Star Gazer Page 5

  When the gavel fell, Jordan was the proud owner of three speckled hens. She’d paid ten dollars apiece for them. She wasn’t sure if that was a good deal or not, but she thought they were worth every penny.

  “That was so much fun!” she said. “Where are those chickens with the fluffy feathers on their legs? I want to bid on them, too.”

  Nicole’s mom laughed. “Whoa, better slow down a little bit,” she cautioned Jordan. “I think you’ve got a touch of auction fever. If you’re not careful, you’ll be going home with a gaggle of geese and a bunch of potbellied pigs.”

  “Bring ’em on!” Jordan joked, and they all had a good laugh.

  A flock of sheep were herded into the ring, and Nicole’s parents prepared to bid. Jordan let her mind drift back to Star Gazer. She crossed her fingers, hoping some nice person in this crowd would buy the big mare.

  She scanned the faces, wondering if the packer was in the crowd. Her eyes lit on a tall, thin man with a hawk nose. He stood near the entrance to the sale arena, carefully watching the livestock that came through. Jordan wasn’t sure what a packer would look like, but that man seemed to be the most likely candidate. Maybe she could distract him somehow when Star Gazer came through the pen.

  Jacob herded some calves into the ring. The little red Herefords bolted about, confused by all the noise. Some bucked and played, others bawled for their mamas, and one flopped down in the middle of them all like he was going to take a nap.

  They waited through another ten minutes of livestock showing, then the door to the sales ring opened. The crowd oohed and aahed as Star Gazer walked into the pen, her head held high and proud, even as she limped on her two front feet.

  Jordan sat straight up. Butterflies swirled in her stomach.

  “Take a look at what we got here!” Mr. Yoder’s voice boomed over the speaker system. “This beautiful and talented mare comes to us from the famous Sutton Farm. She’s got a bit of trouble in her two front feet. We’re not really sure what the problem is, so this mare is selling ‘as is.’ Can I get an opening bid?”

  A low mumbling rippled through the room, then a shout of “Yep!” went up from someone standing near the back.

  “Who is that?” Jordan asked Nicole.

  He’s one of the spotters,” Nicole said. “They listen and watch for bidders that the auctioneer might not see.”

  “I’ve got five hundred!” the auctioneer shouted. “Do I hear six?”

  Jordan quickly glanced over at Jacob to see if he knew who had made the bid. The look on the boy’s face told her everything she needed to know.

  The wrong person was bidding on Star Gazer.

  seven

  Jordan’s world tilted as the bid quickly rose to six hundred dollars. “Who’s bidding?” Nicole’s mom asked, craning her neck to look.

  “The bad guy and at least one other person,” Jordan said, still trying to see where the bid had come from.

  Nicole squeezed her mother’s hand. “Mom, we think it’s a packer bidding on her. They’re going to put her in a can if we don’t do something.”

  Nicole’s mother shook her head in disgust. “I wish there was some way to keep those people out of here.”

  “I have six hundred, looking for seven,” Mr. Yoder chanted.

  Jordan picked up her bid card. “I’ve got about one thousand dollars. I’ve got to do something,” she said, “or Star Gazer is going to die.”

  Nicole’s mom looked alarmed. “But dear, I thought you were only here to buy chickens. Won’t your mother—”

  “Seven hundred!” Mr. Yoder shouted. “I’ve got seven hundred, looking for seven-fifty.”

  The crowd buzzed with excitement, waiting to see who would win the bid.

  “I’ve got to do it,” Jordan said, her hand shooting into the air. “I’ve got to at least try to save her.” She waved her card, praying Nicole’s parents wouldn’t stop her. They’d signed for her card, giving permission for her to bid. They probably regretted it now.

  “Lookie here,” the auctioneer said in his singsong chant. “This little lady is going from chickens to draft horses.” The crowd chuckled along with him. “That’s quite a jump there, missy.”

  Mr. Yoder looked to Nicole’s parents to verify that the bid was okay. Jordan figured they must have been stupefied, because they didn’t object.

  “I’ll accept your bid of seven hundred and fifty dollars,” Mr. Yoder hollered into the microphone. “Do I hear eight?”

