Dagger's Point

Chapter Eighteen

His hair is windblown, eyes boring into Conan and I with a dark intensity. Then Dagger notices him, throwing his head up, eyes wide and with a ring of white. In an instant he is in the air, legs darting out, too close to my head. I need to back away but I can't rooted in my spot, as I hold tight to the lead rope. Suddenly, everything appears too close as Dagger scuttles backwards, pulling me with him, Conan just barely missing getting crushed against the stalls. My arm aches at the joint, as I stumble after him, trying to gather myself but it all happens too quickly. With another firm jerk Dagger pulls me off my feet, the lead still firmly in my hands as he drags me along the cement floor. Then he stops, at the far end of the aisle shaking, his ears pinned flat against his head.

Everything hurts as I pull myself up, reaching out for Dagger, as I use him to prop myself up. Staring down at Jasper and Conan who watch with wide eyes. I think that I might kill Jasper then, ready to smash him into one of the stalls, or make Dagger go after him.

"What the hell Jasper. I told you not to come down here," I shout, the fury so strong that I take a step forward forgetting about Dagger for just a moment. Before I move back to his side, it might be for the best that I stay a long ways away from him.

"What are you doing bringing someone else here? What if I go and tell my dad right now?"

"You wouldn't."

"Don't be so sure."

He doesn't move, and neither do I, but I want to launch myself at him. Even more so with his subtle threat, there is no way that I can just let him get away with that. There is nothing that I can do from here though, and I doubt that I can convince Dagger to get close enough to him to slip into his stall. So instead I pull open the nearest stall door, Dagger looking spookier and more intense by the second as I coax him inside. Taking off his halter and sliding the door closed behind me. Taking a moment to take a deep breath, before walking calmly down the aisle. Conan and Jasper are both staring each other down, looking far from friendly. Dagger is tearing down the stall, the sound loud enough that it causes my ears to ring, but I block him out, zeroing in on Jasper.

"Why bother threatening me Jasper? Is that because it's the only thing that you can actually do? Seems how you spend your time under your father's thumb?"

"I'm not threatening you, I'm threatening that demon horse."

"Because you're a coward? Too afraid of him?"

"I"m not afraid of anything."

I am only a few feet away from him when I stop, staring directly into his eyes, trying to threaten him. I don't know where this is going to go, but it is nowhere good. At least I have Conan as my witness, though that depends on what happens. I may need some help hiding a body, or someone to help me make Dagger disappear for good.

"So you wouldn't be scared if I decided to go to your father and say that I've seen you hanging around that abandoned stud barn, and that I think you've been doing drugs or something down there?"

"He wouldn't believe it."

"Yes he would, and you know it."

"I think he would believe me ore though when I tell him all about what you've been doing down here with Dagger."

I try not to let his words bother me, but they do, because he's right. Mr. Oxford wouldn't spare a second thought, just take some sort of action. I don't even want to think of what could happen to Dagger, so I back off, my anger vanishing as reality comes crashing down on me. There is no way that I can win this, without jeopardizing Dagger and that's not worth it.

I think that Jasper can sense my defeat, and so does Conan as he takes a step towards me from his spot against the stalls, seeming to break out of his trance. This might be the end here, over before it has even gotten started.

"Do what you want Jasper."

"I will." he sneers, turning sharply and leaving.

I'm deflating, but Dagger needs to be put in his stall and Conan needs to take me back to Green River so that I can get my truck. I turn to get him, trying not to think about how this might be the last time that I get to do anything with him, depending on when Jasper tells his father. Which I know that he will, the little tattle-tale.

"Are you okay?" Conan asks, moving to walk alongside me, his face impossible to read.

"I don't know."

Dagger is a mess of sweat as he looks at us through the bars of the stall, still worked up, but with Jasper gone he seems to be settling down quickly. It pains me to look at him and imagine him gone, and what may happen to him at the hands of Mr. Oxford. I can't let anything like that happen to him. It's all my fault anyways, I never should have forced myself on him, put myself somewhere that I don't belong. I get the halter over his head and lead him out, not bothering to do anything as he prances restlessly beside me, tossing his head up and clashing his hooves against the cement, the sound vibrating through my head.

"What are you going to do?" Conan asks, standing beside me after I put him back in his stall.

"There's nothing that I can do. He's not my horse, and Mr. Oxford will get rid of him in someway or another. That's just how it's going to be."

"You could steal him. Mr. Oxford wouldn't be able to say anything, because according to everyone else Dagger doesn't exist. And he wouldn't want to take responsibility for how he looks right now."

I turn to look at Conan, to take in the scar, the frown and his green eyes that meet my own. I never thought of him as a criminal mastermind, but maybe, just maybe we could make something work.

"It's going to be hard to keep him hidden."

"Not too hard though. I doubt Fred would mind, I mean who would look at a race stable for a missing dressage horse, who technically doesn't exist in the first place."

"Why do you want to help me?"

"I can see how much you care about him. It's not fair what they've done to him."

I close my eyes for a moment, trying to decide if I'm okay with committing a crime or not. I would go to jail for him, and that's only if we get caught. Dagger's freedom means more than my own.

"Let's get to work."

I don't smile at him, but I am more than thankful for his presence, ready to take on everything with him by my side. We are going to do it, one way or another we'll free Dagger from his prison. With a final goodbye to Dagger we begin our trek back to the cottage, both of us silent, our thoughts consuming us. I try not to think about losing Dagger, and what might happen to him. I don't want to imagine Jasper telling his father, and the crusty old man declaring the eradication of Dagger once and for all.

The kitchen table feels small with Conan sitting on the other side staring me down with his green eyes, those orbs seeming to hold mine hostage for a moment before the flit away. It's time to talk this through, to get some sort of plan.

"We'll need a trailer." I say, clearing my throat.

"I can borrow my dad's small one. It's older but works just fine."

"Will he mind?"

"He shouldn't, there's no reason for him to know anyways. Especially if I say Bea needs to use it or something."

"Okay. Where will we take him?"

"I'll talk with Fred, but as long as I don't tell her who it is and that we're stealing him I doubt she would mind if we put him in the back pasture."

I take a long, deep breath, there is no way that this is going to work, but at the same time I can't keep away the small glimmer of hope that sits in my chest. We might be able to actually pull this off.

"We'll have to do this all around three in the morning or so. That's when the guards at the barn are usually asleep, that way they won't see me leading a horse past the barn." I say.

"Alright. I guess we should get on with asking Fred then, or this might be over before it even starts."

I nod, shoving back my chair as we move towards his truck, my heart racing with all the endless possibilities. We can make this work, I know we can.