Page 55 of All We Carry Home

Peter and the brown-and-white goat, Patches, walked along the railing. The goats were always following one of the twins, begging for food scraps or chewing on the hems of their shirts. Buttercup was probably off with Annie and her motley herd.

Phantom snorted when he saw me and bobbed his head slightly. He nudged my arm as he and Warren came to a stop next to me.

I scratched his forehead and took the lead rope from Warren. “You’ll want to step back,” I said.

Warren ran his hand down Phantom’s neck and then walked to the side of the arena, leaning on the wall next to where Peter and Patches watched.

I circled Phantom around the hanging sack. He spotted the strange object and jumped back, snorting violently at it. Still, he yielded to my firm pressure on his lead rope, keeping him from bolting away. Signs of our progress.

I let him circle, giving him some room with the lead rope so he could take his time to understand that the hanging bag wasn’t going to attack him. After a few moments, he came to a rest and his panicked breathing grew slower, steadier.

“That’s it,” I said quietly.

The world around me disappeared as I watched every twitch of his skin, every flick of his tail. I waited until every sign indicated that he was ready for the next step. Never before. “A rushed lesson is a failed lesson,” Gramps always said.

When Phantom lowered his head ever so slightly, relaxing and letting his guard down, it was time for the next step. I led him around in a larger circle as if the bag wasn’t even there. Then I drew him to a stop and asked him to back up in a straight line, as we’d been practicing. He listened to my commands, following the sturdy and gentle pressure on his halter.

I kept my heart rate steady, my breathing calm, though I knew what would happen next. He couldn’t sense any hesitation or nervousness from me. He needed to know I was looking after him and he could trust me.

After a few steps back, the bag tapped his rump and his back leg reacted as fast as a lightning bolt.

An earsplitting crash rang out.

Warren

The sharp crack of hoof to metal sent the birds in the rafters to flight and Phantom nearly bolted, but Eva was ready. She pulled the lead gently, turning the horse’s head, which redirected his forward momentum into a circle where she was the center point.

Phantom had kicked the bag, but with so much metal, it offered heavy resistance and didn’t swing too far.

I smiled, appreciating Bill Birkstrom’s tricks yet again.

The horse calmed after a few circles and looked at the hanging bag with wide eyes, his neck high and his head erect. He looked offended by the whole lot of it.

Eva chuckled, the sound drifting over to me and warming my soul. She spoke to the horse, and he seemed to take in every word.

She walked him in a circle around the arena, in turn stopping him, backing him up along the straight walls where there was no bag behind him, and rewarding him for his compliance. While I hardly pretended to understand her training methods, I knew right away she was ensuring that he didn’t associate backing up with the frightening bag of metal.

When she again backed him up against the bag, Phantom flinched, raised his back leg as if to strike, and hesitated.

She immediately walked him forward and praised him.

Bill’s methods, sure, but not every magician could perform the same illusions. Eva was a master all her own.

She repeated the exercise until Phantom flinched but no longer poised his leg to kick. She then draped the lead rope over his neck and, with one hand along his back, walked around behind him.

I held my breath, terrified the horse would strike as he’d done before. The power in his haunches could break her leg.

She walked without pause, without any visible sign of fear.

Phantom didn’t kick, didn’t tense. Didn’t bolt ahead. He just watched her from the corner of his eye, waiting for her next command.

She pulled a sugar cube from her pocket and fed it to him, the signal for the end of the training for the day.

My breath released.

“That’s neat,” Peter said beside me. His gaze had been locked on Eva and Phantom too, but now he ran off with the goat trailing.

Eva took Phantom’s lead and started to walk him out of the arena, then caught sight of me, seeming surprised that I was there. I loved how she would get so wrapped up in the horse that everything around her seemed to fade.