  “Oh, dear!” Nicole’s mother said as her hand went to her throat. She turned to her husband. “Do you think Jordan’s mother is going to be okay with this? Should we stop the bid?”

  In the time it took Nicole’s dad to respond, the bidding went up another one hundred dollars.

  “Mom, Dad, we’ve got to help Jordan,” Nicole pleaded with her parents. “Please let her bid.”

  “Please, Mr. and Mrs. Wilson, I’ll take all the blame and punishment,” Jordan begged. “Even if my mom grounds me for a year. I can’t let Star Gazer die.”

  “I have eight hundred and fifty dollars,” Mr. Yoder said. “The young lady has been outbid. Would you like to bid nine hundred, miss?”

  Jordan didn’t dare breathe. She waited for the Wilsons’ answer, praying that the hammer wouldn’t fall before they gave it to her. If Mr. Yoder banged his hammer before she could give the next bid, then all was lost. Star Gazer would belong to the packer.

  “Mom…Dad…you’ve got to decide now!” Nicole said.

  Mrs. Wilson nodded. “Go ahead, Jordan. We’ll figure something out when it’s all done.” She shook her head. “But what am I going to tell your mother?”

  Jordan raised her bid card as fast as she could. “Nine hundred!”

  The other bidder instantly upped the bid to one thousand dollars. They were already at Jordan’s breaking point.

  Nicole placed her hand on Jordan’s arm. Jordan wasn’t sure if it was to get her attention or stop her from bidding.

  “Whoever you’re bidding against, they’re not going to stop,” Nicole said. “Jacob told you they might go as high as eighteen hundred. You’re already at your limit if you bid again. If that’s a packer bidding against you, he’s got tons of money to work with. He’ll just keep running up the bid.”

  Mr. Yoder continued his auctioneer chant. “I have one-thousand-one-thousand-one-thousand…Can I get eleven hundred?” he added, staring directly at her.

  Jordan felt almost as bad as she had the day her dad walked out on them. She couldn’t breathe and blood pounded in her ears, making it difficult to hear. She was outbid and there was nothing she could do about it. She couldn’t, and wouldn’t, ask the Wilsons to become any more involved than they already were.

  “Are you in for eleven hundred?” the auctioneer asked.

  It pained her to do it, but Jordan had to shake her head.

  “One thousand going once…going twice…” He paused, giving them one last chance, then smiled sadly before banging his gavel. “Sold, to bidder number thirty-five for one thousand dollars!”

  Jordan looked to Jacob. She had a hard time seeing him through the tears that pooled in her eyes. They locked eyes for an instant and he tipped his head to a man on the rail, indicating the winning bidder. “No…,” she whispered. It couldn’t be!

  Standing by the rail was the short bald man who’d lost his wallet. The turkey gobbler! But he’d been so nice. He couldn’t possibly be the man who hauled horses to the packer!

  Jordan’s breath came out in one big whoosh and her gut tightened. She swallowed hard, trying not to be sick. She could hear the sighs and booing of the people around her. They wanted her to have the horse, too.

  She looked up, trying to catch the attention of the bald man who had won the bid. For the first time, he turned and looked to see who he’d been bidding against. Jordan saw the surprise register on the man’s face when he realized who it was. Shaking his head, he left the auction block.

  Nicole’s mom grabbed her purse.
“Well, we gave it a good try,” she said. “Let’s just pay for our livestock and go.” She reached over and gave Jordan a motherly hug. “I don’t imagine you want to stay any longer, do you?”

  Jordan shook her head and gathered her things. She thought about going back to visit Star Gazer one last time, but knew she’d end up blubbering like a baby. Jacob would make sure the mare was well cared for until the packer loaded her up.

  She took a deep breath and tried to smile at the people who gave her a sympathetic look or pat on their way to the payment window, but her heart was breaking. She hadn’t been able to save the beautiful mare. She followed the Wilsons, trying hard to stop the tears that threatened to fall.

  They had to wait in line for several minutes while the people in front of them settled their accounts. Jordan hadn’t felt this miserable in a long time. Her stomach actually hurt. She just wanted to get this over with and go home. Maybe coming to the auction hadn’t been such a great idea after all.

