by Ann Hunter
He settled the edges around her shoulders, and made sure her back was covered, then folded his arms over his chest. He didn’t say a word.
Alex tried not to look at him. He was usually so chatty. Why was he quiet now? It put part of her on edge, but she told herself to cool it. Maybe having a friend in the quiet wasn’t so bad.
She rolled her head against the stall wall behind her, listening to Promenade’s congested breathing. He snorted softly, as if to clear his airways, but it was the rustle of straw that got Alex’s attention. It wasn’t anything much at first, just a twitch or two. Then his legs began moving in a slow-mo galloping motion, gradually picking up speed. His nostrils flared. Was this how it ended?
“What’s happening?” she cried softly.
Dejado lurched forward, sitting on his knees. He watched the colt momentarily, then carefully ran his hand over the crest of Promenade’s neck. He glanced back to Alex with a grin, whispering, “He’s dreaming.”
Dejado stretched out, slowly pushing a knuckle right over where he’d have reins, and inched closer to murmur in the colt’s ear.
“It’s Promenade in the Kentucky Derby. He’s moving like a force of nature.”
The colt breathed harder, his knees churning.
“Promenade opening up now. Promenade by five. Promenade by seven. The crowd is going wild. Ahhhhh,” Dejado hissed, mimicking the roar of the grandstands.
Alex bit her lip, watching this dream scene come to life. Her own heart flittered as she watched these two.
“He’s done it,” Dejado quietly cheered. “Promenade has won the Derby.”
The colt snorted and his legs began to ease. Dejado pressed his cheek against the colt’s, whispering, “That’s my lad.”
And as she watched Dejado gently stroke the horse, she wondered who had spent those hours with Promenade when she hadn’t been there.
“It was you, wasn’t it?” she asked. “All those days.”
Dejado turned his head, still resting against the colt. He smiled at her wordlessly.
***
Alex did everything in her power to keep Promenade moving. The hardest part was getting him up after letting him rest. He was growing weaker rapidly. No way she could leave him for the dance.
“How do I look?” Dejado slid his thumbs behind his lapels down to the waist where he buttoned his jacket. He turned his head to the side, never taking his eyes from her.
Alex swallowed. “Fine,” she said, betrayed by the crack in her voice. He only looked better in racing silks.
“Only fine?” He simpered.
Alex nodded, swallowing again. Anxious sparks popped around her stomach, like lightning bugs stuck in a jar. She wiped her palms on her knees, clearing her throat. “Take care of Carol.”
How was she even able to make words with the war going on inside her? Alex’s eyes lingered on Dejado as he entered the stall and knelt beside her. He reached tentatively for her cheek, caressing it.
Her heavy heart lightened for a moment, still aching with all the noise tumbling in it. He held her gaze.
“You’re going to get straw on your tux,” she said.
Dejado smiled, lowering his face to hers. “I don’t care.”
Alex closed her eyes, leaning toward him. Night after night, he’d been there with her. Now the draw to be close to him didn’t seem so strange. She lifted her chin toward his.
Promenade snorted, startling himself. He swung his forelegs in front of him, trying to rise, but they merely trembled. Alex and Dejado went to help him.
Dejado brought the colt’s water bucket to him, aiding him in a drink.
Alex couldn’t help but look at Dejado’s mouth. What exactly had she expected to happen?
“Don’t be late,” she told him as he smiled over his shoulder at her.
He left her clutching her hair, willing herself to get her mind together. She heard him pause briefly at the end of the aisle to talk to Brooke and Morning Glory.
Alex exhaled hard, feeling as though she was spread too thin, like bubble gum expanding to translucence just before it popped. When she was sure Dejado was gone, she called out to Brooke.
“You’re not jealous, are you?”
“No,” Brooke sighed. “No, there’s nothing between us. He only has eyes for you.”
Alex tucked her lip, reminded of the thing she was trying to get her mind off of. “That’s good, cuz it’s been kinda rough with Laura at home. She’s been different since she started in with John real seriously.”
