by Vega Lizzie
Just then the long-necked bird twisted and surgically plucked a tiny dragonfly from the stand of reeds next to him. “Excellent,” her grandfather said a bit louder, his excitement beginning to show, “watch what he does. Maybe’s he’s been watching you since we got here.”
Before she could respond, the tall and elegant powder-blue bird dropped his multi-winged catch onto the surface of the still water. A moment later, his head tilted slowly toward the water and the orange-yellow spike of a bill, snaked into the water to pull out a fish.
“Cool,” Olivia exclaimed loudly, only to have the startled heron erupt out the water at the sound of her voice. With a couple flaps of its six-foot wings, it flew to the opposite side of the bay. She seemed to pout with disappointment as the bird glided to a perfect landing with only a minimal splash.
“Oops. He’s a better fisherman that I am,” she snickered.
“He doesn’t think all the fish you’ve caught are too pretty to keep,” her grandfather chided, then leaned in, “Your mother was exactly the same way, but she couldn’t bait a hook like you can. Worms, Dad ewww.”
Oliva laughed, then pointed back to the beautiful heron, “That bird used the dragonfly like bait, didn’t he?”
“Yes, he did. Pretty smart, right?”
“He’s so pretty. I’m gonna say thanks for the show…something pretty.” Raising her hand, Olivia brought up her index finger as her thumb stayed cocked to the side. Her left hand circled around her right and three small green orbs launched from her fingertips. First, they traveled low across the water toward the bird, then one crossed and angled over the first two. Leaving a bright trail of light as they went, the orbs crisscrossed and braided just above the water’s surface. Reaching the center of the bay, all three rose straight up and intersected into a glowing green pyramid before fading soundlessly into the air.
“Your geometry,” her grandfather whispered, transfixed by the angular display, “That’s what your mother was telling me about.”
“That’s a fun one, Grampa. I dream them up in my head and then let them go.” She snickered confidently, “Some are pretty, some are more…aggressive.”
In that moment, he looked at her and saw his teenage daughter. Not defiant and angry, just confidant and beautiful. She smiled then turned her head, her eye caught by the flash of an approaching car along the quiet access road, “We have company,” she said, eyeing the red and blue lights on top of the county sheriff’s car cautiously, “are we in trouble?”
“Not in the least, hun. I’ve known the sheriff for ages. We go a long ways back.”
A moment later, the lawman extended a happy greeting to Harris and Olivia. He was quick to compare her to her mother. After a mock warning regarding necessary fishing licenses, the sheriff’s demeanor turned more serious as he gestured for her grandfather to join him a few feet back from their fishing spot.
“I’ll just be a second,” he said to Olivia, “You toss out another worm. One more catch and we’ll head for home. You’ve got some horses to ride today.”
“Sounds like fun,” the sheriff quickly chimed in as he turned to put a couple of steps away from Olivia. Harris shrugged as he joined the sheriff. After a few minutes of not so quiet conversation, the officer waved to Olivia and tipped his hat to Harris. As he drove off, another fish tugged sharply at Olivia’s line and, after a brief battle was gently released back into the crystal mountain water following a heartfelt apology from Olivia for using such sharp hooks.
Her grandfather stood there grinning broadly, “You are the perfect sportsman, my dear. Next time we bring your mom and Terra,” he thought for a moment, “and a giant picnic lunch.”
On the drive back to the house, Olivia was quiet until her grandfather began to describe some of the horses that were stabled at one of the local riding stables. She was quick to recount her first experience with complete emphasis on how big and brown her first horse’s eyes were. “Echo was so calm. I could have ridden for hours. It was so much fun.” Yawning, she turned to her grandfather, “Mom told me she got thrown off a couple of times.”
He grinned, “Way more than a couple. She kept after this one horse,” he reminisced, “she was bound and determined to ride him but turned out he was just as stubborn as she was. Landed right on her head. That wasn’t a very fun day.”
Olivia winced, “She got hurt? She didn’t ever say that.”
He shook his head, “I think she bruised her ego more than her noggin. But I didn’t want to take a chance and I made her quit for the day. She didn’t talk to me for the rest of the weekend.”
