A monthly print newspaper devoted to the
equestrian happenings of the State of Maine
THE ADVENTURES OF
TINK AND FRADO:
Tink and His Friends
The Rescue
by Lynda McCann
Frado was lost. Tink was sure, and he was getting very
worried. Percy, who had been grazing along with him that morning,
was beginning to notice that Tink was becoming visibly upset.
Tink had been munching along steadily at first but now was spending
more time looking around than munching.
“Are you all right, Tink?” Percy asked. “Babette’s not coming out today, you know. She has lessons and a farrier appointment. Remember? Were you looking for her? Are you sick? What’s wrong?”
That morning had started off normally enough. It was very hot, but not so hot that the horses were kept in. Tink and Percy had begun the serious business of keeping the grass short in their field and Frado, as usual, had joined them, chasing and leaping after butterflies, and growling and pouncing at crickets. Then HE had appeared.
HE was the fattest, most arrogant little chipmunk and he had been driving Frado crazy for several days now. The chipmunk would appear, sometimes with something to munch on, sometimes without, plunk his little butt on the ground (exposing the roundest little pot belly) and stare at Frado. That’s all he did but that stare said it all. That stare said, “I dare you, you whimp. You can’t get me. Try it - I dare you!” It drove Frado nuts. Frado would start out growling and then sprint after the chipmunk who would dart into a weedy patch. Frado would pounce into the weeds and scratch and search and dig, accumulating an impressive collection of itchy burdocks in the process, but he would never find the chipmunk. Frado would whine in frustration and stalk back to his original spot, but the joy would be gone from his day because he knew that before long the enemy would return. After a few minutes, or a half hour, or an hour (Frado never knew how long it would be) there the chipmunk would be and Frado would be forced to repeat the whole process again. And again and again. It really was taking the fun out of his days in the pasture.
The previous night Frado had done some serious thinking. Where did that chipmunk keep disappearing to, he wondered. How did he keep losing it? He went to sleep thinking about the problem and he dreampt about it all night. This morning, just as he began to wake up, he pictured the chipmunk coming right out the other side of the weed clump. It was scampering off (and laughing at him, too!) as Frado himself searched intently within the weeds for its hiding place. Now Frado knew where the chipmunk was disappearing to and he woke up with a newly determined (and slightly embarrassed) attitude. He’d get that chipmunk today!
Frado played that morning with a new, carefree demeanor. That alone had worried Tink slightly since he knew as well as Frado that the chipmunk would be back. The fact that Frado wasn’t worried and tense while he waited let Tink know that something was up, and when something was up with Frado it usually meant trouble. Trouble that Tink would have to straighten out.
Finally the little beast showed up. It sat down and grinned at Frado. Frado ignored it for a minute in an effort to give it some false confidence. Suddenly they were off. The chipmunk darted into a weedy area and Frado followed, but this time he didn’t stop. Frado ran right through the weeds and right out the other side, and, sure enough, there was one very surprised chipmunk. Frado almost got him then. The chipmunk actually felt the air stir as one of Frado’s paws landed. He heard Frado’s snapping teeth behind him. That chipmunk was no longer arrogant or confident. He was scared and he ran for his life. He twisted and turned, forcing Frado to make sudden stops and turns, but Frado didn’t give up. The chipmunk ran through weed patches that hung Frado up slightly and slowed him down temporarily, but Frado didn’t give up. On and on they went, circling and sprinting, but Frado refused to be led astray and he refused to give up. That was one very scared chipmunk.
Tink really hoped that Frado wouldn’t catch the chipmunk (what would he do with it, after all?) but he was happy to see the chipmunk learning a lesson and hoped that Frado would be left in peace now. He didn’t begin to worry until the chipmunk led Frado under the fence at the back of the pasture and into the woods.
