Chapter 3
The day after Halloween is also one of my favorite days, because every year that I could remember, we go to the Apple Orchard outside of town. There they have rows and rows of Apple trees, pumpkin patches and they even have a corn maze! Last year I really got lost in it, but eventually I found my way.
There's nothing like the smell of the apple donuts, apple cider and apple pies baking away in the barn they converted to a big market place. There we get to go on hay rides, sit by a fire, eat, drink apple cider and take in the smells of autumn! This year, I went with Mr. Papino, and our course- Peppy!
Peppy really enjoyed the Halloween Party where he was certainly the star! The people just loved his outfit, and mine of course; but they really loved Peppy the puppy! He was still quite young enough to be called a Puppy, and boy- did he carry on like one!
All the people with their ewwws and their little cute statements. All night long he drew compliments, cute little remarks, and it does seem like everybody has what I now call, "The puppy voice"! You know, that tone people take at the sight of a puppy, or kitten or human baby. Sometimes you hear the weirdest things come out of the mouths of some people. There was this big fat dude there that just melted when he saw Peppy there in his cape and superhero outfit! His voice shrunk up into this weird high-pitch sound, as the large man reached down, scooped up Peppy, and started kissing him while of course- Peppy kissing back. My first reaction was that of a little jealousy, you know like, "Who said you could pick up my dog!".... but that emotion quickly faded as I could see how much joy Peppy brought to this large older man. Everybody loved Peppy! ... and, once again, everybody loved our outfits together.
Why do people always rub my head? It's like they actually are rubbing my hair, messing it up! I have to comb it all the time! I guess that's what happens when you are as cute as I was!... and the pictures...wow!... everybody wanted to take a picture with Peppy but the poor puppy was so manhandled that day that by the time we came home; Peppy was wiped out and ready for bed!
So off to the orchard we went, Mr. Papino drove us in his Ford Pickup truck. Peppy still wanted to at least wear the cape, and since it was a little nippy, Mr. Papino allowed him to keep it on... and yes, here we go again!
Sometimes I felt invisible around Peppy because he drew all the attention. It's not that I wanted attention, but people just seem to gravitate towards my puppy, and it does bother me a bit when they pick him up without even asking me! The older he got, however, that eventually stopped. People don't scoop up mature dogs like they will a cute puppy or kitten. So, once again, Peppy got all the attention at the apple orchard, and that was okay; and of course, everybody was taking snapshots and selfies with him. I wish I had a dollar for everybody that loved Peppy or that rubbed my head and messed up my hair. After a while, I stopped combing and just went with the look. Why do people do that? They mess up my hair and go, "What's up buddy", or "Little buddy?" I was twelve... I wasn't that little anymore!
So Peppy enjoyed his massive attention once again, and Mr. Papino enjoyed how much the people over there admired his little cape. There's something about a home-made item that brings joy to the maker or artist. Mr. Papino was truly an artist of a different type.
Mr. Papino had never been to the Apple Orchard before, and with the orchard came the barn, the farm, and of course- horses! When we arrived, he almost shouted for joy, something like, "Wow, you didn't tell me they had horses!"
And yes they did... and they had a bunch of them standing around, chewing hay, and of course- gladly receiving donations of apples from whoever had some to offer them. It's kind of like going to a petting zoo; you buy some food and they allow you to feed the animals, goats, or whatever... here, it was horses!
Horses love apples, and people love watching horses eat the apples that they give them. For me, horses always scared me or intimidated me because they are so huge; with their huge heads and such. Mr. Papino could see that I was NOT as fond of horses as he; and boy- was he fond of horses.... and, as it seemed- they were fond of him!
Mr. Papino had a natural draw for horses! They just seemed to sense his spirit and walk right up to him as though they already knew him or something? It was weird... very weird... it's like he had a horse spirit or something.....
