Chapter 4 Sierra
CHAPTER FOUR
sierra
PRESENT DAY
The name of this next cowgirl might be familiar to some of you folks. Today, she’s blazing back onto her old stomping grounds like a wildfire! Let’s see if this cowgirl’s still got it!”
Lucky shook his head as we waited at the end of the alleyway to start our run. I turned him around in slow circles to keep him calm.
Anticipation bubbled in my chest as the crowd roared around us, but I kept my breathing steady. Lucky fed off my energy. If I was anxious and ready to run, he would be, too, but if I was cool, calm, and collected, he’d lock in exactly how I needed him to.
“Running today on Ace’s Lucky Charm, we’ve got Sierra Bayley!”
I set my hands on the reins as the announcer called out our names, adrenaline pulsing through my veins. “Steady,” I murmured.
Leaning slightly forward into a ready position, I guided Lucky until he was lined up with the last barrel straight ahead at the end of the arena.
My calves squeezed Lucky’s flank to let him know to go, and he took off in a run down the alleyway as I pointed us slightly toward the right barrel.
This allowed us to approach it at an angle, creating a pocket to turn around the barrel without knocking it over and adding five seconds to our final time.
Dust flew into the air as we raced toward the barrel. My ears pulsed with the noise of the crowd surrounding us as well as the steady rhythm of hooves pounding into the dirt.
As we reached the barrel, Lucky slowed ever so slightly.
I pulled the reins in my right hand toward my hip, using my other hand for balance and my outside leg to apply pressure and control his turn.
Once we were around the barrel, we cut through hazy clouds as I pushed him toward the next one on the other side of the arena, repeating the turn before finally racing toward the final barrel to finish the cloverleaf pattern.
After rounding the final barrel, Lucky knew exactly what he needed to do.
“Go, go, go!” I gave him a couple soft kicks to get him moving into a sprint down the final stretch of the arena, the wind ripping through my hair, blowing it behind me.
“How about fifteen-point-three-six seconds for Sierra!” the rodeo announcer called out. “That’ll put her at the top of the leaderboard!”
“Atta boy, Lucky.” I smiled, patting his neck as we exited the arena.
After dismounting my horse, I started to lead him toward one of the holding pens to wait until the end of the rodeo. It wouldn’t be too long now.
A few other barrel racers who competed against me in high school were circled up, and whispers rose into the air when I passed by.
“I’m surprised she decided to show her face back here again.”
“Bold move, that’s for sure. I can’t believe she’s still competing. I’d be too embarrassed to leave my house.”
“She’s so aggressive. I’d keep a close eye on my horse and gear. You know the saying, ‘The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.’”
A muscle in my jaw ticked, but I took a deep breath and ignored them, biting back the remarks I wanted to make.
“I heard her mom ditched town and just disappeared.”
“I mean, can you blame her? I would too if my husband…”
Shut up. Shut up. Shut up!
Those girls knew nothing about what my mother and I had been through. They only knew what the newspaper articles said.
I blinked away any memories that threatened to pop up in my brain.
You’re a good person, Sierra. You did what you had to do to keep everyone safe.
Instead of letting their petty comments get to me, I dusted myself off like the cowgirl I was and headed back to the arena to watch the rest of the barrel racing and the bull riding.
By the time the smell hit my nostrils, it was too late.
“There’s a trailer on fire!” a panic-laced voice cried from the direction of the parking lot.
“Someone get help!”
Black plumes of smoke billowed into the air from the area I parked my trailer and pickup, and I sprinted toward the parking lot. Lucky was still in one of the holding corrals, and it was a good thing because my trailer was the one currently going up in flames.
Pancho.
“Move!” I pushed people aside as I ran toward the fire. “Pancho!” My voice cracked as I screamed for him.
I’d left him in the small living quarters of the trailer after he’d run off toward Hayden because it was air conditioned and I didn’t trust him not to jump out of the pickup again.
He was only two, and despite being trained, I swore the dog had half a brain cell.
His puppy tendencies took over when he got excited.
Besides, it was too hot to just leave the windows down, and I wasn’t going to leave the vehicle running for hours on end.
