by Ann Hunter
Ashley's mouth moved to speak, but no words came out. She drew a ragged breath and reached to touch Alex's face. Alex clasped her hand. "Everything's gonna be okay, Ash."
"I…" Ashley sputtered, "I love you."
Ashley's mouth pursed, body shuddering. She gulped air with a desperate rattle, then eased. Her head rolled toward Alex. Wide, blue-gray eyes glazed over, staring, as the light went out of her.
"Ashley? Don't leave me, Ash!" Alex kissed Ashley's forehead as if love was enough to bring her back. "You're all I got. Don't leave me."
But Ashley was already gone. She lay heavily in Alex's arms, and yet felt like nothing more than an envelope whose contents had been emptied. The air seemed colder, darker.
"Somebody help!" Alex tried to yell; the words came out barely more than a whisper. She shuddered, vaguely aware of the blood on her hands and shirt. "Ash." Alex shook her. "Ashley!" She broke down into tears. "I need you... I need you. Come back."
"I was hoping it was you," growled a steely voice.
Alex jumped and turned her head. Vanessa DeGelder stood in the doorway to the spare room.
"Why are you doing this to us?" Alex cried.
"You're no longer of use to me." DeGelder drunkenly pointed a small handgun. Her words slurred. "There's four more bullets for your little friends."
Alex welled up with fear. She welled up with rage. Above all else, she welled up with the need to stop this maniac. She found her feet and roared down the hall. "Did you save one for yourself?"
DeGelder's eyes widened. She aimed the gun shakily. Alex didn't care if she lived or died. A world without Ashley was no world at all. If she at least tried to stop this woman, it would be enough.
DeGelder pulled the trigger just as Alex leapt at her.
Alex screamed.
"Ashley!" Alex choked, trying to sit up. Someone touched her shoulder and she swung at them instinctively.
"Easy, now, you're safe here."
Alex yelped an obscenity as something yanked in her arm. She looked down to find an IV taped into a vein, then took in her surroundings. Machines beeped softly around her in a quiet, sterile room. Her fingers ran over the IV, rubbing it sorely. "Where am I?"
A man in a sports jacket and slacks answered. "Calloway County Hospital, Kentucky. It is November first. You've been unconscious for a few days, Alexandra."
Alex scrutinized the man. "How do you know my name?"
"You'd be surprised at what I know about you. I know your name is Alexandra Paige Anderson. Your birthday is October eighteenth, and you just turned thirteen."
Holy Hell, Alex thought, skin crawling. Creeper. A chill beat against her back through the opening in her hospital gown. She grabbed it self consciously. "How do you know so much about me and I know nothing about you?"
The man smiled, a sparkle dancing in his iron-blue eyes. "Forgive me. I am Steven North, and for all reasons and purposes, you may address me as Mr. North. I am the proprietor of the greatest breeding and racing farm in the world." He said this with the sincere enthusiasm of someone proclaiming it was the greatest thing since French toast or buttered popcorn. "But there's a lot one can gather from someone's hospital chart." He held up a clipboard stacked thickly with forms.
Alex tried to lean forward and snatch it from him, but the cords and wires she was plugged into pulled her back. "Those are personal," she hollered.
Mr. North thumbed through the paperwork. "Yes and no."
Alex sulked, wondering why the social worker people weren't here.
"Your blood type is rare and you have a propensity to talk in your sleep. You will also notice that you are clean, healthier, and there are new clothes on the portable table beside your bed."
Alex glanced away in disdain to look at the clothes. They were simple and understated, but looked comfortable. She couldn't help herself and clutched them close, taking in their fresh, clean scent.
It had been so very long since she'd had brand new clothes. Except for a winter visit from a suspicious fat man in a red suit and white beard who obviously had too much time on his hands, Alex had almost always had hand-me-downs.
Clean blue jeans and a quarter-sleeve t-shirt almost overwhelmed her. There were also new shoes, a pair of red Chuck Taylors which just happened to be her favorite color.
