He shouldn’t, but Oh’Dar had been dying to ride for some time. He didn’t trust the man, but he wasn’t afraid of the horse, even though Dreamer was far larger than anything he had ridden before.
As Oh’Dar hesitated, Louis encouraged him again by holding the stirrup and signaling for him to step onto it.
Oh’Dar put his foot in the stirrup as Louis had done, and hoisted himself up. As he had done with Louis, Dreamer stirred around when he felt the weight hit the saddle, but Oh’Dar brought the huge horse under control easily enough and walked him in a small circle there in the driveway.
“What the hell?” said Louis. He had expected the stallion to balk as it had with him, especially with a stranger mounting.
Mr. Jenkins was getting ready for the weekly card game with the other hands. Those who weren’t playing were off in other parts of the bunkhouse resting, playing music, or otherwise entertaining themselves.
They had just dealt the first hand, but in his gut, something was bothering Jenkins. He couldn’t shake the bad feeling. He threw his cards down on the table and said, “Sorry, boys, count me out for now. There’s something I have to check on.”
He came out of the crew house and started walking up over the hill to the barn. He crested the hill just in time to see Louis helping his nephew get up on Dreamer. Mr. Jenkins’ feet pounded the ground, dust flying behind him, but he knew there was no way he was going to make it before the young man was up on that stallion.
Louis’ mouth hung open as he watched his nephew bring Dreamer back under control. This isn’t going as planned! No matter.
Angry that the boy had some horsemanship skills, Louis picked up his leather riding crop and smacked Dreamer as hard as he could on the rump, delivering a vicious, stinging blow. That ought to do it!
Dreamer took off like a mad demon, Grayson doing his best to hang on. Mr. Jenkins stopped and watched helplessly as the huge beast pelted down the long drive with Mrs. Morgan’s grandson a captive along for the ride.
What the hell! thought Jenkins. My God, he intentionally spooked that horse! If anything happens to that boy, it will kill Miss Vivian.
Jenkins finally made it to Louis, barely able to catch his breath. While he was gasping for air, Louis started stammering.
“—Jenkins. Oh, thank God you’re here! The boy insisted on riding Dreamer. He just took over, and I couldn’t stop him from getting on. I tried to talk him out of it, but you know he doesn’t understand anything we say!”
The two men watched helplessly as Dreamer continued pounding on down the long driveway with Grayson hanging on for dear life—until both were out of sight.
The minute Dreamer bolted, Oh’Dar had focused on maintaining his balance. He knew he had two choices: look for a soft place and try to roll off the horse, or wait for him to run himself out. The greatest danger was if Dreamer decided to head for obstacles that would require jumping. Oh’Dar decided to hang on and focused on relaxing his muscles so he could match the rhythm of the bolting animal.
To the left was a small hill with a gentle incline. Oh’Dar steered Dreamer in that direction, knowing that this would slow the stallion down. As Dreamer reduced his speed, Oh’Dar tightened the reins in his left hand and with his right, leaned forward and grabbed the reins as close to Dreamer’s mouth as he could reach. He leaned back, pulling Dreamer’s head down. That forced the horse to slow down, and once he slowed, Oh’Dar was able to get him walking in circles to help calm him down.
As Oh’Dar walked Dreamer around, he patted and scratched Dreamer on his withers, and since no one was around to hear, talked calmly to him.
“Good boy, Dreamer, hey there. Good boy,” he spoke quietly and soothingly and made sure he relaxed, so as not to transmit any concern to the horse.
Mr. Jenkins didn’t let on that he had seen Louis deliver a stinging blow to Dreamer’s rump with his riding crop.
He was grateful that he had listened to his gut. Though it hadn’t prevented whatever Louis was up to, at least there had been a witness. And now Jenkins knew that Louis had bad intentions toward the boy.
Jenkins sprinted off to the barn to saddle up another horse to go after Grayson and Dreamer. About the time that he was ready to take off after them, he saw Grayson returning, sitting tall in the saddle and riding Dreamer confidently back to the stables.
