by Amelia Rose
She finished the dishes and went out front to see what else she could do. Emma had learned after the endless weeks of drying out in the Carson’s empty cabin that nothing would be the death of her more than not keeping busy. Staying focused on something, even something as mindless as refilling salt shakers or sweeping the floor, kept her from having enough time to think about meth. When it was quiet and she sat around, it was all she could think about.
“Well, well, if it isn’t little Emma,” a thick voice called out as she walked past. “I’ve missed you, baby. I’ve missed you a lot.” Emma’s stomach rolled over when she turned and saw the stubbly face of a former regular in Crazy Mack’s bar, one of the many who Mack had paraded through her and Dee’s rooms above the bar. She tasted vomit, wondering why, after all these months, anyone who had frequented Mack’s kind of establishment would come into the bar now that Tommy and Jennie had revamped it into a family-friendly place.
The disgusting man shot an arm out and slapped Emma firmly on the rear, laughing at the look of shock on her face. “Don’t tell me you’ve forgotten me already, now that you’ve gone and found yourself some class.” He licked his lips as he eyed her chest. Emma froze, her breaths coming faster and faster as panic gripped her.
The man stepped forward at her silent response, trailing his grimy fingers through the ends of her ponytail, down her neck, and across her breasts, making her whimper in fear, shaming herself at the involuntary sound. When he finally had the nerve to reach a hand between her legs and press roughly against her jeans, Emma threw a hand over her mouth to stifle a loud cry.
She jumped back and let loose a scream when the man’s eyes rolled back in his head, watching in confusion as he fell to the floor. Jennie stood behind him, still wielding Tommy’s baseball bat from behind the bar. She let it drop to her side but didn’t release her grip on it as she grabbed Emma in a hug.
“You’re okay, it’s over,” she repeated in a soothing voice as Emma broke from the strain. Tears coursed down the girl’s cheeks as fear, self-loathing, and humiliation fought to rule over her.
“I’m so sorry, Jennie. Please, don’t kick me out. I won’t let that happen again,” she promised hysterically. “I don’t have anywhere else to go, please don’t kick me out.”
“Emma! We would never kick you out! And this wasn’t your fault,” Jennie admonished her, horrified that the girl could even think this way. “This was his fault. He did this, not you!”
“But…I know him…I mean, from before…you know,” Emma stammered between sobs.
“That part of your life is finished. You’re a changed young woman. You do not have to keep paying for the mistakes you’ve already fixed, silly girl.” Jennie rocked Emma gently as she patted her back, hoping to soothe away the nightmarish hurts but knowing her words alone would never be enough.
“I’m just so sorry. I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”
“You didn’t embarrass me! He’s the dumb ass around here, not you! Look at him! He’s laying there in the floor like we don’t have a dinner crowd to get ready for!”
Emma couldn’t help but laugh through her tears. “What are we gonna do with him?”
“Well, Sheriff McDade is gonna haul him off when I call her. If he comes to, he’ll find himself nursing that lump on his head in a jail cell for sexual assault.” Emma’s eyes went wide with terror as she began to shake her head. “Missy, don’t you shake your head at me. The only way people are gonna get it through their thick skulls that this is a different kind of establishment and you are a different kind of young woman is if someone has to own up for the way you’ve been treated.” She held Emma’s chin in her hand and gently lifted the girl’s face until her eyes met Jennie’s, then continued firmly. “You did nothing wrong. I don’t care who you used to be, I know the girl you are now. And I walked into my dining room here and saw a patron grope you against your wishes. He’s goin’ to jail, and that’s final.”
“But no one’s ever gonna believe me,” Emma whispered, a single tear forming at the corner of her eye now that she had cried herself hoarse.
“I believe you, and the sheriff has to believe me. I know what I saw. I saw a young lady who’s making something of herself get attacked right here in front of me. Emma, look at me.” Jennie cupped Emma’s chin gently and turned her face to look into the girl’s big brown eyes. “I saw the fear on your face just now. You are a different person, and you didn’t want that man anywhere near you. That is all anyone needs to know.” She hugged Emma close one last time then turned around to call the sheriff, giving the man a solid kick to the ribs with her white Keds as she passed him. The move only succeeded in making him moan quietly. Jennie looked at him with disgust before spitting on him, saying, “Shoot. He’s not dead after all.”
