ALLUSIVE AFTERSHOCK

by Susan Griscom

  He slipped out the window and I sighed in relief, breathing a lot easier now that he was out of my room. I loved Max. I couldn’t remember a time I didn’t love Max. I would do anything for him. He was my best friend, only I wanted him to be more, which my mom had guessed a long time ago. She’d blow a brain vessel if she ever caught him in my room.

  I stopped in front of the mirror for one last check then sprinted down the hall. Remembering the twin’s cereal, I bee-lined to their room and hurried them along to the kitchen. After adding milk to Aaron’s Cap’n Crunch and Ambrosia’s Froot Loops, I set the bowls in front of them. Not the best breakfast—Mom would probably want them to have some fruit, but man, I just didn’t have time for that.

  Aaron tore into his cereal like he hadn’t eaten in days, while Ambrosia placed one little fruity loop onto her spoon at a time. I wanted to leave them to their cereal, but my mom would have my hide. Last time I’d left them eating alone, they’d decided it would be more fun to have smoothies for breakfast and dumped the contents of their bowls into the blender. Without covering the glass pitcher, they pushed the “high” button, sending cinnamon apple oatmeal up to the ceiling and all over the walls. No, it was better for everyone if I stayed in the kitchen with them while they ate.

  I tapped my toes, staring out the window toward the barn, wishing I could see through the walls.

  Finally, I glanced at Ambrosia as she put the last little orange frosted Loop in her mouth. “Put your bowls in the sink,” I ordered. Grabbing my jacket and stuffing it under my arm, I raced out of the kitchen through the back door and ran to the stable, stopping short of the open double doors, not wanting to appear too anxious. I took a deep breath and walked in, the scent of fresh hay tickling my nose as I inhaled.

  Courtland Reese stood beside Misty, cooing in her ear and holding an apple while she munched away. Shiloh lifted her head for a brief moment as I entered and lowered it back down on her paws, watching me walk toward Blue. I pretended not to notice Court and pulled the gate open.

  “You can go in, but don’t attempt to saddle him.” Courtland’s deep voice seemed to come out of nowhere.

  Startled, I glanced over at Court. He never even looked up, simply continued stroking Misty while she nibbled at the apple in his hand. I hated how he acted as if I should just go along with whatever he said.

  My dad had the radio on and the announcer’s voice blared throughout the stable, talk of the earthquake dominating the conversation. San Joaquin, the epicenter of the six-point-nine quake, experienced major damage. The destruction was devastating and still under assessment. Reports of buckled highways and multiple car pile-ups made me cringe; so many people trapped in their cars and presumed dead. Several cars plummeted into the delta when the bridge collapsed down around Antioch. The man on the radio said they didn’t have the total death toll yet. Most of the surrounding towns, like ours, only experienced minor damage with broken windows here and there, and several stores’ merchandise had toppled over, requiring major cleanup. And, oh yeah, school was closed for the rest of the week.

  I placed my jacket over the railing, too excited to pet Blue to worry about being cold. Besides, I had on a sweater now. I reached in the pocket of my jacket and took out the apple I’d put in there earlier and offered a bite up to Blue before entering his stall. He sniffed at it then bit into it.

  “He’s already had one of those,” Courtland yelled over toward me and I shot him a don’t-cross-me glare. He shrugged. “But I guess it will be okay for him to have another.”

  Blue ate while I slowly opened the gate and closed it quietly behind me, still holding the apple for him while he nibbled. After he took the last bite, I grabbed the brush from the hook on the wall and turned toward Blue. Peeking over his shiny back, I saw Courtland, now oblivious to anything except Misty. Could he really talk to her and figure out what she wanted or needed? I bit my lower lip as my temper flared, causing every little hair on my body to rise and my skin to prickle. Nobody told me how to treat my horse. At that moment, I hated Courtland Reese. Using long, gentle strokes, I alternated between the brush and my hand, stroking slowly over Blue’s back, whispering into his ear, “You’re okay, aren’t you Big Blue? I bet you’d be even better outside going for a run, wouldn’t you?”

