Chapter 7
The Ride
"Damn rats. One of these days I'm gonna…."
"You crazy old man, what are you shooting at and why are you scaring the crap out of my friends?" Katie said rather forcefully.
"Katie is that you?" he asked.
"It's me Mr. Roberts. What in the world are you doing?"
"There's a problem with the dam structure, these big water rats burrow in under the water line and it causes leaks to put it simply." he said.
"Okay, I guess. What's with the rifle, can't you trap them?"
"If you catch them outside and run them off for a while then it's easier to set the traps. Girls you can put your hands down now." He said laughing.
During all of this Haley and Quinn had raised there hands like they were prisoners.
"That's not funny" Haley said
"Yeah, and what did you mean about trespassing?" Quinn asked
"Girls when we were in the woods we crossed over onto Mr. Robert's property. I kind of got ahead of myself with the follow me stuff. We are supposed to let someone know if we are coming over here so we don't get shot at accidentally. This is actually the halfway point for the trail rides we do here and I must say you have really improved this spot." Katie said
"Well we had a good designer Katie."
"Really and who might that be?"
"That would be you young lady." He said smiling.
Katie looked over at Jessie with an I don't know look.
"I'm not sure what you mean, I didn't design anything." She said
"I beg to differ" the older man said, "I have a picture of this place all arranged for entire Gatherings that was drawn in the dirt over there" he said pointing over at the lean to.
"Oh that was just one of those what if things. Christy and Kelly were saying how they would set this up for picnics and I said what if we had a lot of money we could do a whole bunch of things and drew that with a stick. It wasn't much of a design to be honest with you." She said shaking her head.
"The point is that it was a good idea and I think we are off to a pretty good start, don't you think?" he said smiling
"I think what you have done here is awesome. Jessie, last summer the only thing that was here was the boat and about half of that shed. One of these days I will take you for a lazy ride in the flat-bottomed boat." Katie said
"I will hold you to that Billie" Jessie said
"And I will hold you in it Billie" Katie said back to her softly.
And for a moment time stood still for those two as green eyes stared into blue. Jessie and Katie never lost sight of the fact that there were other people around in moments like these; it was just that their focus on each other was so intense that everybody else felt left out of something special.
Somewhere along the line Katie was asked what her favorite color was. She answered by saying that originally her favorite color was green because that was the color eyes she looked into every morning when she got up. That changed after meeting a certain blue eyed blonde because she decided she wanted to wake up to blue eyes looking back at her instead of her green ones in the mirror.
Ah, but we digress. This is not to be one of the legendary staring matches that they have been known to have. They smiled at each other and turned to the business at hand.
"What else has Katie designed for this place" Jessie asked
"Well let's see now" he said as he rubbed his chin "She has an idea about some bathrooms and some other stuff but we decided to wait on that until we got the loan for the movie theatre and shopping mall that goes over on the other side of the pond." He said laughing
"Oh, ha-ha-ha very funny. One day when I'm famous we'll see who gets the last laugh." She said
"Katie, if you and Jessie don't mind we have to get back to the group down there" Haley said.
"I'm sure we'll catch some flack for being late but thanks for bringing us up here." Quinn said
"All right, we can head on back now. Good luck with your critters Mr. Roberts. Jessie and I will be back for camp, we will see you then." She said
"Okay girls, nice to see you. Sorry about the noise."
Walking back to the office was a lesson in patience. There was a lot to be said but no one wanted to go first.
For Haley and Quinn there was a new opportunity at the barn. This was definitely something they both wanted, but weren't sure if one could trust the other.
For Jessie there was a new awakening in her. She felt like she could solve their problems and send them on their way to a better life but knew it wasn't that simple, but also felt that by trying to help would make a difference. This realization opened her eyes to a lot of her own past problems and helped her see solutions for putting some things to rest. The most important thing she gleamed was the good felling she got trying to make a difference no matter how small, so little did she know that by helping others she was helping herself.
Katie on the other hand was feeling a little overwhelmed by all that had happened in such a short period of time. Little did she know the wheels that were set spinning on this day. All she really wanted to do was show Jessie that she knew a little something about horses without showing off and then have a place to hang out that was a little more private. At the time they hadn't made any concrete plans for the summer other than spending as much time together as they could. Things were definitely looking up.
"Uh, Katie I have a question?" Haley said. "If one of us can't go for camp, is that going to mess it up for the other one? I'm pretty sure my mom will let me come but if something happens and I can't go it won't mess it up for Quinn will it?"
