“Oh, excuse me, I see someone I want to introduce you to,” January said. She left him with a light wave and Kel nodded. He was pretty sure no one January could introduce him to would be more interesting than Mozart.
Kel remembered the first time he tried to tell a lie. He had been five and there had been a half-eaten apple in the garbage. Miss Nash had been in a rage and yelled about wasting fruit, something about homeless children, and kids starving in Africa.
Kel had seen Bobby Monroe throw his apple away but hadn’t said anything. But now, Miss Nash was on a rampage and she demanded to know which student had done the terrible deed.
“Was it you, Kel Parker?”
“No, ma’am,” he’d said, his eyes wide and uncertain. She asked each child in turn and each of them had denied the deed.
“Ask Parker a different question,” Miss Jacobsen, their room monitor, said. “He’s a Parker, right? Everyone knows they can’t tell a lie. Just ask him if he knows who did it?”
Kel felt his face flush and his ears grew hot with shame.
Miss Nash turned back to him. “Well, Kel? Do you know who did it?”
Kel wanted to say no. He opened his mouth to say no. “Yes,” he said, surprising himself with the sound. Bobby Monroe glared at him and made a fist. Anyone watching them should have been able to tell Bobby did it, but Miss Nash was too busy watching him. Kel remembered Bobby had a brother in the third grade who could probably give him a whupping at recess.
“Who was it?”
“It was me,” Mickey de Groot said from across the classroom. Everyone turned to look at him and Kel felt a massive weight lift from his shoulders.
The upshot was that Bobby had gotten away with his crime against apples and humanity, Mickey had received a lecture on the state of hunger in New Jersey, and Kel had learned a valuable lesson. He was unable to tell a lie. And if he wanted to survive school, he had better learn to keep his mouth closed because he couldn’t count on it to say what he wanted it to say when he wanted to say it.
As Mozart stood near him, nibbling on grass, Kel felt a warm treacly peace fall over him. It felt like hot fudge on an ice cream sundae. Like a fishing line cast deep into open water, his future lay before him in an unending wave. His future was not helping customers at Chip’s Market and taking ownership over for his dad.
His future was here — in a stable.
“Hey Kel, I want you to meet Jewel,” January said as she approached the paddock. “Jewel, this is my friend Kel. We just had Mozart out for a small trail walk.”
“Hi, Kel,” Jewel said. “How did Mozart walk? Any problems?”
“I didn’t notice anything,” he said. “Why?”
“I’m an equine massage therapist,” Jewel explained. “I work with most of the horses in the area. I do some rehab therapy with them or just try to give comfort from arthritis as they get older.”
“That’s so cool,” Kel said, his eyes lighting with interest. “How did you get interested in that?”
In this world of horses and stables, it didn’t matter that his truth meter was set to high at all time. The horses responded to his innate honesty in a way people never could. And in that exchange of honestly, he had found a feeling of home.
Police sirens raised in the distance and Kel frowned. Crime was generally pretty low at the Mill. He stood for a better look and saw a police officer, Mr. Zielinski, and Mr. Farraday approaching the paddock. He cast a nervous glance towards January but she was busy talking to Jewel.
As he stood there, watching, it seemed the three forces were coming directly towards him.
“Kel, we’d like to talk to you about something.”
Oh, that so didn’t sound good at all, Kel thought. In fact, it sounded suspiciously like something the teachers said at school before assigning him his detentions for the week.
“Dad?” January frowned looking at the men who now surrounded them.
“Not now, January,” Zach said, his brow knitted in anger. He indicated Kel should follow him and after a nervous glance back at Mozart, he did.
“Did I do something wrong? I didn’t hurt Mozart, did I?” Oh, please, let it not be he screwed up with a horse. Not when he had just decided horses were going to be his future.
Zach grunted.
“I want that shed cleaned up, Zielinski,” Todd Farraday said, his voice a gruff intrusion into the scene.