Why didn’t I just keep him with me? Or better yet, board him at a kennel for the day.
A firm hand grasped my arm. “Wait!
“Wait a second, you little shit. You’re not fucking going anywhere.” Pain shot through my limbs as the grip on my arm tightened enough to leave bruises. I’d have to wear a long sleeve to school again or my teachers would ask questions.
I flinched, my eyes squeezing for a moment. Although the reaction was subtle enough no one else would pick up on it—especially with all the commotion relating to the fire—I still mentally kicked myself.
You’re safe. It’s not real.
I tried to shrug off the man, but his grip tightened, preventing me from moving toward the burning trailer.
“It’s not safe to go over there!”
I whirled around on him, trying to rip my arm from his hold. “Let go of me! That’s my trailer, and my dog is in there!” Agony clawed at my chest as I fought against the man restraining me. I choked out a sob. “Let go!”
Pancho and Lucky were all I had.
I couldn’t lose him.
“It’s okay, sweetheart, someone got him,” he reassured me, pulling me toward safety. “Look.” He pointed toward another man in a cowboy hat holding Pancho in his arms. Pancho wiggled against the man’s chest as he tried to lick his face, tail wagging rapidly.
I huffed out a sigh of relief knowing the little devil dog was safe.
I walked over to the man holding my dog. “Thank you for getting him out safely.”
He gave me a confused look. “What do you mean? Your dog wasn’t in the trailer. He was running around barking, and it got my attention. Your dog led me over here, but the trailer was already on fire.”
Already on fire? How did Pancho get out then?
There was no way for my dog to open the door to the trailer, and I’d sworn I locked it anyway. Even in a small town like Goldfinch, I didn’t trust anyone enough to keep my trailer unlocked.
My brows furrowed. “Huh. Well, thank you for looking after him.”
The man nodded. “No worries. Sorry about the trailer.” Once he’d handed Pancho over to me, he walked away with his shoulders slightly slumped.
Sirens wailed as the Goldfinch fire and police departments peeled into the parking lot. Luckily for other people—unluckily for me—my trailer was the only one that had been engulfed in flames, and all the other vehicles and trailers were able to be moved before any damage was done.
By the time the firefighters extinguished the blaze, the only thing left was a sad, broken skeleton of metal. The horse trailer—my only home at the moment and means of transportation for Lucky and our gear—was completely and utterly unsalvageable.
The rodeo had long concluded when a firefighter walked over to me. I stood from my crouched position, picking up Pancho so he wouldn’t take off.
“Excuse me, miss, are you the owner of this trailer?”
I nodded.
“I’m a lieutenant with the Goldfinch Fire Department. We’ve cleared the area, so it’s safe to gather any belongings that may have survived the fire as well as any personal items left in the pickup truck.”
I pulled my lip between my teeth. Both of us knew it was unlikely anything was left.
“Kearns! You’re going to want to see this,” one of the other firefighters called out.
“Actually, hold tight.” The lieutenant dipped his chin at me before heading back to the trailer.
I observed their conversation from afar, unable to hear exactly what they were talking about. One of the firefighters disappeared into the rubble, reemerging with something in his hand. The lieutenant crossed his arms as they continued discussing.
Footsteps crunched in the gravel to my right, and I turned my head to see who it was.
Hayden. Again.
“Hi.” His voice somehow calmed the thoughts bouncing around in my brain.
“Hey.”
“What happened?” He gestured to the pile of rubble that used to be my horse trailer.
I snorted. “Great question. I guess that’s what all the firefighters are trying to figure out.” I let my shoulders drop. “Sorry, it’s just…”
“Miss.” The lieutenant from earlier, Kearns, came back. “We found this in the back of the trailer. In a pile of hay…er, well, what used to be hay.”
My eyes narrowed. “What am I supposed to be looking at exactly?”
“It’s the butt of a cigarette,” Hayden muttered.
“This is likely what started the fire,” the firefighter explained.
“It’s not mine. I-I don’t smoke.” After realizing how ridiculous that sounded, I blinked, shaking my head. Of course it wasn’t mine. I was competing in the rodeo the whole time. They never insinuated it was mine either. “Sorry, I’m just processing all of this.”
