Lucy and the Equiman

By Susan Strachan Johnson

Lucy and the Equiman

Lucy and the Equiman is about a human-horse hybrid and his friendship with Lucy, a young teenaged girl coping with the recent death of her father. She discovers the equiman in the forest opposite her home and takes him home to keep him safe. He is depressed and lonely, having just escaped from a locked stall where he is forced to spend his days. Genetically manipulated to combine the best of man with the best of horse, the equiman is without greed, cruelty or judgment. He is instead a gentle soul who can speak both English and Horse as well as being expert at reading body language. Lucy names him Eckwee and she and her mother Sally hide him in their garage while they figure out a safe place for him to go. Several adventures ensue, including dealing with a school bully and stalker, evading capture by the local by-law officer, recovering a stolen horse and helping a boy with special needs. This is a book for anyone who loves and understands horses.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tellwell Talent
• Release date: Aug 3, 2021
• ISBN: 9780228858829

Susan Strachan Johnson

Susan has been a writer for many years, but this is her first novel. She coined the word "equimanity" to mean the understanding between man and horse, and it spawned the idea for a man/horse called an Equiman, a true hybrid (not a centaur!).Susan is also an artist, and has studied, ridden and painted horses since she got her first pony at age seven. At a young age she recognized the many physical similarities between humans and horses, as well as learning how to train and connect with them.Her art website is http://www.strachanjohnson.com. She lives in rural Ontario with her husband Quentin and a cat named Roly Poly.

Book preview

Chapter 1

Lucy Forster did not want to go to school. She lay still, wondering what illness she could fake that would convince her mother to let her stay at home. The truth was, she really was sick—sick of trying to ease good humouredly into her new school, Carson Memorial, in the middle of the school year.

She just didn’t fit in with the other girls, except maybe for one: Tammy Friesen. The others had been together in the same school for years, so they belonged to well-formed cliques and alliances. Many were fashion conscious and clearly spent time doing their hair and makeup—Lucy called them chic freaks—whereas Lucy was happy in casual clothes and wore her long, light brown hair in a ponytail. She was conscious of her height, now almost 5'7, but she also knew it made her look athletic, and she was happy with that. She liked her don’t mess with me" stance when she squared her shoulders, and when she did dress up, she knew she looked okay.

She and her mom had moved to Horton Village just a couple of months ago following the death of her father the previous year. She understood her mother’s decision to move to a smaller place, which happened to be in a different school district, because the old place had so much of her father in it and it was a lot to look after. The trouble was that the buyers had wanted to move in quickly and hadn’t been willing to wait for the end of the school year. She had understood that the adjustment would take some time but going to a new school in January was really hard.

The teacher had tried her best to help Lucy fit in, but the trouble with going into any class mid-year was that you were behind in some of them (which meant a lot of extra work) and ahead in others (which made them just plain boring).

Tammy Friesen was the only good thing about her classes. She lived just a bit further down the road from Lucy’s new house, so they were on the same bus she wasn’t interested in the same things as Lucy; she didn’t like sports and she barely knew one end of a horse from the other, but they had begun to sit together.

That first morning, their conversation had been brief, but Lucy quickly realized that Tammy was kind even if they didn’t share the same interests.

How long have you been at Carson Memorial? asked Lucy.

Just since the beginning of the year. But that wasn’t as hard as starting in the middle of the year like you have.

Do you still see your old friends?

Not really, but I call them up from time to time. How about you?

Not yet, said Lucy. This school is really different from my old one.

I know. No way was there as much bullying as there is at this school.

There was this one bully called Brian and Lucy couldn’t figure out what his problem was. He was taller than the other boys in the class and didn’t seem to be friendly with any of them. So it was like they were two odd men out. He was also on her bus route. He had picked her out on her first day at school and right away suggested that they should get to know each other.

So, Lucy, are you going out with anyone?

None of your business, she had replied.

I’m not going out with anyone either, he’d pressed. Wanna go out for coffee sometime?

I don’t think so.

