Nothing But Horses (9 page)

“It needs an engine and a tranny,” Bill
said.

“It’s perfect.” Robin smoothed a hand over
the left front fender. “Wait until you see it when I finish
it.”

“You’ll be buying a lot of parts,” John
Gibson told her, “but it will still be cheaper than a restored
classic.”

“And it’s mine, all mine.” Robin held out her
hand for the keys which Bill ceremoniously handed to her. “I got a
‘68 Mustang and it will be Presidential blue when I paint it.”

“Is she serious or just trying to make him
feel good?” I whispered to Vicky. “She won’t be able to drive it
forever.”

“Are you kidding? If you knew Robin like I
do, she’ll have that car on the road by June.” Vicky tucked her arm
through mine and hugged me. “She loves her four-wheeled horses the
way we love the ones with four hooves. I have to say carrots are
cheaper than gas right now.”

“Yeah, but the cost of hay and grain keeps
going up.” I watched Robin eye her dad speculatively and then start
talking him into paying half the cost for an engine and a
transmission. He wouldn’t have to pay for the labor to install
them. She’d get her boss to help with that at the car lot.

Laughing, Jack came to join Vicky and me. “He
might as well give up since Princess Robin gets what she wants when
she wants it. He spent more on my truck and Felicia’s Jeep. He’ll
have to rope and hog-tie her to get Robin out of the Mustang Corral
now.”

I looked at Bill. He had his attention on
Robin who still stroked the fender of the car like I did Nevada’s
neck. Bill glanced at me, grinned and gave me a thumbs-up. He was a
hero today. All at once, Robin squealed. She hugged her dad, and
then hugged Bill again.

“Told you,” Jack said, smiling. “She got my
dad on her side.”

He didn’t look upset or concerned about it,
so I asked. “Are you really cool with your dad buying those
parts?”

“Sure.” Jack winked at me. “My baby sister
doesn’t have a clue how hard she’s going to have to work to get the
new motor into that car, or the transmission. She’ll be buying the
brakes, new tires and all the custom stuff.”

“Yes, but you’ll help her if she needs it,
won’t you?” Vicky gave him a long, slow look from under her lashes.
“I don’t want Robin to get hurt trying to muscle in that
engine.”

“Brianna has all the equipment at the car lot
to do the job.” Jack met Vicky’s gaze, then after what seemed like
an age, he nodded. “I’ll offer to help.”

That apparently didn’t satisfy Vicky. She
didn’t say anything, just kept her attention on him. “Wow, you’re
tough. All right,” Jack said. “Bill and I will be there to do the
heavy lifting. We’ll get Harry to help too, so don’t turn Dani
loose on him. Deal?”

Vicky gave him a sunny smile, tiptoed up to
kiss him. “You’re my favorite super-hero.”

“Yeah, well I’m not wearing tights, so don’t
even ask.” He sauntered away to hassle his sister and buddy.

I laughed, looked down at Vicky. “I bet you
could get him to wear them if you wanted.”

“Probably, but I’d rather have him keep Robin
safe.” Vicky sighed and looked at the car. “I’ll never tell her,
but I don’t get it. If I had a car, I’d want one I could drive to
school right now.”

“Me too,” I said. “Shall we go hang out with
the horses and finish the barn?”

“Let’s.” Vicky turned with me and we started
for the garage door.

Grandpa, Grandma, Mom and Autumn were
crossing the yard when we left the garage. I waved at them.
“Robin’s drooling over her present. She loves it.”

“Oh, I’m so glad,” Mom said. “We’ll go let
her tell us all about it.”

“Yeah, well be careful,” I said. “She’s
already talked her dad into paying for the new engine and tranny.
She’s smooth. She’ll get you on board too.”

“Not me,” Grandpa said. “I’m the slickest
horse-trader in these parts. No little girl will get me to do
anything I don’t want to do.”

Autumn gave him her best big-eyed look. “But,
you called Santa for me, didn’t you and said I was being
super-good?”

“I texted him on my new phone,” Grandpa told
her. “I got you covered, punkin.”

“And Robin’s always nice to me so you gotta
be nice to her. She plays
Barbies
with me when Sierra thinks
they’re dumb.”

‘I’ve never said that.” I scowled at my
little sister. “I wouldn’t. You like them so much.”

