Small Town Filly (Sandbar Stables Cozy Mystery Book 1) (3 page)

              Alex switched off the cell phone and tucked it back into her purse. Again she reached for the key to start the car, but looked up at a sudden movement outside her window.

              She could see only a silhouette in the darkness. Quickly, she locked the door and started the car, and then threw it into reverse.

              "Alex!"

              She realized that it was Lance standing at her window. She put the car in park and turned off the engine, and then opened her door.

              "Sorry," she said, a little breathless. "It's too dark to see you through the window."

              "Are you okay?"

              "Sure," Alex said, still feeling startled.

              "I noticed you hadn't left. I thought maybe your rental wouldn't start."

              "Oh," she breathed and smiled gratefully at him. "I'm fine. The car's fine. I just got a phone call from the estate attorney. That's all."

              "Mmm." He started to walk away. "Drive safe," he said.

              Alex quickly opened the car door again. "Lance," she said, and he stopped and turned around. "The attorney asked if I wanted to keep this property. He kept telling me that I could get a very high price for it I if wanted to sell."

              "I'm sure you could. And you probably should."

              "But, I don't want to sell it! I've already decided. I'm staying."

              She got out of the car and walked towards him. "Lance, first thing tomorrow morning, I'm going to call my job and tell them to cancel my leave of absence. I'm not going back."

              "You're sure."

              "I'm sure."

              He took a step towards her, and she thought she saw him smile just a little. "Well, then. If you're going to keep this place, we'd better get these horses in shape for work so they can earn their keep."

              Alex felt a surge of excitement. "You're right. And I was thinking, there's no mortgage on this place, since I inherited free and clear, and there's some estate money to help run it, but that lawyer was right about one thing. Horses are expensive to keep."

              Lance nodded. "There are ongoing bills for hay and rolled oats and vitamin supplements. You'll need to replace and repair the saddles, bridles and halters from time to time. Very soon, they're going to need their feet trimmed. Some, like Swifty, need front shoes because the sand wears their hooves down so fast. And even routine vet care for sixteen horses adds up fast."

              Alex swallowed. "Well, then," she said softly, "I guess we'd better get an early start tomorrow!"

***

              As Alex drove from her motel to Sandbar Stables early the next morning, her mind raced with plans. One of the first things she wanted to do was turn in the rental car and get a vehicle of her own—maybe a small pickup truck, something more suitable for the owner of a stable.

She felt like a child who'd come downstairs on Christmas morning to find the living room filled with toys and gifts and candy. She had a barn, a house, and
sixteen horses!

Life had truly become amazing.

Then a surge of panic shot through her as four horses—actually, one huge black horse, two smaller black-and-white pintos, and one little mouse-gray pony—went trotting across the busy road right in front of her car.

Alex slammed on the brakes. So did the drivers coming down the other side of the two-lane road. Trying to think fast, she swung the car into her own driveway but then hit the brakes again as Lance came running right towards her.

"Grab a halter!" he yelled as he raced past. She got the car parked and ran to the barn. She could hear Fanny barking frantically from inside one of the stalls and realized Lance must have closed her up in there so she wouldn't chase after the horses.

Alex yanked the two nearest halters off the stall doors and tore after Lance and the four horses.

Directly across the road from the entrance to Sandbar Stables was a large, weed-covered vacant lot. The nearest houses were about a half a block farther back on the edge of the lot.

Excited by their sudden freedom, the big horse and the three ponies flagged their tails and trotted and galloped around on the lot. It looked to Alex like they couldn't decide whether to be spooked or happy.

Either way, the animals quickly found themselves surrounded by Lance and Alex—and by several neighbors brought outside by the sound of screeching brakes and pounding hooves.

A screen door slammed. Alex looked up to see a short, heavy woman with very short gray hair hurrying across her lawn to the edge of the lot. "What is going
on
out here?" she yelled.

Alex was the closest to her, so she tried to smile and give the woman an explanation. "I'm so sorry. They got out. We don't know how. We'll have them back home in just a minute."

The woman looked closely through her thick glasses at Alex. "Are these horses from across the street?"

"Yes. They are," said Alex nervously, watching as Lance and a few neighbors began spacing themselves out to form a barrier between the horses and the sides of the vacant lot.

"Well!" she said and folded her arms across her chest. "I might have known. I used to ride myself, and I know a poorly run place when I see one!"

"I'm sorry," Alex said over her shoulder. She was getting close to Jet and tried to creep up quietly.

"My poor little Mary took riding lessons over there last summer, but due to their negligence she fell off twice! Now she doesn't like horses at all!"

Alex began moving towards Jet at a slow walk. "Maybe we can–"

"You can get these horses off of my property!" the woman yelled, loud enough to startle Jet into throwing up her head and trotting off again.

"Yes, ma'am. We're getting them," said Alex, walking after the big black mare once more.

