The feeling I get when I see Logan just leave us is almost unbearable. I don’t realize how sad I am to see him leave after he is gone. I feel abandoned, forgotten about, like when Ronnie and I were on our own the night my father killed our mother. But now I will have to make do with my new mentor.
I turn and look at him from toes to head. He’s about 2 or 3 inches taller than me. And I’m five foot five. He seems about five foot seven or eight. Only his hat gives him a couple of inches. I look back at his leg. How are we supposed to learn from a man who can’t even walk properly? Another thing is, he’s like, what, sixty? He can’t even beat me in a battle properly, unless he’s like a secret Yoda and can beat you once he rips out a sword. I highly doubt that though.
“So what should we do?” Ronnie asks slapping her hands against her sides.
“Well, dinner is at six thirty. Go explore the house and I’ll call Daisy to get your bags.” Jama says. “You can explore outside the house or in I don’t care, just be in the dining room by six thirty. It’s right around the corner.” He waves his hand over behind the wall then walks away. “Have fun.” He walks in a door down the other hall and into another room.
“So what do you want to do?” I turn to Ronnie. She shrugs.
“I’m going upstairs to check out the rooms.” Before I can reply she takes off up the stairs. I watch her go up then disappear down the hall. I sigh and roll my eyes. I look over at the shattered glass. Water is spilled on the floor and the flowers scatter the table. I walk over to it and look at my knife pinned in the wall. I chuckle as I see Ronnie’s aim on the wooden beam.
I nod and walk away outside the glass door. I close it behind me and walk out on the porch. It is made out of marble, the porch itself was about fifty feet wide by fifty feet. On either side a pathway made you go to smaller porches surrounding the house. Couches covered the railings and stairs lead downward to a patio with tables and chairs with more couches and cushions.
An awning covered the porch and ended at the stairs. On the patio bellow was two hot tubs on both side of it and a pool to the right. I casually walk down putting my hand on the marble railing. I walk past the patio and on the snowy lawn. The forest was about sixty yards away in the left direction. It went all the way around the back of the house until it came to the hill when it curved. I smile when I see something that might be fun. A barn.
It is some yards away from the patio. I run over to the long structure and see a fenced in field behind it. Big enough for about ten or fifteen horses to run through. Three quarters of it is in the deep forest. The barn is a red, brownish color with white trim. Normally like how a barns should look. I walk around to the side finding smaller fenced in areas for only about maybe one or two horses could fit in. The big fenced in field started on the other side then curved a few feet away.
Strange thing is no horses were out. I walk back to the front again and find the entrance is a huge door. I figure out it slides open. It is a heavy door but I can manage it. I slide another one open making the giant entrance to the barn. It is dimly lit inside with only a few lights hanging from the ceiling. The barn went long ways from side to side and had another door opened to the fields.
I walk down the left side first. Stalls were side by side with each other. Horses where in each one. As I reach the end a small but wide hallway is to my right filled with all the necessary needs for horses like bridals, apples, carrots, oats, water cans, hay, saddles and brushes and combs. I walk over to one of the saddles and read the name under it. Zeus. I read another one, Hammer. Above each saddle hangs the matching bridal.
I walk back down the hallway of horses and past the doors. Down the other hallway more horse stables lined each wall. I walk all the way down to the end and find more bridals and saddles.
I find a beautiful saddle and run my hand over the seat. Its black leather, smooth as silk and the red hemming made it pop out. A blanket was under the seat with gold designs and black background with red in between the designs. I read the name under the saddle. Gold Bond. Unique name for a horse. I turn around and walk back down the aisle looking for the horse with the same name.
The names were written on gold plates attached to the stables. It also states the horse’s age and gender. I want to find the horse to see he is worth such a beautiful saddle. I soon found the horse’s stable on the left side where the door I came in is. Gold Bond, it reads. Gender: male, Age: four years old.
I look in the stable and see a golden horse with a black snout and star on his forehead. He has white stockings going up half his leg. Half of the stocking is black halfway up. His tail is a jet black color. He was eating hay off the stable floor flicking his tail around keeping flies away. He is a beautiful horse.
“Hey,” I say in a soothing voice. I click my tongue together but he doesn’t seem to notice me. I click my tongue again and rubbing my fingers together. Still Gold Bond doesn’t look up at me. I lean over the stable frustrated. This horse is beautiful I just want him to look at me. I want to see his eyes.
Suddenly I hear a growling sound. My body tenses up but I look to the left of the stable seeing a giant, black dog. I’m guessing a germen shepherded. His lip is pulled back in snarl. His teeth are white and he is jet black. A red color he wears around his neck and his hair is standing up on all ends. I look down at his paws. They are also huge. I step back remembering I have no knives in my boots any longer.
He barks loudly, now slobber coming out of his mouth as he angrily barks for me to get out. I decide not to argue with the dog. After all, this is probably his territory. He’s lived here longer then I have. I take off outside and up to the patio again.
I pant trying to catch my breath. That dog probably could have torn me to bits. Then eaten me. I try to imagine feeling the sharp pain of those teeth ripping into my flesh and the claws ripping up the body parts. I push the thought aside feeling chills run down my back.
I walk back up to house feeling I’ve explored enough of the outside for one day. Besides clouds are rolling in. You can feel it in the air that rain is approaching. I walk back inside the house the way I came out. I shut the door quickly flattening my back against the glass, frantic still about the dog. I’ll have to ask Jama about that at dinner. I don’t feel like finding him now when there is still a lot more house to discover. I walk around the wall dividing something from the living room. I soon find out it’s a huge kitchen. Cabinets lined every wall granite tables and a stained silver fridge. A double oven is in there along with a pizza oven.
