Friday was going to be pet day at Otepopo
Primary School, which was a village occasion and this year, there was going to
be a special prize for the best pony. This was important because while usually
the village kids walked to school, that is the ones who lived handy, the others
who had some distance to travel, either had their own pony or at least there
was a family one. Actually some were plough horses, or hacks and even retired
packhorses. The school had a pony paddock where the ponies grazed during school.
Everyone used to watch when the Stringer twins tried to catch their old hack
after school, somehow he used to always step away at the last moment. This made
them late home nearly every day, but gave everyone a good laugh!
Ben lived over the hill to the south, a good
three and a half miles walk away. He was the only one who didn’t have a pony. His
mother was widowed when he was just three, and between them they managed to
scrape up a living on their five acres by rearing hens, milking a cow and
fattening two pigs for the market. Ben had never tasted pork because the pigs
were always sold.
Old Claude owned the farm next door, but
his house wasn’t close, it was across the river and up a long track. The
village people, especially the kids were scared of old Claude because when he
rode his big white horse up to the village for stores or pipe tobacco, he looked
like a baddie from the wild west with his sundowner hat, puttees wound around
his trouser bottoms to keep grass seed out of his socks, and a long-rifle in
its scabbard!
The strange thing was that when Ben’s mum
needed help, old Claude would arrive, sort of out of the blue, and he would help
her solve whatever problem she had at the time. Which is why Old Claude became
a sort of mentor to Ben. Not a father figure, a mentor. Telling him about the
old ways and showing him practical stuff. Both Ben and old Claude knew the
quickest was to the village was through the rail tunnel, albeit a dangerous
route. They knew because old Mrs. Doak was deaf, and she used to walk the line
looking for spilt coal – she just wasn’t aware of the coming train!
Following the road was not very direct and
as well, from each side the hill there was a long, slow climb, which made
walking tiresome. Old Claude took Ben with a slasher each to open up a walking
track through the gorse alongside the rail line. The railway men had formed the
track when they were widening the tunnel. He had tried walking anyway along the
track but it was awkward for Ben because he had to more or less jump or skip from
sleeper to sleeper. So with the track open, the walk was almost flat to where
the tunnel went through, but there, there was an easy bulldozed track that came
out on Glencoe Road. From there it was
an easy stroll to the school. The track took three days for the pair to clear,
the hard work soothed by conversation and cold oatmeal water.
Old Claude knew about pet day and the pony
contest so the Saturday previous, he told Ben that he could ride his white
horse to the school that day and enter him in the competition. Ben had ridden
the horse many times before, most times under the watchful eye of old Claude,
but for the rest of the weekend Old Claude had Ben practice riding around
barrels and curry-combing the horse. They checked his feet and teeth as well and
applied boot polish to his hooves. They decided it was best not use a saddle so
Old Claude cut a chaff-sack-blanket for Ben to sit on. All the horse needed was
a rope bridle.
The ride to school was uneventful and the
horse performed beautifully around the barrels and Ben threw three out of five
balls into the bucket of water from the horses’ back. Equal Herb Welsh, they
were the best! But Gertie Granger won best pony, probably because she was
dressed in frilly pink and she had dressed her pony with ribbons the same
colour. The other students had laughed when Ben wrote on the board that the
horse’s name was Ammo. He thought to quite appropriate because old Claude’s
surname was Gunner! Ben reckoned the kids laughing put the judge off!
He wasn’t disappointed, he was just happy
he had ridden Ammo to school, so the other kids could see that he was a
proficient rider. Ammo seemed happy to be heading home and trotted along
briskly, but Ben brought him to a halt when Pat Gibson’s foxy, Kim, stood his
ground in the way, looking glum. Ben dismounted, and knowing Ammo would not
stray, left him standing there. He followed the small dog into the kitchen to
find the widow waking from unconsciousness but lying in a pool of blood. She
had a large gash on her head and she had obvious fallen from the stool when the
jam-pan she was reaching for clonked her on the head. He found a clean tea
towel, soaked it in water and after washing the wound, he told Pat to hold the
towel firmly over the gash to stop the bleeding. The told her he would return
presently with his mum.
Ben mounted the white horse and galloped
home. His mother quickly gathered disinfectant and other materials she thought
would be useful and they were just going out the door when old Claude arrived.
The three soon arrived at Pat’s house and the assessment was quickly made that
she needed stitches! Old Claude told Ben to take Ammo and gallop up to the
township to call Dr. Stubbs. He told Ben to give the horse his head and he would
get there in quick time, his word was true.
Dr. Stubbs was pruning his roses, and after
an out-of-breath Ben’s explanation of the situation, the doctor cranked his
jalopy and drove off in a cloud of smoky dust – accompanied by the odd banging
of back-fire! Meanwhile Ben steered Ammo back down their track and arrived back
at Pat’s house as the last stitch was being tied off. His mother had made Pat
comfortable with blankets and cushions and had brewed tea for everyone. Dr.
Stubbs told them that Ben’s good sense had indeed saved the day for Pat, and he
sternly shook Ben’s hand. He assured them that Pat was going to fine after the
stitches were removed after about a week.
At Monday morning assembly, the head
teacher called Ben to the front! The lad went red while the teacher repeated to
the assembly what Dr. Stubbs had told him about Ben’s heroics. And he reddened
again, not knowing where to look when the school clapped. But the surprise came
when the teacher presented Ben with two shiny half-crowns that Dr. Stubbs had
said he thoroughly deserved!
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