Chapter 4
The Barn: part 2
Jessie looked into the sunglasses of a strange looking man standing before her. They weren't mirrored but they were dark and the sun was at such an angle that she could see her reflection in them. He was not a tall person but wasn't short either. At first glance you would have thought he was just another homeless person about to ask for a dollar. He was wearing plaid shorts that went slightly below the knee, a very loud Hawaiian shirt with sleeves to his elbows, a pair of sneakers that were scuffed but not too well worn and white socks to mid calf. He was in need of a shave but other wise looked clean. His hair was silver, about shoulder length and he wore a base ball cap.
He flashed a dazzling white smile at her and asked "Who is Katie and how could I possibly be a figment of her imagination?"
"Katie is my on again off again girlfriend of the last twelve years and it was about that long ago when she told me about you."
"And who might you be young lady?"
"My name is Jessie and were you in Chicago about twelve years ago?"
"Now that is entirely possible. But it would have been in the spring or summer, don't much care for that cold weather or that wind blowing off the lake."
"Do you sometimes sing in parks and places like that?"
"Sometimes."
"Katie told me about a person she saw on her way to Starbucks one day. She had been shopping for something or another and had a few dollars left over and was going to get a latte when she heard some music coming from one of those little open spots by the mall. Now you have to understand something, Katie can't lie to me. But she can exaggerate with the best of them. Sometimes her imagination gets away with her and then she will believe it's so."
"And this has to do with me how?"
"She told me about how she saw you one day and if it hadn't been such a special day when she told me I would have forgotten the whole thing. And I even laughed at her and told her that nobody could look the way she described you and here you stand"
"And here I sit, and Katie is up in that hospital unconscious." and with that Jessie buried her face in the handkerchief and started crying again.
Before she knew it he was sitting beside her on the bench and once again that calm feeling swept over her as he put his arm around her shoulders.
"Everything's going to be all right if you want it to be, but if I'm a part of this story why don't you tell me about it.
"The thing is you have to know Katie. Sometimes it takes her 5 minutes of talking to say yes or no. And she's not that complicated a person, it's just her way. Other times she sees right through a problem in no time flat and moves on to something else while everybody else is left scratching their heads at such a simple solution. I know I'm rambling on, I guess I'm starting to sound just like her."
"Katie is not a religious person. If you were to ask her about religion that's a topic you won't get much conversation from her. She'll tell you her opinion, but she won't argue any certain point. She just says that she has her own personal relationship with God and that's good enough for her. It's not for some person high on a pulpit to judge."
"But getting back to where she told me about you, we were in high school and on summer vacation visiting a stable that she had ridden at and………………..
The Barn 12 years earlier
When they got to the barn they parked and went into the office
"Well as I live and breathe, if it isn't Katie Singer. And looky here, the most popular girl in school does have a friend. Come here and give me a hug and then introduce me to this vision of loveliness." Said a short middle aged woman.
Katie bent down and hugged the woman and said "Hi Maggie"
"My my how tall you have gotten girl." As they hugged each other Katie said "It's good to see you Maggie"
As they let go of each other Katie told her "This is Jessie, Maggie. She is a very special person in my life."
Jessie held her hand out and Maggie took it. Then she pulled her into a hug and told her, "We do hugs here girl, get used to it."
"I'll try Maggie; it's good to meet you"
"I'm glad Katie brought you, maybe if you like us out here she will grace us with her presence more often."
"I already like it out here, I just hope you don't get tired of me" she said laughing.
"A pretty face like yours is good for business out here, Hang around long enough and you'll be drawing a crowd like some of the others who will remain nameless."
"Maggie don't start with that again."
'Well I'm just saying…"
"Ok, tell us what's new. Does the lady still rent the back pasture for the rescue horses?"
"Yes and a friend of hers is running a program for troubled teens. They come out a few days a week and do some chores and exercise a horse or two. This is temporary until their own facility is done, but they have run into some snags about permits, government funding and whatnot. So they come out here and hang out. We haven't had any trouble so I guess it's working for them."
"Do they ride at all?" Katie asks.
