The Trouble with Horses

by Susan Y. Tanner

“It’s test day. I’m exempt ‘causa my grades.”

  “He’s on the honor roll, Les.” Wolf’s voice is quiet and proud. “He worked his ass off for it.”

  The sheriff takes a deep breath but some of the scowl eases across his face. “They don’t give days off for that, Wolf.”

  Young Case must see a chance for reprieve, as he speaks up voluntarily for the first time. “My dad said I didn’t have to go if I’d go clear the tree that fell across my grandpa’s driveway two days ago. Took me a bit but it’s done.”

  “Your grandpa will vouch for you?”

  Case nods at the sheriff’s question. “Yes, sir. I promise.”

  “You live ten miles from the Boundary, Case. You walk all that way?” Now it is Wolf’s turn to look disbelieving, if only a tad.

  “No, sir. My grandpa came and got me. I asked my dad to pick me up here at the fairgrounds. He comes right by here on his way home so he said he would since it wasn’t out of his way none.”

  “And why would you do that?” Wolf sounds more curious than disbelieving. He’s leaving distrust to the sheriff.

  Judging by the flash of trepidation on the boy’s face that is a very good question and the reason holds importance for him.

  “Mr. Jake said I could help him brush the horses sometimes, if my dad doesn’t care.”

  I can see his answer surprises Kylah and Wolf as much as it does me. Jake scuffs a toe in the dirt but nods at the sheriff, affirming the boy’s explanation.

  “Were you in school day before yesterday?” Hmmmm, I know where the sheriff is going with this one. That is the day that shots were fired at Kylah.

  Case nods.

  “All day?” The sheriff is pressing hard on the young man.

  Again, he nods.

  “I can check that, you know.”

  “Yes, sir, I know. I was there.”

  So, even the sheriff must acknowledge it’s back to square one on who set the trip-rope for Kylah and her beautiful equine.

  * * *

  Wolf sent Case off with Jake to unsaddle and care for Andre. As much as Kylah wanted to do that herself, she wanted even more to hear whatever Wolf had to say to the sheriff. Underneath her bone-deep anger that someone could have crippled, even killed, her horse, she was worried that the someone would try again.

  “It could still be some punk kid,” the sheriff said testily.

  “You were a punk kid once upon a time, Les, hard as that is for you to remember. How would you have put up a trip wire, whether it was a prank or a deliberate attempt to hurt someone?”

  “Simple wrap and knot around a tree,” the sheriff admitted.

  “Exactly. I wouldn’t have used this fancy set up, either. Just a long piece of rope and a couple of knots.”

  Wolf turned his gaze on Kylah and she knew where he was headed. She repeated for the sheriff what she’d told Wolf about the tensioners.

  “Civil War replicas, huh?”

  “The pegs may be replicas,” she said in answer. “The tensioners may prove to be actual antiques.”

  Wolf studied the wear pattern on the items along with the sheriff. When he lifted his gaze back to Kylah, she knew he agreed with her.

  The sheriff said at last. “I don’t guess you were careful with fingerprints.”

  “Nope. Never gave it a thought. I was too damned busy trying to get it down and out of the way before Kylah came tearing through on that big horse.”

  She could have told Wolf that she and Andre were hardly tearing through the woods. She was always more careful of her horses than that. She let it pass for a host of reasons, not the least of which was the depth of emotion she heard in his voice. She wasn’t used to anyone except Jake caring that much about what happened to her.

  Wolf didn’t pause long enough for the sheriff to respond. “There won’t be any fingerprints but ours. Whoever drove those pegs as far as they could and pulled that rope as tight as they could will have worn gloves or wiped it clean when they finished, like they did the rifle that killed Maisy McGuire.” He paused, as if to let that sink in before adding. “We kept quiet our suspicion the revolver fired at Kylah was an antique so you can rule out a copycat troublemaker with this rope trick. We’ve got a real problem on our hands.”

  “We’ve had a problem since we found a woman with a hole through her heart,” the sheriff answered.

