Beloved Scarlett – A Katherine Carter Story
At age fifteen, Abigail Jones wrote this peek into fifteen-year-old Kate Carter’s life, the life she lived until just before she ran off with her future outlaw husband, Troy Swanson. Andrea Carter and the Family Secret tells the story of Katherine’s repentance and return to the Circle C. But this behind-the-scenes short-story contest winner is a poignant look at the soon-to-be prodigal Carter daughter. Mrs. M revised and expanded it.
Stop it, Kate. You will not cry. You will not cry.
But saying the words didn’t change anything. One tear, then another slipped down Katherine Carter’s cheek and landed in the straw beneath her.
She ran one hand over the mare’s shoulder, and it came away sweat-soaked and sticky. The whites of Scarlet’s eyes glistened silver in the lamplight. Kate watched in silent terror at the way the straw under the foal-heavy mare shifted back and forth with each ragged breath.
Kate whispered into the rustling, “No, Scarlet. Please, no.”
Scarlet could not leave her. It was unthinkable. She was the one constant anchor in a sea of drama surrounding the fifteen-year-old girl’s topsy-turvy life, the one friend that would never yell at her, or send her to her room, or boss her all day long.
The only friend that stood by quietly while Kate poured out her secrets, never turning away in shame.
But now, Scarlet was dying.
Her stall these past two weeks should have been full of joy. Scarlet had been stabled in the ranch’s big foaling stall ever since Father told his daughter that her mare would soon drop her foal.
How excited Kate was! She couldn’t wait to see the little beauty her scarlet-colored mare would drop. Filly? Colt? No matter. This foal would be hers, and Scarlet would be the best brood mare in the entire valley.
But Kate’s excitement had been premature, before the mare slowly began to die.
Before Father discovered Kate was sneaking out to meet Troy.
Before Chad stopped talking to her.
Before Mother stopped bothering to confront Kate about her poor and dangerous choices.
She cried more now than she had let herself in the past week. Her tears fell like raindrops, just like the ones that pounded the roof overhead.
Footsteps sounded from the aisleway between the stalls. They were soft, slow, not like Father’s or Chad’s heavy ones. Nor did the sound resemble the skipping footsteps of seven-year-old Melinda or two-year-old Andi’s toddling steps.
They were quiet steps, but not as delicate as Mother’s.
It must be Justin. He knew how to walk without barging in on a person’s private thoughts.
Kate smiled. Justin had come, the only family member who still seemed to love her, the one still willing to listen.
The stall’s half door opened with a low creak, which echoed throughout the sleeping barn. The footsteps were nearer now, the straw muffling the rustling of boot heels on the dirt floor.
A hand settled gently on her shoulder. Kate felt the weight, the warmth of Justin’s touch.
She didn’t move. Instead, her gaze stayed fixed on Scarlet, on the way her eyes rolled back in her head with every ripple of her abdominal muscles.
The way the sweat dropped from her fiery coat onto the straw.
The way her head lay, nearly lifeless, against the stall floor.
The way she didn’t move when Kate rubbed her hand along her foreleg.
“How long has she been at it?” Justin asked. His voice was so low that if he hadn’t been so close that Kate could feel his breath tickle her ear, she would not have heard him.
“I have no idea.” Her words came out muffled, choked with unshed tears that clogged her throat. “She’s gotten worse in the last few minutes.”
Justin’s hand slipped from Kate’s shoulder, and he drew his sister into that big-brother hug she’d pulled away from so many times during the past several weeks. Then he sat down in the straw beside her.
Kate leaned against her brother, pulled her legs out from underneath her wrinkled, stained skirt, and stretched them out. They tingled with prickly pins and needles at the release of pressure, and she winced at the unpleasant feeling. However, besides that, neither she nor Justin moved.
Her eyelids drooped. It was exhausting trying to keep her meetings with Troy a secret. Her mind was constantly on alert, always watching out. Constantly afraid of being caught.
Scarlet’s foaling stirred her emotions, making them rise and fall like the Pacific Ocean at high tide. I am so tired.
“Kate.”
Her eyes flew open at Justin’s shake. For how long had she been dozing? She had no idea. The rain kept splattering. Her thoughts kept spinning.
Scarlet’s foal appeared. Two hooves, one a little behind the other. Two black legs tangled in the translucent birth sac. A petite, delicate head emerging between them.
The foal seemed perfect, but Scarlet wasn’t.
Kate’s chest tightened. Her head pounded at the thought of losing her mare. Scarlet’s every breath seemed to be a struggle.
Kate had attended dozens of foalings. None ever appeared to give the mare pain, except for tonight. A foaling should not cause the mare to waste away. “Can’t we do anything?”
But Kate knew the answer. There was nothing either she or Justin could do. Not at this point. Even if Father and Chad were here, instead of away from the ranch at yet another boring cattlemen’s meeting, they couldn’t ease Scarlet’s suffering.
