CHAPTER NINE

Moving On

The illness Mrs Gordon occasionally suffered from seemed to be returning more and more often now. Many times I had to bring the doctor to the house, and each time I did, the sadder Mr Gordon seemed to become. We worried about her, knowing the situation was getting worse; but we were very surprised by the terrible news we soon received. The doctor decided that Mrs Gordon could no longer live in this part of the country. She was ordered to move to a warmer area for a few years. This meant that the whole family would have to move and give up Birtwick Park. The day that the children and servants left was a very sad one. They, like everyone else, were saddest to leave Old Merrylegs. He'd been with the family the longest. The squire agreed to sell Merrylegs to a good friend of his, as long as the friend promised never to resell him. And he also had to promise that when Merrylegs became too old to work, he would shoot him right away and bury him, instead of letting him live a long and painful life. I knew this because the squire told John about it while I was being groomed. I then told Merrylegs, but didn't mention anything about the second half of the agreement.

Joe Green was also hired by the squire's friend. He was to care for Merrylegs and also serve the family in their home.

As for John Manley, even though many people would have hired him immediately as their groom, he wanted to change his career and become a horse trainer. The squire, who thought very highly of John, arranged a meeting between his favorite worker and an important man in London, who would be able to help him find the work he wanted most.

Because Ginger and I worked so well together, we were sold together to a wealthy friend of the squire, who owned a large plot of land called Earlshall Park.

And then the day arrived, when Ginger and I were to take the Gordons to the train station. At this time everyone else had gone, except for Joe Green, John Manley and a few house servants. It was sad to see the master come out the front door carrying his wife to the carriage. He set her down gently into the seat that the servants had earlier made more comfortable with pillows and then he went around to the other side and climbed into the carriage himself. Leaning his head out of the window, he said, "Thank you all for everything. You've been such great help over the years. Goodbye." And then the carriage pulled away.

On the way to the station, people came out of their homes as we passed; some shouted "Good luck to you!" but most just wore sad faces without saying a word.

After we'd arrived at the station and the Gordons were about to board the train, Mrs Gordon said a few parting words to John. He remained silent, but I knew he was sad by the way he had been driving us. Joe Green was so upset he couldn't keep his tears back as he unloaded their luggage.

We stayed at the station until the train began to pull away. Then we headed back to Birtwick Park for the last time. We stayed the night there and early the next morning John came to take us to our new home, Earlshall Park.

When we got there, the first thing John said to the carriage man was, "These are the best horses in the world. Please tell me that you will never use the bearing-rein on either of them."

"Unfortunately, we do use it here at Earlshall. I think it's wrong and so does my master, but the lady of the house insists that it be used. There's nothing I can do about it."

John looked at the ground, saying, "That is really sad."

He walked around to Ginger and I to say goodbye. He seemed to pity us. We both rubbed our noses on his arm to tell him things would be OK. But he knew better than we did. And then he walked away, forever gone from our lives.

(end of section)