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of collapse.

My Mom's first call had been to Sharon. "Have you rendered that horse we brought you today?"

"Well, I think I just saw them take him in a few minutes ago. Why?"

"Stop them! I need that horse back as soon as possible!"

Sharon left the phone momentarily, then came back on the line. "Bah! You're too late. That horse has been processed already. The only things that I can even identify are his head and his two front legs."

"Well... That will have to do. Grab them and get here as fast as you possibly can. Please! I'll explain it all later."

The worry my Mom was experiencing at this point was obvious, even to us kids. The big concern of course was the possibility that Rebecca would arrive too soon, and realize that there was no fresh grave. The resultant unraveling of the truth would lead to harsh confrontations, shattered trusts, bad publicity, and quite likely, a lawsuit. The waiting had Mom up tight, and before long this feeling had been transmitted to the rest of us. The tension became all but unbearable.

Leonard was the first to arrive. "Carol Anne, this better be important. You pulled me off a job site, you know."

"Yeah, I know, I know! I'm sorry, but this is an emergency. I need you to dig a hole for a horse out on that hillside," she said, indicating the supposed burial site. When he started asking what was so urgent, she said "Please hurry. I promise, I'll explain the whole thing later, just bear with me and follow my lead if anyone else shows up."

Next, she instructed my brother and sister to gather some wildflowers from alongside the road where they grew. About that time Sharon showed up with poor Charlie's head and front legs. We got into the truck with her and she drove out to where Leonard was digging the "grave." Fortunately, he was good at his job, and the hole was already about half as deep as it would need to be to actually bury a horse. Acutely aware that time was not on our side, my Mother decided that the hole was deep enough for the improvization she had in mind.

Mom quickly explained the situation to Sharon and Leonard, and they put the head and legs in the hole. Leonard jumped down in and arranged some of the loose dirt around the body parts. He was climbing back out of the hole just as Rebecca arrived with her husband. My Mom started talking as soon as they got out of the car. "I am so sorry. I got out here as fast as I could, but Leonard here had already started burying Charlie. He can't use the backhoe to uncover Charlie now, the best

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