Kick Up Dust
The Crash
Chapter 2
The Crash
When Bethany looked over her shoulder she saw Clue come tumbling to the hard ground and flipped right on top of Miranda, crushing her beneath his powerful body. Bethany turned Bullet back toward them and Clue was attempting to stand. By the time they reached them, Clue was standing and so was Miranda. As Bethany stopped Bullet, she realized Clue's leg was backwards. Miranda was holding his leg and knew what to do because her mom was a veterinarian.
"Bethany, can you come and hold Clue's halter." Miranda said between sobs. Bethany nodded and then dismounted Bullet and grabbed a hold of Clue's halter. "I'm so sorry Clue. I'll try and take away the pain." Miranda placed her hand on Clue's backward knee, Then smacked it as hard as she could and the leg snapped back in the right direction. Clue whinnied and jumped but Bethany held im tight.
Bethany called Mirandas mom and explained what had happened and 15 minutes later Mirandas mom and dad pulled up and helped load Clue into the trailer and Bethany followed them on horseback.
The look in Clue's eyes was one Bethany nor Miranda ever wanted see again. He had such pain in his eyes and he knew he was in trouble.
"They said he probably won't be able to barrel race again. I figure we'll put him up for stud once his leg heals, if it heals." Miranda said as Bethany talked to her over the phone a day after the accident. "Luckily, when I snapped it back in the proper direction, I guess it prevented serious damage so mom says he will heal in time."
"I'm so sorry Miranda! I really am. I know there is nothing I can do. Well, I would love to stay and talk but I have got to go bath Bullet. He's filthy. Give Clue a hug for me. Talk to you tomorrow." Bethany hung up the phone and then continued down to the barn the entire time thinking of the horrible crash.
When Bethant entered the barn and walked down to Bullets stall, something seemed different. "Jazz, come here." Bethany called Jazz just incase someone was in the barn waiting to attack. Jazz walked next to Bethany but never seemed tense. Bethany looked in all the stalls and when she came near a stal that is always empty, it had a horse in it. Bethany laughed.
"Clue. When did you get here?" Bethany slid the door open and gave Clue a hug. He nickered to her. He was being held about a foot above the ground by a sling that way no weight could be put on the leg causing further damage. The stables is a quarantine stables and injured horses go there to recover which would explain why he was there. "Let's see your schedule." Bethany picked up the schedule and skim read it.
11:45 -Wash leg and change cast.
Bethany glanced at her watch and it read 12:01 p.m. "Looks like I'll have to do it since dad's not home won't I boy." Bethany put the schedule back and went into the tackroom and grabbed a pair of cast cutters. When she went back into Clue's stall, his ears flicked forward and he nickered to her. She knelt down so she could get close enough to the cast and started to cut it off his leg. Clue remained extremely calm for Bethany and didn't even flinch when she accidentally bumped into it. After cutting off the cast, Bethany grabbed some soap and gently washed the leg and then hosed it off. Once it dried, she grabbed some Cleansing sanitizer and dug her hand in it and began to rub it on his leg. After the goop was properly applied, she wrapped with it vet wrap and then began putting on the hardened cast.
"There you go boy. All good and new." Bethany patted Clue's neck and then exited his stall. Bethany went into the Veterinarian supply room and washed her hands in the sink with a special type of soap to get the sanitizer off.
"Beth? You in here?" Ben said as he entered the barn.
"Yeah dad. What's up?" Bethany said as she left the room and greeted her dad.
Ben glanced in Clue's stall and smiled. "Did you change the cast for me?"
"Yeah because it was 12:01 and the schedule says it needed to be changed at 11:45. It wasn't that hard since the casts are already pre hardened and all I had to do was apply some of that medical glue stuff to hold it together."
"Thanks sweetie." Ben reached out for a hug and Bethany ran into his arms.
"Now if you'll excuse me, I have a horse to wash." Bethany pointed to Bullets stall and Ben laughed when he saw all the packed on mud on Bullets neck and face. Bethany shrugged and then began preparing a wash rack.
"Come on Bullet." Bethany haltered and lead Bullet to the wash rack and then attached him to the cross-ties. She turned on the water and then turned the heat up so it wouldn't be to cold for him.
Bullet shook as the warm soapy water was splashed over him and soaked Bethany as the water hit her. She scrubbed his body until he looked brand new. By the time she was done, his white spots were gleaming and his black looked like coal. Once all the soap was off, she started to rub him down with a towel. A cool fall breeze came through the barn so Bethany went and grabbed a day sheet and put it on him so she wouldn't catch a cold. She led him back into his stall and the moment she unhooked the lead rope, Bullet plopped down onto the freshly spred straw and aggressively rolled.
Night had fallen and Bethany retreated back to the house after feeding and watering the horses. The wind was whipping and had to be blowing at least an average of 60 mph which meant a storm was coming.