"Let's see what Maggie says and we will go from there. Maybe you two can split up your camp time because I know a week is a long time on short notice. What do you think Quinn?" Katie asked
"I doubt I'll be missed around my house, but heaven forbid I have any fun." She grumbled.
So they went back to the office and Maggie said that that the other kids had had gone with the group and that Haley and Quinn should join them.
"Should one of us go with them?" Jessie asked
"No, they will be fine and I think you two have done enough for one day. Now I think maybe you should go do what you came here for. Katie why don't you go find Christy, she went to round you and Jessie a couple of gentle horses you can ride around the property while the rinks are busy. Jessie will be okay here until you get back, I promise." Maggie said and shooed Katie out of the door.
"First of all I want to thank you for what you did out there. That could have gotten ugly real quick. Second, I was wondering if you felt the same way about Katie as she does for you." Maggie asked
Jessie looked at Maggie and smiled, "Is it that obvious?" she said
"What's obvious is the connection you two have. I have known Katie for a few years now and she tends to wear her heart on her sleeve. I thought her world was coming to an end when she said you were leaving at the end of summer"
"My Dad has a contract in Australia starting in September. They offered to move everybody there so I'm going with him for a while any way. My brother is staying and I'm going to miss him and my mom but I just can't see not going. If things don't work out I can come back and live with my mom. His project is scheduled for nine months so I think I can tough it out that long. He's working on a hotel in Sydney so it's not like we'll be stuck in some backwoods or outback or whatever they call it there. I didn't want to go at first, and I still don't want to leave Katie but she said if I didn't go she would so I am going to be happily miserable as Katie says." Jessie said with a sigh.
"Okay, well not to sound too selfish but you don't know how happy it made me when Katie called and asked if she could bring you out here. It's been almost a year since she has been here and although that's not uncommon with high schoolers I didn't think Katie would be gone that long without a visit. I had talked to her a time or two during that time and although she said school was going good and her family was healthy, but she seemed a bit off. We had a good chat last week and she told me a few things about you but she also said that it wouldn't matter what she said about you I would just have to see you in person to understand. After meeting you and seeing the two of you in action I can see what she meant." Maggie said.
Jessie was a little red in the face after all of that and said "well, thanks I think."
"Don't tell her I told you this because she will deny it but what she said was that she had the most amazing best friend that she could share anything with and the only thing that you two haven't done was come out here. I think Katie is finally starting to realize that she didn't have to separate the things in her life that are important because of a difference in priorities. I asked her once about bringing a friend out a few years ago and she me told that her friend at the time took piano lessons when Katie had riding lessons and they would talk about all the things they were going to do and then her friends Dad got transferred to another city and boy here we go again. I'm sorry Jessie; I can see that you and Katie are a lot more than just friends."
"Maggie, I've known you for a short time today, just a few hours in fact, but I feel like I can talk to you about any thing. I know we bring a lot of unnecessary drama around but does it get easier when you are older?" Jessie asked with a helpless look on her face.
"I hate to answer a question with a question but does it look like it gets any easier? Today is just a small part of life around here. We'll talk later Jessie. You go ride with Katie and let yourself relax. I know that everyday that passes is closer to the time you will be leaving but you have to make each day count while you are here and not just for Katie, but for yourself and the others you leave behind".
"Okay, I can't argue with that" Jessie said as she started for the door.
Jessie wanted to say so much more but knew there would be time later for that. As she walked toward the barn where Katie had gone to tack up the horses they were going to ride, she had a smile on her face. Katie was finishing up on the second saddle and looked at her walking toward her.
"I guess by the look on your face you're not going to be mad at me?" she asked
"How could I get mad at something that was so out of your control? Besides, I thought you handled yourself quite well back there. Now can we get on these here horses and mosey on down the trail?" Jessie drawled
"Well I reckon so" She said "Lets mount up over by that fence and then we'll head over to the front. It's a long way around but its easy walking and we are in no hurry."
After they got on their horses and started out there was an easy silence between them. Katie had watched the way Jessie had approached her horse and rubbed her neck and spoke softly to her before getting on. They walked easily out to the road that ran along the fence that divided the property and took to the grassy side.
"I think I like doing this the most" Katie said. "I was always ready for a trail ride."
"That's pretty much how I learned to ride. I never took lessons or did any competition riding. Believe it or not my brother Eli was really good around horses. That seemed like a long time ago. Did you ever think we would be doing this together?" Jessie asked
"It had crossed my mind a time or two. Actually I thought a lot about it after we ditched school that day, but it was more of a romantic setting out west somewhere but who's complaining right?" she said with a laugh
"I find it sort of strange that the more we get to know each other the more we have in common. I mean that in a good way of course." she said.