  Man, I wanted to ride Blue so badly my legs itched to be on top of him with the wind blowing against my face. Satisfied with the smooth clean glow of his back, I glanced over at Courtland. He seemed completely absorbed, murmuring into Misty’s ear, stroking her back and brushing her in a similar fashion to what I had done with Blue. My dad kept busy hosing down an empty stall with his back to me. The metal trough in Blue’s stall was full of grain and chaff, which meant my dad wouldn’t be coming over anytime soon to feed him. Both Court and my Dad were too busy to pay any attention to me, so I grabbed a light blanket off the railing and centered it on Blue’s back a little over his shoulders. No one understood my horse the way I did. I knew I could calm him better sitting on his back than standing there, whispering sweet nothings in his ear. Blue stayed quiet and still for me and no one bothered us. I glanced down toward the other end of the stable again; Courtland stood next to Misty, still stroking her brown and tan coat, leaning close to her ear with his back to me. He glanced up and nodded at something my dad said, so I figured the timing was perfectly safe. I yanked the saddle from the wall, trying not to make any noise and lifted the heavy seat, hoisting the smooth leather up and over the blanket on Blue’s back. I cringed when I made a small grunt, but they didn’t seem to hear, so I chose a bit, placed it in his mouth, and slipped the bridle over his ears. I checked to make sure it wasn’t too tight or too loose before buckling, and flipped the reins over his neck toward the saddle. I knew it wasn’t a good idea to saddle him inside his stall, but I really had no other choice. If I walked him outside, then my dad and Courtland would stop me for sure. In my heart, I had no doubt Blue was fine and all he needed was a soothing stroll through the meadow, just the two of us.

  I slipped open the gate to Blue’s stall and slipped my foot into the stirrup, hoisting my body on top of Blue’s back. Blue jerked slightly under me so I patted his neck and we proceeded out of the stall. It was so wrong of me to get on Blue while we were still in the barn, but we needed to make a quick exit. Leaning down toward his ear I whispered, “It’s okay, boy, shhhh. It’s okay. Let’s just sneak out now. Everything’s going to be fine.”

  Everything did seem to be going fine as we made our way toward the door—until the ground started to shake. Again. Blue threw his head up, whinnied with his nostrils flaring, and bolted out of his stall. I had been pretty sure I had the reins secured in my hands, but somehow I’d lost them and I found myself leaning forward, my arms around Blue, hugging his neck. Behind me, Shiloh let out a single warning bark and my dad yelled my name. I couldn’t help myself as a blood-curdling scream escaped from my lungs and Big Blue galloped out into the yard. He whinnied several times, bucking up his backside as he ran. I looked up at the gate I so diligently remembered to lock and prayed Blue wasn’t in the mood to jump it. My prayers were only semi-answered as Blue managed to stop before we reached the gate, but he reared up on his hind legs. My arms gripped tighter around his neck and Blue tensed more under me as he darted his head around, flaring his nostrils again and holding his head very high while doing an excited little prance. He turned his head back toward me, eyes crazed and huge with fear.

  I couldn’t tell if the aftershock had stopped or if the ground still trembled under us. I didn’t know how he’d gotten there so quickly or how he did it, but somehow during my fearful state of confusion, Courtland grabbed hold of the reins and began prancing along with us, slowly coaxing Blue to a slower pace.

  “Easy, boy, easy. That’s it. Let’s just walk.” Court’s voice was smooth enough to soothe even me.

  Tears stung my eyes and I wanted to climb down and run. As if Court could read my mind, he spoke in a deep, chiding voice, “Stay where you are. You wanted to
ride, now ride. He’s not going to stop to let you down just yet.” Courtland continued in a slow jog, pulling Blue along. “Don’t worry about the little bit of weight on your back, boy, it was the earthquake that scared you, not the girl. Everybody’s a bit excited right now and not thinking too clearly about what’s right and what’s wrong. We just need to give you some time.”

  I didn’t need to be Sigmund Freaking Freud to know that the we Court referred to meant me, and that I needed to give Blue some time.

  As we circled around the yard, I noticed my dad standing over at the double doors to the stable, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest, not saying a word, just watching. Was that a look of disgust or disappointment on his face? Probably both and I figured I’d hear plenty from him later. I lowered my head, not wanting to make eye contact with him.

  I sat on Blue’s back listening to Courtland’s gentle voice, wondering if Blue really understood anything he said … possibly.