Emma sat rigidly in her chair, staring at the unmoving lump of disgusting flesh in the floor. She turned away, already memories of his sweaty body pressing on top of hers attacking her mind. She jumped up from her chair guiltily when the sheriff burst through the door of the bar, a deputy in tow.
As the new sheriff took her statement, the deputy bent to the floor to try to rouse the man, Jennie sneering down at him as Emma and Amy spoke. When he was finally able to roll over and sit up dizzily, the sheriff put down her notebook long enough to twist each of his arms behind his back and handcuff him as he yelled in protest.
Jennie came and put an arm around Emma’s shoulders as they began to lift the man to his feet, half-carrying, half-dragging him toward the door, but not before the deputy looked Emma up and down and gave her a hungry leer. Jennie jumped forward menacingly, shouting at him.
“What are you lookin’ at?” she screamed at him, causing Amy to turn around in alarm. “You wanna wear my baseball bat across the back of your head, too? ‘Cause I have plenty of power left in my swing today, Mister! You look at this girl like that one more time, and I’ll hit you in your other head with it, d’you understand me?”
Amy put an arm protectively across the deputy’s chest, blocking Jennie’s path. “Now, hold on, you can’t go threatening a law enforcement officer, Jennie.”
“And he can’t go looking at this sexual assault victim like he’d get in line to jump her! Is that how you run your department, Sheriff? I’d have thought better of you than that.” She crossed her arms in front of her chest and made an indelicate, angry huffing noise. Emma stood mute, her eyes at the floor.
“I will certainly look into this and I will have a word with my deputy,” Amy promised, eyeing the younger man suspiciously. “But you keep your head about you, got it? I don’t wanna go dragging you across the street to the jail, too…I only have the one pair of handcuffs!” she said with a laugh. Jennie nodded curtly, then watched them go.
“Jennie,” Emma began in a quiet sort of voice. “you can’t go hitting everyone who looks at me funny. Because you’re gonna wear yourself out and then end up in jail. People here know about me. They know what I did. And they’re not about to let me forget it.”
“Well, when enough of them get amnesia from my Louisville Slugger, the rest of them will forget soon enough all on their own,” Jennie growled.
“You can’t hit them all. It’s just not possible. But I appreciate it,” she answered. “No one’s ever stood up for me like that before.”
“It’s high time someone did, Emma. And until you find somebody to go through this with you, I’ll be right here…practicing my swing.” Jennie hugged her close then turned and walked back to the kitchen, leaving Emma to stare after her in silence.
Chapter Seven
Joseph paced back and forth in the cool dark of the stable, his own horse, Brandy, standing saddled and bridled, waiting patiently for its rider to make up his mind. Every time he approached the eager horse, he stepped back, knowing that even climbing up in the saddle would be enough to send agonizing spasms running down his back. Worse was the feeling of failure that ate at him for being such a coward.
He watched as his horse turned
its massive head to look at him, and he swore he could see disappointment on the animal’s face. She had been just as frustrated, tied up, and cabin feverish as he had been through this whole time, and it showed in the impatient way she stomped and pawed at the dirt-covered floor of the stable. Even worse, she was saddled and ready to go, but now stood there confused while she waited for Joseph to make up his mind about riding.
Here goes nothing, Joseph thought to himself, already certain that this was a really dumb idea. He placed his booted left foot in the stirrup, wincing at the feeling of his unused muscles stretching for the first time in weeks, then gripped the saddle horn and the rear of his saddle, ready to hoist himself up. But instead of gliding over the horse’s flank and positioning himself over the saddle, a sudden pain tearing through his shoulder blades made even his fingers lock, sending him falling to the ground where he landed flat on his back.
