Silver Blood

Ch.4 The Old Barn And To Much Pain

The ride to Mrs. Gail's house was short. Turns out she lived about two miles down the dirt road. Peter found that to be a big relief. After Luna left smiling Colton decided to go ahead and look at the horse before dark. Peter couldn't have been more wrong about which Amanda he thought the girl was. This one is the complete opposite of the one who greeted him in town. The little minx tugged on his pants leg,

"Why are you dressed weird? Where are you from? Do you like strawberries? I like strawberries." She rambled on when he looked down at her.

If not for her long wild blond hair Peter would of swore this kid was a boy. Her faded blue overalls and black shirt looked about as old as dirt. He watched Colton walk around the bay horse tied in the yard. It looked fat and lazy to him, but he knew next to nothing about horses so he let Colton deal with it. Peter felt a tug on his pants again and looked down,

"Ain't you gonna talk or aren't ya?" Amanda said with a pout.

"Yeah, I like strawberries kid, and try not to use the word ain't. It's not really a word." Peter said.

He watched her eyes grow with surprise, a small blush tinted her cheeks. Every time he spoke for the first time to someone they always had some sort of reaction. Is his voice really that different? He smiled at her and almost laughed at loud at how cute she looked. Her hair fell onto her eyes and she giggled. He felt like this little girl was someone he needed to protect. It confused him in a way.

Holding out her hand, "Call me Mandy and I'm ten years old. I'm not a kid anymore. Ma says I gotta be friendly and honest to everybody even ypur kind. Now will you answer my questions?"

Peter smiled and took her hand shaking it softly. He bent down on one knee,

"I'm Peter and I'm sixteen. I'm from Texas, and I'm dressed like this because it's how I dress. Why are you dressed like that Mandy? You look like a boy." Peter chuckled watching her blush deepen.

She is small for a ten year old. He would have guessed she was seven or eight. Short, slim, and muddy like any young boy, this little girl impressed him. Not that he didn't like kids, just kids kind of annoyed him a lot, but this little girl was different. Something about her just stood out.

Her next sentence turned his smile into a frown, "Where is your ma?" She tilted her head when he dropped his eyes to the dirt. "Is Colton your pa? Did you know Mandy is short for Amanda?"

He flinched, he wasn't expecting those questions. He stood up and looked back at Colton who now watched him with a worried look. Did he hear the girls question? The lady next to him also watched him closely. Peter felt his mood growing dark. Did they think he would hurt the girl? It is just questions. True it is questions he doesn't want to answer, but he would so she wouldn't ask again. He forced a smile and looked back down at the girl. She looked up at him with her large Hazel eyes.

"Mandy, Colton is my uncle. I live with him now because," he paused and looked from Colton back to the girl, "my parents went to heaven."

The little girl frowned like she had to think of where the place was. Her eyes jumped back up to his face after the realization hit her. A big Oh formed on her lips and she tensed.

"I wasn't supposed to ask that, was I Peter? I'm sorry." She looked down at her feet.

Before Peter could say anything else Colton's voice cut him off.

"Well, the horse is just over fed. Hold his feed for a couple days and he'll be right as rain." Colton said loudly over his shoulder. He motioned for Peter to get in the truck.

"Wait, you two must be hungry. Why don't you both stay and eat." Mrs. Gail said following on Colton's heels.

Colton stopped by his truck door waiting for Peter to get in. "No ma'am, best we get on our way. Thank you kindly for the offer."