“I know.”
“She heard back from Harvard. Did she tell you?”
“No.” There was a long pause. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Alex’s eyebrow raised. “What?”
“I’m talking to Laura.”
Alex’s whole body tensed. “Don’t tell me she’s been in there the entire time with you.”
“Hi, Al,” Laura called back. “Thanks for reminding me what a brat I’ve been.”
Alex dropped her head into her hands again, completely mortified.
“You didn’t really think I’d leave my best friend hanging, did you?” Laura called.
Brooke sounded heartbroken. “You’re going, aren’t you?”
“Well, yeah,” Alex quickly intervened, trying to reinforce her sister’s college goal. “Of course she’s going.”
“It wasn’t an acceptance letter,” Laura admitted.
The sound of straw stirring filled the gap in the air between them all. Alex listened to Brooke calm Morning Glory, easing her back into comfort.
“It’s all happening too fast,” Brooke murmured. “We’ll be eighteen soon, and you’ll be off to college, and I’ll be stuck here.”
“Don’t be silly,” Laura said. “You’ve got your licensing test coming up. Isn’t that something to look forward to?”
“Not if you’re off at Harvard. I mean, what’s the point of sticking around if you’re not here?”
Alex leaned her head back against Promenade’s stall wall, listening. She understood, in a way, what Brooke must be feeling. Growing up, going their separate ways. It had to be rough when they’d been together since they were babies.
“Al still needs you,” Laura said. “You’ve got yearlings to train, including Venus Nights. And Mags will definitely need you when she gets better, more than you’ll ever need me.”
And the word that had been drumming in Alex, growing louder and louder since Dejado had shown up finally uttered upon her lips. “Stay.”
Because what was North Oak without Brooke? A place without heart.
“There you are,” John boomed, sounding none too pleased. Alex straightened, as though he were talking to her, when really he was down the aisle. “We had dinner plans.”
Laura was quick to apologize. “I’m sorry, but I was needed.”
“I needed you, Laura. Why is it we keep making plans lately, and I go to pick you up, but you’re never there?”
Alex listened to Morning Glory’s stall door roll open, then shut.
“I’ve been reassessing my priorities.”
“Well you could have told me, instead of being a total flake.”
Laura sounded like she was struggling to keep it together. “I’m sorry. Can we go now?”
“I don’t know,” Johnathan replied. “I made a reservation at a nice restaurant in Murray, and now we’re late, and you’re covered in straw.”
“I could shower and change real quick.”
“You, quick? By the time you were ready, they would have lost our reservation.”
Alex rolled her eyes. Laura deserved better than this. What did she see in him anyway?
“Really, John, I’m okay with just grabbing something quick and spending time together. I’m so sorry.”
Alex left Promenade to march down the aisle toward Johnathan. She reached toward him. “Give me you cell phone.”
He looked at her funny, like she was asking for a million dollars.
She wiggled her fin
gers, urging him to hurry up. When he finally turned it over, she funneled through his recent contacts, found the name of the fancy restaurant with the Murray area code, and dialed them.
“Hi, I have a reservation right now,” she said to the hostess on the other end of the line, “but we’re stuck in traffic. Could we move that reservation back a bit?”
She glared at John who gazed at her stupidly, like it had never occurred to him such a thing was possible. Probably because he’d only thrown his family name around to get what he wanted, whenever he wanted it. Alex rolled her eyes again.
“Eight o’clock is fine. Thanks.” She shoved the phone back at John. “I just bought you an hour. Now treat my sister like a lady, dammit.”
Maybe it was Brooke, maybe it was Morning Glory, but somebody snorted in the background. John still looked like a drowning fish, all wide-eyed and mouth popping in silence. Alex rounded on her heel, headed back for Promenade’s stall.
Brooke and Laura exchanged a few quiet words before parting. Alex simply folded her arms over her knees.
