Moon Shadow by Chris Platt Page B

corralled the filly in his arms.
    Callie put her face parallel with Moon Shadow’s and began the chewing motion. The foal stretched her neck and blew softly on Callie’s cheeks. “I think she likes me,” Callie said, trying not to laugh as the filly’s long curly whiskers tickled her chin.
    Justin released his hold on the foal, and Moon Shadow stepped toward Callie, bobbing her head and sniffing her clothes. Callie raised her hand to pet the filly’s neck, but Moon Shadow spun and ran several steps before turning to face them.
    â€œYou’ll have to move slowly until she gets used to being around us,” Justin said as he went to catch the filly again.
    Moon Shadow was much easier to round up this time. They were still trying to make friends with her when Susan returned with the milk. She handed the bottle to Callie. “Since you’re going to be doing the work, you might as well start right now. I know you’ve bottle-fed calves before. This should be a little easier, because foals don’t usually butt you with their heads.”
    Callie gave a short laugh. She remembered being knocked over by one of the bull calves her parents were raising. Feeding Moon Shadow would definitely be easier.
    But the little mustang proved them wrong. Every time Callie tried to get Moon Shadow to accept the bottle, she spit out the rubber nipple. Justin and the vet stayed around for a while trying to help, but eventually they had to go finish other jobs around the pens.
    â€œJust keep trying,” Susan encouraged. “We’ll be back to check on you in a while. I’ll send Harvey over to help you. He used to work with the orphaned foals.”
    While Callie waited for Harvey, she spoke softly to Moon Shadow, smiling when the filly curled out her tongue and made sucking noises. “You look like you’re hungry enough to eat all of this, even if it is in a bottle. Why won’t you drink?” She tipped the bottle up and poured some of the milk on her fingers and tasted a drop with her tongue. It wasn’t the best thing she’d ever tried, but it wasn’t too bad. She slowly raised her hand and rubbed the little buckskin’s soft coat. “We’ll make a good team, you and I,” she said softly as she picked up the bottle again. “Now, if I can just get you to eat.”
    Moon Shadow made more sucking sounds with her tongue. Milk was still dripping from Callie’s hand, so she offered it to the filly. To her surprise, Moon Shadow sucked the milk from her fingers. Callie picked up the bottle and tried again, but the foal immediately spit it out. “Okay, we’ll do it your way,” she said, pouring more milk over her fingers. She giggled as the foal’s soft tongue tickled her hand.
    â€œIt looks like you’re making progress,” Harvey said as his cane tapped across the packed earth of the roadway that circled the mustang pens. He was carrying a bucket, but Callie couldn’t see what was inside.
    â€œWhat do you have there?” she asked.
    Harvey took the unlit corncob pipe he kept clamped in his jaws and shoved it in his front pocket. He smiled, showing off his new false teeth. “I managed to round up some goat’s milk. I figured it might come in handy,” he said as he hung his cane on the side of the pen and let himself in through the gate.
    Callie shook her head. “This isn’t going well at all. Moon Shadow won’t drink from the bottle. The best she’ll do is suck on my fingers.”
    Harvey set the milk bucket down near the filly. “She doesn’t have to drink out of the bottle,” he said. “If you can get her to drink from a bucket, it’ll be even better.”
    â€œWhat do we have here?” an impatient voice questioned from the far side of the fence.
    Callie’s head swung around at the sound of the familiar nasally voice. The boss man of the Antelope Springs Mustang