One Step Ahead

Quiet Isolation

      Briar drove carefully through the maze of side streets, as Ashley gazed out the window, watching the mid-morning traffic. "When we get out on the highway, and make it a little further out of LA, whaddya say we go through a drive-thru or something, and grab something to drink?"

      "Yeah, that sounds good, I guess," he replied, in a slightly distracted tone. Then, sitting up straigher in the seat, he said, "Do you mind if I ask you something?"

      "Go for it, dude."

      "I was just kinda wondering about something you and Cody were talking about awhile ago. Who's Ellie, and why are you paying him to hang out with her?"

      A smile crossed her face, and she gestured briefly to the manila envelope lying next to her on the seat. "Ellie's my baby," she informed him. "Go ahead, take a look."

      His eyebrows raising at the words, he rather hesitantly picked up the envelope and opened the flap, drawing out a sheaf of computer paper. Glancing at the first one, he saw a picture of Cody, astride a glossy buckskin horse, with a chocolate-brown mane and tail, and matching "socks" extending over halfway up all four legs.

       "She's a beauty," he replied sincerely, his face relaxing as he leafed through the rest of the pictures. "I didn't know you liked horses. I have one of my own, a chestnut quarterhorse. His name is Apache."

      "Ellie's a Morgan, she used to be a racehorse, but they decided to sell her because she didn't win enough races to suit them," she explained. "One of the handlers on the movie I was doing at the time knew the owners, and they called him to see if he wanted her. He wasn't in the market just then, but he knew I was thinking about getting one, and he hooked us up. The actual name on her papers is 'Electric Barbarella', so I just shortened it a bit."

      "Isn't that the name of a movie?" he inquired.

      She giggled, and said, "Yes, and no. 'Barbarella' is an old sci-fi movie, but 'Electric Barbarella' is the title of a Duran Duran song. Since she has a sister called 'Save A Prayer', and a brother named 'Rio', I'm assuming that the original owner was a fan."

      Ashley placed the pictures back into the envelope, and said, "Well, when everything finally gets back to normal, maybe we should get together sometime with Ellie and Apache, and ride some of the trails."

      "Sounds good to me," she responded, as she turned into the onramp which would take them to the freeway. Merging with the traffic, she drove down Interstate 101, carefully observing the speed limit in order to minimize the chances of a traffic stop. They continued on for several miles, until Ashley spotted a 7-11 store as they crossed into the city of Thousand Oaks.

      "Hey, Tink," he said, gesturing toward the store. "If you still wanna grab a drink, that looks like as good a place as any."

      She clicked on the turn signal and drove into the lot, easing the truck into a parking slot. As she started to open the door, they observed a group of teenagers entering the store, two of whom were wearing BVB t-shirts. Ashley settled back into his seat, saying, "Maybe I should just let you go in. No sense taking a chance on being recognized."

      Briar was gazing past him at something across the parking lot as he spoke, and then she reached into her purse, pulled out several bills, and replied. "You're probably right, but you don't have to hide in here. That hardware store over there is having a sidewalk sale, so maybe you could run over there and snag a couple of flashlights and some batteries, since we didn't think about that last night. And if you see anything else we might need, go ahead and grab that, too."