“You roll your eyes and heave big sighs,”
Autumn said. “Robin doesn’t. She just tries to take the best
dresses so I haveta grab ‘em first for my dolls.”

“I’m going to muck stalls,” I said. “You’re
on your own, Grandpa. Don’t say I didn’t warn you. It’s hard to
beat the
Barbie
card.”

Vicky giggled as we headed for the top barn.
“I’m so going to harass Robin about those silly dolls. Your sister
could give mine lessons in manipulation. I always end up reading
three or four stories to Autumn when I stay over and I can stick to
one for the girls and one for the boys at home.”

“She is a good kid,” I said, slightly
worried, “but Mom and I spoil her.”

“She doesn’t lie or steal or hurt animals,”
Vicky said. “She feeds Queenie every morning and every night. She
helps with the barns seven days a week. She jumps in when there are
customers. She isn’t a brat when you have us visit or do a
sleep-over. I wouldn’t worry too much, Sierra. The kid is adorable,
but she isn’t a princess.”

I nodded, hoping Vicky was right and that I
hadn’t wrecked Autumn for life. I was nine when my little sister
was born. The doctor told my mom that she couldn’t do barns for the
first month after she came home from the hospital with Autumn. That
annoyed my stepdad big time. He went off on one of his rodeo binges
and I ended up feeding, watering, and cleaning behind fifty horses
by myself. I was fine with it, but my third grade teacher, not so
much. She had issues with me missing so much school.

The good part was my mom filed for divorce
and dumped Autumn’s dad, my jerk of a stepdad. The bad part was Mom
hooked up with another loser a few months later and actually
married him the following spring.

* * * *

Because this last snow storm came in from the
south, it meant we could go to the midnight service at church. We
didn’t head into the Marysville area that had been totally
hammered, but north and east between Pine Ridge and Stewart Falls.
There were other bigger Catholic churches but Mom liked the one
she’d attended when she was a kid so that was where we always
went.

I never asked her, but I had to wonder why
she didn’t insist any of my stepdads join us over the years or even
have Father John marry her. She always opted for civil ceremonies
and let the guys pick the places, usually a local park or once at
the county courthouse. Grandma told me Mom ran away to Coeur
d’Alene in Idaho when she eloped with my dad. So, it was kind of
strange and yet, nice to have Dave meet us there. I’d seen him at
Mass before, but it was the first time he sat with us.

Between the candles, the music and the
traditional Christmas story, I felt totally at peace as we left the
old stone building. A beefy, burly priest in his holiday vestments,
Father John stood at the doorway blessing the different attendees.
He smiled at me. “Sierra, we have an opening in the teen choir. I’d
love it if you would join us. Practice is on Wednesday nights.”

“We’ll talk about it,” Mom said. “I know how
much Sierra loves singing.”

“You need me in the barns at night to help
with chores,” I told her. “You can’t do forty horses by
yourself.”

“You need a life,” Mom said. “I’ve chosen
mine, but you need to see what else is out there, what else makes
you happy.”

That silenced me. It was something I’d never
heard her say. She exchanged a few more words with Father John. He
blessed Dave, Grandma, Grandpa, Autumn and me. Then, we all trooped
in the direction of the parking lot. My brain jumped around the
rest of the way home. Everything was changing and I didn’t know if
I liked it or not.

A new school with my friends, a new
basketball team with a coach that I hadn’t met yet and now the
opportunity to sing in the choir. I remembered they’d gone to a few
competitions last spring and returned with more than one trophy.
They sat in the case in the community room where we congregated for
social events and church suppers. Could I really be part of
that?

Surprisingly, Queenie didn’t come meet us
when we walked into the house. She’d curled up outside Mom’s
bedroom door and whined. I bent and petted her. She seemed okay. On
the way through the kitchen, I’d noticed that the food dish was
empty and she’d eaten all of her supper. Her nose wasn’t warm.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, but the year-old dog
didn’t answer. She sniffed at the closed door and whimpered.

I reached for the knob, but before I could
open the door, Grandma was there. “Go help your momma put Autumn to
bed. Your grandpa and I will take Queenie outside with us when we
check the barns.”

I reached down to pet the collie, but she
wriggled away from me. “She seems really upset about something,
Grandma.”

“Your grandpa and I will handle it. Go,
Sierra.”

