Will Danika’s father make it home with Yatimah?

Danika was once again out on the windmill. The rain had been torrential and she knew there was no way her father could make it home for Christmas Day.
Where are they? She thought he was now a day late. No one could search because the roads were now impassable from the rain. She knew her mother was bitterly disappointed. The neighbours and her best friend Jasmin were all at Dalry to celebrate Christmas and the long-awaited arrival of Yatimah.

Over the years, Danika listened intently to the discussions about Egyptian Arabian horses. Her bedtime tales were wonderful Arabian legends read by her mother from books by great ancient Arabian poets. Her favourite legend was how God created the Arabian horse, and she had practised it to recite welcoming Yatimah to her new home. Her mother dreamed of the mare who would be the beginning of a grand family line. Year after year, Grace and Danika raised and sold cattle. They saved and saved for years, until finally, they counted enough money to buy Yatimah.

Yatimah’s journey had started at the Egyptian Agricultural Organisation Stud Farm in Cairo, Egypt, but after many months of travel, on the last leg of her journey, it seemed she was lost. The thought of her father also being lost made tears well in Danika’s eyes and slip down her face. Her throat constricted and a sob escaped from her lips. ‘Daddy, Yatimah, where are you?’

YATIMAH by Willa Frayser