It was around 100 a.m. when Bethany was startled by a tree branch banging on her window, then she was completely awakened by the sound of horses going crazy. She could hear the horses kicking their stall doors and whinnying as loud as they could. So Bethany pulled her hair into a messy ponytail, put on her jacket and shoes and proceeded to the barn.
"Come Jazz." She called the dog just as a precaution. As Bethany and Jazz neared closer to the barn the whinnies became louder and more urgent. Bethany flung the barn doors open and quickly flicked on the lights. Nothing seemed out of order so Bethany calmly entered the barn and realized all the horses were looking toward the end of the barn and a few paced.
Jazz suddenly lunged forward and took off toward the back of the barn barking loudly and Bethany ran after her. "Clue!" Behany screamed as she saw the frightened stallion lying helplessly on the ground, breathing heavily. Bethany ran back to the house as fast as the wind would let her and she was screaming for her dad. Ben heard Bethany yelling and quickly ran down to meet her.
"Bethany! What is it? What's wrong?" Ben asked frantically.
"Clue! He was down! On the ground! Breathing heavy! You have to come help! He looks real scared dad!" Bethany tried catching her breath. Ben nodded and before he could say another word, Bethany was running back to the barn. As Ben followed Bethany he called Eric and Miranda.
When Bethany got back to Clue, he hadn't moved. "Come on boy. You have to stand! Come on!" Bethany encouraged Clue and Clue responded by trying to stand, but he couldn't. "Come on!" Bethany went to Clue's side and began rocking his body. If Clue stayed laying down for too long, his intestines will knot up and he will die. As Bethany rocked his large body, Clue attempted to stand, but with help from Bethany, he succeeded. "Good boy!" Bethany hugged Clues neck tightly and patted him.
"He's back here." Ben came running to Clues stall with Eric, Mirandasdad, and Miranda following behind him. "You got him to stand?"
"Yep! With a little help of course." Bethany smiled and Miranda ran in and hugged her tightly.
"Thank you so much! So what happened exactly?" Miranda asked. Bethany shrugged.
Ben walked in and spotted the problem. "One of the min latches up at the top of the sling snapped. Eric, come help me fix it so we can get this poor horse comfortable." Ben and Eric quickly went to work repairing the broken latch as Miranda and Bethany soothed Clue.
" Ben, I'm telling you! This part goes here!" Eric yelled.
"Eric! You are completely wrong! If that goes there, then my mother is a monkey!" Ben yelled right back.
"Try it and see if it works then and we can decide what animal your mother is!"
Ben fitted the part in it's place and it fit perfectly. Ben looked at Eric and smacked him on the back of the head. "Told you!" He laughed. Eric just laughed.
"Alright girls, let's get Clue in this thing." Eric said and started to get Clue in the right position. When all of Clues legs were where they should have been, Eric, Bethany, Ben and Miranda all took a rope and slowly lifted Clue off the ground. Once he was 6 inches off the ground, they tied the ropes securely to their hooks. Clue took a deep breath and completely relaxed him body. Miranda kissed his muzzle and locked the stall behind her as she exited his stall.
"Alright. He's good to go. Let's go get some sleep. Miranda, Eric, you are more than welcome to stay the rest of the night." Ben suggested and Miranda and Bethany looked at each other and smiled.
"We would love too." Ben agreed.
"SLEEP OVER!" Bethany and Miranda yelled in unison.
As they all exited the barn and shut the door behind them, it began to pour down rain.
Bethany and Miranda ran and began to jump up and down, screaming as they did it. The entire way to the house, the girls laughed for no reason, while Ben and Eric talked and yawned. When they finally reached the porch, it was raining so hard they couldn't see 2 feet in front of them.
"Goodnight Eric. Night girls." Ben said as he shut his bedroon door. It was 2:30 a.m. and everyone was exhausted and fell asleep as soon as their heads hit their pillows. When Bethany woke up, she didn't hear a sound. She stretched and looked at the clock. Bethany jumped up out of bed when she saw it was 11:00.
"Miranda! Get up! It's late!" Beth yelled as she quickly dressed herself in a pair of dirty grey jeans and a yellow long sleeved shirt. She slipped on her boots and jacket and ran down the stairs making as much noise as possible. "Dad! Eric! Get up! Come feed the horses. Hurry! It's late!" Bethany ran out the door and took off toward the barn. When Bethany opened the barn doors, all the horses were pacing and whinnied when they saw her.
When Bethany already had 20 of the horses fed, Ben, Eric and Miranda slowly came walking into the barn. "Gees! What took you so long?! These horses are hungry! Get your butts moving!" Bethany yelled at them and they quickly grabbed feed and began to throw the hay to the horses. When all 41 horses were fed, they all went back into the house. It had been a stressful night and now they could all relax.
