“Nothing. My dad used to say that all the time, that’s all. Okie dokie…”
“I’m sorry. I’ll try not to use it if it bothers you.”
“No… that’s okay. It just caught me off guard, that’s all.”
“After we get Beth set up, do you mind if I disappear for awhile?”
“Not at all. Where you gonna go?”
“You said there are some abandoned houses and apartment buildings. I thought I’d scope out a place to live.”
“I thought you were going to stay here for a few days. Are you so sick of us you’re trying to make a getaway?”
“No. I thought you’d want me out of here quickly so I didn’t cramp your style.”
“Not true at all. I have no ‘style’ to cramp. Stay here with us for the time being.”
“Okay, I will, if you insist.”
“I insist.”
“All right then.”
“Okie dokie.”
-36-
Beth insisted on pulling her share of the load around the house.
“It’s not necessary,” Red said. “You should consider yourself a guest.”
“No, honey. Guests stay a few days and then leave again. I don’t have anywhere else to go, except for my old house. And let’s face it. I couldn’t get back there again without your help, even if I had a desire to go back, which I don’t.”
Such a long sentence made her winded. She drew another breath before continuing.
“In other words, I’m going to be here awhile. And I refuse to stay here and let you both wait on me. If I’m going to stay here I’m going to do all the cooking and help with the housework.”
Red was equal parts impressed and amused.
She asked with a wry smile, “And what if I say no?”
“Then I’ll leave the house and go stay in your barn.”
“No you won’t.”
“Why won’t I?”
“Because there are mice out there.”
“Mice?”
“Yes. And an occasional rat.”
Beth cringed. Then she waivered. But only for a moment.
“Then you’ll just have to give into me. You wouldn’t make me sleep with mice, would you?”
“Don’t forget the occasional rat.”
“You wouldn’t want me to sleep with mice and an occasional rat, would you?”
“No.”
“Then you’ll let me do the cooking?”
“Yes… I’ll let you do the cooking, except for the weekends. That’s when you take two days off from the kitchen.”
“Okay. Done.”
“And you can help with the housekeeping, but nothing upstairs and nothing over your head or which requires heavy lifting.”
Beth thought for a moment and said, “Okay, done.”
Red looked at Jacob to see if he had any input.
He said, “Hey, you guys are doing great. Keep going. I don’t want to do the cooking or the cleaning. I’ll just agree to however you want to split everything up between you.”
The conversation came to an abrupt end when a loud voice called from outside.
“You people in the house, Come out with your hands up! You have one minute. If you don’t come out by then we’ll spray the house with bullets!”
Beth froze in fear and raised a hand to her mouth. She uttered, “Oh, my…”
Jacob immediately drew his sidearm and grabbed Beth by the arm, dragging her toward a closet in the interior of the house. He had a look of great concern on his face.
Red, too, took out her handgun.
Her face, though, reflected neither panic nor concern.
Her face took on a puzzled look.
For she alone among the three thought she recognized the voice outside.
She placed her back against the dining room wall and stole a sideways glance out the window and into the yard.
Then she called, in a loud and clear voice, “Stand down, Jacob. It’s okay.”
She went to the back door and opened it, then holstered her weapon and placed both hands into the doorway.
“Don’t shoot,” she shouted. “I’m coming out!”
She stepped onto the porch to find a woman, atop a tall Morgan. The woman was pointing a Winchester rifle in Red’s general direction.
Until she saw Red’s face. Then she placed the rifle into the scabbard on her saddle and squealed like a little girl.
“Red! Oh, my God, you’re finally home!”
-37-
Red ran to Lilly and was there to hug her by the time she stepped down. Bonnie, the tall Morgan Lilly was riding, recognized Red as well. She snorted and pawed at the grass with her hoof and bowed her head in reverence and pleasure.
Red held Lilly for several seconds while her best friend bawled her eyes out.
“Easy,” she said. “I’m back. I’m okay. And no matter how much you hate my coming home I’m not leaving again. I’m sorry, but I’m just not.”
Lilly stopped crying enough to say, between sobs, “You’d better not, you big dumbass.”
“Come on, Lilly. I’ve got some people I want you to meet.”
Lilly dropped Bonnie’s reins and Red took her hand, then led her to the house.
It wasn’t until Red had her hand on the screen door that she realized Bonnie was climbing the steps behind her.
She turned around and said sharply, “Bonnie, no! You can’t come up on the porch!”
The words barely left her mouth before she regretted them.
Lilly was Red’s best friend in the world by far. They’d grown up together and couldn’t be closer if they were sisters.
But Bonnie wasn’t far behind her.
Red had gotten Bonnie as an adolescent. They’d been through a lot together. It was Bonnie Red chose to disappear with into the woods for days at a time when she was stressed or felt alone.
It was Bonnie who made her feel loved when her husband and Rusty were murdered.
It was Bonnie who kept her from doing the unthinkable when her father was killed not long after. She might have taken the easy way out. She might have ended her pain once and for all. But she was worried about what might happen to Bonnie in her absence.
