Star Gazer Read online

  Jordan busied herself with straightening the hay pile. She didn’t want her mother to see the tears in her eyes.

  “I spoke to Mrs. Miller after Jacob called,” her mom continued. “She said her husband will be there supervising you kids, and he assured me there’s nothing to worry about. I’m going to drop you off, then go to the store and do some stocking while you’re taking your lesson.”

  “Sounds like a plan,” Jordan said, keeping her head down.

  Her mom brushed some bits of hay off the front of her shirt. “You finish here and I’ll go up to the house and make us an early lunch.” She turned to leave, then looked back at Star Gazer. “Do you really think Star could beat Sutton in that pulling contest if her feet got better?”

  Jordan shrugged. “I don’t know,” she answered. “But Jacob said she used to be one of Sutton Farm’s top pulling mares. They had big plans for her before something went wrong.”

  Jordan’s mom nodded and walked away, leaving Jordan to wonder what all that was about. She grabbed the wheelbarrow and a pitchfork and pushed them to Star’s stall. Soon, she’d get to trade in her cleaning tools for driving reins. She couldn’t wait!

  A few hours later, they pulled into the Millers’ place. Jordan had always enjoyed looking at it whenever they drove by, but it was even prettier up close.

  Like many of the farmhouses in this area, the Millers’ two-story brick house was almost a hundred years old and very well kept. The lawns were perfectly manicured, and colorful mums and marigolds overflowed the flower beds. The big red barns and stable yard were immaculate. Horse-drawn farm implements and carriages were parked nearby. In the green pastures beyond the barns, at least a dozen golden Belgian draft horses grazed in the fields. To Jordan, this place was paradise.

  Jacob came out of the barn with an armload of harness collars. His hands were too full to wave, but he tipped his head in their direction when he spotted them. Jordan could see Daniel and his dad leading a team of Belgians from the side pasture.

  Suddenly, Jordan got a bad case of nerves. She’d been waiting for this moment, but now that it was here, she didn’t want to get out of the car. What if she messed up and made a fool of herself? She’d already done that several times since they’d moved here. What if she made a mistake and did something that hurt the horses? Or what if they were just too big and strong for her and she couldn’t physically do it?

  “Everything okay?” her mom asked.

  “Yeah, I guess, “said Jordan. “I’m just feeling kind of out of place. Everyone here is a real pro at driving drafts and I’m going to feel really stupid.”

  Her mother reached over and squeezed her hand. “Everyone has to start somewhere, sweetheart. We can’t all be professionals at everything. Just do your best and enjoy learning something new. I’m sure Jacob would never make fun of you.”

  Jordan smiled at her mother and stepped out of the car. “Thanks, Mom.” She hoped her mother was right. Jacob and Daniel had been driving draft horses for years. Surely they wouldn’t make fun of her when she tried to join their ranks.

  There was only one way to find out…

  Putting one foot in front of the other, Jordan marched toward the barn where the horses were waiting.

  thirteen

  “Hi, Jordan, glad you could make it,” Jacob said as he waved her over. “Let me introduce you to everyone.” He clapped the farm owner on the back. “This is Mr. Miller. And over there is my best friend, Daniel.”

  The Miller boy peeked out from behind a large mare he’d just tied to the post. “Hi, Jacob tells me you were the one who rescued him and Brother Fisher in the buggy accident.”

  Jordan just smiled. She felt kind of overwhelmed with so many talented horse people around.

  Jacob set down the harness collars. “Hopefully, we won’t have any buggy accidents here.” He looked directly at Jordan and smirked.

  Mr. Miller tied the other horse next to the one tethered to the post and grabbed a set of brushes to groom them. He gave Jordan a wink. “Don’t let these boys give you a bad time, missy. If I’m not mistaken, one of them took out a fence post last week when they were practicing.”

  Daniel shoved his hands into his jeans pockets and kicked at the dirt.

  Jordan looked up in surprise. “Really?”

