Calico Horses and the Patchwork Trail (14 page)

Milla stayed there for quite a long time and watched as the ambulance, with its lights flashing and siren wailing, sped away. One by one, people went back into their homes while she alone stood waiting in the dark. After what seemed like an eternity, her dad and Mr. Adams slowly walked back up the street. In the distance Milla heard the beep-beeping of a construction vehicle backing up.

“What are you doing out here all alone?” her dad called when he saw her. He put his arms around her and turned her toward the house. “You don’t want to watch this, honey,” he said softly. She glanced over her shoulder as a road crew with a backhoe lifted something large into a truck. She felt so awful about everything and started to cry. She was confused by the evening with strangers in her house and now a poor horse had been killed.

Mr. and Mrs. Adams were walking to their car and Fern was already in the back seat. Devon thanked them as he squeezed Milla tightly. She was glad to see them go. “I’ll see you first thing in the morning, Devon,” Mrs. Adams said as she unrolled her window.

What an odd thing for Mrs. Adams to say, Milla thought. Her dad never went anywhere in the morning except straight to work. Her stomach became queasy and she just wanted to forget about the whole night. She left her father, who was waving goodbye, and went inside. Mrs. Adams had tidied up and the snacks were all put away. She went to the cupboard and pulled out a glass and opened the freezer to fetch some ice. She looked at the ice cream, which had been opened, and imagined Fern and her mom sitting there together in the kitchen having their dessert. A horse had died tonight and a lady and a baby were in a hospital and these people were scooping out ice cream, she thought in disgust. She heard her dad lock the front door and switch off the outdoor light. Good, thought Milla, now everything can get back to normal around here.

“How did the wild horse get into the road, Dad? Was it lost?”

“No, not lost,” he said. “There’s new house construction going on all the time and it’s being built smack in the middle of where these wild horses roam. The people putting in these new homes removed some of the fencing that protected the horses from getting into the roads. Sometimes foolish people think they’re doing the animals a favor by feeding them apples and carrots. That just keeps the horses coming down into neighborhoods when they need to be out on the range. It’s a sad thing because I’m sure some foal will be looking for its momma and who knows if it’ll survive without her.”

“So it was a mare, Dad?”

“Yep, and she’s just given birth, so there must be a foal nearby.” He poured himself a glass of ice water and plopped down into his easy chair. He stared out the window into the darkness wondering if the baby horse would survive, knowing it would probably become food for some coyotes. Milla wished she could say something to ease his distress. She knew that he was used to caring for wild horses and tonight he had tried to help a mare that had died.

Her dad stood up. “I’m tired, honey. It’s been a long day and we have to get up extra early starting tomorrow.” Milla was puzzled and put down her cola, giving her dad a look of,
huh…are you nuts?

“Why are you looking at me like that? Come on, now—scoot. It’s time for bed,” he said.

“Extra early for what? It’s summer vacation and you have to go to work and I have a watercolor to finish,” Milla said. Devon smacked his head and looked at his daughter. “Geez, in all the commotion I just realized I never told you the good news. I thought Mrs. Adams had filled you in,” he said.

“What good news?” Milla asked as she sat up straight in her seat, thinking maybe he was softening up and getting her a puppy after all!

“Our worries are over and I can stop looking for a babysitter. Starting tomorrow you’ll be going every day this summer to Fern’s house. Her mom will be…”

Milla didn’t bother sticking around to hear the rest as she ran screaming into her bedroom.

Chapter 26

Brian refused to come out of his room. Shannon tried several times to make him open his bedroom door, but he remained quiet and the door remained locked. She walked back to the kitchen and began eating her cereal. Her mom was still sleeping and she was in charge of getting breakfast for her brother. I wonder if he’s sick, she thought, as she fiddled with a floating almond. He seemed okay last night before we went to bed. She herself had trouble falling asleep, thinking about the mysterious thing sitting in the tree, so her dad had let her read. When she woke this morning, her lamp was still on and her book was lying face down on the floor. She thought back to the peculiar thing sitting in the tree and peered out the frilly window curtains. The trees looked a lot safer in the morning sunlight. Her mom shuffled into the kitchen and stood at the sink filling the coffee pot with water.

