Maggie

佚名 / Anonymous

IneverknewMaggie’sageorwhatkindoflifeshe’， sheborethemarksofalong， hardlifeofilltreatment， ’， .

Wechosealivelycoltwhosesoftmuzzlepokedinquisitivelyintomypockets， ， Lexystoodnohigherthanmyshoulder.“She’llwantacompanion，” saidVal ， theowner.“Donkeysdon’tliketolivealone ，” ， whatwouldtwodo？ “Idon’tthinkwecanaffordtwo，” Isaidwithalumpinmythroat， mentallybiddingLexygoodbye.

“Well， IcanseeLexy’， ， she’’tgetanyonetobuyher， andIdon’， andifyoulike， I’’soverthere.”

IfollowedVal’， ， Icouldseethathercoatwasroughandpatchy， withdarkskinshowingthroughhereandthere.“Don’tmindthecoat，” continuedVal.“Shehasatouchofthemange， butit’llgrowbackinsoon.” Shedidn’tlookupasweapproached ， markingitpatentlyclearthatshehadnointerestinus.

“Hername’sMaggie，” saidVal.“She’sbeenbrokentorideandshedoesn’， I’llshowyou.” ， stillnotlookingup.“Hopon.” ValliftedupmysonNathan， ploppedhimonMaggie’sback， ， lookingneithertoleftnorright.“See？” saidVal.“Gentleascanbe， andnothingspooksher.” ， ’’twantedordesired， .

Iwalkedovertoher， putmyhandsunderhergrizzledmuzzle， andliftedupherhead.“Maggie，” Iwhispered， lookingintohereyes.“You’recominghomewithme.I’mgoingtogiveyouawarmbarnwithlotsofhay， freshwater， agreenpasture， andanappletreetogiveyoushadeonhot， .”

， ’.