Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
T he watch felt strangely hot against Kelly’s wrist. Whenever she’d moved in the night, the device had pulsed and lit up, waking her even more than rolling over usually would. The lack of sleep made the task for the day even more daunting than usual. She had to meet and perhaps ride her horse today. Brendon had encouraged it, telling her she might feel like she fit in more at Wayside if she tried some of the things that would give her something in common with the other guests. Something besides their somewhat shared pasts.
Flakes of snow drove over the open landscaping, stinging as they hit her face. She buried herself deeper in Lacy’s coat and quickened her pace to the barn. There, she would find warmth from the horses, light from the windows and lights, and quiet from her thoughts. At least she’d received no new texts that morning. Maybe Nathan would allow her a day to process this new hidden part of her life.
Her mind whispered softly, hiding things from Sam hurt you before. He can’t rescue you if he doesn’t know . . . But telling him would make him disappointed in her or distrustful. She’d put the watch on. Even though she’d done it to save Jasmine, she’d still done it. Nathan had gotten to her, and she couldn’t believe how easy it had been for him.
She trudged into the barn and Sam waited near the back. Zeus sat just outside the horse stall, away from possible kicking hooves. Kelly snorted and a puff of cloudy breath hung in the cold air. Without the wind, she could see it whereas outside, she hadn’t.
“Morning,” Sam called as he continued to saddle Bella the horse Edwyn had introduced to her. The days seemed to run together in her head, and she could no longer recall how many she’d been there. Had it only been one, two? She wanted to say two but couldn’t be certain of anything.
“Morning,” she replied shoving her hair from her face and tucking it under her hat so she could see better.
Sam tilted his head slightly. “Something is different about you today. Everything okay? I know yesterday was probably stressful on you. I was in meetings all afternoon, or I would’ve come to check on you.”
She was glad he hadn’t. There was no way she could’ve kept what had happened from him before she’d had a chance to work her way through her own plan. She would do what Nathan wanted as far as she could without putting everyone who lived at Wayside in danger.
“There was no need. I was fine.” She twisted the watch on her wrist, trying to find a comfortable position for it. The band made her itch, but she didn’t want to make it obvious that she wasn’t used to wearing it. If someone took it from her, Jasmine might be hurt or even killed and her death would be all Kelly’s fault.
“Are you sure? You really don’t look fine.” Sam led the horse by slowly walking it back out of the stall, one slow step at a time until it was in the wide middle aisle.
“I am. It’s just the cold. I couldn’t get my cabin a comfortable temperature last night, so I didn’t sleep well. That’s all.” How she hated lying to Sam, but it was for his own good.
“I’ll stop by after our walk today and see if there’s anything wrong with the thermostat. I don’t want you to have to worry about anything and Connor usually asks me to check out maintenance things before he hires anyone. Usually, I can fix a problem if it isn’t too complicated.” He tossed the reins over the horse’s back so they hung on the other side. “Have you ever ridden before?”
She’d never been in the presence of a horse before she’d met this one the day of her arrival. Kelly slowly shook her head.
“Are you scared of the horse?” Sam asked without a hint of condemnation. He wasn’t speaking like she would expect him to speak to a child, but there was definitely a primary teacher vibe to his question.
“Not really. I’m not sure that I want to ride today but I would try walking it around. I want it to like me. What if I hurt it?” Climbing on a horse’s back had to hurt, didn’t it?
Sam grinned. “Good question. I like that. This horse will like you before you ever even get close. She is the kind of rare horse that really likes people, the kind we travel across the country to find. And as far as hurting her, you won’t. She could probably carry four of you, but I wouldn’t do that to her.”
“Four of me?” the thought was terrifying. “One of me is plenty.”
Sam paused and looked at her, his earnest eyes boring into her broken soul. “One of you is exactly what this world needs.” He held out his hand for her.
Without thinking, she reached out the hand with the new watch. Her coat sleeve tugged back, exposing the face. She flinched inwardly. If she tugged back her hand now, he would know something was wrong. Kelly forced herself to relax. Act natural.
He paused, looking at the watch and frowned. “Is that new?”
“I had it in my bag. I didn’t wear it yesterday.” Another lie. If she was ever going to make up for lying to him by omission last time, she had to stop lying to him now.
“Interesting. It’s one of those fitness watches. People who have those usually wear them all the time. Are you trying to count your steps or something?”
Though he was most likely only making small talk, she didn’t want to answer questions about the watch. “No, I just treat it like a watch.” She tugged her sleeve over it and stepped closer to him.
He nodded that he was agreeing to drop the subject and gently ran his hand down the horse’s cheek until he swung the animal’s head to face Kelly. She was a handsome horse, though she wasn’t sure if she could pick her out of a herd yet. She looked about as common as any other horse, though her dark eyes with long lashes held a friendliness she couldn’t explain.