The Crash
When Bethany looked over her shoulder she saw Clue come tumbling to the hard ground and flipped right on top of Miranda, crushing her beneath his powerful body. Bethany turned Bullet back toward them and Clue was attempting to stand. By the time they reached them, Clue was standing and so was Miranda. As Bethany stopped Bullet, she realized Clue's leg was backwards. Miranda was holding his leg and knew what to do because her mom was a veterinarian.
"Bethany, can you come and hold Clue's halter." Miranda said between sobs. Bethany nodded and then dismounted Bullet and grabbed a hold of Clue's halter. "I'm so sorry Clue. I'll try and take away the pain." Miranda placed her hand on Clue's backward knee, Then smacked it as hard as she could and the leg snapped back in the right direction. Clue whinnied and jumped but Bethany held im tight.
Bethany called Mirandas mom and explained what had happened and 15 minutes later Mirandas mom and dad pulled up and helped load Clue into the trailer and Bethany followed them on horseback.
The look in Clue's eyes was one Bethany nor Miranda ever wanted see again. He had such pain in his eyes and he knew he was in trouble.
"They said he probably won't be able to barrel race again. I figure we'll put him up for stud once his leg heals, if it heals." Miranda said as Bethany talked to her over the phone a day after the accident. "Luckily, when I snapped it back in the proper direction, I guess it prevented serious damage so mom says he will heal in time."
"I'm so sorry Miranda! I really am. I know there is nothing I can do. Well, I would love to stay and talk but I have got to go bath Bullet. He's filthy. Give Clue a hug for me. Talk to you tomorrow." Bethany hung up the phone and then continued down to the barn the entire time thinking of the horrible crash.
When Bethant entered the barn and walked down to Bullets stall, something seemed different. "Jazz, come here." Bethany called Jazz just incase someone was in the barn waiting to attack. Jazz walked next to Bethany but never seemed tense. Bethany looked in all the stalls and when she came near a stal that is always empty, it had a horse in it. Bethany laughed.
"Clue. When did you get here?" Bethany slid the door open and gave Clue a hug. He nickered to her. He was being held about a foot above the ground by a sling that way no weight could be put on the leg causing further damage. The stables is a quarantine stables and injured horses go there to recover which would explain why he was there. "Let's see your schedule." Bethany picked up the schedule and skim read it.
11:45 -Wash leg and change cast.
Bethany glanced at her watch and it read 12:01 p.m. "Looks like I'll have to do it since dad's not home won't I boy." Bethany put the schedule back and went into the tackroom and grabbed a pair of cast cutters. When she went back into Clue's stall, his ears flicked forward and he nickered to her. She knelt down so she could get close enough to the cast and started to cut it off his leg. Clue remained extremely calm for Bethany and didn't even flinch when she accidentally bumped into it. After cutting off the cast, Bethany grabbed some soap and gently washed the leg and then hosed it off. Once it dried, she grabbed some Cleansing sanitizer and dug her hand in it and began to rub it on his leg. After the goop was properly applied, she wrapped with it vet wrap and then began putting on the hardened cast.
"There you go boy. All good and new." Bethany patted Clue's neck and then exited his stall. Bethany went into the Veterinarian supply room and washed her hands in the sink with a special type of soap to get the sanitizer off.
"Beth? You in here?" Ben said as he entered the barn.
"Yeah dad. What's up?" Bethany said as she left the room and greeted her dad.
Ben glanced in Clue's stall and smiled. "Did you change the cast for me?"
"Yeah because it was 12:01 and the schedule says it needed to be changed at 11:45. It wasn't that hard since the casts are already pre hardened and all I had to do was apply some of that medical glue stuff to hold it together."
"Thanks sweetie." Ben reached out for a hug and Bethany ran into his arms.
"Now if you'll excuse me, I have a horse to wash." Bethany pointed to Bullets stall and Ben laughed when he saw all the packed on mud on Bullets neck and face. Bethany shrugged and then began preparing a wash rack.
"Come on Bullet." Bethany haltered and lead Bullet to the wash rack and then attached him to the cross-ties. She turned on the water and then turned the heat up so it wouldn't be to cold for him.
Bullet shook as the warm soapy water was splashed over him and soaked Bethany as the water hit her. She scrubbed his body until he looked brand new. By the time she was done, his white spots were gleaming and his black looked like coal. Once all the soap was off, she started to rub him down with a towel. A cool fall breeze came through the barn so Bethany went and grabbed a day sheet and put it on him so she wouldn't catch a cold. She led him back into his stall and the moment she unhooked the lead rope, Bullet plopped down onto the freshly spred straw and aggressively rolled.
Night had fallen and Bethany retreated back to the house after feeding and watering the horses. The wind was whipping and had to be blowing at least an average of 60 mph which meant a storm was coming.
