Walker: Secrets

Chapter 58

'Well-' Geri exclaimed as she and Maddie finished playing one of the fair games, Maddie having won herself a small plush dog for her try. 'Where do you want to go next?'

'Um...' She sat the plush toy down on her lap as she wheeled her chair away from the stand so other fair-goers could line up, looking around for a moment. 'Could we go inside that large shed and see what they've got in there? Might need to take a break for a little while too, I'm getting pretty tired.'

Geri nodded. 'Want me to push you?'

'If it's not too much trouble, that'd be great. My arms feel like they're about to fall off.'

She chuckled at that as she began to push Maddie through the crowd in the direction of the large shed. 'You've been managing pretty well so far, not a bad effort at all.'

'By the time I'm gonna be able to walk again I'm gonna have arm muscles like the Rock's.' 

Geri laughed. 'Oh, that's a good one.'

Maddie smiled, giggling softly as she enjoyed having a moment to rest. 'Hey, I've been meaning to ask you something.'

'Ah... Sure.' She replied with slight hesitation, wondering what Maddie was going to question her about. 'What about?'

'Your shirt.'

'My-my shirt?'

'Yeah. Where'd you get it? I mean, it's hard to find tee-shirts with horses on them.' Maddie questioned. 'I really like that one you're wearing.'

'Oh, I bought it from a shop in one of the malls a couple weeks back.' Geri said, slightly relieved it wasn't a question about her being a Davidson and all that... Now that Maddie wasn't as sick as she had been and things there had started to settle down, everyone was just trying to pick up where they'd left off before, herself included. 'Tell you what, if they've got any left I'll grab you one this week.'

'Really?'

'Sure.'

She smiled up at her. 'Thanks.'

Geri smiled back. 

Silence fell between them for a moment as they made their way through the crowd into the large shed where numerous folks from the city had come to sell things at their stalls. Maddie looked around as Geri pushed her in then she motioned for them to go over to a stall just inside the doorway. 'Oh these are nice...' She commented as she looked at the framed black and white photographs taken at rodeo events. There was one in particular that caught her eye, a young girl about her age riding in a barrel racing event... 'Geri-' Geri looked over at her calling her name and she pointed to the photograph. 'Can you pass me that one please?'

'Sure.' She picked up the photo frame and handed it down to her. 'Pretty cool photo hey.'

'Yeah...' Maddie gazed at the photo intently for a time. The photo had been taken mid-stride as the horse went around the barrel, an awesome action shot in it's own right but what she was taking more notice of was the rider and the horse. 'I-I know it may sound silly but I think that looks like my mom.'

'Really?'

She nodded. 'Mama did rodeo a little when she was a teen, her horse was a chestnut with a blaze and three white socks, she called him Whiskey. This horse has the same markings as one in an old photo book of hers.' She paused for a moment, running a finger over the glass thoughtfully. 'Yeah... Yeah, I think... I think this could be of my mom.'

Geri looked around for the owner of the stall, an older gentleman in a stetson that was arranging some other photographs at the end of the table. 'Excuse me.' She started to catch his attention. He looked up from his work and came over, Geri taking the photo frame back from Maddie to show him. 'Could you tell us who took this photo?'