She had always wanted a pair of chucks, ever since she had seen them in a display window on a field trip. She doubted the man in the sports coat could even begin to imagine what a luxury he had provided her. Alex thought he looked rich, and in her experience rich people took everything for granted.
She relished the moment and offered a quiet "Thank you."
Mr. North stood up. "Don't thank me. Thank the Showmans. They're the ones who took you in. They picked out those clothes for you, and they brought you here when you weren't in your room. Thankfully you weren't too difficult to find. North Oak may seem borderless to one who has never been there, but really there are only so many places to hide."
"They must not be very good hiding places if it's the first place everyone looks," Alex mumbled.
The man chuckled. "Probably not, but they're safe." He stuffed his hands into his pockets and turned his head to one side. "I want you to come back."
"Why? I don't even know you."
"Well, you could always go back in the system, but wouldn't it be nicer to have a home? Some place warm and safe with people who will love you."
Alex squinted at him. A stab in her gut growled a warning to her. It all seemed fishy. There was an eerie lack of law enforcement. She killed someone, shouldn't she be taken into custody? DeGelder always said the cops would come for punks like Alex.
"Tell you what," he said. "Stay with us for ten days. Not even two weeks, but just ten days. If you're not happy at North Oak, you can leave with a social worker. Personally, I wouldn't want that, but the choice is yours."
Why wouldn't he want that? Alex wondered. What does he know about me?
"Now I've, uh…" A muscle near his eye twitched. "Arranged everything for you to join us. My good friend Hillary, the one who took you in, will pick you up as soon as the doctor discharges you."
And then Mr. North leaned in to murmur, "You will always be safe at North Oak, Alexandra." He patted her shoulder, but Alex wrenched away from him.
Don't— freakin' touch me.
"Do I not get a say in this?" she growled. "Either way, I'm stuck with crazy people like you."
Mr. North smirked and left.
Alex watched him with vigilant eyes. He may have money and power, but all the assets in the world can't buy trust. Alex refused to let it.
***
Hillary crouched beside Venus Galaxies's dam, Astral Melody, pressing a stethoscope to the mare's dark bay belly. She listened carefully for the heartbeat of the foal inside.
"Both doing well, Melody."
The mare whickered back as though she understood.
Hillary straightened and patted the swayed back of the mare. Melody craned her head to look at the vet. Hillary reached for the patch of gray hairs on Melody's face, a sign of her advancing age. This would likely be her last foal.
Hillary grimaced. She loved her work, but the business of breeding racehorses had its down sides. Like keeping mares in foal most of their lives after they left the track.
She looked into Melody's dark, liquid eyes. This mare was the reason she knew Steven's sister, Angelina North. Hillary was a newly-minted veterinarian when she began her residency at North Oak, and she'd helped to save Melody from a terrible illness that nearly took the mare's life.
That's how Hillary and Angelina had become friends. They had worked tirelessly together. And it wasn't but a few years later they welcomed Venus Galaxies into the world.
It reminded Hillary of why she went into equine science to begin with. Still, it didn't help her from harboring sharper feelings against the business.
And North. Hillary took a deep breath, and seethed. Even then he'd been exactly the way he was now. He
always had plans. You could see it in his eyes. Those cogs in his head always churning. Like the gears in Joe's stopwatch, ticking off. Scheming. Light years into the future.
What did he want with Alex anyway? He still hadn't told Hillary what she wanted to know. Who was she? How did he know Alex? It made Hillary's blood run hot.
Her husband's voice came to her from the stall door. "Are you still cross with North?"
She had been so lost in thought, she hadn't realized he'd come to check on her. "Maybe."
"Honestly?"
"Alright, yes. I'm mad at North." She turned to him, leaving Melody to her morning mash. Hillary brushed her hands together. "We're bringing home another teenager tomorrow."
"I still don't understand why you're so upset over this."
"Why shouldn't I be? I have every right. Who on earth dumps a child into someone's lap? She has no reason to trust us." She left the stall and pulled the door shut. "On top of that North expects us to hang on to her like a prisoner. And for what?"
"We're giving a needy kid a home, Hills. Where's the harm in that?"