"I've tried to buy that place before!" the woman yelled again. To Alex's dismay, Jet trotted off even faster. "We'd all be better off if it was a hotel and not a barn!"

Alex tried to get close to Jet again. Just then, the screen door on the house banged loudly again as the woman stalked back inside.

The confused mare only changed direction at the sudden sound and tried to rejoin Starfish. The pony was so small he could probably walk under her belly if he wanted to, but they were good friends and spent much of their time together.

"Alex!" called Lance, from across the lot. "Back off, and just let them relax! Wait until they start eating!"

She did as he said, and made herself stand still while the horses wandered about. The other people standing around the sides of the lot did the same, even though they didn't look too happy about it. She saw that one of them had a very long stick in his hand and was tapping it up and down on the ground like he'd be glad to use it.

Finally, with everyone simply standing quietly and the angry woman back in her house, the horses began to realize that they were standing ankle-deep in a lush green field. In a moment, they had all stopped dead and began greedily stuffing themselves on the weeds and grass.

"Let me get Jet first," called Lance, walking towards the herd. "She's the one in charge of this herd."

"Is that because she's the biggest?" asked Alex.

"No. It's because she's a mare. The boss is nearly always a lady. Just like in real life."

Alex glanced up at him, but he had his back turned to her. She watched quietly as he walked up to the big mare and calmly slipped her halter on just as she raised her head up from the grass, still munching on some huge stalks of green stuff.

"Okay," he called. "I'll go for Starfish. See if you can get the other two."

Alex readied the first halter in her hands, and approached the two black-and-white escapees. "Hey, guys," she said to them. "Time to come in now. Recess is over for today."

To her relief, Lightning barely flicked an ear as she walked up to him. In fact, he was so determined to go on eating that she could barely get his head up far enough to slip the halter under his nose. Thunder proved to be the same way, and in a moment all four of them were safely caught.

Lance led the way with Jet and Starfish, and Alex followed them with Thunder and Lightning. Most of the drivers blew past them as they waited at the side of the road, but finally one car stopped and then another, so that the traffic was stopped in both directions.

Even from the road, they could hear the other horses in the barn all whinnying and calling loudly. "What are they yelling about?" she called to Lance.

"Breakfast is late," he called back over his shoulder, "and they want to know what these four are doing out running around without them."

Alex grinned, listening to the horses talking back and forth. Then Lightning raised his head and gave a piercing call right back to them, and she wished she had earplugs. "I never knew horses could be so loud!"

"What?"

"Never mind," she said, still grinning. "Let's get them home!"

They took the horses across the road, and Alex thought she'd never been more relieved about anything in her life than when all four of them walked down the gravel driveway of Sandbar Stables. She felt even better when the runaways were safely back inside their own paddock.

"Lance, how did this happen?" she asked. Now that the horses were safe, she found that she could not keep her voice from shaking. "One of them could have been killed. Or a driver. Or anyone."

"I don't know what happened." He stood with one arm on the metal gate, just looking at Jet and the three ponies.

She looked at the horses again. "Are you sure you locked this gate?"

Lance was very silent and still for a long time—so long that Alex finally turned to face him. He had such a cold look in his eyes that she took a step back.

"Yes," he finally said. "I wrapped it and hooked it just like I always do." His voice was just as cold as his expression.

She sighed. "Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to insult you. I know how hard you work to take care of this place and all these horses that aren't even yours. I'm just trying to figure out what happened, that's all."

Lance turned and looked out over the gulf, and she could see him clenching his jaw. "I am positive that last night when I threw in the hay, this gate was shut with the cord hooked around it."

"Did you see whether it was wrapped up this morning?"

"No. I didn't. We haven't fed yet, remember?"

"Yes. I remember. Meaning, you hadn't been out to look at the paddock yet."

"No. I had not. I was in the barn with those horses when I heard the hoofbeats and looked up. That's when I saw Jet leading the other three out of the front gate."

"So the front gate was open by then."

"Yes. It was closed last night, but I'd already opened it today." He sighed and glanced down. "I've been leaving it open for you every morning."

She smiled at him, though she wasn't sure he saw it. "Yes, I know you do. And I appreciate that very much." Alex looked at the horses again. "And there's no way one of them could have gotten the bungee cord off of the gate? Jet's pretty clever with things, from what I've seen."

"No. I've never seen a horse that could manipulate a bungee cord—not when it's been wrapped and hooked the way I do it. Besides," he went on, "I've never seen any of them even try to mess with it. I just can't believe it was one of them."

"Okay. If you say it wasn't one of the horses that did it, then it wasn't."

She started to walk away, but Lance just stood there with his arm on the gate. "Are you coming?" she asked. "I'll help feed. I pretty much know how much everybody gets by now."

He let go of the gate. Alex watched it swing inward by a few feet. "The bungee cord is gone. That's another way you can be sure that it wasn't the horses who took it off. They would have just let it fall right here and then taken off. But there's no sign of it anywhere between this paddock and the road."