Tink knew how Frado hated those woods. After all, these weren’t just any woods, those were the haunted woods, the woods that all the horses knew better than to enter. Tink and Frado had gone on an adventure in those woods once. While the woods were lovely, the trip hadn’t been a pleasant experience. Why, Fortress had even seen monsters in those woods - his tales of battling those monsters had helped make him into one of the most feared and respected horses on the place. Tink knew that Frado would never enter those woods in his right mind, so as he watched the darkness at the edge of the woods swallow up his friend and the chipmunk, he began to worry.
“Frado is lost, Percy. I just know he is. And in the haunted woods, too! We’ve got to go and get him!”
Soon, after he had filled Percy in on the background on Frado and the woods, he had Percy worried, too. They decided that they would have to go find Frado. Percy was a little bit disappointed that his first trip out was to be a rescue mission rather than one of Tink’s famous adventures, but he quickly put such selfish thoughts out of his mind. The pair trot briskly off to the back of the pasture and neatly popped over the fence. (This was a bad thing to do, both horses knew, and they felt a little bit badly about being disobedient, but, after all, this was an emergency. Frado needed help and no one else knew. What else could Tink and Percy do?)
Tink entered the woods very cautiously while Percy marched happily next to him.
“These really are lovely woods,” Percy said, “And it is ever so much cooler in here.”
“Shh!” hissed Tink, “The monsters!”
“Did you see any monsters when you were in here last?” asked Percy.
“Well... no.”
“Who has actually seen the monsters?” persisted Percy.
“Fortress has. He said they were terrible, very big and ferocious. He said if he were a pony, one of those monsters could have eaten him in one bite!” replied Tink.
“Oh, poo! Fortress was telling stories again. He does that all the time.”
Tink’s eyes got big and round, “He was? He does?” he stuttered. Then, scrambling to recover, “Of course he tells stories! I knew that all the time.” This was said in a loud voice so as to show that he wasn’t afraid of any nonexistent monsters.
The two walked along, calling for Frado and enjoying the beautiful woods. “I wonder why the humans don’t ever bring us to ride in here?” Percy mused.
Soon they had an answer to that question. Tink had paused for a moment off to one side to peek in that direction for Frado. The ground was rather mucky there and didn’t make it a pleasant place to stay long but as Tink went to turn back and rejoin Percy he found that he had a little bit of trouble picking up his left front foot. He tried the right hind and that was kind of stuck too. In fact, all four feet were stuck. Suddenly Tink was very scared and he tried to pick up all of his feet and run, but the muck just got gooier and gooier and his feet stuck tighter and tighter. Tink quickly realized that not only were his feet stuck, they were sinking! Soon the muck was up to his knees and hocks and he couldn’t move his legs at all. He slowly kept sinking and sinking. Finally, just as his belly was sinking into the muck, Tink felt his feet hit solid ground. To Tink’s great relief he stopped sinking, but now he was stuck fast and couldn’t move anything but his head and tail (which he had held up as he sank). Percy, who had run over (but not too close) and watched in horror and amazement, said, “What are you doing down there, Tink. Stop being silly and get out of there right now!” But Tink couldn’t. Although Percy tried to grab his mane or tail to pull him out, if he got too close to Tink he could feel the ground getting mucky and sticky and quickly backed off. Finally the horses decided Percy would have to go home and let the humans come help Tink. Percy wheeled and ran for home as quickly as he could, leaving Tink standing in his spot, embarrassed, scared and alone.
As Percy emerged from the woods he was spotted by one of the many humans who were out searching for he and Tink. They were worried about the horses before, but were now even more worried about Tink since they knew that the horses would not have separated if they could help it. Several of them ran into the woods where Percy had been and it didn’t take them long to come across the dirty, forlorn, and very stuck pony.
Soon it seemed that anyone and everyone who had anything to do with the stables were standing around Tink’s muck hole, scratching their heads and debating what to do, while off to one side Susie and Lily clung to each other and cried. Now that Tink had so much company he was a lot less scared, but a lot more embarrassed. He really wished that Susie and Lily would stop crying and get him out of here.
