"Hurry, Vicky!" Rae said, although Vicky was already addressing the problem currently. The stallion did not let Rae touch him. When she tried, he snapped at her with his teeth. Poor thing, Rae thought, If only I could make him understand that I can help him.
But Rae was wrong, Seto did not deny that she could help, it was that he didn't want her to help him. He just didn't like being babied like a sick puppy. Seto didn't need her comforting words to help him, he could take a little pain, he knew he could. After all it was his fault. Seto had wanted to follow Jeff and his mare. He had attempted to jump the fence, thinking he could clear it, but it proved to be too high and he got tangled in the wire and wooden railing and caused the entire thing to collapse, hence his cuts and gashes.
Vicky came back with an equine first aid kit. She first started by snatching Zanzibar by the halter and forcing his head down so she could examine the cuts. Seto tried to knock his head back or half rear, but Vicky had him held down firmly. Seto knew he had underestimated her strength and stopped fighting. After a quick examination, Vicky applied some strange liquid that reeked of ammonia onto his cut. Seto snorted in pain for the medicine burned like fire and then he relaxed as the pain ceased steadily. She did the same to other wounds until Seto was numb from the stinging and the strong smell of ammonia was making his eyes water. Then she did bandage what she could and injected Seto with a tentanus shot and some kind of antibiotic. "I'm going to have to stitch up the facial wound, but he's not going to be able to go out in his paddock again or else risk him rubbing them out," said Vicky, "There's no way I could bandage it, the way it's on his face."
Finally the hard part came, the wire. Vicky gingerly lifted Seto's back leg as if she were going to clean out his feet and then held it with one arm while she took some pliers and carefully removed the wire embedded in Seto's leg. As soon as she removed it, Seto struck out angrily, nearly missing Vicky's bent head. Then she stitched that also and bandaged it all the way up to his hock.
Rae's heart ached for Zanzibar, not because she knew the horse would be in pain for the next few days, but because she knew that he loved to run in his paddock. Being in his stall would only make things worse and he would become even more irritable.
Seto could not believe what he was hearing. They thought he was that dumb to actually scratch out his stitches. Did they really think animals were that ignorant? Sure he was a horse, but it wasn't like he was retarded. Vicky swiftly clipped a lead rope onto Seto's halter and handed it to Rae.
"Alright, if you wanna learn to get used to you, you have to assert yourself," Vicky said patting Seto's shoulder. He twitched in irritance.
"Don't worry, I know how to handle this," said Rae.
"Well, let me just say something about wild horses, this handsome boy you have here was born without the least bit of experiance with humans, he doesn't know that you are a threat. He didn't grow up being hand-fed carrots and patted, he grew up where enemies are everywhere. Right now he sees you as a possible threat and forcing him to do something is going to make him even more nervous. You need to be calm, but let him know you are still in charge." Vicky said.
"I'll try," Rae said and clicked her tongue softly and gently tugged on the lead rope, signaling for Zan to walk forward.
Seto tossed his head and took one step forward on instinct. He was going to have to get used to being handled like he didn't know how to get from his bed to his night-stand. The black stallion walked beside Rae to the barn door and then halted. He hated doing this, he looked stupid. Your a man, Seto Kaiba, think for yourself, you can still be a human. A voice in his head said. Seto obeyed it and sat back firmly on his haunches and leaned hard against the lead rope.
"Come on, Boy," Rae said tugging harder against the rope and clicking her tongue again. "Walk on,"
Seto reared on his hindlegs and neighed shrilly. The rope nearly slipped out of Rae's hands, but she leaned back into it just as Zan had done. It was just like a game of tug-of-war. And Seto was winning. Rae felt her arms grow sore from holding Seto in. The stallion dug his front hooves deep into the ground, arched his back, and leapt in the air. That had done it. The rope slittered to the ground and he was off.
"No...," Rae breathed watching the fine cotton rope slip from her grasp. For a split second, Seto had a swelling pride in his heart as he gallantly raced away. He head high, he neighed mockingly at the girl and broke into a collected canter towards the exit and to home. But his moment of glory didn't last long and he felt his head snap back violently. Seto reared on his hindlegs nearly toppling over backwards. Vicky once again had proved her quick, I guess you could say, veteranarian-like, reflexes. The young equine doctor had snatched the rope just in time. Seto was outraged and he bucked in frustration.
"NO!" Vicky commanded firmly and jerked on Seto's halter violently, "No," Seto hated having his head jerked like that. It gave him a headache. The stallion was forced to calm down, still it didn't end his fury and once again refused to go into the barn.
Vicky gave the rope to Rae. "Now make him listen, he already knows what's expected of him, you just need to let him know that you want him to do it,"
Rae sighed, this time she put more strength in her hold and firmly commanded him to walk. Seto couldn't afford another annoying "head-knock" so he reluctantly followed the girl into the cool barn. He was breathing hard with both fatigue and fury. He couldn't stand this anymore. It would drive him crazy by next week. But why him? Why couldn't it have been that stupid Joey Wheeler or Tristan Taylor? I mean they both have a lot in common with horses anyway! Why did he have to go through this trauma? He didn't deserve it!
Seto was placed in a lonely stall, covered with a silky layer of cobwebs and the faint smell of mollasses. Rae locked the door and left the horse alone in his stall. Maybe it would let him think about what he had done. Angrily, Seto kicked the stall wall, causing an old plank of wood to crack and fall to the ground. He wanted to run and buck and get off this tension, but in here it was like a terrible prison. It even had bars on the door, although they didn't serve the same purpose as the bars on a cell door, they still gave Seto a sunken feeling in his heart. Seto let out a pleading whinny and struck at the stall door. Get me out of here! He demanded. I'm Seto Kaiba, I don't deserve this! The other horses snorted irritably as if to say, So what, don't we all deserve this?
