by Olivia Swift
They talked about the wedding and a few other things and Mikey said that he would clear a space in the gallery for the exhibition that was on the following week.
“I’m looking forward to that one,” Rula said. “All of those different craft workers with loads of skills.”
“We open Monday, but Katie will be back and can take over. I’ll just mark out the spaces and set the tables up at the end of the week,” Mikey said. He went off back to the gallery and called over his shoulder for Magda to start the outside model railway going. She grinned and pulled out her cell phone. They all glanced outside as the beautiful model train made its stately way around the courtyard and disappeared down the slope where the steps to the cellar used to be. The cellar was now a showcase for all things railroad and it was surprising how many people were intrigued by the age of steam engines and the way it transformed the country.
Bart said that he had to work and left to do just that.
“Are you going to buy some horses when the whole thing is done?” Merle asked Rula.
She nodded as she made a drink for a customer. Then came back over.
“Mikey needs a horse that is well-behaved. I really want him to enjoy riding. We all grew up with it out here.” She smiled at Branston, “And I would like a really flashy looking mare to show off.”
Magda’s cousin grinned back.
“I’m sure we can find you something.”
“We do keep an eye out for stock all of the time. It’s amazing how we just think we’re okay and something changes. The customers who stay at the ranch come in all shapes and sizes as well,” Merle said.
Mikey came back in. He had a man with him who was carrying what looked like a portfolio of pictures.
1 Honeycomb toffee, sponge toffee, cinder toffee or hokey pokey is a sugary toffee with a light, rigid, sponge-like texture. Its main ingredients are typically brown sugar, corn syrup, molasses or golden syrup and baking soda, sometimes with an acid such as vinegar.
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“This is Shelby Bentley,” Mikey announced. “Katie isn’t here, and I have no idea about taking on works for the gallery.”
“Hi Shelby, “Magda said. “Have a seat and a coffee and we’ll have a look at them.”
Rula asked how he took his coffee and went to make it as Rita the small, spirited, older woman who came in to help had started to serve customers and clear tables.
They explained about Katie being on her honeymoon for a week and Shelby told them he loved her work and that was why he wondered about bringing along his own to see what she thought.
“Let’s have a look,” said Magda.
Merle and Branston had been going to leave but stayed to see the artwork. Shelby opened up his folder and started to spread his art on the counter. They were all very atmospheric and done in a mixture of pencil and pastel.
“I like them,” Merle said. “I do love a bit of mystery and imagination.”
“I would frame them if they are good enough to display but it’s easier to carry them like this,” Shelby explained and then looked up as Rula gasped and grabbed for Mikey’s hand. She pointed at one of the pictures and could hardly get out the words.
“What?” Magda asked.
“That, that, that staircase! It’s the one in the barn. It’s exactly as it looks. Almost like a photograph of the real thing.” They all looked at the one she was indicating. “How did you do it?” she asked him.
Shelby Bentley looked embarrassed and hesitated before he answered.
“I see stuff in dreams sometimes and then I try and capture it before I forget about it.”
“Wow!” Merle said. “Did you see some of these other ones in dreams as well?”
“Sometimes I just see snatches. I see a broken window or an old stove. That’s why I thought Katie might understand because she does small parts of walls and plants that suggest a whole landscape from just a couple of items.”
They all looked at the art more closely and the others looked at Merle. The woman smiled. She knew that they would all want to know if she sensed anything from either the paintings or the man.
“Shelby, do you believe in spirit things at all?” she asked. He looked around the group uncertainly.
“Do you?” he answered with a question and they all nodded.
“Really?” he asked.
“I can sense things,” Merle told him, “and strangely enough, I can tell that you have an empathy for horses although that is not in any of these paintings.”
“Lord above,” he said. “I love horses and I sometimes draw them for myself, but I just keep them for me.”
“Merle and I own The Panhandle, a dude ranch ,” Branston explained. Shelby took in what they said and then laughed and held out a hand.
“I have been trying to build up enough courage to ask if I could paint some of your ranch and livestock but always chickened out.”
Branston shook his hand.
“I’m Branston. This is my wife Merle and the ranch is hers really. She built it from nothing. I just love riding more than anything else in the world.”
“And he’s good,” Magda said. “I’m his cousin and the owner of the café.” She looked up. “And right on cue, my husband, Sam, has arrived to be fed.” Sam grinned, and the baby held up her arms. He swept her away from Merle and she gurgled with delight.
“To finish the introductions,” Branston said. “This is Mikey from the hiking shop next door and his wife Rula who is the manager in here.”
“Katie and Declan are on honeymoon and she would normally choose what goes in the gallery, but I think we can agree that these are special. I love them anyway,” Magda stated. There were nods all around and Sam looked over Merle’s shoulder to see them.
“I’m impressed,” Sam said. “What do you do for a living?”
“I work for my dad who has a nursery garden. We grow stuff and sell it basically. Most of it’s for wholesalers who sell it on.”
“Thing is, Sam,” Magda said. “That this picture of the staircase is the one in Rula’s barn and he has never been there.”
