The Lonely Pony (3 page)

“She was there to keep Red company,” Val explained. “All the sights and sounds of the track made him nervous, but having Lola in the stall with him kept him much calmer and happier.”

Dr. Goldman nodded. “I know what you mean. Part of my clinical work in vet school took me to the racetrack. On one of my visits there I vaccinated and dewormed a goat who was the companion to a pretty successful racehorse.”

“Wow,” Janey said. She'd never heard of such a thing! “So why isn't Lola still at the racetrack helping Red?”

“Because Red retired from racing a few months ago,” Val said, taking a sip of her lemonade. “His owners gave him to a young
local woman who retrains racehorses for new careers as riding horses.”

“I've heard about that,” Lolli said. “My parents donated some hay to a group that helps racehorses find new homes after they're retired.”

“Yes, well, this young woman does marvelous work,” Tom said. “At least that's what Red's old racing trainer tells me. Unfortunately, Red's new trainer wasn't able to take Lola. And his old race trainer had no use for Lola once Red was gone, since none of his other horses needed a companion.”

“Poor Lola,” Adam said.

“Yeah,” Zach said. “She got laid off from her job, and had nowhere to go.”

“Exactly.” Tom poured everyone a little
more lemonade. “The race trainer is an old fishing buddy of mine, and he knows that Val and I are animal lovers.” He smiled and bent to pat one of the little dogs. “Obviously!”

“Tom had also mentioned to him how I loved reading horse books as a child,” Val put in. “So he asked if we'd be interested in having Lola.” She sighed. “The trouble is, he didn't tell us just how much time, money, and hard work it takes to keep a horse—even a small one!”

Tom nodded. “We just can't keep up with it all,” he said. “Not with my bad knees and Val's busy volunteering schedule. We've been meaning to ask around for help, but haven't quite found the time.”

Janey bit her lip and glanced at her
friends. It sounded as if Tom and Val had meant to do a nice thing by taking Lola in. But they'd gotten in over their heads.

“I see,” Dr. Goldman said with a sympathetic smile. “Did you ask the trainer to take her back?”

“He can't,” Tom said. “He suggested we ask around town to see if anyone wants poor old Lola.”

“You don't have to do that,” Janey blurted out. “We can do that for you! The Pet Rescue Club will help you find Lola the perfect new home!”

Val looked surprised. “The what club?” she said. “Oh, but never mind—I don't want to bother you kids with our problems.”

Her husband smiled at Janey and the others. “Yes, we'll work it out.”

“No, really!” Zach said. “We have a club that helps pets find new homes and stuff.”

“They really do,” Dr. Goldman said with a nod. “They've helped several local pets already.” She told the couple about Truman and the other animals the Pet Rescue Club had helped.

Val looked impressed. “How wonderful! What do you think, Tom? Maybe they can help us after all.”

“We definitely can,” Janey said. “Lola is so cute, I'm sure it won't take long at all to find her the perfect new home.”

“What a relief,” Val exclaimed. “See, we're scheduled to leave on a road trip in
about a week to visit our son. He lives out of state, so we were planning to stay for a couple of weeks.”

“That's right,” Tom added. “We were worried we'd have to hurry to find something to do with Lola before we leave.”

“Well, now you don't have to worry,” Janey said. “Not with the Pet Rescue Club on the job.” She knew they would have to work fast to find Lola a new home before the Valentines left on their trip next week. But she was sure they could do it.

“Terrific,” Tom said. “Can you take her today?”

“Today?” Janey gulped and glanced at the others. “Um . . .”

“We could call the shelter and see if they can take Lola in,” Lolli suggested.

“Yeah.” Zach grinned. “She's not any bigger than a Great Dane or something. She'd totally fit in one of the large dog runs!”

“Well, I've never seen a horse there, but I suppose it wouldn't hurt to ask.” Dr. Goldman dug into her pocket. “Here, you can use my cell phone.”

Janey took the phone and dialed the familiar number. When Kitty answered, she explained the situation.

“We were hoping you could keep Lola at the shelter until we find her a home,” Janey finished. “It probably won't take long.”

