Chapter 10

They all followed the younger sister's advice and spotted a man on horseback. He was leading another horse that was saddled, but had no rider. Both animals had saddlebags attached to the saddles.

"He's heading right for us," Rebekah said. "Can he see the house?"

"The question is, can he see us," Elijah said. "Don't move or say anything. Let us see what he does."

The rider stopped a short distance from the house and looked around. He was outside the barrier, and those inside could not tell if he could see the house or not. He nudged his horse forward and the animal proceeded right toward the inside group.

"Are we solid enough that the horse won't go right though us?" Rebekah asked in a hushed voice.

"I don't know," Freya answered softly. She assumed the four of them were solid flesh, but perhaps while they were in this situation, they were not.

The rider halted and looked around again, a confused expression on his face. When he nudged the horse again with his heels, the animal took several steps and then halted. When urged forward again, it snorted and tossed its head.

"It senses the barrier," Elijah murmured.

The rider kicked his mount with more force, augmented by the fact that he wore spurs on his boots. The horse grunted and spun around, refusing to walk into whatever was right in front of it. The horse being led swung around and its hindquarters brushed against the barrier. With a squeal, it jumped back as far as the lead reins would allow. He almost yanked the rider off the other horse.

Swearing, the rider stopped the animals in a spot about ten feet from the barrier. He swore and his eyes scanned the area where the house stood. He did not glance at the four people standing about four feet on the other side of the shield.

"He doesn't see us," Kol observed. "We're invisible."

"I still don't know if he can see the house," Freya said. "It was here before we came."

"That would certainly confuse him," Elijah said, nodding. "If he knew it was here and now he cannot see it."

"Or he can see it, but can't reach it."

"And he must not hear us," Kol said. "We may be whispering, but you'd think he might hear it."

"The horse does," Rebekah said, eying the second horse who's ears were pointing at them.

Kol moved close to the barrier. He knew exactly where it was even though the water Elijah had thrown on it had now evaporated. When he looked at the grass and weeds, he could detect the invisible wall. He leaned close without touching, a faint vibration buzzing against his lips.

"Wooo! Wooo," he called and waited with a grin on his face.

The two horses snorted and gave a start, both pricking their ears forward. The rider looked more confused than ever, and also angry. He again tried to ride toward the back porch of the house, a course that would have taken him right into the four inside. The horses refused, snorting and turning back, despite the man's cursing, rough yank on the reins and the use of spurs. In fact, the ridden horse started to buck.

"Ride 'em, cowboy!" Kol yelled, enjoying the show.

"Kol, shut up," Elijah ordered. He still had not determined if the man outside could see or hear them. He was fairly sure they were invisible, but that did not mean they could not be heard. The animals surely heard them. Or perhaps, it was the barrier they heard. It did have a low hum that could be detected when a person was very close.

"If he can see the house and everything but us, this is very mysterious to him," Freya said, a worried look on her face. "What if he goes to town and brings people back?"

"There is nothing we can do about that," Elijah said.

The man had brought his horse under control, but the other one had gotten away, trailing its reins underfoot. Swearing, the fellow looked at the house again.

"Chuck! Mrs. Anderson! Where are you?" he yelled. "I know this is the right place! Where is everything? A whole farm can't disappear!"

Finally, hearing no answer, he turned his horse and then took off after the other animal.

"Well, that answers our question," Rebekah said. "He can't see inside the barrier. As far as he can tell this whole area has vanished. I wonder if it looks grassy like the surrounding area or just bare dirt."

"In either case, I do not like this. I would rather we be isolated with no one asking questions," Elijah said with concern.

"I don't think I have any powers here to influence anyone outside the farm," Freya said. She turned and followed Rebekah to the porch and into the house.

"Well, at least we had a moment's entertainment," Kol said happily as he and Elijah joined the women. "Who do you think Chuck is or was? If that guy found a riderless horse that belonged to Chuck, it's no wonder he came looking."

"I wonder if it's Chuck buried out in the rose garden," Freya said. "Maybe he was getting ready to leave when Mrs. Anderson killed him."

"Which leaves us with the question of why she did it," Elijah said. "His razor was in the drawer in Rebekah's room. A clean-shaven man would not pack his things and leave his razor."

"Okay," Kol said. "Let's build a scenario of what happened. What if he did something and she killed him. Then she packed up his stuff in his saddlebags, saddled his horse and put the saddlebags on it. Then she turns the horse loose. Anyone who found the horse would guess it had thrown its rider somewhere. How's that?"

"Plausible," Elijah agree, sitting down at the table which had been cleared of the remains of breakfast. "Or perhaps he did get thrown off and walked back here to the house. He would have known there was another horse here."

"And he and Mrs. Anderson got into an argument over it," Freya said. "Maybe he attacked her when he came to take the horse. She had the gun and she shot him."

"That's also plausible," Elijah agreed again. "We shall likely never know what happened. Let us hope the townsfolk do not come investigating the disappearing farm." He tried not to worry about it.

After a pause, he stood up, went to the front hall and adjusted the weights in the clock. He had no way of knowing if it was running a few minutes slow or fast, but it didn't matter. In a week or two, if they were still at the farm, he could check it against the noon sun.

He then went up the stairs to his room. He looked at himself in the full-length mirror that had its own stand. His clothes looked dusty and there were smudges of dirt that showed on his white shirt. Until the dead man's clothes came clean, he would have nothing to change into while his own clothes were washed. He was not one to run around in his underwear, even if the others were his family. Kol, on the other hand, would not think twice about doing that, he was sure.

From his southern window, he could see over the stone wall and hedge to some degree, even though the land slanted down to the creek. The top of the barn was visible. So was the top of the big hay stack that sat in the middle of the pasture. The horse and cow ate from that source, which made Elijah wonder how long it would last. If winter came, where would more hay come from? None of them could get out to the surrounding fields to cut more hay. Were the animals all doomed to slowly starve to death? He hoped this confinement didn't last more than a few weeks or months. Maybe a year at most. He felt sorry for his brother Niklaus being held captive and in pain for the duration. He felt great admiration for him for making the sacrifice. He loved his brother. He always had, even when he hated him and felt like killing him.

Kol came into the room and joined his brother at the window. "What are you thinking?"

"Several things. I am concerned about the town people. And I am wondering how we will feed ourselves and the animals if we are here a long time. We cannot bring in more hay or wood or items from a store."

"Let's not worry about stuff like that. Not yet, anyway. With luck, Nik will find a way for us to go back to New Orleans before too long."

"I wish I were as optimistic as you are," Elijah said. He looked at his youngest brother, who bore some resemblance to himself, more than any other of the siblings.

"Come on, big brother! Think positive. Aren't we immortal?" Kol grinned and patted Elijah on the shoulder.

"I suppose you would know. How many times have you returned from the 'other side?'"

"I don't know. Three or four. It doesn't matter. I'm here now!"

"Yes, you are. I'm pleased that you are, Kol. You can be a real pain in the butt, but you are my brother." He returned the pat on the back and gave a small smile.

Something touched the other side of Kol's face, something like a breath. He jumped and looked at Elijah. The older man was looking out the window again. "Did you blow out your breath at me?"

"No. Why?"

"Something blew on my face and it wasn't a breeze coming in the window!" The window was open, but he was sure it was not the wind that had touched him.

Elijah looked around, but he didn't see, hear, sense or smell anything. There was nothing he could do to ease Kol's sudden tension. "We must have company. Or at least, you do."

A/N The disappearing farm presents a problem. I'm not sure how I will handle the situation if anyone from town comes to see. Thanks for reading, folks.