Bonnie had tried to follow the pair up the four steps to the porch not because she was bad. But rather because she was excited.
She was as happy to see Red as Lilly was. She just couldn’t voice it in the same manner.
And now that her Red was home she didn’t want to let her out of sight for fear she’d leave again.
Red realized all that and felt terrible for walking away from the big horse.
But she knew how to make amends.
“Wait here, Lilly.”
Bonnie had frozen in her steps at Red’s scolding and looked at her with big brown eyes. The saddest eyes she could muster.
Red took her reins and led her away from the porch, and into the expansive yard.
Lilly sat herself down onto the porch swing and slowly began swinging back and forth. Jacob and Beth walked outside to join her, and introduced themselves.
“Is there room on there for me?” Beth asked the young girl.
Lilly stopped and scooted over.
Jacob stood off to the side and tried not to make it too obvious he was watching Lilly.
Lilly was a beauty. Natural blonde hair and fair skin, with an infectious smile and a spattering of freckles.
She’d stopped wearing makeup many months before because there no longer seemed to be a need to.
But she didn’t need it. She had a natural beauty that shouldn’t be hidden beneath makeup.
Jacob was infatuated from the start.
Just like Red knew he would.
They watched her and Bonnie, the three of them, as Red reconnected with her equine friend. Bonnie bowed her head, partly to show Red she loved her. And partly so Red could more easily scratch her behind the ears.
“I wonder what they’re talking about,” Beth asked.
“I d
on’t know. Red’s always been very private about her conversations with Bonnie. If we were to walk over there, she’d stop talking and they’d both give us the evil eye. I believe they’re talking about old memories from their past. The things they’ve gone through together, maybe the friends and loved ones they’ve lost.
“I’m convinced of one thing, though.”
“What’s that?”
“I’m convinced that Bonnie understands every single word that Red says to her. I don’t know how, but they’ve always seemed to be able to communicate.”
Bonnie finally led the big horse to the barn. She tore off two flakes of hay from a bale, and Bonnie ate it from her hand. She put her into a stall and then stepped out into the barn’s doorway and yelled, “Lilly, can you stay the night?”
“Sure! My social calendar isn’t terribly busy right now!”
Jacob smiled.
He was very much hoping that this new arrival wasn’t going to disappear anytime soon.
Red went back into the barn and removed Bonnie’s saddle and blanket, then her bridle, and hung them onto a nearby tack horse.
She spoke some more to her friend and scratched her behind her ears.
Bonnie closed her eyes and enjoyed the sensation. Her Red was finally home again.
Lilly was nice to her. Treated her well and spent time bonding with her.
But Lilly wasn’t, could never be Red.
Red left her just long enough to go to the tack room. She emerged with a handful of apple nuggets she’d retrieved from a bag.
The apple nuggets were like dog treats for horses.
Used by trainers for generations, they were given to a horse for behaving itself. Or for performing a new maneuver. Or for making a good run.
Or sometimes, just out of love.
The nuggets were like candy to Bonnie. In Bonnie’s world, the only thing better than her Red coming home was Red coming home, then feeding her nuggets.
Bonnie was the happiest horse in Blanco County, bar none.
-38-
Red brushed Bonnie before returning to the porch to join her two-legged friends.
By the time she got there, there was no need for introductions. The three of them were laughing and carrying on like old buddies.
“I don’t know what took you so long to get here,” Jacob told her as she walked up the steps. “But we’ve all been talking bad about you.”
“Oh, stop! We have not!”
Lilly hopped off the swing to hug her again.
“So,” Red said. “We saw Luke on the way in. He was able to fill me in on a little that I missed. But since he never goes into the town proper, I know he missed a lot. What can you tell me that he couldn’t?”
“Well, I can tell you a couple of things that I’m sure about. Because I’ve seen them with my own eyes. I can also share some rumors with you. But you know how rumors are…
“The problem is that Savage has been keeping a low profile. He no longer comes to the town square for the five o’clock meetings. He sends one of his former bank tellers to get his share of the food. You know him. Tad Taylor. We went to school with him.”
“Yes, I remember Tad.”
“I haven’t seen Savage at all since you left. He supposedly goes to the bank to conduct business each day, but he comes and goes only in the hours of darkness. Word is he gets there before the sun comes up and doesn’t go home until well after dark.”
“That’s peculiar. I wouldn’t peg Savage as a workaholic.”
“Sal told me that he turned one of the bank’s upstairs offices into a bedroom. That he paid Tad to carry in a bed and some other furniture up there. And that he puts a “closed” sign on the door of the bank for most of the day. That’s so he can lock the doors and go upstairs to sleep.”
“Any idea why he doesn’t want to be seen in the daytime?”
“Word is he’s afraid. Somebody said he found a note, under the door of his bank’s front doors. It said, ‘There are friends of Butch and Red in this town who know what you’ve done and will make sure you pay.’
