Finding Lexi

by AJ Attard

  “What happens next?” Jake asked, looking suddenly like a little kid again, his face, round and innocent, his eyes wide like an owl’s.

  “Well,” Lexi said, taking a deep breath and slinging an arm around his shoulders, “You three,” she said, motioning to include her mother and grandfather, “Are going up to the house and going to bed. I am going to go down to the barn and clean up a bit,” she said firmly amid the chorus of protests that immediately rose in brilliant, trilling crescendo at her words.

  Luke, putting two fingers to his mouth whistled shrilly, the sound so sharp it sliced through their familial argument without hesitation, cleanly and crisply as a knife. All four of the people in front of him stopped stock-still and stared at him.

  “That’s better,” Luke said with a half smile, “Good night, you all are a stubborn lot,” he said shaking his head in wonder, “Now that I have everyone’s attention, it is my humble opinion we should all go in and clean up the barn together,” he held up a hand against the protest half out of Lexi’s lips, “Lex, just wait a second,” he said in exasperation, “I mean for once in your life just stop for a second,” he said causing Lexi’s cheeks to flush a rather rosy red.

  “No one is going to straight to bed right now anyway,” he pointed out logically, “If we all work together it will give us time to think this through a bit with the added plus of the barn being cleaned up,” he turned to Lexi and held her gaze unwaveringly, “I think we need to be together right now,” he said simply and with a shrug of his big shoulders.

  Lexi nodded without speaking, tears sitting precariously on the brim of her eyelashes, tentatively considering tumbling over. The fact that Luke was still here, and moreover, still wanted to be here, made her want to throw her arms around him and give him the biggest kiss in the world. He smiled in response to her nod and they fell back into step toward the barn, Nora, Clyde, and Jake following in their wake.

  ***

  He looked at the big red horse with interest. It was absolutely massive in size. Its chest seemed as broad as a Buick and its legs looked a mile long. It was the picture of pure muscle and power. The horse stared back with an evaluating look at the human before him. In half a breath’s time the horse lunged forward against the gate that separated the two, teeth bared, ears pinned back. The man stepped back involuntarily but he smiled nonetheless. He was looking forward to disposing of this horse almost as much as he was Lexi. As if it could read his mind the big horse snapped again at the gate, his huge body rattling the metal structure violently in its pins.

  “Oh yes, My Friend,” the man spoke to it in almost a hiss, “The feeling is quite mutual. I hate you too. Rest assured, however, you massive lump of dog chow, that soon, oh so very soon, you will be resting in eternal peace with your beloved Lexi.”

  At the sound of his owner’s name, the horse swung his ears forward for a moment. The man relaxed and in that splint second the horse reared up and over the gate, slashing out with his front legs and knocking the man to floor. The man, wiping blood from his now broken nose roared in his fury, rising to his feet, fists clenched, a trail of red running down the front of his shirt. The big horse merely moved to the back of the small pen, placing his powerful back end in easy kicking position and looked innocently over his shoulder at the human. The man, with barely contained rage, laughed.

  “It’s not over yet, you monster,” he told the red horse, “We’ll see who is still standing when this is all over.”

  With that he turned and strode from the shed, the big horse blowing air loudly through his nostrils in contemptuous response.

  Chapter 19

  The next morning Lexi awoke to the sound of birds chirping cheerfully outside her window as sun beams streamed in like rivers of melted butter, splashing themselves against the old wooden floor. Lexi stretched in her bed and cringed as her stiff muscles complained with sharp stabs of pain. It had taken them over an hour to clean up last night and despite being in pretty good shape, between that and fishing for several hours she was sore this morning. She sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes against the chipper morning sun. She sat in bed for a moment, her mind turning over the events of the evening. She was certain that whoever had taken Red, had known she wouldn’t be home. How they knew that, or why they wanted her horse specifically, she didn’t know. But she was just as certain they had known what they were doing. A shiver ricocheted down her spine, shaking her shoulders involuntarily. She reached one hand out to a sunny spot on her covers, a lovely, round circle of yellow light, warm to the touch. The heat of it was soothing and she stuck her other hand into the circle of light as well, letting the sunshine rejuvenate her.

