Loyalty

Alex

He shook his head. “I’m afraid.”

“You don’t have to be afraid. We’ll do it together. Hold out your hand, nice and flat.” He did as I asked, leaning his head away from his hand as far as his neck would stretch. I put the carrot in his palm. Fiona’s giant lips brushed across his palm as she picked up the carrot. He shrieked, yanking his hand away.

“It’s okay,” I said. “Those were her lips. You’re okay.”

He looked at his hand and then back at the horse. “I did it!”

“Yes, you did. See, it’s not so bad.”

“Good girl, Fiona,” he said to the horse.

“But here’s the deal. You can never feed the horses by yourself. Not yet. You need to learn how to talk to them, how to touch them, and how to be safe around them. All right?”

He nodded. “Okay.”

I walked him around the barn, pointing out various tools and educating him about what he could and couldn’t touch. I had worked with kids before. Usually, they were used to the farm life and had a healthy fear of certain things, but with Oliver, it was