A Promise Corrected

Okay, Dreammaker and Bailey. I don’t plan to do this all the time!

Thanks go to Jennifer Adams for the original story!

Prissy stood in her stable, shaking with a mix of pain and anticipation. Her foal was due at anytime now, and she was ready to be done with this. Mike stood with her and the Dr. Alderson, the vet.

“She looks good, Mike. I don’t think there’ll be any problems this time, either.” The Vet said.

“Mindy will be thrilled.” Mike said. “Since she did so well at the fair again, I’m sure her foal will bring a good price when it’s ready to be sold. We’re planning on eventually breeding her with Necromancer again, since they seem to get along so well.”

“Yeah, they are a good match. That last colt is looking damn good down at Jake’s place. I hope this one is just as nice! I may even put in a bid on this one!”

The pain began to get worse for Prissy, and a little while later a filly began to suckle from her. As predicted, Mindy was quite happy with the newest foal. She was in the stable, the next day, currying Prissy and watching the new filly, Sassy.

“Just look at her, Prissy! You did real well, Dad.” She smiled. Sometimes it was hard to believe that her beautiful Palomino mare had actually been her father. “I guess that kinda makes us siblings, huh?”

Prissy shook her head. She would have liked to tell her daughter that Sassy was a much better child than Mindy had become. Spoiled brat. If she hadn’t been so afraid of what they would do to her, she would have bucked the little bitch off.

Even Devon had become an avid rider. He liked spurring Prissy to run faster and faster, until she was almost exhausted. Pregnancy had brought relief from that torture, but now that the foal was de3livered, Prissy knew it would soon become a regular part of her day again.

Sassy soon grew into a very pretty filly. Once she was weaned and sold, “Mike”, who had once been his childhood friend Dana, was planning to let her recover for a while, before having her put to stud again. Mindy was growing out of her enjoyment of Prissy, and he wanted to see if Devon wanted to try and race her at the fair.

A couple of weeks later, three women came to their farm, asking about buying Sassy. They looked at Prissy as they wandered around with Mindy.

“Is this the mare that foaled Sassy?” The oldest one, Caroline O’Connor, was statuesque and very beautiful. She was very obviously of Irish descent, with her creamy skin and long auburn hair. The two younger women, who she introduced as her daughters, Megan and Bridget, quite resembled her. “Would you be interested in selling her? My daughters would take very good care of her, I assure you, and we would be happy to offer a substantial price for her.”

“I really hadn’t thought of selling her,” Mindy admitted. “She is very special to us, but we have felt quite the pinch in today’s economy.”

“Well, would you like to think about it, or discuss it with your parents?”

“I’ll be right back.” Mindy said. “I’d like to see what my mom thinks, okay?”

“Sure, we’ll just wait for you here.”

The pretty young girl ran into the house.

“Did you have to ‘help’ her, Mother?” The younger daughter asked.

“No, Bridget, she has a lot of greed in her.” Caroline said. “Little bitch is anxious to sell her father to us. I am so disgusted by these people. Truly, a terrible, terrible family, eh, Prissy? Or should that be Mike? No worries, we are here to help you, just relax.”

Megan worked to soothe Prissy. “We’ll soon get you out of here, Mike, but there are steps to be taken. That damn amulet!”

Prissy did her best to remain quiet. Could they really help him/her?

Mindy and Connie came out to the barn, “My mom was wondering what you might be willing to offer for Prissy, with the promise that she would be going to good, caring home, of course.”

Caroline, Connie and Mindy discussed money matters, while Megan and Bridget played with Sassy. It didn’t take long, and both Prissy and Sally were loaded into the O’Connor’s horse trailer. After a short journey, the three O’Connor women stopped and let Prissy back out of the trailer, and soon Mike was sitting in the back of their truck, wrapped in a blanket and sipping a cup of coffee.

“How did you know about me?” He asked.

“We work with a kind of Law-enforcement group, specializing in mystical matters.” Caroline told him. “We’ve been tracking that god-be-damned amulet all over the country.”

“I can’t believe my own family, including Dana, would do that to me.” Mike said, shedding a few tears. “Especially my children! They were such good kids, but what selfish and self-centered kids they have become. They all knew what Connie had done! They knew, and did nothing!”

“Well, they will soon be learning what kind of ‘reward’ they’ve earned for themselves. I’m hoping you won’t mind returning to your farm in a few hours? We have several chores that need to be finished, before we can close this case.”

Mike smiled.

No one ever noticed that Mike’s family had disappeared. Indeed, no one remembered that Mike had ever even had a family. They certainly admired his fiancée and her two beautiful daughters, though. All three of the women just loved to ride, and Bridget became a terror at the local races.

They owned several beautiful Palomino mares, and a nice Guernsey cow that Mike called Maybelle. The horses were regularly leased to a riding program for disabled children; at least until they had produced a few foals, and Caroline and Mike decided that they’d learned their lesson. Maybelle was milked daily, and Mike had plans to breed her a few times before he let Caroline restore her.

Mike would not allow any of his animals to remain trapped, as he had thought he would be. They would all eventually be returned to a human existence, although they would no longer be the people they had been.

Mike sometimes had problems with his voice, but he attributed it to being a little horse.

My little tribute to JulieO's Iona stories, and to Bob Arnold. Rest In Peace, Bob.