May 8th 2022

Chapter 128
Our Power to Gather

"Hey…" Lucas smiled with surprise when he saw them both. He'd driven the short stretch of road from his house to Sanderson Farm, the better to pick up Carina and bring her to the ranch, only to find Johnny there as well.

They were in the stable with Turtle, finishing up what looked like a bit of grooming for the horse and cleaning for his home. It had been about a week since Carina had accepted Lucas' offer/request to look after the Sandersons'… lodger. He had easily seen some hesitation in her eyes as she'd considered it, knowing as well as he did that it would mean dedicated, one-on-one attention with the animal, something she hadn't brought herself to do in some time. But in the end, she had accepted, which could have been motivated by any number of reasons, from the chance that her having been at Sullivan Stables with them these past few months had started opening her up again, or some reminder that she had come all this way for them to guide her, so it would have been odd to turn them away, or… something entirely her own to know… Whatever had made up her mind, she'd agreed, and she'd been coming here every day since, either on her own or with Echo…

To Lucas' knowledge, it was the first time Johnny came, too, and this was confirmed to him by the two XCs. He'd known about Turtle of course, and about Carina's being asked to look after him, which had made him curious, so today she'd suggested he come along with her. Lucas would be coming to drive her to the ranch – as he did – so he could drive them both together. While he in no way mistrusted this part of the boys' intentions, Lucas also had it on good authority that getting to spend some time with the other camper had played into his presence here that day, and mutually so.

"How did it go?" Lucas asked the pair as they made their way back to his car.

"Turtle warmed up to him after a few minutes," Carina reported. From what Lucas had heard, it had taken the better part of those first three days for the horse to properly 'warm up' to her. Lucas had been afraid that his plan would fall apart for that, that Carina would get discouraged and only end up further back than she'd already been. But she'd gone the opposite way, she'd kept going, kept trying, and now she and Turtle were good. It wasn't as though they were suddenly the best of friends, not when Carina still had so much that she was working through, but they were working up to something, and that was all anyone could ask for.

"He tends to open up to people at different speeds, but once he does…" Lucas told her, in an effort not to let her go down a path of thinking that she and Turtle couldn't be good together because he'd needed so much less time with Johnny. "Sometimes it's just a feeling, something that feels… familiar."

"I know," Carina insisted, though she stayed quiet a while after this, looking out the window as they drove off. In the rear view mirror, Lucas could see her, off in her own head… He could see Johnny stealing looks toward her, too, only to realize he was being seen and try to play it off like he was just stretching his neck or observing something else. To give them both peace, he changed the subject.

"Your families are flying out for Christmas, I heard?" he asked, after they'd been in silence for a few minutes. The passengers were pulled out of their thoughts. They looked forward, demeanors shifted as they nodded and confirmed the visit. "You must be looking forward to that."

"Mostly," Carina admitted. "I just know my parents are going to be all over me about everything. I know they mean well, but it's a lot, and…" She paused, a brief look shifting to the boy at her side. "But i-it's fine. Really." Johnny looked back at her; he could understand as well as Lucas did why she'd suddenly adjusted her statement. "I'm sorry…" she whispered to him.

"It's okay," he shook his head. It sounded earnest, and it likely was… to a point. "I can't wait to see my aunt and uncle, my cousins…" he promised aloud, even as they could all feel how his mind drifted.

"Is… It must be hard… holidays…" Carina dared to ask, with genuine sympathy in her voice. Lucas doubted that just anyone would have been able to say this, to bring up this subject with Johnny, without being turned aside.

"Yeah…" was all Johnny could say, and it was barely audible. In the mirror, Lucas could see how Carina's hand, already not so far off, reached across, found its way to Johnny's. He didn't look over, but he took the offered hand, held to it with gratitude.

It had been five years since Johnny's parents had died. He didn't talk so much about it, and Lucas didn't know exactly what had happened, but the fact that they'd both been taken at the same time narrowed the options significantly. It was impossible not to feel for him in that respect, imagining what it would be like to go one day from having a mother and father to very suddenly having neither. They only had to look at him when the subject did come up to know that they had been very close.

The rest of the drive out to the ranch had been spent with the two teens talking between themselves about holiday traditions in such a way that they might have completely forgotten Lucas was there with them. He didn't mind. He let them be, just glad to see the good it did them both to have this conversation.

