Max and asterisk

There was no sports training or any other program on Wednesday afternoon. The sky was silk blue, the air soft as buttercream. The wind wasn't wind, but a pleasant, light breeze.
Mrs. Martin was sitting on the terrace sewing sequins of all colors onto a pink T-shirt. Mamsell was in a good mood, forgetting that she had ever had rheumatism, and told a group of little girls from the first grade hair-raising stories from her oh-so-wonderful youth.
Hanni and Nanni squat on the parapet and enjoyed themselves.
"If Martina in the pagan shirt appears in front of our Thobaldine, she'll be fired outright."
"No," said Hanni. "Before Theo can fire her, she collapses with a heart attack."
"No," interjected Carlotta, who also swung her legs over the stone wall. "Before Thoebaldine sinks down with heartache, Martina has long burst out of the pink tatter.The thing is two sizes too small for her. Our Martinchen has gained again. And not too close. "After they laughed at each other, Nanni suggested going into the forest. She needed a few plants for her botany class. The others thought a walk in the woods would be a good idea. Marion, Jenny and Carlotta joined in. Anne came up and said , that would be great, she also wanted to come with me, "because you lose weight when hiking".
"Don't we want to ask Anja if she's in the mood?" Said Marion, and immediately afterwards she disappeared to get Anja. Anne looked at the clock. "Already three thirty. Don't you think we're going to get hungry? I'll ask the house mother ..."
She whizzed away as fast as her curves would allow. When she came back she had a bulging bag in her arms.
It turned out to be a wonderful little trip. The girls took turns pushing Anja's wheelchair. Nanni gathered herbs and put them carefully in her pouch. When Carlotta discovered raspberries, Nanni poured out her precious herbs, because a container for the fruit was more important.Anja, who could not crawl through the raspberry thicket, and Anne, who was too lazy to do so, looked after both the herbs and the provisions in a clearing. Later there was butter cake with raspberries. Of course, a piece of cake was missing, because Anne couldn't stand it anymore because she was hungry. Nobody wanted to eat the apples they had brought with them.
"We can pass the Zierer farmer on the way home," Hanni suddenly suggested. "Visit Max and Sternchen and the others. We haven't been there for a long time and they will definitely be happy about our apples."
The others nodded.
"Who are Max and Sternchen?" Marion wanted to know. "If you want to bring them apples ... are they horses?"
"Yes," said Nanni. "Very nice horses, by the way. Six in total. Max and Sternchen are the oldest. They belong to a farmer, very close. He also gives riding lessons. We were allowed to ride with him for one summer. Hanni and Carlotta and I and a few from the other classes.unfortunately the Zierer is a pretty disgusting guy. He has been drinking since the death of his wife. And when he's drunk, he gets rude. "Sometimes he was mean when he was sober," added Carlotta. "Once he slapped a little one just because she was clumsy. Thereupon Mrs. Theobald banned the riding lessons. "
"But the horses are so nice," continued Hanni. "We visit them sometimes and feed them carrots and apples. We hardly see the old Zier."
Marion's face hardened with defense.
"goes without me," she mumbled. "You know ... I don't want to."
"Yes," said nanni, "we know. It's good that you told us your story on the first evening, otherwise we'd think you're crazy. Still, please come with me. You can't get rid of all the horses your whole life Walk away."
Marion knew she was right.
"No, certainly not for my entire life. But for now ..."
"No buts," Carlotta intervened vigorously. "These are not high-bred super runners like the horses you used to ride.These are more or less peasant horses with which beginners learn how to sit on a horse or how to fall off. You give them an apple or you don't. Anyway, you don't run away. You're not a coward. "
That worked.
"Okay," said Marion and nodded seriously.

The paddock was almost empty. No longer six horses grazed here as they used to, only Max and Sternchen were there. Max was a big-boned, almost black Wellach, a sturdy old animal. He limped on the left hindquarters. Sternchen was a graceful, pretty, golden-brown mare who got her name from a star-shaped blaze on her forehead. She had no handicap, but she was old too. Too old to do farm work, too old to be ridden. Max and Sternchen were friends. For years they had stood side by side in the stable. They grazed together in the paddock. Sometimes they rubbed their heads together and cuddled.
When the girls stood at the fence and called the horses, they immediately came to be petted and to receive the apples.They ate them with relish.