Jenkins mounted and rode over to them. Knowing Grayson could not understand him, he still couldn’t help himself. He pulled up next to Dreamer and the young man. “My God, Grayson. If anything had happened to you, it would have killed your grandmother. And me, for that matter! After everything she has been through. What the hell was that man thinking? And where did you learn to ride like that?”
About that time, Louis came running over to the stable area too.
“Oh, thank God you’re alright! Oh goodness. I don’t know what happened! Grayson, you had no right to get on the horse like that! What were you thinking? I’m sorry, Jenkins—like I said, he just took over, and I couldn’t stop him.”
Grayson looked at Mr. Jenkins, and for a split-second, the stable master was sure his eyes were saying that none of what Louis was asserting was true.
“It’s alright, Mr. Morgan, Master Grayson is fine. Somehow, he brought that stallion under control. I would never have imagined the boy knew how to ride like that. He continues to prove more and more of a mystery. You go ahead back to the house, Master Grayson, and I’ll put the horses back up.”
“But it’s your afternoon off,” Louis gave a deeply apologetic look. He was overcompensating and didn’t realize it. But Jenkins did.
“It’s alright. It must be done, and I don’t expect you to do it. Miss Vivian will make it up to me another time,” said Mr. Jenkins.
“Oh, no. Oh, you can’t let my mother know about this! It would worry her so much. No, I think it best we keep this a secret between the two of us.”
Yeah, I’ll bet you do, thought Jenkins. I know what you’re up to, I’m on to you now.
Mr. Jenkins had never much taken to Louis even when he was a boy, and now he felt his assessment of the man was accurate.
“If that’s what you think is best, Mr. Morgan. You go on now, let us finish up here before it starts to get dark,” Jenkins answered.
Louis headed off back to the house. Jenkins looked at Grayson as they sat astride their mounts.
“Come on, let’s walk Dreamer around a little bit more to let him cool down.”
Jenkins and Oh’Dar rode at a slow pace side-by-side around the area.
“Something tells me that you understand a lot more than you let on, Grayson.” Jenkins looked over at Oh’Dar as they rode. He did his best to remember to address the young man as Master Grayson around company. But he used the more familiar first name when they were alone together.
Grayson looked at Mr. Jenkins but didn’t acknowledge what he was saying.
“Oh, don’t worry, your secret is safe with me. I would do the same if I were you. Best to learn as much as you can about what you’re getting into before you show your hand.
“But we have a bigger problem, son. You know as well as I do that you didn’t take over Mr. Morgan’s ride as he said. I saw him offer the horse to you. And I also saw him whip Dreamer on the rump to spook him. Now the question is, why would he do that—unless he meant for you to get hurt. Or worse.”
Jenkins stopped his horse so he could turn and look at Grayson directly.
“I don’t know what we’re going to do about this, but we’re going to have to think of something. If your uncle tried it once, he’ll try it again. If you look around, it’s obvious your grandmother is wealthy. I’m sure your uncle was none too pleased when you showed up. Until you appeared, all your grandmother’s wealth was set up to pass to him when she died. Now, no doubt, he has to share it with you. Though I would never have thought he’d go this far.
“Looks like Dreamer is cooled down, let’s head back.” And Mr. Jenkins turned his horse back to the barn while Grayson
followed.
They entered the stables, and both dismounted. Jenkins and Grayson took the saddles and pads off the horses. The stable master gave both horses water, giving Dreamer only a small amount after all his exertion, and then began to groom him.
As he worked on Dreamer, Mr. Jenkins continued to talk.
“Here’s the problem, Grayson. If I go to Miss Vivian and tell her what happened, it’s his word against mine. I don’t care if I lose my job, but that leaves you with no help at all and at his mercy, and I can’t allow that. So, since you aren’t ready to speak up yet—and yes, I believe you probably can talk, just as I’m sure you’re understanding every word I’m saying—then we need another way to expose what he’s up to.