Stupid animals, Seto thought bitterly, They just don't understand, their just stupid, heartless creatures, they deserve worse. For the rest of the evening he lay down on the thin bedded ground. Even with very muscle and tendon crying out in agony, even stuck in a rural state far from home, even with his heart burning for revenge, he knew he still needed rest. After all, he had longed for it forever. And for the first time in Seto's entire life, he slept peacefully that night.
That evening, Rae Gilliland arrived at home on Rex. The gelding was getting restless and wanted to go faster towards home. "I know, your tired too, Boy," she said and patted Rex's chestnut neck. Rex shook his head and walked closer to the barn. Luckily the barn lights were on. Rae dismounted and led him down the path to the stables. Her mother was grooming a very ancient sorrel gelding.
"Hey, Mom," said Rae.
"Hey, Rae, how was it today with Vicky?" her Mom asked and patted the horse on the shoulder.
"Okay, Zan still has some quircks, but we'll get those fixed," Rae lied skipping Zan's fence jumping escapade and his violent temper.
"That's good," said Mrs. Gilliland, "And so are you, Hugo," she stroked the old gelding's shoulder. The old horse, Hugo, whose show name was Cry of Dolores, had been an excellent five-gaited show horse when he was younger and was nominated Best of the Breed the year before he retired to a saddle horse. Rae still thought the veteran champ still had plenty of spark. Hugo nuzzled Mrs. Gilliland's shoulder and in return recieved a scratch on the forehead. "Oh, yes, you recieved a package in the mail today," she said. "It's on your bed, I didn't open it yet."
Rae quickly untacked and brushed Rex for the night and she ran into the house and into her bedroom. "Gee, I hope it was that duel disk I ordered from Kaiba Corporation." she tore open the package into her dismay, it was not duel disk, but a picture frame. She flipped it over and revelied a picture of a two girls sitting astride well groomed horse. One was her and the other was her cousin, Rebekka Hawkins. A letter written on colorful stationary behind it.
It said:
Dear Rae,
I know this is a short notice, but I've been missing you
and I wanted to see if your parents would let me come over for the rest of the summer,
yes, I had a good time at the Kaiba Corp Grand Prix if your wandering, also along with me,
my friends, Yugi, Joey, Tristan, and Tea wanted to come with me. They said they had never
been to Nevada before. I hope your folks don't mind, but if you can't let them come that's okay! If you do decide to let us come, then call me ASAP! See ya!
Your favorite cousin, Rebekka Hawkins.
PS: I found that picture of us at the horse show. It turned out it was in my backpack the whole time!
Rae reread the letter again to make sure that she had not missed anything. This would be great! Not only was her cousin going to see her, but some champion duelists too! She sat on her bed thinking about what they would do. Then Zanzibar popped into her mind and her heart sank. Her parents would think that they would be a set back from her work with him. But as she thought over it a bit she decided that it wouldn't really matter, maybe they would even help her! She ran down stairs, the letter in her hand to the living room where her mother was sitting, stroking their sleeping dachshund, Sho.
"Guess what Mom, Reb says that she wants to come over for the summer!" said Rae.
"Well, that's nice, tell her she can come," Mrs. Gilliland said with a yawn and continued stroking behind Sho's ears.
"But, there's more to it," Rae said, "She's bringing Yugi Moto and three other kids!"
"Yugi Moto, wasn't he that guy on that fishing show?" her mother asked drowsily.
"No, Mom, that was Takahiro Omori, this is a duel monster champion!" said Rae.
"Well, I guess, you can, after all you need somebody around here to keep you company,"
"Don't worry, even after they leave I'll start school and I still have the horses,"
"Well, until then, it would do you some good to be around humans your age for once," Katrina Gilliland sighed deeply, "I'm totally sorry Rae,"
"Why Mom?"
"I guess moving way out here wasn't the best desicion," she said.
"I guess it's fun...," said Rae.
"Well, you know your father and I haven't gotten one single border or show rider or anyone, I'm afraid if we don't start making money soon, we're going to have to sell all the horses and try another business."
Rae's stomach grew cold. She hated to think about selling all the horses, it would be terrible without them. And if she meant all the horses she meant not only Rex and Hugo but Zanzibar too. She thought back to what Jeff said earlier about show horses. "What if we do something that doesn't involve horse showing, like some sort of club,"
"But honey, you know most of our profits center around show horses, we need to be more creative, or we can move back to Kentucky and let our horses drop dead with the flu like dominos." Katrina said.
"No something like a school or something, like a riding school, and maybe even have ap lace where Navadans can duel and ride," said Rae, "I'm sure lot's of kids don't know how to ride horses and like to duel, we can make it cheap and when the students see our pretty show horses, they'll want to start showing too!"
"That sound like a good idea, but we need to hire an instructor first and that will take forever,"
"No, you can be the instructor, you're a great rider Mom, and you taught me everything about horses I know,"
"I guess I'll try, but don't get too excited, I have to let your father 'okay it' first, and oh yeah, your handling the little duel thing,"
"Thanks a lot," said Rae and she gave her mother a tight sqeeze. She was glad they now had a foundation for their new business now and she had time to train Zanzibar. She imagined herself already, sitting on his back in a well polished saddle with his coat shimmering like satin. It was a long shot to be thinking about competing on him,but at least there was still time to dream about it while she could.