“Dad, what’s going on?” January said as she followed them in.
“Go get the horses into the stalls,” Zach said. “You know the price of riding is to take care of the horses before and after the ride. Horses first, rider last.”
“Not my first rodeo, Dad. Jigsaw is taken care of. Jewels is here to look at Mozart. Now, what’s going on?”
Father and daughter squared off in stubborn silence. Zach sighed and walked towards the back of the tack shed. “Cole found this,” he said.
“Someone tagged the barn with graffiti?”
Zach narrowed his eyes at Kel. “Do you know anything about it.”
Kel swallowed. “No, absolutely not.” Ordinarily, his word would have been enough. Locals in town knew Parkers couldn’t tell lies but Zach had only just moved to town. Kel looked at Farraday. He’d been here for a few years but looked unconvinced.
The police officer nodded to Cole and came closer. Kel breathed a sigh of relief. Officer Winters was a lifetime local and would be able to take his word for it.
“I want this one questioned,” Farraday demanded as Winters approached to take statements.
Kel looked at Winters and said, “I had nothing to do with the vandalism.” He glanced at the words in ugly black against the brick red building.
“Odor est cum stercore ignorantes,” January read and looked at Kel. “Is that Latin?”
“The smell of shit accompanies the ignorant,” Kel translated with a hot blush. He looked around at the stunned glances surrounding him. “What? Four years of Catholic school and the Internet.”
“And yet, you’re the only one who could translate it,” Farraday said, his eyes narrowing with suspicion.
“If I was going to spray paint something, it wouldn’t be that pretentious,” Kel said. “Besides, I’ve been with January almost the entire time I’ve been here.”
“Almost?” Farraday asked, jumping on the qualifier.
Kel nodded slowly. “Yes. I pulled up. Got out of the car. Walked to their apartment. Other than those few minutes I’ve been with January or her dad or both.”
“Did anyone see you pull up?” Winters asked.
“I don’t think so.”
“Take him in,” Farraday demanded. His eyes grew cruel and calculating. “He was here. He had access. All the evidence points to him.”
“But I didn’t do anything wrong,” Kel said, fear growing inside him for the first time. Todd Farraday had the power to help him achieve his dreams and if he messed this up, he was resetting his goals back to zero. He’d been at zero his whole life. A glimmer of hope was enough to know he never wanted to go back there again.
“My son is in your third period class,” Farraday said. “According to him, you have detentions every day until the end of the year.”
“January, didn’t you tell me something about problems in cooking class?”
“Dad, that was different. Kel covered for me.”
“What, exactly, did you do?”
“Can we talk about this later?”
“No, I think now is the perfect time to get it out in the open.”
January sighed and looked from her dad to the police officer to Kel. “Tabby and I were early for school. She had a meeting. I got my schedule and decided scope out the school and find my classes. No one was in the cooking lab but the door was unlocked. I went in and snooped through the cabinets.”
“You broke into a classroom,” Farraday said, his big voice echoing against the barn. “Sounds like your daughter is a delinquent, too, Zielinski.”
Zach ignored his boss.
“He lied for you.”
“Impossible,” Officer Winters said. “Parkers can’t tell lies.”
January looked at Kel again, a confused look on her face. Eventually, he’d be forced to tell her everything but it had been nice to have her like him. Even if it was only for a little while.
“Look, I didn’t do it. I don’t know why it was done. I have never bought black spray paint in my life.” Kel held out his hands. “See? Covered in dirt and horse sweat but no black paint.” He turned to Farraday. “I wouldn’t do that, Sir. If you need help cleaning it up, I’ll help. I. I think I like horses,” he said with a slight stutter. “And I’d like to learn more about them.”
“How can I believe you?”
Kel barked out a surprised laugh.
“I think that’s the first time I’ve ever heard that,” Officer Winters said. “I can personally vouch for Kel. If he says he did not vandalize the shed, he did not do it.”
Farraday didn’t look completely convinced. “And the detentions?”