"One girl signed up for lessons, some of them are just doing their hours and a couple of others are sitting on the fence. It's going to be interesting to see how some of them turn out.
"We'll try and stay out of the way then".
"No it's not like that. I made it very clear that my operation was not to be interfered with in any way. People pay a lot of money for their kids to take lessons in a safe environment and that won't change. You are a part of this barn Katie, and if Jessie wants become part of us then she is welcome. Here comes one of them now. Haley is a sweet girl whose parents got divorced recently and she fell into some bad company. She didn't actually do any thing bad but she was guilty by association. Anyways, she signed up for lessons and will be done with her service before the new place is open."
"There is nothing pretty about divorce" Jessie says quietly.
"You speak from experience?" Maggie asks.
"Yes maam. My mom and dad got divorced. I don't know if I'm over it or not but I have learned to deal with it and realize it wasn't my fault."
"Oh I'm so sorry Jessie" Maggie says. "I hope that wasn't the wrong thing to bring up."
"No it's ok. My dad is remarried and my mom has a boyfriend and I have stepsisters and we're all one big happy family now." She says laughing.
The door opens and Haley walks in.
"Hi Maggie, I know I'm early but I can get started on something until the others get here."
"That's ok, Come on in I want you to meet someone" Maggie says.
"Haley this is Jessie. She's new out here and I want you to make her feel at home. And this is Katie. She was one of my best riders a few years ago." Maggie states proudly.
Jessie shakes hands with Haley and says nice to meet you and Haley does the same. Then Haley turns to Katie and asks "Are you Katie Singer?"
"Yeah but you can't believe everything you hear about me." She says as she shakes hands.
"And just what have you heard about me?" Katie wants to know.
"Well you are on Maggie's Wall of Fame. And that training video you made was really cool. We have to watch it as beginners and believe me it's been a big help.
Katie has a what are you talking about look on her face and looks towards Maggie.
"Haley, Katie has been gone for a while would you care to take her and Jessie for a little tour of the barn and show them some of the new things we have going now?" Maggie says as she decides to duck out the side door with a be back in a minute wave and a wink towards Jessie.
Jessie caught on and took Katie by the hand and told her "I think we should let Haley lead the way".
They went out to the barn and it was clear to see that there had been some additions to the Tack room. Not only had it been expanded but a change room and shower was new. On the far wall away from the door was a plastic enclosed case with ribbons and awards and pictures set up under a wall full of pictures.
Next to the case was a small TV with a video player hooked up to it.
Jessie was looking at the case while Katie just took in all that was new here.
"Katie you never told me you were such an accomplished rider. Look at all these ribbons. You don't have any of this stuff at home."
"Jess these were just little pony shows and everyone gets ribbons at these things" Katie said trying to brush it off as no big deal.
"Besides, the horse did all the work. All I had to do was sit up straight and hold on."
"Katie was pretty good at Just holding on" A voice said from behind them.
"Christy!" Katie yelled and turned quickly in the direction of the new presence in the room.
A young woman with auburn hair and blue eyes stood by the doorway and held her arms out for the embrace Katie gave her.
"It's so good to see you. Maggie said you might not be here today but we came anyway." Katie said as she let the other girl loose from her hug.
"I had a private lesson cancel at another barn and came in early. Mom told me you were coming and I haven't seen you in forever. Look at you, you are taller than I am now." She said with a big smile on her face clearly glad to see the younger girl.
"I had a growth spurt last summer. All of a sudden I didn't have to look up at everyone." Katie said with a big grin on her face. "Jessie's little sister now has the title of short stuff."
"And would this be Jessie? Mom said you were bringing someone."
"Yes it is. Christy it is my utmost pleasure to introduce to you my favorite person in the world Miss Jessie Sammler" she says with a flourish and a bow. "But I call her Billie"
"Well Miss Jessie Billie it is indeed a pleasure" Christy say also with a bow.
"First hugs now bows" Jessie muttered under her breath. and then said "the pleasure is all mine I'm sure" with a dazzling smile.
"Did Katie tell you she was my first student?"