A chandelier hangs above a wooden table seated for six next to the kitchen. Another room behind the cabinets as a glass door leading to it. It was an outside sitting area closed in by glass doors that you could open and have a screen to let some air in. It contains couches, chairs, a table and chairs, a flat screen and a stereo.
I walk slowly into the room admiring all the furniture. Jama must be the richest man I have ever met. I look outside and see the lodge again. Skiers come down the ski slopes and the lights start to light up the hill as it gets darker out. I sigh wondering what Blake or Jason are doing at this moment right now. I pull out my phone wanting to call them when I see the time. Six twenty.
I sewer silently to myself then run to find Ronnie seeing if she knows the time. I don’t want her getting in trouble with that old man. I slide the door open and quickly shut it. I stop thinking to myself and remember Ronnie saying she was going up stairs. I don’t waste a second and take off down the hallway and find the stairs where we came in. I take the right one since they are the first on I came to.
Once I get to the top I’m stumped. Two hallways, leading down two ways. Just how big is this house? “Ronnie,” I say loud enough for her to hear it. No one answers. “Ronnie!” I say a little louder.
“What.” A faint voice come from down the left hallway. I turn my head towards the hallway and run down it. I keep saying her name over and over trying to pinpoint the exact location where she might be. The hall has a couple turns and has so many doors.
I stop walking, figuring I will never find her like this. “Ronnie,” I say loudly.
Suddenly a door opens and she pokes her head out. “What!” I push open the door and walk into the room. I freeze in shock at the size of it. Almost twice the size of our old rooms put together. A huge window is on the far side of the room with a look out bench with cushions and pillows. A queen sized bed with a tall bed frame is on the left wall. A sixty inch flat screen TV with a couch and a chair looking at it with a glass coffee table in between them. A desk is also positioned by the door when you first walk in with a book shelf next to it.
“What . . . the . . . hell?” I gasp.
“This is my room, yours is similar but I took the smaller TV because I’m younger. I barley heard what she said. I am still in shock of how big this is. A chandelier of antlers hangs from the ceiling. I snap out of my trance as I remember why I’m here.
“Ronnie we have to go, its,” I take out my phone and look at the time, “Six twenty five, we have five minutes to get to the dining room with Jama.”
At that her face turns to panic. She grabs my arm and pulls me out of the room. I barley close the door as she whips me out of there so fast.
We both take off downstairs running through the living room, into the kitchen and run into the dining room through another doorway.
We come to a halt as we see Jama already sitting at the end of a long wide table.
He checks the watch he has on. “Hmm, three minutes early. Good we can get started.” He gestures for us to take a seat. I don’t want to be rude, so I sit next to Jama. To balance it out Ronnie sits on the other side of the table sitting next to him.
In the center piece is a flower vase with real snowy white flowers with a blue crystal thing coming out of the center looking like a water fall draping over the flowers. It is beautiful.
Silver wear, a plate and a bowl were already in front of us. Jama claps his hands and three women walk in with white chef outfits carrying plates of salad. Each one sets a plate in front of all of us.
“Thank you ladies.” Jama says as they bow and walk out of the room. I take a fork and start to eat.
“Well, how do you like the house?” Jama asks taking a bit of salad. Ronnie puts a finger up swallowing then speaking. “I love it, I already picked out my room. Jama this house is amazing!”
“Good, I’m glad you like it.” He turns to me. I stay silent for a minute. Then sigh, “The outside is really beautiful and I definitely love the barn, but who is the menacing dog?” I’m not afraid if he yells at me for calling his dog menacing, he is.
Jama makes a confused face, then swallows. “Oh, you mean Roscoe. He is my black German shepherd. He lives in the barn and has a mate named Crystal. She is a husky. She is having pups soon.”
“Really!” Ronnie jumps in excitement. “Awww!”
“That’s great,” I say taking another bite of salad.
We sit there eating as the soup comes, which is Italian wedding soup and then the entre which is steak, rice and bread. Everything is delicious. For desert is chocolate’ vanilla and strawberry ice cream. What I want to do right now is just scoop mouthfuls of it into my mouth. I haven’t had ice cream for almost a month and a half now.
The spoons are laid down by the bowls. I restrain myself from snatching it up, instead I make myself pick it up like a polite young adult. I straighten my back trying to act proper and take a small bite of ice cream.
I feel Jama’s eyes watching me as I take small scoops of ice cream and put them in my mouth. “Kimberley,” I hear Jama say. I turn my head towards him. “I know what it’s like there not having ice cream. You don’t have sweets and treats all the time. You don’t have to act so obedient about it. Just dig in.”
I perk an eyebrow trying to comprehend what he’s saying. It clicks and I slouch over my bowl scooping a spoonful in my mouth. The cold, sweet, delightfulness fills my mouth. It feels like I am disobeying Logan by doing this, but I don’t care. I take orders from Jama now. I don’t realize it until I taste nothing more but the melted part of the ice cream on my spoon, that I’ve eaten all of it.
I drop my spoon back in my bowl and lean back in my chair feeling stuffed. I look over at Ronnie who is still working on her desert. She always was a slow eater. I wipe my mouth with my sleeve and get up from the table. “I’m going out to the barn.”
“Why?” Ronnie asks before I walk out of the room. I don’t bother to respond. Luckily Jama doesn’t stop me. Before I go outside I slip on my combat boots.
I walk outside. The sun is already set and the light blue is clashing with the blackness of the night sky. Some stars are already starting to come out. The clouds must’ve passed quickly. I make my way down the marble steps and past the huge patio/deck then across the snowy lawn.
I slide the door open and walk into the barn.