  “Time to get up,” She heard her grandfather call from the landing in the same way he had every day since she could remember. His footsteps echoed down the stairs as his words floated through the house. Even the heartbreak of a stolen horse couldn’t dissuade him from his morning routine. Lexi smiled a tiny smile and thanked God for small favors. The semblance of normality was extremely comforting this morning, motivating her to get up and moving and down to breakfast.

  Everyone was moving a bit slow this morning. Even Twinkie the dog, who almost let a piece of egg that Jake dropped hit the floor. Despite the situation, Lexi almost laughed; they looked like they had been up all night partying.

  “Good morning,” She said as she ambled somewhat stiffly into the kitchen. Nora raised one eyebrow in amusement at her daughter, offering her a cup of coffee before she commented.

  “You okay there, Lexi?” She asked, teasing Lexi. Her words were less exuberant than normal, but the natural buoyancy of her tone remained behind the exhaustion.

  “Yes Ma’am,” Lexi answered, giving Jake a wink as she said down in her chair with a little wince. He rolled his eyes at her but smiled in spite of himself before returning to shoveling eggs into his mouth with abandon, “Just a bit sore,” Lexi explained with a yawn. Nora gave her another look of amusement and Lexi put on an expression of mock exasperation, “Look,” she said good naturedly, “I may be used to riding, haying, and all other manner of manual labor but hammering that stall back together is not something I am used to!” She exclaimed, shifting her shoulders as they stiffened to further emphasize her point.

  “We may need to work you harder,” Clyde observed with a half smile tugging at his mouth.

  Lexi shook her head, thankful that her family could always laugh through the hardest of times. She took another chug of her coffee and gratefully accepted the plate Nora offered, the steaming mound of light fluffy eggs, sausages, and pancakes emanating a heavenly scent that promised, if only for a moment, to make things better.

  “So, Mom,” Jake began pushing some pancake into his mouth and tossing Twinkie another bite of egg, “How was your evening, before, you know, we called,” he hesitated on the last words, unsure how to talk about the event that despite their attempts at levity, sat like the proverbial elephant in the room.

  “It was nice,” Lexi answered, feeling a blush start to warm her cheeks. Her thoughts immediately encompassing the moment just before the phone had rang. She hadn’t called Marci yet either and she was sure her friend would be eagerly awaiting all details. Lexi blinked her eyes a few times, bringing herself back to the moment and smiling an unsteady smile back at her son, “We went fishing,” she said, trying to fill her thoughts with the other parts of the evening, “Oh and we ran into Paul Whilbur,” Lexi mentioned, almost as an afterthought.

  “Paul Whilbur?” Nora echoed thoughtfully, pausing with her fork halfway to her mouth, eggs hanging precariously from the metal prongs like yellow clouds in the midst of a sunrise, “From Peter Monteque’s party?” She asked.

  “The one and only,” Lexi answered, swirling a forkful of pancake in a luxurious lake of sticky sweet syrup. “He was broken down on the side of the road way out by the lake,” she told her as she devoured the bite on her fork eagerly.

  “What in the world was he doing out there I wonder,” Nora said aloud,
her eyes drifing across the food laden table to meet Clyde’s.

  Lexi immediately looked up, the change in her Mother's tone catching her attention. Even Jake paused in his eating, watching the adults warily as an uneasiness settled upon the table.

  "That's exactly what Luke said," Lexi said quietly, her eyes swinging slowly between Nora and Clyde.

