Chapter Twelve
We had to take the long way around the garden in case Joel glanced through his rear windows and saw two people scurrying around in the dark. By the time we reached the stable yard where the path jutted off to the house, Harvey was nowhere to be seen.
I turned in a circle, trying to work out where he could have gone.
It sounded like he was taking delivery of something but we’d arrived via the parking lot and there were no trucks waiting.
Plus, it seemed rather late to be accepting deliveries.
The horses were bedded in for the night, Joel and Yvette were in their homes, and all the stable hands were chilling in their clubhouse.
The sound of a whinny followed by the faint rumble of an engine starting had us spin around. It was coming from the part of the yard we’d been told to stay out of. Lily and I exchanged looks.
“Let’s go,” I said.
“Back to the cabin?”
“No. More snooping.”
Lily’s frown turned into a big smile. “I knew you weren’t a quitter.”
“Me? Never?”
There was only the path we knew about into the rehab yard so we jogged to it, pausing at the corner to peek.
The path was clear, so we quickened our pace.
Then we reached the gate and I closed my hand around the thick padlock.
“It’s locked,” I said, tugging it. The lock held fast. “Damn.” Vertical bars spanned the full length, too narrow to squeeze through even if I breathed in and was completely delusional about my size, and a cross bar was at waist height.
Positioned between the stable block and a high fence, there was no other access.
I looked up. The gate reached six feet. High enough to be a deterrent for any normal person.
So, not high enough to deter me.
“We’ll need to climb over,” I said, lifting my foot to step onto the crossbar.
My muscles ached and resisted the unnaturally large step, but I closed my fingers around the vertical bars and pulled, launching myself into the air.
I grabbed the top bar and hoisted myself up until I could swing one leg over.
As I rested on the top bar, my phone in my pocket buzzed.
I ignored it, leaning forward so I could stabilize myself while I swung my other leg over to gently lower it to the ground. When I estimated I was only a couple of feet from the ground, I let go and dropped, landing in a crouch.
“Lily? Where are you?” I hissed.
My phone buzzed again.
“Here,” said Lily, squeezing through the fence. “The bar rusted out,” she said, pushing a bar back into place at ground level, overgrown bushes springing up on both sides. “Oh, good job! You made it over!”
“Why didn’t you say the bar was loose?”
“You were already climbing. I didn’t want to disturb you when you were doing so well!”
My phone buzzed again and this time, I reached for it. There were three texts from Maddox.
What are you doing?
Then: Good job!
Then: Seriously. What are you doing?
I looked around, frowning, and tucked my phone back into my pocket. If Maddox were playing with me, he’d picked an inopportune time to do it. He could wait. I had a job to do.
Voices came from somewhere across the yard, then the clip-clop of horse hooves.
Lily and I crept to the corner of the stable block and crouched down, peeking out just as a horse walked past us, human legs visible on the far side.
The pair disappeared into the middle stable.
Harvey came out and bolted the bottom half of the stable door, then walked back across the yard, heading for the way they’d come in.
Another man stepped out from the shadowy path and handed him an envelope. Harvey tucked it into his jacket’s inside pocket, then clasped the man’s arm, guiding him to the path that led away.
“We can’t stay here,” I whispered to Lily. “Harvey might come back this way. That way looks like it goes to another road outside the farm and this path is the only way back into the main stable yard.”
“There’s the field,” said Lily, rising a little and pointing to the fenced field that bordered our path. “There’s a horse in it but nowhere to hide.”
“That might be the tack room,” I said, pointing to the stable-sized room, where I could see several saddles resting on hooks protruding from the wall. “Scratch that. Too risky. We should hide in an empty stable. There’re a few to choose from.”
“Okay.”
We cornered the barn and came face-to-face with a large brown horse head. It watched us with curiosity so I patted its velvety muzzle. The next stall was also occupied but the third wasn’t. I drew back the bolt carefully and we stepped inside, pulling the door closed behind us.
My phone buzzed again. Seriously. What ARE you doing?
Then: Down!
I frowned harder and showed Lily my phone screen, but before she could answer, the sound of whistling alerted us to a person in the yard and we ducked.
I pocketed my phone, dulling the screen, and peeked over the door as much as I dared.
Harvey had returned. He walked over to the stable he’d just put a horse inside and rested his arms on the door lip, gazing inside.
