Opal Dreaming by Karen Wood Read Free Book Online Page B

she paced about the yard.
    Over the next week the filly gradually stopped pacing, and stood sour-faced in a corner by herself.
    As Jess stood by the yard gate, Luke walked out of the stables with a bucket of tools in one hand. He seemed even lankier than when she last saw him, and his rusty brown hair was as wild as ever. He still lived at Harry’s, helping Annie to take care of the place in return for his keep. Lawson had helped him convert a couple of the stables into a flat.
    â€˜How’s she going?’ he asked, as he joined her at the gate.
    â€˜Anytime I try to go in there she just rushes at me,’ said Jess. ‘I can’t get anywhere near her.’
    â€˜Don’t forget she’s only just been weaned. She’s had a rough week,’ said Luke.
    â€˜I wish she’d eat a bit more. She’s so skinny.’ Jess watched Opal cower behind the other horses in the yard. She had tried to tempt the filly with everything from bran mashes steeped in molasses to small portions of oats. Opal remained uninterested.
    â€˜She’ll put weight back on when she goes out onto the station and settles in a bit more.’
    But Jess knew it was more than just weaning. Something was wrong. It wasn’t Opal’s body that was sick. It was her spirit. ‘I don’t want her to go,’ she said, ‘not while she’s so . . . miserable.’
    â€˜She’s not happy, that’s for sure,’ Luke said, pulling out his chaps. He swung them around his waist and began to buckle them over his jeans. ‘Do you want me to give Dodger a trim?’
    â€˜Sure, that’d be great.’ Jess opened a stable door and pulled Dodger out. In the next stable, Luke’s two wolf-dogs whimpered and barked. Filth stuck his wet nose between a gap in the doors and Fang howled. With their huge feet and soft, shaggy coats, they were like bears, the most huggable of dogs. ‘Can I let them out for a run?’
    â€˜Yeah,’ Luke shrugged.
    Jess unlatched the door. She threw a stick for Filth and Fang and laughed as they gambolled clumsily after it. She swung Dodger around and stood him up for Luke. ‘Thanks for doing him on your day off.’
    â€˜No biggy,’ said Luke, reaching for a hoof.
    Jess sat on an upturned bucket and let Dodger put his big head in her lap. She scratched his forehead while she watched Luke work.
    Luke reached a hand out behind him. ‘Pass me the trimmers?’
    She peered into his toolbox and rummaged around. ‘These ones?’
    â€˜Yep.’ Luke grabbed them and got to work on the hoof.
    â€˜Lawson reckons Opal’s got a bad temperament,’ said Jess. She grabbed a rasp and held it out, anticipating his next request.
    â€˜Ta.’ Luke reached back and took it from her hand.
    â€˜But it’s just all this forceful handling she’s had,’ said Jess. ‘It’s teaching her to hate people.’
    â€˜She’ll be okay with the right handling. Harry always said, “The younger they are, the more you can turn them around.”’
    â€˜Wish Harry was here now so he could tell me what to do,’ Jess said, almost to herself.
    Luke spoke from under Dodger’s belly, still cheerful. ‘Yeah, he would’ve known what to do with her.’ He finished the front hoof, dropped it, ran a hand over Dodger’s hindquarter and picked up the next one.
    â€˜Harry was like a father to you, wasn’t he?’
    â€˜Yep,’ said Luke, snipping away at the hoof.
    â€˜Where’s your real dad?’
    Luke kept snipping for a while before he answered. ‘Harry was my real dad.’
    â€˜I mean your biological dad.’
    â€˜Don’t know, don’t care,’ Luke said in a neutral sort of voice.
    He didn’t offer anything more, and Jess wasn’t sure whether to push it, because she couldn’t see his face. She had never heard anything about Luke’s real family,