  “Yes, it was a stupid thing for her to saddle you and even more foolish for her to sit on you, but, Blue, really, she doesn’t weigh all that much, now does she? Probably not more than a hundred pounds, soaking wet. Yes, maybe her father will punish her. Will that make you happy?”

  Hello? I’m right here and I can hear you.

  Blue actually nodded and whinnied, showing his teeth in a smile. Traitor.

  I knew that smile; it was always meant for me, not Courtland. How could he say those things? Calling me stupid, right in front of my face, and how did he know how much I weighed? I wanted to jump down off Blue right then and give this Doctor-Doolittle-freak-half-blooded-Miwok “Native American” a piece of my mind. But I didn’t think Courtland would stop walking to let me down yet, so I had no choice but to sit and listen.

  Courtland never gave me a glance, merely continued to berate me through my horse.

  ~~ Courtland ~~

  The reins vibrated in my hands as though Big Blue’s entire core shook from within. Adela couldn’t have understood how sensitive or afraid Blue was. Most people would never recognize animal emotions, a small fact I tried to remember, but I couldn’t stop the words from leaving my lips. When I felt the ground shake and looked up to see what Shiloh barked about, well, needless to say, I was a bit pissed off. Blue was completely out of control and Adela, she deliberately ignored my request to stay off him. Why didn’t she listen to me? Did she hate me so much that she completely ignored my instructions and jeopardized the well-being of her horse?

  “Yes, you were frightened, boy. I know, I know, all that shaking and rumbling this morning, then bringing you out here without any warning only to experience more shaking. The extra weight, little that it is, must be a bit unnerving. She should have been more considerate, should have listened to me. We’ll walk now for as long as you want. Try not to think about the girl sitting on top of you.” And I’ll try not to think about how her soft, silky legs must feel hugging your sides.

  “Just concentrate on moving your feet forward. Control each step. That’s it, boy. Moving helps ease the nerves, doesn’t it? Let’s go a little slower now. Good. Good. You’re familiar with this weight on your back. The way her legs hug your sides, you should be used to those, except right now everything seems ten times worse than it really is.”

  I guided Big Blue around in small circles and as his breathing eased, I slowed the pace. The more we walked, the more Blue forgot about the ground shaking and moving out from under him. An earthquake could spook a horse for a good while, sometimes days. I didn’t look up at Adela, couldn’t, but I was fully aware of her beautiful brown eyes boring into me with hate. Before today, I didn’t recall ever saying more than a couple of words to her at a time. She had no reason to dislike me, no more than any other kid at school did, except her boyfriend, Max. No one hated me as much as Max, who regarded himself as big stuff because he had money … and good looks to go with it.

  I’d always tried not to pay much attention to the kids at school. They never had anything positive to say to me or about me. Most of them seemed to be afraid of me, which made me laugh. Just as well—I suppose that was better than making fun of me to my face. Last week I overheard a girl in my government class tell her friend she thought it was weird the way I spent all my time talking to animals. The way I saw it, animals were much kinder than people. I wondered if Adela was afraid of me. I hoped not, but I didn’t think there was much I could do to change that if it was true. I did know, though, if I hadn’t been able to catch Blue, her beautiful horse would have run off in a wild frenzy. He’d have thrown Adela off and being as scared and confused as he was, not pay any attention to where he stepped, possibly tripping, breaking his leg or worse, he might have trampled her.

  I squeezed my eyes tight. The thought of Adela getting hurt made my heart feel like it had a metal rod stuck through it.

  ~~ Adela ~~

  We must have walked around and around in a circle for twenty or thirty minutes while I sat on top of Blue, listening to Court’s insults. Then, without warning, we stopped.

  Court raised his hand to take mine. “Come down now.”

  Stupefied, I tried to hide the shock on my face as I took his hand and slid off the saddle.

  He handed me the reins. “Take him in and unsaddle him. You can walk him all you want, but don’t saddle him or ride him again for at least another three days.”

  Hoping the humiliation didn’t show in my eyes, I took hold of the reins, saying nothing, not even thanking him for saving my life. I led Big Blue back into his stall walking past my dad, but I was too ashamed to look at him and he didn’t say anything to me either.

