Jaguar

By Marie Elmen

When his bid to purchase an appaloosa is accepted, Marks friend Jane, dampens his spirits by reminding him that he has purchased his horse and spent all of his money without his parents knowledge. Mark admits hes worried, but feels he is justified because he plans to enter barrel races with Jaguar and win tuition money for the veterinary college he wants to attend. His dreams may prove to be unrealistic, but Mark is determined.

Mark and his father have a verbal showdown after which his father finally gives him a year to prove himself and his horse, or he must sell the horse. During this time, Mark and Jaguar learn about each other sometimes humorously and sometimes painfully.

Mark and his friends become involved in a mystery when there is a forest fire that threatens to consume all of the Long Island area where they live. This problem is compounded when the stable where they board their horses is threatened with closure because horses are being blamed for polluting the nearby river. When these problems appear to be solved, Mark has an even greater one when he accidentally discovers Jaguar is blind. There is no money to pay for an operation.

A man who had befriended Mark and Jane and given Mark animal care books, comes forward and admits he is a retired veterinary surgeon. He offers to operate and the only payment he requires is that Mark pass it on when he becomes a vet. The operation is a success and Mark and Jaguar go back to barrel racing.

On the day they win their first first, Marks father tells his son he has shown wisdom and maturity in handling his problems and he may keep Jaguar and continue on with his racing.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Mar 28, 2005
• ISBN: 9781477175361

Marie Elmen

Marie Elmen Upon retiring after working for forty years as an executive secretary, Marie found herself baby sitting a newborn. Boredom soon set in and she started taking correspondence courses with the Childrens Institute for Writers and completed them. Wanting to learn even more, she attended Dowling for further study. Marie has written two novels both published by Xlibris. The first was Jaguar. A story about a boy and the horse he purchases with his college savings without telling his parents. Then he discovers his horse is blind. This is a middle grade book. The other novel is for young adults and is about a family who are devastated to find their father has tuberculosis and the Board of Health wants to pull all the children into foster homes. Their mother vows no-one shall separate her children and she comes up with a unique way to keep them together.

Book preview

Copyright © 2005 by Marie Elmen. Cover and illustrations by Patricia Bonsera.

All rights reserved. No part ofthis book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

[e-mail]

27529

CONTENTS

CHAPTER I: THE AUCTION

CHAPTER II: THE ARGUMENT

CHAPTER III: LEARNING TO BARREL RACE

CHAPTER IV: JANE’S ACCIDENT

CHAPTER V: THE PICKUP

CHAPTER VI: ARSON

CHAPTER VII: ANOTHER PROBLEM ARISES

CHAPTER VIII: A STICKY SITUATION

CHAPTER IX: A NEW FRIEND

CHAPTER X: THE BLESSING

CHAPTER XI: DOUBLE TROUBLE

CHAPTER XII: CAPTURE

CHAPTER XIII: JAGUAR’S EMERGENCY

CHAPTER XIV: THE DECISION

CHAPTER XV: THE WINNER

DEDICATION

To: My Mark and Jane, Mark, Jr., Brittney and Christina, Robbie, Alex, Ben and Nathan

CHAPTER I

THE AUCTION

SPRING, l974

Long Island, New York

Sold … to the young man in the red baseball cap, roared the auctioneer.

Mark slid his glasses back into place with a grin. We did it, Jane! He picked up the girl from a bale of hay, twirled her around and came to a breathless halt. Look at him. Isn’t he gorgeous? I’ll call him … Jaguar.

Jane laughed. Almost as gorgeous as my Misty! I hope you live long enough to enjoy him. Thank God my parents didn’t mind that I bought her.

Come on, Jane. Don’t be such a wet blanket.

I can’t help it, Mark. Your father is going to have a canary when he hears that you’ve blown your entire savings on a horse. You know how he is about money.

Not just a horse, an Appaloosa.

Okay, an Appaloosa. I just wish you could afford him. Thank God I don’t have to worry about college fees. C’mon, let’s take care of our paperwork.

Right!

They sprinted over to the office in the farm house.

Looking at the beautiful green shuttered white house and paddocks with acres of sparkling white fence made Mark envious.

There was a big shade tree in front over beautifully manicured lawns. The path was bordered with pink and white impatiens. A small fountain splashed and tinkled in the center of the lawn where bluebirds and robins twittered and fluttered around it. There was even a calico cat sunning on a red-cushioned rocker.

Mark took a deep breath of the pungent scent of hay and horses. SOME DAY,’ he thought, SOME DAY I’M GOING TO OWN A PLACE JUST LIKE THIS, CAT AND ALL."

He came back to earth and turned to Jane, I sure hope Tony doesn’t get mad that we didn’t wait for him and Louise.

Me, too, maybe something at the stable delayed them. Oh, there they are, coming from the corral.

Jane hopped excitedly while her braid bounced jauntily against her blue plaid shirt. She was not noted for her patience.

Hi, guys. Did you see them? What do you think of them? Aren’t they gorgeous? Mark burst out.

Hold on. One question at a time, laughed Tony. Yes they are gorgeous, and yes, they are worth what you paid for them. But … wasn’t he more than you could afford?

Well, yeah, but I’ll manage.

I sure hope so. I’m sorry we didn’t make it in time to help with the bidding.

I know, but we would have lost them if we had waited.

Tony raised his hat, pushed his hand through his black curly hair, then replaced it at a jaunty angle. His handsome Italian face expressed his mixed feelings at the teen’s foolishness. Well, pardner, how does it feel to own your own horse at last?

Wonderful, but a little scary.

Jane laughed excitedly, I can’t wait to get Misty back to the stable.

Friends since first grad, when they entered their teens, Mark and Jane’s childhood dreams became their goal. Mark’s dream was to become a barrel racer, then a veterinarian; Jane’s was to open her own riding school.

Louise was dressed in a pink satin cowboy shirt embroidered with Indian symbols. Her long black hair, straight as an Indian’s, was tied back with a silver and turquoise hair clip. On her head was a black, flat-crowned hat encircled with a turquoise and silver band. In her ears dangled feather earrings of the same materials. Her olive complexion added to her Native American look, though she too, was of Italian descent.

You’re not talking, Louise, is something wrong?"

No, Mark, I was just thinking. She looked gravely at him, "The Arabians chestnut coloring and the white star on her forehead are beautiful. The appaloosa’s cocoa and white coat is really pretty, but I hope you realize there’s more to a horse than looks.

Mark, his life is in your hands. You are responsible for his health and care. He is not a toy you can be with or not. Tony and I will watch after them while you’re at work or school, but the main grooming and stall cleaning are your responsibility. Got it?"

Got it. My mom said just because I keep my room like a messy stable, is no reason any horse should live the way I do.

They chuckled. Mark’s messy room was legendary.

While they stood in the stable yard, a horse whinnied. Jaguar was being led into the waiting trailer by two of the farm’s handlers who were dressed as cowboys. Jake, the shorter man, was middle-aged and balding. Pete, a slimmer, and younger man, had bright red hair and a mustache. Each man had a lead in his hands attached to the bridle on the Appaloosa’s neck. Jaguar, with head high, trotted along sedately until he spied the trailer. Jerking his head back, he tried to pull away, but the men hung on. The Appaloosa raised his front legs and pawed the air, shaking his head. This time, Jake lost his lead although Pete managed to hold on to his. Both men were shouting, hooves were pounding and