Well you don’t have to be so high and mighty about it, he responded. As she turned away, he bumped into her making her drop her binder and a couple of books. She bent down to pick them up, hooked one around his leg as if by accident, and stood up, pushing against him. He fell over and a couple of girls tittered.

Oops, she said, as she walked off to join Tammy.

Lucy’s thoughts drifted again to what she missed most. Apart from her dad, it was the sports. Her bedroom proudly displayed a banner of ribbons and a shelf of trophies from various riding gymkhanas and fall fairs. She had competed in a tetrathlon at the local Pony Club and had proved a good shot with her air pistol. She was already fastest at running, and she just had to increase her swimming speed by five seconds to begin to be seriously competitive in her age group. Because she was fast, she had also been a soccer star at her old school. But her love of the game was eroding because it had been her dad who supported her soccer interest. He always came to her games, and he practised with her at home. His death was a huge hole in her life.

Her mother interrupted her reverie.

Honey, I know it’s hard, but you have to go to school, said her mother after Lucy had told her she didn’t feel well. I am sure it will get better. Your grades are really good in some subjects, and I’ll keep helping you with the others. I know you’ll make friends—you’re good at that. You just have to be strong and keep trying.

Lucy was no quitter, and in her heart, she knew her mother was right. She got out of bed and got ready as quickly as she could, hurriedly ate a bowl of cereal, grabbed her backpack, and ran for the bus. She sighed as she saw that Brian the Tormentor was standing just in front of the seat that Tammy had saved for her.

So, Flopkicker, faked any injuries today?

Leave me alone, Lucy said firmly. Can you please move? As she sat down she muttered, I know whose flops I’d like to kick today. A boy sitting in the seat in front of her snorted quietly and his shoulders moved slightly as if he were laughing. When they were under way, he turned and whispered to her, You and a few others. But be careful. The bus driver is supposed to prevent bullying on the bus, but he’s Brian’s uncle, so don’t look for help there. We’ll stick up for you if we can.

Thanks, muttered Lucy, feeling slightly better. Some people are just douchebags, she thought.

There was a boy in her class called Phil Jones. He dragged his left leg when he walked and he always seemed to be alone. Sometimes boys would intentionally bump into him and then run away, taunting him with catch us if you can! She had never heard him speak, and he never put up his hand when the teacher asked a question. Lucy had asked Tammy what was wrong with his leg, but she didn’t know. She did say that one kid told her he might have a learning disability. Lucy’s heart went out to him because she knew what it felt like to be lonely, and it wasn’t his fault that he had an injured leg. She decided he needed someone to stick up for him.

That day, just before the last period, she looked over toward him, which wasn’t hard because they both sat at the back of the classroom. She saw one of the boys bump into his desk by mistake on purpose, and she thought she heard the word crip. Phil started to rock back and forth slightly. I’m going to do something about that, she thought.

They were supposed to be clearing up before going home, but she was all ready to go out to her locker, so she went over to talk to Phil.

"Are you okay?

Yes, he said. You’re on my bus.

Yes, she said. "Does that boy bump into you often?

Yes. He’s mean.

I’ll ask the teacher if I can move to this desk beside you.

Why?

Because no one is using it.

The following day, the same kid approached Phil’s desk. He didn’t need to go that way because he sat near the front and didn’t need to go around the back of the classroom. Lucy was already seated at her new desk, and she stuck a foot out as he came near. Move your fat foot, he said.

Oh sorry, said Lucy, withdrawing the foot. As he took a step forward, she pulled a classic one-two soccer move and the boy stumbled over her other foot.

Watch it, he snarled as he turned back to her. Have you got a problem or something just because you are a soccer star?

Gee, sorry, she replied, rubbing her foot. That hurt, you know. You should look where you’re going, Clumsy.

Phil smiled, and it warmed Lucy’s heart.

Later on the bus, she mentioned the incident to Tammy. Tammy grinned and said, I saw that. It was so cool!

I wish the teacher hadn’t mentioned that I used to play soccer when she introduced me. I don’t feel like playing anymore now that my dad is gone. She sighed. Why can’t people be more like horses?

