Chapter 2


Almost one month had passed when Lisa walked into the paddock, eager to get closer to Dragonfly again. She brought a couple of apples with her and very, very slowly walked towards the horse. "Hey boy, look at you. You are such a beautiful boy, aren't you?" she murmured. Lisa was near enough to touch Dragonfly's neck when Dragonfly raised up and tensed his muscles. Lisa knew enough about horses to know that she had gone too far. That horse was about to explode. Lisa told herself to breath calmly and backed away very slowly. She concentrated on nothing but the horse and didn't notice the man coming towards the paddock. The distance between Lisa and Dragonfly got bigger with every step that Lisa made backwards – she didn't dare to turn her back on Dragonfly. Adrenalin was shooting through her body and just when she thought nothing would happen Jack called her: "Hey there", and winked. Lisa turned her head away from Dragonfly for a split second, recognized Jack, opened her mouth to say something but then didn't because Jack frantically yelled: "LISA, WHATCH OUT!" Dragonfly was rearing up and stormed towards the blond, who jump out of his way just before he ran her over. She ran towards the fence and Jack quickly opened the gat, grabbed Lisa and pulled her out of the paddock. "Damned", Lisa cursed.
"Jesus, Lisa", Jack murmured, took a tissue out of the pocket and pressed it on Lisa's head. Only then did his wife notice the blood that was dripping on the ground. Dragonfly got her again, but this time on her head on the right side of her forehead.
"Can you walk?" Jack asked. He noticed that Lisa was a little unsteady on her feet.
"Yeah", Lisa said, suppressing a groan. Now that the shock was wearing off the pain really started to unfold. She thought they would walk back to the house and hesitated when Jack guided her to the truck.
"I'm not going to the hospital, Jack!" she stated.
"Yes, you are", Jack murmured, not up for a discussion. He knew Lisa long enough to know that she avoided doctor visits as long as she could but Jack also knew that head injuries are no joke and just by looking at Lisa he could tell that she was in pain.
"It's really not that bad, please Jack", Lisa plead.
"Lisa, it'll take thirty minutes for them to stich you up. We'll be home before you know it."
"You know as well as I do that that's not true. They'll want to keep me over night, make cranial scans and all of that because of a laceration", Lisa discussed.
Jack took a deep breath in. He really wanted someone professional to check Lisa but knew that he couldn't force her to the hospital.
"I'll call Tricia Verani, she'll take a look and tell us if you need to go to the hospital or not, deal?"
"Deal", Lisa sighted. Her head was pounding and nausea mounted inside her.
"Come on, let's get you inside", Jack decided and supported her on the way to the house. "Lay down on the couch, I'll call Tricia", Jack demanded gently and Lisa gladly sunk down on her sofa with the tissue still pressed on the wound.
Jack came back with an icepack wrapped in a kitchen towel that they switched against the blood-soaked tissue.
"She said she'll be right here", Jack said.
"'Kay", Lisa whispered with closed eyes.
"Are you feeling tolerably OK?" Jack asked concerned.
"Yeah, I'll be fine", Lisa murmured.

Then Tricia called: "Hello?"
Jack got up and guided her to the living room.
"Hey there", Tricia greeted Lisa who looked as pale as the white wall behind her by now.
"Hi Tricia, thanks for coming so fast", Lisa forced herself to smile and wanted to sit up but Tricia stopped her by quickly lying a hand on her shoulder and pressing her back again: "Don't get up, just lie down like that. What happened?"
"She got attacked by a rather unstable horse", Jack explained.
"All right, let's have a look", Tricia said and took the icepack off the wound and caused Lisa to groan in discomfort.
"That looks nastier than I thought", Tricia admitted, "you definitely need a couple of stiches, Lisa."
"Can you do it here?" Lisa asked.
"I'd rather not", Tricia looked at Lisa's expensive furniture. Lisa noticed Tricia's look and said: "Don't worry about the couch."
Tricia took out a little pen-torch and shone a light into Lisa's eyes.

