Prince Ali Read online

  Chuck leaned over and whispered in Gloria’s ear, “We may want to consider switching to Arabian horses. I understand they drive beautifully.”

  Gloria whispered back, “I’ll get in touch with the owner and see if any of Ali’s foals are available. I want his breeding if we switch to Arabs. That kind of intelligence is highly inheritable!”

  Dad and Mom were right across the street from the incident and watched it happen. Both of them felt sheer panic in the first seconds. It all happened so fast. In the end, they were so proud of Ali and Becky they could have popped the buttons off their shirts. Mom no longer worried about Becky with Ali. Ali showed her what he was made of – courage and intelligence. Becky showed her own courage. Mom had tears in her eyes. Dad didn’t know quite what to say. He sat with his arm around his wife’s shoulders and let out a big sigh.

  Becky squeezed her legs to signal Ali on. He struck up the pace. The parade resumed. Ali strutted on. The jewels on his costume glinted and sparkled in the light of the mid-day sun. He was having the time of his life. It was a gorgeous day – blue sky and sunshine with just a hint of crispness in the air. There were so many beautiful mares to see. That little hinny wasn’t a bad looker at all and he thought she might like him a little too! He flipped his head, flared his nostrils, elevated his tail and snorted like a bad boy.

  For Ali, this whole parade thing was much easier than the horse show routine. There was no pressure to perform because all Becky wanted him to do was walk down the street. He was carrying his best friend with him. He knew there were special treats and extra oats in a bucket when he was done. He knew there was a dry barn, soft bedding, and a manger full of fresh hay. What could be better? “Aaahhhh! Life is good sometimes.”

  When they heard about the incident, the parade committee huddled together. Someone ran to get the Mayor and the City Council of San Juan Capistrano. Together they came up with an award for Prince Ali. At the end of the Awards Ceremony, the Mayor gave the Key to the City to a horse! And the day wasn’t over yet.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  The minute the Awards Ceremony finished, Becky led Prince Ali off the stage. She wanted to get him back to the horse trailer and give him his bucket of goodies. Dad and Mom followed them.

  Becky and Ali were mobbed. Chuck and Gloria wedged their way through the crowd and threw their arms around Ali’s neck on both sides. Gloria, with tears in her eyes, said, “Ali, you saved our lives today!” Chuck stroked his neck and scratched his withers. “That you did, young man.” he told Ali. They wouldn’t leave until Becky gave them a phone number so Gloria could call Mom.

  The crowd around Becky and Ali grew larger as more and more people surrounded them. Mom and Dad became separated. Those who knew the Howards owned Ali gathered around them to talk about Ali and Becky, especially those who saw the event mid-parade. That separated them from Becky and Ali even further.

  Most horses would be nervous in such a large crowd. Everyone wanted to touch him, have their pictures taken with him, talk to him and about him. Ali was a gentleman. He reveled in the attention. With his lips, he tousled the hair of tiny children who could only reach his knees to pet him. He nodded his head in answer to people’s questions about him. He watched where he stepped so he didn’t smash toes. Becky answered a million questions about Prince Ali, his costume, how he came to be her mount for the day, etc. She and Ali managed to creep along a few feet at a time.

  The street faire was in full swing across the street from the park. The street filled with people walking back from the Awards Ceremony and those attending the street faire besides those who wanted to see the celebrity horse up close and personal.

  Becky became frustrated with their lack of progress toward the horse trailer. She finally announced that she and Prince Ali had somewhere to go. She asked people to give him some space so she could get him to his “goodie bucket.” That seemed to do the trick and they were finally able to make some headway.

  That was not the case for Mom. Dad whispered in her ear that he was going back to the El Adobe to save a table for them for lunch. He would meet her there when they got back after taking Prince Ali home. Dad wasn’t thrilled with being stuck in that crowd. Crowds made him uncomfortable. Mom tried moving off toward the horse trailer and spotted Mrs. Grimes heading her way.