Instead of feeling sorry for her mother, Olivia laughed, “She can be like that. Not very often these days, her being a big shot and all.” Her expression turned meek, “She should probably be the one to tell you about that sort of stuff.”
“Another secret?” he asked as he kept his eyes on the road. “That reminds me, last night when we were watching the peaks, you looked down into the valley.” He looked at her with an arched brow, “See anything interesting?”
She nodded, “I did. The three peaks reflect to a single point. I saw where the individual angles converged. I’m surprised no one else said anything.” Now she raised her eyebrow back to him, “You saw it though.”
“Not exactly,” he returned, surprising her, “I’ve always had a theory about it given what I know about the rock faces themselves. Someone has done a little work on the cliffs. I’ve always figured the angles were close to focusing on something in the middle.”
“I can show you where they meet, Grampa. If we drive back to overlook, I could show you.”
“That would be an excellent idea, but I think we should let your mom in on the discussion. I think she’d appreciate that.”
“I’m sure she would. I thought you might want to keep it a secret.”
He laughed out loud, “I was just surprised that you reacted to it. To be honest, Ollie, I am so overwhelmed by you three, I might not be as forthcoming as I should be. You guys are a little intimidating after I’ve seen what you can do.”
“Yeah, I suppose,” she grinned, “Don’t be though. We’re the good guys.”
He smiled, “Yeah. I don’t doubt that for a second. Let’s head home and wash up. Just so happens the riding best stable in the area is only couple miles from that spot.” He winked, “Best horses for sure.”
Chapter 7
Standing on the overlook, Olivia pointed out across the rolling landscape. Her grandfather had determined that the three points of the peaks converged just ahead of a large stand of trees. He told the women about riding out to the spot a couple of times only to discover nothing but low scrub and a few deer tracks.
“It’s farther up that hillside,” she said pointing up along the uneven ground, “There, where that ledge of rocks sticks up. I saw the ground in that spot was brighter when the sun was shining.”
“Ollie, the sun was kinda in your face if you were looking that way,” Terra squinted down into the valley, “Got any photographs from airplanes? That’d make it easy to see if anything looks out of place.”
Surprisingly, Harris was quick to suggest they continue to the stables, “I’ve got a better idea. I told Olivia that I’ve reserved some spots for us at a close by riding outlet. We’ll only be a couple of miles or so from the spot that Ollie has talked about.” To his surprise, Shannon quickly agreed, “Yeah, let’s get Ollie on a horse.”
“Me too,” Terra chimed in, “I’ve been waiting for this all day.” She turned to Shannon’s father, “She’s itching to get back to a barn that she’s not responsible for burning to the ground.” She only had to wait a second for his reaction.
Blinking oddly, he appeared to be repeating Terra’s words in his head then landed on Olivia for support, “And you’re the good guys, right?”
Oliva grinned, “Yep. There are more than just us though. They are rebuilding the barn.”
“Wasn’t completely my fault, Pops,” Shannon playfully nudged Ter
ra with her elbow, only to be quickly nudged back. A brief series of pokes, tickling ensued only for Olivia to take her grandfather’s arm and begin to lead him to the car, “They do this… a lot. Better to just ignore them.”
He began to laugh, “Okay,” then nudged Olivia, “do you find yourself being the grown up sometimes?”
She just looked at him, her eyebrow twitching, and he began to laugh.
An hour later, they were almost saddled up. “You should have brought Mom,” Shannon scolded her father, “She’s gonna get tired of us talking about this.”
“I asked her last night,” he came back with a grin, “she wanted to do some stuff in town today. She’s in seventh heaven with you all here.”
Having been several months since Olivia had ridden a horse, she took more than a few minutes to get re-acquainted with the concept. “Echo was little,” she grinned nervously as Terra helped her up onto the saddle, “this one is huge. He’s so pretty.”
Terra was quick to calm her concerns, “The manager told me this Appaloosa is a favorite here with young riders. Nice and gentle, plus he’s your best bud now cuz you fed him.”
