the shed. A minute later he emerged holding a tangle of dingy straps.

  “Found it!” he called, hurrying back. “Now, if I can just remember how to put this thing on . . .”

  “I think I can help.” Dr. Goldman smiled and let herself into the pen. “At least I learned that much about horses in vet school!”

  It only took her and Tom a moment to figure out how to put on and latch the pony’s halter. Then Tom clipped the lead rope to the metal ring beneath Lola’s chin.

  “There you are, Lola.” He gave the pony a pat. “Ready to go to your new foster home?”

  Adam held the gate open as Lola followed Tom toward it. As soon as she went through, she yanked her head down and started nibbling on the long grass at the edge of the road.

  “Looks like she’s hungry,” Lolli said.

  Tom gave a tug on the lead rope. “Come on, Lola. You can eat when you get to Lolli’s place.”

  The pony ignored him and kept eating. “Here, let me try,” Zach said, grabbing the rope. He tried to pull Lola’s head up, but it stayed where it was. “Wow, she’s stronger than she looks!”

  “Come on, Lola,” Janey cooed, leaning closer. “Don’t you want to come with us?”

  “Yeah, you’ll love Lolli’s place,” Adam added. “Come on, girl!” He let out a whistle.

  That got Lola’s attention. She lifted her head to look at Adam. At the same time, Zach gave another tug on the rope. The pony took a step forward.

  “It’s working!” Janey cried. “Keep going!”

  Zach walked a few steps. Lola followed him.

  “Good luck, kids,” Tom called. “We’ll stop over in a little while with her leftover hay and things.”

  “Great,” Dr. Goldman said. “Maybe you can give me a ride back to my car then.”

  She started giving the Valentines directions to Lolli’s house. Janey kept moving, staying beside Lola and urging her to keep walking.

  For a while, Lola seemed willing to let the kids lead her along beside the road. But then she spotted a tasty patch of clover and lowered her head again.

  “Lola, no!” Lolli cried. “We’ll never get there if you stop to eat every few steps.”

  Dr. Goldman caught up and helped the kids get Lola moving again. But once again, the pony stopped after a minute or two to eat more grass.

  “How does anyone ever get a horse anywhere?” Janey exclaimed.

  “Most horses must not be as hungry as Lola,” Lolli guessed.

  Zach grinned. “Now I know why there’s no grass growing on racetracks,” he said. “All the horses would just run out of the starting gate and start eating!”

  “Actually, I saw a racetrack on TV once that was grass,” Adam said.

  Janey frowned at them. “Would you stop talking about racetracks and help keep Lola moving? Otherwise this will take all night!”

  “Sorry,” Adam said. “Lola—heel! Heel, girl!” He patted his leg, like he did to signal a dog to follow him.

  But Lola ignored him. “She’s not a dog, Adam,” Janey said. “She probably doesn’t know what ‘heel’ means.”

  “Is there another word they use to get horses to heel?” Lolli wondered. “Gallop, Lola! Trot!”

  The pony didn’t respond except to move a step forward to a nicer patch of grass. Janey sighed and wiped her forehead. It was a warm afternoon, and she was starting to sweat.

  “We haven’t gone very far,” Dr. Goldman said. “Do you want to turn back and tell the Valentines this isn’t going to work?”

  That made Janey forget all about how hot she was. “No!” she said. “We’ll get her there.” Glancing at Lola, she muttered, “Eventually.”

  Special Needs

  Eventually, they made it. It took a long time, but finally the Pet Rescue Club reached Lolli’s long gravel driveway. The kids had taken turns leading Lola, and it was Janey’s turn right then. She kept the pony in the middle of the drive so she wouldn’t be tempted to try to eat the grass growing alongside it. Lola looked from side to side as she walked. Janey guessed that the pony was checking out the orchard of fruit trees on one side of her and the big fenced-in pasture on the other side.

  Lolli’s parents were waiting halfway up the driveway, with Roscoe sitting beside them. The family’s sheep and two goats were right on the other side of the fence nearby, staring curiously at the new arrivals.

  When Roscoe spotted the pony, he jumped up and barked. His tail wagged, and he tried to run forward. But Lolli’s father had him on a leash, and held him back.

  “We were just getting worried,” Lolli’s mother called. “Oh, that pony is adorable!”

  “I know, right?” Lolli said. “She doesn’t like walking on a leash, though.”

  “Yeah,” Zach said. “She definitely needs a few training sessions with Adam.”

  “Never mind that.” Now that they had arrived, Janey couldn’t wait to get into a nice, air-conditioned house and have a snack. “Let’s put her in the pasture and then go take a rest.”

  “Not so fast,” Dr. Goldman said. “You can’t just toss her in a pasture.”

  “Why not?” Zach said. “Isn’t that where horses live?”

  “Yes, but Lola has been in that small, weedy pen for a few months now,” Dr. Goldman reminded the kids. “She’s not used to eating lots of nice, rich grass. In vet school, we learned that horses’ stomachs are surprisingly delicate. Eating too much really nice grass right now could make Lola very sick.”

  Janey was surprised. She’d never heard about anything like that. But she trusted Dr. Goldman.

  “Besides, there could also be some weeds out there that she shouldn’t eat,” Lolli’s mother said.

  Adam glanced at the sheep and goats. “But those guys eat out there all the time.”

  “Yes, but sheep and goats have very different digestive systems from ponies,” Dr. Goldman said.
“They can eat a lot of weeds and plants that would poison Lola.”

  Janey’s heart sank. “So what can we do to keep Lola safe?” she asked. “I don’t want her to eat something poisonous!”

  “We have some extra fencing stuff in the barn,” Lolli’s father spoke up. “You kids could build her a little pen inside the pasture.”

  “That’s a great idea.” Dr. Goldman smiled at him. “If you build it in a spot where the grass is a little sparser, Lola can graze safely without being able to eat too much rich stuff. And you can make it small enough to check for any possibly dangerous weeds and remove any you find.”

  “And feed them to the goats,” Zach added, scratching one of the goats over the fence.

  Janey sighed, glancing at the house. Her stomach rumbled.

  But Janey wanted to help Lola, and that meant her empty stomach would have to wait. “Okay,” she said, squaring her shoulders. “Let’s build a pen.”

  Lolli’s father helped the kids fetch some step-in fence posts and a couple of rolls of woven wire. “This stuff might not hold a full-sized horse,” he said, scratching his head uncertainly. “But it should be good enough for a pony like Lola.”

  Lolli’s mother put Roscoe in the house. Then she returned and held Lola’s lead rope, letting the pony nibble on the short grass beside the driveway while her husband, Dr. Goldman, and the kids got to work on the fence. Before long Janey was sweating more than ever. Building fences was hard work!

  But every time she wanted to quit, she just looked over at Lola. That made her work even harder.

  It took a long time, but finally the pen was ready. They’d built it along one side of the barn, where there was a deep overhang that Lola could use for shelter if the sun got too strong.

  “Perfect!” Lolli’s father declared at last. “Want to check it out, Lola?”

  Dr. Goldman led the pony into the pen. She took off the lead rope and left Lola to explore.