{Pictured above: Nathan Arcand - I based Cole's looks on his}
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Colton:
That did not go as well as expected.
Poor kid. Whatever lie they'd told her, she'd believed it all these years. She needed time to process the information, and maybe once she did, she'd come back. He questioned himself, since she'd run away. Was there a better way to handle it? He wasn't sure there was. If he'd wrote to her, Arthur Richmond would have intercepted the letter and if he came waltzing onto the property, then he would've been shot for certain.
He plopped down on a tree stump and took out an apple. Charlie came bounding through the brush as he cut the first piece.
"Of course you show up when I have food," Cole said to the dog. "Where were you earlier when Katie was here? I could've used your help."
The dog gave a woof and looked at him with his soulful brown eyes. Cole gave him a pat on the head and cut off a slice for Charlie. Charlie took the apple greedily and ate it before Cole could pull his fingers away.
"You almost took my fingers off, you little mutt."
Charlie barked again as Cole finished off the apple. He tossed the core to the canine and stood up. He had snares to the west of the forest. Though he was nervous going that way. Those hillbilly brothers were somewhere around that area, and he didn't feel like tangling with them again.
He looked to the east where the Richmond property sat on the hill.
One week, Katie. That's all I can give you. If you don't return to me by then, I'll come to you.
~oOo~
Katie
Julian caught up to me on Wilbur after I'd fallen. If it wasn't for my cries, it would have taken longer for him to find me. I remember the despair in his voice as he begged me to tell him what was wrong. I couldn't answer him. All I did was blubber and sob into his shirt as he held me. If it wasn't for Wilbur, we'd never have made it up the hill.
Now, here I was laying in bed with only the silence in the room to keep me company. Beside my bed, the lamp glowed a dull amber, and outside my window, the moon shone brightly. My head swam, and pain shot through my ankle every time I tried moving it.
My face was sleek and sticky with sweat, and my forehead warm. I slowly sat up and looked around the room in confusion before everything from earlier came flooding back. I leaned against the wooden headboard. Its coolness dulled, a headache pounding my skull.
The knob slowly turned, and the door was gently pushed open. Ma poked her head in and saw that I was awake. She pushed the door open further, entering with a tray of homemade tomato soup and a glass of water. The town doctor followed behind her, holding a brown glass bottle.
"I'm glad to see you're awake," Dr. Owens said.
"We all are," Ma followed.
Dr. Owens sat beside me on the bed and opened his bag. "Let's take a look." He took the stethoscope from around his neck and place it in his ears before placing the cold metal end on my chest. "Take a slow breath for me, Katie." My chest slowly rose and fell as he instructed. After a few moments, he put the stethoscope away. "Well, her breathing is normal. I don't hear anything unusual, but her heart rate is still a little fast. Do you feel dizzy at all?"
I shook my head slowly. "No, sir."
He moved to my ankle and rotated it. When I winced, he stopped.
"I take it that hurt?"
I nodded.
"Well, you can move it, so it's not broke. Take it easy, and you'll be fine in the next few days," he continued.
I nodded and fiddled with my fingernails.
"I'm glad it's not broken," Ma said.
"Me too," I replied.
"As I said, as long as she takes it easy it won't turn into anything serious."
After the doctor left, Ma came back to make sure I was eating. She wouldn't stop looking at me, which me uncomfortable. I took a sip of water as Ma dusted off her apron.
As I watched her, I thought about my birth mother. Would she have been this fussy over me? Resentment towards towards Ma and Pa still festered within me. How could they sleep at night knowing they've lied to me all these years? It was cruel and disgusting. Did they even love me like they said? Maybe it was my fault, too, for not asking enough questions.
"Katie," Ma asked softly. "are you okay? You seem so upset."
Because my life is a lie! "I'm fine, Ma, I swear."
"Don't swear, Katie."
She sat on the edge of my bed and smooth the stuck-on hair away from my face. I wanted to push her hand away and tell her to leave me alone, but I didn't. Instead, I stared at my tray while stirring my soup. I wanted her to go away and leave me alone. She hovered over me, making me grow angrier by the moment.
"You have a slight fever," she said, touching my forehead.
"I'll feel better in the morning."
"I hope so, but Katie... what happened today?"
"I don't want to talk about it," I muttered.
She frowned and withdrew her hand. "Are you sure?"
Pa's letter came to mind at that moment. "I'll be okay."
She didn't look convinced, but didn't press the matter further. I quickly finished my soup and took my tray away, giving me that alone time I craved.
