The Penny Pony by Patricia Gilkerson Page B

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there were four cars in the front parking lot, and Dad’s truck was
parked in back. This was good and bad. He was in the office, but
there were lots of clients, which meant he was busy. We went in the
back door so as not to bother clients and their pets. I sniffed the
clinic smell of dogs, cats, medicine and air freshener, and
listened to the yipping and the Easy Listening radio station. Some
people don’t like the smells and noises, but I’ve been coming here
all my life, so I’m used to it.
    We found Dad in an exam room, sewing up a cut
on a golden retriever pup’s leg. I waved at Sue, his assistant. She
was my babysitter when I was little, but now she was just my
friend. She had a two year-old and I babysat for her sometimes.
    “Hi, Piper. Hi, Addie,” Dad said. “Be with
you in a minute.”
    “Hey, Dad, we found a pony that’s being
mistreated and we need you to help us.”
    “A pony? Where?”
    “Over in the vacant lot across from the
drugstore. Can you come look at it?”
    “Later, hon. I won’t have time till
tonight.”
    “But Dad, it looks really bad.”
    “Hold him still, Sue. I’m almost done. There!
Now, what about the pony?”
    “It’s pitiful looking! It’s hungry and
thirsty and isn’t being taken care of. We need you to turn the guy
who owns it in for animal neglect.”
    “Whoa, Piper.” Dad held up his hands in their
bloody exam gloves. “I can’t do anything about it unless I look at
the animal. And I have four more clients out front and three farm
calls to make after that.”
    “But, Dad, we have to take care of it now.
She has sores on her legs!”
    “Look, Piper, honey, I’m sorry, but I can’t
right now. I’ll call you, or come by tonight. Tell your mother I
might be over.” My mother didn’t like Dad to just drop by. She had
to brush her hair and look in the mirror when she knew he was
coming. And she would kill me for telling this to anyone. Dad
thought it was because she wanted to straighten up the house, but I
knew she wanted to look better since the divorce. She’d lost some
weight and lightened her hair, too.
    Sue had left the room and now she stuck her
head back in.
    “Dan, there’s a beagle that just came in
that’s having convulsions.”
    “Put it in Room 2, Sue. I’m coming. See you
later, Piper. Bye, Addie.” Dad picked up the pup and left the room.
Addie and I walked out into the parking lot and looked at each
other.
    “Wow, your dad is really busy. I want to be a
veterinarian when I grow up, if I don’t become a marine biologist.
But who else can help us?” Addie wondered.
    “I don’t know,” I said. “I don’t like to
count on adults too much. If we have to, what about your
mother?”
    “Not mine,” said Addie. “She’s working on a
big project that’s late and said not to call her unless I break an
arm.” Addie and I had a lot in common, since we were both horse
lovers and had divorced parents. We would both start high school
this fall. Addie’s dad lived in Wisconsin and she only saw him a
few times a year, so I felt lucky that my parents were at least in
the same town.
    “My mom is still mad at me,” I said, bending
over and picking up a penny off the sidewalk. “I think she’ll yell
at me about the plates I broke. They were my grandma’s Haviland.”
It wasn’t just the plates, although I shouldn’t have tried to
juggle them. Mom was really angry that I fibbed about them and
generally mad at the world because she was trying to find a job and
nobody seemed to be hiring.
    “Well, we don’t have a Humane Society in
town,” said Addie. “Maybe the sheriff? We have to get help
somehow.” So off we hiked to the sheriff’s office. I was kind of
frustrated and angry that my dad didn’t have time for us, but the
fairness side of my brain reminded me that he really was awfully
busy and didn’t know how bad the pony looked.
    We sat in the air-conditioned law enforcement
office for twenty minutes, waiting for Sheriff Harvey