Harnessed Passions (40 page)

"What is it?" he asked, stepping up next to
the younger man. Jeremy pointed inside the stables as four men
began to bring out the dead carcasses.

"We lost four stallions and two mares," he
reported with remorse. "They were trapped and couldn't get out. I
guess Julia did the right thing getting Biscuit out when she did.
Our losses could have been a lot worse."

"Damn," Daniel swore under his breath,
glancing across the fields at the number of horses scattered about.
"I guess we'd better start getting the rest of them rounded up.
Best take a head count and see how many are missing. We'll go out
at first light and try to find them all. I just hope they didn't
run too far off and get lost. We'll have to make a list of the
horses still able to be sold too and see how many are worth the
price we're asking."

"At least we have the crops. Most of last
year’s hay was destroyed in the fire, though, so we’ll have to
start thinking about where to purchase more."

"You're just filled with good news tonight,
aren't you?" Daniel snapped at the man, turning to glance towards
the direction he had seen the girl Julia insisted was Heather
Farnsworth.

"I know it's hard Daniel," Jeremy said,
sympathizing with his brother-in-law. He had lived through a fire
similar to this when he was a child and he knew the pain and loss
of the aftermath, but he also knew it wasn’t hopeless.

"We'll rebuild. We can salvage enough to get
us through until next spring when the foals are born. Things will
work out, you'll see."

"What's all this
we
business?" Daniel asked
turning his attention back to Jeremy.

"I thought I'd stay on for a while and help
get things back together."

"Jeremy it's not that I don't appreciate it,
but you have to get back to school. We'll manage without you."

"You mean I'm not welcomed here?" Jeremy
felt the familiar stab of pain encasing his heart. He hadn't felt
welcome at the ranch when his father was alive, but those feelings
had changed since he met Daniel; at least he thought they were
changing.

"You're a part of this family Jeremy; this
is your home," Daniel scolded. "I was planning on discussing this
with you later. I'd like it if you would consider coming back here
after you graduate, instead of moving to West Virginia or South
Carolina. I know Julia would want you to be here and I could use
somebody to watch over things when I return to my practice, but
only after you graduate. You've invested too much of yourself in
your education not to see it through."

"I suppose I really should finish," the
younger man said thoughtfully, staring off into the night. "I only
have another semester to go, but are you sure you want me here when
I’ve graduated? What does Julia have to say about all of this?"

"I haven't discussed it with her, but I know
she'd be thrilled. I know she loves you and she wants you to stay,
but I refuse to consult her until after you've graduated. Besides,
you need to think about your Malinda," Daniel added, bringing the
man back to his senses. "I thought you had a wedding to look
forward to?"

"With everything happening around here I
almost forgot. I did have plans to leave this Saturday. If you
really need me though, I will postpone my return."

"No, you won't; but you'd better hurry up
and get back here. I'm not willing to wait forever for my partner
to return home and take over his share of the work." Jeremy smiled
brightly at the older man.

"Partner?" he asked, astonished and
delighted.

"Like I said, I haven't discussed it with
Julia, but I think Turner Stables should have at least one original
owner on the papers, don’t you?" Jeremy smiled proudly, shaking the
hand Daniel held out for him, sealing their verbal deal. Jeremy
noticed how Daniel unconsciously continued to glance back toward
the empty field beside the burnt barn.

"What's so important over there?" Jeremy
asked with a curious frown. "You keep looking over there as though
you expect to see a ghost."

"I wish I would," he said sadly, thinking of
Julia's sanity. "I want to know something and I want you to tell me
the truth."

"Just name it. What's up?" Daniel sighed.
This wasn't going to be easy telling a brother his sister was
beginning to sound as though she was losing her mind, but it was
something Daniel felt had to be done. Better it came from him, than
through the stable's grapevine.

"The night Julia nearly drowned," Daniel
began. "Julia claims Heather Farnsworth tried to kill her. She says
she saw her ghost and she blames Julia for what happened to her.
Julia believes it was Heather who pulled her into the water and
tried to kill her."

"I heard what Julia said when she woke up,
but I thought it was just a bad dream." Jeremy exclaimed, looking
at Daniel as though he was the crazy one. "But Heather was Julia's
best friend growing up. They were closer than sisters; you never
saw one without the other; hell, Heather practically lived here. I
think she only went home to sleep and came back here before dawn.
They shared everything; their dreams, their ideas, even their
clothes. I don't know how many times Julia would come home wearing
Heather's dresses, or how many times I mistook Heather for Julia,
simply because she had on one of her gowns."

"I'm just telling you what Julia said. She
thinks Heather is out for revenge. She also claims to have seen her
tonight while she was trapped in the barn."

"But that's impossible. Heather's dead, she
died five years ago. I know her death was very hard on Julia, but
to think she'd do something like that; Daniel do you know what
you're saying? You're making Julia sound crazy."

"Dammit Jeremy, I'm not the one who's been
seeing ghosts. Julia's feels very strongly about this. I just don't
understand why she feels she's to blame for Heather's death."

"Probably because of Sharon; she was really
mean to Julia when Heather's body was found."

"Your mother said she drowned. What really
happened to her Jeremy? How did she die?"

