Broken [In Revision 2023]

Chapter 23 - Preparations

Maddy looked frazzled as she struggled with an unwieldy bag of trash that refused to take another crumpled takeaway container. She was halfway through her mission of tidying up the trailer and was cursing her untidiness, promising to never moan at Jake for the state of his house ever again.

"How's it going?" Jake asked on his way back from training Sunny. He took the fact she was still emptying the trailer to be a bad sign, normally she would be a decent way into putting all her stuff back in by now.

"At this rate it will midnight before I get finished, and Moonie still needs to be ridden today," she tightened her ponytail and set the trash bag down beside the trailer, "I don't want to be cheeky, but is there any chance you can just give me a hand to get this done?"

"Sure," Jake opened the gate and turned Sunny loose into the field, "What do you want me to do?" Jake stepped into the tiny onboard tack room and was surprised how tidy it was already. "Am I missing something? This place is pretty spotless already."

"It's not." She handed him a shredded lead rope and pointed towards the trash bag.

"What's going on? You're never this...persnickety about the inside of the trailer. The outside, yes, I've known you to buff it to a pristine shine for the regional finals." Jake allowed her to pile his arms up with broken pieces of tack, bailing twine and an annihilated hoof pick.

"Grandma's going to be there," she said with a pained look, "I think it's to get back at me for the other day, she's entered into my class. She never competes at the little venues, she's too damned vain."

"Sorry for getting you mixed up in this mess."

"Forget it, she's the one at fault here, not you," she gave an empty soda bottle a hefty kick out the door, "she had better bring her best though because Moonie's going to make her regret the day she gave him to me for $500."

"That's the spirit," Jake patted her shoulder, "You've got this."

The mood lightened, the frantic tension slowly evaporated until Maddy was once again able to crack her usual jokes. She decided to forgo riding in the arena, instead opting for her favourite trail around the ranch, Moonie only needed to stretch his legs anyways.

Jake had been tempted to ride Dezi so they could continue mocking his mother, but the horse refused to leave the paddock. Jake tried to catch her for a full ten minutes before throwing his hat down in defeat.

He decided to help Maddy instead, loading the hay bales, feed bags, and topping up the onboard water tank. It reminded him of the old days when he was the one out every weekend competing in both dressage and show-jumping. Perhaps when Sunny was ready he could travel with Maddy, they could split the cost or take turn driving so they could travel further, then he remembered he would need to ask Caleb first. It made him smile, but he wasn't sure why.

From his vantage point in the trailer, he could see a vehicle barrelling down his driveway, flying recklessly over the uneven surface. He leapt down and prepared himself for another onslaught of insults at his mother's hands.

But it wasn't his mother. It was Caleb's. His mouth gawped silently.

Helen was out of the car before it came to a complete stop in front of Maddy's truck. She looked as though she had been in a fight, her hair was all over the place and the dark streaks down her cheeks evidence of tears. Two buttons were missing from her blouse, one exposing her white lacy bra, and the other giving a peek of her toned midriff.

"Thank heavens you are already packing, you don't have much time," she said breathlessly, "He's coming, they are all coming, you need to leave." Her whole body trembled with nervous energy as she looked in the bed of the truck for any sign of personal belongings.

"What's going on now?" Jake looked confused, he could feel the panic rolling off of her, but couldn't understand what had happened to break the truce.

"He's coming, Adam is coming, you need to leave." She tried pulling him towards the house.

"We had a deal, we leave them alone and they leave us alone, what happened?" Jake resisted her attempt and eyed her suspiciously.

"I don't have time to explain, I just need you to take Caleb and yourself to safety, the girl too if she can, they might go after her if they can't get you." She relinquished his shirt and ran toward the house. It worked, he hurried after her, but she was faster, more agile.

Jake panted as he followed her through the house, his eyes fixed on the deep gouge in her back that was seeping blood into her cream blouse. "He attacked you?" He skidded to a halt just in time to stop himself from slamming straight into her.

"He'll attack anyone who stands in his way," she touched the bandages on his arm to remind him of that fact. "He's going to destroy this place. The other families have brushed it off as nothing and that is winding him up even more."

Helen let herself into Jake's room and stopped dead looking at the state of it. "Please tell me you have something to pack this mess up into."

Jake bit back his retort and pulled his old duffel bag out from under his bed.

It barely reached the mattress before she started pushing the clean clothes from his drawers into it hastily. "Randy has taken the girls to safety, but they are still too close, and once Adam finds out I came here to warn you we will be on his hit list too, so please, grab what you can and get a move on so I can get out of here and I can take my family someplace safer."

"What about Caleb?" asked Jake, as he stuffed his 'frequently worn' pile of clothes into the worn out canvas bag. Space was limited, clean underwear and socks were a priority on the road, so it left little room for much else.

"He would rather be with you, it hurts me to say it but I think it's best he stays with you. If it's a problem then we will take him with us."

"I don't think that would work," Jake struggled to force the holdall zipper shut, "He needs space to run and a large animal doesn't blend in as well as a coyote."

"I'm a wolf."

"We've got enough room in the trailer, he can travel with us and make the decision later, once the heat is off. This isn't a decision to be made in a hurry, families, functional ones at least, need to stick together." Jake snatched the photo frame containing the picture of Maddy, Dezi and himself and slipped it into the side pocket of his bag.

He didn't dare to sling the bag over his shoulder like he used to, the seams had started to pull apart and the zipper seemed poised to explode. He waddled gracelessly out to the truck and wedge it in beside the trailer's gooseneck. The force proved to be too much, the air was filled with the sound of ripping canvas as his clothes spilt out into the bed of Maddy's truck.

They both turned to the sound of rapidly approaching hooves.