by Darrell Bain
"Would you like to stop for a drink before I take you back to your motel?"
Jennie laughed. "Sure. Just about any place would be better than there. Despite the scenery and nice people, you have to admit it's not overgrown with good places to stay." She had spent the last six nights in a rather shabby motel but she would have had to drive another sixty miles for anything better.
"It certainly isn't. I probably grabbed the last decent place around here to stay in for any length of time."
Gene had rented a small vacant house when he took the job with the Sanctuary and had not yet given his notice. She had already visited him there several times during the day.
The house was tucked into a nest of ponderosa pine and scrub stock. It was barely visible from the gravel road. The small, neat two bedroom brick home sported a large fenced back yard, garage and utility shed. Inside it was clean and neat, a welcome change from some bachelor abodes she had been in.
Once they had drinks in hand and were sitting side by side on a small couch. Gene sipped at his drink and then unexpectedly laughed.
Jennie glanced at him. He still had a smile on his face. "What's funny?"
"I was just thinking, I accepted the job and I still don't know who's paying me."
"Does it matter?"
"Mmm, probably not, although once I had time to think about it, the idea of a rich philanthropist seems a bit of a stretch. The same as you do functioning as an emissary."
Jennie had to chuckle. He wasn't a security specialist for nothing and evidently he was a good one. "Gene, it's really best not to ask. I'll admit I know more than you do but that still doesn't cover much. All I can say is that some people feel Samantha is important, but I don't know why. Just being able to communicate well with animals doesn't seem like enough reason but evidently it is."
"I take it you work for those people?"
"I'm an investigative reporter, Gene."
"But that's not all you are."
She smiled. "Guilty, but I can't tell you anything else."
"Or you'd have to kill me?" he said with a grin.
"Oh, I doubt it would go that far. I don't do much of that kind of work, anyway. For one thing, I'm not trained well enough in it, though I do carry a handgun. Besides, once Sammie's grown maybe we'll both find out what the deal is, I hope. In the meantime we just want to keep her safe and let her develop naturally."
"You do realize I've looked into her background on the internet, don't you?"
"I would have expected no less."
"Jennie, can she really talk to animals?"
"You'd have to ask her about that. When you get right down to it, no one but her knows for certain, although a number of people believe she can. Reputable ones, not those left handed wing nuts."
"Okay, I'll leave it at that. Just thought I'd ask. Another drink?"
"Okay."
That one turned into another as they laughed and talked, mostly about Samantha and what a sweet young girl she was.
"Polite, too," Gene said. "That was one of the first things I noticed about her. You know how most kids say 'yeah' and 'nah' to their parents and other adults?"
"Yeah," she said facetiously and grinned at him.
"I've never heard Sammie say anything but 'yes ma'am' or 'no ma'am' and 'yes, sir' or 'no, sir' to her parents or adults."
"Uh huh. And she knows how to say please and thank you, too. She even uses the terms when she's talking to animals."
"It says a lot about how well Ron and Elaine raised her, too. They've done a great job, not even considering the stigma Sammie's been under since... Alaska?"
"You're fishing, Gene, but yes. There's more to her than just being pretty and polite, though. I don't think she's ever been given an IQ test but Elaine told me she's had phone calls from other parents in the area who supervise the kids' schooling. They've been telling her that Sammie's learning speed is just about off the charts."
The big man mused for a moment before commenting. "I suspect she's never been in an environment like here, where she can advance at her own speed. That little school in Alaska certainly didn't have much to offer and didn't have much of a library, either. She had a computer but no internet because the mountains blocked access to satellites. They had phone service but it was land lines powered by a generator and used just for local calls. The phone company was a co-op and subsidized by the state."
"You really have done your research. Sammie told me once that when they moved to Texas and she got a smart phone and access to the internet she thought she'd died and gone to heaven. I doubt that Ron and Elaine realize just how much internet access has enhanced her learning environment."
"It's not just that, Jennie. Or not entirely. She's a reader, too. Having a city and school library and broadband internet has broadened her range of reading so much that she sometimes feels odd about spending so much of her spare time with her nose in a book. Most of her peers are playing games or doing other things with their computers and phones while she's busy reading or studying. She said they were always connected to each other in one of the media social groups or trading photos and videos, stuff she's just not much interested in. She confided that to me when I rode with her and Elaine on their trip up here."
"She's an amazing young lady, alright," Jennie said. She reached to the side table for a sip of her drink. When she leaned back it was into the circle Gene's arm. She faced him with a smile then met his descending lips with her own.
Jennie didn't get back to her motel that night, and only went back the next day to pick up her luggage. A week later she flew to Houston to put her small amount of household goods into storage. A week after that she packed a couple of suitcases, drove her car back and moved in with Gene.
***
"Mom, would it be alright if I went horseback riding with someone?"
Elaine glanced up from her sewing basket where she was mending a blouse during commercial breaks from the program she and Samantha were watching. Ronald was in a room he had turned into an office, busy correcting some erroneous environmental surveys from years ago.
"I guess it would depend on who you're going with."
"A boy."
