“Can’t sleep,” John said, cleaning his M-4.
Jasmine watched Nathan get dressed. “What are you doing?”
“Going to let Tom sleep,” Nathan said, picking up his vest.
Glancing at her watch, Jasmine looked back at Nathan, “Tom has another hour before he wakes someone. You can sleep.”
“Can’t,” Nathan said, heading for the stairs to the loft.
Jasmine laughed, standing up. “You are so weird. You tell us to sleep when we can’t, but if you can’t it’s okay.”
“Others don’t need to pay if I can’t sleep,” Nathan said, heading upstairs. He spotted Tom standing back from a loft window, looking through his binoculars. “You can get some sleep, I’ll take over.”
Lowering his binoculars, Tom looked at Nathan with a small smile. “If you don’t mind, I’ll keep watch.”
“We can’t have you sleepy when we move,” Nathan said, looking out the window.
Tom walked past him to another window and lifted up his binoculars. “You don’t have to worry. I know what happens if you let down your guard.”
Grabbing Tom’s shoulder, Nathan squeezed it, “Tom, the rest of us here will keep watch. You don’t have to do it.”
“I know, and if we all stay alert and expect trouble, when trouble comes we can kick its ass and go on our merry way,” Tom said.
Nathan looked at the determination on Tom’s face and nodded. “When you get tired, get me or the others.”
“I will, thank you,” Tom said, walking over to another window. Nathan smiled and headed downstairs to find Jasmine coming up them.
“What are you doing?” she asked, backing down.
“Tom wants to stay on guard,” Nathan said. He walked to the back of the barn that led to the corral. Ares jumped up and ran over, following Nathan outside. Jasmine jogged over, joining them.
Nathan looked at the two horses walking around the corral. One was quite large and black. Studying the horse, Nathan could see a lot of cold-blooded characteristics, one being big as hell. The tail and mane were flowing, but he could see some warm-blooded characteristics as well. Shrugging, figuring it was an American horse, he looked at the other.
It was clearly a pinto with brown and white markings. The horse stood on the other side of the corral, looking at him. Neither seemed nervous, just studying him. Glancing at the dead horse in the middle of the corral Nathan saw it was a pinto also, with white and gray markings. Walking over, Nathan spotted several gunshots over the animal’s body.
“What the hell did you do to deserve this?” Nathan asked, looking at the dead horse. As he walked around the dead horse, Ares trotted over to the other horses and stopped, looking at them. The big black horse edged over and sniffed Ares, and Ares did likewise. Satisfied, they moved closer and continued the inspection. Hearing a blow, Nathan snapped his head up and saw the big black horse and Ares just studying each other.
Turning, Nathan saw the pinto had its ears laid back and neck lowered, moving toward Ares. Nathan pulled out his pistol. “Fuck with my dog and you join the one here,” Nathan said, aiming at the pinto’s head.
Jasmine ran over and grabbed Nathan’s arm. “Nathan, you can’t shoot it.”
Glancing down at Jasmine, Nathan looked at the pinto, who had raised its head up. Nathan looked under the horse. “She tries to hurt my dog, we eat horse.”
“She’s just unsure,” Jasmine said, pulling his arm down till the pistol was aiming at the dirt. “That is Spots; she is a barrel racer. Judging by the ribbons she’s pretty good.”
Nathan looked at her in shock. “How the hell did you find that out?”
“The pictures in the house. She’s a registered pinto, fourteen and half hands tall,” Jasmine said.
Nathan pointed at the black horse. “Know anything about that one?”
“Adopted mustang, ten years old, sixteen hands tall. They used him for tending cows. His name is Knight,” she said watching, Ares and Knight getting to know one another. “The dead one is Oscar, a pinto also and a barrel racer.”
Putting his pistol back in his thigh holster, Nathan looked at Spots. “She tries to hurt my dog and she joins Oscar.” Walking over, Nathan held out his hand to Spots. She tried to back away and Nathan gently talked to her. She stopped backing away and her ears stood up. Nathan stopped walking toward her and kept talking gently to her. Slowly, Spots walked over to him and smelled his hand.