The harm is in what North isn't telling me. He has a tie to her. I just can't figure it out.
"Look," Cade continued, "I think you're getting too worked up over this. You're missing the big picture."
Hillary sighed. "And what's the big picture?"
Cade dropped his hands to her hips and leaned in, whispering, "We get to have another kid."
Hillary grimaced.
"How long have we wanted another one?" Cade continued. "After we lost our last, we talked about trying again, but we never really got around to it."
Hillary winced. The mention of her miscarriage a few years ago, late in the pregnancy, still stung.
"We had a dream, honey," Cade murmured. "And we lost it somewhere. I worry that, for whatever reason, you're afraid to want things anymore. Like something terrible will happen if you get whatever makes you happy."
Hillary shut her eyes, refusing to meet his. "Why would I be afraid?"
"You tell me." He tilted his forehead against hers. "All I know is that you've thrown yourself into work since we lost the baby, and it only got worse when Angelina died."
Hillary winced again.
"Don't you realize what we all have in common, babe?" he asked. "We've all lost someone. Don't you think we could give Alex the best home? I mean Brooke alone would be the perfect friend for her. She's got a great head on her shoulders. Down to earth. I think Alex could really use someone to ground her. And you…" He tickled his nose against hers. "You're the best mother anyone could ask for. You have such a big heart. I know you'll find room in it for Alex."
Hillary opened her eyes. "We know nothing about her. North refuses to tell me who her parents are. How does he have a legal right to her?"
"That's North for you."
"It doesn't sit right with me, Cade. We don't even know what kind of kid she is."
Cade kissed her. "The kind that needs you."
NORTH'S SECRET
Alex sat on the edge of her hospital bed, having a bit of a stare off with the woman who said she was Hillary Showman. She was old. Like… forty, or something, Alex thought.
Hillary had keen eyes, and a motherly look to her. Or, at least, what Alex had imagined a mother to look like once upon a time.
The woman's wavy brunette hair cascaded just above her shoulders. She was no movie star, but Alex didn't want to admit the woman was kind of pretty either. That just made Alex feel awkward.
Alex swung her feet. So you're North's lackey.
Hillary pursed her lips, and folded her arms, as if forming her own opinion of Alex.
Ten days, Alex reminded herself with a big breath. All y'gotta do is put up with her for ten days. She squinted at the woman. Can I put up with her for ten days?
Hillary squinted back.
Oh no. Alex sighed. She's doing that thing I hate. She's on my nerves already. Do I really wanna go through with this?
"Are you ready to go?" Hillary asked.
Alex chewed her lower lip, unconvinced that this wasn't some sick joke. She was sure police would have come for her by now for what she had done. Not even a single question had come up. What if this was a giant trap? What if there was a S.W.A.T. team waiting outside the hospital for her?
Alex glanced around the room. North Oak had to be better than the hospital, right? And she could lay low, but only until I'm strong enough to split. Stick to the plan. Ashley and I, we had a plan.
It was worth the risk. She slid off the bed and walked past Hillary, through the door.
Alex stared mutely out the passenger window, watching trees and asphalt roll by. Still no S.W.A.T team. What was she getting herself into? Why was no one looking for her?
A small fog formed on the window as heat condensed against it. Alex ignored the awkward silence between her and Hillary Showman, who was driving.
"Do you like music, Alex?" Hillary offered a half-smile and turned on the radio. A popular rock ballad came on, and the woman turned up the volume. "Oh, Laura loves this one!"
Alex wrinkled her nose as Hillary attempted to sing along with the chorus.
The woman turned the radio down when she seemed to realize her efforts to engage Alex were futile. The silence resumed for another half-mile or so before she tried again. "We're having meatloaf for dinner. Do you like meatloaf?"
Alex folded her arms and silently counted the yellow dashes on the road.
After another mile, the woman shut off the radio. "You know you haven't said a word since I picked you up from the hospital. Did you go deaf or mute from the fever?"
"Is there a reason for me to talk to you when there's nothing to say?" Alex muttered.
"She speaks!" Hillary crowed. "So you do know English. Fantastic."
