You Put My Finger On The Trigger

Chapter 6: A Stallion Made of Gold and a Boy Made of Darkness

The sky was streaked with shades of lighter salmon pink as Gracie swung her legs over the side of the couch, the faint light on the horizon chasing away some of the darkest shadows, yet leaving a hint of night still hanging over the land. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes harshly, then stood and folded her blanket neatly and placed it on the corner of the couch, her pillow on top. Caitlyn was still sawing logs, if one could be bold enough to say that, so Gracie crept quietly out of the parlour and went to her room to slip on a brand new pair of jeans and a solid red long-sleeved shirt. Nobody appeared to be up yet, so she ran a brush through her hair but left the toothbrush sitting in the drawer, afraid the running water would wake somebody. She looked in the mirror at her forehead and was greeted with a sizable goose-egg that looked quite angry with life. Suddenly the slight throbbing ache in her skull seemed more justified. She remembered where Rylee had gotten some tylenol from last night, and took two pills in hopes to ease the throb.
Out the kitchen window, she could see the cause of yesterday's chaos gazing off in the distance, his hay apparently untouched. He was magnificent, golden honey brown with a strikingly long tangled black mane and forelock. His strong, tall body was sprinkled with lighter dapples that added a sunshine like hue to his coat making him seem almost four dimensional as he tossed his head and paced back and forth before again gazing over the fence into the distance.
Something drew Gracie to put on her boots and coat; it was like another force all on it's own, dragging her out the door. The stallion noticed her the instant the door swung open, and his attention turned to her. His gaze seemed to pierce her very soul, and she felt an emotion she couldn't describe, that moved her to her very core. She stood and watched him for a minute, the crickets starting to sing and a few birds chirping in the distance. The sunrise cast a heavenly pink-ish glow on his coppery coat, and the fog from his breath in the crisp air added to the scene with the flair of a painter completing his last stroke on his masterpiece.
Closing the door softly behind her, she stepped down the porch and meandered to the barn. The stallion blew a challenging whistle from his round pen and paced nervously, but Gracie didn't spare him more than a glance. She slipped into the barn and made her way down the aisle, being sure to pet each horse that would come to the stall door. Timber hung his heavy, intelligent head over the stall door, perked up with interest, but Gracie didn't dare to touch his soft nose, convinced that if she did she would somehow ruin him and Avery would probably literally kill her. She had enough to think about with one person after her blood.
Moose was very ready to be brushed; she loved the attention, Winter had claimed. Gracie grabbed the large halter and lead that hung on the hook outside her stall door and slipped in after kissing her velvety nose. It took her a few tries, but she figured the halter out and got it on correctly on the fourth time. She took Moose to the closest wash stall and tied her in, then got to work brushing her.
She found herself talking to Moose as the dust fell from her coat.
"This place is strange, Moose. The people are all so locked in their own world. I mean obviously something bad happened to them, but they all seem so happy and content. I don't quite understand that. And what is Avery's deal anyhow? He was so nice yesterday, but the rest of the time he's just a butthead!" she whined exasperatedly.
"He makes me so tired sometimes. And I wish Chandler would stop with all the joking. Does he ever take anything seriously?"
She was silent for a second, and when she spoke again her voice was a choked whisper, near to tears.
"I guess I miss Mom. Rylee's nice and all, but..." she trailed off. The brush fell to the floor un-noticed as she wrapped her arms around Moose's strong neck and buried her face in her mane, weeping uncontrollably. Moose just stood still, an aura of strength and love flowing from her stately manner and touching Gracie's breaking heart. She managed to collect herself, drying her tears on her horse's rough mane, then just stayed where she was for a moment, soaking up the strength and love that seemed to drown her as she pressed against the chestnut's warm side.
The creaking of the barn door opening finally broke the moment of peaceful silence, and Gracie jumped back and hurriedly retrieved her brush from the floor as she frantically tried to make herself look relaxed and normal. The person who had entered turned the big lights on, and Gracie and Moose both blinked and squinted a little at the bright light. She focused hard on her brushing, her nose so close to the brush she couldn't tell where Moose was looking when she swung her large head to watch the intruder with curious eyes.
She tried to control it, but a wave of panic flooded her for a second as the footsteps clipped down the aisle at a fairly brisk pace.. What if her killer was smarter than they gave him credit for and had managed to track her down after all? Then Desert Star shook the barn with his robust greeting, and a low nicker was also heard further down the aisle. That meant it was either Avery or Rylee, since Star paid no attention to anybody else, much less neighed when they entered the barn. She relaxed a little and had the courage to look down the aisle this time. It was Avery of course, and he hadn't noticed her yet. He haltered Timber, and to Gracie's surprise, he turned to the big horse and murmured to him in low tones as he ruffled his mane and adjusted his forelock. He seemed almost - happy, heaven forbid.
The boy didn't notice his fellow human until he turned and led Timber down the aisle. He looked up after a few steps, and seeing her stopped so abruptly his horse nearly ran him over. Gracie had turned back to brushing Moose already, but she heard the footsteps stop and glanced at him.
"Good morning!" she chirped, a little unsure of herself. What if she was breaking some unknown rule by being out here before breakfast or something?
Avery just stared for a moment, his green eyes shaded a little darker from the overhead barn lights, but still intense and guarded. He said nothing, and resumed his pace to the wash stall next to her. Gracie shrugged, then turned back to her horse, a little deflated that he was back to his grinch-y self, but determined not to let it show.
They brushed their horses in tense silence for several minutes. Just as Gracie was beginning to wonder how much longer she could reasonably brush Moose, Avery spoke.