  The boy shrugged. “The post was rotten. It needed replacing anyway.”

  Everyone shared in the laugh.

  Mr. Miller pointed toward the house where a middle-aged woman and a teenage girl were sitting on the porch. “That’s my wife and daughter up there,” he said. “They’re working on some stitching right now. You’ll get to meet them later.” He squinted and looked across the field. “Daniel’s got a younger brother and sister hiding around here someplace. I’m sure you’ll meet them, too. But for now, let me say that we’re happy to have a fresh face in town. And it’s really nice to see a young lady interested in draft horses. A lot of the girls around here ride them fancy show horses.” He laughed. “They’re more like lap dogs than horses.”

  Jordan thought he must be talking about Nicole’s riding friends from the stable.

  Jacob took a brush and started grooming one of the Belgians. “Now, let me introduce you to the horses. This here’s Candy,” he said. “She’s the right-hand mare. The other one is Suzie. She pulls on the left. They’re full sisters, a year apart. Normally, we hook them together and drive them as a team—which you’ll do later on after you’ve mastered one horse. But today, we’re going to harness them separately, and you’ll take one horse while Dan takes the other,” he said. “I’ll walk beside you to make sure you don’t get into trouble.”

  “Like getting dragged around the barnyard?” Jordan asked.

  “Yeah, something like that,” Jacob grinned.

  Mr. Miller handed Jordan a brush. “You’re here to learn, so you might as well jump right in.” He stood back so she could get to work. “I hear you bought one of Gilbert Sutton’s mares.”

  “Yes, I bought her at the auction,” Jordan said as she ran the brush over the golden coat, marveling at how beautiful the two huge draft horses were.

  “If I remember right, that was quite a pulling mare,” Mr. Miller said. “Gilbert won several competitions with her. Then one day, they say she just quit pulling. I hear he tried her several times; he even gave her to his son Tommy for a while. That kid ruined the mare as far as I’m concerned. Sutton got so darned mad when Star Gazer wouldn’t cooperate that he gave up on her and turned her out to pasture.”

  Jordan kept brushing. The story made her feel sad and angry. Mr. Sutton shouldn’t have stopped loving Star just because things didn’t go his way.

  “Hey, you missed a spot,” Jacob said, bringing Jordan back to the present.

  She looked up at him, glad that he had broken into her thoughts. She wasn’t going to let anything spoil this special day. She was with friends and working with horses. Everything she learned here would help her with Star.

  Mr. Miller handed her a hoof pick and helped her get the first foot lifted off the ground. “That mare of yours has great bloodlines, but Gilbert didn’t even want to breed her. Said he didn’t want to pass on the lazy gene. Truth be told, I think the mare just sulked on him. She really loved Sutton’s daughter. I think that mare gave up once the girl left for college.” He helped her pick up the draft’s other large foot. “But that’s just my opinion.”

  Jordan took in all of the information. She’d do whatever it took to help Star Gazer become a good skidding horse again. From what everyone had told her, it seemed that Star had once loved it.

  Jacob pulled out a small bench and placed it beside the horse Jordan was brushing so she could stand on it to reach its back and the crest of its neck. When they were done with the grooming, they moved the horses to the harnessing area. Jordan was fascinated with the setup.

  The harnessing station looked similar to the decking that went around the outside of an above-ground swimming pool. It stood about four feet off th
e ground and had three sides to it, like a squared-off horseshoe.

  “What’s this for?” Jordan asked.

  “We use it for harnessing the horses. They can be led in and tied in the center.”

  “How does it work?”

  While the boys moved the horses into the station and tied them to the rings on the railing, Mr. Miller explained. “Harness is heavy,” he said. “Especially if it’s heavily spotted. It’s easier to drop it down on their backs from this platform than it is to throw it up on their tall backs from the ground.”

  “I see,” Jordan said. “But what do you mean by ‘heavily spotted’?”