  “But I thought it possible that whoever fired that revolver at Kylah didn’t know who they were shooting at … may have targeted the uniform rather than the woman.” Wolf reached over and tapped one of the tensioners that dangled from the coil of rope in the sheriff’s hands. “This time they knew. Beyond a doubt, they knew. Which means this just got damned personal for me.”

  And Kylah felt the five-year-deep layer of ice around her heart start to melt.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Kylah watched the intricate, white clouds drift across the late afternoon sky as Jake whittled at a chunk of wood he’d picked up somewhere during the day. He didn’t whittle often and when he was done, he’d hold something brilliant in his hand. And he’d be ready to say whatever it was he had on his mind.

  The absence of human sounds soothed her. She tried half-heartedly to identify the bird chirping in a nearby tree by its throaty warble but failed. She could no more focus on that than she could have arena work which she and Jake agreed was best left until the next day. She knew he’d been as rattled as she was by the morning’s near disaster.

  She could, she supposed, have cleaned tack and been at least a little productive but it had felt good to do nothing but sit here with Jake beside the trailer, if only for a little while. Slowly, her muscles had relaxed. From time to time, she checked Jake’s progress as the intricate details of a miniature bayoneted rifle emerged beneath his hands.

  Her eyes had drifted closed when his feet, which had been propped on an overturned bucket, hit the ground with a soft thump of booted heels. He brushed tiny curls of shaved wood from his jeans.

  She opened her eyes and turned her head to the side without lifting it from the back of her chair. “That’s a beauty,” she said of the work in his hand.

  He gave a small hum she took for agreement. “Still needs polishing up a bit, but it ain’t bad.”

  “You know you could make real money. That art store in Santa Fe said, anytime. They’ll take anything you send.”

  “I’m savin’ ‘em for your kids.”

  She snorted. “That gets less likely every day.”

  “Going to be impossible if you get yourself killed. Maybe it’s time we call this one quits.”

  She hesitated. Jake suggesting she walk away from a signed contract was a solid indication of how worried he was for her. She could forfeit the money without starving but her reputation was a precious commodity. In this business, reputation meant as much as talent. With time, she could overcome any damage but the thought of letting fear, Jake’s or her own, drive her away didn’t appeal to her.

  She released the breath she’d been holding on a low, soft sigh. “I don’t quit, Jake. You know that.”

  “What is it you’re not wanting to quit on?”

  He met her look for look and she felt the challenge of his silence, heard the unspoken suggestion behind the question. “Wolf? Honestly … I don’t know,” she admitted. “After Marty, I thought, never again.”

  “And Wolf’s got you thinking different.” It wasn’t a question.

  “Maybe, but even if not, even if I’d never met Wolf, I wouldn’t run from whatever is happening here. I’m angry, Jake, deep down angry. I want to see whoever tried to hurt Andre caught and punished. I’d stay for that if nothing else.”

  “They’ve come at you twice, now.”

  “Then I’ll have to be more careful.”

  “Damn, Kylah.” But that was all he said and she knew the conversation was done. But she also knew how unhappy he was.

  He stood and settled his hat more firmly. “That being the case, you need to call that movie compan
y and have ‘em overnight some more uniforms to you. Confederate or Union, either one.”

  She stared at him a moment. “Whatever for?”

  “Wolf’s boys – Case and his buddies – are going to stand guard when you make that ride.”

  “That’s crazy! I know you didn’t encourage that.”

  “Tried my damnedest to talk them out of it. I’m hoping Wolf will have better luck. He’s playing basketball with ‘em this afternoon. Case plans to tell him then.”

  * * *

  “Hell, no.”

  Six boys in mismatched gym shorts and tee shirts stood watching Wolf, who glared at them. Case was their spokesperson.

  “Wolf, listen, we gotta be there anyway. It’s a class assignment and an automatic test fail if we don’t. We weren’t gonna do the uniform thing but it’s extra points if we wear them and uniforms will help us blend in so that’s kinda cool. Jake said he might could come up with some for that.”

  “Are you telling me the high school is going to turn out for this?” He hadn’t heard anything of that.