“You didn’t have to do that,” Brooke called down to her.
“No,” Alex replied. “I really did. Boys are dumb.”
“Yeah. I can totally see that with Dejado,” Brooke said, dripping with sarcasm.
Alex smirked. “Whoever said being a teenager is easy was out of their freaking minds.”
“And yet, here we are, enduring the best years of our lives.”
Alex watched Promenade in silence, studying the way his side rose and fell as he slept in the straw. “Are you really going to leave if Laura does?”
There wasn’t an immediate response, but she heard Brooke rustle, then exit Morning Glory’s stall. “I’m going to go grab a burger. Can I get you anything?”
Alex sighed. “Surprise me.”
The soft glow of the evening barn lights struck Carol in such a way that every good feature was accentuated. Alex had already seen Dejado ever so debonair in his suit, but now she wasn’t sure who to look at. They were both equally radiant.
“Why are you here?” Alex asked. “You’re supposed to be at the dance.”
Carol smoothed out her chiffon, shrugging. She glanced up with that smile, and those eyes, Alex so dearly loved. “Where else would we be?”
She slid her arm beneath Dejado’s. “We noticed Brad picking on Katie. She refused to dance with him. So we invited her to hang with us. She didn’t stay long.”
“We couldn’t stay either,” Dejado said.
“At least not to enjoy it.”
“You guys…” Alex hung her head, then exhaled. “I’m sorry.”
Dejado stepped forward. “Don’t be. We both talked about it, and we decided together.”
“It wasn’t right being there without you.”
“We belong here,” Dejado asserted.
“With you.”
“Promenade needs you, and you need us.”
Alex looked away, wiping the corner of her eye with the back of her wrist. She convinced herself it was just dust or something from the stall, and not the light of her guardian angels.
MENDING HEARTS
“What about your voodoo oils?” Alex asked as Hillary checked in on Promenade. “Isn’t there one you could use to open his lungs up?”
Hillary shook her head. “The problem is it’s affecting his nervous system now. It’s no longer a respiratory concern for him, in this particular case.”
“There has to be something else we can try,” Alex argued.
“He hasn’t gotten up on his own in thirty-six hours. You have to see reason. We may have to put him down tonight.”
“Would you throw a life away?” Alex cried, “Would you throw me away?”
“No, of course not. He’s in pain, Alex. You can’t be selfish here. He can’t suffer. You have to let him go.”
“You might as well put that needle through me too, because if he goes, I go.”
“Don’t make this harder than it already is.”
“I know he’ll break through if you just give him a little longer.”
“Time isn’t on our side anymore.” Hillary folded her arms, frowning.
Alex wracked her brain. She had to buy Promenade more time. “You know I’ve never really asked for much, but I’m asking you now. Please. I’m begging you.”
She cradled Promenade’s head, tears slipping onto his cheek. “There has to be something. There has to be…”
Brooke peered in on them. “It’s a neurological disease. Couldn’t we try something that would work directly on the nervous system?”
“What are you suggesting?” Hillary asked, turning in place.
Alex quickly swatted away the tears on her cheeks, not wanting Brooke to see her this way.
“This may sound crazy, but… accupuncture?” Brooke suggested.
Hillary raised an eyebrow.
“Pop won’t admit it, but he’s no stranger to alternative medicine. You know him. Old ways are best. I could call him and see if he knows anyone that he could recommend.”
Hillary folded her arms and bowed her head. Alex really hoped she was considering it.
“You know,” Hillary said. “I’ve been reading up on some new things to try. We could pull blood from unaffected parts of his body, and inject them to the areas he’s struggling in. It’s a similar idea to stem cell therapy.”
“Do it,” Alex urged.
“What’s it going to hurt if he’s only got twenty-four hours or so anyway?” Brooke said to Hillary.
Alex shook her head, refusing to give up. “He doesn’t have twenty-four hours. He has forever.”
“It’s a long, long shot in the dark.” Hillary put on a brave smile. “But that’s why they call it a miracle.”
