Welcome To The Bullpen
Thunder and Lightning
Tim Tobin
Life happens despite our best efforts at planning the future. From his earliest childhood Paul O’Reilly wanted to be an aeronautical engineer. He had toy rocket ships and his own designs for new spaceships. He scoured the Internet for information on the Apollo program and read about Armstrong, Aldrin and Collins and the other moon walking astronauts. He studied the Lunar Excursion Module and the Lunar Rover. After college Paul wanted to work for NASA and help put a man on Mars. He left for the University of Nevada Reno just before his eighteenth birthday. The state university wasn’t MIT but his father could afford it. Besides, Paul had thought, a good graduate school would be next and then on to NASA at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Houston, Goddard or maybe even the Cape.
Paul met Marty Dangler at a freshman party. She wanted to be a veterinarian and Paul had been raised on a ranch so they found lots to talk about. Marty’s ambition was very traditional. She wanted to treat the usual variety of household pets; dogs, cats, birds and maybe even snakes. Ranch animals like horses, cows, sheep, and the like weren’t something she had considered. Marty had little interest in engineering and no interest at all in Mars. Why waste money on the space program? There were so many uses for the money right here on earth including both human and animal medical research. So Paul ticked off a list of benefits from the Robotic Pig to everyone’s favorite, Tang. Marty was unconvinced but Paul was so passionate about space that she encouraged him to talk to her about his ideas.
Paul clearly loved animals also and he told her stories of ranch life that opened her mind to new possibilities for a veterinarian doctor. His favorite story was of his friend Thunder. He had first seen Thunder the summer he was eleven. His father had told him stories that wild horses came to drink at the stream by the rocky ledges. But Paul, the bookworm, had been occupied with rocket ships and Mars and never paid much attention to his father’s stories. But one day Mike O’Reilly insisted Paul play outside so he hiked up to the ledge and waited for the horses.
There was nothing to be seen anywhere. The stream was peaceful but no wild life was drinking there. The canyons were quiet with not even a coyote to be seen or heard. But then Paul thought he heard thunder. He looked around and saw nothing but blue sky and lazy white clouds. Certainly there were no thunder clouds in sight. He heard the sound again and then he saw them. Racing down the ravine - horses, wild horses. Maybe two dozen mustangs. In front was their leader, a pitch black stallion. When the horses got to the stream, the big black horse did not drink right away. Rather he sniffed the air and looked around. He pawed the ground and whinnied. He was guarding his herd while they drank. Apparently he did not detect Paul and eventually took a turn at the stream. Their thirst quenched, the herd ran off with the black stallion in the lead. Their receding hoofs again sounded like thunder.
Paul was awestruck and Mars was forgotten for at least a little while. He returned to the ledge every chance he got. One day the big black stallion must have smelled him. The huge horse fearlessly trotted over and looked up at Paul with large inquisitive eyes. Paul saw no fear in those eyes and he himself felt no fear. Just awe. The next time Paul came he brought a couple of sugar cubes. The ranch horses liked them. Whey not this big guy? So Paul tried a lower ledge; one that had him at eye level with the black stallion.
Sure enough the big horse smelled or saw Paul on the lower ledge. This time the horse was not so sure of itself. He held back and looked Paul over. Paul gathered his courage and held out his open palm with a sugar cube. With a snort the horse sniffed the sugar and then licked one off of Paul’s hand with his prickly tongue. The black horse trotted in a circle and he must have decided that he liked the sugar cube because he came to Paul again. Paul fed him the rest of the sugar and then held up his hands for the animal to see he had none left. The horse snorted, reared up, kicked his front legs in the air and took off at a gallop, the mustang herd right behind him. Paul again herd the thunder of their hoofs as they disappeared down the ravine. Thunder? Thunder! “That’s what I’ll call you!” Paul called after them.
