“Look, she’s tame like a cow. My dad said this horse might have some few issues but wildness is definitely not some of them.” Keen to reassure Nicky, André was trying to produce his best English, but was getting it all wrong. It was just what Nicky needed to distract her. She caught her breath and smiled.
“I’m okay – just got a bit of a fright. Not a biggie,” she said, trying to hide her embarrassment.
She walked back to the fence and allowed Ratu to sniff her. Her fear dissolved, sinking deep down into her mind. It would rise up again to torment her another day, no doubt.
“So what is it you do, old Blondie, that stopped people riding you?” Luke stroked Ratu’s face. “Do you bark and bite?”
Just then, Grandpa Solly appeared from the tack room and came walking towards them, carrying a saddle over his shoulder.
“Here comes Grandpa,” said Luke. “I think that means we’re going to discover your secret pretty soon, Ratu!”
4
A strange trick
“Hello, hello, and what do you guys think of my little bargain?” asked Grandpa Solly, placing the saddle on the fence.
“She’s really pretty, Grandpa. I love her colour,” Luke answered. “But what are you going to do with her?”
“Oh, we’ll see. She looked so lost and out of place amongst all that furniture – I just had to buy her! She’s so adorable, and she was being sold at such a ridiculously low price, I couldn’t resist,” Grandpa Solly explained. “Oh, and she came with a few bits and bobs – an old suitcase or chest or something, and some other stuff. I must still go get all that from the auctioneer in Cape Town. There wasn’t enough space in the horsebox for a bunch of old cupboards plus a pony and all her extras.”
“So she comes with baggage, does she?” Luke said mischievously.
“An old nag with baggage!” teased André, getting the joke.
“Ah, you can laugh all you want, but I think she’s special. A horse like this can only have such an intelligent look if she’s been loved and cared for properly,” Grandpa Solly insisted.
“Yes, Grandpa, but what if she’ s like Aunty Esther’s horse – the one she hand-reared and treated like her dog?” Nicky sounded worried.
“You mean the Shetland pony that slept in Aunty Esther’s kitchen?” asked Luke. “Now that was a dud! No one could ride it – it bit like a dog and kicked like a rodeo bull.”
“My point is that that horse was also well looked after,” argued Nicky.
“Well, yes, Ratu does have her strange ways – Doc and I have already discovered that.” Grandpa Solly grinned. “Doc looked her over a bit. She’s tame and healthy, but she’s not a riding horse. At least she doesn’t kick or bite. In fact, she has better manners than quite a few of the Solitaire horses.”
“But what does she do? Does she buck?” Luke was really curious.
“Just wait and see, old chap. It’s very odd,” Grandpa Solly said mysteriously. He passed the bridle to André. “Go on, André, you saw her tricks last night. Go and catch her for us.”
André ducked through the fence, bridle in hand – the kind that had a soft bit. He walked up to Ratu, who didn’t shy away. She stayed calm while André carefully pulled the bridle over her head. Her nose band was fastened without protest, and then André tightened the throat latch, gently tugging out her long white mane from under the brow band. Ratu started chewing the bit, wriggling her nose.
“She doesn’t seem too sensitive or touchy on her face,” remarked Luke. “In fact, she’s responding just like a trained riding horse.”
“You’re right,” Nicky agreed. “Grandpa, this mare is as tame as anything. What on earth can the problem be?”
André led Ratu a few laps around the paddock – she followed happily and energetically, with no trace of any quirk or bad habit. When he stopped next to the saddle, which was draped over the fence, Ratu sniffed the leather, the sheepskin numnah and the single girth.
“Now you’ll see what happens,” Grandpa Solly smiled. He lifted the saddle from the fence and positioned himself on Ratu’s left, holding the saddle over his arm, while André stood in front of her, reins in hand.
Curiously, Luke and Nicky watched Grandpa Solly’s every move.
With his right hand he calmly stroked Ratu’s back a few times. She twitched her skin but stayed quite still as he put the saddle on her back, and she didn’t wriggle or try to back out from under it. Grandpa Solly fastened the girth around her. Luke was tense as he waited. Nicky bit the nail on her thumb.
André slackened Ratu’s reins a bit. Knowing what was coming, he stepped away from the horse. As if he were about to mount, Grandpa Solly placed his hands on the saddle, whistling softly as he always did with an unfamiliar horse. Suddenly, Ratu’s knees buckled under her, as if she were a camel, and she collapsed flat onto her side. It was as if she had fainted.
“And there you have it – our Ratu’s little trick! That is what she thinks she must do when someone puts a saddle on her back,” explained Grandpa Solly.
“Wow!” exclaimed Luke. “I’ve never seen anything like it.” He shook his head.
“That’s flipping weird!” said Nicky, baffled.
“Yup, and what’s more, you can’t budge her. Doc and I tried. She stays like that, flat on the ground, until you remove the saddle and bridle. Only then does she get up again.” Grandpa Solly stepped back to observe the pony, who was still lying completely motionless.
Luke walked up to Ratu and prodded her in the side, but she lay there as if she’d been drugged. Her eyes were closed, legs stiffly stretched out, as if she were breathing her last breath, and grunted just like Big Boy did when he was fast asleep and dreaming.
Grandpa Solly untied the girth and lifted off the saddle while André removed the bridle. And as sure as sausages, when they were finished, Ratu slowly and calmly got up to her feet, as if this was the most normal behaviour in the world.
As she stood, Ratu pricked up her ears and turned away from them towards the sound of a large truck in the distance that was heading their way.
“Ah, that must be Colette and her visitors,” said Grandpa Solly.
They all looked in the direction of the farm gate as the truck came rumbling through it.
What’s up with the palomino? Nicky wondered. She’s a strange little thing – she seems quite normal, but she’s definitely suffering from a bad case of weirdness. Just like me.
5
The Stellenbosch girls
“Cool, Mom’s here!” Luke called out happily.
The truck, a big horse truck that could transport up to eight horses, had already made its way through the
