|
AQUARIUS
“Shouldn’t have what? Told me the truth?” He advanced toward her until he
stood directly in front of her. “What’s going on, Meomi?” he softly
demanded.
She opened her mouth to
say he was kind to ask, but that she’d rather not burden him with her
problems when another hard gust of wind tried to knock them down.
Cove reached over,
placing a hand on her elbow. “Let’s get inside before we freeze out here.”
Reluctantly, she led
him inside so he could see the dirty dishes piled up in the sink. “Sorry.
It’s the maid’s day off.”
“Don’t worry about it.
It happens if you can’t get any water from your well.” He glanced around.
“Kind of chilly in here. How low do you have your thermostat set?”
“I don’t,” she
admitted. “When it gets too intolerable, I start a fire in the fireplace.”
Before she could stop
him, he strode into the adjacent living room where he’d see the rumpled
blankets and pillow on the sofa and the remains of her meager breakfast on
the coffee table.
“You’re living in your
living room?” he verified, giving her an odd look.
Meomi gave a little
shrug. “That’s why it’s called a living room.”
She didn’t expect him
to walk back over and stop right in front of her to stare into her face.
There was true concern in his blue eyes.
“How are you getting
by, Meomi?”
She started to say
something flippant. Something that wouldn’t give her away. To her utter
embarrassment, she broke into tears. More astonishing, he pulled her into
his embrace.
“Tell me all of it,” he
gently demanded.
TAURUS
She slowly drew closer to him. “You’re one of us?”
“Yeah.” He nodded.
“Remember? I showed you.”
“And you work at this
place?”
“Yeah.”
“Why?”
He shrugged. “Somebody
has to. A little over eight years ago, I found out one of us accidentally
got included in a herd of cattle that were delivered here for processing.
A few of us tried to get to him before he was taken inside, but they
weren’t in time. I was working at a ranch in the next state over, and
that’s when I decided to apply for a job here as a wrangler. I figured if
I managed to save one life, it would be worth the inconvenience.”
“Well, you’ve saved
that one life,” she remarked.
“Actually, you’re
number six.”
She gave him an
incredulous look. “Six?”
“Yeah.” He went over
and parked himself on the nearby couch. Letting out a weary sigh, he
stretched his legs out in front of him and crossed them at the ankles.
“Lordy, I’m tired.”
“Can I get you some
water?” she offered, walking over to the kitchen area. Opening the
cupboard, she paused to see his answer. Instead, Tark shook his head.
“Come. Sit down and
tell me how you ended up here.”
The old woman held up her hands. “We don’t have any spare cash. Well,
maybe forty dollars or so. We intended on going to an ATM to get more
tomorrow, but most of what we’ve been buying, we’ve put on our credit
cards.”
Clarkie gave her an
incredulous look. “Are you trying to tell me you ain’t got a wad of cash
on you right now?” He jerked a finger toward the nice motor home sitting
behind them. “Or inside that mobile palace of yours?”
“I’m saying it’s best
if you and your hoodlum friend leave right now,” the old guy warned.
“Or what? What ‘cha
gonna do to us, Gramps?” Clarkie made a couple of jabbing motions with the
knife. “You think you’re faster than I am? You think you two old farts can
outmaneuver us? Huh?”
“Last warning, pup,”
the old man announced.
Bud gave a bark of
laughter. “Pup! Hahaha! Ya hear that? Grandpa thinks—”
He stared in shocked
disbelief, mouth hanging open, as the two old people began to shrink.
Literally shrink, down to the ground. But they didn’t melt. Well, they
did. Sort of. They began to change, like an invisible hand was reshaping
them into…
Into…
|