Forever went by. Finally Tink heard the noise of a huge motor - too big to be a truck - and he could hear branches snapping and breaking. Soon an enormous yellow crane rolled into sight and stopped. Then things seemed to move quickly as a big sling was fished under and around Tink’s belly and he was slowly pulled from the sucking mud and set on solid ground. Tink and several of the men were visions in brown and Susie and Lily didn’t look too good either after they threw their arms around Tink and hugged and kissed him. Many of the onlookers clapped and cheered which would have made Tink feel good if there weren’t the others - the ones who were stomping about muttering things about brains and money drains (the ones like Susie’s dad). Tink put his nose in the air and tried to muster as much dignity as he could as Susie and Lily led him off towards home.
Tink was given a bath (so many of his adventures seemed to involve baths) and led back to his barn. He was looking forward to resting his tired, aching muscles. As he walked into the barn he spotted Frado curled up in his spot in front of Tink’s stall. Tink felt an overwhelming sense of relief (how could he have forgotten about poor, missing Frado, he wondered with a guilty start), and then suddenly felt anger flood through his body.
“What are you doing here, Frado?” he snapped. “Why aren’t you lost? Why aren’t you still in the woods with the chipmunk?”
Frado blinked sleepy eyes at Tink. “Lost? In the woods? Not me! No siree! I wouldn’t go into those woods. That stupid chipmunk did though. When he did, I guessed that took care of him, all right, and I veered off and ran along the edge of the woods and then to the big barn. One of the new boarders brought her dog and she’s really nice. We had a great time playing all afternoon but if you’ll excuse me, it was very hard work and I’m tired now. Wake me when dinner comes.”
With that he tucked his nose back under a hind leg and, with a great, contented sigh, went back to sleep.
Well! Tink was angry! He looked across the aisle at Percy and his eyes met Percy’s angry eyes (although Percy was a bit less sure just who he was angry with). All that worry! All that fuss! All that getting in trouble! And for what? Frado was home all the time!
Suddenly Tink smiled - Frado was home! Frado was home, safe and sound and suddenly all was right with the world again. Tink looked across the aisle at Percy and Percy smiled as he realized that the hairy little beast had come to mean a lot to him in the short amount of time Percy had been here. Percy just wasn’t sure which hairy little beast he meant.
“Are you all right, Tink?” Percy asked. “Babette’s not coming out today, you know. She has lessons and a farrier appointment. Remember? Were you looking for her? Are you sick? What’s wrong?”
That morning had started off normally enough. It was very hot, but not so hot that the horses were kept in. Tink and Percy had begun the serious business of keeping the grass short in their field and Frado, as usual, had joined them, chasing and leaping after butterflies, and growling and pouncing at crickets. Then HE had appeared.
HE was the fattest, most arrogant little chipmunk and he had been driving Frado crazy for several days now. The chipmunk would appear, sometimes with something to munch on, sometimes without, plunk his little butt on the ground (exposing the roundest little pot belly) and stare at Frado. That’s all he did but that stare said it all. That stare said, “I dare you, you whimp. You can’t get me. Try it - I dare you!” It drove Frado nuts. Frado would start out growling and then sprint after the chipmunk who would dart into a weedy patch. Frado would pounce into the weeds and scratch and search and dig, accumulating an impressive collection of itchy burdocks in the process, but he would never find the chipmunk. Frado would whine in frustration and stalk back to his original spot, but the joy would be gone from his day because he knew that before long the enemy would return. After a few minutes, or a half hour, or an hour (Frado never knew how long it would be) there the chipmunk would be and Frado would be forced to repeat the whole process again. And again and again. It really was taking the fun out of his days in the pasture.
The previous night Frado had done some serious thinking. Where did that chipmunk keep disappearing to, he wondered. How did he keep losing it? He went to sleep thinking about the problem and he dreampt about it all night. This morning, just as he began to wake up, he pictured the chipmunk coming right out the other side of the weed clump. It was scampering off (and laughing at him, too!) as Frado himself searched intently within the weeds for its hiding place. Now Frado knew where the chipmunk was disappearing to and he woke up with a newly determined (and slightly embarrassed) attitude. He’d get that chipmunk today!