His agonized screams brought his two youngest brothers running from their chore of mucking stalls on the other side of the barn. Seamus and Jacob came around the side of the stable at a full run, skidding to a stop at the sight of their brother on the ground beneath his horse. They rushed to his side and dropped to the ground next to him, afraid to touch him.
Joseph’s breath came in rapid, short gasps as his face contorted in pain. He writhed briefly, but even that motion made it worse.
“What do we do, Josey?” Seamus whispered, using the nickname the brothers had given each other years before when they would beat each other at wrestling games. It didn’t stop Jacob from slapping at his upper arm, a disgusted look on his face when Seamus called him by a girl’s name.
Joseph didn’t answer right away, but finally stilled by forcing himself to take long, slow breaths. His eyes stayed tightly shut, though, alarming the twins. They exchanged worried looks while they waited for Joseph to be able to speak.
“Joseph, can you tell us what happened yet?” Jacob asked. “Did you fall off the horse again?” He shook his head from side to side, finally moving his hand up to grab futilely at his shoulder. “Can you sit up?”
Together, the twins helped Joseph sit up, waiting with their arms out in case he fell backward. “What were you trying to do?” Seamus asked, eyeing the horse as if it should be obvious, but not sure what it was about just getting on the animal that would have landed Joseph on the ground.
When Joseph could stand, the twins helped him to his feet and out of the barn, Seamus calling to a nearby hand to unsaddle Joseph’s horse. They got him to the main house with great effort, and with even more energy and some small amount of screaming, got him up the stairs and into bed. They eyed each other warily when Joseph rooted in the drawer next to his bed for his small, brownish bottle of pills. It was no secret that their father was cutting him off but after what they’d just witnessed of Joseph’s pain, they weren’t going to say anything.
Joseph lay quietly on the bed, his eyes wide as he stared at the ceiling, waiting for the pills to take effect. Seamus slipped out quietly but Jacob stayed behind, waiting with Joseph until he could finally fall asleep.
“Joseph, you have to talk to Dad about this,” Jacob said softly. “You can’t keep going on like this.”
Joseph only nodded before turning his face to the wall, closing his eyes as he waited to stop hurting. The pills couldn’t take the pain away, but at least they could make him sleep through it. Finally, Jacob slipped out of the room, too, back to work, back to doing all the things that Joseph missed about the ranch, even something as simple as cleaning out stalls.
Seamus had waited for his twin on the landing outside Joseph’s room. Jacob startled when he turned around, closing the door behind him, only to find Seamus ready to pounce. “Jacob, we have to say something this time…now.”
“I don’t know, Seamus, I hate running to Dad like little kids tattling on each other,” Jacob answered, looking sheepish but uncertain.
“That’s exactly why we have to say something. This isn’t like we caught him sneaking out of the bedroom window to go meet up with some girl. This is serious business. He can’t even walk from the house to the barn, and then we find him sprawled out there on the floor like he’s broken his neck or something. Then the pills on top of it? Come on, Jacob! We can’t just keep this to ourselves.”
“I don’t know,” Jacob hedged, his resolve crumbling under Seamus’ persuasive argument. Finally, he nodded, and they went downstairs together. They peeked in Bernard’s office to find him on the phone, but the looks on their faces must have spoken volumes. He waved them in and gestured to the sofa to wait for him to finish. Jacob closed the door before they sat, keeping this one piece of family business from the prying eyes of others.
Chapter Eight
“Gracie, climb down from there, Casey and I want to talk to you!” Miranda called up to where her sister was known to hide. The hayloft had been the perfect spot for her to hide away and read now that the weather had taken a sharp dip. She had been known to spend her entire lunch break in the loft, hiding from the abundance of smelly boys on the ranch with a sandwich and her eBooks. Thank God for satellite Internet, Miranda thought with relief. Or that girl wouldn’t have any kind of entertainment out here.
“Coming!” Gracie’s muffled voice echoed from somewhere above their heads. They smiled when they heard the scampering thud of her boots against the planks overhead, meaning she was running to see what they wanted.