  “Not all of it. Just Professor Ingram’s history classes.”

  “And not all at once,” Adam, a tall and lanky redhead, chimed in as if to reassure.

  “Seniors go first. We don’t go until Sunday. Then the sophomores and freshmen after that. We get to pick where we stand and I told Mr. Ingram last week we wanted by the cavalry charge because Mr. Jake said Ms. K.T. would be leading the way.”

  And how and when had Case and Jake become bosom buddies? He wanted a few answers there.

  “You think I’m going to allow a bunch of teenagers to get mixed up in a murder investigation?”

  Case looked at him with an expression between accusation and disappointment. “That ain’t what I said, Wolf. We’re not going looking for anything. We’re going to be watching along where Ms. K.T.’s going to ride, making sure nobody messes with anything in her path.” He paused, then added the killing blow. “I didn’t have to tell you. We could’ve gone like we’ve been told we have to and you wouldn’t never have known.”

  “Double negative, man.” That came from Gray who ignored the drop-dead look Case shot him. A muscular youth with a black hawk etched on his forearm, Gray didn’t give the appearance of a scholar but Wolf knew better. Wolf frowned at the hawk and hoped like hell he caught up with whoever was giving tattoos to teenagers on his watch but that was another problem for another day. He solved them as he had time and that hadn’t made the top of his list. Yet.

  Right now, he had to man up with Case. “No, you didn’t have to tell me but I’m glad that you did and I apologize.”

  “So, you’re good with this?”

  Wolf knew he had to think hard and fast. Chances were he couldn’t prevent them from being there but he’d do his best to keep them safe. “I’m good if the sheriff knows about the school assignment and if we put together a plan and I can count on you to follow it. I’ll talk with Les tonight.”

  “What kind of plan?”

  “The kind where you do nothing but watch and call me if you see anything. The kind where I know where each of you is every minute. You all have cell phones, right?”

  He got eye rolls on that one. It was a sad truth that too many of these kids came from families that might not be able to put a decent meal on the table but every last member above the age of twelve – and some under – could send a text at a moment’s notice.

  “And you’re all in agreement?” This time he got head nods in response. For now, that was as good as it was going to get. “All right,” he said. “Let’s break a sweat.”

  * * *

  Two hours later, Wolf was confident he would sleep soundly that night as long as he took an over-the-counter designed to alleviate body aches. He wasn’t a teen anymore. Case lingered to help gather up their gear but Wolf noted his gaze followed one of the boys who dribbled a ball toward the door at the end of the gym.

  “Problem?”

  Case gave him a look. The boys never ratted on one another for infractions but Case’s silence said this was something different, something more.

  “Rules.” Wolf gave the quiet reminder then waited as he zipped his duffle.

  “It involves more than Daniel.”

  Wolf sighed. It always did with these boys. That’s why he kept close tabs with them, as close as he could without being overbearing. Sports opened a lot of doors with them, bridged a lot of gaps. Daniel’s dad was in and out of prison, currently in. His sister had run away twice. His older brother was home from the army with a big chip on his shoulder and a problem with booze that had him on probation for busting up a bar followed by drunk driving.

  “Sara run off again?”

  Case looked at Wolf as the gym door closed behind Daniel. “No, Sara’s good.” He paused, clearly still reluctant. “Kev got drunk last night and hit their mom in the face. Daniel thinks her nose is broken but she won’t go to a doctor. Daniel says he’s gonna take care of Kev for good, then he’s gonna go away.”

  Go away was their code phrase for suicide.

  “That won’t solve anything.” Wolf kept his tone neutral when he wanted to curse. The reminder was for Case because these boys were all one step away from where they’d been before they hooked up with Wolf. He never forgot that.

  “Yeah, man, I know. I told ‘em.”

  Wolf swung his duffle over his shoulder. “Get some dinner, Case. I got this.”

  As reluctant as Case had been to confide, he looked relieved at the words.