"So what are you saying? If it wasn't you and it wasn't the horses, then what happened to the bungee cord?"

"I don't know. But I don't think we're going to find it."

"Then you're saying it was deliberately done. That somebody deliberately turned the horses loose to get out onto the road."

He was silent for a moment. "I'm just saying that you need to hold this gate shut while I go to the garage and get another bungee cord."

Alex stepped up and took hold of the gate. In just a few moments he was back with a new cord and the gate was securely fastened shut once more.

"Okay," Alex said with a sigh. "Let's get those kids fed so they'll quiet down."

He nodded as they headed towards the hay barn—and then stopped suddenly. Alex looked up. "Who's that?" she asked.

There was a man walking along the front fence line, coming towards the driveway—a short, heavy, gray-haired man in a pair of old denim knee shorts and a faded brown T-shirt. He also wore a thick brown leather belt with a big skull-shaped buckle on it.

Nothing about him looked very friendly. Alex could hear Fanny barking from where she was still closed up in a stall.

"Just stay with me. Let me do the talking," said Lance.

"But who–"

Her words were cut off when Lance stepped right in front of her, forcing her to stop. "Mornin'," he said casually, but she could feel the tension in him.

              The man stopped at the gate. "I'm not coming onto your property," he growled.

              Alex frowned and looked up at Lance. He remained very tense and still and would not let her pass. "Can I help you, Mr. Wood?" Lance said to the man.

             
Wood.
Alex realized that this must be the man who owned the marina next door. The man who would be very happy to see her leave because he wanted to buy her property for himself.

              "Probably not, but I'm gonna ask anyway," the man said, stopping at the end of the driveway. "I want to know why the hell there are horses running loose on the road."

              "We're sorry about that," said Lance. "We don't know how they got out."

              "But it's all right, Mr. Wood," said Alex, stepping out from behind Lance. "We brought them all back and they're all safe now. None of them got hurt."

              She could hear Lance sigh with exasperation. Wood stared at her like she was an idiot. "You think I care about your horses, girl? I just want to know why they're loose on the road and blocking traffic and disrupting access to my marina!"

              "Oh," she said, and she could feel her face flushing red. "I'm sorry about that, too. It won't happen again."

              "Go right ahead and let 'em run," said Wood with a sneer. "I'll call the cops and have your place shut down for negligence. Then you'll have to sell." He grinned, but it was pure meanness.

              "This place has been here for nearly one hundred years, Mr. Wood," Alex said, standing a little straighter. "It's part of Argentina Shores. And it's been a good neighbor all that time."

              "Yeah? Who says?" he countered. "Sure, everybody just
loves
horses—until they have to live next to them.
I'm
the one who has to listen to them screech to be fed every morning and evening.
I'm
the one who gets the stink when the wind blows from your side. And now
I'm
the one whose business suffers because
you
can't keep them tied up!"

              Alex could only stare at him, speechless with shock. "Well, I promise, Mr. Wood, we'll do the best we–"

              "Yeah. You do that. But you know what? The two of you will never be anything but outsiders. That means you won't last."

              Alex took a step forward, even as Lance silently tried to block her. "Lance is an expert horseman. He belongs here more than anyone."

              But Wood only laughed that nasty laugh again and shook his head. "You still don't get it. I don't mean he doesn't belong on this farm, although we all saw this morning how much he really knows about horses. He couldn't keep half of them from running out onto a busy road full of speeding cars. But aside from that, your boy there is obviously not from Panhandle country. He's got California fake written all over him."

              She could feel the tension in Lance's body increase, but he remained silent and still.

              "And you—you're nothing but a tourist who doesn't know sand from seaweed."

              Alex could feel her own anger rising. "I am the owner of this property, Mr. Wood. I have just as much right to be here as you do."

"Is that so? Well, let me tell you something. I was born and raised right here in Argentina Shores. I can remember when there were no huge high-rise hotels or ugly cheap condos three stories high blocking everybody's view of the beach.

"We had tourists, sure, but it was families coming in for two weeks to enjoy the sunshine and the fishing. It wasn't kids passing through for a weekend of drinking and dope-smoking and trash-throwing on the beach, like it is now."

Alex caught her breath. "Sandbar Stables was part of that family atmosphere from the very start. And it can be again."

He snorted. "This barn blocks the beach view almost as bad as the condos. I don't care how old it is—it never should have been built here. I can do a much better job with this property than you ever could, because I belong here. You'll always be a hothouse, big-city, barn-raised Thoroughbred who never should have come to a place like this. You'll never be a small-town filly, no matter how hard you try."

Alex could only stare at him, speechless with anger and humiliation.

Wood started to leave, but then turned around one last time. "Do whatever you want, but I'll be watching. And anything that goes wrong over here will give me just the ammo I need to get rid of both of you and turn this place into a parking lot for my marina. Remember that."