  Caroline gulped and smiled at her, resigned to her fate. Every town has their own “Mrs. Grimes.” This Mrs. Grimes was a lovely woman. In fact she was the principal at Becky’s school. She was always one of the most generous citizens in town, especially where the children were concerned. She gave of her time and opened her pocketbook for causes involving what she referred to as “her kids.” At the same time, she was a notorious talker. What Caroline could say in ten words took Mrs. Grimes a hundred or more. Everyone in town loved Mrs. Grimes unless they were in a hurry.

  Mrs. Grimes threw her arms around Caroline when she reached her. “Oh, your horse is so lovely and courageous!” she gushed. “I was across the street when that balloon thing happened and I was so scared those horses were going to stampede. That gorgeous horse of yours, not to mention your lovely daughter Becky, were spot on! I never knew horses could think like that. Can you imagine?”

  All Caroline wanted at that moment was to get to the horse trailer and help Becky get the costumes off. She just breathed a little sigh, smiled and let Mrs. Grimes continue. It was difficult to get a word in the conversation. She couldn’t shove one in sideways with this lady.

  When Mrs. Grimes finally ran out of gas and slowed down, Caroline thanked her profusely for her kind words. She promised Mrs. Grimes she could come visit Prince Ali at home. She explained she needed to get to the horse trailer so she and Becky could take Ali home. They wanted to come back and enjoy some of the street faire. Unfortunately, that opened another topic for Mrs. Grimes. She prattled on for another few minutes about some of the new vendors at the El Mercado this year.

  Caroline didn’t want to annoy Mrs. Grimes in any way, but time was flying by and she didn’t want to leave Becky and Ali alone for too long. She finally explained that to Mrs. Grimes who completely understood. “Yes, sometimes I do chatter on a bit. You’d better head on over and take care of your family,” the older woman insisted. She hugged Caroline again and hurried off to catch someone else she’d spied in the distance.

  Becky got Ali back to the parade staging area and walked him around the trailer to the shady side nearest the building. She tied him to the side of the trailer and pulled his goodie bucket out of the dressing room. She also fixed him a fresh water bucket and sat it down on the pavement within his reach. Ali was no different from most males, guided by his stomach. He reached into the goodie bucket for a mouthful of grain before taking a drink of water. Chewing and with his muzzle still dripping, he turned his head toward Becky.

  She jumped back giggling, “No you don’t Mister. You keep your sloppy mouth to yourself. We don’t need your drool all over this nice costume.” She began removing the costume from Ali and hanging up what she could in the trailer. She wondered what was keeping Mom, but continued working while she told Ali what a good boy he had been and how proud of him she was. As soon as Becky finished pulling the costume off Ali, she stepped in the trailer to remove her own costume, closing the side door behind her.

  The Hix brothers got off the freeway on the Ortega Highway exit and drove to the trailer parking area. They cruised the area slowly looking for horses with no one around. There were still quite a few people putting wheeled vehicles in their rigs. A few were busy stowing tack. Some were getting their horses ready to load up for the trip home. They saw no unattended horses.

  “I told you we shoulda been here an hour ago,” whined Danny. “Looks like most everybody’s gone or getting ready for the haul. There’s too many people around here. What ‘re we goin’ to do now?”

  “Just shut up and keep your eyes open!” Calvin snapped. “There were hundreds of horses here for the parade. They can’t all be gone. We just need one or two tha
t nobody’s watchin’.”

  Danny simmered in silence. He was slipping into one of his dark moods. He began obsessing over a minor issue that could consume him for hours. He wasn’t particularly crazy about this whole idea in the first place. He was angry with his brother for dawdling so long at the Drop Inn. They went over to borrow gas money for the trip. Calvin insisted on playing around too much and showing off his pool skills for some girl. It took forever to get his mind back on the job at hand.

  They drove around the lot looking at every rig left in the parking area. Just as it seemed they’d completely missed the boat, they spotted the Howard’s truck and trailer at the end of the lot. They almost passed it by before they saw Ali tied to the far side of the trailer with no one around. It was perfect! They could sneak up on the horse and nobody could see them.

  “Here we go!” Calvin said as he set the parking brake on the old truck. “This one’s it. There’s no one around and the folks on the other side of the trailer can’t see. Get the tranquilizer ready, will ya? I’ll just make sure there’s nobody here.”