“Yeah,” Olivia grimaced as she continued wiping her hand on her jeans after giving the horse a heaping handful of oats, “He’s way slobbier than Echo was too. I don’t care though…much.”
Harris sat on his horse watching the women as they got organized. “It’s like being in a time machine but fifteen years apart. You look so similar, it’s spooky.” Pulling on the reins of his horse he moved alongside his granddaughter, “When we’re on the trail, I’ll lead with you behind me. Then Terra and your Mom. When we get to the grassy areas, we can spread out a little.” He turned to Shannon, “I know you’re just itchin’ to show off.”
Shannon grinned, nodding to Terra, “Actually not me. She’ll want to let ‘em open up a little if we get out on the flats.”
Terra patted the side of her horse’s neck, “Maybe a little. If we’re exploring, I’ll behave.”
Harris chuckled before turning his attention back to Olivia, “Stablemaster says there are a couple of rough spots where we’re headed. If it gets too iffy, we can turn back.”
“No way, Grampa. I can do it. I’m feeling pretty comfortable,” Olivia looked down at the ground, “from way up here.”
“Let’s just think about having fun,” he smiled, “It’s not a treasure hunt and it’s another beautiful day with my family.”
With her horse still standing next to Shannon’s, Terra turned and caught her expression in an unusual way. A wonderful and heartfelt comment for sure, Shannon seemed to be studying her father, weighing the comment from an unknown perspective. After a moment she smiled softly and gently prodded her horse with her heels. With a low and relaxed click of her cheek, Terra guided her quarter horse into line, and they began to move out.
The trek to the foothills began with a comfortable amble along an oft-used service road. Terra rode up alongside Olivia and for a few minutes, showed her how to move her horse from a slow walk to a gentle trot. She instructed Ollie to rise up in her stirrups to offset the bouncing and after two or three attempts, the young girl was beaming.
“No galloping, please,” Shannon called out as she and her father watched the two circle back to rejoin the group. A moment later, Olivia combined a now well-rehearsed click of her tongue but was still reluctant to more than nudge the big animal with her feet. Still the horse seemed to sense that it would be an active day and was happy to comply to Olivia’s gentle commands.
Shannon took the moment to remind her father of his assignment, “You get your homework done, Pops? The list of names?”
“I did,” he answered, then winced as Olivia’s horse jerked to a stop, sending her pitching forward only to grab onto the horn of the saddle for dear life. Turning back to her mother, she was grinning ear to ear.
“She’s extraordinary, isn’t she?” he commented, then chuckled, “figures. One other thing,” he pointed to where they were headed, “it’s no coincidence I picked this stable. It borders our sections of land. What Olivia commented on? That’s ours.”
The riding became trickier as they left the road and began to make their way across the rolling hillside. Harris commented to his daughter and then, once again took point as they formed a line to drop into a dry wash. Keeping the horses to the center of the sandy creek bed, Shannon began to watch along the rocks, ready to act if her father’s warning came to fruition.
“All good,” he said as they crested a small hill. He motioned for them to move alongside him, then pointed to a stand of cottonwoods in the distance, “I’d say we’re about a mile from the overlook. Let’s move to the right. Ollie, your trees are over there for a reference point.
Olivia stood in her saddle both to get a better view and for her mother to snap a photo. Looking toward the distant rock faces, the girl pointed farther west where the rock line began to get more pronounced, “I think it’s over there. Past the trees by a few blocks.”
“City girl,” her grandfather laughed, “that’s about half a section. Maybe a half hour and we want to take our time on the uneven ground. At the very least, it’s pretty out here.”
Shannon pointed as the land swept out in front of them, “Looks flat toward the trees. Might curve us where we want to go. Less outcroppings,” she shrugged with a watchful eye to Terra, then grinned, “It’s the much smaller ones I’m worried about.”
“I thought about that too,” Terra winked, “I’ve been watching since we left the road. Plenty of big flat rocks to sun themselves on. That would certainly put a damper on things.”
“What?” Olivia wondered as she maneuvered her horse back to her mother, “A damper?”
Shannon shook her head, “Nuthin, hun. Rain would put a damper on our day.”
