by Cheree Alsop
All I could think about was calling Madelyn. The phone felt heavy in my pocket. I cleared my throat. “I’m going to go lie down.”
Mom gave me a worried smile, her brows pinched together. “I’ll go make sure your bed is ready.” She hurried toward the house and Aunt Lauren followed.
Magnum lifted an eyebrow as if he guessed my intentions. “I’ll get the deputy to give me a lift back to the gas station and hide the bike at the junkyard.” He held out a hand. “Try to get some rest, Kelson.”
“You too,” I told him. “Thanks for the help.”
His brow creased. “Thanks for saving my life.”
I shrugged. “Gotta keep you humble somehow.”
He laughed and turned back to the car. I noticed Cassidy fidgeting. Knowing how much she liked Magnum, I could only guess how much self-control it took to pretend she wasn’t interested in his well-being. I caught Uncle Rick’s attention. “Mind if I talk to you about something?” I asked him.
He looked surprised, but nodded and turned to Deputy Addison with a hand out. “Thanks for everything, Deputy.”
Deputy Addison shook it. “Anytime, Mr. Ashby. Happy to help. Your nephew is a brave boy and a fine example to this town.”
“I’m proud of him,” Uncle Rick said. He followed me toward the house with Cole and Jaren close behind us. I glanced back and Cassidy mouthed a quick “thank you” before she hurried to Magnum’s side.
I smothered a grin
“Did your brains almost fall out?” Cole asked, breaking my attention from them.
I grinned at him as he walked backwards beside me. “Almost.”
“Cole,” Jaren chided behind us. “If he only got bandages, his skull wasn’t cracked so his brain couldn’t fall out.”
“Thanks for that,” Uncle Rick replied dryly. He held open the screen door and waited for me to pass through.
I racked my mind for something to ask him so he wouldn’t see through my diversion for Cassidy. I walked through the kitchen and sat on the cot freshly made with new blankets. The scent of laundry detergent wafted into the air. Aunt Lauren set a pitcher of water on the end table with enough water in it to quench a football team, then hurried back to the kitchen.
Mom smiled at my look. “In case you get thirsty tonight. You shouldn’t be walking around with your head in that condition.” She set a cup with pain medicine in it next to the water. “Take that if you get a headache.”
I already had one, but I didn’t tell her. “Thanks, Mom. You’re the best,” I said.
Mom smiled down at me, her smile tightening as she took in the bruises on my face again. “Get some rest, sweetheart.”
“I will,” I told her.
She turned to go, then shook her head. “You can’t sleep with your shoes on,” she chided with a kind smile.
I fought back a chuckle as she slid my sneakers off and pulled the blanket over me. A memory flashed through my mind of Zoey doing the same thing when I was sick enough to keep both of us home from school for a week while she cared for me. “Thanks, Mom,” I said, trying to keep the emotion from my voice. “I appreciate it.”
Cassidy came hurrying in. She practically floated across the living room with her mother close behind. Aunt Lauren had one hand on her stomach and the other reaching to entwine Uncle Rick’s fingers.
“Are they gone?” Uncle Rick asked. Something to his tone caught my attention. He never asked what I needed to talk to him about. I wondered if he suspected something.
“The deputy took Magnum home,” Cassidy replied as casually as she could, but it was impossible to miss the sparkle in her eyes when she said Magnum’s name. She knelt next to the cot. “How are you feeling?”
“I’ll survive,” I told her.
“Good. Have to get you feeling better in time for my party,” she replied, ruffling my hair because she knew I hated it. At her mother’s dismayed look, she gave an abashed smile. “You can’t tell Sandy if you want to keep something a secret, but I’m so excited! I wanted to tell you I knew, but you wanted to keep it a secret and if you knew I knew, it would ruin the surprise. But I think all this time you already knew I knew and didn’t want to tell me because if I knew you knew I knew, we couldn’t pretend that nobody knew I knew.”
Aunt Lauren laughed and gave her daughter a hug. “If you don’t stop talking like that, I think Kelson’s headache is going to get worse.”