So the first thing Mr. Papino wanted to do was to visit the horses, but I told him that we needed some apples first- to feed the horses, so we went into the barn store and as we did, the smells filled the air and my senses brought back memories of years past, visiting the orchard every year after Halloween. I got some apple cider that was sweet, but Mr. Papino got some that was warm; it was called, "Hard-cider"... but at the time, I didn't know what that meant. For me, it meant weird tasting; for Mr. Papino- it meant grown-up cider, and he did enjoy his grown-up cider!
Mr. Papino was eager to get back to the horses; and he was even more eager to share his love for horses with me... because, like I said; "I really didn't like horses that much!"
So we bought some apples that were cheaper because they were soft and maybe a little bruised.... "These are perfect for the horses" said Mr. Papino... and off we went!
The horses had their own area with a white fence all around it. Like I said, as soon as we showed up, they all came running... well, maybe not running, but there was something about Mr. Papino's spirit that drew them naturally to him... and here they came.
I shrunk back a little as they approached the fence where Mr. Papino stood with his arms outstretched, apple in hand! The first horse that was all brown with a beautiful main came up to him and took the apple from his hand with his mouth. The horse was so cute, chewing the apple and showing its big teeth... and they were big. Mr. Papino placed an apple in my hand and told me, "Go ahead, they won't bite!", but- when I held one out to the next horse standing there, it bit me! Well... it didn't bite me, but my finger got in the way when I held up the apple. I guess you have to know how to hold it and when to let go! So, my finger got nibbled on, and Mr. Papino... all he could do is laugh and laugh. At first I didn't think it was funny at all, especially since he told me, "They won't bite!", but, after a few seconds, all I could do was laugh and laugh, along with Mr. Papino! Once again, we stood there laughing together, and then Mr. Papino rubbed my head, messed up my hair and patted me on the back.
Peppy seemed to like the horses too! He quickly went right under the pen fence and entered into the area where the horses were. At first I freaked out because I thought he was in danger!
"Peppy!" I cried out, as the dog slipped under the fence. "Peppy- come back here!" I screamed in terror.
Now you have to remember, Peppy is small, I am small, the horses are big, and now Peppy is on the other side of the fence just waiting to be trampled on.
"Oh my God...Mr. Papino, what are we going to do?" I exclaimed with fear in my voice!
Well Mr. Papino wasn't even moved by what I considered to be a major crisis! He just watched and smiled and said, "He'll be alright...don't worry."
...and with that, I looked again to see Peppy, walking around the horse pen, sniffing the horses feet, and the horses didn't mind him at all. It seemed very natural, normal, as if they all knew each other... you know, the horses, Peppy and Mr. Papino; it was like they knew each other already; and- that was kind of weird.
There was a kind of smaller horse that began to kind of play with Peppy. It kind of nudged Peppy and then puppy nudged back. Peppy began barking at the small horse and it whinnied back. It was like they were talking with one another; having a conversation or something?
The barn hand was now in the horse pen, spreading out some hay. He came over to us.
"I see your doggy has made a new friend?" he stated while resting one of his legs on the fence, taking off his baseball cap and wiping the sweat off his face with a bandanna. "That's our newest member of the family, her name is Happy the horse... because she's always happy" he said with a smile, still wiping the sweat from his forehead.
Mr. Papino replied, "Well my name is Jose, this here is Kyle, and that our friend is Peppy... because he's always peppy!"
Then he replied, "Glad to meet you guys, my name is Namor"... then he rubbed my hair and patted me on the head.... uh!
Peppy came back from the horse pen and as I was attending to Peppy, Mr. Papino, or I guess I could say, "Jose", Jose was busy talking with the farm hand.
I started to wander around while Jose got into a deep discussion with Namor. I guess they both found something in common and of mutual interest which was- horses. They were probably about the same age too. They just stood their at the fence line for a long time, while I took in the sights, the sounds and the smells or my favorite time of year- the fall, or autumn time.