Frado played that morning with a new, carefree demeanor. That alone had worried Tink slightly since he knew as well as Frado that the chipmunk would be back. The fact that Frado wasn’t worried and tense while he waited let Tink know that something was up, and when something was up with Frado it usually meant trouble. Trouble that Tink would have to straighten out.
Finally the little beast showed up. It sat down and grinned at Frado. Frado ignored it for a minute in an effort to give it some false confidence. Suddenly they were off. The chipmunk darted into a weedy area and Frado followed, but this time he didn’t stop. Frado ran right through the weeds and right out the other side, and, sure enough, there was one very surprised chipmunk. Frado almost got him then. The chipmunk actually felt the air stir as one of Frado’s paws landed. He heard Frado’s snapping teeth behind him. That chipmunk was no longer arrogant or confident. He was scared and he ran for his life. He twisted and turned, forcing Frado to make sudden stops and turns, but Frado didn’t give up. The chipmunk ran through weed patches that hung Frado up slightly and slowed him down temporarily, but Frado didn’t give up. On and on they went, circling and sprinting, but Frado refused to be led astray and he refused to give up. That was one very scared chipmunk.
Tink really hoped that Frado wouldn’t catch the chipmunk (what would he do with it, after all?) but he was happy to see the chipmunk learning a lesson and hoped that Frado would be left in peace now. He didn’t begin to worry until the chipmunk led Frado under the fence at the back of the pasture and into the woods.
Tink knew how Frado hated those woods. After all, these weren’t just any woods, those were the haunted woods, the woods that all the horses knew better than to enter. Tink and Frado had gone on an adventure in those woods once. While the woods were lovely, the trip hadn’t been a pleasant experience. Why, Fortress had even seen monsters in those woods - his tales of battling those monsters had helped make him into one of the most feared and respected horses on the place. Tink knew that Frado would never enter those woods in his right mind, so as he watched the darkness at the edge of the woods swallow up his friend and the chipmunk, he began to worry.
“Frado is lost, Percy. I just know he is. And in the haunted woods, too! We’ve got to go and get him!”
Soon, after he had filled Percy in on the background on Frado and the woods, he had Percy worried, too. They decided that they would have to go find Frado. Percy was a little bit disappointed that his first trip out was to be a rescue mission rather than one of Tink’s famous adventures, but he quickly put such selfish thoughts out of his mind. The pair trot briskly off to the back of the pasture and neatly popped over the fence. (This was a bad thing to do, both horses knew, and they felt a little bit badly about being disobedient, but, after all, this was an emergency. Frado needed help and no one else knew. What else could Tink and Percy do?)
Tink entered the woods very cautiously while Percy marched happily next to him.
“These really are lovely woods,” Percy said, “And it is ever so much cooler in here.”
“Shh!” hissed Tink, “The monsters!”
“Did you see any monsters when you were in here last?” asked Percy.
“Well... no.”
“Who has actually seen the monsters?” persisted Percy.
“Fortress has. He said they were terrible, very big and ferocious. He said if he were a pony, one of those monsters could have eaten him in one bite!” replied Tink.
“Oh, poo! Fortress was telling stories again. He does that all the time.”
Tink’s eyes got big and round, “He was? He does?” he stuttered. Then, scrambling to recover, “Of course he tells stories! I knew that all the time.” This was said in a loud voice so as to show that he wasn’t afraid of any nonexistent monsters.
The two walked along, calling for Frado and enjoying the beautiful woods. “I wonder why the humans don’t ever bring us to ride in here?” Percy mused.