“I'm sorry, Janey,” Kitty said. “I'm afraid we don't have the facilities to take care of farm animals—not even small ones. I could call the shelter over in Lakeville for you, though. They have a couple of goats and a potbellied pig there right now, and I'm pretty sure they've taken in horses in the past.”

“Lakeville?” Janey clutched the phone to her ear. “But that's almost an hour's drive away! How can we help her if she's not even close by?”

“What?” Zach whispered loudly, poking her on the arm. “What's she saying? What was that about Lakeville?”

“Ssh!” Janey hushed him. Kitty was talking again. “I'm sorry, could you repeat that? Zach was yapping in my ear.”

Kitty chuckled. “I said, I could ask around about finding a foster home—maybe one of the farms outside of town could keep her for a few days.”

“That sounds good. Hang on, let me tell the others.” Janey lowered the phone. “Kitty says maybe she can help us find a foster home for Lola. She thinks one of the farms around here might be willing to take her in until we find her a permanent home.”

“That's a good idea,” Dr. Goldman said, and the Valentines nodded.

But Lolli gasped. “Wait,” she exclaimed. “I live on a farm!”

Janey blinked at her. “Um, yeah, we
know.” Then she gasped, too. “Wait! Are you saying—”

“What if I'm the foster home?” Lolli cried before Janey could finish. “Me and my parents, I mean. We have plenty of room in our pasture. And we already have the goats and sheep, so a tiny little horse wouldn't even be that much extra trouble.”

“Perfect! I'll tell Kitty,” Janey said.

“Wait,”
Dr. Goldman stopped her. Then she turned to Lolli. “I think we need to ask your parents about this. Do they have any experience taking care of horses?”

“I don't think so,” Lolli said. “But they've had lots of other animals.”

Zach's mom still looked dubious. “I know. But horses are a lot of work—more than most animals. You have to be careful about what you feed them, and they need their feet trimmed back every couple of months or so. . . .”

“Yes, that's right,” Val put in. “We never did get around to finding anyone to do the foot trimming.”

Tom nodded. “Been meaning to call the race trainer to ask for his help, but he's awfully hard to reach.”

“We won't have Lola long enough to worry about that sort of stuff,” Janey told Dr. Goldman. “It'll just be for a few days.”

Dr. Goldman scratched her chin. “Well, I suppose it's up to your parents,” she told Lolli. “You'd better call them and see if they want to take this on.”

“Kitty? We might know about a foster farm,” Janey said into the phone. “We'll call you back in a minute, okay?” She hung up and handed the phone to Lolli. “Call your parents right now. I'm sure they'll say yes!” She crossed her fingers as her friend took the phone.

Soon Lolli was talking to her father. She told him about Lola and what Kitty had said about finding a foster home. “She wouldn't
be any trouble at all,” she finished. “The Pet Rescue Club would do all the work to take care of her. It will probably only be for a day or two.”

Janey couldn't hear what Mr. Simpson said. But when Lolli hung up, she was smiling. “Dad said it's okay as long as we do all the work.”

“Oh, thank you!” Val exclaimed. “I can't tell you what a load off our minds this is, kids.”

Janey grinned at her. “You're welcome. I'll call Kitty and tell her.”

When Janey hung up a moment later, Dr. Goldman stood up. “Thanks for the lemonade, Tom and Val,” she said. “We'd better get going if we want to get Lola settled in tonight.”

“Yeah, let's go tell her the good news!” Zach exclaimed. He raced off down the porch steps. The little dogs all barked and raced after him.

“Come back, you rascals!” Tom whistled loudly, and the dogs turned around and ran back to him.

Adam patted a couple of them. “They're well trained,” he said admiringly.

“And cute.” Janey grabbed the smallest dog for one last snuggle. “Thanks for the lemonade, Mr. and Mrs. Valentine. We'd better go get Lola!”

“We'll come along and say good-bye,” Val said. “Just let us put the dogs in the house first.”

Janey waited impatiently while the couple herded the excited dogs back inside. Then the whole group hurried back down the road.

When they arrived at the pen, Lola was
still standing by the fence. “Look, she was waiting for us,” Lolli said.