Alex rolled her eyes.
"I think there's plenty to be said. For instance, my name is Hillary and you can call me that or Dr. Showman. My favorite scent is lavender, and I love hot cocoa on snowy mornings before I head out to the barns. Your turn."
Alex's mouth curled in contempt. "Okay, Doc. My name is Alex, and I think you're a phony broad who's being forced to take me in and be nice to me because your boss thinks he owns the whole damn universe."
Hillary's chin quivered. Alex could tell that she was trying to keep her voice even. "What in the world would make you think that?"
Alex glared at her, eyes driving straight through the woman. "I heard you say so when I woke up at your place. You don't want me. I'm not stupid. I know North is forcing you to take me in. So stop acting nice and cut the commercial. I get it. I'm used to it. 'Oh, look at the poor little orphan. We should be nice to her so she doesn't know what she's been missing out on.' Well, lady, I've known all my life what I've been missing, and the older a kid in the system gets, the less she's wanted. The whole operation is a bunch of bullshit."
The car pulled up to the massive, black gates of North Oak, and the engine idled while they waited for the gates to open.
"I see…"
"No, you don't," Alex snapped.
Hillary set the brake on her navy blue Corolla in the parking lot. "I understand it must be hard for you, Alexandra," she said quietly, "but if you weren't wanted, nobody would have brought you to me. Nobody would've taken you in. Laura would not have prayed for you, and half the farm would not have scoured thousands of acres for you. Think what you want, but the truth is you are very much wanted here at North Oak. You have a family now."
"Whatever." Alex got out of the car and slammed the door behind her, running in the direction of the barns. When she got there, she found the stall with the nameplate Promenade, and opened the door of the brown foal she'd been with as fast she could. He wheeled in surprise and balked comically. Alex rushed over to him and hugged his neck, wanting to know that peace she had felt the last time she'd been in his stall.
Pro whickered, his cream colored tail whisking the air. Alex reached into her back pocket and produced a packet of ap
ple slices she had saved from her last meal in the hospital. The weanling lipped it up, his soft whiskers tickling Alex's hand.
She relinquished her hold on him and skulked over to the corner of the stall, drawing her knees to her chest and hiding her face. "I feel like a black hole has sucked out my soul."
Alex fought back tears, wiping her nose on the back of her wrist. "I should have followed Ashley. I should have been there to protect her. I knew that woman wasn't right. I should have stopped her sooner." Her voice caught. "Why didn't I stop her sooner?"
Pro cocked his head as if desiring to know this dangerous secret.
"Ashley's dead because of me." Alex let the tears come, then took a deep breath and leaned her head back against the stall wall. "I don't regret what I did. Not for a second. I just don't want to go to prison for it. DeGelder said you go there, and you die. That I would be less trouble to everyone if I were dead."
Pro ambled over to her, nudging her with his white nose and nibbling on her pant leg.
"Nine days and I'm outta here. Okay?" She wove her fingers into the short strands of mane behind Pro's ears and leaned her forehead against his. "I don't wanna be trouble to anybody. I don't want to drag anyone into this." She didn't understand why, but being close to him really did bring her peace.
"He missed you, you know."
Alex jumped at the voice. She leaned around the horse to see Mr. North in the stall doorway. He crossed to Alex and Promenade. "He was absolutely beside himself for the first few days after we took you to the hospital. Then, this morning, he calmed down." Mr. North scratched the foal's rump, smiling when Pro craned his head to nip his fingers. "Must have known you were coming home."
Alex's eyes narrowed. "North Oak isn't my home."
Mr. North shrugged. "Maybe if you had a proper tour, you'd change your mind. I think Promenade here may have already swayed you into staying a spell."
Alex pushed the foal away, trying to deceive the man. "Why would some dumb horse make me want to stay?"
Mr. North sat down in the stall across from Alex in complete disregard for his fancy business attire. "Because he's not just any dumb horse. I can trace his pedigree back nearly five hundred years. He was bred from the best stock money can buy, and he apparently has something primal in common with you. You were both born to run."