Beta- JudithRose26
Warnings and disclaimers: see chapter 1
Chapter 4 The setup.
Dean made good time so they arrived where they needed to be in time for a late lunch. Dean was all business as he went straight to a witness's house for an interview. It so happened all of the witnesses were neighbors of a farmer who had died three weeks before. Since he had died, there had been mysterious storms and white mist around the property. One witness had his tools thrown at him when he was mending a fence close to the farmer's property, almost taking his head off. As yet, no one had been badly hurt, but the neighbors all seemed skittish and unsettled. Sam had to agree he felt it was a matter of time before something bad happened. No one was forthcoming about the guy's nature. The best they had gotten was that he was a hermit that kept to himself.
The bad news for the guys was that David Wambly, the farmer, had died in a fire. One that had burned his whole house down. The only thing left on the property was a barn that was locked up tight at the northern edge of the property. They decided to come back that night and have a look around as there were family members wandering the property during the day. They found out from the fire department that David had left his unlit gas stove on and had lit his wood fire, presumably not knowing he had gas filling his house. He was eighty five so Dean guessed he had an excuse.
Sam led the way to the marker that had been put in the local cemetery in David's honor. According to the newspaper, there weren't any ashes to put there, but David's wife, who had died ten years ago, had paid for both plots before she died. Dean was a little surprised at how big David's stone was compared to his wife's until he read the inscription.
"Holy crap, Sammy. He buried his horse with him. What a weird one. I wonder why the neighbors didn't say anything."
"Maybe they didn't know. I doubt any of them went to the funeral. He didn't sound very popular. Do you think the horse was in the house with him?"
"Now that would be strange. Let's track down his sister and find out why he had Flicker buried with him."
"Bassenthwaite, Dean."
"I rest my case. The guy was crazy. Calling a horse a mouthful like that. No wonder the thing is going all vengeful spirit. It's clearly trying to get back at the old guy for naming it after a lake."
"You think it's the horse?" Sam was surprised.
"Stands to reason."
"How?"
"I don't know. Just thinking out loud."
Sam grinned as Dean muttered and they walked back to the car.
To Sam's surprise, Dean called David's sister having to yell into the phone to be heard. As Sam understood from information on the net she was almost eighty and, according to Dean's yelling and pinching of the bridge of his nose, deaf as a post. Dean eventually walked across the parking lot of the diner they were at, still yelling into the phone. Sam watched through the windscreen as Dean strode up and down the deserted north side then finally came back and flopped down in the driver's seat.
"How did you go?"
"After his wife died, Dave concentrated on his horses. He had nine horses when she died, but he sold them all over time and just kept the one. He became very unsociable and food had to be brought in by his brother. Only a month before he died, he changed his will so that if he died before the horse, it would be killed and buried with him. That's when he bought the stone and he actually paid for the funeral.. "
"Ew." Sam frowned.
"I know. The horse was killed humanly by a vet and cremated. Its ashes were put in the hole before the tombstone was laid as well as some ash from the fire the M.E stated 'might be human.'"
"So we are hoping one of David's personal possessions is in that barn?"
"We are. It stands to reason if he spent lots of time with the horse which she assured me had its own special stall."
Sam sighed and looked at his watch."Feel like eating? We still have an hour till dark."
"Yeah, we can relax and take our time."
Sam knew Dean wanted to wait until it was good and dark as the barn was quite exposed with no other buildings in sight. Sam nodded and they headed inside. Sam watched Dean closely during dinner after the flirting of the waitress got her just a small smile. He seemed distracted and ill at ease, a view heightened by the fact Dean barely touched his food. They hung around and used the bathroom to clean up a little before driving out to the farm. Dean turned the headlights off and parked on the side of the road in the quietest spot he could find. He would drive closer when he was happy the area was clear.
Sam settled down for a wait frowning at Dean as he grew more fidgety as the night went on.
"You okay, Dean?" Sam finally asked in a soft voice.
Dean sighed before answering just as softly. "Something feels off about this hunt."
"You mean besides the farmer having his horse killed to be buried with him? I thought people who cared about their animals would want them to live a long life."
"Yeah I thought that to. I don't think that's it though."
"Well the best we can do is cover each other's back." Sam offered.
"Like we always do."
Sam smiled at Dean and Dean caught the flash of white teeth and the glint in Sam's eyes that he knew meant Sam was one hundred percent serious.
"Thanks, Sammy."
"No problems, Dean. I'm happy to have your back. I mean it. I'm not going anywhere."
It did Dean's heart good to hear the words. There had been a lot of ups and downs in the past few years and Dean was happy they had come through it together. Dean simply nodded knowing Sam knew how he felt without having to say it.
TBC