The spell was only broken with their arrival at Sullivan Stables, driving under the decorated arch. It would have looked even more jolly if it was darker out, the lights twinkling brightly, but even in full daytime it was an impressive sight, and it only got better as they continued on to the property. The ranch did not do any holiday lightly, though for sure 'the big ones' were Halloween and Christmas. Lucas had so many detailed memories of those days when he was little, when his grandparents had been alive, and ever since he'd returned to the place, he had been part of making sure that old vision was reignited every year. Since he'd become a father though, oh… It had never been so important to him to transform the ranch, him with his girls, and see how excited they were about all of it. Sure, the triplets were still very small, but they were starting to get it all now. He would see their eyes go wide, curious hands reaching… When they'd seen the Christmas makeover, lights and all… He could never forget that day.

"Have you guys decided what you want to do about the holiday camp?" Lucas asked Carina and Johnny as they followed him from the parking lot.

He'd really left it up to them. They were here all year, and so with the break from school in a couple of weeks, they'd have all this extra time to spend at the ranch, which they would do, sure. But at the same time Sullivan Stables would be hosting this year's round of their holiday camp. A lot of those would essentially be the after school program kids, less so beholden to their regular color-coded age groups, but also others who were not with them three afternoons every week. The XCs already pitched in a bit where the program was concerned, same as their predecessors had done last spring, but they were in no way obligated to do so, and the same went for the holiday camp. If they just wanted to focus on their own things, they could do that, but if they wanted to involve themselves with the campers on top of that…

"Yeah, I'm in," Johnny replied with about 99% confidence, the lone percent left over as he turned to see what Carina would say. She wasn't so quick to answer, the question having stalled her into a new line of thought, which neither her fellow camper nor Lucas could read through. After a few seconds, she blinked, realizing that they were waiting on an answer from her, looking at her.

"Sorry, I…" she hesitated, like she didn't remember what they'd been discussing anymore. Lucas didn't know if he was reading too much into it, but the way she very briefly looked at him, he thought she was trying to convey that he might know what this was about, and Johnny didn't. The only thing that could be about, he was almost sure, was the secret they were both keeping… Echo…

For the time being, Carina said that she wasn't sure what she'd do about the holiday camp yet, that some of this would depend on schoolwork, and her visiting family, and the Marshalls, and now Turtle… It took about an hour, once they'd all split off to do their own things, before Lucas was able to go and find her again, to talk to her in private. She was under no obligation to tell him anything, especially if Echo didn't want her to, but if there were things she could talk about, needed to talk about, her options were few and far in between. Lucas was one of those few people who knew what was going on.

He didn't even have to ask her if there was anything she wanted to talk about. When it was just the two of them, she revealed how Echo was concerned about the coming holidays, which in turn made Carina unsure about whether or not to involve herself with the ranch's holiday camp. She really cared about her host and new friend and wanted to be able to be with her as much as possible, in case anything happened where she'd need backup.

"Well, you know, if she wanted to, Echo could come and help with the camp, too," Lucas offered with ease. Carina looked at him in awe, like she hadn't even thought of that and couldn't believe that the idea hadn't occurred to her. "She is welcome here at any time," Lucas doubled down on the offer, and Carina smiled.

"I'll talk to her about it… Thanks."

"Sure," Lucas nodded. After a moment, Carina breathed out, the conversation still spinning through her head.

"If you ask me, I don't see her parents freaking on her if she told them," she confided. "But I also get how it'd be hard not to wonder…"

Lucas could understand what she was saying. He had only gotten to know Echo's mother very recently, but he had known her father for years now. He'd been on that mail route long enough that Lucas remembered seeing him back when Pappy Joe had still been living at the house. Echo would have been small back then, wouldn't she… All he'd ever known of Andrew Marshall had been a very kind man and someone he really liked as a person, so the idea that he would be anything but loving and accepting of his son revealing herself to be his daughter… It was all one thing for them to think so, but the reality couldn't be put back in the bottle once it was let out, so ultimately it could only be Echo's decision.

"You let me know if she wants in, alright? Like I said, any time. We can always use the help."

"I'll ask her tonight," Carina promised. "I might go back and see Turtle again, so would it be alright if I dropped by to let you know?"

"Absolutely," Lucas smiled. "I have a feeling we might run into each other. Marianne will want to go and see him, too. She hasn't been in two whole days," he explained, with an expression to show how much his daughter saw this as a wrong in need of fixing. Carina chuckled, and the day carried on.

TO BE CONTINUED


See you tomorrow! - mooners