Uma's Undoing

by Dallis Adams

  It struck her that he seemed much younger than his worn teeth and dull coat indicated. She knew about the deception some horse traders used to make an old horse appear younger. Shoe polish would help an old horse’s coat to shine. White-wash would hide a horse’s aged teeth, at least for a while. But could the opposite be done? Making a young horse look older? It made no sense to age a horse because most customers wanted to purchase young ones. Young horses would bring in more money, which was why some disreputable horse traders employed the deception. And some gypsies were sly like that.

  She rubbed her palm across the horse’s withers. The fur felt sticky. Then she looked at her palm. Black smudges appeared on it. Then she petted Loki’s velvety nose. “Let me see your teeth.”

  Loki allowed her to lift up his lip. Gray-looking film covered the horse’s teeth. She rubbed at it with her finger to reveal white, gleaming enamel underneath. She lifted his upper lip more. Healthy pink gums shone in the sunlight. It would be difficult to discolor gums and teeth for any length of time.

  When she’d first seen Loki she’d assumed he was around eleven years old. But she hadn’t noticed the film of gray since the sunlight was dim because it had been near dusk. Why would Doc do that? Hide Loki’s age? Too, now the ink on Loki’s gums and teeth seemed to be freshly applied. Otherwise, in the five days since Doc Elroy’s murder the deception would have been washed away by the horse’s saliva. Not to mention eating and drinking. Time would have caused the ink to fade and eventually dissipate.

  So who was reapplying the disguise to keep up the deception?

  Puzzled by it all, she decided a bath was in store for Loki. She walked back through the trees toward Caravan Row to the vardo she’d inherited from Doc Elroy. Poking around, she found an old rag and a sliver of lye. Then she retrieved an old bucket that was hanging on a peg and took it to the spring close to where Loki still grazed.

  Filling the pail with liquid, she hauled it to Loki. Then she started washing his coat, rubbing the rag with lye then applying the sudsy cloth to the fur to remove the tar-like substance. Loki leaned into her rubbing and nickered, seeming to love her ministrations. Soon the coat shone, healthy and vibrant.

  Who was responsible for applying the thin fresh layer of tar on his coat to make it look dull? The deed had to be done at least once a day, maybe even twice. Only one person came to mind, the one who wanted Loki so badly.

  Thistle rustled and crackled behind her. She turned to see Harvey step out from behind coffeeberry shrub. He had a rifle and he was pointing it at her. Dread swamped her. “Harvey?”

  Instinctively, she understood he was there to kill her. But it all seemed so surreal. Not happy-go-lucky Harvey. Her friend. Maybe she was wrong. Maybe Harvey was simply wandering through Caravan Row and into the forest to see Loki. He had his shotgun so he could go rabbit hunting. Maybe he wasn’t the one who was hiding Loki’s true age, nor did he kill Doc Elroy. Otherwise, she was in big trouble. She studied him.

  His eyes looked clear. His moustache and beard appeared freshly washed, and even trimmed. Not only that, but his stance was steady. And his clothes sported a new, fresh look. He had shed the role of the town drunk. Then she took in his expression. The corners of his mouth had turned down. A somber, frustrated air emitted from him.

  In fact, she could only describe him as remorseful yet determined as he stared at her with a steady gaze. “Dammit, Uma. Why couldn’t you have just let well enough alone? Why couldn’t you have simply either given Loki to me, or accepted my offer to buy him?”

  Uma blinked at him. “You were the one who hid his age? Why?”

  “Doc Elroy started it. I don’t think he actually knew I lived in Cryptic Cove but he suspected it, so he took precautions. That’s why he disguised Twilightbolt, because he didn’t want me laying claim to him. In fact, when he rolled into town, he told me Loki wasn’t Twilightbolt, Midnightbolt’s colt. When I held a knife to his throat, he finally admitted to Twilightbolt’s identity.”

  “Who is Twilightbolt?”

  Harvey curled his upper lip in a sneer. “Loki. Pay attention, girly. Doc Elroy thought if he changed Twilightbolt’s name to Loki that I wouldn’t bother to look at him.”

  “What’s the big deal?” Uma asked, wanting to keep Harvey talking. “I mean, I love horses. But why kill a man over a horse? Why not just buy another one?”