  Once I had Blue back in his stall, I took off the saddle and blanket. As I stroked my finger around the star on his forehead, he nuzzled his nose against my face.

  “It’s okay, Blue, I know you’re sorry.” He pushed his nose more into my hair. “I love you too.”

  I brushed him some more and glanced up to discover Courtland’s gaze fixed on me. I quickly looked away, concentrating on keeping my own eyes on Blue. They stung from holding back tears still threatening to pour out. Embarrassed and humiliated, I wanted to run to my room and cry, but I was sure as hell not about to give Courtland Reese the satisfaction of seeing me break down. I wanted to go find Max and tell him how Court berated me, which wouldn’t accomplish anything except make Max mad, so I would most likely keep it to myself. The last thing I needed was Max getting involved in something he knew nothing about. Max was a wine maker, not a horseman.

  My father trusted Courtland Reese, and after this morning, as much as I hated to admit it, I began to understand why.

  Chapter 4

  ~~ Adela ~~

  The week without school whizzed by so fast I never had time to enjoy it. We’d had several immensely powerful aftershocks that I thought were just as strong as the first quake and most of my time had been spent getting things back in place. Earthquakes had a tendency to suck the fun out of life. Now it was time to get back into the norm, as my dad had said. Today was to be the first day back to school since the quake last week.

  Cruising out from the bathroom and into my room, I yanked the towel from my wet hair and shrieked seeing Ambrosia sitting on my bed, her tiny hand dipping deep into my makeup bag. God, sometimes little sisters could be a pain. The sparse contents of the small zippered pouch aside—a half empty tube of petal pink lip-gloss, mascara, an eyeliner pencil, and some powdered blush—it was still my stuff. I didn’t wear much of the makeup in it. For one, heavy eyeliner would only smear on me as I spent so much time with Blue, oftentimes sweating, constantly having to wipe my face and my eyes. Two; I didn’t want to look like some of the girls in school, a cross between a diva and a preening clown. I chuckled thinking how a few of them actually looked like they let their little brothers help them put that goop on their faces. I tended to keep it simple—a little mascara to accentuate my eyes, a little blush on my cheeks to provide a soft healthy glow and, voila. Besides, I was terrible at
getting it to look right. Every time I tried to draw a line on my eyelid, it went crooked and you could see a space between my lashes and the line. Talk about looking clownish.

  I tugged the towel around my body a little tighter, making sure to securely tuck the top in well. “Ambrosia, please get out of my room so I can get dressed, and stop playing with my stuff. Go to your room and get your shoes on. Aaron is already in the kitchen eating. You don’t want to be late for school, now, do you?”

  The little squirt didn’t make a move to get up; instead, she grabbed hold of the blue and white eyelet quilt from my bed and scrunched the soft cloth under her chin, looking somewhere between angelic and elfish, pulling at the strings of my heart. How could I make her leave my room with her lower lip sticking out in that pout? Something was wrong and I had no choice but to try to comfort my little sister.

  “What’s the matter, Ambie?” Keeping the towel in place, I pulled on my undies then grabbed my jeans. I plopped down on the bed next to Ambrosia and draped my arm around her little shoulders, tugging her in close. “Don’t you want to see Miss Julie today?”

  “Yeah, but what if another earthcrack happens while we’re at school? Who will hold me and protect me?” Her bright blue eyes glistened with the threat of tears. Ambrosia and Aaron, with their golden-reddish curls and blue eyes, take after my dad and were quite the contrast to my dark features that were so similar to my mother’s. I had some red in my hair, but it ran mostly to the dark side, the red only showing up in direct sunlight.

  “Aren’t you ready to go back to school? I am. It’s been a whole week since we’ve been there. I’m sure everything will be fine. There hasn’t been an aftershock in three days. You’ll be okay. Mom told me Miss Julie has a special hiding place at the school for all you guys to go if there’s another earthquake. All you have to do is grab hold of Aaron’s hand and Miss Julie will lead you and all the other kids to a safe place where she has everything you’ll need: blankets, water, food, including snacks. I bet she even has watercolors stashed away.” Ambrosia’s favorite activity at school is painting with watercolors, and she is quite talented for a four-year-old, but not even the mention of the fave activity got her to smile. She shrugged and I surmised that my little sister needed more convincing.