“Mark my words, son. Whatever we do is going to be dangerous. But I don’t see that we have any other choice. If we don’t expose him, then he’s going to continue to try to harm you. And next time, he might succeed.
“But I’ll think of something, don’t worry.”
When the horses were groomed and put up, Mr. Jenkins insisted on walking Oh’Dar back up to the house and seeing him safely inside. At the top of the stairs, he laid his arm across Oh’Dar’s shoulders.
“Get some rest, son. But sleep with one eye open if you know what I mean. We can’t let this go too long before doing something about it.”
This time, the boy nodded, finally confirming to Mr. Jenkins that, yes, he did understand. And what everyone had been saying all along.
Noticing the nod, Mr. Jenkins smiled. “Thank you for trusting me. I won’t betray your secret, son—or let you down.
Oh’Dar had found a friend.
Louis went directly up to his room after Jenkins took off for the stables. Charlotte came in as he was storming around the room, fuming.
“What’s wrong? What happened?” She followed him around the room, trying to talk to him.
“Oh, that damn kid. How the hell did he learn to ride like that?”
“What are you talking about?” she was blocking him now so he would stop pacing.
“I put the kid up on Dreamer. I didn’t think he’d be able to handle that stallion. I thought for sure he would at least fall off and be dragged, if not trampled. But he got that horse under control. Damn!
“And worst of all, that old man, Jenkins, might have seen part of it. I’m not sure. I think he bought my story, but I’m not sure.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about, so when you calm down, tell me the whole story from the beginning!” Charlotte walked over to a table in the corner and poured her husband a stiff drink. She shoved it into his hand, impatiently.
“Here. Now, tell me everything.”
Louis told her the whole story from start to end, including how he had whipped Dreamer with the riding crop when he saw that the boy was able to manage the stallion.
“Louis. That was stupid. Knowing your grandmother’s determination, that boy is going to be able to talk someday. And he’s going to tell how you convinced him to get on the horse and how you spooked it intentionally. And you don’t know what Mr. Jenkins did or didn’t see. So now we have two problems!
“It was an irresponsible risk,” she continued. “I don’t know what you’re planning next, but you’d better take a while and think it through. And I hope your next idea is better than your first one!” she said as she filled a second glass of bourbon for herself.
Chapter 8
Oh’Dar entered the house and started toward the stairs as Mrs. Thomas came out of the kitchen.
“Good evening, Master Grayson,” she said, and then looked at the sweaty, dusty, disheveled young man.
She put her hands on her hips, “Come on, Master Grayson. I think I know what would do you a great deal of good.” She led him to his room and made her gesture for wait here.
After about half an hour, Mrs. Thomas knocked on Oh’Dar’s door. He was lying asleep on the floor because he hadn't wanted to get his bed dirty. She gently woke him up.
“Come with me,” she motioned.
Mrs. Thomas led him into a room behind the kitchen that he hadn’t been in before. Inside the room was a large tub filled with steaming water. She motioned for him to take his clothes off and get in, showing him a little bell on a table to the side and how to ring it when he was done. She had already laid out a bar of soap and a towel, as well as a fresh nightshirt.
Oh’Dar started to disrobe before she was out of the room. He had only worn his wrappings at Kthama to keep warm, not thinking of them as relevant to modesty.
Oh’Dar felt the water and was pleased to find it heated! He eased himself down into the tub, lay back, and relaxed. It reminded him of the times his mother and Nadiwani would let him play in the Gnoaii—only so much warmer and more relaxing.
Bliss.
As he enjoyed the warm water and the sweet-smelling soap, he thought about what had just happened.
Uncle Louis didn’t like me from the start. But why would he want to hurt me? Mr. Jenkins said my grandmother is wealthy. It must have something to do with all these buildings. Mrs. Webb’s home wasn’t this big, and she didn’t have horses, or men working for her.