Cassidy threw me an apologetic look. “Sorry. I’m just excited for the party.”
“Me too,” I said. “I’ll try my best to feel better for it.” Her grateful smile warmed my heart. “And I invited Magnum,” I told her. “I hope you don’t mind.” Uncle Rick gave a noncommittal snort.
Cassidy’s eyes widened and she looked like she wanted to hug me, but she also couldn’t give away to her parents just how much having Magnum there meant to her. She gave me a wide smile. “Is Madelyn going to make it?”
“I need to call her,” I said, hoping the urgency I felt didn’t come across as desperate.
Cassidy gave me a knowing smile. “We should let you rest.”
Mom smoothed the blankets and looked like she didn’t want to leave. Aunt Lauren looped her arm through her sister’s. “Let’s let Kelson call his girl.” She threw me a warm smile. “I’m sure she’s anxious to hear from him.”
Mom gave in and let her sister lead her from the room. Cassidy followed close behind. Uncle Rick paused at the doorway. “You look tired. I think we’ll put off that talk until tomorrow, if you don’t mind.”
“Not at all,” I replied in relief. Maybe by then I could think of something for us to talk about.
My phone was out of my pocket before his footsteps sounded up the stairs. Madelyn answered on the first ring.
“Are you all right?” she asked, skipping hello entirely.
“I’m fine.” I rubbed my forehead, then winced at the bandages. “Mostly. But Magnum’s okay and the gang is under arrest.”
“I was so worried,” she said. “I told Aunt Massey I wasn’t hungry and stayed in my room with the phone plugged in just so the battery wouldn’t die and I would miss your call. I was afraid you were hurt and no one knew where you were, and I couldn’t stand the thought of you being in the middle of nowhere at the mercy of an armed gang.” Her voice broke at the end.
“It’s all right,” I said gently. “I’m fine, really. Everything is under control now and I’m back at the Ashbys’.”
“I’m so glad you’re home,” she said.
I shook my head, quickly reminding myself of my headache. “It’s not home if you’re not here.”
“I’ll be there tomorrow,” she promised. “I can’t wait to see you again.”
The thought made me happier than any other. “I can’t wait to see you,” I told her. My chest tightened at the thought of how close I had come to never seeing her again. I felt the barrel of the gun against my forehead and closed my eyes. “It’s so good to talk to you again.”
She was silent for a moment, then said, “Things were worse than you’re telling me.”
“A bit,” I admitted.
“I love you, Kelson,” she said as though she knew how very much I needed to hear those words.
“I love you, my Maddy,” I replied.
“Sleep tight. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
I said good-bye with a smile on my face. Firelight danced in front of my eyelids and I fell asleep with the thought that I had gotten off much luckier than I should have.
“GOTTA WATCH OUT FOR those cows,” Ryan, a boy from Cassidy’s Spanish class, said with a laugh.
“Thanks for the advice,” I replied dryly. My face ached, so I held a cold can of Pepsi to it. I searched the crowd that danced and mingled in the Ashbys’ backyard, anxious for any sign of Madelyn.
My gaze landed on Magnum and Cassidy dancing near the center of the mass. Cassidy had a pink plastic crown on her head that said “Sixteen and Loving It”. She laughed at something Magnum said, her eyes bright and m
atching the exact color of the new dress she wore because as Cassidy put it, “You can’t go to your own birthday party wearing something everyone has seen, so thank goodness I knew about the party!”
I wasn’t sure Aunt Lauren agreed, but at the moment, everyone seemed happy. Well, almost everyone. I caught Uncle Rick scowling near the halfway rebuilt barn. His gaze drifted around the crowd, but it kept finding its way back to his daughter dancing and having a good time with the well-known leader of the Bullets.
“A cow, huh?”
My heart jumped and I turned at the sound of Madelyn’s voice. Her eyes held mine with so many emotions that I didn’t know what to say. I wanted to hold her, kiss her, laugh, and cry at the same time. The look on her face said she was feeling the same thing.
I took her upper arms gently, pulling her closer. “Cows don’t like me,” I said quietly.
“I don’t know how anyone couldn’t like you,” she replied in a soft voice that gripped my heart.
