She went into the house, still thinking about algebra. Probably there was a computer program that could help her understand this stuff. She stacked the few dishes in the dishwasher, threw a load of her things in the wash, and headed for the Academy. Her mother had been home to change clothes but hadn’t even left a message. Now what was going on?
No classes today, read the sign posted on the duties board. And here she’d just been able to ride Major again. Did that mean she couldn’t work Patches, either? DJ checked in Bridget’s office, but no one was there. The arena stood empty.
The place felt about as deserted as her own home. Where was everyone?
DJ went into the barn knowing she had to take care of at least three horses. Dirty stalls called to her. She got some carrots out of the refrigerator and, breaking them into small pieces, filled her pockets. Retrieving the wheelbarrow and manure fork, she waved to Hilary Jones, who was grooming her horse in the other aisle, and made her way to Major’s stall.
Major leaned against the stall bars, stretching to greet her. His nose quivered in a soundless nicker, his ears nearly touching at the tips.
“Hi, fella, you had a lonely day without a visit from GJ?” She fed him a carrot and tickled the whisker brush on his upper lip. Ranger stuck his head out over the bars of his stall and tossed his head, demanding a treat, too.
“Hey, stuff it, kid. I’ll get to you in a minute.”
Ranger nickered again, even more demanding this time, including a stamp of one front foot.
“What a spoiled brat you are.” She gave Major another treat and rubbed up behind his ears. “You should give him lessons in manners, you know.” Major rubbed his forehead against the front of her jacket and nosed her pockets for more carrot. “Be back in a minute.”
She gave him a pat and walked the few steps to Ranger’s gate. “Now, see here.”
Ranger tossed his head, his forelock and mane flopping with the action.
DJ gave him a carrot chunk and scratched his cheek while he chewed. “Does Joe give you whatever you want? You seem like a hopeless case.” Ranger snuffled her hands, then her pockets. “Oh, so you know where we keep the stuff, do you?” She gave him another treat and stepped back, her hands on her hips. “That rain sure soaked your bedding. I better bring in tons of shavings or you’ll be standing in the mud.”
She tied Major in the aisle and began forking the wet and dirty shaving and straw mixture into the wheelbarrow. Only minutes passed before she removed her Windbreaker and hung it over a bar. She’d become spoiled herself with Joe cleaning the stalls weekday mornings. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and trundled the barrow to dump, refill, and dump again. When she was down to bare, wet ground, she headed for the shavings pile and dumped several loads on the bare floor of the stall. She made it plenty deep before spreading a layer of straw on top of that.
If it ever rained like that again, she could hang plastic on the outside wall to keep the rain from soaking the dirt in the stall. She decided to mention it to Bridget when they had time.
She brought Major back into his stall and began on Ranger’s. On a trek to the ramp where they dumped the dirty bedding, she heard Bridget’s voice coming from the stalls on the opposite side of the area. “At least someone is here,” she told Ranger when he nickered for another treat.
When both horses had clean stalls, she refilled the water buckets and hung hay in each net before doing the same for Amy’s horse. After putting the wheelbarrow and things away, she picked up the grooming bucket and, starting with Josh, groomed all three horses.
She found Bridget up on the roof with a hammer and nails. One of the stable workers was with her on the roof, and another was handing up sheets of corrugated fiberglass roofing to be nailed in place.
“If you want extra work, you can help.” Bridget finished nailing off a section, then stood and kneaded the middle of her back with her fists.
DJ wanted to ask why she was up there but kept her mouth closed. “I’m not much of a help with a hammer, but if you have other stuff to do, I can maybe handle that.”
“I would rather you not ride in the arena today since some of the roofing is loose and could come down.” Bridget helped slide the next roofing panel in place. “So if your stalls are clean and the horses cared for, that is all for the day.” She smiled down at DJ. “Thank you for the offer to help, but I think we have it under control.”
“See you.” DJ turned to go and saw Mrs. Ellsindorf coming their way. The woman’s face was permanently carved into a frowning glare. She passed without an acknowledgment of any kind, as though DJ wasn’t even on the same planet with her, let alone the same aisle.