“Supposedly, he’s afraid to come out in the daytime because he thinks somebody is going to shoot him.”
“Any idea who wrote the note?”
“No. But you have a lot of friends around. Your dad did too. And nobody likes a child killer, and everybody knows that Savage was tied up in the murders of Russell and Rusty. So I’d say it could have been anybody.”
“Well, as much as I like the idea of Savage sweating and in fear of his life, I sure would like to know who wrote the note. Doesn’t Savage realize that he’s more likely to get shot in the dark than in the daytime?”
“Savage has never been the smartest guy around. You know that, Red.”
“True. What else you got?”
“Every day when Tad brings his food, Savage makes him eat some of it. Just to make sure that Tad didn’t poison it before he brought it.”
“So, he’s become paranoid as well as fearful. Good. Life for John Savage must be a living hell right now.”
“And he’d been petitioning the mayor and the city council for permission to hire a police force. That much I can verify as fact. Judge Dan Moore told me that himself.”
“But why? This sleepy little one horse town doesn’t even need a police chief. I mean, we’ve always had one. But the county sheriff could do just as good a job in policing us. I’ve always thought that, even before the blackout.”
“I know, Red. And most of the rest of the town agreed with you too. Including me. But apparently Savage is trying to convince the town leaders he needs some officers. He says that since the county sheriff’s office disbanded after the blackout he no longer has ‘backup.’ And you know what the scary thing is?”
“No. What?’
“The scary thing is he not only wants the town to give him authority to hire two police officers. He also wants exclusive rights to selecting them. He wants to leave the city’s human resources people out of the hiring process. He says that he and only he understands the requirements and traits he’s looking for in his officers.”
“Bullshit. He just wants to be able to hire his own thugs, whether they’re qualified to be policemen or not.”
“Right. Judge Moore says the city leaders aren’t sure whether he wants to hire his own personal bodyguards to protect him from you. Or whether he wants to hire henchmen who will help him tighten his grip on the rest of the town. Possibly both.”
“So can’t the town council just refuse his request for additional officers?”
“They’ve been resisting so far. The problem is Savage isn’t above pressuring them in other ways. Ways which have nothing to do with police matters.”
“Like what?”
“Like the fact that there’s only one bank in town, and Savage runs it. As the only bank, it carried the mortgage on virtually every home in town.
“He’s hinted that he has the legal authority to foreclose on their homes since they haven’t made payments since the blackout.”
“Is that legal?”
“Apparently, yes. There’s a stipulation in the fine print of all the mortgages. A stipulation Savage has been adding for years, and nobody ever really paid much attention to before. A tiny stipulation mixed in with all the other legalese which got overlooked.
“It’s a stipulation which said that if the dollar ever crashed and became worthless, the bank could select an alternative form of payment.
“Savage announced at a town meeting right after the blackout that as the town banker he declared the United States dollar worthless and said it would no longer be accepted as legal tender through his bank. He said that all future mortgage payments would be made in gold or silver.
“Most people had no gold or silver to pay, except for their family jewelry and old coins. So most of them are in default and could therefore legally be evicted, their properties foreclosed.
“Check Butch’s mortgage paperwork, Red. You’re probably in the same boat.�
�
-39-
“So, just so I understand, Savage is saying if the city council doesn’t grant him authority to hire his own personal police force, he’s going to foreclose on them all and kick them out of their homes?”
“Yes. He’s hinted as much, although thus far he hasn’t taken such action. At this point he’s still applying the pressure, hoping they’ll bend and give him his hiring authority.
“He’s also hinted that if they do get foreclosed on, they won’t be able to find other housing in town. Anybody who rents to them will be foreclosed on. Anybody who takes them into their homes as guests will be foreclosed on. He says they won’t even be able to rent an apartment. Because he holds the notes on the only two apartment complexes in town. And he’ll tell the apartment managers not to rent to them. That since they’ve been foreclosed on, they’re poor credit risks.”
“Lilly, none of that can be legal. It’s coercion, or extortion, or something. There’s got to be some sort of law against it.”
“Sure there is. But anybody who wanted to file charges would have to go to the police chief. And he’s the police chief. Do you think he’d investigate charges against himself?”
“No. I guess not.”
“No. If anybody tried, he’d go after them with a vengeance. He’d evict them and all their family members around town. Their friends who stood up for them. He not only has the town council in fear of him, but most of the town’s residents as well.”
“Wait a minute, Lilly. A lot of the houses in this town are more than thirty years old. Aren’t they paid for by now?”
“Only if the original owner stayed in the same house for the life of the mortgage. And that’s true of only a few of the town’s residents.
“The vast majority of the homes have been sold over the past thirty years.
“And Savage, as stupid as he is, is brilliant as a banker. For years he’s been very liberal about issuing home improvement loans, with the property itself as collateral. At every high school graduation he’s glad-handed with the parents of the graduates. Offering the parents second mortgages at ultra-low interest rates so they could send their kids to college.
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