“Oh, they manage, believe me,” I reassured her.
She buried her head against my chest. “I’m so happy you’re all right,” she said quietly enough that no one around us could overhear.
I wrapped my arms around her, holding her tight like I had wanted to do for days. I took a deep breath of her hair, happy to be surrounded by her vanilla scent once more.
My eyes found Mom across the back lawn. She smiled at me, looking beautiful in a new green-and-cream-colored dress Aunt Lauren had helped her picked out. She served small plates of finger foods to Cassidy’s guests and laughed with her sister, looking happier than she had in a very long time.
We paused by the refreshments table to get punch, then I led Madelyn to the porch swing. She sat down and looked at me. Little worry lines creased at the corners of her eyes when she took in my bruised face. She reached out a hand and brushed her fingers across my cheek. “Looks like it hurts,” she said softly.
Unfortunately, it looked a lot worse than it had yesterday. A black bruise circled my right eye and I still had a bandage across my forehead to keep the new butterfly bandages Mom had put across the gash in place. My cheekbone was colored a lovely shade of deep purple. At least the ache had faded to a dull pain I could almost ignore.
“It doesn’t hurt as long as I’m near you.” It was a cheesy line, but her answering smile chased the worry from her face.
“I’ll just have to stay around,” she replied. “I mean, it’s not that you look horrible, it just looks like it hurts. I wish I could have done something. I felt so helpless waiting for your call and I was so worried something happened to you. I barely slept after talking to you last night, and I couldn’t wait to get over here. I kept telling Dad to drive faster.” She closed her mouth as though she realized she was babbling. A million emotions flooded through her eyes; she finally threw her arms around me and hugged me tightly. “I was so worried,” she said.
“I know,” I told her. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”
She shook her head and sat back to look at me. “I want to know. Never keep something like that from me.”
I caught a lock of dark brown hair that drifted down her cheek. “I won’t,” I promised. I let out a small breath. “It doesn’t matter anymore.”
Her forehead creased. “Why is that?”
“I’m going to turn myself in as the Black Rider.” I couldn’t help the way my chest tightened at the thought, but I had made up my mind. “The Verdos and Black Hawk gangs won’t bother Sparrow anymore, and the Bullets are disbanded, as far as their leader is concerned.” I watched Magnum lead Cassidy to the refreshment table made of two card tables pulled together and spread with a yellow-and-white checkered tablecloth.
“You can’t be serious.”
I turned at Madelyn’s tone. “What’s not to believe? Sparrow doesn’t need the Black Rider anymore.”
She shook her head. “I’m not so sure about that.” When I opened my mouth to question her, she set a hand gently on my cheek. “And I’m not so sure you’re ready for that, either.”
I watched the crowd of students I had fought to keep safe. Letting go of the Black Rider felt like abandoning a piece of myself that might be more of me than I dared to admit.
“Everyone needs a hero,” she said softly.
“I’m just not sure I should be that hero,” I replied. I looked at her. “The Black Rider’s a costume, a black helmet and motorcycle. They don’t need him.” I couldn’t voice the loss I felt at the thought.
“They do,” she insisted.
I shook my head. “The FBI will be waiting at the factory tomorrow. The Black Rider will be there.”
She slipped her hand into mine. “I don’t think it’s the right decision.”
My throat tightened and I turned my face into her hair. “I think it’s the only decision.”
“What if you don’t tell them? Just let the Black Rider disappear,” she suggested, her expression urging me to listen.
I shook my head. “I can’t. There’s a lot I need to account for. The FBI has questions about the shootings.”
“But Sparrow needs the Black Rider.”
As much as her words lifted my heart, I couldn’t let myself accept them. “I think Sparrow will be fine without me.”
She looked up at me, the gold in her eyes bright in the light of the bulbs Uncle Rick and Jaren had strung over the backyard. She reached up a hand and gently traced the bruises on my face with her fingers. I closed my eyes at her touch, feeling how much she cared for me with every light brush of her skin against mine.