  “Because Twilightbolt is Midnightbolt’s colt,” he repeated slowly, in a matter-of-fact tone, as if that explained it all. “Midnightbolt was special. She and I were a team. She was mine and so was her colt. Doc ran off with dam and colt when I was laid up with a sprained ankle. He withdrew everything from the bank, not that the money mattered. The most valuable thing was the horses. Look at Twilightbolt’s markings, the thunder-like streaks of white on his sides on an otherwise black coat.” The smile that curved his lips seemed proprietary, if not a little sinister. “Markings like that is highly unusual. The paints drew a crowd. I wanted to make Twilightbolt as famous as his dam. Now that I have Twilightbolt back, I can start over with my own medicine show. Recoup what Doc took from me. Too, before Doc stole him, I’d already spent months training Twilightbolt, started his teachings when he was eighteen months old. He is mine.”

  “Why would Doc Elroy want Twilightbolt?” Uma asked. It wasn’t as if Doc could do tricks.

  “Because he planned to sell Twilightbolt to Spiridon Smith, the owner of Cojocaru’s for a lot of money. Doc was greedy that way. Doc Elroy not only ran off with all the profit from our partnership, but he stole Midnightbolt and Twilightbolt. I discovered the reprobate had sold dam and offspring to the Montana Bloom Ranch so he could have money to attend medical school in England and Scotland. But when he returned, he bought back Twilightbolt, and negotiated a higher price with Spiridon.”

  She took a deep breath. “Did you kill Doc Elroy?”

  “Of course I did.”

  She’d already known the answer, but she’d wanted him to admit it. That he did so without hesitation made her realize how dire her situation was.

  “Doc had it coming,” Harvey said, his expression murderous-looking. The manner in which he waved the shotgun made Twilightbolt jerk his head up and stare. His theatrics made her nervous, too. “Doc ruined me. He stole all my glory. I was the one who drew the crowds so he could sell some of his medicinals. People came to see me perform. Me.” He jabbed the thumb on his free hand against his chest. “His business was nothing.”

  “So it was a revenge killing,” she said, putting the pieces of the puzzle together. “I don’t condone murder, and revenge doesn’t usually turn out well. Really, I don’t recommend either.” Even as she said it, she wondered … was she being a hypocrite? Because she, too, had been upset with Doc Elroy and had wanted to run him out of town. But killing him had never entered her mind. She had simply wanted to keep him from prescribing cures that could harm Cryptians. Right? Killing him had never entered her mind. She decided she would have to explore her inner motives later … if she had a later.

  She glared at the shotgun. Even though Harvey gripped it haphazardly, it was still pointed in her general direction. “But what I don’t understand is what have I ever done to you? Why kill Doc Elroy in the manner I described when my words got away from me? Crimony, I spent time with you. I taught you how to read. I was in the process of teaching you how to write. I thought we were friends.”

  “Aw, girly, I knew the murder charge wouldn’t stick. No reason to take it personally. Besides, the Cryptians would never allow you to be convicted because you’re well-liked and, after all, you are Jack’s wife. Jack, who is the prodigal son of Cryptic Cove. No, my framing of you wasn’t personal. It was just an opportunity I had to take to throw everybody off my scent. And you wouldn’t have been locked up in the first place if Marshal Spivey hadn’t have just happened to be in town and heard your threat. That was unfortunate.” He stepped forward and nodded. “I really do like you, and I thank you for teaching me to read. But when you so publicly ann
ounced how you would kill Doc Elroy, I saw my chance to thwart suspicion. I had to make sure I wouldn’t be a suspect.”

  His reasoning was galling. Nonsensical. How demented could he be? Had he always been this way? If so, why hadn’t she detected his fractured thinking? Maybe because he had been soused most of the time? “Some friend you are. Get locked up for a week so you can see how it feels,” she muttered. “Why go through all the trouble of killing Doc and framing me? Why didn’t you just steal Twilightbolt and leave?”

  He stiffened his spine and gave Uma an offended look. “Because I’m not a thief. I wanted to own Twilightbolt fair and square. No questions asked. But now I have to steal him because you wouldn’t cooperate. It’s all your fault. You should have let me buy him.”

  She widened her eyes and gave him an incredulous stare. “You’re a murderer but you don’t want to be a thief? And now you’re blaming me? How convoluted is that?”