  “Jordan, wait!” Jacob hollered as he cut through the crowd and ran toward them.

  Jordan’s head snapped up at the sound of the boy’s voice.

  When he reached them, he had a big smile on his face. “You’ve got to come back to the auction ring. The packer told my dad that he’d made a mistake and couldn’t take the mare. Star Gazer is going back through the sale ring right now! Since you were the only other bidder at the end, you get the first right of purchase at your last offer!”

  Jordan stood there listening to Jacob’s words, but they weren’t sinking in. “What does that mean, Jacob?” she asked. Her head was spinning, trying to make sense of it all.

  Nicole grabbed her by the arms and swung her around to face her. “It means you’re going to get another chance!” she said. “Your last bid was nine hundred dollars. Sometimes the winning bidder can’t follow through on his offer. When that happens, the next highest bidder is given the chance to buy the animal at their last bid price. That means you!”

  Jacob motioned them forward. “You need to return to the sale ring and officially tell my dad that you want the bid at nine hundred dollars.”

  Jordan turned to Mr. and Mrs. Wilson. “Can I?” she pleaded. She’d already lost Star Gazer once. She couldn’t bear losing her a second time.

  Mrs. Wilson looked to her husband. He gave her a smile. “I guess we’re all in this together, Jordan,” she said. “Go ahead and make your offer. If your mom doesn’t want the horse, then we’ll have to take responsibility for her. We’d have to find a new home for Star and try to get your money back, though. We can’t keep her ourselves.”

  Jordan gave them both a big hug. “I’m really sorry that all this happened,” she apologized. “I feel terrible that I dragged you into it. I don’t usually do things like this. But I can’t let Star Gazer die. It’s not fair. Her owner shouldn’t have abandoned her like this.”

  Mr. Wilson rounded them all up. “Let’s get back to the auction before it’s too late.”

  Jordan walked back into the sales ring and a loud murmur of approval rose from the crowd. Mr. Wilson signaled his approval to the auctioneer, and Mr. Yoder slammed the hammer on the podium with a loud crack. “Sold to the chicken lady for nine hundred dollars,” he crowed.

  The onlookers applauded loudly.

  “You did it!” Nicole wrapped Jordan in a big hug. Then she laughed and held her out at arm’s length. “What in the world are you going to do with a horse the size of a Volkswagen? You only came here to buy chickens!”

  Jacob interrupted them to congratulate Jordan. “Well, it was a crazy ride, but you won in the end.” He took off his hat and dusted the brim. “What are you going to do with her?”

  Jordan shocked herself by blurting out, “Star Gazer’s going to win that log-skidding contest at the fair this year.” She wasn’t sure what made her say that. She didn’t know a thing about draft horses, let alone driving them. But Mr. Sutton needed someone to give him some competition, and Star Gazer would be the perfect horse to do it.

  Jacob gave her a doubtful look. “You’re biting off a pretty big chunk there,” he cautioned. “Are you sure you can handle it? That contest is only a couple months away and you’re new to the sport. In fact, you’re kinda new to everything.”

  Jordan felt a bit hurt. Jacob didn’t think she could do it. She knew that she’d be the weak link in the process. She was starting from scratch. But she could learn how to work with draft horses, couldn’t she?

  Jacob seemed to sense that he’d hurt her feelings. “We’ve never had a girl in the log-skidding contest,” he said. “But there’s no reason you couldn’t give it a try…assuming Star Gazer doesn’t have anything seriously wrong with those feet.”

  He stuffed his hands in his pockets and looked at her. “You’ve got to face it, Jordan. There’s a good chance that Star Gazer might have something really wrong with her hooves. Sutton doesn’t just get rid of prime breeding stock. Star Gazer might have to be put down if she’s broken any of those bones in her hooves. You need to get a vet to look at her as soon as possible. That’s my best advice.”

  The full impact of Jacob’s words hit her like a horseshoe between the eyes. Jordan leaned against the wall and took a deep breath, letting it out slowly. She’d just spent most of her savings on a horse she knew very little about. A horse that was lame and might have to be put down anyway. Maybe she needed to just take one step at a time. “I know,” she said. “But for now, I just want to get her home and make her happy.”