Paul fed Thunder many times that summer; sugar cubes and apples. Although Paul thought Thunder liked the sugar best. Then it happened, one day towards the end of the summer. Paul had given Thunder his treats. Thunder backed away, pawed the ground, whinnied and look at Paul. Then Thunder showed Paul his back. Baffled, Paul watched the great horse. What did he want? Thunder backed to the ledge and whinnied again. Does he want me to get on? “Wow!” thought Paul. Paul had been riding ranch horses ever since he could walk. But they were gentle farm animals, not a huge black wild stallion. But Thunder was persistent. Taking a deep breath, Paul slowly slid off the ledge onto the wide back of Thunder. Paul was so small he could barely straddle the huge animal. Thunder was gentle, at least at first. But as Thunder and Paul got to know each other, both grew more bold. With the boy on his back Thunder walked, then he trotted and ran and finally Thunder and Paul galloped up the ravine, down the hills, across the meadow and back down the canyon. Paul hung onto Thunder’s neck and howled with excitement. They rode like the wind. When Thunder finally came to a stop by the stream, Paul hugged his neck and cried with joy. Now, that had been an adventure and it continued each year until it was time for Paul to leave for college.
Thunder learned his name the winter of the blizzard. The weather around Reno can be unpredictable and no one saw the storm coming. The O’Neill ranch was snowbound with winds and drifts at record levels. Paul was now fifteen and he paced the ranch house, back and forth, hour after hour. “Paul!” his father finally exclaimed. “Please, just sit down. There is nowhere to go”. Paul stopped in front of his father. “Dad, we have to find Thunder. They’ll all freeze or starve if we don’t.” The argument was long and heated but Mike O’Reilly knew Paul was right. The snow was too deep for the horses to move around and the bark of the trees was hidden under tons of snow. Paul had told his father he could drive the truck alone. After all, he drove it all over the ranch. But ultimately Mike and Paul loaded straw and oats into the bed of the pick-up and they set off in search of wild horses. The snow had stopped but not the wind. It howled up and down the canyons and ravines. There was no thunder of wild hooves that night.
Paul called “Thunder!” over and over. Their flashlights barely pierced the black night. The O’Neill men were tired, cold and desperate. They simply could not find the wild herd. But then Paul thought he heard a faint noise in the wind. Mike heard it too. A whinny, perhaps? They drove towards the noise, or at least they hoped they were driving towards it. Then the truck could go no further. If it got stuck, the hike in the snow home might be deadly. Just then they heard the sound again and peered around the rocky wall of the ravine. There they were, huddled together for warmth. Thunder as usual was alone guarding his herd. “Thunder!” Paul shouted. And ran to his friend. His dad was already unloading the hay and oats. Together they put out enough food for a couple of days. And now that they knew where the horses were, finding them again daylight would be easy. And from then on when Paul called to Thunder, the stallion rewarded Paul with a loud whinny and a nudge.
When Paul had finished the story of Thunder, Marty knew she had fallen in love. Any man who could love a horse like Paul loved Thunder was a man she could live with forever. In turn Paul had found a soul mate, a friend and then a lover. They were engaged to be married right after college. They would find graduate schools close to each other and begin married life as they each pursued their own dreams. But as careful as they had been, Marty became pregnant just before the wedding. The wedding went off as planned and Suzie, the joy of their life, was born eight months later. Little else went as planned however.
The closest veterinary medical colleges to Nevada were in California. But Marty would now be a mother as well as a medical student. Paul had many choices of graduate engineering programs in California but he was going to be a father. They decided that Marty would go to school part-time and that Paul would find a job. Disappointed that Mars would have to wait, Paul knew that supporting his new family was more important than going to Mars. But jobs for an engineer with only a bachelor’s degree were scarce; especially since they had to be close to Marty’s medical school. Paul finally took a job as a roofer. He had worked on the family ranch since he was a small boy. He knew tools and was good with his hands. Hank Macalhaney gave him a job and Paul excelled. It looked like when Hank retired in ten years or so, Paul would buy the roofing business. Time passed. Marty made slow progress but her grades were good. Paul worked hard to support his family and Mars and even Thunder were eventually forgotten.
That spring Michael O’Reilly had a heart attack at age fifty-three. The doctors told him he had a blockage and needed a stent but not open heart surgery - yet. A single stent was installed and O’Reilly was released from the hospital with instructions to take it easy. So he went back to working the family ranch as if nothing had happened. He hadn’t even called his son. Why bother him about such a minor thing? The next heart attack was massive and O‘Reilly had almost died. Paul had been called to come home right away. He found his father gravely ill and certainly unable to work the ranch for a long time, if ever. Paul explained the problem to his mentor Hank who promised to hold the roofing job until the ranch was up and running again. With Paul’s reluctant approval, Marty took a leave of absence from the veterinarian college and joined him. Her love of animals was perfect for the ranch. And maybe best of all, Suzie got to experience life on a working ranch.