I tipped my face down and my lips met hers. I smoothed her long hair, happy she had worn it down the way I liked it. One of her hands slipped behind my ear, toying with my hair as she kissed me. I breathed in her scent, surrounded by her touch and the way her gentle strength and belief in me filled me with surety. I would give up being the Black Rider for her so she didn’t have to worry any longer.
A throat cleared pointedly. I looked over, surprised I had forgotten our surroundings. Most of the crowd ignored our porch swing completely, but Cole stood impatiently in front of us. “About time,” he said.
“Did you need something?” I asked, my words a bit short. Madelyn rubbed a hand soothingly down my arm. I let out a breath. “Sorry, Cole. What’s going on?”
“I asked you like thirty times if you were ready to get Dad’s present to Cass.”
Madelyn’s appearance had caused me to forget all about Uncle Rick’s plan. I stood up. “Wait here just a minute. It’ll be worth it,” I reassured Madelyn.
She smiled at the excitement on both of our faces. “I’ll be right here.”
I took a few steps, then looked back to make sure she was still waiting. Butterflies rolled through my stomach at the sight of Madelyn sitting on the porch swing wearing a summer dress covered in yellow and pink flowers, her bare feet swinging gently above her discarded sandals. The sight was worth giving up everything for.
“Come on,” Cole urged.
I jogged with him toward the barn. Uncle Rick tossed me a set of keys when we passed where he pretended to help Aunt Lauren serve punch and cookies. Uncle Rick had assigned himself the job of ensuring that nobody spiked the punch at his daughter’s birthday party. Aunt Lauren gave us an enthusiastic wave.
Cole and I entered the back of the partially rebuilt barn where shadows and tarps hid Uncle Rick’s present from prying eyes. He had worked hard to keep Cassidy occupied in the fields so she wouldn’t wander in by accident. I grinned when Cole pulled the tarps away to reveal a little light-blue truck with balloons tied to a windshield wiper.
In most families, a truck would be a strange present for a sixteen-year-old girl, but Cassidy was no ordinary girl. She was a farm girl who loved her life with every breath. Uncle Rick said he knew the truck was hers the instant he saw it. He chuckled and told me that because it was a truck, it would also be a write-off for the farm.
I started the engine and Cole jumped in the back. Two seconds la
ter, Jake flew inside the barn and leaped into the back to join him. I grinned and pulled the truck slowly toward the party.
Uncle Rick and Aunt Lauren were talking to Cassidy near the refreshments. They purposely had her back to the barn. Magnum hovered nearby, trying to be casual but obviously wanting to be near Cassidy. He looked up and a smile spread across his face when he saw the truck. Uncle Rick glanced back, then said something to Jaren. He stopped the music. Everyone paused as Uncle Rick spoke quietly to Cassidy. She turned and her eyes widened.
Cassidy let out a shriek of delight I heard from inside the truck as I shifted it into park. She threw her arms around her dad, then her mom. Friends and family cheered and clapped, and an enthusiastic rendition of “Happy Birthday” spread through the crowd.
I climbed out of the truck and tossed the keys to Cassidy. She caught them and laughed at the little blue cowboy hat keychain I had fastened on them. She gave me a tight hug. “Thank you so much!” she squealed.
“I had nothing to do with it,” I protested. “It was all your dad.”
He beamed at us both and slipped an arm around his wife. “Take it for a spin,” he told his daughter.
She let out another squeal, grabbed Sandy’s hand, and the two girls crowded inside. I made my way back to where Madelyn still waited on the swing.
“That was wonderful,” she said, squeezing my hand when I sat down next to her.
“It’s fun to see her so happy.”
“I don’t think she’ll stop until she gets to California,” she said with a laugh.
I lifted an arm and she ducked under it, resting her head against my chest. “I’m glad you’re here,” I said.
“Me too,” she replied.
I moved the swing gently with my legs, content to stay there the entire night.
It took a lot of persuading to get Cassidy to leave her truck to blow out the birthday candles. Afterwards, she gave everyone who had shown up to the birthday party a ride. When things wound down and students started going home, I noticed Magnum standing near the trees in the corner of the yard, looking forlorn.