Nathan started rubbing her back as he talked to her. Knight looked away from Ares and saw Nathan petting Spots. Knight walked behind Nathan and lowered his head, tapping Nathan in the back. A fifteen-hundred-pound horse doesn’t tap lightly, and Nathan went to the ground face-first.
Nathan rolled over, wanting to know who drop-kicked him, to see Knight slowly walking over. Knight put his head in Nathan’s chest. Nathan rubbed his head and Knight moved his head to where it felt good. Continuing the rubbing, Nathan stood up slowly as Jasmine started to pet Spots.
“Seems Knight wanted some lovin’,” she said, giggling.
“Serves me right. I didn’t follow my dad’s first rule of horses. Never turn your back on a horse you don’t know,” Nathan said. He looked Knight over. “You don’t have to kick my ass for some love, big fellow.”
“How many horses do you have?” Jasmine asked looking spots over.
“Several: three Percherons, two Quarter horses, two Friesians, and three mustangs,” Nathan said.
“You ride a lot?” Jasmine asked. “I mean before this.”
Nathan laughed. “Yeah, at least once a month I would hit a trail with the guys. Tim and Sherry don’t own any horses so they used mine.”
“Are we taking these?” Jasmine asked hopefully.
“If they let us ride them we are. I would like backups. If they don’t, we’ll turn them loose,” Nathan said, walking back to the barn. Knight turned to follow. Nathan spun around, backing up. “I broke the rule again.”
Opening the door, Nathan quickly waked in the barn. It was easy to spot Knight’s saddle hanging on the rail of a stall. Nathan grabbed the tack and saddle. “Shit, I forgot what a real saddle weighs,” Nathan grunted, carrying the saddle to the door. Smoke’s saddle was lightweight, made of carbon fiber, and had gel pads in the seat.
Fighting to open the door and carry the saddle, Nathan finally managed it to find Knight waiting outside. Easing the saddle to the ground, Nathan grabbed the blanket and tack. Knight stood still as Nathan put the saddle on and tightened it down. Slowly climbing into the saddle, Nathan really missed the gel pads as he sat down.
Gripping the reins tightly, Nathan squeezed his knees and was relived Knight stayed still. Nathan didn’t like horses that were trained to move with a knee squeeze. That was how he held on and he didn’t want a horse taking off when he was trying to hold on. Relaxing, Nathan gave a soft kick and Knight moved forward.
For twenty minutes, Nathan worked Knight around the corral. Nathan had to admit, Knight handled better than Smoke. But Smoke, like the rest of their horses, was a hunting horse, and gunshots didn’t make her freak out. Nathan trotted over to Jasmine and climbed off. “Ride him around. I’m going to saddle Spots.”
After Nathan saddled Spots, they rode around the corral, and Nathan knew Spot was a barrel racer. Pulling hard for a turn, Spots could send you out of the saddle fast, cutting sharp turns. Satisfied the two horses were okay to bring, Nathan climbed off and opened the door, leading Spots to an empty stall.
Seeing Jasmine lead Knight past, Nathan stepped out, taking the reins. “Let me take his saddle off.”
Jasmine looked at Nathan in shock. “I’ve taken your saddle off before.”
“My saddle weighs twelve pounds. This one is a bit more,” he said, taking the reins. “I really don’t want to see a bruise on your hiney when you walk around in thongs.”
Jasmine chuckled and moved over, taking Spots’s saddle off. Grabbing a brush, Jasmine brushed her down. Spots really loved this. Jasmine continued to brush till she
saw Nathan walk by and left the stall.
Reaching the camping area, they saw John sound asleep. Walking over Nathan moved John’s rifle, vest, and pack over by the wall then headed to his woobie. Taking off his vest, Nathan crawled over beside Emma and was soon sound asleep. Seeing Nathan was asleep, Jasmine smiled, watching him a second longer, then laid beside Chip. Soon she was asleep and the dreams started. She wasn’t alone as the dreams invaded the witnesses to horror.
Chapter 16
Day 49
Jumping to his feet from a sound sleep, John looked around, panicked, soaked in sweat. He blinked his eyes, trying to understand what he was seeing. The panicked expression left and was replaced by confusion. “John.” Hearing his name, he spun around, blinking.
