Chapter 3

Later that day Jack and Lisa sat on the bench in front of the house, enjoying the clear, fresh air. Lisa was quieter than usual and Jack asked: "You OK?"
Lisa had been daydreaming and needed a short moment to answer: "Yeah. I just can't help but think that I've made a terrible mistake with buying Dragonfly. I'm wondering if I would have bought him if Dan wouldn't have been there."
"Don't doubt yourself, Lisa. You went to that action mainly because of that horse, you were interested in him before you even saw Dan. Don't let him spook around in your head anymore, Beautiful. He would have said the things he said no matter what horse you wanted to buy."
"You're right. I guess I'm just scared that I made a terrible mistake."

"Don't worry about it too much you little worrier. If anyone can help that horse, it's going to be Amy and if not then Dragonfly at least got a real chance."
"Hm", Lisa made a sound that Jack didn't know how to interpret. He pulled Lisa into his arms and kissed her. "Everything is going to be fine", Jack whispered.

As it happens the next couple of days everything was going well. Amy worked through the protection of the fence with Dragonfly in the hope that he'll get used to her, she fed him carrots and apples out of her palm, talked to him and even stroked his neck through the fence. She just couldn't say what his problem was. "Take your town, honey, there's no rush", Lisa said when Amy told her about her nonexistent progress with Dragonfly.

Tricia took the stitches out of Lisa's wound and all that was left was a nasty bruise. She felt much better and could feel how the symptoms of the concussion abated. She could finally concentrate on work again and enjoyed living without a permanent headache.

Amy was starting to feel pretty good about Dragonfly even though she still didn't know what his issues were. That's why she decided to let him on a big pasture where he had more room and where she could start working with him without a fence between them. She told Ty about it and asked if he could help her. Of course Ty agreed and helped her to get Dragonfly on the pasture. Everything seemed to be fine and Amy felt save inside the pasture with the horse. She sat down in the grass near the grass and waited for Dragonfly to make the first move. He came close to her, smelled a little on her jacket, gently nudged her and when Amy didn't react started grazing again. Amy sat very still and tried not to move, she wasn't scared but had the image of Lisa's injury in her head and felt incredibly vulnerable. But everything went smoothly, Amy got up very slowly, walked towards the gate backwards and then left the pasture.
"I feel like I can finally breath again", Ty laughed, very relieved that nothing had happened to his wife.
"Yeah, I was a little nervous again. Maybe Dragonfly's biggest problem is being kept in a small are, like a paddock or in the stable. Lisa gave me the number of the breeder that raised him. I think I'll give her a call."

The woman that had raised Dragonfly after his mother had died in the fire willingly answered all of Amy's questions.
"I raised him in with the bottle. It was a freezing cold winter so I kept him in the house since our stable burned down. All I wanted to do was to save him. He is such a great horse, he used to be so tame", she indulged in the past.
"Did he ever bite someone when he was still with you?" Amy asked.
"I'd say he always had quite a temper and was a little spoiled, I must admit. I never took it very serious, he wasn't behaving very differently from our other young horses. I could work with him like I could with every other horse we bred, he was used to the halter, to the trailer, I even started breaking him gently… He never bit us seriously but sometimes he would prick me, yeah."
"Do you know why?"
"Not really. I always let it go through because of his traumatic experience as a colt. Is his new owner badly hurt?"
"She is doing much better but it was a pretty nasty bite. I'm trying to figure out what triggers the behavior but can't seem to find it out", Amy admitted.
"I hope I could help", the woman said before they hung up.

Amy felt better after the phone call. She was sure now that Dragonfly never learned how to behave normally because he lacked contact with horses in the early months of his life. She repeatedly sat down in the grass under Ty's observation and after a couple of successful sessions started stroking him when he came near her. She eventually started standing up while stroking Dragonfly and he was obviously all right with that, he stood still, was relaxed and calm. She could halter him and walked around in the pasture. Amy started leading him outside the pasture, always with Ty by her side in case Dragonfly freaked again.
"Ty, I think he's ready for a join up", Amy decided after weeks of working with him.
"Can I come inside the round pen with you?" Ty asked with puckered brows.
"You know the answer", Amy laughed.
"Amy, I don't know… are you sure it's a good idea to lock yourself in a round pen with him?"
"It's the right next step. I'm not getting anywhere with him by leading him around. I need to REALLY start working with him."
"There is nothing I can say to convince you not to do it anyway", Ty chuckled, "but I'll sit on the fence and jump in if anything happens."
"All right", Amy agreed.

The first Join up Amy did with Dragonfly was a success. The horse bonded with her just the way he was supposed to. The second time Amy took Dragonfly to the round pen Jack and Lisa were watching form the porch. Everything went fine until Amy turned her back to Dragonfly.
"Amy, get out", Ty pressed out through clenched teeth. Amy didn't need to turn around to know that Dragonfly was about to attack. She ran towards the gate that Ty had already opened, ready to get his wife out of danger. Lisa and Jack were running towards the scene.
Amy was almost out when Dragonfly got her on the lower back. Amy fell forward and Dragonfly only missed her fragile body by inches with his hooves.
"AMY", Ty screamed and helped her on her feet before he dragged her out of the round pen. Jack closed the gate again and as fast as Dragonfly escalated he calmed down again.
"You OK?" Ty asked. Amy groaned but said: "Yeah. No broken bones."
"Did he bite you?" Lisa asked worried.
Amy lifted her shirt and exposed a nasty bite mark.
"Damned", Jack cursed.
"Let's get some ice on that", Ty said.
"Amy, I'm so, so sorry", Lisa whispered before she took her phone out of her trouser pocket. Ty led Amy to the house and Jack followed Lisa.
"Who are you calling?" Jack asked.
"Scott", Lisa murmured.
"Why?" Jack asked even though he knew the answer.
"I can't risk another person to get hurt."
"Lisa."
"You know it's the only responsible thing to do, Jack. Amy can't keep working with him."
"I know. But…", Jack sighted. He didn't know what to say so Lisa dialed Scott's number. She didn't want Ty to euthanize a healthy horse, not in the early stages of his career.
"Scott, hey, it's Lisa", Lisa started talking and then explained Scott the situation. He promised to come by as fast as possible.