“That has nothing to do with this,” Kel said. He struggled for a way to explain without revealing too much. “I won’t tell on people who talk in class or cheat.” He shrugged. “The teachers find it easier to punish me than to figure out who is causing the mischief.”
“Do you know who did this, Kel?” Officer Winters asked.
Kel shook his head. “No, Sir. This is an actual crime. If I knew what had happened, I’d have told someone.”
Farraday looked at Winters. “That true, Officer?”
Winters nodded. “His word is absolute.”
Farraday approached him, eyes narrowed as he took in the measure of the boy in front of him. “What do you think, Zielinski? Does he have the makings of a horseman?”
“I’m sure I can find a few stalls for him to clean out,” Zach said as he folded his arms across the wide expanse of his chest.
Kel had a feeling he would be shoveling out a lot of manure.
“Did anyone see anything? Has anyone been giving you any problems, Mr. Farraday?” Officer Winters asked.
Farraday sighed and walked over to the barn. He touched the still-damp black paint on his red barn. He was quiet for a few minutes before shaking his head. “No one that I can think of. That Professor up the way, what’s his name? Frank Ivy? Anyway, he went to the town council to have me closed. Said I was a nuisance farmer. I kinda figured he had shut up when the board voted him down.”
Winters nodded and wrote something down. “I’ll look into it,” he promised. As he finished up taking pictures and notes he tapped Kel on the shoulder. “Talk to you later, Kel.”
Kel raised a hand in farewell but inside, his head was churning. No way was he letting this Professor Ivy guy ruin the one thing he had decided he really loved.
*~*~*~
Kel was absent on Monday. And Tuesday.
“Have you asked Tabby?” Mickey asked when she brought it up in civics class.
“No, why would I ask Tabby?”
Mickey smirked. “Ask her and find out.”
By Friday, January was concerned enough to pull Tabby aside.
“What’s going on,” she demanded.
“About what?” Tabby blinked innocently and January had the distinct impression Tabby knew more than she was letting on.
“Don’t play coy with me,” January said as she felt tears threaten to close off her throat. She hated the reminders that she was just the new girl. An outsider. Someone to keep things from. “Mickey smirked at me when I ask him what’s going on with Kel. Kel got questioned by the police up at the farm this weekend and now he’s not in school. And I’m worried.”
“Wait. What?” Tabby interrupted. “What happened up at the farm?”
“No. You first,” January said. “I don’t even know why I care about him or you or any of this, but I hate feeling like I’m being lied to. I hate feeling like you all are making fun of me behind my back.”
Tabby’s eyes flared a bright blue and January pointed to them. “See? Like that. Why are your eyes changing color?”
Tabby closed her eyes for a minute. “After school,” she said. “I will explain everything after school.”
“I have a bus to catch after school,” January said. Anger and spite grew in her and she lashed out.
Tabby’s shoulders dropped. “I’ll drive you,” she said quietly. In the heartbeat it took for January’s words to register, brashly confident Tabby was gone. She was replaced by an insecure girl with sagging shoulders. January momentarily weakened but stiffened her spine as she reminded herself why she was angry.
“You’ve been lying to me. Everyone has been lying to me,” January said, her arms flailing with her anger. “This whole thing sucks and I’m tired of it. I’ve been the new kid enough. I know the score. I just thought you and Kel were different. Congratulations for fooling me.”
She spun on her foot and missed the heartbroken look on Tabby’s face.
January left the lunch room and headed for the guidance office. “Is Mr. Prescott in?” she asked the secretary. “I’m January Zielinski. I’m a senior this year, but I’m new to town. I need to talk to him about graduation.”
Ten minutes later, January faced Mr. Prescott across the cluttered expanse of his desk. “I have to say, it doesn’t look good,” he said.
January nodded. “I missed a lot of school, I know.”
“And your grades have been barely passing.”
“Yeah, a lot of different schools. New curriculum every couple of weeks. It’s been hard.”
