by J A Whiting
"I think they must be. And maybe they just like horses. I'm sure I'm just overthinking this. There have been loads of other people taking pictures of them every night, too. Silver is awfully pretty with that sleigh. I'm sure that's all it is."
"Maybe. Keep an eye out for the couple the next few nights. See if they show up again."
"Will do."
Just then a set of headlights turned off of the country road and into the farm. Mae was startled and instantly on edge, but Ross only watched calmly.
"It’s the sheriff," he said. "I called on the way home. Have to make a report."
"Right," said Mae, and followed him as he walked to the car. "I guess my last question is – how could somebody mess with the sleigh and still hot wire the truck?"
"They couldn't," said Ross. "Unless there were two of them working together."
With a sigh, Mae closed her eyes again, and then prepared to make her report to the sheriff.
11
The next night, Mae remained shaken by the attempted theft of her truck, trailer, and two horses, but she also had a job to do and a contract to fulfill. She wasn’t about to let some cowardly criminal scare her into staying away from the business she’d started.
Tipperary Carriage Company is still operating at the Holiday Fair, and I plan for the business to go on operating for as long as I can sit up and hold a pair of reins.
Tonight, though, Mae gave Silver the night off since he was scheduled to do a wedding the next afternoon. Instead, she drove the very reliable Steel to the sleigh while Ross drove Star. The evening went well, and the happy, generous customers made it worth her while to bring two horses and carriages to the fair.
The time passed steadily for Mae, and it seemed that before she knew it, she and Ross were once again loading up the horses and carriages to go home. This time they made sure to park right out in the center of the lot under as much light as possible. Mae kept her truck locked up when the horses were in her trailer and she had to leave them to help Ross load the sleigh and the carriage into his own trailer.
Soon all was ready to go and she was behind the wheel of her own familiar truck. She breathed a sigh of relief, very glad she had gone out and worked the fair as planned.
As Mae rolled out of the parking lot with Ross driving right behind her, she thought of how they were scheduled for several more nights of driving before Christmas, and found herself looking forward to all of them.
After getting out of the downtown area and onto the main road, Mae glanced in the rear-view mirror and noticed that she’d gotten separated from Ross. It had probably happened at the last stop sign.
Mae knew that Ross wouldn’t want her to wait around for him, not when she was hauling horses, so she just went on at a steady pace. Her phone was set up on the dashboard and he would call if he needed anything.
Besides, they would be at the farm in another fifteen minutes or so, and soon after that she would be resting in her own very comfortable bed in her condo, watching the evening news and looking forward to a good night's sleep.
And sure enough, in just a minute Ross pulled up behind the trailer again. The set of headlights stayed right with her for the rest of the way.
Her phone rang when they were only a few minutes from Goodnight Farm.
"Hi, Ross, I see you. You're right behind me now. Everything okay?"
"No. Whoever's behind you, it's not me."
"What? What do you mean? I can see your truck right there."
"I'm about five minutes back. I can't even see you. Somebody pulled out in front of me and then their car just happened to stall. I had to turn the rig around and take side streets until I could get back on the road again."
"Oh, no. " Mae sat up and looked more closely into the mirror. The truck following her was similar to Ross's maroon pickup, but now she could see that it was actually black and looked like a different model.
"I was sure it was you. That truck has followed me the whole way, made every turn that I made."
"I'll bet it has. Listen to me. Don't stop at the farm. Keep going and drive straight to the sheriff's outpost."
"Okay. That's about another five or six minutes past the farm."
"Do it. I'll meet you there."
Mae tried to keep her nerves steady as she approached Goodnight Farm. There were two horses riding in her trailer who were depending on her to get them safely home, and she had to keep herself together for them.
The truck behind her slowed as she approached the driveway, even though she hadn't put the blinker on and hadn’t slowed down herself.
They're expecting me to turn. They know this is where I'm going.
Mae tried to ignore them and kept driving along the road at the same pace as though she'd never intended to turn off of it. She tried to see if Ross had caught up to the other truck yet, but there didn’t seem to be anyone else driving along the dark and quiet road.
"Okay, I just passed the farm. Heading to the sheriff's outpost now."
"Good. Just keep going, no matter what they do."
It was the longest five minutes of Mae's life. She kept thinking that the truck behind her was pulling closer and was fearful that it might try to pass her on the dark, deserted, two-lane country road . . . and crowd her off of it.
Mae allowed her own truck and trailer to drift left until it was over the center line, hoping to discourage whoever was following her from trying to go around. It seemed to work because the person behind her backed off a little.
It's probably something completely innocent. Other people live out here, too. They could be driving home after being in Grove City for the Holiday Fair just like I am. They're no doubt wondering what's wrong with me riding the center line like this.
Then, thankfully, she could see the lights of the Franklin County Sheriff's station coming up. She slowed the truck and trailer and carefully made the turn into their parking lot, keeping an eye on the lights behind her.
The truck picked up speed and kept on going. All she saw out on the road was the black pickup roaring away into the night.