She puffed a breath, and her cloud of vapor was much larger than Kelly’s making her laugh. The sound made the horse lift her head a little more. She then reached her nose out to Kelly and with slightly more force than she was expecting, nudged her elbow.
“She wants you to pet her. The girl loves her attention. She’s telling you that you have a free arm that could be put to good use.” Sam chuckled.
Kelly couldn’t fault her. If she felt comfortable telling people what she wanted, life would probably be easier. Unfortunately, over the past few years, she’d learned to never open her mouth. Her desires were less than unimportant. They were unwelcome. Humans had wants and desires and she hadn’t been human.
With slow movements, she reached out toward the horse’s nose. While the part closest to her nostrils was soft, the further away from the nose she touched, the rougher she felt. “I thought a horse would be softer.” She tried not to recoil.
“In a few days, she will feel soft to you. And when you touch a cat or dog next, in comparison, they will feel like the softest animal you’ve ever encountered. That’s what horses do for you. At least, one of the things.”
Kelly looked at the saddle Sam had put on the horse in preparation, in case she changed her mind and decided to ride. When she’d come to the barn, she was sure she wanted nothing to do with actually getting on a horse’s back. Now, she couldn’t wait to try.
“Can I?” the question slipped past her lips before she could pull them back.
“Of course.” Sam grinned. “Let me find a mounting stool for you. Wait here and get to know him a little better. I’ll only be a second.” He jogged off in the direction she’d come.
Alone with Bella, she stroked the mare’s neck. Bella leaned into her slightly and she was sure she heard the horse grunt in approval. Sam came back with a sturdy step stool and set it up near the horse.
“Now, it’s important to mount on the correct side. The horse’s head should be facing your left. Put your left foot in the stirrup, straighten up to distribute your weight, then swing your leg over. At first, you’ll feel like a robot, uncomfortable, but soon the action will be so fluid that you won’t hesitate at all.” He took hold of Bella’s bridle.
Kelly glanced at him. “Do I hold the saddle to get on?”
Sam pointed to where she could grip for stability where the horse wouldn’t by annoyed by it. She held back. What if she did this wrong? What if Bella hated her once she was in the saddle?
“Stop worrying about the unknown in this circumstance. I’m right here to do the worrying for you,” Sam whispered.
She hated that he could practically read her mind. Why couldn’t she do that with him? It was like he was friendly but hiding his true feelings. She steadied her grip and did what she needed to do. All of a sudden, she found herself on Bella’s back high above Sam. He moved the mounting stool away and she thrust her feet into the stirrups. Oddly, they seemed perfect for her legs. “How did you know to fix the saddle for me?” She knew they were adjustable, but not how.
He shrugged slightly and handed her the reins. “I guessed.” With that, he turned and led her outside the barn and back into the cold.
Kelly shivered against the wind, but oddly, having Sam and the horse direct her steps left her mind free to enjoy her surroundings. Zeus sniffed the ground a few feet ahead of Sam, then took off running like he’d caught the scent of a rabbit. Sam didn’t whistle for him to come back but watched his progress.
“What do you think?” he asked, angling his glance back to her .
What did she think? That was a good question.
Sam’s mind raced with questions surrounding Kelly’s watch. Connor didn’t like those. The ability to track a person was built into the device. He wasn’t sure on the particulars, if it only tracked where someone was going when they turned on certain features or all the time, but either way, it violated the rule that the halfway house had set. No tracking. How could she have had that watch with her there if they’d had that same rule?
Something was off. Kelly hadn’t looked him in the eye until he’d waited for her to meet his gaze. Now, that wasn’t a foolproof way of measuring dishonesty. Guests at Wayside often had difficulty looking anyone in the eye for a long time. But this was Kelly. He knew her. Or he thought he’d known her. That’s where his trust failed.
He led her around in a wide circle in one of the fences near the barn. Though they could’ve roamed for acres, he didn’t want to go off too far. If Nathan could follow them with a drone, he could find them out on those trails. Connor had told him at breakfast that Dominic and Spenser were still working on the security system, but they were making progress. Until that was sealed up tight, he wanted to stay within sight of the barn.
The drone had been a great idea if he was going to give props to the enemy. It wouldn’t have been seen on the cameras unless it literally hovered in front of one of them. It had been small and moved like a bug.
Anyone watching the cameras would’ve thought it was a stray hummingbird. Why would anyone consider movement like that to be a drone? They’d never had anyone take such a successful yet hands-off approach. Yet the method had worked.
Someone had to have been directing the device and been in communication with Nathan, who waited for the signal that Kelly was there. Once he was sure, all he had to do was drive up the driveway and try to take what he wanted.