  With a sniff, he returned her look with an admonishing glare. “A robber is not an honorable person. Which is why I would never commit thievery.”

  She wanted to remind him that he stole Luther’s bag of gold dust a while back. But maybe he really did believe the tale he told about Dionysus, the Greek god of wine and drunken revelry, giving him the money for booze by having the bag fall from the sky.

  “And a murderer?” Harvey continued. “No, I’m not really a murderer. He had to be killed. I’m the one who made our business profitable. He emptied out our bank account, my portion along with his. Not only that, but he stole my beloved horses that I worked hard to train.

  “Doc took away my whole purpose in life. He turned me into a drunkard. Killing Doc Elroy was justice. It just shows that nobody can get away with deceiving me and ruining my life.”

  Hmm. She decided there was no reasoning with him. “Well, you can have Loki, or Twilightbolt, or whatever you want to call him.”

  But Harvey shook his head. “No can do.”

  “What? Why?”

  “Because,” he said as if she was slow. “You know the truth about me killing Doc Elroy.”

  “If it was a secret, you shouldn’t have told me,” she retorted and rolled her eyes for emphasis. How was she going to get out of this mess, and away from him?

  He shook his finger at her while cradling the shotgun with his other arm. “You were going to figure it out anyway. As soon as you saw how someone was hiding Twilightbolt’s age. In fact, you had probably already come to the conclusion that it was me who killed Doc Elroy because I was the only person who showed an interest in the supposedly old nag.”

  “You never struck me as a killer,” she said, hoping to keep the conversation going, and to position Twilightbolt between them. For he would never shoot his beloved horse. She edged around Twilightbolt’s withers and wrapped her arm around his neck. Then she patted his breast, putting the horse between her and Harvey. “But I was wrong. Because no matter how you justify it, you are a murderer.”

  “I’m not a murderer. I’m a defender. Doc Elroy killed your stepsister Tiffany. He was responsible for your grandfather’s death. Who knows who else he killed. He was the murderer. He was also a thief, who destroyed my life. He had to be put down. Now, step away from Twilightbolt.”

  She decided to try to use his reasoning against him. “How does killing me make you a defender?”

  “You ruined all my plans. If you had simply come to your senses and gotten rid of ‘old Loki’ by giving me ownership, none of this would have happened. You could have lived. Then I was going to resume Twilightbolt’s training and start performing again, this time on my own, which means no partnerships. Now because you can’t let anything go, you have to investigate, and you stuck your nose into Doc Elroy’s death, you have forced my hand.”

  “What a bunch of poppycock.” She laughed and realized it sounded a bit hysterical. A movement to her right caught her eye. But when she glanced toward the tree, she didn’t see anything.

  “It’s your fault I have to kill you and be on the run with Twilightbolt.” He brought the shotgun around to grip it in both hands, the butt against his shoulder. “Step away from Twilightbolt. I’m not telling you again.” He angled his strides to the side, moving toward Twilightbolt’s hind quarters and aiming the shotgun toward her.

  “Easy there, boy. Will you help me?” she whispered as she ducked behind the horse. She was out of time. Nobody could save her but herself, and maybe Twilightbolt.

  The paint tossed his head and snorted, rotating his body to keep between her and Harvey, as if he were saying yes. As if the paint understood and wanted to protect her. Twilightbolt suddenly swiveled on his hind legs so his back was to Uma. A scream escaped the majestic animal before he reared, kicking out toward Harvey. A hoof struck the shotgun. The weapon went flying. Twilightbolt kicked again, clipping Harvey’s forehead. Harvey landed in the bed of clover, out cold.

  Uma stood, stunned. If she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes, she would have scoffed at the notion of any animal protecting her like that. Well, if she raised a dog from a puppy, and taught it to be a guard dog, maybe she’d believe that scenario. But a horse? One she’d only seen twice, and just for brief times each?

  “Oh, my stars,” Orchilo said.

  Uma turned to see her friends, Lala and Orchilo, step out from behind a huge Redwood. “Did you see that?”

  “We did,” Lala confirmed.

  “So it’s true,” Orchilo added with a knowing lift of her brows. “No use in denying it.”

  “What’s true?”

  “That you are a Lingvist Zoo,” Lala replied.

