The Healing Horse, Ch. 11, Scene 7: The New House

At last, Karen gets to see their new home. It’s so close to the stables, she can walk back and forth—just like she wanted.

Scene 7: The New House

Mama parked in the driveway and turned to watch her daughter’s reaction.

“Mama, it’s beautiful! This is so much nicer than anything I ever dreamed of. It’s just as magical as the ranch.”

They left the car and went up the three steps onto the full front porch. Karen turned back to admire the yard and the flowers.

“Look at all the planters, Mama! And the yard has so much grass. Pegasus could practically live here. This looks like a real ranch house, just like at the stables.”

Mama explained, “This house was built a long time ago, sweetheart, back in 1920, the same year your Mama was born. It’s a Craftsman ranch-style bungalow. It’s a real classic California house. It isn’t very big, but it’s perfect for us.”

Mama unlocked the wide oak door, and they went in. As she showed Karen around, they planned how they would use each room. Mama would take the den in the front of the house as her bedroom, so she could watch TV late at night without disturbing Karen. Karen would get the bedroom in back. They did not like the dark colors of the walls and agreed that they would replaster some and put lighter wallpaper on others. The feature Karen liked best was the pergola, a covered outdoor seating area that opened off the dining room. They could eat outside, while Pegasus grazed in the yard.

As they returned to the car, Karen asked, “Mama, we’re only two blocks from the ranch. Can I try walking over and back, right now? Just so I can see if I can really do it? I promise I’ll be careful. I’ll just say hello to Pegasus and let him know how close we will be to him. Is that okay? Please?”

“I should’ve known you’d want to do that, my Krana Layala. That’s the whole point of our moving, isn’t it? So you can walk back and forth and have your independence while being interdependent with me. So, go ahead for now. You can walk over, but I’ll follow in the car so we don’t lose too much time. Fair enough?”

“Fair enough, Mama!” and off Karen hurried.

Mama sat down in the driver’s seat. With her heart elated, for a moment, she felt fully relaxed. Then she started the car and put it in gear.

The Healing Horse, Ch. 11, Scene 6: Mama Gives Karen and Pegasus the Good News

Mama reaches the ranch and takes a moment to reflect on her life. She has just made a huge commitment, and she realizes it will be life-changing, just as the other pivotal moments in her life changed everything forever.

Scene 6: Mama Gives Karen and Pegasus the Good News

Two hours later, she parked in the gravel lot at the ranch. Studying her face in the rearview mirror, she gazed back at herself. She remembered her childhood during the Great Depression, the good years of working as a buyer at Hattie Carnegie’s before she married, the joy of her wedding day, the terrible day of the DPT shot that had almost killed her daughter, the car crash that had killed her husband, and the decision to take the legal secretary position that made buying a home for her and her Krana Layala possible. The house was much nicer than she had thought they could afford, but as the agent had pointed out, if they wanted to live in the neighborhood of the ranch, they were going to have to pay the price. There were no cheap homes, here. Everything was very nice and priced accordingly. She brought her mind back to the present and freshened her makeup.

She saw Kitten riding Pegasus toward the barn and hurried to catch up with them. Kitten slipped down off her horse and hugged her. Mama felt herself transmitting a glow of satisfaction, even of jubilation.

Kitten looked up at her and asked, “Why are you here so early, Mama? Wait! I know! You have some good news, don’t you? I can feel it!”

“Yes! We have a new home. Of all the houses I looked at, this was the best one. It’s real cute and clean, and it’s only two blocks from the stables. The owners were asking more than we could afford, but when I talked to them, they said they needed to sell quickly because they were moving away from LA. So, I made an offer we could afford, and they accepted it.”

Karen let go of Mama and jumped with joy. She still held Pegasus’ reins, and he bobbed his head with her and neighed, and for a joyful moment the three of them danced in a circle.

Then Mama said, “Come on! We have to bag bunches of boxes from the grocery store and pack up the whole house before we can move.”