Sam looked around them.
“And your plan?” he asked. They all grinned except for Shelby who had no idea what they were talking about.
“Séance tonight at Rula’s,” Magda said, “and that was planned before Shelby arrived.” The visitor looked even more puzzled.
“I was in the barn and for a split second I thought I saw a cowboy on the stairs. Then I told myself not to be so silly. I never see stuff like that,” Rula explained. “Seven thirty?”
Sam agreed.
“If I last that long without food,” he added. Magda went to make him some sandwiches and he found a seat to rest the little one on his knee.
Shelby grinned, pulled out a sketch pad and with a few deft strokes caught the essence of Sam and his daughter. The two heads captured in pencil looked so true to the models that even Sam was astonished. The artist handed it to Magda.
“I have to frame this. It’s wonderful. Thank you.” Then she asked how many pictures he had to frame for the gallery. “Next week is a craft worker exhibition but the week after that they could be displayed.”
Shelby was overjoyed.
“Gives Bart time to get some publicity as well,” Sam added. “Our reporter friend at the local paper.”
Shelby wanted to know if they would like the sort of thing that he had shown them or if they wanted a few different ones as well. Magda told him to bring all of them and Katie could make the final decision when she came back.
“I don’t know what to say. That’s just wonderful,” the artist said.
“Give me your contact number,” Magda said and put it into her cell phone. “Can I take some photos of these and send them to Katie? The pictures were spread out on the counter and she took some shots. He packed them carefully away in the folder and started to thank them all over again.
Magda said that there was no charge for exhibiting but if he sold anything, they charged t
en percent.
“I never thought about putting a price on them before,” he said.
“Let Katie do it. She has learned the hard way that she was asking too small a price,” Rula advised.
“I’ll get Bart to give you a call for background publicity,” Magda said.
“And,” Branston added with a card in his hand, “whenever you want to sketch at the ranch, just call. All publicity is good publicity,” he grinned. “You can borrow a ride as well.”
“Wow. I am -,” he was lost for words.
“Don’t worry,” Sam said. “Branston affects us all like that.” Branston threw a scrunched-up paper bag at him and Magda told them to behave. She had mixed some baby food for Samantha and took her away into the nursery area. She heard Shelby say his goodbyes. Shortly after Sam came to sit beside her.
Samantha held out her arms and Magda handed over baby and baby food to dad. She shook her head.
“Relegated to second place, I am,” she said but kissed the top of Sam’s head as she went back to the café section. Then she smiled and looked at her cell phone to see what was happening to the cats. The camera had been in place for a few months and Crystal always seemed to know when Magda was checking in. The screen came up and sure enough, Crystal was looking directly at the camera.
“Maybe she looks at it all day,” Rula suggested.
“I’m back in the good books. She knows I’m taking care of Samantha. I have no idea how she does, but she does.” She was about to put her phone in her pocket when she noticed that Crystal had stalked over to a side table and swiped her paw across a book which landed on the floor with a bump.
“Little madam!” Magda exclaimed. “She just knocked that book about quarter horses onto the---,"
“Horses!” they all said together.
“She’s ahead of us again,” Mikey laughed. “Whoever thought we would all take notice of a psychic cat?”
“She’s gone to lie on the sofa again,” Magda said. She shook her head.
Sam finished his lunch and handed Samantha back to her mom.
“Hard work without Declan,” he said. “No rest for the wicked. Seven thirty – see you then! Bye folks.”
Merle and Branston followed him out as Magda settled the baby in the little crib she kept at the cafe and rocked her until she drifted into a peaceful sleep. She went back to make another attempt at cinder toffee and cola flavored truffles, but it didn’t work so she decided to go back to the drawing board and start again.
As she helped Rula, Magda asked her what she thought about forgetting the childhood flavors and going with horse shaped truffles wrapped in foil.
“I’m sure there is a shape available somewhere like Easter bunny ones.”
“All things equine,” Rula added. “The local rodeo is coming up soon. It might be a good theme.”
“If the sample mold was big enough, you could add a chocolate saddle and hang a miniature lasso1 on the outside,” Rita joined in.
“That is a great idea. I’ll forget truffle centers and go with solid chocolates for a change.” When things were quiet, Magda went to her tablet and sourced the shapes she would need to do an equine set of figures. There were more than she had expected. She always found a new theme exciting.
They tidied, closed up and she fastened Samantha into her car seat. At home, Crystal was waiting with an approving look as the baby was changed and put into a swing seat where her toes just reached the floor.
Magda picked up the horse book and put it back on the table.
“Yes, we were talking about horses, you little smarty-pants,” she told the cat. Crystal swayed away to the spiral staircase and looked decidedly smug. Magda shook her head and popped a frozen pizza in the oven. Sam came home to a gurgling baby, music in the background, and pizza ready to eat.
“I’m one lucky guy,” he said.
“This will be Samantha’s first séance,” Magda observed. “She can be wrapped up warmly and stay in the stroller.”