Well, hello to you, too—and I hope you have a nice day. DJ saw Hilary coming toward her, shaking her head.
“We sure get some interesting people around here.” Hilary set the wheelbarrow down and took the fork to load shavings.
“Interesting—is that what you call her?”
“Well, not quite, but you’ve got to at least try to be polite, you know.”
“That’s what Gran says, too.” DJ shook her head. “But why is she so mad all the time?”
“I imagine not being able to ride in the arena ticked her off today. I wish she’d ride in the morning so we didn’t have to make way for her. Guess no one told her the afternoons are left to us kids.” Hilary forked the shavings as she talked.
“Maybe she has a job or something.” DJ looked out to where Bridget had come off the roof to talk with the woman.
“Maybe.” Hilary’s tone said she didn’t believe it for a second.
“Well, see ya.” DJ headed back to Major’s stall to check his leg before she left. Even if he didn’t need the ice packs anymore, a rubbing with liniment wouldn’t hurt.
After she’d parked her bike in the garage, she shucked her boots at the bootjack by the back door and entered the kitchen. The blinking light on the answering machine caught her attention, and she pushed the Play button.
“DJ, Robert and the boys are coming out around five so we can go over to the house and inspect the damage. Could you take care of Bobby and Billy for a while? Robert said he’d bring dinner.” DJ nodded as she waited for the next message.
“DJ, Joe called to ask if you would take care of Ranger for him. He said he’d be home later tonight and he’ll do tomorrow as usual. I had hoped to catch you before you left. Call me if there’s a problem.”
“Already done, Gran,” DJ said as she poked the rewind switch. She went upstairs to change into clean clothes, then checked to make sure things were picked up. Since all seemed to be in order, she took the cordless phone and a can of soda to Gran’s old chair, where she sat with both legs over one arm while she dialed Amy.
“She’s taking a bath,” Mrs. Yamamoto said after answering. “Can she call you back?”
“Sure.” DJ hung up and dialed Gran’s number. After reassuring her grandmother that the horses were cared for, DJ asked, “You want me to come over tomorrow and help clean up the mess around there?”
“No thanks, darlin’. Joe says we have to let the insurance adjuster see the damage first so we can turn in our claim. We’ll probably make up a work party this weekend. Do you want to go shopping tonight for your jacket and things?”
“Can’t. I’ve got the Double Bs while Mom and Robert inspect the damage to the house and figure out what to do. How about tomorrow night?”
“We’ll see. Y’all want to come here for dinner?”
“Thanks, but Robert is bringing it.” DJ went on to tell her the news of the day, making a joke out of the sour look on Mrs. Ellsindorf’s face. “I think she practices looking mad and bad.”
“She must be a terribly unhappy person.”
“Now, don’t you go getting any ideas.” DJ swung her feet and let them thud against the chair. “She’s not my problem, and I don’t have to like her.”
“Seems to me like she needs a lot of prayer.”
DJ sighed. “Why did I ever bring he
r up? Gran, you pray for her if you want to, but I’d rather you prayed for me to do better in algebra. Why do I need to learn the stuff?”
After hanging up, DJ headed back upstairs to start her homework. She had a book report due the next week and hadn’t begun to read the book yet. She flopped down on her bed on her stomach, Jennie McGrady Mystery in hand. She began reading as she munched on an apple, her feet scissoring the air. Soon, she was so caught up in the book she didn’t even know her mother had come home until Lindy stuck her head in the door.
“Hi, DJ, doing your homework?”
“Yup. Gotta get ahead.” DJ rolled over enough to see her mother. “You look beat.”
“Thanks. Even though they put us up at the hotel last night, I didn’t get much sleep with that storm raging outside. Then I had an appointment at eight, so I just changed clothes here and left again. I sure wish I had time to crash for a bit. . . .” She checked her watch. “If they arrive before I get out of the shower, you entertain them, okay?”
DJ nodded and went back to her book.