Katie looked over at Jessie and said "Well, I don't see anything common about it"
They laughed at that for a moment then rode a little further in silence. Katie gave Jessie a sideways glance knowing there was something on her mind but giving her a chance to form her own thoughts without asking. So Katie being Katie did as only she could do and launched into something off the wall.
"Jess, did I ever tell about the day I met Mr. BoJangles?" she asked
"First Billie Holliday and now Mr. BoJangles, what is it with you and these old characters?"
"Well he wasn't the real one, that's just what I thought about when I saw him. This was right after our first kiss in the attic. I wasn't real secure about how you felt about me yet even though I was pretty sure we were on the same page but I was at the mall picking something up for my Mom a few days later. When I got done with what I was doing I started walking across the parking lot to Starbucks to get a drink and I heard some music.
I looked around and there was this guy in a space under a tree playing the blues. That really got my attention.
As I got closer to him I thought it was just some homeless guy begging a dollar, but he had a unique style that's hard to explain. He was a clash of stereotypes. It was like a homeless beach bum skater rock-n-roll dude." Katie said
"Now that's hard to believe" Jessie said
""What's so hard to believe?"
"Its hard to believe you said all that in one breath" Jessie said grinning
"Well it's true, and I wasn't the only one there. Of course it would be hard to track down people I never met but it can be done. Any way back to my fascinating tale; he was singing a song I had never heard before. It was something about a little boy and his mother. I didn't hear the first part of it but he ended it with a bluesy rendition of Jesus Loves Me. I know what you're thinking: Gee Billie what is sooo earth shattering about that? Well let me answer that for you.
I wasn't up front and I wasn't that close but he gave me that feeling that he was singing just for me like I was the only one there. And I will never ever forget how he ended that song. He sang: I know Jesus loves me and then he looked at me and gave me a thousand watt smile and without breaking stride sang and He loves you too. Right then I got this tingly calm feeling and just like that all was good in the world. I tossed my Latte money in his guitar case, said thanks and went along my way." Katie said and then she got quiet.
"Wow. That was some story. And only you could get a what did you call it, a tingly calm feeling? That's such a contradiction. But then so are you in so many ways, and I wouldn't have you any other way" Jessie said
"Oh thank you for that. You have to realize that that was a really hard time for me. We went to that stupid meeting at Dimitri's house and then you ignored me for a few days and then I wrote that note and then you didn't show up for school and all I could think was that I had to see you because not knowing anything was so much worse. I've never been so scared in my life. And then relieved. Scared relief, there's another one for you. And then Mr. BoJangles put my heart at ease a couple of days later" she said as they rode on down the road.
""Katie I don't know what to say. I understand what you are saying but I can't understand your thinking sometimes." Jessie said
And they continued to talk and ride for a while. It was nice outside for a summer day. There was a slight breeze and low humidity. With all that had already happened that day they were enjoying the quiet of the afternoon and the companionship they shared with one another. They came to a point where they let the horses follow the trail as they gazed at each other from their saddles.
And on that note we will allow our two heroes a little privacy as there wasn't much to report after that.
Present Day
"And that's how I heard about you. I used to kid Katie about it sometimes and she would just grin and bear it. But you haven't come up in a long long time and you will have to forgive my reaction to you when you first came up." Jessie said
"Well how can I not forgive you after a story like that? It's nice too be thought of in a positive way sometimes. I hope today leaves you in a better way because I have a feeling your friend Katie is going to be just fine." He said as he stood up.
"I hope so. It really hurts seeing her like this. I remember when my mother got hit by a car how hard that was. That was about 12 years ago and Katie was in pain then too although it was probably more my fault that time. I guess you're her guardian angel here to make her feel better." She said laughing
"Now that's better. It's always better to let those good feelings out too. Let me ask you something. How were you feeling at the time when she told about all that?"
"I felt better a bout a lot of things because so much was happening all at once it seemed like things came together for a while and life was good." She said wistfully looking back.
"And so it shall be again. I've got to be on my way now but remember this Jessie, You have a good heart girl and it might not have been just Katie I was here for in the first place" He gave her that megawatt smile as he turned to leave and she sat there holding his handkerchief.
As she sat there on the bench she began to reflect on what just happened and wondered if she told anyone about it if their reaction would be any different than hers had so many years ago. After a moments thought she figured that the only person who would understand was the only person she would share it with.
And then she felt a tingly calm.
tbc