Things were getting downright strange. I
didn’t want to argue with my grandmother on Christmas, so I
followed directions. When I glanced over my shoulder, I saw Queenie
and Grandma hustle into my mother’s room, closing the door behind
them. Okay, it really was getting weird around here. Maybe, I’d
entered an old episode of that old TV show,
The Twilight
Zone
.

When I went into my little sister’s room, Mom
had just finished tucking her under the covers. Autumn sighed and
turned her face into the pillow. “It doesn’t look like you need any
help,” I whispered. “You have this under control. I’ll go make some
hot chocolate for us so we can finish prepping for tomorrow.”

“Your grandparents and I will do that this
year,” Mom said. “Go get ready for bed and I’ll bring in your cocoa
and a couple cookies.”

“I’m sixteen, not a little kid.” I planted my
fists on my hips and glared down at her. “You don’t need to send me
to bed.”

“It’s still Christmas Eve in some parts of
the world.” Mom lifted her chin and met my gaze. She pointed to the
door and we left Autumn’s room, letting her continue the journey
into slumber. “If you want Santa to come, you need to go to bed,
Sierra.”

I nearly told her that I was too old to
believe in some old guy sliding down the chimney with a bag of toys
and landing in our woodstove. Then, I realized the holiday wasn’t
just for me. It was for my baby sister too. “Okay, I’m going, but
if Grandma and Grandpa find the animals talking in human languages
out in the barn, I expect you to come get me.”

Mom smiled and slipped an arm around my
waist. “I love you, honey. Merry Christmas.”

* * * *

Morning came early. Autumn landed on my bed
with her stocking and mine a little after seven. “Santa came! Look
what we got!”

I laughed and arranged my pillows so I could
sit up and lean against the headboard. She cuddled next to me and
we proceeded to pull our loot from the red fleecy stockings.
Chocolate, oranges, apples, carrots for our horses, cosmetics for
me, fingernail polish for her, new riding gloves and earrings—Santa
totally spoiled both of us this year.

“Did you leave out cookies and milk for him?”
Autumn demanded. “And carrots for the reindeers? I forgot to do it
before church because I was busy helping Mom with your
present.”

“
What present?” Okay, so it was
snooping, but I didn’t know if she’d tell me or not. She used to
share all the holiday secrets when she was younger, but that didn’t
mean she would this time. “I didn’t see anything new under the
tree.”

“It’s not there.” Autumn giggled. “And me and
Queenie aren’t telling you. It’s a surprise.”

“So, Queenie knows too?” I asked. “Hmm, I’ll
bet I can bribe her with a doggie cookie.”

“Nope.” Autumn rose up on her knees and
kissed my cheek, then nearly strangled me with one of her hugs. “I
already promised her three more if she ‘members not to woof and let
you know what’s in Mom’s room for you.”

“Good to know,” I said.

Well, that explained a lot. My mother and
grandparents were definitely in cahoots if I had a present lurking
in the bedroom. I wondered what it could be, but there wasn’t any
way to find out until after chores. It wasn’t a new horse. I’d have
spotted that during the early routine of mucking, watering and
feeding. Of course, there was no way any equine could be hidden in
the house. We didn’t do miniatures and even the ponies were at
least forty inches tall at the withers.

Whatever it was, Queenie wanted it. She
didn’t leave her spot halfway down the hall during our breakfast,
not even when Autumn put kibble in her dish and topped it with
small pieces of bacon. Grandpa filled coffee cups and eyed Mom.
“What do you think, my little Shamrock? Shall we send Sierra to
your room and let her find that present? Otherwise, poor Queenie is
going to miss out on her doggie gifts.”

“Works for me, Dad.” Mom nodded at me. “Go
find what’s waiting for you, Sierra Morn. I’ll warn you now that
anything it does is your responsibility.”

Autumn danced beside me, all giggles as I
walked down the hall. At sixteen, I had to be cool, not act like I
was totally excited and curious. My little sister knelt down and
snuggled Queenie close.

I froze when I heard a little yip. It didn’t
come from our dog who just whined again. “What the—?”

I twisted the knob and gently pushed open the
door. The tri-colored pup from Robin’s house bounced out through
the narrow gap. He pounced on my horse-head slipper, and then left
it to attack Queenie.

Laughing, I bent and scooped him up into my
arms. “How did he get here? Why is he here?” I turned my head quick
so he couldn’t nip my nose. “What is he doing here?”