Turkey Trot

“Hey, Phoenix?” A man popped his head around the stable corner.

The women who’d been shovelling manure looked up, the mare who was secured nearby also glanced in his direction.

“Yeah?” she called, leaning on the shovel. “What do you need, Phillip?”

He approached, resting a hand on the mare and scratching her neck. “Hey, Glory.”

“Phillip.”

“Right, well. If you’re not up for it, it’s fine, I won’t steal you away from your work.”

She smiled wryly. “Yes, because I’d hate to be torn away from this glamourous part of the job.”

Phillip laughed. “Fair enough. It turns out that a truck driver has lost his load not far from here. You’ll never guess what he was carrying.”

Glory snorted. Trucks didn’t carry anything of interest around there. Mostly store items or livestock. Though she wasn’t sure what Phoenix had to do with either.

Phoenix raised an eyebrow. “Judging by the silly grin on your face, it’s something unusual. Bubbles maybe? Party balloons? Jelly beans? Whatever it is needs cleaning up though, doesn’t it?” She shrugged. “I guess I’m already cleaning up anyway, what’s another thing to add to the list.”

Phillip’s grin widened. “No to all of the above. He was carrying turkeys.”

The golden cream mare shot the man a confused look. Turkeys? What on earth were turkeys?

Alarm crossed Phoenix’s face. “Are they alright?”

“They’re fine. It wasn’t an accident, they just managed to escape. So there’s now turkeys running around from here to the highway.”

Snorting, Glory stomped a hoof. So these turkeys were some sort of animal. What silly creatures for escaping a moving truck.

Phoenix grimaced. “I’m not actually sure if rounding up turkeys is any better than shovelling manure.”

“I know, but we can’t have them running loose and they’d appreciate the help.” Phillip gave Glory a settling pat. “I have a few errands to run, but after that, I’ll grab a horse and help return them to their owner.”

“Alright, I’m on it,” the woman sighed. “Don’t suppose you have any suggestions on how to catch a turkey?”

He grinned, giving Glory a final scratch before stepping away. “I think that’s up to you. Good luck!”

She grunted. “Thanks. I think I’m going to need it.”

Glory neighed softly. She was glad she wasn’t going to have to help round up these silly wayward creatures. From the look on Phoenix’s face it was going to involve a lot of trouble, something she wanted no part in.

“Guess we’re leaving this till later, Glory,” the woman said, leaning her shovel against the wall. “Let me just get a bit cleaned up and I’ll be back with your tack.”

Her tack? Glory snorted, tail swishing as the woman walked away. She didn’t want anything to do with rounding up those filthy creatures. Why couldn’t she take one of the other horses? It wasn’t like there was a shortage to choose from. Any of them would do. She was quite content to remain there and finish her hay thank you very much. She took a bite from the hay net strung up in front of her, chewing loudly as she heard Phoenix return.

Phoenix took a moment to sling the saddle and bridle over the stall door and slip out the saddle blanket. She tossed it over Glory’s back, setting it down smoothly and turned to grab the saddle. While her back was turned, Glory grabbed the blanket and dumped it on the floor. Pick another horse.

Turning back around, the woman frowned at the blanket now sitting on the floor. “Glory.”

The mare snorted, stomping a hoof.

“That’s no way to behave,” Phoenix scolded. She tried again to place the blanket on Glory’s back only for the mare to remove it before she even turned around. The woman narrowed her eyes at the horse. “Don’t you think that’s enough messing around. The sooner we get out there, the sooner we can round up those turkeys and come home.”

No.

“You will not win this. I’ve dealt with more stubborn horses than you.”

With some further struggle, Phoenix managed to tack up Glory and head out. Once they were on their way, Glory settled down, resigned to the fact that she was the one chosen for this menial task.

Riding out, a novel noise broke the usual bush quiet. A sort of odd yelping noise, but lower pitched than a dog. Glory’s ears swivelled around as she tried to identify the sound.

“Definitely not Australian wildlife,” murmured Phoenix, steering the mare in the direction of the noise.

The odd sounds turned into other odd sounds, almost like a gobble. It didn't take long for them to find the creature making the vocalisations. Glory stopped short, snorting and swishing her tail. Three strange birds, like chickens but much larger and uglier strutted about. Long dark striped feathers covered them with their large fanlike tails. Their heads were bare of feathers, mottled brightly coloured skin hung from their chins. They were some of the most horrible looking birds that Gory had ever seen. Turns out she’d been right not to want to come.

“Easy now,” Phoenix soothed, patting the mare’s neck.

No way. Those were monsters and she wasn’t going anywhere near them.

“You’re not going to let a few turkeys frighten you, are you, Glory?” The woman kept her tone even, knowing that tone, more than words, would soothe the mare. “They’re just a couple of big chickens and you don’t let them boss you around.”

Glory snorted. Of course not. Fine, she’d help keep these ugly turkeys in line. The sooner she dealt with them, the sooner they could get out of her sight. Moving forward, she stomped a hoof. Get it together, silly turkeys, your days of wandering were over.

“That’s it, good girl,” Phoenix praised, guiding Glory in a herding motion around the turkeys.

The mare snorted again, the turkeys moving away from her with several indignant gobbles. That’s right, she was in charge and she was taking these turkeys back to the truck where they belonged. The less time she had to spend with them, the better.