Chapter Nineteen #2
“That’s great, but does her friend have to be so big and intimidating?” Both women giggled. Sophie almost disappeared beneath the long mane when the stallion bent its head down to her and softly nuzzled her face.
“She looks so happy,” Helena added with a dreamy look in her eyes.
“I can assure you she is,” Neil said from behind them, which made both women jump. Poppy spun around and gently slapped him on the arm.
“You scared us!” she exclaimed with a burst of laughter as she turned to Helena. “May I introduce you to my husband, Neil?” she said proudly before she turned to Neil, almost bouncing with excitement.
“This is my best friend, Helena!” she exclaimed happily. Neil respectfully tipped his hat and greeted her with a warm smile.
“Nice to make your acquaintance, Helena,” he said to her. “She’s talked about you many times.” Helena did a little curtsy in reply.
“She has indeed,” Paul added as he joined them. “My name is Paul Caldwell. I’m Neil’s foreman,” he said with a warm smile. Helena turned to Paul, and her bright green eyes lit up when she looked at him. She did another curtsy, but she almost seemed shy, which was new to Poppy.
“Nice to meet all of you,” Helena said with a beaming smile. “I’ve heard a lot about you, too.”
Poppy watched with great joy as all of them exchanged pleasantries and chitchatted and laughed about little things.
That very moment was one of the happiest of her life, and she wanted to remember it forever.
She inhaled deeply as she looked around, committing the surroundings, atmosphere, and people to her memory.
Thank you, Lord! You’ve most certainly answered my prayers, she thought.
But then there was a noticeable shift in the air.
At first, Poppy thought she had imagined it, but then she saw it.
More and more people in the vicinity turned their heads...
toward them. The visitors were outright staring at them, but what was so unsettling about it were their expressions.
Some looked at them seemingly appalled and disturbed, others seemed shocked and aghast, several looked disgusted and horrified. It was most unsettling.
Neil, Paul, and Helena didn’t seem to notice it immediately, and Poppy was about to tell them. But then someone in the crowd pointed a finger at them, voices rose, names were called, and Neil and Paul finally saw it, too.
“What’s going on?” Paul asked as he scanned the crowd. Neil pushed himself in front of Poppy, shielding her, while Helena immediately took Sophie.
“I don’t know,” Neil said cautiously, “but we seem to be the center of attention all of a sudden—just not for the right reasons, I assume.” He sounded alarmed, which made Poppy nervous.
She glanced back at Helena and was glad to find she still had Sophie on her arm, protectively shielding her from whatever may happen. Poppy didn’t know what to expect, but she noticed that raised voices kept mentioning their ranch. What a strange turn of events.
Poppy turned back and peeked around Neil to see.
That’s when she spotted Finn, standing high above all the others, telling something to those standing immediately around him as he pointed his finger straight at Neil.
At the same time, one of Neil’s ranch hands appeared from the side, seemingly having to elbow his way through the crowd to get to them. He was out of breath when he reached Neil and Paul.
“It’s Vale!” he said with a heaving chest. “I overheard him spreading rumors about our ranch! Saying that you can’t be trusted as breeder, telling everybody that you’re trying to sell contaminated horses because they were sick just a few weeks ago!”
“Liar!” someone called from somewhere.
“Scammer!” another chimed in. The crowd got loud.
“Shoot the horses! They’ll contaminate all of ours!” a third yelled from too close by. When Neil saw another rancher stalk toward his booth, holding his gun, he immediately went to grab his rifle and pointed it straight at him. Paul did the same, backing him up.
“Nobody is shooting my horses!” he yelled angrily. “I’ll shoot anybody who tries!” Neil pointed his barrel straight at the approaching rancher, who immediately stopped in his tracks. It was a highly volatile situation, but the other rancher finally put his gun down.
Poppy and Helena, still holding Sophie, ran toward the side and took shelter behind the stall wall. They watched in horror what was unfolding right before their eyes.
Poppy couldn’t stop shaking. Not all of it was fear. Some of it was pure outrage that Finn would stoop so low. When Neil shot a quick glance back to where they were, she saw the worry in his eyes.
Suddenly, the crowd split in half, and Finn marched out toward them, as if he were the king of kings, but he stopped at a safe distance like the coward he was. Pushing out his belly, he looked around to make sure that all of the people surrounding him were still paying attention.
“Then you should hurry and remove your wretched animals from the premises,” he ordered extra loudly, “or I’ll personally see to it that they are removed, including you and your handlers. We don’t need scammers here!”
Poppy didn’t understand how Finn would have that authority, but the crowd got loud again, shouting agreements and threats. She watched as people raised their fists in Neil’s direction, and she couldn’t hold back any longer.
Poppy blindly grabbed one of the rifles from the back and ran out to her husband. She ignored Helena calling her name. Even though Poppy knew there was nothing she could physically do—especially not with a rifle—she could at least pretend to and stand next to him to show some kind of support.
That’s when she noticed the pretty young female standing close to Finn.
She had stepped forward when Poppy positioned herself next to Neil.
Poppy had never seen her before, but the woman stared her down as if she had a personal vendetta against her.
She even bared her teeth and wrinkled her nose with a look of utter disdain.
However, the strangest thing was Neil’s reaction when he saw her.
His body tensed visibly, and his breath caught in his throat as he audibly gasped. Then he lowered his gun.
“Lucy?”