Kitten and Pegasus said their goodbyes, and then Mama and Karen hurried off on their errands, but first they made a stop.

The Healing Horse, Ch. 11, Scene 5: House Hunting

Mama had a heroic quality to her. In spite of becoming a widow and raising a disabled child all alone, she never complained. Whatever the challenge, she rose to it. In this scene, her determination and courage once again pay off.

Scene 5: House Hunting

The afternoons and evenings of surveying potential new homes flew by. Mama looked non-stop, even on her lunch break at work. Though she saw a lot of houses, few of them satisfied her. She wanted the right size at the right price in the right location. She knew she could not afford to buy a large home, so she looked only at bungalows. She wanted a medium-size house in perfect condition.

Her most important stipulation was that it be within reasonable walking distance of the stables. Karen had to be able to walk back and forth by herself. Besides, that guaranteed that it would be in a prime neighborhood with rising property values, so she would make a profit when she sold it. She promised herself that she would not accept anything below her standard. Even if she had to sell some of her stocks, she would find a way to buy a house that would be comfortable for the two of them and close to the ranch.

Realizing that Pegasus now fully occupied Karen’s mind, and that moving would add more stress to their lives, she did not share her house-hunting disappointments with her daughter. She would wait until she could spring the new home on her with exhilaration, excitement and enthusiasm.

The Saturday after Thanksgiving, Mama got Kitten up early, and took her to the ranch so she could concentrate on house hunting. Since Pegasus’ living transformation, Karen’s personality had changed profoundly. Her once shy behavior had become more confident. She was now a stronger child, emotionally. She was more enthusiastic and more at ease with herself. Her weak arm and leg improved, and she was able to participate in more physical activities. She walked around the ranch and mounted Pegasus on her own. She was teaching herself balancing poses while riding him. When she dismounted from Pegasus, she practiced kneeling, bending, twisting and turning with ease. Her muscles were becoming stronger and her body more robust as each day passed. Mama was sure she could spend the entire day at the stables without her.

After dropping Karen at the ranch, she returned home and sat at the kitchen table studying the LA Times classifieds. Although she had made an offer on one house, she did not let herself become complacent. Her fourth cup of coffee had gone cold, but she sipped it, anyway, trying to keep herself going in spite of fatigue.

The phone rang. She answered it. Suddenly, she felt as if she were dreaming as she heard herself say, “Yes, I can come over and sign the papers, now. Thank you so much. I’ll bring my checkbook.”

The Healing Horse, Ch. 11, Scene 4: Thanksgiving, 1963

If you don’t know what happened in November of 1963, keep reading anyway. I fill in a little of the background, so you can understand how determined Karen and her friends were to maintain a positive outlook.

Scene 4: Thanksgiving, 1963

On the Friday of Mama’s first week of house hunting, the President of the United States was assassinated. Like nearly everyone else in the country, Mama and Kitten fell into mourning for John Fitzgerald Kennedy and his family. However, Kitten’s determination to take care of Pegasus and to develop herself kept her going. Mama’s determination to find a home close to Pegasus kept her going, too. Mama decided that this year’s Thanksgiving Day would be the most appreciative holiday that she and Karen could ever celebrate. Even as she took Karen to the stables and then house hunted every day, she squeezed in grocery shopping trips and made time to cook.

Then she got a phone call. It was Babs at the stables.

“Would you and Karen like to have Thanksgiving Dinner with us at the ranch? Tex and I laid carpet so Pegasus can come inside and eat with us people.”

“Yes, I know my Krana Layala would love that. It sounds like a plan to me.”

They agreed that Babs would bake the turkey, pumpkin pies, and mincemeat pies, and she would make mashed potatoes from scratch. Mama and Karen would bring everything else, including a special meal for Pegasus.

On Thanksgiving morning, Kitten and Mama got up early to prepare their part of the menu. Mama put Kitten in charge of making a huge salad, and Karen roasted a kabocha squash to go with it. Mama baked yams and steamed string beans. Together, they cooked cranberries and honey into a sauce and then added walnuts, after it cooled.