Jessie gives Katie a sideways glance and then looks back to the older girl and says "Up until recently I didn't even know Katie could ride much less be as good as all this shows. I guess she didn't want to make me feel bad when I told her my dream of living on a ranch and she had already done all this." She said while gesturing towards the wall.
"Well that's our Katie. No matter how hard she worked on something she never went out of her way to show someone up"
Looking a little uncomfortable Katie broke into the conversation "Christy when did you do all of this? I think this is really great the way you can come in and tack up and change and clean up all in the same place now."
"Progress you know. Spending as much time out here as we do made it cost effective as Dad says'
Jessie gave a laugh and said "That sounds like my dad."
"I didn't realize you had this many pictures. And what's this about a training video. Haley said something about showing beginners a video and I'm in it. I don't remember that."
"You don't remember Maggie's Angels? Katie Singer I am shocked."
"Wait a minute Christy, I remember that. I also remember that was no training video. And I also don't think you would be dumb enough to show that to anyone much less students who want to learn how to ride. We were goofing off that day."
"Well through the beauty of editing Kelly and I were able to actually make something of all that goofing off. Haley if you will please."
Haley went to the video player and punched a button. The screen showed an overview of the property and the zoomed in on the riding rink. A young girl was putting a horse through its paces and then the scene shifted to the front of the barn itself.
Standing in front of the office was Christy and another girl who was drop dead gorgeous.
"Hi, I'm Christy and this is my friend Kelly. We are with the assistance of some of our students going to introduce you to some basic things you will need to know about riding."
The scene shifted to a younger Katie walking towards the camera. Even then she commanded the attention of whoever was in the room. This wasn't lost on Jessie as she watched.
"My name is Katie Singer. Today we will show you an easy way to tack up and ride."
The scene went to an older version of the tack room.
"Haley, please fast forward this to the riding sequence. I don't think we need to bore Jessie with mindless tips that she probably already knows."
When the video started up again you saw Katie leading a horse towards the camera. She stops and says "Don't' ever be afraid to ask for help if it is available. My friend Kelly is going to help me show you how use a mounting block."
When they had the block in position and Kelly held the horse while Katie mounted its back Jessie could see the adoration that Katie had for the older girl. After she was on the horse Christy took over the talking part. She led through walking, trotting, posting, and then came the part will ever be the bane of Katie at the Barn.
"Katie will now demonstrate the perfect post and trot" Christy said. And the way she said it with such conviction you knew it would be so.
Katie rode that horse with authority and they moved as one. Most riders were jerky or it took them a minute to get the rhythm of the horse but Katie was smooth and needed no time to adjust. Her up and down movements were fluid and you could see by the look on her face that she was in a place of contentment just moving with the horse.
Jessie was standing next to Katie and she put her hand on Katie's arm while they watched.
Katie looked like the last place she wanted to be was watching this right now but a squeeze by Jessie's hand relaxed her and they watched the rest of the video.
"You weren't kidding about the editing on that thing. You actually made me look halfway decent." Katie said.
"There is no amount of editing can ever take away how you looked on that horse. That was all you kiddo." Christy said.
"Katie that was amazing" Jessie said softly.
"Well the horse did all the work, and besides I had a good teacher. By the way Christy what happened to the original video?" Katie asks. "I don't know where all this came from but the original was just a joke and was nothing like this."
"Mom's got the video. She found it when they were cleaning up to make space for all this." She says as she waves her arm across the room. "It was her idea to put together a little portfolio for newcomers and that's what we have so far"
"Looks like Maggie's Angels have come a long way." Katie said "How's Kelly doing these days?"
"Kelly is in Europe right now. Her dad had a conference to attend about some kind of International Finance and somehow being daddy's little girl she managed to talk him into taking her with him. She'll be back in time for camp though. I saw your name on the list with a question mark next to it. Are you in this year?" She asked.
"I don't know. Jessie is moving at the end of summer and I wanted to spend as much time as I could with her" Katie said in a sad voice.