Marion scratched asterisks behind the ears and spoke softly to her in the soft, calm tone that she knew horses like. It had been stupid of her not to want to come right away. She couldn't stand the riding stables at home, there were so many memories connected with it and too many shattered hopes. She certainly wouldn't be going to a horse riding show anytime soon or watch one on TV again like the other day. But those friendly old horses in the meadow, that was something else. It felt good to touch a horse again, to stroke it, to smell it.
"Funny that the others aren't there", Jenny wondered after a while.
"Whether the zierer sold her? Nobody wanted to ride with him anymore." "Maybe", said Hanni. "He kept both of them because they have been with him on the farm for so long."
"That's clear," said Marion expertly. "He couldn't sell Max and Sternchen at all.They are too old. Host animals. "
"Please, what are host animals?" Anja wanted to know.
"Old animals, they can no longer afford anything. They are, so to speak, retired. They spend their retirement years in the stable and on the pasture and receive the bread of grace." When the girls wanted to leave, Mr. Zierer appeared. Unshaven as always, otherwise pretty sloppy, the shirt hung from the back of his pants.
But he seemed sober and in a good mood. He laughed at the girls.
"Hello," called HAnni, "how are you?"
"I'm fine."
He came to the fence and lit a cigarette.
"Max and Sternchen are fine too," said Carlotta. "Where are the others? But not in the stable in the nice weather? Or maybe they sold them?
The farmer nodded and laughed broadly. "Exactly that. To a riding stable in the big city."
"Oh," said Hanni regretfully, "what a shame. Then the animals hardly ever come to a meadow, but have to walk in circles around the hall all day. Why did you sell them?"There's so much space here. "
"Of course there is a lot of space here. But no longer for the horses. I also sold the house and the land. To a company. The boys spat out a lot of money. They want to build holiday apartments. And a swimming pool. And a tennis court and what do you know." I still have everything. A fine thing isn't it? "He grinned. "I've toiled all my life. Now I don't need to lift a finger. I've bought a small house in the town. My sister moves in and takes care of the house for me. She cooks fabulous because she has cooked in a restaurant so far. not in any pub, but in a very fine restaurant. Everything has already been agreed. "
The girls didn't know what to say. They thought with pity of the horses, which in future should only trot in circles. They also didn't like the idea that a holiday complex would soon be built near Lindenhof. So far they had felt as if the meadows and the forest belonged to them almost alone.Anja tried to be polite. "That's nice for you, Mr. Zierer. So just take Max and Sternchen with you and bello. I hope you have a big garden."
"Yes," said the farmer, "I'll take the dog with me. But not the horses. The garden is small. Just enough for Lisa to plant vegetables in it. Unfortunately, I couldn't sell Max and Sternchen. Too old, and Max." has the broken leg. What a pity. Now I have made an appointment with the skinner that he will pick them up when I move out. In three or four weeks it will be time. Until then they should still eat their grass. must be, but not sooner than necessary. "
"To the skinner?"
That was Marion. Her voice sounded outraged.
"What is it, a skinner?" Asked Hanni uncertainly. "I mean ....., I thought ....., it can't ....."
"You think quite correctly," said Marion. "A skinner slaughters old horses and uses what one can use, the fur, the bones from which one makes glue."The girls stared first at Marion, then at the farmer, and finally at Max and Sternchen. The mare leaned her head on the neck of the corrugated wax and they both looked content and happy.
Nanni fasted first.
"You mustn't do that, Mr. Zierer," she said. "You can't just slaughter Max and Sternchen and ..... and have them recycled. They have lived with you for so long. And after all, they are not sick."
the man shrugged his shoulders and lit a new cigarette. "Yes," he said. "I can give the horses to the skinner. I have no other choice. What should I do with them? In my new garden there are only vegetable beds and a few rose bushes. Lisa knows something about roses. No, no, children, that is." okay."
Suddenly he laughed, so hard that he coughed. "If you care so much about Max and Sternchen, then buy them from me. I don't like to give them to the skinner, after all, I'm not a monster. But nobody wanted them.There is a lot of space in Lindenhof. Or one of you’s parents take them in. You have a lot of rich fathers. "
The girls were silent. Then Hanni asked, who remembered something like a flash: "What do you think the animal welfare association says when you bring your horses to the skinner?" She almost stuttered with excitement.
The farmer laughed again. "Nothing at all. They are old animals, no longer useful, nobody wants them and I can no