Free Janette Oke by Laurel Oke Logan Page A

teacher down.

Chapter Eight
    Farm Life
    Fred was a busy man. He worked about the farm, usually with something in his hands, fixing harnesses, mending fences, cleaning grain, or sharpening tools. When he was doing field work, those same hands held a set of reins. For the first years on the Hoggarth place, the effects of the Depression were still being felt, and parts and gasoline to operate any farm machinery or vehicles could not be obtained. At this time, all the work was done with horses, several of them. And for the years that followed, Fred continued to utilize this source of “horsepower.” Janette remembers each one as special in its own way.
    Sam and Sandy were a gray team that Fred used for many years—Sandy had a few more “freckles” on his rump than Sam. Not fast, they usually traveled in low gear, but they were reliable and steady. Fred also used them in the bush for skidding out logs where there was little room for the antics of a skittish horse.
    When the family was young and Amy needed to drive someplace—to church, the country store and post office, or a neighbor’s house—it was Sam and Sandy that were usually harnessed to the rubber-tired wagon.
    Even the children could harness the pair because they were so patient with the fumbling of inexperienced hands. Since the horses were taller than the children were, it would take many stages of lifting, tugging, pulling, shifting, and practically climbing on their backs to get the harness over the top. Sam and Sandy stood quietly for as long as it took while the youngsters worked over them.
    Although they could be ridden if needed, they were not considered riding horses. There were times, though, when they did act as taxi. After Janette had run down to the field to meet her daddy at the end of the day, he would sometimes boost her up to the back of one of the horses and let her ride home. It was a giddy feeling to be so high above the world and look down at the earth jerking along beneath her dangling feet. Her hands clenched the harness hames for all they were worth.
    One day while logging, Sandy fell and tore his haunch on a tree stump. The theory was that while he rested, he fell asleep and went down. Horses rarely do such a thing but Sandy was getting rather old. After he recovered from the incident, he was watched more closely.
    Sam was the unfortunate victim of a practical joke. Jack and Janette had decided to have some fun, each later blaming the other for coming up with the idea. But it was Janette who climbed into the manger while Jack covered her with a sprinkling of hay. Then Jack let the horses into the barn.
    Of course, the first thing the horses always did was go directly to their stall and stick their noses into the manger to feed. Just as old Sam thrust his nose down for a mouthful, Janette jumped from the hay, flinging arms and yelling for all she was worth.
    They had no idea that the poor old horse had so much life left in him. It was the fastest they had seen him move in years. Later, when bringing him back to his stall, Fred could not understand why his calm and steady old horse was resisting the rope and pulling backward, snorting and acting as if something were out to get him. Jack and Janette sent silent messages to each other, snickering behind their hands over their private joke.
    Beauty was a pony for the little ones. Her shiny black coat was bumped against and tugged at by many a small child climbing what seemed to be a tremendous distance to the Shetland’s back. There were many times when several children would pile on together, trying to fit as many bodies as possible from mane to tail before one began slipping and sliding over the other side, pulling the others along.
    During the game, Beauty held perfectly still. Even when some of the braver children would crawl between her legs and under her belly or butt her stomach while pretending to be colts, she never moved.
    Occasionally, however, when a