“John, it’s okay, its Nathan,” John heard. He spun around again and saw Nathan. Breathing like he had run a marathon, John lowered the fist he hadn’t realized he was holding, ready to attack. “John, you’re safe, you’re with us,” Nathan said, moving closer.
Slowly turning his head, John saw the rest of the group, many looking at him clearly afraid. John looked into Nathan’s face. “Nathan, they were here.”
“No, John, it was just a dream,” Nathan said, putting his hand on John’s shoulder.
Looking at each member of the family, John sighed, seeing they were all right. “Nathan, it was so real.”
“I know, but it was only a dream. We did what we could. That family is together now, we saw to that,” Nathan said, slowly pulling John into a hug.
“They–they were—you don’t understand, they—our family,” John stuttered as Nathan quieted him.
“Shh, shh, no one hurt our family. We are the only ones here. Relax and tell yourself we did what we could and that will never happen to our family,” Nathan consoled him.
A shiver ran down John’s spine as he forced the dream out of his head. John returned Nathan’s hug, then stepped back. “Nathan, I—” John stopped, looking at Nathan. “Nathan, what happened to your face?” The left side of Nathan’s face was swollen and his lip had been busted.
“Jasmine had a bad dream as well, and I made the mistake of touching her to wake her up,” Nathan said.
John saw that Jasmine was crying. “I’m glad you didn’t grab me,” John said.
“I was getting ready to. You were yelling and kicking up a storm. I was yelling your name for three minutes and was about to shake you awake before you hurt yourself,” Nathan said, rubbing his jaw.
Shaking his head, John looked Nathan in the eyes. “No, don’t. I would’ve hit you, and I would’ve done it more than once. I don’t want to hit you.”
Nathan laughed. “Don’t sell Jasmine short. She hit me over a dozen times. I’m telling you, I saw stars on this hit,” Nathan said, pointing at his jaw. “She has been paying attention to the hand-to-hand lessons.”
With a look of helplessness, John closed his eyes. “Will they always be that bad?”
“No, they will come and go, but if you remind yourself you did what you could and we won’t let that happen to our family, they will just become dreams,” Nathan said, and John sighed with relief. “Are you sorry you helped me?”
John snapped his head up. “No.”
Nathan patted him on the shoulder. “Then you’ll be fine. You don’t let fear lead to regrets.” John just sat down and looked around.
“Where’s my gear?” he asked.
Nathan pointed at the wall. “It’s over there. I didn’t want you hurting yourself.”
John got up and pulled his stuff over to his blanket and sleeping bag. “Glad you moved it. I could’ve hurt someone.”
“No, you wouldn’t have. You were protecting the family from your worst fear, which is them getting hurt,” Nathan said, turning around as John looked at his watch.
“I was only asleep for two hours?” John shouted.
“Jasmine slept for thirty minutes,” Nathan said, walking over to Jasmine. She was sitting next to the wall, holding her legs and crying. “Would you please quit? You didn’t hurt me.”
Jasmine looked up at his swollen face. “Yes I did! Look at your face! I’m a wretched person!” she wailed, pointing at his face.
Nathan kneeled down and Jasmine cringed away from him, afraid she would hurt him. “I want you to listen to me, okay?” Nathan said in a calm voice. Jasmine sobbed as she nodded her head. “Stop it!” Nathan snapped at her. Jasmine jerked back from the sharp tone and quit crying, more from shock than the command.
“Thank you,” Nathan said, sitting down in front of her. “I’ve been hit a lot harder. You were thrashing around, about to get by that post in the middle of the floor. The way you were throwing your arms about you would’ve broken it. I knew I was going to get hit and didn’t care. I blocked the punches and kicks you threw that would’ve hurt me. I couldn’t let you get hurt. So I got popped, so what? Now I know what to expect if I make you mad,” Nathan said, smiling.
Jasmine snorted and smiled for a brief second. “I could’ve hurt Chip.”
“That’s why I moved him,” Nathan said.
Amanda sat beside Jasmine, putting her arm around her. Jasmine jolted as Amanda wrapped her arm around her shoulders. True to form, Amanda didn’t flinch or act like she minded. “Nathan, couldn’t you have warned them?”
“No, they wouldn’t have believed me. When you see what you fear the most face-to-face, that is when you are shocked to your soul. Your fear is supposed to be make-believe, but there it is, right in front of you. That shakes the mind,” Nathan said.
