Toby, The Faithful Horse

Children’s Short Story About a Horse

In a small village, there lived a brother and sister who had a horse for a pet. It was called Toby. Both, Tom the ten-year-old brother and Tracy the five-year-old sister loved Toby with all their heart. Toby too, was extremely attached to them.

Around their house were green meadows and undulating land with a small stream at the edge. After coming back from their nearby school, the children were busy with Toby.

Their father, Jim, groomed Toby and Prince, the other horse. Whenever Julia, Jim’s wife used to visit the village shop, she never forgot to get sugar cubes for the children to give to Toby.

One day, both the children went riding and ventured a bit further than they used to go. They discovered a valley full of lovely flowers and ripe fruits. They tied Toby’s rein to an Apple Tree and since no one was about, they plucked some apples and berries for their mother.

Just when they were about to leave, a dark and burly stranger appeared and stopped them. “What do you think you are doing eating my fruits?” he bellowed. The children were taken aback because the man seemed to have come from nowhere. “We didn’t realize these were your fruits, sir,” said Tom in a meek voice, while his sister hid behind him. “Oh! Yeah!” said the man.

“Well, this whole orchard is mine. I own it and you are trespassing. You will have to pay for the fruits you have taken.” “But Sir, we don’t have any money to give you.” “That’s all right. I’ll keep your horse till you get the dough from home.”

Tom tried to persuade the man to let him return with Toby to get the money, but the man was adamant. The poor little kids started for home on foot, and it took them quite some time to reach their cottage.

They told their dad all that had happened. “Well, it is getting dark now. We will go and get Toby in the morning. Don’t worry, nothing will happen in the meantime,” said Jim.

The children spent an almost sleepless night and at sunrise went on Prince’s back with their father to the place where they had left Toby.

When they reached the place, there was no sign of Toby or the stranger. They looked everywhere but couldn’t find them. The whole day was spent looking for Toby everywhere in the small village, but no one had seen the horse.

Jim went to the neighbouring villages too but couldn’t trace the horse. The children were very sad, and Tracy could not stop crying. Everyone was in a pensive mood for days and even the local police could not help them.

About a fortnight had passed and the children were on the verge of giving up hope when suddenly, they heard hoofs on the cobbled path leading to their home.

Everyone looked out to see Toby standing at the door in bad shape. The children rushed out and hugged him. “Where did you disappear to, Toby?”, cried Tracy. “We missed you, Toby,” said Tom.

Jim gave Toby a proper run down and tended to the cuts and bruises. Toby’s hoofs were injured too, and it seemed he was not given any food. Tom and Tracy spent long hours soothing and feeding their horse who became near normal in a few days.

They thanked God for bringing back Toby to them and took special care to lock the stable door at night.

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Photo by Bruno Thethe on Unsplash