  “Spotting is the big silver dots they put on harness for decoration,” Daniel explained. “Work harness for the fields usually doesn’t have any spotting, but show harness is loaded with it. People who show their horses want the harness to be flashy. It makes the harness heavier, though.”

  “Oh, and just so you know,” Jacob said, “Mr. Fisher and the people in his Amish community don’t use spotted harness. They believe it’s prideful and not necessary.”

  Jordan smiled to herself. Simple harness would go along with the Amish people’s simple lifestyle. She was beginning to understand some of the differences between the Amish community and the Mennonites.

  Mr. Miller handed Jacob and Daniel bridles. “We’ll let the boys put on the bridles and harness collars today, Jordan. You can stand by and watch this part. But we’ll let you help with the harnessing.”

  Jordan felt a shiver of excitement. She was actually learning how to harness a draft horse! Someday soon she might get to harness Star Gazer. She wasn’t sure how or where she was going to get her own equipment—it was pretty expensive.

  “Now comes the difficult part,” Mr. Miller said. “We’re going to put the rest of the harness on these horses and attach it to the collars so we have one complete pulling unit.”

  Jacob bumped Jordan with an elbow. “I’ll help if you don’t think you can do it. This harness probably weighs about half of what you do.”

  Jordan bristled. Was he saying she was a helpless girl? “I can do it,” she said.

  “You’re going to get your chance right now,” Mr. Miller said. “You’ll learn to appreciate this raised decking. It cuts your workload and makes it possible for someone your size to harness a big horse.”

  “Come on, then, Jordan,” Jacob said. “Dan and I will take you to the harness room and show you how it’s done.”

  As she followed them, Jordan noticed the knowing looks that passed between the guys. She could tell they weren’t sure she could handle this, but she was determined to prove them wrong. She’d seen harness before—just not close-up and in person. Like everyone, she’d seen the famous Budweiser Clydesdales on the TV commercials. Harness was just a bunch of pieces of leather stitched together. How heavy could it be—even with the silver spots on it?

  They stepped into the harness room and Jordan felt her jaw drop. She stared for a moment, then breathed deeply, taking in the wonderful scent of well-oiled leather. All around them, on big hooks and harness racks, hung driving reins, harness collars, and work harness. Against the wall, in oak display cases with glass fronts, was heavily spotted, prized show harness. She’d seen pictures of it in magazines and in those famous commercials with the Clydesdales. It was even more impressive than she’d imagined.

  “Here’s the one you’ll be using.” Jacob pointed to a work harness on a long rack. “We lay our harness out from front to back to keep it in order. Those long metal pieces at the front of it are what we call the ‘hames.’ They go on the collar and connect the whole thing together.”

  Jacob showed Jordan how to position herself. “You need to start at the front, like this, take a hame in each hand and run your arms all the way up through the center of it. This will keep it all in order when you pick it up. That makes it easier when you transfer it from here to where the horses are and place it on Candy’s back.”

  Jordan thought it sounded simple enough, but she didn’t like the way Jacob was looking at her—like he knew something she didn’t. She watched Daniel grab Suzie’s harness. At first it looked easy, but then she noticed the way his muscles strained when he pulled the harness from the rack. She was beginning to understand why the boys had given each other that knowing glance. This was going to be tougher than she thought.

  “Okay, let’s go,” Jacob said. “I’ll help if you need it.”

  Jordan gave an unladylike snort. If she was forced to the ground from the weight of the harness, she might ask Jacob for help. But her pride and her stubborn streak would make that a last resort.

  She took a hame in each hand and ran her arms up through the harness. She could barely fit it all on, so she tipped her arms up to make sure the harness wouldn’t slip off and drop to the ground. Taking a deep breath, she pulled upward and away from the rack. When the full weight of the harness hit her, she took another big breath and tried to balance herself.

  The harness was heavy and awkward to hold. She wasn’t quite sure how she was going to carry it to where the horses were waiting, but she was determined to try. Putting one foot in front of the other, she followed Daniel out the door. Jacob trailed behind her, waiting to take over if she requested it. Not gonna happen! she thought as she gritted her teeth and marched on.