  Danny pulled the vial out of his pocket and got a syringe out of the glove box. He twisted a new needle on the syringe. He plunged the needle into the vial and turned the vial upside down. He pulled the plunger on the vial to fill the syringe. “I’m ready.”

  Calvin left the engine running, got out and walked around the Howard’s trailer. He saw no one. He waved Danny over. Danny hopped out of the truck leaving the door open and stepped around the trailer to the far side out of view. “How’re ya doin’ boy?” he asked Ali as he scratched him on the withers and patted his neck. In a split second he had the needle in, pushed the plunger to deliver the drugs and pulled the needle out.

  “Ouch!” Ali felt the sting of the needle. He’d had shots before from the vet, but not by some stranger who just came up to greet him. That alarmed him. He snorted loudly to alert Becky.

  Calvin stood on the other side of Ali, scratching his withers to divert Ali’s attention.

  “This will just take a few minutes,” Danny whispered. “We should just stay here until he gets sleepy.”

  Becky heard Ali snort and quickly pulled on her tee shirt. She opened the side door to the trailer and jumped out. She was startled by the two men standing on either side of Ali – then she noticed the syringe in Danny’s hand.

  “What do you think you are doing?” she yelled.

  Ali heard the anxiety in her voice and became nervous and agitated. He pawed the ground and whinnied loudly.

  “You’d better get away from my horse right now or I’ll have the cops on you!” Becky shouted.

  She saw a mean look cross Calvin’s face and she began to fear for herself and Ali. She was determined not to show it so she stretched up all five feet, four inches and one hundred ten pounds of herself and stuck out her chin.

  “You two better get out of here before I start screaming my head off!”

  Numbness began to settle over Ali. “This isn’t right. What are these people up to? I have to protect my Becky! But I don’t feel so good….NO! NO!” Ali screamed a stallion challenge at them but it didn’t quite come out right. His vision was blurring. The noise in the parking area covered the sound of his scream. No one could see anything because the trailer hid them from view. No one took any notice.

  Danny and Calvin had no great love for the police. And they needed the money for this horse. Danny looked over at Calvin and Calvin waved him backwards and pointed at the girl.

  “Okay, okay little lady,” Danny mumbled, “I’m leavin’.” He backed up and walked around Becky. As he passed her, she was staring daggers at Calvin who hadn’t moved away from Ali yet.

  In a split second, Danny’s pent-up frustration turned to panic and rage. He didn’t like this situation one bit! He hated cops and jails! He was angry about his brother’s dawdling around and getting them here so late. They were only getting half the horses they’d wanted. That cut the money they’d get in half. And now there was a witness!

  Danny grabbed her from behind and gave her a violent shove.

  The shove caught Becky off guard. She went flying toward the building. She wheeled her arms as she struggled to keep her footing. She tripped on loose gravel on the pavement. She stumbled. She crashed head first into the wall of the building. Her momentum bounced her off the building onto the asphalt. Her body rolled partially over and went still. A trickle of blood appeared on her forehead. Blood from the gash on top of her head began staining her long blonde hair a deep red. Her blue eyes closed and her body twitched once.

  Ali tried to whirl around and strike at Danny with his front feet, but his legs would hardly support his weight. He almost fell when he reached the end of his lead. He moaned, “Oh my Becky! Becky help me if you can. Becky please get up. What’s happening?” The dark cloud became heavier on him and he felt his whole body go numb. He began weaving on his feet to stay upright.

  “Now you’ve done it!” spat Calvin. “All you needed to do is push ‘er out of the way or hold onto ‘er so we could tie ‘er up or somethin’. But you maybe just killed ‘er. We have to go NOW!”

  “Hey, I only pushed ‘er. She’s the one who tripped,” whined Danny.

  Ali struggled to stay on his feet. His eyes were at half-mast and he was beyond caring. His mind shut down with the drugs and the shock. Calvin untied him from the Howard’s trailer and walked him to theirs. He opened the back door. Ali made several attempts to get his front feet up in the trailer. He finally succeeded. Calvin shoved Ali inside and closed the trailer door. Calvin had Danny grab the lead rope through the front window of the trailer and tie Ali inside. Then both men jumped in the truck, slamming the doors.