I wanted to go on a hay ride, pick some apples, eat some donuts, drink some more cider, and get some donuts to take home to my mom and pa; but Mr. Papino or Jose just stood there gabbing away...so, Peppy and I started wandering around.
I didn't have any money on me since Jose said that "It was his treat"... but I was too shy to interrupt those two now new friends.
We eventually had to pull Jose away to get on with the business at hand. I could see the two exchanging information or something as we re-approached the horse pen.
"Oh...I'm so sorry Kyle, here I am gabbing away", Mr. Papino apologized.
The farm hand Namor then also excused himself as he went back to work, pitching hay around.
Peppy then scooted under the fence again to go visit his new buddy or pony-friend "Happy!" Those two hit it off and seemed happy to know one another. Then Happy approached the fence line where I stood watching, and nudged me with a friendly nudge, almost insisting that I pet her or stroke her.
Mr. Papino said softly, "I think she likes you!" I had never really pet a horse before, and Mr. Papino showed me how to gently stroke her above the nose...ever so lightly! I could tell that the horse liked that, but then all of a sudden Peppy started getting jealous, so Mr. Papino picked up Peppy, raised her to the top of the fence post, and we were all rubbing each other like a big happy family... then I got it! Now I understood why people are always messing up my hair; they are petting me kind of! So I, Jose, Peppy and Happy all stood around nudging, petting and patting each other on the head; what a sight!
So Jose made some new friends, I broke my fear of horses, Peppy made some friends and the whole bunch of us had a great time that day!
The next morning I was tired and it was the weekend. I slept in and stayed in bed for the whole morning. As I lay there, I could here Peppy barking or yelping I should say... he was still too little to actually bark.
I kind of raised my head from my pillow to pear out the window, and Peppy was next door, yelping at the window as to get my attention or something! I quickly got up, threw on my pants and went outside to investigate.
As I came out the front door, Mr. Papino was busy loading up something in his pick up truck.
"Come on" he shouted as I made eye-contact with him; "Let's go for a ride; I want to show you something!"
As I began to get ready for this mysterious ride and whatever it was that "He wanted to show me".... my mind started dreaming again. Like I said, everytime Mr. Papino says that, something neat happens!
My mother wanted to make me breakfast, but instead I grabbed a few of those wonderful apple-cider donuts we got from the orchard the day before. One for me, one for Jose, and one for Peppy!
I jumped into the passenger side of his pickup truck and Peppy jumped on my lap... and- off we went!
"Where are we going?" I shouted out over the sound of the truck and the wind....
Jose replied loudly, "You'll see!"
We started driving out of town in the same direction we went the day before... towards the apple orchard.
"I want to get me some more of those donuts and cider" he exclaimed. So off we went, again, to the orchard.
As we pulled in, Namor waved at us and approached the truck as we drew to a stop!
"She's already for you Mr. Papino" he shouted!
Mr. Papino got out of the truck, approached Namor, and handed him 10 one-hundred dollar bills! I never saw such big money in my life! He counted it out one by one as he handed it over to Namor; "One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine and ten!"
Namor closed his hand with the money in it and shook Mr. Papino's hand with the other, "Deal" he said- breaking the handshake.
What just happened here? A thousand dollars for some apples and cider I thought?
No... Mr. Papino just bought Happy the Horse; the donut thing was a diversion!
"What do you think of our new buddy- Happy?" he asked me with a huge smile on my face!
"What" I replied with disbelief?
"Are you ready for a ride?" he asked.
"What... are you serious?", I said.
Like I said, Mr. Papino was raised around horses... he loved them. His whole house and workshop was filled with horse related items. Since he moved into the town, he couldn't keep horses there, but I guess he made an arrangement to own a horse and keep it at the horse farm and Orchard!
"So this is your horse now" I asked him?
"No Kyle, this is our new horse now!"
WOW... so now we shared a dog and a horse, Happy and Peppy!
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