Bang! Willy slammed down the receiver of the telephone in frustration and disgust. "I am NOT sending Cocoa to a place that bullies and beats horses!" he exclaimed. "I want him cured, not broken!" Willy crumpled up the brochure and threw it, like the ones before it, into the trash can.
"Willy?" came Charlie's voice. Willy turned around. Charlie came into the room. "Any luck?"
"No," Willy said. "So far all the places I've tried say he has an attitude problem and he just needs a firm hand and to be shown who's boss, which they say they'll provide. I don't think that's what he needs. It sounds like the kind of thing my father would approve of. Cocoa's like me, Charlie. If somebody tried that with him, he'd rebel."
"How many places do you have left?" Charlie asked.
"Only one," Willy said, picking up the last brochure. "It's for a place called 'Heartland.'"
"It has a nice sounding name, at least," Charlie said. They looked at it together.
"Doesn't look half bad," Willy commented. "This place seems to be all about curing horses. The other places just had curing horses as one of the many things they offered. It might be the answer we're looking for." He picked up the receiver and dialed Heartland's number.
"Heartland," a female voice said, "Lou Fleming speaking."
"Hello Ms. Fleming," Willy said. "My name's Willy Wonka and I've got a horse that needs help."
"Mr. Wonka, did you say?" Lou cried into the phone. "Er…what kind of problems does he have?"
"He avoids me and when someone holds him down so he can't get away he gets violent. I tried to ride him today and I had to jump off before he threw me."
"How long has he been like this?" Lou asked. Willy could hear her scribbling in the background.
"About a month. I rode him a month ago, he spooked at something…a squirrel I think it was, and managed to throw me off. I broke my leg and couldn't ride, but I visited him every day. He seemed scared of me or something. He didn't want to get close. I thought it was because of the crutches. But then today was my first day without them. He seemed worse. He attacked me and, like I said before, when I got on him, he almost dumped me a second time."
"What kind of horse is he?" was Lou's next question.
"He's a liver chestnut gelding," Willy responded. He dug around in his papers until he came up with Cocoa's registration. "Seven years old. He's a grade horse. Combination Morgan, Arabian, and Thoroughbred."
He heard the sound of a door slamming and then Lou relating the information to someone who had just come in. There was a conversation Willy couldn't hear, and then Lou came back on the line. "We can take him," she said. "We'll have an opening in a few days time. I suspect, coming from where you do, that it will take a few days for you to get here." Then she asked, "What's his name, by the way?"
"Cocoa," Willy replied. "Before I agree to sending him to you, though, can I ask you something?"
"Of course." Lou said.
"How would you treat him?" Willy asked.
"I can't answer that," Lou said. "My sister, Amy, is the one who treats the horses. She's right here." Willy then heard Lou call to her sister, "Amy, he has a question for you."
"Amy Fleming speaking," Amy's voice came over the line. "What is your question, Mr. Wonka?"
"I was wondering how you would treat Cocoa if I sent him to you," Willy said again.
"We treat our horses with kindness, respect, and understanding," came Amy's voice. "Using rewards instead of punishments. Never bullying, never frightening." There was a slight pause. "Listening to the horse, mostly."
Willy couldn't help but smile when he heard that. He liked the sound of it. "OK," he said, "you can treat him."
"Oh, but there is one thing," Amy told him. She sounded nervous, "I don't know how long it will take."
"You can have all the time you need," Willy reassured her. "I just want him to be all right again."
Willy and Lou finalized the details of when Cocoa would arrive at Heartland.