A muzzle appeared out of the dark, snuffling his shoulder.
Harvey rubbed it, his lips moving but the words too quiet to hear.
Stepping back, he pulled his phone from his pocket, consulting the screen before he pressed it to his ear.
“Why did you send it early? I wasn’t expecting it until tomorrow…
That’s not my problem!” he hissed into the phone as he turned around, rubbing the back of his neck with his free hand.
The horse stretched its neck, sniffing him some more.
“I’m the one sticking my neck out for you!
Yeah, I got it. I’ll keep you updated. No, No.
I’m telling you, I only got this past them because they’re so distracted.
In future, I need more notice or there’s no deal.
” He pulled the phone sharply from his ear and stuffed it into his pocket with a grunt.
Without a backwards glance, he stalked from the yard, taking the path we’d used.
Lily and I dropped to our haunches, our backs resting against the stable door. “I don’t know what we just saw,” I said, “but I don’t think it’s good.”
My phone buzzed again.
“Why does Maddox keep texting me weird stuff?” I asked, checking the screen.
Coast is clear.
“Is he at the beach?” asked Lily. “When did he go on vacation?”
Suspicion slipped through me. “I think he’s watching us.
” I peeked over the stable door again. The yard remained empty.
Both men were gone. The only sounds were the occasional huff from a horse, or the sounds of hooves as the horses moved around.
An owl screeched again and the faint sound of laughter cut through the still air.
If Maddox were here, he was well concealed.
But the big question was: what was he doing here?
“Let’s deal with that later,” I said, pausing as an engine started up beyond the stables. “Let’s find out who delivered that horse.”
“And if they’ll give us one,” said Lily.
“No,” I said, then “maybe. I don’t think whoever delivered that horse did so out of the kindness of their heart.”
“Maybe we should check the horse. Maybe it’s not really a horse.”
“It’s not a giant dog.”
“I meant, it could be something else. Like, a robot.”
I looked at her. “You’re not serious.”
Lily shrugged. “I don’t want to count out anything.”
“I’m counting out that.” I slid back the bolt and stepped out, holding the door for Lily. After closing the door, we hurried across to the stable and peered inside. Almost immediately, a muzzle loomed towards us and a thick tongue darted out, swiping Lily across the cheek. Definitely not a robot.
“It loves me,” said Lily with a big sigh as she threw her arms around the horse’s neck and all her pony club dreams came true.
The horse’s nostrils flickered at me and I patted its muzzle.
It was warm, soft, and velvety with fine whiskers that tickled my palm.
Large brown eyes followed me from under thick lashes.
A white star blazed its forehead, framed by dark chestnut hair.
It nuzzled into both of us, huffing warm breath.
I peeked inside the stall, expecting to see bandages or something to suggest an injury, but the horse looked muscular and healthy.
A crunch of gravel had me step back, aware of our vulnerability.
“We need to check that trailer,” I said, tugging Lily’s arm.
She gave the horse a reluctant pat and we jogged across the yard.
Another path ran down the side of the furthest barn, the other side framed with bushes and trees, offering plenty of cover.
The gate at the end was another six footer, with paneled wood for privacy, and padlocked shut.
There was no way around it, or any way to see through it.
I reached up, struggling to pull myself up when Lily slid clasped hands under my feet and gave me a boost. I peeked over the top in time to see a black horse trailer trundle out of the small stopping place and turn right, heading out onto the road, quickly disappearing behind a bank of trees.
Overgrowth crowded the other side of the wall, almost obscuring the gate.
“Coming down,” I said and Lily stepped back, allowing me to drop.
I dusted off my hands and told her what I’d seen.
“A horse trailer delivering a horse sounds pretty standard for an equestrian yard,” she said.
“It’s past ten PM,” I pointed out.
“Maybe they were driving a long way? From out of state, perhaps?”
“It’s possible. Harvey didn’t sound happy about it and it’s a strange way of doing business. Not that I’m sure how anyone does business with horses. Is it strange to you?”
“The last time I was here, I was a kid. I’m not sure I knew anything about business back then, and now I run a bar, which is about as different from horses as you can get. Although we did have a sales guy come in last week and try and rent us a mechanical bull. I’m considering it.”
“Really?”