Little does Kimberley know, I am done with my bowl of ice cream a few second after she is. I wipe my mouth and Jama doesn’t even question where I’m going. He probably already knows. I pull on my boots and follow her footprints out to the barn. She left the door open, stupid mistake. Once I step in the barn, the foul smell hits me almost instantly.
I cover my nose with my sleeve not wanting to breathe in the scent. I walk in a little ways and look down both ways seeing Kimberley looking in one of the stalls. I roll my eyes and walk over to her. “Kimberley.” She snaps her head towards me, surprised. Her face soon subsides and she turns back to the stall. “Hey Ronnie.” She says.
I walk up to her and look in the stall. A Golden horse is there eating the hay off the ground. He is beautiful. His legs and structure are built for running and distance. Looks like he could carry a few extra pounds.
“What’s his name?” I ask Kimberley.
“Gold Bond. Met him earlier.” He looks young. About four. She leans forward more looking at the horse. “I want to ride him, so badly.”
I stare at the horse as he munches on the straw and flicks his tail back and forth, shooing the flies away.
“Yeah, he is pretty.” I say. “I just think he’s not the horse for me.” Kimberley doesn’t seem to care. I sigh and walk away looking at the horses in the other stalls. Some are black’ white, multi colored, grey, brown, tan. So many to look at. Until one catches my eye I need to see it. I walk up to the stall and read the golden plate on the door. Shant. Gender male. Age three. I look into the stall and see a young horse lying down scratching his shoulder with his head. He has a white star on his forehead and a black muzzle. He is a chestnut brown color with white stockings on his feet and he has a black tail and main.
He looks forward and snorts. He is a little smaller than Gold Bond, but still looks like he could run a distance or so. He is the horse for me.
“Hey Kimberley look at this one.” I don’t look back but hear her come up next to me looking at the horse. “Hm.” She nods her head. “I like him, but I told you Gold Bond is my horse.”
“Your horse?” Kimberley and I jump back at the sound of Jama’s voice. My whole body freezes in shock.
“Uh,” Kimberley stutters, “I . . . uh . . . what I mean is . . . I want to ride him.”
“Ride him, Gold Bond?” Jama chuckles a little walking over to Gold Bonds stable. “Gold Bond is not used to strangers. He prefers people he already knows to ride him. I won him of a coin toss between another horse owner. I chose my foul which was Gold Bond. I actually chose him for his looks. Turns out he’s more than just looks. He’s fast and strong. After all these years, I can never be more grateful to God that he gave me him. He’s a fine horse.”
“What about Shant?” I ask eagerly turning to him then back at brown horse. Jama walks slowly over to me and looks at the horse as well. Shant twitches his ears and shakes his head one swishing away flies from his face. I grin.
“Ah, yes, Shant. One of my youngest horses. He was actually born from a horse I had named Daisy. She died giving birth to the foul. The vets who came to help her couldn’t do anything for her. She was an older horse but still fairly young. Now the interesting part is, Gold Bond took Shant under his . . . hoof you may say,” he struggles to find the right word, “Since I never knew who the father was of Shant I have seen Gold Bond helping the foul out. Soon Shant and Gold Bond formed a brotherhood like relationship. To this day they act like family to one another.”
I nod in amusement then look over at Kimberley with her head down. Her eyes face the floor. They seemed to be fixed on something I can’t see. She’s thinking. I know that look she gets. I can probably guess what she’s thinking about. She’s remembering our family, how our mom died, how our dad tried to kill us. She is Gold Bond. She took care of me until Logan found us. I know, because I’m thinking the same thing.
“Well can we ride them!?” I turn to Jama pleading. He looks down at me. It takes him a minute to smile. “Maybe another time, I’m here to train you. To teach you. Besides my horses haven’t been ridden in years.”
My heart sinks to the bottom of my chest at the sound of that. I look back at Shant. I want to ride him, no I need to ride him. Kimberley doesn’t look sad though. She almost looks like she doesn’t have an expression on her face. But I know better, she’s thinking of something. She might be able to fool Jama but not me. She is determined to ride Gold Bond.