  She wasn’t exactly sure how she made it up the four steps to the platform without tipping over, but she smiled triumphantly when she reached Candy’s side. Now she understood why Mr. Miller had built the platform. There was no way she could toss this harness up onto a draft horse’s back—especially after carrying it that far.

  Jacob guided her into position beside Candy. “Let me show you how we do this part.” He put his arms under hers and showed her how to place the hames up high on the withers so they could be attached to the collar.

  Jordan felt her face flush at the feel of Jacob’s arms guiding hers. Her brain went in a couple of different directions and she missed some of the things he was saying. But together they laid the harness out along the horse’s back with the padded loop Jacob called the crupper going under the tail, and the thick breech strap across the wide part of the horse’s hindquarters.

  “There, you did it,” Jacob said. “Good job!”

  Everyone agreed and Jordan felt her spirits soar. She could do this!

  Mr. Miller showed her how to hook up the different straps so everything would stay in place and secure. Finally, they attached the long driving reins to the bridle and ran them through the rings on the harness. They were ready to drive.

  The sense of accomplishment Jordan felt when she looked at the harnessed mares surprised her. Working with horses and learning new things was fun. This could turn out to be a great summer!

  “Should we go into the front paddock,” Jacob asked, “or the big field?”

  Mr. Miller backed Candy out of the harnessing station and headed her to the front paddock. “We’ll start in the small enclosed area until I’m sure Jordan’s able to control this horse. We’ll save the big field for when we start her on the cart…just so she doesn’t run into anything.”

  When the boys all laughed, Mr. Miller turned to Jordan. “Those boys wouldn’t be hee-hawing like that if I showed you the video of them learning how to drive a horse and carriage.”

  “Oh, yeah?” Jordan ran ahead to open the paddock gate, then hurried back to hear the story.

  “You’d better believe it,” Mr. Miller said. “Daniel here took out my hitching post and a cart tire by cutting a turn too short. And Jacob there wiped out the side of his dad’s old horse trailer.”

  Even though Daniel and Jacob weren’t laughing anymore, that news didn’t make Jordan feel much better. If two boys who had been raised around draft horses could make such big mistakes, what chance did she have? She’d die of embarrassment if she took out a stretch of fencing or hit the side of the barn.

  Daniel and his dad drove the horses through the gate and stopped them in the center of the
large dirt paddock. “Step on over here, Jordan,” Mr. Miller said, offering her the driving reins.

  Jordan stood there for a moment, frozen like the big horse statue at the head of the Miller’s driveway.

  “Come on, Jordie,” Jacob encouraged her. He took the reins from Mr. Miller and motioned her forward. “I’ll be right here with you. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

  Jordie? Her grandmother was the only one who had ever called her that, and it was a long time ago. But Jordan liked the way it sounded when Jacob said it. Her legs felt a little wobbly when she stepped forward to take the reins, mostly because of nerves, but partly because of the boy’s warm smile. Nicole would give her a good-natured poke and say she was smitten. But Jordan told herself that she just liked hanging around Jacob because he was smart and nice.

  To be safe, Jacob and Mr. Miller positioned her several feet behind the horse, just out of kicking range. Jordan was surprised to see that the correct hold for the driving reins was pretty much the same as the one she’d learned in her English riding lessons, but these reins were wider, and there were many feet of reins left over. Mr. Miller showed her how to fold the remaining reins and toss them over her shoulder so she wouldn’t get caught in them.

  Jordan stood behind the big cream-colored hindquarters of the Belgian mare, unable to see anything directly in front of her but the horse. The wide reins felt unfamiliar in her hands, and she couldn’t get comfortable with the length of rein hanging over her shoulder.

  She waited—half excited, half terrified—for the instructions that would teach her how to drive and work as one with the giant Belgian mare, and eventually with Star. This was the moment she’d been waiting for.