"How old is he?"
"Seventeen. He's in school with me except when he has to help his Dad."
"What does his father do?"
"Him and Ray have a horse ranch."
She frowned. "Oh, yes, I believe I've heard of them. The Zimmermans?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"A few people in the area think they're strange."
"Mom, he's not strange! He's just shy and... and withdrawn. His Mom died when he was real young."
"Yes, I know, Sammie. Mr. Thomas is acquainted with them and he thinks they're fine, other than that Mr. Zimmerman took it hard when his wife died. He said it's a shame he never remarried so Ray would have had a mother growing up."
"Then I can go?"
"Who's going to take you?"
"You or Dad, I guess. He said he would but he doesn't trust his pickup right now. It dies suddenly and won't restart for a long time. He doesn't know what's wrong with it but he doesn't want to take a chance on stranding us."
"That's thoughtful of him. When do you want to go?"
"Saturday."
"Alright. I'll take you."
Chapter Twenty Seven
Elaine and Samantha, along with Shufus, got out their SUV in front of the Zimmerman ranch house Saturday morning. Fussy remained at home with Caw-Caw. Ray and his father were already at work in a nearby corral but both came to meet them when they saw the arriving vehicle. Samantha introduced Ray and his father to her mother. The elder Zimmerman looked down at his boots and mumbled a few words. Ray tentatively put out his hand and said, "Glad to meet you, ma'am."
"I'm glad to finally see you, too. I've heard good things about both of you," Elaine said.
Mr. Zimmerman looked up at those words. Ray's face brightened. Samantha knew he was more used to hearing criticism.
"Sam
mie, I'll be back to get you at four. That will give you time to get home and get cleaned up for supper."
"Thanks, Mom. I'll be here."
After her mother had left Mr. Zimmerman opened up a bit. "That's a fine looking dog you have there, young lady." He frowned. "He won't bark or spook the horses, will he?"
"No, sir. He stays close to me. He won't stray."
"Unless he sees a rabbit or some kind of varmint."
"No, sir. I've taught him not to do things like that without permission."
He raised his brows but said nothing about how dogs always chased varmints. Instead, he said, "Ray, You can ride until noon then come back and make us some lunch. Hear? And you give her the old mare so she don't get hurt."
"Yes, sir," Ray said, then abruptly disclosed that Samantha had said she could ride Thunder, his horse.
"Don't you try any such fool stunt, girl. That's a mean horse with anybody but Ray. I can't even ride him myself."
"I'm good with animals, Mr. Zimmerman. They usually like me."
"That horse don't even like himself. Ray broke him 'cause I'm too old and had too many busted bones already, but it took a long time and he still bucks occasionally. You listen to me, now. Don't you do nothing foolish."
"Yes, sir," Samantha said, but he had already turned his back on the teenagers. He climbed on his already saddled horse and rode away on some errand. He leaned from his mount and opened the far corral gate on his way out in order to loose the horses into a new pasture.
Samantha had never even been on a horse. She watched Ray closely to see how he put the saddle on so she could do it the next time. Once the mare was saddled and the reins loosely attached to a hitching post, Ray let go a loud whistle, shrill enough to make Shufus' sensitive ears flinch at the noise.
From out of a patch of nearby woods a magnificent blood-red stallion with a white diamond patch on the top of his muzzle came toward them at a gallop. Each of the horse's legs were white to the first joint, causing him to look as if he were wearing stockings. He was half again as large as some of the other full-grown horses she'd seen in the corral. He was also apparently skittish around strangers and strange animals. He reared up and whinnied a warning to Samantha and Shufus to keep their distance.
Samantha ignored it. "Wow, aren't you a big beautiful horse. Why is your name Thunder?"
***
What Samantha heard was B'Red, a slurred rendition of Big Red.
"Big Red. That's a good name for a big beauty like you. This is my dog, Shufus. He wants to be friends with you. Touch noses with him, please." The horse didn't hear Please nor most of the rest of the words. He heard a polite request about noses and the dog. Once Samantha repeated herself, he understood completely. He lowered his head until he and Shufus were able to touch noses.
Ray was watching and hardly daring to breathe. He had once seen Thunder bite a yapping mongrel dog in the neck hard enough to kill it, and he had nipped or kicked quite a few others that got too close. The big German Shepherd appeared to be immune to his horse's animosity, though. That was amazing enough, but listening to Samantha and then to his horse making noises in response to her words was simply astounding. Thunder had never responded to anyone but him.
Samantha reached a hand up to rub his muzzle and caress his ears and pat his neck, acts Thunder had never allowed anyone but Ray to perform. He was getting ready to compliment her when she asked, "Big Red, would you mind if I rode you for a few minutes? Just to the barn and back? I won't need a saddle if you'll go slow."
Again she had to repeat herself but Thunder was beginning to understand more as she spoke to him in a gentle, pleasant voice. It was different from the voice of his master but more intelligible once he discerned the similarity.
When he gave his assent Samantha held her snack bag down for Shufus to hold for her and said, "Come over by the hitching post and I'll get on your back from there. Remember, go slow, please."