“Of course.” The firefighter nodded. “Do you have any idea where it could have come from? Anyone you know who would have been smoking around the trailer?”
“N-no. I don’t know anyone else here. I travel alone.”
Hayden’s face fell for a brief moment, and a wave of guilt washed over me, but it wasn’t exactly a lie. I was practically a stranger to Hayden at this stage of our lives.
“It’s likely that whoever had the cigarette threw it through the window of the trailer. Probably just negligence, but we have to rule out all the other options, so we’ll need to hold on to the pickup as evidence.”
Hayden’s brows shot up. “What, you mean like foul play?”
Kearns shrugged. “Maybe. Or like I said, it was probably just an accident.”
“Apparently the door to the living quarters got opened,” I mumbled. “Pancho, er, my dog was inside the trailer, but by the time anyone got over here, the trailer was already on fire and my dog was outside. There’s no way for him to open the door himself, so I don’t know…”
Both of the men gave me strange looks, and my eyes flicked to the ground.
“Maybe I just left it unlocked.”
“That’s certainly interesting.” Kearns tapped his lips, as though deep in thought. “Well, for the moment, don’t worry too much about it. For all we know, it was someone being careless.”
I nodded slowly. “Right.”
After I exchanged my information with the fire lieutenant, he left me with Hayden.
I opened my mouth to say something, but my phone interrupted, pinging with a text message.
Unknown Number
Shame about the fire. What a lucky dog.
I reread the text a few times, my heart rate increasing with each pass.
Who is this?
Unknown Number
I’d quit while you’re ahead.
Who knows what could happen.
“You okay, Skip?” Concern painted Hayden’s features. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
I swallowed the lump in my throat. “Y-yeah. I’m fine. I’m gonna go.” I pointed my thumb over my shoulder.
The problem was, I didn’t have anywhere to go.
“Where are you going to go?”
Of course he’d call my bluff.
I shrugged as I forced out a laugh. “I don’t know. I’ll figure it out.” Spinning on my heel, I started to walk back to the arena. Surely there’d be someone who could board my horse and drop me off at a hotel or something.
“Skip,” Hayden called out the stupid childhood nickname, but I ignored him and kept walking. “Sierra, wait.”
When I didn’t stop like he wanted, he started to follow me.
“Come with us.”
That was enough for me to stop abruptly in my tracks, causing him to bump into my back with an, “Oof.”
“What?” I needed to make sure I heard him correctly.
“Come on the road with us. We have plenty of space and—”
I cut him off, holding up a hand. “I don’t think that’s—”
“Come on, Skip, let me finish a sentence for once.” He chuckled before I could finish my own interruption.
“It’s okay, Hayden, I don’t want to overstep.”
“You wouldn’t be. Where are you going to go instead?”
“I’ll stay in a hotel or something until I can get my pickup again, then…
” Truth was, I didn’t know what the fuck I was going to do.
A fire investigation could take anywhere from a few days to a few weeks.
I couldn’t just stop competing, but even if I wanted to go on the road, I didn’t have a way to transport Lucky.
Unfortunately, horse trailers cost a pretty penny, too.
Not to mention all the gear I’d lost in the fire.
“Don’t lie to me, Skip.” His voice softened. “We don’t do that, remember?”
“Okay, fine. I don’t have a plan right now, but, like I said, I’ll figure it out. I don’t want to be an inconvenience.”
“You’re the farthest thing from an inconvenience to me.”
“I don’t know how long it’ll be, and I’d just be in the way.” I started sputtering out any excuse I could think of.
Because I didn’t want to step on anyone’s toes. Definitely not because I was scared.
“Stay with me. Please.”
“Don’t go.” His eyes glistened from the emotions welling up in them. “Stay with me. Please. Even if it’s just for tonight.”
How could I not do anything—everything—he asked of me?
I huffed out a breath, knowing he wasn’t going to give up so easily. “Fine. But as soon as I get a new trailer and my pickup back, I’m leaving.”
His brows furrowed, but he still laughed like he already knew he wasn’t going to let that happen. “All right, Skip. Come on. Let’s get out of here.”