It was around 100 a.m. when Bethany was startled by a tree branch banging on her window, then she was completely awakened by the sound of horses going crazy. She could hear the horses kicking their stall doors and whinnying as loud as they could. So Bethany pulled her hair into a messy ponytail, put on her jacket and shoes and proceeded to the barn.
"Come Jazz." She called the dog just as a precaution. As Bethany and Jazz neared closer to the barn the whinnies became louder and more urgent. Bethany flung the barn doors open and quickly flicked on the lights. Nothing seemed out of order so Bethany calmly entered the barn and realized all the horses were looking toward the end of the barn and a few paced.
Jazz suddenly lunged forward and took off toward the back of the barn barking loudly and Bethany ran after her. "Clue!" Behany screamed as she saw the frightened stallion lying helplessly on the ground, breathing heavily. Bethany ran back to the house as fast as the wind would let her and she was screaming for her dad. Ben heard Bethany yelling and quickly ran down to meet her.
"Bethany! What is it? What's wrong?" Ben asked frantically.
"Clue! He was down! On the ground! Breathing heavy! You have to come help! He looks real scared dad!" Bethany tried catching her breath. Ben nodded and before he could say another word, Bethany was running back to the barn. As Ben followed Bethany he called Eric and Miranda.
When Bethany got back to Clue, he hadn't moved. "Come on boy. You have to stand! Come on!" Bethany encouraged Clue and Clue responded by trying to stand, but he couldn't. "Come on!" Bethany went to Clue's side and began rocking his body. If Clue stayed laying down for too long, his intestines will knot up and he will die. As Bethany rocked his large body, Clue attempted to stand, but with help from Bethany, he succeeded. "Good boy!" Bethany hugged Clues neck tightly and patted him.
"He's back here." Ben came running to Clues stall with Eric, Mirandasdad, and Miranda following behind him. "You got him to stand?"
"Yep! With a little help of course." Bethany smiled and Miranda ran in and hugged her tightly.
"Thank you so much! So what happened exactly?" Miranda asked. Bethany shrugged.
Ben walked in and spotted the problem. "One of the min latches up at the top of the sling snapped. Eric, come help me fix it so we can get this poor horse comfortable." Ben and Eric quickly went to work repairing the broken latch as Miranda and Bethany soothed Clue.
" Ben, I'm telling you! This part goes here!" Eric yelled.
"Eric! You are completely wrong! If that goes there, then my mother is a monkey!" Ben yelled right back.
"Try it and see if it works then and we can decide what animal your mother is!"
Ben fitted the part in it's place and it fit perfectly. Ben looked at Eric and smacked him on the back of the head. "Told you!" He laughed. Eric just laughed.
"Alright girls, let's get Clue in this thing." Eric said and started to get Clue in the right position. When all of Clues legs were where they should have been, Eric, Bethany, Ben and Miranda all took a rope and slowly lifted Clue off the ground. Once he was 6 inches off the ground, they tied the ropes securely to their hooks. Clue took a deep breath and completely relaxed him body. Miranda kissed his muzzle and locked the stall behind her as she exited his stall.
"Alright. He's good to go. Let's go get some sleep. Miranda, Eric, you are more than welcome to stay the rest of the night." Ben suggested and Miranda and Bethany looked at each other and smiled.
"We would love too." Ben agreed.
"SLEEP OVER!" Bethany and Miranda yelled in unison.
As they all exited the barn and shut the door behind them, it began to pour down rain.
Bethany and Miranda ran and began to jump up and down, screaming as they did it. The entire way to the house, the girls laughed for no reason, while Ben and Eric talked and yawned. When they finally reached the porch, it was raining so hard they couldn't see 2 feet in front of them.
"Goodnight Eric. Night girls." Ben said as he shut his bedroon door. It was 2:30 a.m. and everyone was exhausted and fell asleep as soon as their heads hit their pillows. When Bethany woke up, she didn't hear a sound. She stretched and looked at the clock. Bethany jumped up out of bed when she saw it was 11:00.
"Miranda! Get up! It's late!" Beth yelled as she quickly dressed herself in a pair of dirty grey jeans and a yellow long sleeved shirt. She slipped on her boots and jacket and ran down the stairs making as much noise as possible. "Dad! Eric! Get up! Come feed the horses. Hurry! It's late!" Bethany ran out the door and took off toward the barn. When Bethany opened the barn doors, all the horses were pacing and whinnied when they saw her.
When Bethany already had 20 of the horses fed, Ben, Eric and Miranda slowly came walking into the barn. "Gees! What took you so long?! These horses are hungry! Get your butts moving!" Bethany yelled at them and they quickly grabbed feed and began to throw the hay to the horses. When all 41 horses were fed, they all went back into the house. It had been a stressful night and now they could all relax.