The fried chicken and fixings Robert brought disappeared in record time. He and Lindy left DJ and the boys to clean up. “You guys mind DJ now.”
“We will.” They wore their cherub look. “Bye, Daddy.”
DJ played Go Fish with them for a while, then said, “Look, guys, I’d love to keep playing, but I have a ton of homework to do for Monday, and it won’t get done unless I start on it now. How about I set you up with crayons and some paper for coloring while I study?”
“ ’Kay. Then will you play horsie?”
DJ groaned. “I guess so. But first you have to be quiet.” She led the way up the stairs to her room and set them on the floor with their crayons and papers. Back on her bed, she returned to the world of Jennie McGrady.
“Daddy’s here!” The shout jolted her back to her own room.
Papers flew as the boys leaped to their feet and bolted out the door.
DJ blinked as she surveyed the scattered mess. Her blue notebook lay on the floor next to her drawing pad. Pages of each mixed with the paper she’d given the boys for drawing. Her heart thudded—one of them had colored on one of her pictures of the foal!
Her mood darkening, she rummaged through the papers. They’d used others of her drawings for coloring, too, and her algebra papers now wore colored streaks, wavy lines, and circles.
“Bobby and Billy!” DJ hit the stairs running, fury flaming red before her eyes.
CHAPTER • 10
“Hey, DJ, you don’t have to yell at them like that.” Robert looked up from hugging his boys.
“But they colored on my drawings!” DJ thrust the messy sheets at him. “Look.”
“DJ, don’t talk like that to Robert!” Lindy turned from hanging up her coat. “What is the matter with you?”
“They ruined my drawings of the filly—the ones Gran said are the best I’ve ever done.”
Robert took the sheets of drawing paper from her hand, glancing from them down at the Double Bs, who wore expressions of total confusion mixed in with sorrow and a bit of fear. Lindy crossed to investigate the damage, too.
“DJ said to color so she could study.” One twin thrust out his lower lip.
“We was quiet.” A tear bobbled on a set of long eyelashes.
“Can you do the drawings over, DJ?” Robert asked quietly.
“That isn’t the point here!” Lindy huffed. “Darla Jean Randall, you were the one in charge. That makes you responsible if something goes wrong. After all, you agreed to watch the boys.” Lindy advanced on her daughter.
DJ clamped her teeth together and glared at her mother.
“Didn’t you?”
What could DJ do but nod? But why couldn’t the Bs keep to the stuff I gave them to do? “They still shouldn’t have gotten into my drawings.” She crossed her arms over her chest. Maybe if she squeezed hard enough, she could keep the ugliness inside.
Rotten, nosy little brats. All that hard work gone to waste. And she’d thought to frame one for Brad. At least he cared about her drawings. He loved them.
She glared again at the twins, steeling herself against their tears.
“I’m talking to you, Darla Jean.”
“I hear you. What do you want me to do, fall on my knees and apologize? They”—she stabbed her finger at the boys—“should apologize to me.” She jabbed her chest with the same finger.
“DJ, don’t talk to your mother that way.” Robert cut into their growing fight.
“Stay out of this, Robert. This is between me and DJ.” Lindy flashed him a look that would send most people scrambling.
“Now, honey.” Robert dropped his voice and tried to sound soothing.
As if that isn’t the oldest trick in the book. It won’t work with her, either. DJ felt her jaw go even more rigid—if that were possible.
By now, both boys were sobbing. At the sight of them, DJ felt tears gather behind her own eyes. She squinted at her mother. “It wasn’t my fault! You always think everything is my fault and that I never do things right. I’m never home on time, I’m—”
“That’s enough!” Robert thundered, cutting the air with his hand as though separating the chaotic group.
Four sets of eyes stared at him.
Two pairs of small arms clung to his thighs.
Lindy stood there, her mouth open.
DJ spun around to head back up the stairs.
“Sit down!” Robert’s words snapped DJ around like a whip. She parked herself on the bottom step, but when she tried to lean back as if she didn’t care what he said, her body wouldn’t lean. Instead, her arms wrapped around her knees, and she hid her face in the comfort of her worn jeans.