Shannon didn’t say a word. She munched cereal and waited patiently. A law was laid down a long time ago and the kids knew they faced their mother’s grumpiness if they broke it—her mom worked long nursing shifts and nobody was allowed to speak to her until she sipped her coffee. This was one of the most important rules of the house. Shannon gasped as a robin, flying too close to the porch, hit a post and fell to the ground.

“Aww,” Shannon said, hurrying outside. Luckily the bird was only dazed. It stumbled around on wobbly legs and then flew away. From the corner of her eye she saw something dart behind her mom’s car. Probably just one of the neighbor’s cats, she thought. She walked back inside, greeted by the smell of brewing coffee. She heard the bathroom door shut, the swoosh of the shower curtain pushed aside, and finally the full blast of steamy water. She returned to the kitchen table wondering what could be keeping her little brother. Kelsie scratched on the door from inside Brian’s room. The door opened, the dog came out, and “click,” the door was shut and locked.

“He’s probably broken something of Daddy’s,” she said to Kelsie, who was eyeing her half-eaten toast. The coffee pot made the loud gurgling noise that signaled it had finished brewing. Like magic her mom reappeared wearing fresh clothes and a twisted towel on her head. Jodi poured herself coffee and sat down across from her daughter.

“Ahhh,” they both said in unison. Shannon laughed and Jodi smiled as they always said this together after that first sip. This was the sign that kids were allowed to speak.

“Brian’s locked himself in his room, Mom,” Shannon said. Jodi rolled her eyes and looked at the bowl of soggy cereal that Brian had not touched. “Now what?” she said, as she shuffled slowly down the hall sipping her coffee. “Brian Thomas Miller—open this door right now.”

“You’ll punish me again,” came a muffled voice from under his hiding place.

“I am not in the mood today, Brian. Come out and eat your breakfast before it gets all mushy.”

“Click” went the door as he opened it and quickly ran past her into the kitchen. She walked into his bedroom and looked to see if anything was out of order. Toys were scattered everywhere, while blankets and pillows were piled high on his bed. It all seemed pretty normal.

“Oh, man, Mommy’s gonna kill you!” Shannon squealed.

“Be quiet,” replied Brian, feeding his sister’s toast to Kelsie.

“Mo-om,” Shannon said in her tattletale voice. “Brian is feeding the…”

“Oh my goodness, Brian!” Jodi cried. “What have you done to your hair?” Brian kept his head down, trying to conceal the huge patch he had cut from his hair. It looked as if he had a bare spot on top of his head.

“I needed a haircut,” he said matter of factly.

Shannon and Jodi looked at each other and burst into laughter. Brian ignored them and ate his cereal. “You look like you’ve been scalped,” Jodi said. “Kids are gonna laugh,” warned Shannon. Brian spread grape jelly on his toast, ignoring both of them.

“Well,” Jodi said. “I guess you’ll be starting a new hair style craze. Maybe every little boy will want to have a chunk of hair missing from the top of his head, too. Hey, maybe Daddy will want to get a haircut just like you. I think that’s a great idea! I think I’ll let Daddy talk to you about haircuts, okay?” she said as she hugged him tightly

“Sure,” Brian said, cheering up and smiling at Kelsie.

Shannon got dressed and went outside to play. It was a beautiful sunny day and she stopped to watch some bees gathering pollen in the lilies her mom had planted. She loved the smell of the honeysuckle that crept along the fence. She and Brian would pull the long stems through the blooms and suck on the drops of honey just like her grandmother had taught them. She heard the bang of the front door and saw Brian wearing kneepads and a helmet walking toward her.

“Wanna rollerblade with me?” he asked.

“Sure.” Shannon hurried into the house to get her gear. Jodi was busy vacuuming and Kelsie was hiding from the whirring noise that always sent him scurrying under a bed.