Suddenly we hear a growling sound coming from the other side of the barn. Kimberley and I both turn our head seeing a massive black shepherded. His white fangs are bared in a snarl and drool slips from his mouth down to the floor. The fur on his neck stands up and his tail is flared. I jump over to Kimberley in fright. She sweeps her hand in front of my pushing me behind her.
Jama, although, smiles. The dog barks loudly in anger. “Oh, Roscoe, this isn’t how we treat guests. The dog turns his head to Jama who walks over to the dog and kneels down beside him. The dog’s muscles relax and his fur falls flat again. Jama scratches the dog’s neck but the dog was still looking at us. “Roscoe, now you know better than that.” The shepherd flattens his ears but sits down almost looking shameful.
I come out from behind Kimberley and kneel a few feet away from the dog. His eyes dart towards me. I hesitate for a minute then put out a hand. The dog stands up walking slowly towards me. His ears down but he wasn’t scared.
When he got close enough I feel his hot breath sniff my palm. I react by moving my hand up his snout to his head. I run my hand down the top of his head then down part of his neck until I feel something. I trace my finger until I come to the front. It’s a red color, all worn down, ripped, I’m surprised it hasn’t fallen off yet.
I release it and scratch him some more. He seems to like being scratched behind the ears and on the neck. His tail starts to wag when I find his ticklish spot.
“High boy,” I say in a high pitched voice. Roscoe sticks his tongue out and pants in delight. I see Kimberley out of the corner of my eye walk past me. I watch her walk down the other hall past Jama. Roscoe soon perks his ears and barks loudly then runs in front of Kimberley, stopping her from going any further. She growls again but Kimberley keeps walking. Roscoe keeps trying to stop her but she ignores him.
She walks down to the end of the barn. She suddenly gasps in surprise. I run over and see what she is staring at and gasp as well. A white dog is lying in the back licking little balls of fur. Roscoe growls and walks back to her. He turns to face us and snarls.
“Jama, you better come see this.” Kimberley calls. I can hear Jama walk up next to us without even looking. Jama looks at the Dogs and bundles of fur. “Well I’ll be damned. I didn’t know when Crystal was due, but turns out she had them already.” The puppies around her, all fighting for a spot to feel their mother’s warmth. Roscoe soon gives up trying to fend us off and walks over to his mate. He licks her head and watches his pups.
Kimberley, Jama and I make are way carefully over to them. The puppies squirm and whine for a taste of their mother’s milk. I can’t help but smile as they climb over one another trying to get a spot. Kimberley chuckles and Jama grins in delight. Puppies, Roscoe has puppies! I count the little tiny heads of each one seeing how many there are.
“Nine,” I say out loud. “Nine pups.”
“Ten.” I turn to see Kimberley crossing her arms correcting me. “They are ten puppies.” I look at her then at the dogs again. I count over in my head again. “No, there’s only nine.”
I see annoyance in Kimberley’s eyes as she walks over to a corner of the white blanket. She scratches something and to my surprise a little white head pops up with little eyes closed and a pink nose. The pup yawns taking in Kimberley’s scratches.
“Well, now, seems as though we have an independent one.” Jama says leaning down to look at the pup. He blends in so well with the blanket. He is pure white. Beautiful.
“Why is he not with the others?” I ask Jama also staring down at the small bundle. “Shouldn’t he be with the others?”
“He’s probably the runt.” Jama says. “Runts usually don’t last long. They either are rejected or die off in a couple of days.”
“He won’t.” Kimberley says standing up. “He’s . . . different, I know it.” At that she looks at the pup then at the others. “I’m going back in the house.” She says to us. She doesn’t wait for a response as she walks back down the barn.
Jama and I stay watching the puppies. “What shall we call them?” I look up at Jama.
“I don’t know. Never had to name puppies before.” He stands up and looks at the dogs one more time. “We’ll figure it out in the morning. Right now it’s late. We should start thinking about getting some sleep.”
“It’s only nine o’clock, and it’s a Friday.”
“Big day tomorrow. I’m not saying you need to go to bed, just go into your room.” He starts to walk out when he stops and looks back at me. “Shut off the light on your way out. I’m going to show Kimberley to her room. Come in when you’re ready.”
I watch him leave then look back at the dogs. Roscoe takes his place next to his mate and starts licking the puppies as well. I smile and wish them goodnight before I walk back down the aisle and out the door. I make sure to turn off the lights on my out. Who knows what Jama would do to me if I left them on?