“We’ve seen bad stuff already,” Amada said, and Jasmine grabbed her leg shaking her head.
“No we haven’t,” Jasmine said.
Amanda pointed at Nathan. “I know he has, because he wouldn’t let me look.”
“Yes, Amanda, I’ve seen some bad stuff. But not like what was in that house. I want to drop it now,” Nathan said, looking at Jasmine.
Amanda nodded. “You’ve already had nightmares like that?”
“Yes,” Nathan said. “But they are actually night terrors, my body and mind don’t recognize that it’s a dream.”
“When?” Amanda asked.
Nathan looked at her with sad eyes. “When I was seventeen.”
“I’m sorry,” Amanda mumbled.
Nathan snorted. “Firecracker, you wanted to know and I’m pleased. You see why I had them.”
“I didn’t have them,” Amanda mumbled.
“The hell you didn’t! You beat the hell out of Ares and me on three occasions,” Nathan said.
Amanda’s jaw hit her chest. “You said that was a bad dream.”
“It was,” Nathan said.
Amanda gave Jasmine a serious look. “It’s going to be okay,” she said with authority. “I know when I woke up and Nathan was holding me tight, telling me to let it go because I’d done what I could, I listened. Then he would say it doesn’t go away, lock it away in your mind, you just live with it, and he’s right. But now when I’m scared or feel helpless, I just say I’m not scared because Nathan will rip its head off and eat it.”
Jasmine chuckled at Amanda and pulled her in for a hug. “I love you, girl.” Amanda smiled and squeezed Jasmine tightly. “So my fear was seeing family hurt?” Jasmine asked Nathan.
“Our greatest fear is to see happiness, innocence, purity, and love disappear. To be hurt for nothing and taken. To see that real evil exists right here beside us, and it takes pleasure in hurting what we hold dear. And can take what we hold dear away from us,” Nathan said. “For you it was the little girl we cut off the bed and the little boy we cut down from the wall. For John it was the mom and the older girl.” Jasmine shuddered as Nathan spoke. “You’ve seen real evil and now know it exists. What’s so terrifying is that it enjoys hurting what we love.”
Nathan clapped his hands for Emma. Emma ran over jumping in his arms. “Come on, doodle bug, let’s go guard,” he said.
Jasmine shook her head. “Fuck if I go back to sleep.”
>
John stood up, agreeing with Jasmine. “You got that right. Nathan, I want watch.” Nathan stopped at the stairs as John just carried his clothes and gear up. Tom, seeing his idol, smiled and stayed up there with him.
Amanda walked over to Nathan. “We are going to suck tonight; nobody’s going to sleep.”
Moving Emma so stuff on his vest wasn’t poking her, Nathan nodded. “You and the others could sleep.”
“After that? Are you crazy? Why don’t we just stay here for tonight and leave tomorrow night?” Amanda suggested.
“We aren’t staying near this house after the sun goes down,” Nathan informed her.
Amanda looked at Jasmine. “Yeah, it will give them bad memories.”
“Amanda, the memories are there. Like you, they know evil is real. That has nothing to do with it, that man was left alive. They may come back,” Nathan said.
“Then we have to go,” Amanda said.
“Not in broad daylight. It is way too easy to be spotted,” Nathan said.
Amanda shook her head. “We can be seen with thermals at night just as easy.”
“Not many have those and most gangs fall in that category. A bad guy sitting on a hill with a spotting scope can see movement from miles away,” Nathan said.
“What are we going to do for the rest of the day?” Amanda asked.
“I’m going to see what other gear they have for the horses, since we are bringing two more,” Nathan said.
“Okay, I’ll help,” Amanda said, picking up her rifle.
Nathan laughed, walking to the other end of the barn. Amanda had already told him about the tack room. Nathan was impressed with the array and collection of saddles and tack. Putting Emma on a saddle, Nathan walked around the room, grabbing every saddle bag he spotted. He found another pack saddle.
“They only had three horses. Why the hell did they need all this?” Nathan asked out loud.
Amanda turned around. “The pasture behind the corral has a bunch of horses.”
Dark Titan Journey: Finally Home Page 22