She tapped the horn a couple of times, not wanting to get out of the truck, and in a moment the door opened and a couple of deputies walked out to her. "Can we help you, ma'am?"
"Yes," she said, lowering the window. "I'm Mae Monahan. I was just taking my horses back home to Goodnight Farm after driving at a Christmas fair down in Grove City. Somebody followed me – somebody in a black pickup truck – and so I pulled in here instead of going to the farm."
"Ross Goodnight's place?" The two men looked at each other and glanced at the door of her truck, which had Tipperary Carriage Company painted on it.
"Yes, he was right behind me when we left the fair tonight, but we got separated. He suggested I come here instead of going to the farm, so here I am."
"Good idea. Yes, we know the place."
She nodded. "Deputy Blackwood came out to talk to us recently about some horse thefts going on in the county."
"That's right. Having someone follow a horse trailer home is suspicious. Were you able to get a license number of the truck that followed you tonight?"
"No, I'm afraid not. I was driving and – " Mae stopped at the sight of headlights approaching from the country road.
The deputies turned to look, too, and Mae sat back at the sight of Ross's maroon truck and white stock trailer pulling in.
"That's Ross now," said Mae, her voice shaking just a little. "He can back up my story."
"No need," said the first deputy. "We've known Ross for a while now."
They waited as Ross parked his truck and got out, striding over to Mae. "You okay?" he asked, nodding over at the deputies.
"I'm okay," Mae said. "The horses, too. Whoever followed me is gone."
"Evening, Ross," said the second deputy. "Did you see anything at all before you left Grove City tonight? Ms. Monahan said she saw a black pickup following her home. It only left off when she pulled in here."
"Somebody cut me
off right after I left the parking lot and then blocked my truck after that," said Ross. "Small car. I don't think it was a coincidence."
"Probably not," said the first deputy.
"We’ve had two other very strange incidents, both involving the Christmas Fair in Grove City," said Mae. "Somebody tried to give my horse what looked like a piece of poisoned apple. And just last night, somebody hotwired this truck and tried to drive off with the two horses in the trailer."
The deputies shared a look with each other. "We know there's a horse theft ring operating around here," said the first. "It sounds to me like you're being targeted."
"I think so, too," said Mae. After a short hesitation, she went on. "The other strange thing is, I just got a new horse a couple of weeks ago. He came from a small local auction and the incidents started happening right after that."
"You think somebody's going after that particular horse?" asked the second deputy.
"At first, yes, I thought maybe it was. But I didn't even bring him tonight."
"Well, to thieves, a horse is a horse. All they care about is meat price."
Ross nodded in agreement with the deputy. "They're just after any horse they can get. As Mae said, they tried to steal a trailer right out from under us last night. They almost succeeded."
"Some folks think a small country place is an easy target, even though they almost always have dogs and guns on the property." The first deputy glanced from Ross to Mae. "We can drive to the farm with you just to make sure everything's good."
"That's fine," said Ross. "We wouldn't want to drive in and find them waiting for us."
Mae just nodded at the deputies. "Thank you."
Ross looked back at her. "See you there in a minute."
Mae watched him go back to his truck as the two deputies got in their car. All she could think of was how all of this had started almost as soon as Silver had come to her, and she didn’t want to think about what that could mean.
Maybe she was wrong. After all, Silver had not been in the trailer tonight, but she now had to face the fact that he had escaped the kill pen at the auction only by sheer luck, and maybe someone was now trying to finish what the auction had failed to do.
The real question was … why.
12
"Three attempts, Mae. Three. So I ordered a camera for the back of the barn."
Mae sighed deeply. She stood with Ross on the cloudy Monday morning, watching as two workers stood in the bed of their pickup truck and installed motion sensors and a camera over the rear entrance of the barn.
"I know it has to be done," she said. "I just hate to think about it. A place like this ought to be safe."
"It should," Ross agreed. "But no place is safe. I made a first career out of trying to make things safe. All any of us could do was try our best."
Mae nodded. "Between the poisoned apple, and trying to steal my truck and trailer, and then following me home . . . yeah, I guess an extra camera is nothing to complain about."
"The installer tells me he can have my phone report if the system has been tripped." Ross shook his head. "Guess it beats the stakeouts we used to have to do, just sitting and watching all night."
Mae crouched down to greet the two black-and-white border collies who came in from their patrol of the western field and ran to greet her. "Mick and Mack will still do the watching for us," she said, petting each of the happy dogs and ruffling their fur. "You couldn't turn them off if you tried."
"No kidding."
Suddenly the two dogs went racing away through the barn and out toward the driveway. Mae could hear the sound of tires on gravel as a vehicle pulled in. "Who's that?"
"Should be Doc Abernathy. Couple of the old horses have needed their teeth floated for a while. He said he could stop by today."
"Oh, good, though I hate watching that." The term "floating" really meant filing down any points or rough edges that might make it difficult for a horse to eat, and often an older horse needed a little work done to make them more comfortable.
Mae grimaced. The sound of that file. I think I'll go and check the decorations on the sleigh. They do get a lot of wear and tear every night out at the fair.