For Pegasus, Karen created a full-size turkey sculpture made of carrots, celery, and Rice Krispy Treats, that she lovingly cooked with real butter and the best quality marshmallows. She chopped the celery and carrots finely with a French chef knife. She melted butter in a pot and blended marshmallows into it. Then she stirred the liquid marshmallows and butter into a bowl of Rice Krispies. After mixing them, she used her artistic skills to mold them into a sculpture of a baked turkey, and she stuffed it with raw carrots and celery.

Pegasus will love this, she said to herself.

They finished cooking just before noon. Karen dressed for dinner in her favorite purple and white striped, sleeveless dress, with a matching cotton shrug. On her feet, she wore black Mary Janes. Mama wore a casual, mustard yellow sheath dress with a white textured rayon A-line coat over it.

They drove to the stables and carried their offerings into the big ranch house, where Tex, Babs, and Rocky lived. Babs welcomed them and led them into the dining room, where Pegasus and the others were already waiting. The dining room floor now had a sturdy carpet on it, and the furniture was rearranged so that Pegasus had room to stand and eat at the foot of the long table. The turkey and pies that Tex, Rocky, and Joshua had helped Babs bake were already on the table. Karen proudly placed her turkey sculpture in front of her magical horse.

As they ate, the humans took turns sharing what they were thankful for, and in spite of the glum national mood, they kept their focus on the positive. Pegasus kept quiet except to whisper in Kitten’s ear, “I’m thankful for you.”

The Healing Horse, Ch. 11, Scene 3: Karen Visualizes Walking to the Ranch

The story continues from one high point to the next. Karen and Mama are on a roll.

Scene 3: Karen Visualizes Walking to the Ranch

As they crept through the traffic, Karen visualized herself walking the entire distance from their new home to Pegasus. As soon as they moved into their new home, she would do it. She made that promise to herself, and she would share it with Pegasus.

The Healing Horse, Ch. 11, Scene 2: Friday Evening Rush Hour

The time period that this chapter covers brought events that shook the world, but this scene is all about dealing with everyday difficulties.

Scene 2: Friday Evening Rush Hour

On Friday evening of that first week of Pegasus living at the ranch, Mama patiently waited for the car ahead of her to move forward, as she drove her daughter home. They had sat through two full cycles of the traffic light, and they still had not crossed the intersection, but then, neither had the car in front of them. The rush hour traffic was a reality. There was no point in getting upset, but there was a point in adapting and taking action.

Mama’s original estimate of a half hour each way had turned out to be wrong. Even though she picked up Kitten at school promptly at three each afternoon, which was just before rush hour started, they always got stuck in traffic on their way home from the stables. If they got to the ranch at half-past three, and if Karen spent only an hour with her horse, then they did not get home until six. This made making dinner, eating, and relaxing into a rush–which was the opposite of what she wanted it to be.

“Krana Layala,” she said. “This is just too much for us. I don’t want us wearing ourselves out with all this traffic. We’re spending more time going back and forth than you’re getting with your horse. I’m gonna find us a place close enough so you can walk to see him. It’ll be great. Just you wait and see! Thanksgiving is coming in less than two weeks, but I’m gonna start my quest for a new home, immediately, and by immediately, my girl, I mean first thing tomorrow morning!”

The Healing Horse, Ch. 11: A New Routine, House Hunting, and Thanksgiving

Now that Pegasus has a new home, little Kitten needs a way to get from her house in Santa Monica all the way to Topanga Canyon, and she needs to do it every day. This begins a transformation of her life, but it is not all easy.

Scene 1: Monday After School

The next day was Monday, and as she had promised, Mama picked up Karen after school and drove her into the hills to the ranch. As she pulled off the hardtop and onto the gravel drive, she saw that her daughter was almost overwhelmed with eagerness to see her horse. She parked near the barn and watched as Karen ran to the pasture. Following at a respectful distance, she watched Kitten and Pegasus stroll away, up a trail. After a while, they returned to the barn, and Rocky showed Karen how to brush her horse slowly and lovingly. Her daughter obviously enjoyed every moment with the horse. Then it was time to go home.