He tried to put his troubles out of his mind and enjoy what he would later learn was a bath and was also something called a luxury.
As the water cooled a little, he couldn’t stop yawning. He stepped out of the tub and rang the little bell for Mrs. Thomas to return.
Mrs. Thomas returned while he was standing next to the tub. When she came in, she stopped and almost dropped the glass of milk she was carrying.
“Oh my! Master Grayson!” She sat the glass of milk down and hurried over and covered him up with a towel. Then she handed him his clean nightshirt and turned her back while he put it on.
After waiting a few moments, she peeked back around to see if he had covered himself. She then handed him the glass of milk, and with a smile, sent him back up to his room.
Oh’Dar’s education began the next morning. Miss Blain had set up a classroom of sorts in one of the many spare rooms. She and Mrs. Morgan had decided on a course of study. Miss Blain knew that Grayson could learn numbers without having to know English, but he couldn’t learn to read without it. So, to get a sense of his learning ability, she started with arithmetic.
As with everything else, Oh’Dar was a fast learner. He understood symbols and quickly caught on that each mark she was making on a little board represented the number of apples she had on the table at that time. He was used to measuring when helping his mother and Nadiwani. It was just a question of memorizing the symbols relative to the number of apples.
Wanting her to know he was catching on, he separated the apples into two groups, writing the symbol for each group: 2 on the left and 3 on the right. Then he pushed them back together and wrote a 5.
Miss Blain smiled profusely. Oh’Dar realized he liked making her smile.
Miss Blain then pointed to the group of apples Oh’Dar had just put together and said the names of the symbols.
Oh’Dar felt sorry for her and wanted her to feel she was succeeding, so he repeated the words two and three.
That made her smile!
“Oh, Mr. Grayson, we’re very smart, aren’t we?” and she clapped her hands together.
Yes, we are! he thought and smiled back at her.
They continued to work through the rest of the morning, taking a break for lunch before picking up again.
Much later, Miss Blain spoke up suddenly. “Oh, I apologize, Master Grayson. We’ve gone on too long. I was so excited to see how fast you're learning. I’ll go with you to see Mr. Jenkins and apologize. I promise I won’t keep you over again,” she said, getting up and walking to the door.
She followed him out of the door and gestured that she would go with him to the barn. He was already in the more comfortable work clothes that he chose to wear whenever it was up to him.
When he saw them approach, Mr. Jenkins looked up from what he was working on.
“
I’m so sorry, Mr. Jenkins, I kept him over. I won’t let it happen again. He’s just so smart, and I became so excited at how fast he was catching on!” Miss Blain’s eyes lit up as she explained.
Mr. Jenkins wasn’t too old to appreciate how pretty Miss Blain was, with her mass of brown hair piled softly on her head, and her lovely brown eyes.
“Oh, I’m sure he didn’t mind, Miss Blain,” he said, a twinkle in his eye.
After Miss Blain had left, Mr. Jenkins led Oh’Dar into the barn. Making sure she was gone, he explained, “I have a plan, but it’s going to be dangerous. And we’re going to need help.”
The spring weather had given way to the heat of summer. Life continued without Oh’Dar, though there was not a day when Adia and the others did not think of him. They spread the word through the Community that he had chosen of his own free will to return to the Waschini world.
The news saddened nearly everyone, and the females continued to rally around Adia in support. They all knew how much she loved Oh’Dar, what she had risked to save him, and how she had suffered under Khon’Tor’s initial punishment of her actions.
Time was drawing close to the deadline for those who wanted to be paired to make their intentions known. Adia, Acaraho, and Nadiwani sat discussing Nootau.
“I am struggling with it, of course, having lost Oh’Dar,” Adia started. “But I am trying to be fair and not think of him as my last little offspring.”
“I know. But I am not sure that Nootau thinks he is ready either,” Nadiwani replied.
“In the time it takes for the High Council to prepare and announce the pairings, another two years will have passed,” offered Acaraho.
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