She walked past the stalls at the far end where all five of her horses resided, and she smiled as Silver swung his head around to look at her. Though she loved all of them, the grey pinto Saddlebred really was the horse of her dreams. She was very lucky that Ross's friend had just happened to spot him out at an obscure country auction where apparently they weren't really concerned about checking the horses for microchips.
There was no denying that the strange events, the ones that had the workmen putting up yet another camera at the farm, had all begun right after Silver had come to her.
Mae paused by Silver's stall. The bill of sale had said “no chip found,” but she had never been able to forget one nagging fact … it would be highly unusual for a horse like this one to be ten years old, fully trained and conditioned for the show ring, and not have been outfitted with a twenty-dollar microchip.
She walked to the end of the barn as Doc Abernathy was just pulling up. It would be easy to simply wave "hello" to him and then continue on to the carriage house. She could just go on keeping Silver for herself and never again question where he came from.
Or she could put her mind to rest about this horse right now, once and for all.
"Good morning, Doc," she said, as he got out of his truck.
"Morning, Mae," he said, smiling at her. Doc was a very tall, very round man with a lifetime of experience treating horses and other large animals. Ross said he'd trust any creature he owned to Doc Abernathy, and Mae felt the same.
"I know you're here for tooth floating today," she said. "But, do you happen to have a chip reader with you?"
"Sure. I've always got a handheld. You have a horse that needs to be checked? Or maybe a new dog?"
She smiled, looking back to the stalls. "It's a horse. The grey pinto Saddlebred, down there next to Copper."
"Sure, we can do that right now, before I get started with the teeth grindin'." Doc opened up one of the rear compartments on the back of his truck, rummaged a bit, and then took out a black rectangular piece of plastic about the size of a cell phone.
Mae followed him back down the barn aisle and her apprehension grew with every step. She’d been afraid to look further into Silver's background, in part because she wanted very much to keep him.
But it was also because of Ross. He had known for a long time how much she had wanted a Saddlebred for her driving business. He'd taken a big chance on the beautiful grey pinto, paying a good price for him even though he'd never seen the horse do anything except stand around covered in mud in a filthy pen.
Mae didn’t want him to feel that she was rejecting his gift of the horse. That thought had stopped her from pursuing it until now, at least in part, but in light of all that had been happening lately, the time had come to learn the truth about Silver one way or another.
Ross looked out from one of the other stalls as Mae and Doc walked by. "Anything wrong?"
"No, no," Mae said to him, as she opened Silver's door. "Doc's just going to run his chip reader over him."
Ross walked over and placed one hand on the half-open stall door. "You don't have to do that, Mae. You have a bill of sale that says this horse is legally yours. It also says that no chip was found."
She nodded, trying to steady her nerves. "I know that. It's just, with as good as this horse is, and with all that's been happening…."
Ross kept his hand on the door. "We'll figure all that out either way. Maybe we should just appreciate that you had a little luck go your way, and this horse ended up here instead of on a truck to a slaughterhouse."
One last time, Mae hesitated. She knew that Ross was just trying to protect her, and keep her from the possibility of losing the horse, but it was also true that she'd been protecting him in the same way.
She made herself look up at Ross. "I do appreciate t
hat Silver ended up here, more than you can ever know. But at the same time, we both know we have to do this."
After another moment of hesitation, Ross nodded. Without a word he stepped back from the stall door.
Mae went in to stand at Silver's head to steady him. Doc Abernathy placed the reader against the crest of the horse's neck and slowly moved it toward Silver's head, right along the roots of his mane.
Beep.
Mae closed her eyes.
"Definitely a chip there," said Doc. He lowered the reader and looked at its little screen. "Got a number."
Ross looked silently at Mae. He didn't have to speak.
Mae and Doc left the stall, and she slid the door shut.
"Here," said Doc, handing her the reader. "Take this and write down the number. I'll get started on the teeth. It's Cupcake and Blaze today, isn't it?"
"That’s right," said Ross. "I'll be right there."
"Thank you, Doc," said Mae, as he left.
"No problem, Mae. At least, I hope not."
She just smiled faintly and turned back to Ross. "Tell me," she said. "Did you know?"
"Did I know what?"
"That he was chipped."
"No, I didn't. That bill of sale is real. When I bought the horse, they stated he had no chip. I took him as is."
"I don't really mean that. I didn't doubt your word about the bill of sale." Mae stopped for a moment. "I mean, I just never thought he could possibly be what he was said to be, a throwaway headed for the slaughterhouse."
After a moment, Ross nodded. "I could see it, too. If nothing else, he had too much training. Training costs money. Unless he breaks down, a horse with years of schooling will always be worth more than meat price."
"He was perfectly sound except for needing shoes," said Mae quietly. "We could both see that he was too good to be true."
Ross was silent for a moment. "I just didn't want you to lose your Christmas present."
Mae looked up at him, feeling warmed all the way through at his words.
Christmas present? He never said . . . but, no, he didn't have to. I knew that the minute he showed me the horse.