"Is it possible that the horse hit your head with his skull so hard that you might have a concussion?"
"I don't know. It all happened so fast, I barely remember", Lisa answered so Tricia looked questioning at Jack.
"It was a pretty hard collision, I think it might be possible, Lis", Jack answered.
"Do you feel nauseous, dizzy, sleepy?"
"A little maybe", Lisa confessed.
"I would prefer it if we could get you to the hospital", Tricia said, "I can stich the wound and give you something for the pain but there's not much more I can do here."
"Well, that's not much less than the hospital would do, is it?" Lisa muttered.
"No, it's not but in case it gets worse you would be in good hands", Tricia argued.
"I'll be fine and if not I can still go to the hospital", Lisa decided.
"All right", Tricia took out the utensils she needed for the stiches and anesthetized the area around the wound which was more painful that the gash itself. A little later the pain was numb though and soon Tricia packed her things and left the couple alone after giving strict instructions: "No TV, Phone, iPad, Laptop, nothing mentally or physically challenging! As long as you remember everything and the pain doesn't get worse you should be back on your feet in a couple of days. Some only need days, some need weeks so take all the time you need."

"You know what Lisa, you can be so stubborn, it drives me crazy", Jack murmured when he sat down at the other end of the couch and lifted Lisa's legs on his lap.
"I'm really fine Jack, I'm not just saying that to calm you down", Lisa smiled.
"Well, I will be so generous and believe you and I will even let you decide whether you want to come to Heartland with me or if you want me to stay here", Jack grinned.
"Hm, tough choice", Lisa smirked but fell asleep before she could say anything else. Jack chuckled and called Lou to tell her that he won't be coming home that day.

Lisa recovered fast and a week later she was up on her feet again. Even though she was absolutely annoyed by everyone asking her what had happened as soon as the big Band-Aid on her forehead was spotted she was doing relatively good. Jack noticed that she was doing much better too so one evening when they were sitting at the dinner table together and the rest of the family had already excused themselves Jack started the conversation he wanted to have ever since Dragonfly bit his wife in the head.

"What are you going to do with Dragonfly now?" Jack asked.
"What do you mean what am I going to do with him?"
"Well, are you going to try to sell him or do you plan on keeping him?"
"I'm not gonna sell him, nobody is gonna buy a horse that bites anyway", Lisa said.
"You did", Jack reminded her.
"Yeah, but they didn't say that one of his issues is attacking people."