  Nora smiled enigmatically, "Great minds think alike," she answered and went back to eating, dissolving the tension rather effectively, although she shot another look at Clyde before focusing on her plate and the activities for the day. They had the normal chores and ranch tasks plus dealing with the Sheriff and attempts to find Red. Clyde had already called every sale barn in a hundred mile radius to let them know the horse was stolen and to keep an eye out before he had even gotten to breakfast. No more was said about the previous evening, Paul Whilbur, or the look exchanged between Nora and Clyde, but the feeling she was missing something was ever more urgent in Lexi’s mind.

  They worked all morning, each enveloped in their own thoughts. Jake and Twinkie stayed close to Clyde and he them. Nora and Lexi worked silently through their chores, tending animals, the garden, and the crops all wrapped in blankets of concern. It wasn't until lunch that any conversation was made.

  "Luke left a message," Nora told Lexi as she washed her hands, just in from working horses, "He said he would be over later, his paint horse is lame and he's waiting for the vet," she explained, beginning to wash the fixings for a salad in the sink. Tiny droplets of water splashed into the air as she shook the water from the crisp, green lettuce, creating infinitesimal sparkles in the sunlit kitchen, “Oh and Marci left a message that if you don’t call her before noon she will be sure to follow you on your next adventure with Luke. She also said to tell you,” Nora said softly, “That she was sorry about Red and if there was anything she could do to please let her know.”

  "Thanks, Mom," Lexi said, an unbidden feeling of relief washing over her that Luke would be over soon. Despite the horror of the situation Lexi found herself thankful Luke would be here and thankful for Marci’s friendship. Lexi reached over, wrapping her fingers around the soft, vibrant red flesh of a tomato from the garden. With the ease born of experience, she began to slice into it, the red juices and yellow seeds trickling onto the cutting board.

  "Penny for your thoughts," Nora asked, her attention momentarily distracted by Jake and Clyde who were in the yard spraying themselves and the dog. Nora sighed and sent a sideways glance Lexi's way, "Do I need to offer more?" she prompted, as Lexi had not answered her at first.

  Lexi shook her head, neatly stacking the slices of tomato on a plate off to the side, like Clyde liked them, "Ever since I got home," she began, picking through her words and choosing them carefully, "I have had this feeling that something was going on, that I was missing something." Lexi frowned; even with her cautious choice of words she wasn't clearly expressing what she was thinking.

  "Go on," Nora encouraged, wiping her eyes as she sliced the pungent onion, the scent rising from her cutting board with fierce determination.

  Lexi paused, a handful of carrots, bright orange and crisp, poking out from her fist. She plunked them down on the cutting board with a thud and continued, "I don't know," she admitted, "except that there is something I just can't quite put my finger on."

  At that moment Clyde and Jake came in, along with the dog, their spirits obviously restored a bit as they were both at least smiling and Twinkie's tail wagged rhythmically back and forth.

  "Good heavens!" Nora exclaimed when Jake came to give her a kiss, "What in the world have you too been into?" She asked, unable to hide a grin that was a mixture of amusement and dismay, "You smell!"

  "Skunks!" Jake said with obvious delight, rubbing a hand through his still wet hair, "We found a den in a fence post hole," he said, "and we had to get them up to fix the fence," he explained as if this was the most natural thing in the world.

  "Well of course," Nora said rolling her eyes before sending Clyde a look that said he should of known better, but both of them knew she wasn't really angry, "Go wash up the best you can before lunch," she told them, "We'll eat outside for lunch and then decide what to do with you all." She waved her hand at them and sent them away laughing between them, the old cowboy and the kid.

  "They're quite a pair," Lexi laughed, to which Nora snorted a wordless reply. They began getting lunch together to take outside, their conversation temporarily suspended and they moved as if choreographed through the preparations for their impromptu picnic.

  Despite the heat of early summer, a nice breeze ruffled the leaves of the trees making lunch comfortable, although the situation settled uneasiness upon them.

  “I think I’ll head into to town,” Clyde said restlessly after his second piece of pie, “Maybe I’ll stop by and see the Sheriff,” he added thoughtfully, “ and pick up that feed Lexi forgot,” he said.