I slept alone that night while Tonya stayed in my parents' bedroom, out of worry that she'd accidentally hit my leg in the night. Fine by me. I spent that night lying awake and staring off into space, my mind still reeling from earlier. I couldn't stop thinking about it. What happened kept replaying in my mind. It was all I could see. It was all I could hear. I kept trying to tell myself that Cole was a liar, that he'd wrote that letter himself, and this was all a cruel joke. However, that was Pa's handwriting, that was recognizable right away.
What was I supposed to do now? I figured I could pretend it never happened. Let the secret die with me. Bury it deep enough that it could be forgotten, but how long could I keep this longing in my heart from surfacing?
There was no way around it: I couldn't run away from my problems. I had to face my folks and confront them for what they did. I had to know what really happened.
The next morning, I awoke once more to silence. I turned to face the wall and sighed. Not since Hock died had I felt this level of depression before.
Travis peeked in on me an hour later, before going to milk Annabelle. I heard him mutter I was faking it before Pa jumped onto him. Julian's footsteps came up the stairs and stopped at my door. He knocked twice before coming in. Good thing I wasn't getting dressed. His muddy colored hair was a mess, and there were bags under his eyes.
"'Mornin'," I said.
"Good morning," he replied, before shutting my door behind him. "Are you feeling better?"
I nodded while staring at the ceiling. "Yes, but Ma won't let me leave the bed unless I need to. I hate it."
He stayed quiet, but I knew what he wanted to talk about. He didn't say it as to not upset me again. If I were being honest with myself, I wasn't ready to talk about it either. Julian wouldn't breathe a word to our folks about our meeting with Cole.
He made his way to my nightstand, reached into his pocket, and pulled out that damned photograph and letter that started this mess. Without saying another word, he opened the drawer and tucked it away in my journal.
"I didn't tell them what happened," he whispered. Then he quietly left me alone to stew in my self-pity.
The day seemed to crawl along as I lied in bed. To help pass the day, Pa put the radio in my room and kept its volume low. I listened to Marion Harris and Gene Austin before I fell asleep again. I woke up around dinner time as Tonya entered the room we shared. I sat up as she placed the tray in my lap. I felt silly being fussed over like this, but what could I do?
"Thanks," I told her.
She bit her bottom lip and looked down at her shoes as tears brimmed her eyes.
"What's wrong with you?" I asked.
She gave a sniff and without looking at me, she said, "Are you gonna die?"
My eyes widened. "Of course not!"
"But you could have really hurt yourself," she whimpered.
I took her tiny hand in mine. "Ah, Tonya, I ain't gonna die. You think an ox like me is gonna be dead anytime soon? I had a fall, that's it."
She gave another sniff and wiped her nose on her dress. "You promise?"
I rolled my eyes. "Yes, I promise."
On the outside, I tried to keep it all in. Inside was torment. I still felt anger toward my folks for lying to me, but I also tried to be reasonable as well. What if my real parents were bad people and my adoptive parents were trying to protect me? That didn't make sense, though. No matter what scenario I tried to make up inside my head, I could find it justifiable for them to lie to me.
The truth was, they kidnapped me. I wasn't adopted no matter what the court records said. If there were records at all.
When I found alone time, I reread Pa's letter to Grandma Hokte. The rage from that day boiled inside me again. I had days to lie there alone with my thoughts, to let all the hurt and betrayal I was feeling fester inside me.
Working beside my family became unbearable. I lashed out at Travis, no longer enjoyed Julian reading to me, and every order Ma and Pa gave me was met with an attitude.
"I don't know what in the Sam Hell has gotten into you, but I expect you to get over it soon!" Pa snapped one day.
You're nothing but a liar! "I'll get over it when I damn well feel like it!"
"Katie, I'm warning you right now to drop your attitude. I don't care how old you are. As long you live under my roof, you'll show us respect, you understand?"
You kidnapped me! You took me away from my grandma! I let out a scream of frustration and stormed away. I kicked a nearby bucket, sending it sailing across the yard. It hit the barn, the loud bang scaring nearby chickens.
"Get back here!" Pa said.
But I didn't come back. I ran for the fields and disappeared over the hill, not stopping until my legs burned. When I did finally return, it was dusk. Pa sent me to bed without dinner, but that was okay. I didn't want their food.
Days later I celebrated my eighteenth birthday, my behavior long forgiven. By then, my anger had cooled to a simmer. As Ma served chocolate cake to us that evening, I wondered if I was even celebrating the right day. It never occurred to me before that maybe my birthday was wrong. What if my age was wrong, too?
Three days after my birthday, a palomino mare and her rider came barreling on to our property.