Soon they had an answer to that question. Tink had paused for a moment off to one side to peek in that direction for Frado. The ground was rather mucky there and didn’t make it a pleasant place to stay long but as Tink went to turn back and rejoin Percy he found that he had a little bit of trouble picking up his left front foot. He tried the right hind and that was kind of stuck too. In fact, all four feet were stuck. Suddenly Tink was very scared and he tried to pick up all of his feet and run, but the muck just got gooier and gooier and his feet stuck tighter and tighter. Tink quickly realized that not only were his feet stuck, they were sinking! Soon the muck was up to his knees and hocks and he couldn’t move his legs at all. He slowly kept sinking and sinking. Finally, just as his belly was sinking into the muck, Tink felt his feet hit solid ground. To Tink’s great relief he stopped sinking, but now he was stuck fast and couldn’t move anything but his head and tail (which he had held up as he sank). Percy, who had run over (but not too close) and watched in horror and amazement, said, “What are you doing down there, Tink. Stop being silly and get out of there right now!” But Tink couldn’t. Although Percy tried to grab his mane or tail to pull him out, if he got too close to Tink he could feel the ground getting mucky and sticky and quickly backed off. Finally the horses decided Percy would have to go home and let the humans come help Tink. Percy wheeled and ran for home as quickly as he could, leaving Tink standing in his spot, embarrassed, scared and alone.
As Percy emerged from the woods he was spotted by one of the many humans who were out searching for he and Tink. They were worried about the horses before, but were now even more worried about Tink since they knew that the horses would not have separated if they could help it. Several of them ran into the woods where Percy had been and it didn’t take them long to come across the dirty, forlorn, and very stuck pony.
Soon it seemed that anyone and everyone who had anything to do with the stables were standing around Tink’s muck hole, scratching their heads and debating what to do, while off to one side Susie and Lily clung to each other and cried. Now that Tink had so much company he was a lot less scared, but a lot more embarrassed. He really wished that Susie and Lily would stop crying and get him out of here.
Forever went by. Finally Tink heard the noise of a huge motor - too big to be a truck - and he could hear branches snapping and breaking. Soon an enormous yellow crane rolled into sight and stopped. Then things seemed to move quickly as a big sling was fished under and around Tink’s belly and he was slowly pulled from the sucking mud and set on solid ground. Tink and several of the men were visions in brown and Susie and Lily didn’t look too good either after they threw their arms around Tink and hugged and kissed him. Many of the onlookers clapped and cheered which would have made Tink feel good if there weren’t the others - the ones who were stomping about muttering things about brains and money drains (the ones like Susie’s dad). Tink put his nose in the air and tried to muster as much dignity as he could as Susie and Lily led him off towards home.
Tink was given a bath (so many of his adventures seemed to involve baths) and led back to his barn. He was looking forward to resting his tired, aching muscles. As he walked into the barn he spotted Frado curled up in his spot in front of Tink’s stall. Tink felt an overwhelming sense of relief (how could he have forgotten about poor, missing Frado, he wondered with a guilty start), and then suddenly felt anger flood through his body.
“What are you doing here, Frado?” he snapped. “Why aren’t you lost? Why aren’t you still in the woods with the chipmunk?”
Frado blinked sleepy eyes at Tink. “Lost? In the woods? Not me! No siree! I wouldn’t go into those woods. That stupid chipmunk did though. When he did, I guessed that took care of him, all right, and I veered off and ran along the edge of the woods and then to the big barn. One of the new boarders brought her dog and she’s really nice. We had a great time playing all afternoon but if you’ll excuse me, it was very hard work and I’m tired now. Wake me when dinner comes.”
With that he tucked his nose back under a hind leg and, with a great, contented sigh, went back to sleep.
Well! Tink was angry! He looked across the aisle at Percy and his eyes met Percy’s angry eyes (although Percy was a bit less sure just who he was angry with). All that worry! All that fuss! All that getting in trouble! And for what? Frado was home all the time!
Suddenly Tink smiled - Frado was home! Frado was home, safe and sound and suddenly all was right with the world again. Tink looked across the aisle at Percy and Percy smiled as he realized that the hairy little beast had come to mean a lot to him in the short amount of time Percy had been here. Percy just wasn’t sure which hairy little beast he meant.
August 2008