  Jacob nodded. “How are you going to get her home?”

  That was a good question. Jordan frowned. How would they get the big mare home? Especially with sore feet. She couldn’t exactly walk her the ten miles to their house.

  “We’ve got a trailer,” Nicole said, “but there’s no way Star will fit in it.”

  “My dad and I could deliver her to you if you can wait until Monday,” Jacob offered.

  Jordan smiled. “That would be really great. I’m going to need a few days to get the place ready anyway.” That’s the understatement of the year, she thought. They’d fixed the stall up for Ned when he’d stayed with them a few days. But it was pretty flimsy. They’d need to reinforce it and make it bigger to hold an animal Star Gazer’s size.

  Plus, she’d need the extra time to figure out how to tell her mom that a huge horse was coming to live with them.

  Jordan’s head was beginning to hurt. What was she going to tell her mother? They were already living on a shoestring budget, and her mom only had plans for raising a few chickens. What would she say when the Yoders delivered Star Gazer?

  Jordan knew one thing for sure. She should forget about her plans to enter the pulling contest at the fair. When her mother found out she’d just bought an injured draft horse, Jordan would be so thoroughly grounded, she wouldn’t see the light of day for an entire year.

  eight

  Jacob led them back to Star Gazer’s pen. This time, when Jordan stood by the mare, she looked at her through new eyes. Star Gazer was hers! She’d waited for this day for so long—and now it was finally here. She had a horse of her very own!

  She placed her hands on either side of Star’s head and rubbed the mare’s large cheek bones. She almost had to stand on her tiptoes. Everything about this horse was massive. The halter they’d found in the barn definitely was too small. Nothing that fit a normal-size horse would work on Star. Good thing there were a lot of draft horses in the area. She’d seen Amish-made halters in the local tack store. She’d be shopping there soon—right after she mowed a few more lawns.

  “Well, I’ve got to get back to work,” Jacob said. “But don’t worry about your mare. You took care of ol’ Ned for us, so now we can return the favor.” He waved and walked away, then turned back, pulling a small pad of paper out of his pocket. He scribbled something on the top sheet, tore it out, and handed it to Jordan. “Here’s our phone number in case you guys have any questions or need anything.”

  He gave her a mischi
evous grin, daring her to ask him if Mennonites were allowed to use modern gadgets like phones.

  Jordan beat him to the punch. “Yeah, yeah, I get it. Mennonites can have telephones.”

  “Hey, now you’re catching on,” Jacob teased. “Brother Fisher follows the old Amish ways and doesn’t own one. But he can come over and use ours if he feels like it.” He turned to the Wilsons and tipped his hat. “Have a good day. You guys can check out at the cashiers. Once you’ve paid for everything, I’ll help you load up your smaller purchases.”

  An hour later, Jordan was sitting on the porch steps with her cage full of speckled chickens. Her mother would be home from work soon. Jordan had gone over every imaginable reason for buying a lame horse. But none of them sounded better than the truth: She’d bought Star Gazer because the mare was going to the killers, and she couldn’t let that happen.

  Her mother was going to totally flip out.

  Jordan’s foot tapped uncontrollably on the wooden step and she nibbled at her fingernails. When she heard the sound of a car engine slowing down to make a turn and the crunch of tires on gravel, she burst into tears.

  Her mother quickly climbed out of the car and took a seat next to her on the stairs. “Jordan, honey, what’s wrong?” She put her arm around her daughter’s shoulders and pulled her close. “Why are you crying? What happened?”

  The enormity of what she’d done hit home. Jordan choked back a sob. Her mother was going to be so disappointed in her. Mrs. McKenzie tucked a long strand of hair behind her daughter’s ear and pulled a tissue from her purse to wipe away the tears. “There now,” she said softly. “Calm down and tell me what happened.”

  Jordan hiccupped. “I didn’t mean to, Mom, but I couldn’t help myself. They were going to send her to the killers!”

  The look on her confused mother’s face was so comical, Jordan almost stopped crying. She realized how silly her words had sounded. She sat up straight and took a deep breath. “Mom…I did something that’s going to really upset you…”