She ran back outside and sat down to put on her rollerblades. She pulled her elbow pads on and tightened the clasp on her helmet. Brian was at the end of their driveway, looking up. He motioned for her to come quickly. Brian was always pointing to stuff and asking her dumb questions, like, where does mud come from and how come snails have shells. She brushed off the sand from the back of her shorts and skated over to Brian.

Suddenly, she felt as if she were in a bad dream. Brian was speaking but she couldn’t hear him. Her mouth went dry and she felt her whole body become stiff as if she couldn’t move. There on the pavement in big bright purple and pink sidewalk chalk was a message directed to her. SHANNON SMELLS LIKE PIG’S FEET. She didn’t dare look around as she thought whoever had written it must have been watching. She yanked on Brian’s sleeve to make him skate away with her, but he kept standing there. He was too little to read and asked her what the words spelled. Shannon stooped and smeared the chalk and, fighting back tears, skated to the front porch. She unbuckled her helmet, removed her skates, and ran to her mother sobbing. She tried to tell her what had happened but the words weren’t making much sense. She was frantic and pointing outside and her mom, fearing the worst, ran out the front door. Brian was covered in pink and purple dust as he was rolling on the sidewalk unaware of his mom as she hurried toward him.

“Are you alright? What happened?” she asked as she brushed off the chalk and examined her son. “Stop crying and tell me what’s wrong, Shannon,” she said. Shannon, still sobbing, walked up pointing to the pavement. The words were no longer there—just a smear of faint pink and purple chalk remained.

“What, Shannon? I don’t have time for this. What are you pointing at?”

“Someone wrote something mean about me,” said Shannon, sniffling.

“Oh, please,” Jodi said, as she rose and dusted herself off. “You must have misread it and besides, who would do something so cruel? Now, both of you go play and try not to get hurt. I have a million things to do today.”

And just like that she was gone and Shannon was left standing there looking at the remnants of chalk dust.

Sitting in her mom’s dentist’s waiting room was not one of Shannon’s favorite things to do. It was nothing like the one she and Brian went to. Their dentist, Dr. Richardson, had a special room called the Smile Zone that was filled with arcade-type games, colored wooden beads, 3D puzzles, and lots of other cool stuff. Brian was playing with his pocket-sized video game while Shannon was writing a letter to Carrie.

Dear Carrie,

I miss you so bad. I can’t wait to talk to you again and I’m gonna call you as soon as I’m allowed. I know that you said that Brian was the one who probably pulled my hair in the tree, but I don’t think so anymore. You can’t tell anyone this, but today I found a mean message on our driveway.

Jodi walked back into the waiting room, pausing to speak with the lady at the little window. She signaled for Shannon to get her brother. Shannon closed her notebook. Brian made a fuss about leaving the toys and Shannon had to drag him, kicking and screaming, to the car.

On the way home they stopped at the market where Brian talked Jodi into some treats. That’s how it always was, thought Shannon. She would point and ask for something and her mom would tell her it wasn’t nutritious. Brian would pout and cry and their mom would often give in. Shannon was still trying to find a way to convince Brian to point to something she wanted but so far she’d been unsuccessful.

They pulled into their driveway and saw their dad’s truck parked in its usual spot. “Yay, Daddy’s home!” Shannon shouted as she hurried out of the truck. She looked at Brian. “See you in a few minutes,” she said, smiling to herself, knowing Brian was not in a hurry to show off his new haircut.

Shannon raced into the house and threw herself in her father’s arms. He hugged her and then slowly held her away from him at shoulder length. “Hi,” he said, very seriously and without his usual smile.

“What’s the matter?” she asked, sensing his tone.

“I’m not sure what you were thinking or how you rode so far from home, but as I was coming down the highway just now, I spotted your bike thrown along the side of the road and I stopped and put it in the back of my truck.”

He saw her look of confusion and relaxed, realizing she didn’t know what he was talking about. She hadn’t ridden along the highway, but someone did.

“Is the bike okay?” Jodi asked. “We just got home from running errands and Shannon hasn’t been here since this morning. Who took her bike and how did it get there?” she asked as she put the groceries on the table.