Shoes Option Bb: Follow the Man for Proof
Shoes Option Bb: Follow the Man for Proof
You don’t have much by way of proof other than the few seconds with a horse. Considering you want a job at the city stables, you’d feel more comfortable going to the stable master with more solid evidence beyond your own eyewitness.
You follow the path the man took until you spot him with the horse up ahead. As you suspected, he turns down Aspen Way 
toward the city stables. While you trail behind him, you consider what kind of proof you might need. The horse seemed tender on the shoulder but, unless the stable master sees the man hit the animal, you can’t prove he’s the source of the horse’s pain.
Perhaps another stable hand could verify your witness but, in all likelihood, the other hands know about the man’s treatment of the animals already. If a city official complained, that might help, but again, you’d somehow have to orchestrate an official seeing the man in the act.
By the time you reach the stables, you’re no closer to figuring out a way to prove the abuse you saw.
“Hey!” you look up, startled, to see the stable hand you followed glaring at you from across the corral. “What’re you doing?”
“Looking for a job,” you say, put on the spot.
“There’s none here for you,” he responds.
“That’s not your say,” says another voice, which you recognize from when the man told you that you needed shoes.
The stable hand cringes and turns to face the stable master.
“Thought you filled the position,” he says with his head down.
Instead of responding to him, the stable master eyes you. “You don’t have shoes,” he says.
“Working on it,” you say, debating whether to say something about what just happened in town. The horse you helped calm stands in the corral, not more than ten yards from the other men. “I was concerned, is all,” you go on, gesturing at the horse.
“Why?”
“The horse was spooked in town and when I calmed him, he seemed hurt on the right shoulder,” you refrain from blaming the hand for the horse’s pain.
You may as well have blamed him, you decide, as he shoots daggers at you with his eyes.
The Stable Master doesn’t look at him and doesn’t seem to catch the look as he hops the fence of the corral and approaches the horse.
His hands smoothly brush the horse’s shoulder and the animal flinches and sidesteps away. The stable master hums. He places his hands on his hips while he considers the horse.
“I’ll deal with it,” he tells you, “go find shoes.”
Dismissed, you back away, but you fight disappointment at not being able to conclusively take care of the abuse situation.
Before you loose sight of the stables, the stable master leads the horse inside while the hand continues to stand at the fence. You’re about to turn away when another man approaches the stable hand.
You’re too far away to hear their words clearly but, by their gestures, you can tell they’re arguing. The new man raises a fist and swings. The stable hand ducks away but not fast enough. The punch clips him on the top of the head.
Satisfied, the other man spins on a heel and stalks away while the hand braces himself on the top of the corral.
Just then, the stable master reappears from inside. He spots you and hollers, “You see who injured the horse?”
There seems to be more to this situation than you originally thought.
Do you…
Bb1: Tell him?
or
Bb2: Shake Your Head No?
Blessings,
Jennifer