  Jack rushed up from behind them, with Luther, Harlan and Marco not far behind. “Are you alright?”

  “I’m fine,” Uma replied, still feeling as if she’d stepped into an alternate world. The trees seemed to whistle and pop around her.

  “You don’t look fine.” He wrapped his arms around her. “You look pale, like you’re in shock.”

  Sinking into his warmth, for a moment Uma couldn’t respond. She couldn’t even think about what Twilightbolt did, or the ramifications. So she dismissed the strange phenomena to contemplate later. Instead, she concentrated on what she could swallow. “It was Harvey. Harvey killed Doc Elroy. And he framed me for the murder.”

  “I know. And I’m sorry, sweetie.” He stroked her hair, tucking her head into his shoulder.

  “I thought he was my friend.”

  “Something was very wrong with him, Uma,” Jack murmured as he stroked her hair. “His mind was broken, which affected his sense of right and wrong.”

  “H-how did you know to find me?” She shivered and Jack cradled her, rocking back and forth in his arms, the motion soothing.

  “I visited with Chuck,” he said against her hair. “He said when he went to talk to Doc Elroy and make amends with him over Celeste’s shooting of him, that he saw Harvey with Loki. That made me suspicious. I noticed Twilightbolt’s brow band was missing from Doc’s vardo. When I found it in Harvey’s belongings at The Wandering Axe, I knew he was the killer.”

  “Makes sense,” Uma said. “He refused to call himself a murderer, or a killer. He called himself a defender and said Doc Elroy deserved death.”

  Luther looked down at Harvey, who was still out, cold. Then he motioned to Marco. “We’ll lock up Harvey.”

  “Thanks,” Jack replied, tossing Luther the keys to the cells. He kept one arm wrapped tightly around Uma, as if he couldn’t stop from touching her. “The circuit judge will be here next week. Thankfully, Harvey will be on trial, not Uma.”

  Lala shuddered. “Uma could have died at Harvey’s hands.”

  “No, Uma was destined to survive,” Orchilo announced.

  “Why do you say that?” Marco called out as he struggled to get a grip on the limp Harvey’s shoulders. Luther had already lifted Harvey’s feet.

  Orchilo fingered one of her many dangling earrings. “Because she is the last Lingvist Zoo, or close to it.”

  “I am not a Lingv
ist Zoo,” Uma said, her tone stern. “I don’t talk to animals.”

  “Denying your destiny won’t change the stars,” Orchilo admonished in a no nonsense way. “You can’t not talk to the creatures of the earth.”

  Luther dropped Harvey’s legs with a thud, causing Marco to lose his grip on the unconscious killer’s shoulders. The man fell with a thump. Luther looked toward Orchilo. “There might be another explanation.”

  “Which is?” Orchilo asked, frowning, most likely because Luther dared to offer another explanation other than hers. “This better be good.”

  “I remember Wild Hog and the Doc’s show,” Luther said slowly. “One of the skits involved local participants who pretended to be victims of Harvey’s, who, in turn, pretended to be a robber. He trained Midnightbolt to rush to the rescue when he shook a shotgun at the civilian, and to rear up at Harvey, the role-playing robber, to chase him away. Harvey would pretend to be hit and knocked out. I assume he trained Twilightbolt to do the same thing.”

  “Well, like an idiot, Harvey certainly shook his weapon at Uma,” Lala said. “And either Twilightbolt misjudged the distance between his hoof and Harvey’s head, or Harvey has grown old and couldn’t move fast enough, like he used to.”

  “Or Uma subconsciously communicated to Twilightbolt her danger and he answered by attacking Harvey,” Orchilo added. She turned toward Uma. “Did you say anything to Twilightbolt?”

  No way was she going to tell them that she asked the horse to help her when Harvey had moved to get a clear shot at her. “Of course not. I’m sure it was like Luther described. Twilightbolt was trained to help.”

  Because the other option, with her being a Lingvist Zoo, wasn’t acceptable.

  Epilogue

  One month later

  A loud cuckoo! cuckoo! sounded, causing Uma to jump. She stood up behind her teacher’s desk, and looked at the students as they sat behind their new desks, satchels of books setting on their desktops, ready to end a successful day of learning. Uma had recently bought the desks with her inheritance from Doc Elroy. “Class dismissed.”