Kate drew away from Justin and crept to Scarlet’s finely shaped head. She was an Arabian, a breed that had never been on the ranch. She was small and fragile-looking, but as loyal and brave as any ranch horse. Somehow, her eyes managed to still look brave, even as they darted around frantically.
Scarlet did not thrash or whinny. She took the pain as if it was the only thing she could do to keep her foal safe during the foaling process.
Kate stroked her mare’s head, just behind her ears. Scarlet’s breathing slowed, and her eyes focused on Kate, pleading with her mistress to make things easier for her.
“I can’t.” Tears spurted. “God help me, but I can’t.”
Kate’s words surprised herself. God was the last Person she wanted to think about right now. But even if He didn’t care for her, surely Scarlet had done nothing wrong. “Could you pray for her, Justin? Mother says that God cares about horses.”
“I thought you didn’t want to talk to God.”
“I don’t. But you can.”
“I have been, Kate. But you can listen to God, talk to Him even. He hasn’t turned away from you. He will never turn away from you, no matter how far and fast you run.”
Kate did not respond, but she tucked Justin’s words inside a corner of her heart. Perhaps someday she would remember.
Scarlet let out a low, agonized squeal. It was quiet, weak.
Kate watched the foal’s progress. Another weak push, and the foal’s tiny withers were free. Scarlet relaxed.
Kate stroked Scarlet’s neck under her mane, a place nearly always sweaty. But it wasn’t damp now. It was as hot as an open flame and soaked with pooling sweat. What is wrong?
Inch by precious inch, Scarlet birthed her foal. It wasn’t supposed to take this long. Ten minutes, maybe fifteen at the longest. This long labor was not healthy for mare or foal at all.
Scarlet was pushing three times as long as she should have to, and the foal still wasn’t completely free. Was it stuck? No. There was progress, albeit as slow as a mountain glacier.
Kate rubbed her arms, where goosebumps were popping up without her say-so. Things were going wrong.
So very wrong.
She scooted away from Scarlet, far enough to reach out and clutch Justin’s strong, warm hand. Right then, Kate didn’t care about all the horrid things she had said to her oldest brother the past few weeks. She didn’t care about the arguments, or all the times she’d vowed never to speak to him again.
Nothing like that mattered right now.
Justin was her big brother, and the only one in the family who was sitting with his wayward sister in a dirty foaling stall in the middle of a rainy night.
“Don’t worry, honey.”
That was all he said. No promises of “everything will be all right” or “you two have been through worse before.” Just telling her not to worry.
But he looked worried too.
“Father is always angry with me,” Kate whispered, spilling her heart to Scarlet. “Mother can’t speak to me without crying. Chad avoids me like I’m carrying a contagious disease. Mitch and Melinda look uneasy whenever I come to supper, as if I’ll start another family argument.” She stroked her mare gently.
“Even Andi stops chattering and stares at me with round, frightened eyes. Maybe she remembers the time I slapped her. And now”—her shoulders shook with sobs—“Scarlet’s dying.”
Justin slid across the straw and settled himself next to Kate. “I’ll be here for you, Katherine Grace. Always. Don’t forget that no matter what happens, I love you.”
Kate caught her breath, suddenly worried. Was it possible that Justin could read her thoughts? That he knew her plans? An image of handsome, smiling Troy rose up in her mind. His whispered, loving words from the day before echoed . . .
“Don’t listen to them, Katie. Come with me, my darling.”
Kate’s breathing was shallow, on the verge of tears. Troy loved her. She knew he did, but . . . “I can’t just leave. They’re my family, no matter how mean they’ve treated me lately.”
“Treated us, love. That one brother of yours looks like he’d just as soon shoot me as shake my hand. I’m not as horrible as they try to make you believe. They just won’t give me a chance.”
Troy ran his fingers across Kate’s hand, sending shivers up her arm and down her spine. “You have to get away from them before they ruin your life. Promise you’ll come with me.”
Kate didn’t speak. She closed her eyes and replayed Father’s yelling, Mother’s sobbing, and Chad’s threats against that “no-good scoundrel.”
Poor Troy, no wonder he wanted to take Kate and run far, far away.
“I don’t know, Troy.” She looked up. Blazing love showed on his face, making Kate’s heart melt into a puddle. “I’ll think about it,” she finally said. “But I can’t even think about leaving until my mare foals—any day now. Scarlet would never understand if I wasn’t there for her.”
Troy squeezed her hands. He brought them to his lips and planted a tender kiss on her fingers. “Take as much time as you need, my love. I’ll wait. You are worth the wait.”
“And you make sure you stay away from the ranch,” Kate warned, “or you might get shot.”
“Kate?” Justin’s voice cut into her thoughts, driving away the warmth and leaving nothing but cold fears.