  “Can I go too?” Jake asked perking up immediately from his almost wilting position. Twinkie’s tail immediately starting to wag in response to his tone.

  “Of course,” Clyde nodded, “Wouldn’t have it any other way,” he said, washing down his pie with the last of his lemonade.

  “Cool,” Jake responded almost leaping to his feet, dropping the last bit of piecrust into Twinkie’s waiting mouth.

  “Drop me at Martha’s would you please?” Nora asked, also rising to her feet and starting to pile dishes onto her arms, “Lexi you want to come with me? Did you ever call Marci? I shouldn’t be long, I just wanted to check in on her, you know she just turned ninety one!” Nora said shaking her head with a chuckle, “She can still run circles around me!” She added before her tone sobered, “I’d rather you not be here alone now that I think about it.”

  Lexi scooped up an armful of plates and dishes too shaking her head slowly, “No thanks,” she answered, “I’ll be fine here by myself,” she assured her mother, “and I think a little time by myself my help to clear my head some and give me time to call Marci,” she said with a sigh.

  Nora nodded slowly an unreadable look crossing her face. They all cleaned up the picnic and started into the house. Soon a cloud of dust marked the departure of the old truck bearing Clyde, Jake, and Nora to town, leaving Lexi alone on the vast expanse of their ranch.

  For a moment she stood on the porch, watching the dust saunter off into the sky and the truck get smaller as it disappeared into the distance. She took a deep breath, a restlessness making any thought of relaxing impossible. As for clearing her head, she knew that too was unlikely, as her thoughts all seemed to be tangled in a mangled mess of shadowy possibilities.

  Lexi shook her head, then headed for the one-place things always made sense for her, the barn. She crossed the yard, with its carpet of freshly mowed grass with steady, unhurried steps, a strange certainty settling in her heart as she drew closer to the edifice, though certain of what she had no idea. She slid back the barn door, the rollers making a rhythmic clicking sound as the door moved back. Lexi stood framed in the doorway for a moment, the smell of horses, hay, and leather meeting her nostrils in the most familiar of ways. She had known that scent since she was tiny and now it was as comfortable as her favorite pair of jeans, something known in a world full of unknowns.

  Sunlight streamed through the windows, capturing flecks of dust in the beams that poured forth from the sky, illuminating some patches while casting others into shadow. Lexi stepped into the barn, moving slowly, every sense she possessed suddenly heightened for some reason, goose bumps rising on her arms. She moved forward, heading without hesitation to Red’s stall. She pushed open the door and peered inside cautiously before taking a tentative step into the confines of the wooden walls. What she was so concerned about she couldn’t say, but she could feel it, without question, a thin veil of terror. She could almost put her finger on what had eluded her for so long, but not quite, the missing piece of information tantalizingly close to coming out of the dark recesses of her mind.

&n
bsp; The shavings in Red’s stall had been fixed; the mountains and valleys created when he fought with his horsenappers had been laid smooth when they had straightened up the barn. Now Lexi stood more than ankle deep in crisp pine shavings that emanated a lovely, clean wooden scent, and fluffed lightly into the air when she walked. She moved to Red’s feed bucket, crouched down and ran her fingers through the clean shavings just where they touched the wall. Something last night had caught her eye, a tiny spark of something but it had been gone when she had looked again. She was sure whatever it was had to still be here and now she inched, with painful precision, from one corner of the wall to another, carefully sifting through the shavings and dirt for something, or anything, that would reveal who had taken her horse.

  Lexi's fingers probed carefully, lifting the clean shavings into the air lightly like feathers. Several times her fingers touched something hard and she would pull them out with a sharp intake a breath, only to find a clump of dirt, or a wood chip that had gotten mixed with the shavings. Finally Lexi reached the end of the wall with no result. She sighed in frustration and sat down on the floor, pressing her back against the stall wall. She hung her head a moment, tears welling in her darks eyes, falling with abandon from her lashes and making dark spots on the tan colored shavings where they landed with tiny plops.