Page 36 of Honoring Freedom
“You won’t.” “Keller seemed uneasy.
“What about Midnight?”
“I’m sorry, Free. He didn’t make it. I did everything I could think of to save him.”
She dropped down onto a bale of hay, suddenly needing to sit before she fell flat on her face. She felt the sting of tears at the backs of her eyes, but she couldn’t allow herself to break down. She had to remain strong and focused. “How did this happen?”
He paused. “I’ve seen a few cases like this before. In poisoned horses.”
“Poisoned?” she snapped. “That can’t be.”
“The symptoms…I don’t know how it happened, but I think it’s the most logical explanation.”
“Can you tell what they got into?” Her heart pounded against her chest. The air turned thin and she couldn’t breathe.
“I asked Jinx and Billy to check the pastures for any poisonous plants. They’re not back yet.”
“This doesn’t make any sense.” She swallowed hard. “Will Requiem be okay?”
“As of right now, he’s fighting. He’s up and I have him hooked to an IV to help replenish hydration after all the vomiting. I used a nasogastric tube and mineral oil. I’m also sending off blood samples so we can be sure what toxic substance they were given. It’s a wait and see process before we have any concrete answers.”
“Given? As in you think someone intentionally gave them something toxic?” Her mind was blown.
“At this point, we know very little outside of the symptoms, so we need to cover all bases.”
“What about the other horses?” Her frown grew. “Are they okay?”
“They’re being monitored but it’s likely we would already be seeing similar symptoms by now if any of the others were exposed.”
She stood as restless energy invaded her body. “Requiem and Midnight were my prized thoroughbred sires. If they ingested anything toxic, that means…” She couldn’t even form the words on her tongue. This would—could—change everything.
“Let’s not jump to conclusions. Let’s wait for the results and then take a closer look. I didn’t find any needle marks and nothing in their feed. Requiem is almost finished with detox.”
“Keller,” Jinx came strolling in, followed by Billy. “We didn’t find anything toxic out in the pastures. How are they?”
Keller motioned for Jinx and Billy to follow him away from Freedom. She didn’t even care to be privy to the conversation.
Jinx nodded, looked back at Freedom, then headed into the back of the barn.
“I’m not getting a good feeling about this,” she said when Keller joined her again.
“I agree. The hands might need training in areas, but they’d never be as incompetent to let a horse get into anything poisonous.”
“What can I do to make Requiem comfortable?” Freedom couldn’t just sit there doing nothing.
“He will need hay and high fiber feed when he’s able to tolerate solid food. And how about a sponge and a bucket of warm water.”
“I’ll go get what we need.” Freedom went to grab the items, feeling at a cross between numb and ready to sob like a baby.
With the supplies in hand, she hurried to join Requiem, her heart racing. The usual cheerful, responsive horse had his head hanging and he didn’t acknowledge her when she entered the stall.
“Poor, boy,” she said.
Keller examined Requiem. “It’s okay, boy. Relax.” Wetting the sponge, Keller ran it down the horse’s back.
“Can I take over?”
“Sure.” Keller handed her the sponge. “The water will make him feel better.”