***
Oddly enough, Alex had never pictured, even in a million years, living in a barn with Brooke.
It wasn’t as lonely as it was before when it was just Promenade who was sick. Now she had someone to talk to. Alex and Brooke would occasionally call down the aisle to eachother, checking in to make sure the other was okay. Alex had to admit it was the one thing holding her together.
One afternoon, she overheard Brooke and Hillary talking about options for Morning Glory. So far she had been successfully battling her own neuro-case.
“I’ve been watching Olympic prep trials, and I’ve noticed red circles in patterns on some of the competitor’s skin. Do you know anything about it?” Brooke asked.
“It’s called cupping,” Hillary replied. There was a brief pause. Alex wondered what she was doing. “Y’know that might actually work. It can help relax the nervous system by encouraging blood flow. Might be good for any spinal discomfort.”
Brooke sounded optimistic. “What benefits Mags may help Promenade.”
Mags must really be doing well, all things considering, if Brooke was actually fighting for Promenade too.
***
“I brought a friend,” Dejado announced.
Alex looked up from Promenade to see Katie by Dejado’s side. Dejado slipped into the stall, offering Alex a hand up.
“Come now, Ishmael. Time to change the guard.”
Alex knew there was no point arguing with Dejado or Carol when Katie came around. They did it purely to get Alex out of the barn and force her into sunlight. They must think her part vampire.
“I, uh…” Katie pulled her hair back as they stepped outside. “Hung back a bit last time and found a trail we could run.”
“Out by the farmer?”
Katie nodded. “A little before, actually. Cuts into the woods, and follows a stream along North Oak’s border. Want to try it?” She added, “It’s your basic out-and-back.”
As though she were a ball of nerves, Katie bounced back and started jogging.
Alex breathed. “Sounds good.”
She caught up to Katie, pacing herself beside her. She listened to her breath, their feet grinding the gravel in tandem until they reached North Oak’s front gates.
They looked at one another as the gates slowly rolled open, and Alex couldn’t help but grin at Katie’s shy smile.
In an unspoken agreement, they sprinted forward laughing, racing up the road toward the trail. The cool spring air burned Alex’s lungs with a fire that only a runner knew.
She followed Katie until they turned in to the woods and hit the trail. Alex managed to get a few words in between breaths. “So why… the change in… scenery?”
Katie jogged ahead. “I’m going out for the cross country team.”
Alex bounded over a small boulder in the path. “That’s awesome.”
“Y’think you might come watch a few meets?” Katie called back to her.
The woods seemed different. Alex had ridden through them from time to time, but on the ground she felt like the ferns and trunks stifled the acoustics between she and Katie. “Of course,” she replied.
They focused on the run after that until Katie slowed beside the stream where it widened. A log had fallen across the largest berth. She braced her hands on her legs to catch her breath. “This is where we turn back.” She pointed. “Across the log.”
Leaves and a twig or two swirled in a small pool beneath the log, then rushed upon their way downstream. Birds sung overhead, and it was all dappled sunlight and earthy mulch. Alex breathed it in. It was almost as good as visiting the grove with Carol. A place to share secrets.
“What happened between you and Brad at the dance?”
Katie blew out a breath, shaking her head. “I’d rather not...”
Alex leaned against a tree, pulling her foot behind her to stretch out her quad. “What did he say to you?”
“It doesn’t matter. Your friends—”
“Who are also your friends, Kate.”
Katie faced her with an expression that burrowed into Alex. Katie’s voice was soft, “No one calls me that.”
Alex took a step closer to her. “Well, I mean it. We’re your friends. You can trust us.”
“He’s been trying to prove a point.”
“Which is?”
Katie tentatively took Alex’s fingers in her own. They stared at their hands together. Alex thought she felt Katie trembling.
“I really, really like you, Alex.”
Alex swallowed a lump in her throat. The trees rustled quietly in a thin and blithely breeze.