Chapter 531: A Gift Horse
I ended up remaining bedridden for pretty much the entire day. I didn’t even get the chance to step a single inch out of bed. From pain, from fear of Sammy’s reprimands, from feeling too woozy... pick your favored reason.
It felt like I was down with a very bad and very high, and fittingly enough, Mom’s meal for me perfectly reflected that... apparently chicken soup is the be-all-end-all remedy to all forms of magical ailments.
Ash wound up having to play ‘here comes the train’ with me on account of the fact my arms seem to think Parkinson’s is symptomatic of a soul-feasting fever.
She didn’t mind it too much though, if anything, Ash looked all the more delighted every time she tipped the content of the spoon into my lips, sitting at the edge of my bed... and when eventually she found herself scraping at only the bottom of the bowl, I saw disappointment flash in her eyes, before she generously asked me if I would be inclined for seconds.
I politely declined the offer.
Two almost three days we haven’t spoken a word to each other, but in spite of that, Ash had very little to talk about and was just simply content spending the rest of her time being in my waking presence.
And on the opposite end of the spectrum, you got me... tripping over words in my head just trying to form a coherent sentence. I just felt this need, this urge, to explain myself to her.
.....
But the moment I found my voice again, Ash wouldn’t hear it. She didn’t care why, she didn’t want to know how.
“You are here with me now, Master,” She said, resting her hand on top of mine. “And to me, that is all that simply matters in the end.”
Sometime after that, the thoughts in my mind drifted to Harry, and suddenly with every sound that managed to echo its way upstairs, I would wonder if it was him down there somewhere responsible for every creak I heard, every thud...
Then Sammy marched on back into my bedroom, and pretty much fizzled that wonder momentarily.
“So did you end up kissing him, or slapping him?” She asked Ash as she haphazardly threw herself, landing with a bounce on the corner of my bed. “For his sake, I hope you left him a mark that’ll leave him aching for days.”
“I heavily considered the former,” Ash forthcomingly answered. “I absolutely detest thinking the latter.”
Sammy snorted impassively. “No wonder I couldn’t hear you yelling from downstairs... too busy snuggling your arms up around him, weren’t you? Seriously, you’re too soft with him, Ash.”
“Hey, do you have an off-switch somewhere on you I could press to get you to stop?” I asked, chiming in.
“I don’t know, do you have a please-don’t-kill-yourself switch I could press on you to get you to stop?” She fired back.
Okay, touche.
“Here...” Sammy tossed something solid onto my chest. “Forgot to give it back... on account of me being too mad at you to even remember to.”
My phone as it turns out... already lit up before my eyes, revealing a home screen teeming with icons and notifications.
I know my sister. I also know her philosophy when it comes to privacy, which is – it doesn’t exist unless it’s her own.
“You’ve been snooping much?” I asked.
“Nothing to snoop for, you’re pretty much clean,” She said, brazenly expressing her disappointment. “No hidden stash, normal history, gallery practically empty... you know, you’re a very boring person.”
“Maybe,” I took my phone back, eyeing her all the while. “Or maybe you’re just looking at where a boring person would look.”
Her brows instantly furrowed at me. “You mean – ”
“Ah, ah!” I warned, quickly pulling the phone away from her reaching fingers. “Mine now. Better luck next time.”
Sammy conceded with a defeated sigh, springing off the bed with a bitter tone to her voice, “Whatever, I’m gonna go leave now.”
“So soon?”
“Well, clearly you’d rather her than me, right?” She asked rhetorically, throwing Ash another quick glance. “So you’re pretty much taken care of here, and at night you got Adalia to keep watch – she’s sleeping now... besides, I got other things I’d rather do... like helping dad to break in the horses. Oh yeah, we got new horses, by the way. Another thing you missed out on.”
New horses. So they’ve finally arrived... good for Dad, or maybe not... because knowing that pompous rancher-man, he probably sold us short on any fine steeds guaranteed.
“Good haul?” I asked, not really expecting anything, then Sammy nodded so matter-of-factly, that I had to reconfirm she wasn’t doing it sarcastically. “Really good?”
“We got Arabians, a Tennessee, some Clydesdales, the rest I think were a mix – very, very good haul as you can tell. Didn’t know Dad was such a good bargainer.”
That’s because he wasn’t and if my memory hadn’t been tampered with... I’m pretty sure when I went to the ranch with him, I did not see a single one of the breeds Sammy mentioned, which begs the question – where did these horses come from?
“There’s also this pure white Thoroughbred that caught my eye, with shiny silver mane and sparkling green eyes, she’s like, wow...” Sammy fawned with a twinkle in her own eyes. “I’ve never seen a more beautiful girl in my life.”
Green eyes. White man. Why does that sound familiar?
“We got Lyn?” I blinked, stupidly gazing out the window to try and see the barn from here. “How do we got Lyn?”
“Who the heck’s Lyn?” Sammy asked me back. “I call that pretty girl Emerald.”
Creative.
I looked back at her, still processing everything. “Are you sure Dad didn’t steal them himself in the middle of the night or something?”
“Big Bro, I was there as witness, alright?” Sammy drearily answered. “The guy came by and brought them here himself... even was generous enough to give Dad back his change in cash. Apparently, he overpaid.”
Did Leon have something to do with this? I’m beginning to think he might. Last I recall, he said something about giving the rancher a call, and if his dad is somehow involved, with his shady connections, and his intimidating inflection... if that’s how it all went, then I guess I sorta see how this all might make sense.
His old friends with Dad too, he might just have done him a favor is all.
“Anyway, I’m gonna go... don’t get off the bed,” Sammy sternly warned, pointing a sharp finger beneath the doorway. “Ash, make sure he stays. Don’t let him sweet talk you out of it, you hear me?”
“Loud and clear,” Ash diligently bowed back. “I’ll be sure to be wary of turning a deaf ear.”
Before Sammy whisked herself away from sight, I thought about asking her if she could call Harry up for me for a visit. But something in me kept the words from surfacing, and I lost my chance – as her footsteps began to fade into the distance.
I didn’t want to see him yet... I didn’t know why I didn’t want to... I just didn’t want to... not yet anyway...
For now... I lifted my phone up in front of me for now....
I clicked it, glanced at it, and watch it gradually dim – seeing as the display disappeared, taking the massive torrent of messages and missed calls along with it.
If Ash was being too soft with me... then I can just hardly wait to see just how Amanda and Irene would be with me after these past two days. Who should I call first? Should I flip a dime? Pluck a flower? Either way... I’m gonna have to call one of them.
I think I even saw Tyler somewhere among the pile too.
Oh well, time to face the music.
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