They spent a few precious minutes with the baby between them on the sofa and then changed into warm clothes, collected flashlights and popped Samantha into the car seat.
Rula and Mikey had seen the house when a customer who owned it was being frightened. The house had wooden sidings and had been painted turquoise. Rula liked the color but the new paint was a more subtle shade and there were new doors and windows. The path to the front door was lined with flowers and the inside said welcome to everyone who stepped through the doors.
“I love the colors in here,” Magda said. Sam stood with his back to the stove that looked very real but was actually an electric one which looked like a wood burning stove, until Branston came and pushed him to one side.
Bart and Gina completed the group.
Mikey offered them drinks as he said, “You haven’t seen the cellar.”
“His pride and joy,” Rula added. “Come and see.” She headed to the kitchen and not the front door as expected.
“Back door?” Magda asked but her friend shook her head.
“Didn’t tell anyone. Ta da!” she said and opened what looked like a kitchen cupboard but was a hidden stairway to the rooms under the house.
1 A lasso (/ˈlæsoʊ/ or /læˈsuː/), also called lariat, riata, or reata, is a loop of rope designed as a restraint to be thrown around a target and tightened when pulled. It is a well-known tool of the Spanish and Mexican cowboy, then adopted by the United States cowboy. The word is also a verb; to lasso is to throw the loop of rope around something. Although the tool has several proper names, such terms are rarely employed by those who actually use it; nearly all United States cowboys simply call it a "rope," and the use of such "roping".
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“Wow. That’s great,” Merle said as she followed Mikey down the new steps.
Mikey flung open the door at the bottom and revealed his own personal gym. They were all speechless for a few seconds and then they all started to jabber at once.
“I can’t get a climbing wall in because of the height but we have that at work,” Mikey told them.
“He wanted it done before we told anyone,” Rula added. “I discovered that I actually like the rowing machine.”
“I’ve been dying to try one of these bikes,” Bart said. “Does it connect to a personal trainer? I might get one.”
“Feel free to have a go,” Mikey said. Bart took a seat and Mikey switched it all on for him. It took about five minutes for Bart to admit he had to stop.
“I’m fitter than he is,” Gina grinned. “I could challenge him if we both had one of those.”
“The other room is still storage and stuff,” Rula said as they went back into the house.
“Séance,” Merle told them. They packed Samantha safely into her stroller that doubled as a carriage and they all made their way to the barn. It was quite a way from the house and in amongst a copse of trees. Some of the trees had been cleared to make a wider pathway and there was a new door at the side.
“Not locked as there is nothing inside just now,” Mikey said and led the way in. The floor had been cleared and leveled but was still just a dirt floor. Then they all looked at the staircase. Magda took out her cell phone and found the picture painted by Shelby. She handed it around.
“It sure is accurate. You would think that he had been in here,” Branston remarked.
The old wooden stairway was against one wall of the barn. There was a metal handrail attached to the wall and halfway up some grass was growing on the crossbeam of the wall. The wood was faded to shades of grey and green. There were ten stairs in all and the strange thing about them was that it was neither a staircase nor a stepladder. It looked like a stepladder had been leaned against the wall, but behind where there would have been open spaces, a series of boards had been added to give the appearance of a solid structure. At the top there was a sort of screen on the open side.
“What’s upstairs?” Sam asked.
“Nothing but dust,” Mikey said and led the way up to
the door that opened into the upper floor.
They all crowded into the loft space which was a good height. Then Gina grabbed for Bart’s hand and pointed. Merle smiled and nodded.
“I see it.”
“What?” the others all asked together.
“A little ball of light,” Gina replied.
“Let’s try downstairs first,” Merle said. “Then, we might have to try up here as well.”
The baby was content, so they brought her into the circle they had made in the empty stable. Merle started her usual routine. They all knew it so well. They were to picture themselves in a blue ball of light for safety. She called for their protection and then looked around.
“Okay everyone?” There were nods all around. She called out to ask if there were any spirit people who would step forward to meet them.
“Is anyone there?” she asked again. “Is there a cowboy here? We all love horses. This will be a stable again soon.”
Branston added his voice to the request and they all heard a horse nicker clearly. Branston automatically raised his hand to stroke the nose of the horse he clearly thought was behind him. It was a reaction to the nuzzle of a soft nose he felt at his neck.
“Ask again,” Merle said and Branston turned his head, saw there was no horse, and asked out loud if there was a cowboy he could talk to.
“Your horse likes me. He’s nuzzling my neck.”
They all heard the nicker again and Gina pointed to the steps.
“The ball of light is over the stairs,” she said.
“I do wish Declan was here,” Merle said. “I think the man is on the stairs, but I can’t see him.”
Magda spoke out and asked if the cowboy was on the stairs. “Bang on the wood if the answer is yes.” There was a pause, she asked again, and this time something knocked on the wooden wall.
“Well, thank you,” Merle said. “We don’t mean any harm. Was this your stable?” There was another tap on the wood. “I feel that the horse here with you is a fine working animal.” Another tap.