Miranda’s heart soared at the sound of her sister’s happy voice and eager movements. Bringing her to the ranch had been a huge disruption in the girl’s life, taking her half way across the country, away from school and her friends. But Miranda’s expression clouded for a fraction of a second when she also remembered that she had taken her away from the man who had almost succeeded in destroying her.
“What’s up, guys?” Gracie asked, her head appearing in the square hole that let the hay bales drop down.
“All the way,” Miranda said with a laugh. “I feel like I’m talking to a disembodied head when you pop up like that!”
Gracie grinned and disappeared for a moment, then her feet emerged from the hole. She climbed nimbly down the wide wooden rungs that led up into the loft, jumping down the last few rungs and landing breathlessly in front of her sister and brother-in-law.
“Okay. Now what’s up?” she teased.
“Well, besides the color in your cheeks, you mean?” Miranda scolded playfully. “Remember, it gets really cold up there at this time of year. You promised you would come down before it got to the coldest part of the day.”
“I know, I just lost track of time. But I had my big blanket, and a big thermos of hot chocolate Emily fixed me. By the way, I love that series you told me about, Casey!”
He smiled down at her. “I’m really glad, but you’ll have to thank Anders. He’s the one who told me about it. I didn’t know how it would go over since it’s an action story, and I’ve never read them.”
“What?! You’ve never read the Treewalker Saga?” Gracie shrieked playfully, clutching the sides of her head in mock disbelief before turning on a serious expression. “I mean, I understand completely. After all, there are lots of big words, no illustrations, and no coloring pages in the back.”
Casey shot her a smirk, then suddenly lunged at her, grabbing her in a bear hug and pinning her arms to her sides before commencing a full-on tickle attack. She pushed feebly at him with her trapped hands, screaming through her hilarious laugh for Miranda to help her.
“Do something! Call off your dog! I mean, your husband!” she screamed, as tears of laughter rolled down her cheeks.
“Oh, no, I’m not involved in this. You started it, you can finish it,” Miranda answered, crossing her arms in front of her chest and glaring adoringly at her sister. She would give it another thirty seconds and then step in, of course. Gracie needed air and they really had called her down with important news. “Well, okay, I’ll play referee just this once. If you really want me to, that is.”
“YES!” her sister screamed between deep gasps for air while still trying to wriggle out of Casey’s strong grasp.
“Really? Because you look like you’re having fun, and weren’t you telling me just two weeks ago how there’s nothing to do here and how you need friends to play with? I mean, you look like you’re not all that bored right now…”
“MIRANDA! Make him stop!” Gracie screamed again, laughing at the onslaught and her sister’s obvious enjoyment of her torture.
“Okay. If you want me to…that’s enough, Casey.” Miranda smiled benevolently, as though she had done her sister a tremendous favor. Gracie smacked at Casey’s shoulders in retaliation, knowing that nothing she could dish out could match the punishment he just dealt through tickling.
When Gracie had managed to catch her breath and stopped glaring evilly at her brother-in-law, Miranda shared the news. “We’re taking a trip to Dallas in about a week, and we thought you might want to come along. We could do some Christmas shopping, see a movie or three, eat something that wasn’t grown right here in the barn, you know…city stuff!”
The word “we” wasn’t lost on Gracie, and her face fell slightly. She would love to get out and be around typical people for a while, even if it was only for a few days, but she didn’t want to interfere if her sister and Casey had newlywed plans. Even worse, she didn’t want to be invited out of pity.
“We? As in, you and Casey?” she asked hesitantly.
“Are you kidding me?” Casey demanded playfully. “Like I would go ten feet with the two of you without another man around for my own protection. If it was left up to you two, you guys would pin me down and make me wear skinny jeans and a tank top and put gel in my hair!” Both girls laughed at the image of Casey dressed up in town like a club-hopping metrosexual, but laughed even harder at the truth behind his biggest fear.
“No, Gracie, there are a few of us going. Bernard and Casey are taking Joseph to see a specialist about his back. Because Joseph needs to ride in a more comfortable vehicle, they’re taking the large RV, which means there will be plenty of room for you and me. I thought we could do a few things in the city while they handle Joseph’s appointments. Sound fun?”