Broken [In Revision 2023]

Chapter 5 - Jake and Maddison

The evening brought with it a cool breeze, Caleb stood dozing by the water trough, tail swishing lazily at the cloud of flies that enveloped him. Their incessant buzzing and biting were slowly driving him mad but exhaustion robbed him of any hope of removing their burden.

His ears pricked as the back door opened. He watched the man as he made the short trek to the barn. Beside him, the two horses whinnied and hurried down to the bottom gate. Caleb wandered down the fence line, eyes and ears trained to the sliding door of the barn.

"Evenin'," the man said as he laid three buckets down on the concrete. He pulled the hose over to the buckets and started to sprinkle water over the pellets inside. "Moonie please, have some manners," he said to the young horse who was prancing around and pulling faces, "anyone would think you weren't fed." He rested the hose over the tying post.

Caleb flicked his ears back as the man leaned over the fence.

"How are you feeling now? My name is Jake, that fool is Moonie and the old girl is Dezi." He looked the horse over and noticed the crusted blood on his knees, "Looks like you have been through the wars, boy."

Jake put his hand on the latch and let himself through the gate.

Caleb's eyes widened, he drew his head up to full height and puffed himself up.

"I need you to trust me, those wounds need seeing to, and those flies will drive you mad if I don't get that sweat off you. I won't make you wear one of those silly rugs," he gestured over to the two domestic horses, "that's my niece's doing, she likes to keep 'em clean."

Jake took his time to approach the wild horse, watching for the first indication of movement, then taking a step back to ease the pressure.

Caleb took a breath and deflated his chest, tension leaving his muscles, if only temporarily.

Jake took a step forward, then another, repeating the backwards steps as necessary until he could stand within reach of Caleb. He held out his hand for the stallion to sniff, enjoying the tickle of the warm breath over his fingers.

He moved in closer and let his hand brush the stallion's cream coloured coat. It trembled under his touch, but he held his fingers still until he felt the tension dissipate. He couldn't help but smile as the horse started to accept his touch as a pleasurable experience. He scruffed the dried salts from the horse's coat and laughed as the horse's bottom lip quivered.

Caleb felt the fingertips leave his skin and there was a sense of disappointment when they didn't return. Curious, he lifted his head to watch Jake disappear back towards the fence. He wasn't sure why he did it, but something pulled him closer to Jake, he didn't want to be on his own.

Jake pulled a purple head collar off the fence post. The metal clasp hit the gate with a metallic clang. Jake closed his eyes and swore under his breath. He waited for the sound of fleeting hooves, but it never came.

He offered the headcollar to Caleb, giving him the time he needed to get an idea of the new object. "You look pretty young, no doubt it's been a while since you had one of these on."

Caleb sniffed the nylon, picking up the traces of scent from the horses that had worn it previously. He took a step back as Jake pulled it over his nose, but the material followed him, remaining on his skin. Too tired to keep protesting, he stood still. It crept up his nose before a second strap closed landed behind his ears.

Panic drove his head high, the whites of his eyes visible as he launched himself in the air. His forelegs struck out at the long tail of lead rope dangling from his chin.

"Easy," Jake put his hand on Caleb's shoulder. He spoke softly but was mindful to keep his body out of the scared horse's way.

Caleb came back down onto four hooves, wincing as his left leg took back its share of his body weight. He tried to rear up again, but the pain was quickly getting the better of him. He snorted his disapproval instead.