  In the parking lot, Wolf leaned against the hood of his truck and made some calls until he reached an officer on duty that evening. Fortunately, someone he knew, someone who could and would handle the situation without making it worse. “I need a favor. Kev House is breaking probation. I need him followed and caught in the act, locked up and locked down. Be sure you deliver the news to his mother, and be sure to take a close look at her face. See if she needs help with anything.”

  Wolf could have done what was needed but he couldn’t risk Kev’s rage being tracked back to his younger brother through Wolf. Jail time might not make him a better person but at least it would give his mother and siblings some breathing room. With any luck at all, he’d decide hometown wasn’t a place he wanted to come back to after all.

  * * *

  Kylah followed the gravel road around the outside of the arena, the black cat close at her side. Trouble seemed as preoccupied as she felt. As much as she hoped Wolf could stop a bunch of teenagers from playing bodyguard, it wouldn’t hurt to have some extra uniforms on hand for them. She’d rather have them overnighted here than the hotel. There was almost always someone in the office trailer that had been set up near the fairground entrance.

  With afternoon fading, it was possible the staff had all gone home although from time to time, she saw lights on and cars out front long past dark. But there was still daylight, though fading, and the walk felt good.

  As she rounded the rear corner of the trailer, she recognized Grant’s truck but not the late model but unpretentious little car beside it. The trailer door opened and a woman stepped out. Her attention was still focused inside so that she was half-turned with her back mostly to Kylah, but Kylah thought she recognized the dark hair as belonging to Grant’s wife.

  Kylah stopped at the sound of Grant’s voice raised in frustration. “This is insane, Audra. You’re being unreasonable and I’d like for you to reconsider.”

  “It will be fine, Grant. Really.” The woman’s tone sounded cool and unconcerned. If she was rattled by her husband’s irritation, it didn’t show. Kylah could admire that in a woman.

  But she felt a wave of awkwardness at being witness to what appeared to be a small spat between husband and wife. If she could have backed away without being seen by either of the couple, she would have. She even took a step backward, but, as Audra turned to leave, the door opened wider and Grant followed to the small porch, watching as his wife went down the steps. Trouble had settled onto h
is haunches at Kylah’s feet, observing the goings-on with interest.

  Without looking back at Grant, Audra got in her car and drove away.

  Grant caught sight of Kylah as he turned to go back inside. His shoulders slumped and she felt embarrassed for both of them.

  “My apologies,” Grant said with more dignity than she’d seen from the man yet.

  No use in pretending she hadn’t seen them or heard the exchange. She stepped forward. “And mine. I would have turned away if I’d had time. I’ll come back tomorrow.”

  “No, need for that.” Grant straightened his shoulders. “I’m sure you need something or you wouldn’t be here. Please. Come in.”

  Trouble looked up at her as if to say may as well.

  They followed Grant inside. Kylah glanced at the whiteboard as she passed through the reception area. The board, which was a scenario layout depicting the upcoming events, looked busier than her first glimpse when she’d checked in with the staff upon arrival. She noted it caught Trouble’s attention. He paused to stare at the squiggles and lines and initials of key reenactors, hers among them.

  In one of the smaller back offices, Grant sat down behind a worn-looking desk. Kylah took the chair on the other side. “What can I do for you, Ms. West?”

  “Kylah,” she reminded.

  He nodded.

  “I’d like to have some additional costumes overnighted here if I could.” She named the studio that would be shipping but didn’t tell him why. Nor did she get the sense he was the least curious. No reason he should be. It wasn’t his business and she wished it wasn’t hers, though she was caught up in it. Besides, she suspected his thoughts were still on his disagreement with his wife. All Kylah wanted to do was escape.

  “That’s not a problem, of course.” He wrote the address on a note card and handed it to her. “I’ll leave a note for the staff to be watching for it.”

  “Thanks.” She got to her feet, hesitating when he cleared his throat.

  “Ah … Kylah … you’re a woman.” Oh, no, no, no, she thought. Whatever he was going to say, she wished he wouldn’t. Not with that opening. “And you’ve found yourself in a position of danger, for a second time now.”