Charlie visited daily all week. It was one of the things that kept Willy from going crazy about being stuck in the hospital and not able to be up and around. He was really glad when the doctor told him he could leave the hospital and get back to his own quarters. He couldn't ride for a while, and he needed to use crutches, but at least he was up and about.
As soon as Willy was up and hobbling about on his crutches, he made his way down to Cocoa's stall. He had missed him and wanted to see how he was doing.
Cocoa seemed well fed and content. At first. But when he saw Willy, he backed up, looking frightened. Willy was surprised. He held his hand out to Cocoa. "What's wrong, boy?" he asked. Cocoa stayed where he was. Willy didn't know quite what to do, so he left.
The same thing happened the next day. And again the next. Willy tried standing at the gate to the stall as long as he could. No matter how long he stood there, Cocoa didn't budge. If Willy came into the stall Cocoa wouldn't let Willy near him.
"It's so strange," Willy said to Charlie one day. "It's like he's afraid of me."
"Maybe it's the crutches," Charlie suggested.
"Maybe," Willy echoed, though he doubted it.
After a while Willy's leg was healed. He remembered what his aunt had said after his first fall: "If you fall off, get right back on again." Well, he intended to do just that.
Unfortunately, Cocoa had other ideas. He made it impossible for Willy to even halter him. Mr. Bucket had to step in and help. Even then Cocoa was less than cooperative. He snapped at them when they tried to cinch up the girth. He refused to open his mouth for the bit. He did everything he could to put a stop to Willy's plans. When it came time for Willy to get on, Mr. Bucket had to hold Cocoa's head so he wouldn't escape. Even so, Cocoa kept dancing his hindquarters around, making it impossible for Willy to mount. Finally in desperation Willy jumped, grabbed Cocoa's mane, and swung himself on. Willy slowly sat up. He realized he was shaking. It was one thing to get on a horse willing to be mounted after falling, but it was quite another to try to get on one who wasn't willing. Mr. Bucket let go and backed up to where the rest of his family stood. For a moment everything was quiet, then Cocoa exploded. Willy had to kick his feet free of the stirrups and jump off to keep from being thrown again. Cocoa snorted, pinned his ears, and charged at Willy. Willy ran and took shelter behind the Buckets. It appeared they had a problem horse on their hands.
After a bit Charlie managed to catch Cocoa and get his bridle and saddle off. Charlie would have given him a brushing, but Cocoa had just barely been restrained long enough to have the saddle and bridle removed. Now he shot away from where the people stood.
For the next few days Charlie searched for brochures of places that claimed to help with problem horses. Willy and the Buckets had decided this was the best plan of action since they didn't know about how to help with problem horses.
On the evening of the second day Willy counted the brochures. There were ones from about a dozen different places. Willy organized them and sat down in his office to find a place.