One summer evening there had been a thunderstorm and it made Paul think of Thunder for the first time in years. First the baby, then the business and now his father had so preoccupied him that he had forgotten his boyhood friend. Ashamed that he had forgotten, Paul along with Marty and Suzie visited the rocky ledge near the stream the next morning. He stood and remembered the first time he had seen Thunder and the first time he had actually ridden him. Then he called as loud as he could, “Thunder!”
Then he heard the sound of thunder in the ravine. He yelled to Marty and Suzie “Look! Here they come!” And there in the lead was Thunder, big and beautiful as ever. The herd stopped to drink and Thunder stood guard as usual. Paul stood up and called again “Thunder!” Suzie grabbed Marty and hid behind her. The big black horse looked around and sniffed the air, perhaps remembering the voice. He saw Paul and quieted. Paul spoke softly more to himself than to the horse “Oh boy, Thunder, am I ever happy to see you.” Thunder reared back, snorted and trotted to the ledge. Paul reached out and scratched his head and then offered him a sugar cube. And then, like no time had passed, Thunder offered his back to Paul. Paul slipped on and grabbed his neck. Thunder took off at a full gallop with Paul hanging on for dear life. In an instant it all came back to Paul. He yelled to Marty and Suzie and they rode, and rode. Up and down hills, across the plain, by the ranch, and back to the ravine. Rode like the wind. Paul cried with as much joy as he had the very first time. Finally they came to a stop by the stream.
Paul slipped off of Thunder’s back and for the first time stood among the horses. Amazing! So powerful and yet so gentle with Paul. Instinctively Paul knew it was alright and he motioned Marty and Suzie to join them. A small horse walked over. She was black but had white markings that streaked her sides. She nudged Thunder and he leaned into her. Marty said that she thought the horse was still a filly. Suzie reached up to the filly and put her small hand on its side. The young horse was still and let Suzie pet her. Far too soon it was time for the horses to run again.
Not long after, Paul and the family were waiting for the horses and Thunder. But there was no sound in the ravine. Even when Paul called for Thunder there was just ominous silence. Paul paced the ledge impatiently. “Where the heck are they?“ he said aloud. An eternity had passed when the young black and white horse trotted down the ravine to the ledge. She looked at them and walked back to the ravine. No one was sure what to do. The pony repeated the sequence several times. Marty recognized the behavior first. “I think she wants us to follow her.” So they climbed off of the ledge and followed the horse into the ravine. The walk was long especially for little Suzie. Marty gently put her hand on the horse and she stopped. Marty looked at Paul who nodded his agreement. Marty lifted Suzie gently up onto the horse. And they walked the last way together.
Thunder was on the ground in obvious pain. “Oh, no, no!” cried Paul. The bone of Thunder’s foreleg was visible. He must have fallen. After all, he was no longer a young stallion. Marty approached carefully and Thunder just snorted. Marty examined the leg without touching it. Her heart broke, for Thunder and for Paul. She looked to Paul and shook her head.
Paul knew right away that there was a kindness that he had to do for his old friend. He walked back to the truck, the tears flowing down his cheeks and retrieved his father’s rifle. He cocked it on the walk back. When he reached Thunder again, his old friend was struggling to hold up his head. So Paul sat on the ground and Thunder lay his head on Paul’s leg. Paul scratched his ears and stroked his muzzle. He spoke to Thunder like he had a hundred times before; low and soothingly. They talked about all of the long summer days they had spent together running like the wind. Thunder whinnied a bit from time to time as Paul spoke.
Finally Paul stood. Thunder’s eyes showed his pain but also his love for a little boy who had ridden him like the wind. The crack of the rifle was like thunder in the ravine.
Life had happened to the O’Neill family. Paul had been a dreamer, an engineer, a roofer and finally a rancher. Marty persevered and became a veterinarian. She and the family had sacrificed but the long absences paid off. Her practice for large animals was only a few miles from the ranch. Mike O’Reilly had heart disease but was in no immediate danger. He spent many of his retirement hours doing the most important thing in the world, playing with his granddaughter.
Suzie had named the filly Lightning. They watched with joy as their precious child rode Lightning - like the wind. And they still heard the thunder of the horses in the ravine.
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