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.” She rubbed Smitty’s sweaty shoulder.“Didn’t you, boy?”We were still on the overgrown road, in dense woods, but I thought I could see it clearing up ahead.“Do you know where we are?”She looked around.“No, this is way past where I usually turn around.I’m not even sure we’re still on Winterlight.”“How big is the farm, anyway? Do you know?”“Not exactly, but it’s over five-hundred acres.”I couldn’t imagine how big that was, or how you’d know when you had crossed the border onto someone else’s property.I’d have to ask Malcolm for a map.It was certainly big enough to get lost on.Or to hide something.The trees thinned up ahead, and I could make out the shape of a structure of some kind.“Looks like we might be coming to someone’s else’s ground,” Renee said.“Maybe we should go back.”Maybe, but something drew me forward.“What direction have we been going?” I was pretty sure we’d headed south away from the barn, but we’d made so many turns since then, I’d lost track.“Mostly south, I think, why?”“Does that look like a trailer to you?”She looked where I pointed.“My eyes aren’t as good as they used to be, but I think you’re right.” As we got closer, she said, “Windows are busted out, and a tree’s growing in front of the door.Looks deserted.But I’ve seen people live in worse.”We entered the tiny clearing and rode around the trailer.“Yeah, me too.”The road leading away hadn’t seen traffic in years.Debris littered the area—a broken bucket half filled with water, a box spring, a gas stove, beer cans, shards of glass, bald tires, an old television missing its guts.Over in the woods to one side, a faded pickup truck up on blocks and more trash.All of it was overgrown with grass and weeds.Yellow wildflowers bloomed inside the TV, and honeysuckle vines climbed over the truck’s bed.The window on one short end of the trailer was intact and had a Confederate flag painted on the glass instead of a curtain.We came full circle to the back, where the door was missing.I dismounted.“What are you doing?” Renee asked.“I’m just curious.Hold him a minute, will you?” I handed her Gaston’s reins.“Good thing you’re not a cat,” she muttered.I went up the steps and inside.A sour smell hit me first.In front of me was a tiny laundry room with a stained pair of overalls on the floor, but no appliances.I turned right and stood in the kitchen from my dream.The little white Westie wasn’t there, but he’d vanished both times when I followed him from the first room to this.I hadn’t noticed the smells when I’d been sleeping, but it was dank with mildew and felt cold.Glass and torn linoleum crunched under my feet.I went into the trailer’s living room, but it was not the one from my dreams.A painting of the ocean hung crookedly over a stained green couch whose stuffing was mostly on the carpeted floor.I glanced down a dark hallway that must’ve led to a bathroom and a couple of bedrooms.Probably the farthest room was the one with the flag on the window.I saw no reason to explore in that direction.Was I supposed to look for something here? Wastrel had never been in these places, only brought me to them.There wasn’t room for him inside, but what did that matter? The laws of physics didn’t apply in dreams, did they?Because the kitchen was where the dog always led me, I returned to it.The little room had a wooden table and damp leaves on the floor.Cabinet doors gaped.Inside one, a box of baking soda lying on its side had spilled its contents long ago in a white waterfall to the green counter.Sunlight came through the window over the sink, and I could imagine a plant thriving there, a woman tending it.A woman who baked cookies.I didn’t need Renee’s abilities to know the whole place held deep sadness.I shivered and went outside.This was JJ’s parents’ place, I was sure of it.It fit Hank’s description.Why else would I have dreamed about it? But what did it mean?I took Gaston’s reins from Renee without a word and mounted.She didn’t say anything, probably reading something in my face—or my aura—that told her now was not the time for conversation.I probably wouldn’t have heard her if she’d spoken.We walked the horses back the way we’d come.I peered into the trees on either side of the road.Somewhere north of here was Winterlight’s property line.And between here and there was where JJ’s father disappeared.Had he run off like people said? Or had something happened to him?“Wow,” Renee said, “look at the time.I hate to rush you, but I need to be getting back.You mind, New York?”“No, I don’t mind,” I answered without taking my eyes from the surrounding woods.I couldn’t see any open land, but that didn’t mean anything.Hank had said the “little spit of woods” wasn’t far from Malcolm’s hay field, but that could be a stone’s throw or a mile.We continued, and I sensed Renee’s growing agitation with my silence, but couldn’t stop studying the woods, wondering about the trailer, and reconsidering my dreams.“Vi!” she yelled after a several minutes.I twisted in the saddle and faced her.“What?”“You’re creeping me out.What’s wrong with you? You sure you didn’t hit your head in that car accident? I should not have let you ride.”“Sorry.Nothing’s wrong.Just thinking.” I gathered up the reins.“You’re right.Let’s go.” I sent Gaston into a brisk trot.I looked behind us, but the thick woods already concealed the trailer.It was easy enough to find.As soon as possible, I’d return.Alone.- 31 -Renee showed me another way back to the barn along a narrow track following an old barbed-wire fence until we picked up one of the public riding trails.That would bring us out near the cow field on the west side.Between her and Sandy, I was beginning to feel like I knew my way around.She pointed to the advanced trail, the one with a few jumps, and we took it, cantered over the fences, and then walked for some time in quiet.“How long have you been riding at Winterlight?” I asked.“A couple of years, I guess.Leroy’d been coming around longer.”“You ever think of getting your own horse?”“We were thinking about it, but Malcolm always had one for me to ride.Eventually, I’ll buy Smitty back.It’s what Leroy would have wanted.And he’s a good ride.” She combed her fingers through his silvery mane.“Do you go by yourself most of the time, or with…”“Oh, I go out with Dex One sometimes.”“I meant, riding.”“Yeah, me too.” She grinned, then said, “I told you he was fine, didn’t I? Don’t let that limp fool you.Anyway, him and Leroy were best buds.”I laughed.Dex One and Renee? Why not?“Leroy used to say that people are like horses—herd animals—not meant to be alone [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]