Once I reach the inside of the mansion I flick my boots off, leaving them on the rug laid out in front of the door. I shiver as I take my coat off and hang it on the rack. I walk through the living room and up the stairs.
I count off in my head at how many doors my room is from the top of the stairs. Four . . . five . . . six . . . I reach eight when I finally come to my room. I open my door and see everything where I left it. I was unpacking my clothes when Kimberley interrupted me for dinner. Some clothes are stilled sprawled out on the floor but some are in the drawers or still in the suitcase. I sigh as I dig through the suit case looking for a comfy pair of pants and T-shirt to wear to bed.
I soon find a pair of black yoga pants and a Platinum mountain T-shirt. I throw them on and turn on the TV. I flip through the channels trying to find something to watch. A movie, a funny show, anything. I stop on the news channel where they are broadcasting a serious situation. Three robbers shot four men then walked into a store in Texas demanding food. When the store manager couldn’t understand what they were saying because of these ski masks they leader of the men shot him. They Stole some food and shot three more men that were in the store with them then took off. Police have no idea where the fugitives headed after the attack. “Of course,” I say to myself rolling my eyes, “Because police are idiots.”
The story shows where the store was and some police men talking about how they will find the three men. Sure they’ll find them, I think to myself walking into my bathroom to brush my teeth. Police can’t capture anybody, less alone three robbers with guns.
Suddenly I hear somebody come into my room. “Ronnie,” I recognize Kimberley’s voice. “Did you see what happened?”
“You mean about the three robbers? Yeah.” I have a toothbrush in my mouth so it sounds like I’m a walrus. I spit in the sink then wipe my mouth.
“Police are so stupid!” Kimberley says sitting down on my couch in front of the TV. I walk out of the bathroom. Kimberley wears black yoga pants as well with a long sleeved light blue shirt. Her hair is in a simple ponytail. “They can’t find those people. They don’t know where there even going!”
“Yeah, but you don’t either.” I say grabbing the remote off my bed and sitting down next to her.
“My guess is they’re going someplace cold. Either in one of the upper states or even Canada.” She says crossing her arms.
I turn my glance to her. “Why would you say?” I ask confused. She shoots me a glance and rolls her eyes. She takes the remote from my hand. She rewinds the footage of where they started to talk about the three men. They role the footage of the men putting a gun to the employee’s head. Kimberley pauses it and walks up to the screen and zooms in. I watch as she zooms in on the men. “Look at what they’re wearing.” She points at their outfits. “Texas at this time of year is warm. Why are they wearing snow coats and gloves? And watch this.” She plays it again as the footage plays of when they are grabbing the food. She stops right before one of them shot the security camera. “Look at all the food they took. They wouldn’t take that much food unless they were going somewhere far away. They could still be anywhere but if the police want to look anywhere start looking in cold places. That’s their best bet.”
“Wow, never would have guessed that. How did you figure that out?” Kimberley just shrugs her shoulders. “I don’t know. I guess I thought it was just weird there wearing a bunch of clothing in Texas. Also if I was going to take food from a store I wouldn’t take as much so the police will file me for just murder instead of thief. They have a reason to take all that food.”
I think for a moment then nod in agreement. “I guess.” I lean back on the couch and watch the TV thinking about the three guys. An awkward silence over takes the room. I sigh, “So how do like your new room?” I ask.
Kimberley shrugs again. “It’s nice, huge. Um . . . I like the space and bed. I like we still have our own bathrooms, but . . . it will take some getting used to. It will probably take me awhile for me to finally call this place home.”
“I know.” I sigh looking around. It took us a couple of weeks when we started calling the lodge home. It will probably take even more time when we call this place home. Kimberley looks around the room. “Alright,” She stands up, “Don’t stay up to late. I’ll know. Jama wants us up at eight o’clock tomorrow. Night.”
“Night,” I respond as she walks out of the room. I start to flip through the channels again finding a movie I like. I take one of the pillows and lay my head down on it. Then walk over to one of my bags and find a fleece blanket. I walk back over to the couch and lay my head down and cover myself under the blanket. Without even knowing my eyes start to droop. Soon my body goes limp and sleep overtakes me.