She heard the soft woosh of air from the pillows of the sofa as someone sank into it. Her mother was following Robert’s instructions, too. The boys sniffled, followed by another woosh from the sofa. Robert this time? She peeked beyond the safety of her arms. Robert now had one arm around her mother, but Lindy was sitting as stiffly as her daughter. The boys had divided, one sticking with Robert, the other with Lindy.
Only DJ was alone.
The carpet from the stairs to the sofa looked about five hundred miles wide.
She shut her eyes against the sight and ordered herself not to cry. Don’t you dare! She wanted to plug her ears against the voice that whispered inside her head, It was your fault, you know.
What would Gran say when she heard about this latest mess?
“Now, I know we’re all uptight, what with the wedding coming and the storm, but fighting isn’t going to solve anything. It never does.” Robert’s voice was firm.
Maybe not, but it makes me feel better, DJ argued.
Yeah, right, it does.
Her nose itched, and she needed a tissue. Her throat filled, and her eyes burned. I’m not going to cry. DJ’s nose began to drip.
God, you know I hate it when I get mad like this. I might as well have beat those two little guys up like I wanted to. Look at them. DJ sneeked another peek. Her mother looked like someone had sucker-punched her, her face was so white and pinched, and there were black blotches under her eyes. Was she tired, or had her mascara smeared?
Lindy rubbed both her eyes and her forehead. “I agree. This family has to learn to talk out problems without getting into a fight.”
But we’re not a family—not yet!
DJ could hear footsteps coming closer. One sniff, then another, told her it was the Double Bs.
A small hand came to rest on her arm. “DJ, please. We’s sorry.”
Another hung on her other arm. “Please, DJ? We won’t ever touch your stuff again. Ever. We promise.”
Much against her will, DJ wrapped an arm around each of them. “I’m sorry, too, guys. I shoulda been watching you like I was supposed to.”
“You should have put your things away, too. This wouldn’t have happened then,” Lindy said, her voice as tired as her face.
Instead of answering her mother, DJ
hugged the boys. As usual, everything is my fault.
“Look, I’m sorry I’m not perfect like—” One look at Robert’s face and DJ snapped her mouth shut. She waited again. “Mom, Robert, I’m sorry. Please forgive me?”
When Robert nodded and smiled at her, she looked to the boys, who stood, sober as sticks, by her knees. “You too?”
They threw their arms around her neck. “We love you, DJ.”
“I love you guys, too.” She squeezed them back, feeling the anger drain right out of her head and down and out through her toes. She took in a deep breath. “Don’t worry, guys, I’ll draw the pictures again. Fiddle, maybe they’ll come out even better the second time. Besides, you didn’t ruin them all.”
But later, after Robert and the boys had left, DJ realized her mother hadn’t said she’d forgiven her yet. In fact, she hadn’t said anything to DJ since. What was going on now?
Should I go in and talk to Mom, or should I wait for her to come to me? Maybe I should just skip the whole thing. DJ chose the latter and, after gathering up her things for the morning and cleaning up the mess the boys had left, climbed into bed and prayed. She snuggled down to get warm. How come Gran hadn’t called to say Joe was home? How come DJ’s life was always such a disaster?
A note on the message board greeted her in the morning. Please forgive me, DJ. I was too tired to think last night. I forgave you immediately and didn’t realize I hadn’t said anything until much later. Tell Gran to call me at the office after one. I have a few things to take care of. Love, Mom.
DJ read the words again. Now her heart felt just like the sun bursting through the clouds. A new day had come. She called Gran before running out the door, and Joe answered.
“Hi, kid. Sorry we didn’t call last night, but it got to be so late.”
“Are you okay?” DJ wrapped the cord around her finger.
“Other than feeling like I was run over by a fleet of eighteen-wheelers, I’ll make it. That sandbag stuff is for younger guys. Look, I’ll take care of the horses today if you’ll do it tomorrow. I’m going back up with the guys to help clean up now that the river is down again.”
High Hurdles Page 59