"Katie I know how you feel. Maybe you can talk Jessie into coming on board for camp. You guys can have the bunkhouse for the week and that will save a lot of back and forth. But let me know soon. I have to schedule for counselors and helpers."
"How old are the campers this year?" Katie asked starting to brighten up a little.
"Ten, eleven and twelve. Helpers are thirteen and up and you would still be the youngest counselor. We are fully booked with a lot of beginners so it's going to be busy."
Katie turned towards Jessie with a big smile on her face.
"Don't answer right this minute Billie but we can do this." Katie said and then took Jessie by the hand and said "Let's go look at the rest of the barn. There is still more to see."
As tour guide Haley opened the door to the barn and with a sweeping motion of her hand she said "Right this way ladies."
"Katie, can you tell me about Maggie's Angels?" Jessie asked.
Haley chimed in also. "I've heard that around here too. What was that all about?"
"All right, I knew I was going to have to tell Jessie because we have no secrets. Haley when I was a little younger than you I started coming out here with my older brother. Kelly and Christy were best friends in school and did a lot of shows together. Maggie used to take them all over for horse shows. After a lesson I would sit and watch them ride and they were amazing. I couldn't think of anything I wanted to do other than be like them. They were so cool. When they saw that I was serious about riding and not some little Pony Princess they let me tag along. And by that I mean they let me follow them around and didn't tell me to get lost.
I wanted to be just like them. I mean all you have to do is look at them. They are smart; they are drop dead gorgeous, and fun to be around. And yes Jessie to answer your question I did have a crush on Kelly. I would have done anything for her. Those two taught me so much. When you get to know them better you'll know what I am talking about. It wasn't always about riding with them. They seemed to know early on that to get somewhere that balance was the key and that you had to be well rounded."
"How did you know she was going to ask you that?" Haley asked.
"She didn't have to ask. I knew what she was thinking at the time when we were watching the video. I haven't seen that in a while myself but the look on my face was so obvious. You see I grew up with brothers and although I had plenty of girl friends in school this was totally different. They taught me so much and I will never be able to repay that. Maggie told me that the way to do that was to share what you have and pass on what you can to those willing to receive. I'm still learning that part. One thing I know for sure is that you can't force things on people and expect them to like it. OK Jess I know I'm rambling again. Back to Maggie's Angels. One Saturday I came out to see a new horse that was going to be boarded here. The lady that owned it was pregnant and had to stop riding until she delivered her baby so Maggie took it for a few months. Christy was going to take care of exercise and feeding because this was a high dollar horse that you just didn't take lightly. Well the trailer got here early and Maggie and Christy had unloaded the horse and put him in the round pen to stretch out and get sort of used to the place.
Kelly showed up right after I did and she had a video camera with her. She wanted to do some filming for a class she had in school. She had Maggie come out to the front over there where the gate is and start the camera. Then she told Christy and Me to get up on the top of the fence. There we were with me in the middle of these two awesome girls. Kelly started it off.
"I'm Kelly."
Then I said "I'm Katie"
"I'm Christy"
And all together we said "And we are Maggie's Angels!"
Then we all jumped off the fence and got into the Charlie's Angels pose. I don't think any of us knew any karate moves but we looked good doing it. Then Maggie yelled "Cut" and we all started laughing so hard. Well we went out to the rink and filmed some riding and the Kelly wanted to get some outside shots without anybody in them. You see Maggie would call you angel until she got to know you and one day I asked her why she didn't call me angel any more and that's what she told me. Then she said but you will always be my angel. Well Kelly heard her say that and said I'm an angel too. Then Christy said "what about me, aren't I an angel too?"
"You are all Maggie's Angels" She said "I just wish you would act like it more often."
"And that's the story of Maggie's Angels. Of course I got teased unmercifully about it for weeks on end but that day was worth it. Any way that was kid stuff"
"Katie you never cease to amaze me" Jessie said.
"Jessie, that's why I brought you out here so that you could know this part of me. If I never ride again I will have fond memories of getting the chance to do so. But I get to pass this on to you like Maggie said. And we will make our own memories here."