The big red horse took several steps and sidled up next to the mare while Samantha climbed onto the top horizontal rail of the hitching post.
Ray could see what was happening but he was unable to utter a single word of protest. He didn't know what to say or do because Samantha seemed so sure of herself and Thunder was acting so unusually friendly. Just before she threw her leg over his back he finally got his voice back. "Sammie, you'd better not--". It was already too late. Her leg slid across Thunder's back and she settled herself on the big stallion. "Just to the barn and back, Big Red. Let's go."
Obediently the horse trotted slowly toward the barn then turned and trotted back at a slightly faster pace. Samantha had to lean forward and grab his neck at the turn to keep from slipping off but that was the only mishap. Thunder returned her to the exact spot where she had mounted. She slid off and reached up to hug the horse's neck. "Thank you. Thank you, Big Red. That was fun! You're a good horse. A really good horse. Let me see if I have something for you." She had brought several apples after reading that horses liked them, and she always carried dog biscuits. She took the bag from Shufus who had been patiently holding it and removed an apple and a biscuit and gave each animal the appropriate gift.
Just then Mr. Zimmerman came riding up. He had stopped when he heard his son's whistle, the kind that summed Thunder. He had sat on his horse and seen the whole episode from a distance. He hadn't been able to understand what the girl was saying from that far away but he had heard her speaking to Thunder the same way his son did and the same way he spoke to other horses when he broke them for market. He was still not quite believing what he had seen with his own eyes. Thunder had thrown many a bronco buster before Ray gentled him, but no one else had ever ridden him. He decided he'd better speak to the girl before she got into trouble or worse, got hurt. Somehow, he doubted she would, though.
"Girl, you said you'd never ridden a horse before. How did you get that brute to let you on him?"
"Mr. Zimmerman, my name isn't 'Girl'. It's Samantha. Or Sammie to my friends. I talked to Thunder and he let me get on him." She shrugged, as if it was an everyday occurrence.
"Ray talks to the horses, too. That's how we make money, him breaking them to the saddle and getting them ready for sale. I didn't know anyone else could do it like him, though."
"I didn't either," Samantha said with a nervous laugh, a small but necessary falsehood.
For the first time the old rancher smiled just a tiny bit. "Well, so long as you're sure. Now I really got to go. Don't let me come back and find our horses dancing a jig or making friends with wolves, you hear me, Ray? Samantha?"
"Yes, sir," she said and returned his smile.
Once they were alone, Ray eyed her suspiciously. "Did Thunder really understand you when you talked to him?"
"I guess so. He let me ride him anyway."
"I saw it. You can have something besides the mare to ride if you want to."
"The mare will be fine, Ray. We're already friends so lead the way."
"Okay, I'll be back in a minute." He returned with a rifle slung over his shoulder.
"What's the gun for?" she asked.
"Rifle, not gun. It's just in case we run into a grizzly with cubs or a mountain lion. Not likely, though." He retreated a few steps then took a running leap and was atop his horse, riding bareback, just as Samantha had, although she was on the saddled mare now. By coincidence they had both dressed alike in jeans and a white shirt. She thought he looked handsome. She also noticed how often he glanced at her and smiled inside.
Ray led them onto a trail wide enough for the horses to move along side by side. He said little at first but gradually opened up. He told her how he and his Dad bought wild horses that were rounded up when they became too prolific for their range and then Ray talked them into accepting a saddle, one by one. He could average one horse a day, he said.
"But you probably have to go back to them and reinforce your training before you sell them, don't you?"
He looked askance at her. "How did you know?"
"When I'm helping Whit treat an animal I have to repeat my instructions several times to be sure they've got it. I just supposed horses must be the same way."
"Yep, they are."
It was only afterward that she remembered she wasn't supposed to let on that most animals understood her. It was so natural for her that she occasionally had trouble recalling that other people couldn't do what she could. But Ray had seemed to know she was different. For that matter, he was apparently different himself, at least so far as horses went. He was different from her, too, in that his speech to horses was more like pidgin whereas she had talked plainly to the mare and to Thunder. Another oddity was that apparently he had never asked Thunder what his real name was but simply gave him a name he thought of, Thunder. However, it was no wonder the others at school thought he was weird for talking to his horse the way he did. She wondered suddenly if he could talk to other animals like he could to horses. She started to ask but stopped herself in time because she had another thought. Carrying his rifle made her decide he must not be adept with animals other than horses. Otherwise he could just talk to them and be safe the same way she managed. She had been hoping he might have a talent like her, but it seemed he didn't. But what if he carried the rifle only because his father wanted him to? That might explain it.
They rode and enjoyed the mild weather despite a stiff breeze. Once in a while she glanced over at him when he was preoccupied with guiding Thunder past an obstacle or pointing out something of interest.
"You like it here, don't you?" she asked, just to have something to say. It was hard conversing with him when it appeared he had little interest in anything but horses--or possibly her.
"Uh huh. Mainly because I don't have to go to school five days a week. I get bored with school."
"Really? I love to learn new things."
"Like what?"