How do you mean?

Well, they don’t bully each other. I mean there’s always an alpha female, but she doesn’t go after the others unless they bug her.

Well, stallions fight, don’t they?

That’s different. That’s about protecting their mares and making sure that all the foals are his. So why is Brian such a pain?

I hear his dad is a piece of work and that’s why his mom left home. I don’t know whether he’s just dumb, or whether just he missed a whole lot of school, replied Tammy. But you should watch out for him. He seems pretty persistent.

Lucy suspected that Brian was going to continue being a problem. I need to figure out how to deal with him, she thought.

Chapter 2

When Lucy got home that day her mother was still at work, so she helped herself to a snack and took it outside to enjoy on the verandah. Her mom had only just started the job, helping out at a local nursery, and now she wasn’t at home when Lucy got off the bus. Her mom said it wasn’t a real job, as if she wasn’t going to stay there long. It just kept her busy until she decided what she really wanted to do.

Lucy liked the verandah. She chose the old rocking chair and turned it to face the south. It seemed that spring was not far off, and the sun poured through the tips of the tall trees on the other side of the road, running up to the big gate into the scout camp. She had learned that it was called the Markling Forest but, while it was kind of nice to live opposite a forest you could wander through any time you liked, nothing could compare to the farm life she had loved.

She missed the outdoor chores she used to do after school. They’d only had a small barn with four stalls, a feed room, a tack room, and a lean-to at the back for hay and shavings but it was enough. Sometimes they took in boarders, a horse that was recovering from an injury or a mare just weaned from her foal, but most of the time it had just been her own pony Kelly and her mom’s horse Robbie.

The meditative rocking rhythm was a little bit like riding a walking horse and it made her think about the best way to get horses back into her life. Kelly had been a versatile pony, able to handle pole bending as well as junior jumping classes, but she had outgrown him, and she knew it. So really, she was ready for a larger horse anyway. Sometimes, when she had ridden Kelly bareback along the edge of the next door farmer’s field, her feet dragged on the tall grasses, almost pulling her off his back. But just because he was too small for her, it had still been heartbreaking to give him away. She had hated loading him into the trailer on his way to his new home, even though she knew the boy from Pony Club, and she knew they were a kind family. She certainly wouldn’t hear of selling her good friend.

The best time of the day had been just before she went to bed. Mom called them night stables and often she went along. Walking out to the barnyard, checking that the chickens were safely in their hutch, opening the sliding door to the barn, and turning on the light. The temperature was always just a bit warmer than outside, and the scent of hay and oats wafted into her nose. Robbie and Kelly would blink in the sudden light and turn their heads to her, munching on the last morsel of hay. A quick pat for each, and then they’d retire for the night.

This house was very different from the old two-storey farmhouse. It was more modern, and she had a larger bedroom that faced the verandah. Surrounded by trees instead of three paddocks, the house wasn’t overlooked by any of the houses around it, and at the back was vacant land. She occasionally saw coyotes hunting in the flattened meadow grass, and she had heard them howling at night. So it wasn’t like they had moved into an apartment.

She thought about her father and how she had helped him shingle the roof of the chicken coop. She had only been ten years old, but she’d loved spending time with her father. He was patient, and he’d taught her things. The chain-link run had been completed, as had the A-frame hut where the chickens would spend the night. The sides had been covered in aluminum siding like the barn. The only thing left was to put some shingles on the roof and they would be able to get some hens and a rooster. Two large bundles of cedar shingles had sat on the ground, and her father had stood there with a pencil behind his ear and a tape measure in his hand.

Can I help, Dad?

Of course! I’d be glad of the help. He’d always been kind about doing things with her, even though she suspected that she just slowed him down.

Have you ever used a hammer before? he had asked, knowing she hadn’t.

No.

Okay. Well, I’ll show you. Just a minute. He’d gone into the garage and had come out with a peanut tin of old nails. "Now, I’m going to need you to straighten these for