"Did something like that happen before?" Jack asked, already suspecting the answer.
"Once maybe", Lisa answered evasively.
"What happened?"
"It was in his first week at Heartland. I tried to stroke him but he spooked and bit me in the arm", Lisa admitted.
"Lisa! You didn't say a word!"
"I know how you 'd think about it", Lisa sighted, "but I hoped it was just a onetime thing."
"Well, now we know it's not. I knew that guy was trouble!"
"Now you know why I didn't tell you", Lisa muttered.
"I'm really trying not to tell you that I told you so, but honestly Lisa, that horse is nothing worry. I wish I could forbid you to go near him!"
"But what am I supposed to do? I can't sell him; I can't ask anyone else to go near him in my place. I can't just euthanize him without giving him a chance", Lisa exclaimed.
Amy, who had just walked into the room overheard the last sentence. "Euthanize Dragonfly?" she asked. She knew that it had been Dragonfly that had caused Lisa's head injury and had been waiting pretty much since the accident to ask if she could help.
"I just don't know what to do with him", Lisa sighted.
"I could – ", Amy started talking but Lisa and Jack interrupted her at the same time: "Absolutely not", Jack said and Lisa: "No way!"
"I could just take a look at him. I don't even need to get inside the paddock for that", Amy said.
" Fine, you can LOOK at him, but neither of you is getting near that horse!" Jack demanded and looked at the two woman he loved with his whole heart.
"What horse?" Georgie asked who now had overheard Jack's last sentence when she had walked through the front door after having dinner with Peter.
"The one that bit you, Lisa?" she asked.
"Yeah", Lisa nodded vaguely.
"Can I look at him too?" Georgie asked.
"I don't know if that's such a good idea", Jack answered. Georgie would fall for Dragonfly as soon as she saw him and he really didn't want to see her sad face if Lisa would actually decide to put him down.
"What's the harm in looking?"
Everybody looked at Jack who said: "I'm not the one that can make this decision anyhow, go and ask Lou, if she says yes we will take you with us."
"'kay", Georgie agreed and searched for Lou. She talked her into allowing her to go with Jack, Amy and Lisa so the next day all four of them gathered around Dragonfly's paddock.
"He is definitely a real beauty", Amy admired the horse.
"That he is", Lisa sighted.
"How old is he again?" Amy asked.
"Three and a half", Lisa answered.
"Do you know why he is acting out all the time?" Georgie wanted to know.
"Well, I bought him pretty much as a problematic horse. They said he was nervous in new surroundings, doesn't trust people and so on. But no one ever mentioned any aggressive behavior towards humans."
"What doesn't mean that there has never been an incident before", Jack murmured.
"No, of course not", Lisa agreed sighting, "but this dimension of aggressiveness still comes as a shock. I don't know if it's me Dragonfly can't stand or something I did."
"Can I just watch him for a while?" Amy asked.
"Sure", Lisa nodded, "but I really don't want you to go near him."
"Don't worry, I'll stay outside the paddock", Amy promised.
"Can I stay with you?" Georgie asked.
"Yeah, I don't see why not", Amy nodded and so only Jack and Lisa left them alone.
"What are we going to do now?" Georgie asked.
"We are going to sit on the fence and wait what happens", Amy decided.
"That's all?" Georgie rolled with her eyes.
"We need to find out what triggers him before we go near him."

But after almost an hour Amy still couldn't make head or tail of Dragonfly. He had been call the whole time, grazed and enjoyed the sunshine on his back. When Jack and Lisa got back to the paddock Amy said: "I have no idea what makes him loose his mind so fast, he was absolutely calm now. Maybe I just need more time with him. I'm thinking that the fact that he wasn't raised by other horses might have been the reason why his behavior is so strange. If there was never anyone to show him where the line is than his behavior now is not really surprising. Young horses need someone to be raised consistent just as much as young children do. Was he checked by a vet?"
"Of course", Lisa nodded, "he's supposed to be physically fine."
"Maybe he's still traumatized by losing his ´mother or by the fire and every little gesture remembers him. I'm not sure but I think it's worth a shot. I would love to work with him", Amy said, knowing that her grandfather would do everything in his power to forbid it.
"No. No way", Jack shook his head.
"Grandpa, I'm sorry, but I'm really not a child anymore that you can forbid to take on a horse. I'm responsible enough to be careful around him and I won't do anything risky."
"Just being near that horse is risky enough!" remarked Jack.
Amy looked at Lisa.
"I can't say yes if Jack says no, I really don't want to get caught in the middle of you two", Lisa said.
"I could try to work with a fence between me and Dragonfly in the beginning", Amy suggested.
"And never alone", Jack demanded.
"All right", Amy nodded. Then Georgie, Jack and Amy expectantly looked at Lisa.
"Fine", Lisa said, "but I don't even think we can get him in a trailer without putting ourselves in danger."
"Can't Ty sedate him for the ride?" Georgie asked. Lisa thought about it for a while. She never liked to sedate any of her animals but Amy couldn't work with Dragonfly on Fairfield because they couldn't get him into a round pen without coming near him.
"Maybe", she thought out aloud. Jack couldn't help but felt sorry for his wife. He should have stopped her from getting that horse.
"I'll give him a call", Amy decided.

With the sedation Dragonfly was unloaded at Heartland only a little later. Amy put him in a round pen where he could stretch his legs but wasn't far away from the everyday life at Heartland. That way they could all keep an eye on his behavior and she could work with him without getting too close.

"Please be careful with him, Amy. I could never forgive myself if you'd get hurt by this horse", Lisa told Amy when they walked to the house together.
"I promise", Amy smiled.