  Calvin jammed the truck in gear and stepped on the gas. He sped to the on-ramp of the freeway a quarter of a mile away. He put his foot to the floorboard hoping no one saw what just happened.

  CHAPTER SIX

  Mom finally extricated herself from well-wishers and hurried to the trailer parking area. She noticed the rear trailer door was open. “Becky?” she called out and got no reply. She stepped around the truck to the other side and noticed the tack room door was also open but Ali was not tied to the side of the trailer. He was gone! “Becky, where are you two?” There was no reply.

  That’s when she saw Becky lying on the pavement with her eyes closed, not moving. She saw the fresh pool of blood around Becky’s head and began to scream, “No! No! NO!”

  Mom ran and dropped to her knees beside her daughter and cradled her head in her arms, tears streaming down her cheeks. “Becky! Wake up Becky! Honey, open your eyes! WAKE UP, PLEASE DEAR GOD!” She got no response. It was then she noticed the blood on her own arms and clothes. Terror gripped her heart and she began to scream in earnest, “HELP! HELP! HELP! My daughter’s been hurt! SOMEONE CALL 911! PLEASE, SOMEBODY PLEASE COME HELP US!”

  People at the nearest trailers dropped what they were doing and came running. Two of the ladies were already on their cell phones dialing 911. “What’s happened? asked one man.

  Choking down sobs, Mom cried, “I don’t know. I just got here and found my Becky here and can’t wake her up. There’s blood everywhere and our horse is gone. Did anyone see what happened?”

  Prince Ali and Becky had been on the far side of their trailer, away from view of the parking area. No one saw what happened.

  “We didn’t see a loose horse anywhere around here. He couldn’t get far,” answered the man.

  “Hey, what color was your horse? I saw two guys loading a gray horse in a beat-up trailer right there in front of your rig,” said a young man just walking up from the far end of the parking area. “They hauled out of here in a hurry. Looked like they were heading for the freeway. Maybe you shouldn’t hold your daughter like that until the paramedics get here in case there’s an injury to her neck or somethin’.”

  Fresh sobs came from Mom. “Oh, my God! They stole Ali! They must have hurt Becky to get to him. NO! NO! NO! Can someone call the Sheri
ff and get an ambulance?”

  She sat beside her daughter as tears streamed down her face. “Can someone get my husband? His name is Walter Howard and he’s waiting for us on the porch of the El Adobe.”

  Two of the women in the forming crowd were still talking with the 911 dispatch operators when the first siren wailed through the afternoon air. A couple of by-standers took off running for the restaurant to find Walter. Some of the people there were trying to give advice. The rest of them watched in stunned silence. The locals were shocked. Things like this just didn’t happen in San Juan Capistrano!

  When the first fire engine arrived, six firemen jumped out. By-standers directed them to Mom. They asked Mom to move back and give them room. They checked for pulse and respiration. They checked her pupils and probed for wounds finding a large gash near the top of her head and small patch of “road rash” where her forehead came in contact with the asphalt. By that time the paramedics’ ambulance arrived. The paramedics applied bandaging to her head and a neck brace. They slid Becky onto a back-board. They started an IV in her arm and hoisted the back-board onto a portable stretcher.

  Mom stood back and watched in horror. Dad came, out of breath from running, and wrapped his arms around her holding her tight while she cried. “What happened?” he asked.

  “Ooohh, I don’t know,” she sobbed. “I found her laying there on the pavement with blood everywhere and Ali gone. Someone said they saw two men load a gray horse in a trailer and take off so they might have stolen Ali. Becky must have gotten in their way.” She cried as if her heart were breaking.

  “We’re taking her to Mission Hospital,” the paramedic told Mom and Dad. “She’s got a head injury and we think she’s in a coma, but she’s breathing and her pulse is strong and steady. That’s a good sign. Are you her mother? You can come with us. We need to get some information anyway.” Looking at Dad, he said, “If you’re her father, can you follow us in your own vehicle?”