The brazenness of Nathan’s request made it all the worse. He clearly didn’t see any issue with human slavery. He expected Kelly to do exactly as he said without question. So, they had to make sure Nathan never came on the property.
Bella tugged on the bridle, wanting to do her own leading. He grinned at the horse, not that she would understand. The horse was smart and could read people pretty well, but he doubted she was as good as being able to understand his facial movements.
He loosened his grip a little since Bella was behaving so well. “Be sure to grab the reins. She would like you to drive.” Sam hoped he’d kept his voice light, and that Kelly wouldn’t be frightened by that.
“And how do I drive?” Kelly’s tone rose an octave.
“Pull to the right if you want to go left and vice versa. If you want her to slow or stop, tug straight back.”
“Oh, I see.” She twisted her whole body to the right, dragging the reins tightly and pulling Bella’s head to the left.
Sam’s loose grip wasn’t enough to hold onto the bridle as Kelly’s movement jerked it from him. Bella assumed Kelly wanted to go fast with the quick and forceful movement. Bella reared slightly then took off at a gallop for some trees in the distance.
He whistled, but the only thing that responded to his call was Zeus. The dog shot after the horse like a cannon, racing to catch up.
“Bella, hold!” He’d tried to verbally train the horses, but all of them were better at bodily cues because all of them had learned those first and they were used the most often.
Sam ran but Kelly was now many yards ahead of him and gaining ground by the second. Ahead, he saw the area of new fence they’d had to put in when horse thieves had attempted to steal their whole herd. But would Bella make it to the fence, or would she come around before then?
He blew three sharp whistle blasts to let anyone around know there was trouble in the pasture. If anyone happened to be saddled, they might get to Kelly faster than Sam could on foot. Kelly leaned over Bella’s neck, clinging to her. Dread washed over him. Every time she felt a little freedom, something happened to ruin it. Why God? Why can’t Kelly be allowed to heal?
His legs ached with the strain of running that far until they were almost quivering, yet he couldn’t hear any hoofbeats behind him. No one was coming to help so he’d have to find a way to rescue Kelly himself. Another job he shouldn’t be doing. If Edwyn had been there, he’d have led her on horseback. He wouldn’t have let himself be in this position.
Bella adjusted course slightly, headed for a low hanging branch. “Kelly, look out!” He called to her. Bella ran under the branch, but Kelly was too low on her neck to be peeled off. That didn’t deter Bella who was now agitated enough to be twitching. Something outside of Kelly’s direction had spooked her and she was having no more of this ride.
Bella trotted back toward him, giving him time to get close. Having her seemingly working to help him gave him the drive he didn’t think he had. He picked up the pace. Within a few feet of reaching her, Bella veered back for the trees.
Kelly glance up at him. “Sam, help!”
“Kelly, duck!” He realized too late that she couldn’t turn back to face the front and lean close to Bella’s neck like she had before.
With a harsh thud, Bella trotted under the tree and scraped Kelly off her back. She landed in a pile under the tree. Bella took one look at him and kicked up her pace as she raced back to the barn. “Kelly?” he finally reached her and brushed the hair from her face.
She groaned quietly. “I think I might be done riding for a few days . . . but that was kind of fun until I landed on the ground.”
He wanted to hug her, to tell her she had a fantastic attitude. He wanted to tell her that with her way of thinking, healing was possible. Instead, he felt along her back waiting to see if she flinched or if he could feel anything wrong. “Are you hurt?” He couldn’t let himself act toward her in any way that he wouldn’t for anyone else.
She brushed away his hands. “Yes, just sore. The ground must be frozen because it’s really hard.” She laughed as she slowly took to her feet and massaged her back through her coat. “I think I’ll need a hot bath when we get back.”
He glanced over his shoulder, already knowing how far they had to go. The barn wasn’t even within sight anymore. “It’s going to be a long walk, a little more than a mile. On the plus side, at least your muscles won’t seize up . . .” He tried to think positively .
“I guess you have a point there.” Her watch buzzed and Kelly’s eyes widened momentarily.
“What was that?” The timing was so odd for that to go off right after her accident. Had someone been watching them and frightened Bella to make her throw Kelly?
“Nothing.” She pressed the side of the watch. “It just wanted to know if I’d finished my exercise. I guess it must be paying attention to my heart rate.”
Or it had been paying attention to where she was and how fast she was going, therefore thinking she’d been running. He would have to talk to Dominic about these watches and see if there was any way to disable the tracking information without scaring Kelly even further. He’d also start praying that God would give her the chance to heal. Obviously, Satan’s minions were working overtime to make sure Kelly felt unwelcome and hurt.
He wasn’t about to stand for that kind of warfare.