"You didn't tie the knot quite right." His voice echoed throughout the barn in low, rich tones, startling Gracie a little. She stared at him, quite suddenly tongue-tied. He slipped under the bar separating the wash stalls and untied her lead.
Gracie found her voice then.
"Actually, I was just about to take her back anyway," she snapped a little coldly. She grabbed the lead rope from him, glaring at him as she backed a startled Moose out of the wash stall. Avery glared back, and somehow his emerald eyes burned holes straight through her, unnerving her considerably. It wasn't fair how he could always win a stare-down, she thought exasperatedly.
"Whatever, Miss Sunshine," he grated, "I would've shown you how. But if you don't want my help then don't come crying to me when your horse breaks her neck 'cause you didn't know how to tie her."
His words cut through her, but she turned away ignoring them. Why had she said that anyways? Now she still had no idea how to tie her horse up, and Avery was mad at her again, this time after she'd turned down his voluntary help, which is something he never gives people. She kicked the cement, angry at herself, as she left Moose in her stall without stopping to rub her forehead. She stormed outside, more mad at herself than at Avery. She'd never been a confrontational person; a little peacemaker was a far more accurate depiction as a general rule.
A loud whistle scared her from her thoughts just as her eyes filled with tears again, and she jumped to see the stallion sizing her up from the far side of the round pen. He'd probably been startled by her sudden movements, she guessed as she watched him paw the ground fiercely yet tinged with a barely detectable trace of fear. She found herself wandering towards the gate not of her own accord. Something just drew her to his pen, pulling her like a magnet. He danced around nervously, pawing the ground and tossing his head, even throwing her another whistle challenge as she reached the gate and leaned onto it, but he never acted on his threats. Yesterday his mannerisms would've struck fear in her heart, but this morning she felt numbed to the fear, unable to feel. She felt reckless and uncaring. Nobody would miss her if she was battered to death anyway, she thought, as she slipped under the gate. She stood there, un-moving, unsure of what her intentions were even in the first place. The stallion stood there too, slightly puzzled by her stillness. He took a step towards her, arching his neck and blowing fiercely, seeming to move on air rather than ground. She stood still. The gaze between them was intense, as Gracie silently begged the stallion to trample her into the dust, and he completely ignored her, instead seeming to say, please don't hurt me.
Then his head shot up in the air and he looked past her, snorting and moving back to the far side of the pen. She turned to see Avery coming out of the barn. He saw her too, and his expression darkened, if that were even possible.
"Get out of there, you are not supposed to be in that pen you dim-wit, you'll be killed!" he shouted. Gracie had planned to defy him, but the resolve crumbled around her when she heard the sincerity and command laced into his tone. She complied reluctantly, but remained by the gate. He stood for a second looking at her then came to join her. They watched the stallion together for a minute, neither saying a word or even looking at each other.
"What's he here for?" Gracie broke the silence.
Avery looked at her for a long second. Why did he do that so much, hadn't he seen all there was to see of her?
"He was sent here as a last resort. He was mishandled for a few years and his owner considers him dangerous now, and he is going to send him to slaughter if we can't break him in," he replied, his voice holding a sort of professional tone. Gracie gasped a little.
"Why would he send such a beautiful horse to slaughter?!" she cried, a little exuberantly. "Look at him, he's the epitome of gorgeous! He's like.. He's like the horse form of young Leonardo DiCaprio!"
Avery snorted at that, amused.
"I don't know, Gray, I don't know. He's not a man we like much around here." He shook his head.
"Why do you call me Gray? That's not my name." Gracie irritably remarked.
Avery did that infuriating thing where he just looked at her. Just looked at her. No expression on his face, his eyes guarded with a brick and barbed wire wall.
"You should go back inside, Mom will be up by now and she'll be worrying about where you went and why." He avoided her question completely and though she wanted to keep scrapping about it, he did have a point.
"Whatever." She grumbled, admitting defeat again as she turned to the house, but not before she saw the corner of his mouth turn up in a triumphant smirk. She snarled a little under her breath, but her heart was lighter as she stepped in the door, where the house was bustling with morning activity, and Rylee was, as predicted, in a bit of a fit about her leaving the house without telling her. Somehow, though, it felt a bit like home to be scolded again, and the warmth that enveloped her as she took off her coat and explained herself was something she felt she had been missing for a while.
America approached her with a request to braid her hair for her, and Gracie readily agreed, since she didn't know how to braid and was getting tired of ponytails. She braided it into a dutch braid, as they chatted about barrel racing and how it was done. America even offered to teach her how once she knew how to ride. Gracie laughed and told her she'd have to see.
They ate breakfast afterwards, which consisted of scrambled eggs and cheese with bacon, and orange juice to drink.
"Question." Charlie spoke from across the table, "Did you realize you gotta learn to ride horse today?" He grinned a little too happily, and Gracie felt her stomach jitter a little. Her eyes widened, and everybody chuckled.
"It's not that bad, Gracie!" Alejandro added on his soft Hispanic accent.
"Like that will make everything un-scary," she quipped sourly.
"Un-scary is not a word dum-dum," Chandler threw in his two bits.
"Well I don't know what else to say." Gracie grumbled. Chandler laughed and winked at her, for no apparent reason. She grinned back, feeling herself relax. Chandler, even through his annoying happiness, was starting to feel like the brother she'd never had.
Beside her, Sunshine Boy glared across the table at Chandler, then loudly cleared his throat and stood up, dumping his dishes in the sink and thundering out of the house as the chatter continued. Something got his goat. Whatever, he was always mad anyhow.
She turned her mind back to the commotion at the table as Charlie and JuneLily argued over whose horse was better at what, as all the thoughts and troubles left her for the time being.