Inside the house Amy cooled the bruise on her back. "Ty, you need to stop Lisa from calling Scott. She'll never let me near Dragonfly again but it's not too late to help him. Maybe he needs to spend some time in a herd where he can become socialized. Don't let them kill him."
"Amy, Lisa can't take responsibility for a horse like that, nobody can", Ty sighted.
"I don't care, I'll buy him from her if necessary", Amy stated and then saw Lisa on her phone through the window.
Amy ran outside yelling: "LISA, NO! You need to give Dragonfly another chance, you can't euthanize him! Please don't", Amy pledged with tears in her eyes.
"Amy, there's no other way. I cannot let you work with him anymore, I never wanted you to get hurt and now he bit you! It's the last thing I want to do, but I don't see any other way", Lisa was desperate. In all these years of her career she had never been confronted with a situation like this.
"Lisa, please. We will find a way. You can't kill him because of a mistake his former owner did!"
"But I also can't pay for the mistake", Lisa argued, "I don't want to do this Amy, I really don't."
"Then don't! We will figure something out. He can life a happy life on a pasture without any people around him that he can bite."
"And what if a family drives by, stops the car, the kids get out and want to stroke Dragonfly and get attacked?"
"You can hand signs on the fence", Amy tried to convince Lisa. Jack stood next to the two woman and wished he could offer them a better solution.
"Amy, you know as much as I do that signs work in 1 out of 10 cases."
"What if we let him in a herd? Maybe all he needs is socializing with other horses."
"And what herd? Neither I nor you have one that can integrate Dragonfly", Lisa sighted.
"We could make some calls. Ask around. Maybe Dragonfly's breeder is willing to help us out."
"A couple of calls might be worth a shot", Jack agreed.
"Fine. I'll give us until tomorrow. But Amy, we don't even know if he's compatible with other horses."
"We'll never know if we don't try", Amy argued.

Amy, Ty, Lisa and Jack spent the rest of the day on the phone, trying to find a herd where Dragonfly could find a new home in. Georgie looked all over the internet for pet sanctuaries but no one was willing to take in an unpredictably aggressive horse and Amy couldn't reach the breeder. Eventually Georgie went to bed and so did Amy and Ty. They would start making calls in the morning again.

Lisa was sitting on the couch with her phone in the hands. "Lisa, let's go to bed", Jack said. "What if we don't find a place for him? I can't take the responsibility and I can't let Scott euthanize a three years old horse that is healthy. If Dan finds out the whole country will find about this. Do you know how that'll make me look? How that'll make Fairfield look? It will be a huge scandal. And that poor horse, Amy is right, how can we kill him if he doesn't know better?"
"Lis, you're thinking too much again. You are absolutely right, but we'll worry about all those things tomorrow, if we don't find a different solution."
Jack sat down next to Lisa and embraced her. She melted in his arms.

The next day everyone was up before the sun started raising. The first thing Amy did was to call Dragonfly's breeder, Mila Thomson.
"What can I do for you?" Mila asked kindly, even though it was still early.
Amy explained.
"I wish I could help. But I only have a herd consisting of five seniors. They are all older than twenty."
"It might be all Dragonfly needs. I know it's a risk but it might be worth a try."
"It's my fault that he's about to be euthanized. If there is anything I can do to prevent that then I will."
"That's great, Mila. We would sedate him and could be at your place in about five to six hours?"
"All right", Mila agreed.
"Thank you so much. See you soon."
"See you."

"Dragonfly's breeder, Mila Thomson, will give him another chance", Amy announced the good news.
"Oh gosh, I'm so relieved", Lisa whispered.
"Let's get him ready for the ride", Amy smiled.

At the end of the day Dragonfly was already sharing a pasture with five other horses. All of the seniors made him clear that he was not the boss of them. Amy knew that conflicts could evolve much later in the herd but for now she was nothing but relieved. Ty was standing beside her and laid an arm around her shoulders. "I love you", he whispered before he kissed her on the forehead.
"I love you too", Amy smiled.

Back at Heartland Lisa and Jack decided to spend the night at Fairfield. They settled down in Lisa's garden and shared a bottle of vine.
"Thank you for helping me with Dragonfly", Lisa smiled.
"Well, I'm partly to blame for the mess you got yourself in with him. I should have stopped back at the auction", Jack answered.
Lisa didn't say anything at first and leaned towards to kiss him: "You know what, part of why I love you so much is because you always believe in me. You never stop me from doing anything even though you know I might not be doing the right thing. And in the end you're there to clean up the mess with me. I couldn't love you any more for that."
"In that case: you're welcome", Jack smiled, "I love you too."

The End

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