“I see that.”
“Should I just drop out? Look into getting my GED?”
“Let’s put that on a back burner for now,” he said. “Have you thought about what you want to do after you get your diploma?”
“Not school. But I don’t know. I don’t really have any interests outside of horses.” She thought a minute. “Well. I like cooking. I was glad I got to take a culinary class here.”
Mr. Prescott nodded. “I see in your transcript you were in a baking club at your last school.”
January nodded. “Yeah, that was a lot of fun. We did bake sales for some of the other clubs. My chocolate chip cookies won first place.”
“Let me make a few phone calls. No promises, but there is a good culinary program at the community college,” he said. “Does that sound like something you’d like to try?”
“That sounds good. But what about my grades?”
“I guess you’ll just have to keep them up. I’ll look over all your old transcripts and see if you have enough credits to graduate.” He stood up and January took it as a sign their meeting was over. “Then I’ll review them against the New Jersey state requirements and we’ll come up with a plan. I’ll send a request for you to come back to the office by early next week.”
January nodded and shook his hand and left.
Tabby waited in the guidance office waiting room. “Come on,” she said. “We’re cutting.”
January opened her mouth to argue but figured what the hell. It wasn’t like she was going to graduate, anyway. “Where are we going?”
“I know where Kel is but we have to be quiet.”
“How do you know where Kel is? Did he call you?” Hurt beat at January like a horse kicking against a barn door. She hadn’t thought they were dating. Exactly. But she had thought Kel liked her. Why would he contact Tabby first?
Because she was the new girl.
She hated being the new girl — hated it with the hot burning hate of a thousand suns. When she became an adult, she was going to put down roots and stay.
“I’ll tell you everything, okay? I promise,” Tabby said, her voice full of tears. “Just don’t be mad. It’s complicated.”
January got into the passenger seat crossed her arms in front of her chest. Tabby pulled out of the parking lot and headed out towards the farm. “My dad will kill me dead if we show up at the far
m.”
“There’s a backway in,” Tabby said. Her eyes glowed a little and she gasped. “I think Kel is going to need us anyway.” She handed her cell phone to January. “Look up Mickey. Send him a text to get to his dad’s tree stand as soon as possible.”
January fiddled with the phone for a minute before hitting send. “Done.”
Tabby drove her car down an old abandoned railroad track and put it in park. “Come on,” she said. They got out of the car and started walking.
“Harper’s Mill isn’t like other towns,” Tabby began. “Strange things happen here.”
“Like finding graffiti on the barn?”
“Oh, no,” Tabby said with a wave of her hand. “That’s totally normal.”
January thought for a moment. “Like waking up and finding the ingredients for chocolate chip cookies in your pantry when you knew there had been none an hour before?”
Tabby nodded. “Yep. That is totally the Mill.”
“Can you explain?”
“Like, a million years ago, there were seven sisters who settled in the town. Rumors were the O’Donnell sisters were light mages.”
“Witches?”
“Some people think so, yeah. So, anyway, they stuck around and settled the town. One of them married John Harper, the railroad tycoon. The rest married. Had kids. My sister Emma thinks there is a charm set on the town so that it lightly repels people who can’t accept it. That’s one of the reasons the town is so small. Sometimes people can live here all their lives and when they leave town, coming back doesn’t seem like such a great idea anymore. But if you’re meant to live here, the town will call to you. Make you want to stay.”
January nodded, her breath coming in little misty puffs in the cold air. “I felt that the first day here. That I belonged.”
“Good,” Tabby said. “Anyway, many of the residents of Harper’s Mill are direct descendants of the O’Donnell sisters. Locals call us the Old Families, since we can trace our heritage back before the town was even a town.”
“That explains the glowing eyes.”
“It’s a highly inconvenient sign that I’m receiving a vision.”
“You can see the future?”
Snowball's Chance: a Harper's Mill YA Romance Page 3