The Healing Horse, Ch. 10, Scene 10: Karen Rides Home with Mama

Chapter ten ends on a joyful and peaceful note, as Karen reflects on the new friends she has made, and on how one of them has helped her learn to express herself more eloquently.

Scene 10: Karen Rides Home with Mama

As Karen rode home with her mother, she thought over the new experiences in her life. With each had come a mystical bond, first with Pegasus, and now with Joshua. The day’s experience at the ranch had made that clear.

What’s the word I looked up the other day? Eni- enig- enigmatic! I like that. It goes hand in hand with pleasureful and pulchritudinous!

The Healing Horse, Ch. 10, Scene 9: Return to the Barn

As a beautiful day ends, and this chapter approaches its close, Karen and Pegasus return to the barn, so the little girl can ride home with her Mama.

Scene 9: Return to the Barn

The sun sank low in the sky, and she knew her Mama would soon be waiting for her. She rode back to the barn, and arrived just as Mama’s car entered the parking lot.

Karen leaned over and cooed, “Well, boy, I think I’d better say so-long for now. Mama is here. I’ll see you tomorrow, okay?”

Pegasus smiled and neighed farewell.

The Healing Horse, Ch. 10, Scene 8: Eating at the Picnic Table with Joshua

This is the first scene in which the cowboy, Joshua, sees Pegasus fully alive–a horse, not a wooden carving. The three of them bond deeply, so deeply that spoken words become unnecessary.

Scene 8: Eating at the Picnic Table with Joshua

They walked to the picnic table, and Karen used it to dismount from Pegasus’ back. She and Joshua sat on a bench, while Pegasus stood nearby. After spreading a cloth napkin on the table, she unwrapped her tuna fish sandwich and poured chopped vegetables from the plastic bag. There were carrots, celery, broccoli, cauliflower, radishes, and cucumber. As she arranged them, Joshua reached into his pocket.

“This here is for you, Pegasus. A pink lady apple. They’re better than delicious apples. I happen to have one on me. I always carry one for momentous moments like this here one.”

Joshua winked. Pegasus nuzzled him, and they bonded in a moment of sweetness. Even though they had spent many hours together at the carousel, this was the first time they had been together with Pegasus fully alive. There was now an inner link that united Karen, Pegasus, and Joshua, a spiritual aura articulating, connecting, and merging them into an inseparable alliance.

“What an affinity,” Karen said. “We are just like the three musketeers!”

She offered Joshua half her sandwich.

“Thanks, doll!” he said. They were growing closer every minute.

“Have some veggies, too.”

She gave Pegasus a carrot, and the three ate without further conversation.

Each of them reflected on recent events. They did not need spoken words. The words in their minds were in heavenly harmony.

Joshua had watched the changes in Karen. He was amazed at her progress and impressed by her willingness to stand up for herself and for those she cared about. I knew she would do great things the moment she chose Pegasus and clum up onto his back.

Karen’s mind drifted soothingly over the challenges of the past months. Now, I know who my real friends are, and what being a friend really means. It isn’t easy. Joshua and Pegasus are in my friendship circle, along with Mama. I will always be there for them, just like they are for me.

Pegasus also mused, Kitten has taken her first steps down an arduous path, and I have found a reason to live. We both have a long way to go, and I am grateful that I was sent to guide her.

Joshua said, “There’s just one more thing that we should talk about. Now that Pegasus is a real horse, you’ll need to learn how to take care of a real horse. Rocky can teach you. I’ll have a word with him and Tex, and he can start showin’ you what to do, next time you visit.”

After they finished the last bites of food, Karen wiped her mouth on one of the paper napkins, stood up, and dusted off her jeans. Joshua helped her pack the plastic bag and used napkins back into the paper sack, and then she and Pegasus said goodbye to him, as he walked toward his pickup truck in the parking lot.