Jessie and Katie had a way of tuning everybody around them out and this was one of those times. It wasn't intentional when it happened and most of the time they weren't aware they did it but usually it was Grace or Tad that would bring them back to the world of everyone else as Zoe once put it.
Poor Haley wasn't sure what was going on but she coughed rather loudly and said "I'm going to have to join my group here shortly, do you guys want to go on without me?" she asked in a kind of disappointed way.
Jessie immediately picked up on the tone of her voice and said "Haley, we plan on spending the day out here so why don't you get your thing done and come and get us. I'm sure we won't get too far away. I understand you and I have a lot in common so maybe we can talk later if you want to."
"Really? You would do that? Awesome! OK. Well I'm going to go, but I'll see you in a little while." She said excitedly.
Just then at the other end of the barn a young boy burst through the swing door. He was running from someone and screaming at the top of his lungs.
"Help me! Save me!"
Jessie and Haley didn't know what to do.
Katie opened an empty stall door and motioned them to step inside and winked.
"Andrew! Over here, quickly now, we'll hide you behind this door."
Then she swept him up in her arms as he was running for all he was worth and they slipped into the stall just as someone came into the barn after him yelling "Come back here you little retard. I'll get you for this!"
"Oh great" Haley said "that's Quinn and I'm sure her posse is not far behind her."
"And Quinn is….?" Katie asked
"They are part of the group that comes out here from that program I'm in. Quinn thinks she is a tough girl and those other kids follow her around like little dogs. It makes me sick to think I was like that at one time. This place was the best thing that ever happened to me. Maggie has been really good to every one of the people that come here and I can't stand to think what a waste of time it is for some of them to be here just taking up space when there are others who would give anything to be here."
"Ok Haley let me handle this." Then she bent down and holding the little boy by the shoulders she said "Andy, look at me. I can't save you unless you tell me why she is after you."
"Hair bow". He said looking at the ground.
"You took her hair bow? Andy you know better than that"
"It was all alone no one there. I picked it up to look and then she hollered at me"
"And then you were off to the races, I get it."
Right about that time a girl of about 15 came up to them. Before she could say anything Katie held up the hair bow and said "Looking for this?"
"Yeah that little bas..."
"Hold it right there" Katie said. "I'm going to give you one chance to rethink your wording there."
While Katie was talking two girls and a boy walked up behind the other girl giving her some courage.
"And just who do you think you are? I can see you're with Haley the suck-up." She said sneering at the younger girl.
"I am Katie Singer and this is Jessie Sammler."
"Oh little miss perfect post and trot. We had to sit through that crappy video. How lame can you get?" she said looked at her friends. They grinned back at her.
"What you didn't see were the round kicks and how big a dent these riding boots can put in a feed bucket. My girl Jessie here is a Black Belt in Tae Kwan Do so that qualifies her for Maggie's Angels." Katie said as she winked at her. "Looks like we might get a little more action than breaking boards today."
Jessie had been quiet up to this point but she saw the game Katie was playing and decided to join in. Haley looked from one to the other not saying anything but took a step back.
"All right Billie, a little exercise won't be too bad but if any blood gets on my clothes this time you are paying the cleaning bill." She said.
"Andrew you started this but we will finish it for you. What do you say?" Katie said to the youngster.
"Sorry"
"Good enough. Haley I want you to take him back to the office and wait there for us. If there is going to be any trouble I don't want you around it"
"But there are more of them" she said.
"It doesn't seem fair does it? There are only four of them. Hardly worth the effort." Katie said dismissively. "Go on, we'll be along shortly."
Haley took Andrew by the hand and walked back towards the office at the other end of the barn.
Turning back to Quinn and her posse Katie stood at her full height and looked down at her. Jessie stepped up beside her and started looking at the others individually while cracking her knuckles.
One of the girls behind Quinn nervously asked "You can break boards?"
Jessie gave her an ice blue stare and then answered "yeah, boards are ok for practice and warming up." Then she looked over at the boy who hadn't said a word yet and looked like he would rather be somewhere else at the moment. "Problem is, boards don't hit back. Nope, no challenge there. I like breaking noses better."
tbc