Free Morning Star by Randy Mixter Page A

eyes?" Cindy shook her head. "I thought I was seeing things."
    "You were," Nate said.
    Morning Star snorted behind them. It drew her thoughts to other matters.
    "How did Morning Star save the horses? How did he escape the corral? Was the gate unlocked?"
    "The gate was secure. I checked it when I let the horses in."
    She started to speak, but he cut her off. "I know, he couldn't have jumped the fence, it's too tall. He couldn't have unlatched all the wooden enclosures in time. Maybe Tommy did it before he set fire to the place."
    "What do you think?" she asked him.
    He looked over at Morning Star. Behind the horse the sky was brightening. The horse turned around and looked up. A shooting star pierced the sky, disappearing in the brightness of the rising sun.
    When it vanished the horse again turned to face them.
    "I think Morning Star saved the horses," he said.
    "So do I," said Cindy. "Now tell me about the blue rose."

    The sun had crested the distant fields and climbed quickly in the early morning sky. Nate had said what needed to be told and now they sat side by side on the top porch step watching the sunrise.
    Inside the house a phone rang.
    "I'd better get that," Nate said.
    Cindy raised his hand and kissed it. "Thanks for telling me," she said as they both stood. 
    She headed up the stairs as Nate took the call. Dannie slept peacefully and Cindy tiptoed to Martha who sat by the bed smiling down on the child. She sat next to the nurse who turned to her.
    "Dannie will be alright," the nurse whispered.
    "Would you like to hear a story?" Cindy whispered back. 

29
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    The phone call came from Walker General. It seemed that not long after Tommy came around he confessed to the fire, stating it was an accident.
    According to Glenn Slaton, the chief of police, Tommy claimed his intent was to hijack the horse his father wanted. He was scouring the barn looking for the horse when the fire started. Seems he forgot to bring a flashlight and used matches to find his way around, one of the matches finding its way into a stack of straw. He further claimed that he went to get a water bucket from the trough when the very horse he was looking for approached him, introducing himself with a hard kick to Tommy's forehead. 
    When Slaton asked Tommy if that was the case, how did you end up passed out in the rear of the barn? Tommy, with a straight face, told the police chief that's where he landed from the kick.
    Bill Travers hopped on the line then, apologizing up a storm and saying he would personally assure Nate that his barn would be back up, bigger and fancier than before, in record time. 
    Nate passed this information on to Cindy who sighed in disbelief. 
    "That boy needs to be locked up somewhere far away from matches and horses," she said.
    "Shouldn't be a problem. I understand this is his third offense. He's being charged with reckless endangerment. Would have been worse if any of the horses perished. I doubt his old man will bail him out this time. It's time he learned a lesson, Bill told me."
    They sat around the kitchen table drinking coffee, Nate, Cindy, and Martha. Dannie slept upstairs.  
    "I told Martha what we discussed on the porch, the flower, the dreams, everything," Cindy said.
    Nate turned to the nurse. "How do you feel about the events of the last couple of weeks."
    The nurse sipped her coffee then placed the cup on the table. She folded her hands in front of her.
    "I went to the field in back of the barn a little while ago. The blue flowers are there, lots of them, and none have bloomed. Later today I will dig up five of them, one for each child at Walker General. I will take them to the hospital and personally place a flower at each bedside."
    She closed her eyes and continued. 
    "I believe in miracles. There was a time not long ago when I didn't."
    She opened her eyes and smiled.
    "What did I know?"

    Al and Margaret arrived a short time later. Cindy told Margaret everything while they waited for Dannie to