Olivia sighed, “Really? Rain? It’s been fluffy white clouds all day. Nice try.” She pulled the reigns of her horse to the side, “I’m watching too…and I’ll keep one hand on the saddle in case something slithers out.” With a more pronounced kick to her horse, she quickly joined her grandfather, and they began to move together along the rise.
“Yeah, that.” Terra snickered as she sat alongside Shannon, “I sure wasn’t this mature when I was her age.” When Shannon didn’t immediately answer, she flipped her reigns at Shannon, “You doin,’ okay?”
“Hey,” she quipped back as she reacted, “Yeah, I’m fine. This is so much more than I ever expected. Sorry I was such a drama queen for you over the last few weeks.”
“It’s okay, Love. I like your Dad a bunch, but I get what you mean. He’s from a different generation but he…” Terra paused and grinned, “I would have picked him out of crowd because some of his mannerisms are very familiar to me.”
“You think?” Shannon said, “It’s been such a long time since I’ve been home.”
“Doesn’t seem like that at all. He was inclusive from the first minute. He seems so genuine.” Terra pointed up to Harris and Olivia and smiled as Olivia waved her arms out across the unending vista, “He is definitely having a good time.” She pulled out her phone to take a picture, then showed it to Shannon, “This one, blown up really big for the gallery.”
Shannon grinned, “I haven’t thought about home all day.” She turned to Terra with her eyes glowing in the characteristic amber, “I have all I need, right here.”
Terra blew Shannon a kiss, then dug her heels into her horse’s belly causing him to jump into a quick canter. Shannon followed suit, but veered toward a flat outcropping of shale, trying to cut Terra off as they joined up with her father and Olivia. Catching a low rise, she rode up above Terra for a moment, then pulled back sharply on the reigns, bringing the chestnut mare to a quick stop.
“Let me get a picture,” she called out, pulling her phone from her back pocket. Sighting in Terra, she snapped two quick pictures, then looked to bring the horse down from the hill. Again, she stopped as a large flat bolder of grey and pink hued colors projected out into
the trail. “Cool backdrop.” Backing the horse up, she took another view of the boulder and chuckled at the natural design as the slabs formed a rough triangle pointing to where they were headed.
Riding down to Terra, she commented on the view and that another picture for the gallery was in order. “It’s just you in the frame,” she said quietly, “You looked back at me, just at the right moment. My heart just thumped in my chest. So gorgeous.”
Not a minute later, Shannon called to her father, “Dad? How close are we?” Her suddenly expression was serious, and she was staring at another rock outcropping that was coming up alongside them. “We didn’t just go in a circle, did we?”
“We’re almost there,” Olivia called out, only to have her horse flinch at her raised voice, “Whoa, buddy, be nice,” she asked as she clamped down on the saddle, “Sorry I was so loud.” With a quick rub of the horse’s neck, he settled quickly. She turned back to see her mother climbing down from her horse. She walked up the trail a bit to look back from where she had taken the picture, then walked out onto the rock outcropping. She looked out toward the peaks, then turned to Terra, “If there is another triangle shaped rock around this curve, I’m gonna get a little agitated.” She waved to Olivia, “Be right there.”
“Let’s bend a little to the right,” she said quietly as Harris and Olivia doubled back to join them, “Maybe a hundred yards or so.”
“Something look familiar?” Terra whispered.
“Rocks do weird things up here,” she said, forcing a grin, “maybe not, but let’s keep going for a bit.”
“Your spidey sense kickin in?” Terra asked just as Olivia brought her horse to a stop. Shannon pointed to a layered rock face that rose out the ground. In her head, she was thinking back to both rock formations, then to her father’s model, “Give me a minute. You three stay here.”
Leading her horse on the suggested path, Shannon came to a stop sooner than she’d expected. A third and larger outcropping, with a series of thick pieces of stone forming a triangle, lay at her horse’s feet. Without any direction from Shannon, the stocky horse began to back up, jerking his head to move away from the rocks. Surprised by his sudden skittishness, she quickly let him pull back and rode to join the family. It was a moment before she spoke. “Ollie,” she turned in her saddle to point at the heaved section of rock, “Is that what you saw?”