"Nobody knows for sure. The sheriff said it
was an accident. Dr. Stewart examined her body and said she was
struck on the head and drowned, apparently falling in the water,
but Heather's sister insisted Julia killed her. She tried saying
Julia was jealous and wanted Heather out of the way so people would
pay more attention to her, but it's just not true. If anything, it
was the other way around. Heather's parents weren't quite as
distant as ours were, but they did have problems. Old man
Farnsworth was screwing every bar whore in Mayfield and the old
lady was sleeping with the banker. Heather was always being picked
on by her sister and brothers, Terry and Peter. Julia was the only
one who would really listen to her."

"So that's why Julia left Kentucky and
didn't want to return. There were too many bad memories here for
her." Daniel said this more as a statement rather than a question.
Jeremy nodded softly, glancing up at the night sky.

"It was mother's idea to send her away, but
Julia never would return, at least not until mother sent for her.
After she discovered Heather's body, Julia refused to even go near
the swimming hole again, which surprises me she was there that
night. I don't think she's ever forgiven herself for that day. I
think she blamed father just as much, though she won't admit
it."

The sound of horses’ hooves pounding the
ground echoed in the night air, causing both men to look in their
direction. Rally Overton and the rest of the hands had managed to
round up what appeared to be most of the runaways. They were
herding them into the open corrals, whistling and shouting as they
neared the fenced confinements.

"I want that damn horse shot," Daniel said,
looking at Julia's mare limping up with the rest of the heard.
Jeremy gave him a strange look then shook his head with a
smile.

"I wish I could oblige, but Julia would have
both our hides if we did. Biscuit was the first thing father ever
gave her and the only thing he never attached a condition to."
Jeremy cleared his throat, suddenly realizing he was speaking with
one of his father's conditions. "Julia helped give that horse life,
did you know that?"

"No I didn't. I didn't think she knew
anything about horses."

"She knows more than you give her credit
for, more than even father knew about and much more than she would
ever admit. She handled the stables for nearly three summers
straight, from the age of fourteen until she left for Boston five
years ago, though father assumed it was Rally who had taken
control. Julia did it all, she groomed the horses, she shoed them,
she helped deliver the foals. She even helped with the mating one
time, until she panicked at the stallion's rough treatment with the
mare and ran back to the house. Biscuit was born the year before
Julia left Kentucky. I remember her breaking the horse herself.

“
She read a book that
described how the Indians break their horses. They keep them away
from water and food, until they're so weak they can't fight, then
they lead them to the stream and hand feed them, thus earning their
loyalty. She followed their advice and eventually tamed the mare
without so much as ever once sitting on her. She kept the saddle
strapped to Biscuit's back for over a month, until the beast
finally got used to it. Julia won her over and as a reward she fed
her carrots and apples every day for weeks. I wouldn't be surprised
if she has a carrot or apple tucked away in her pocket every time
she comes out here."

"I never would have dreamed her capable of
anything like that," Daniel chuckled thinking of his wife taming a
horse with stubborn determination and pride and then running to
hide when it came time for mating. It all seemed a little familiar
to his memory as well as his imagination.

“
Those two won three races
before Julia left,” Jeremy continued with pride. “She is an
excellent horseman; never let her fool you. She knew more about
what happened at these stables then father did.”

"Where was Victor during this time?" Daniel
could see the anger erupting in the young man eyes at the mere
mention of his father.

"He was too busy for us or the stables. He
had...other interests if you know what I mean?"

"A mistress?" Daniel couldn't believe what
Jeremy was saying. The Victor Turner he knew was a devoted,
faithful husband with no interest outside his own bedroom.

"Not just one, but three from what I
remember." Jeremy's expression took on a distant look as he
traveled back in time to those tormented years of his youth. "I'll
never forget when mother moved out of his room. I could hear her
crying when she thought everyone was asleep. She cried every night
for weeks. I couldn't understand at the time, I was too young, but
Julia knew. She was old enough to hear the stories and feel the
pain. All I knew was that he didn't care about us anymore. He was
never here. He acquired an office in town and hired a secretary. He
slept there most nights, or so I thought.

"I remember the night I found out his little
secret; I was twelve years old. I hadn't seen him for over a week.
He'd missed my birthday and never once acknowledged it; didn’t even
send a note from his office to explain why. I stayed up late one
night until I heard him in his room and went in to confront him. I
wanted an explanation...dammit I wanted a present!" Jeremy laughed
cruelly, pacing his way to the far side of the barn. He stood there
with his back to Daniel, trying to pull the rampaging memories
under control.

"I heard a woman's voice in his room and at
first I thought it was mother or even Julia, but when I opened the
door I found out just how wrong I was. He was in bed with his
secretary. He was screwing the little bitch with his own wife right
next door! I hated him for that, for what he was doing to mother. I
wanted him dead, I wanted him to leave and never come back. I hated
him so much; I thought I'd kill him if I ever looked at him again.
By the time I was fourteen he'd taken two more whores, but he never
brought them home again. Why he did that one time, is beyond me.
Perhaps he wanted mother to suffer, for turning him out of her bed.
Perhaps he just figured no one would care; he was the great Victor
Turner, he was God among the horse breeders. His word was the only
one that counted."

"So that's why you hated him," Daniel
assessed quietly. "But I don't understand why Victor felt so much
animosity toward you? If you were the one who caught him in bed
with another woman, I'd think he would have tried to win you
over."

"He did at first; he gave me money and
gifts, offered to send me to New York where I had always wanted to
visit. When his bribes didn’t work, he told me it was my mother's
fault. He said he was a man and men had urges that had to be
filled. He said mother had refused to be his wife and he couldn't
bear the rejection, so he found his comfort elsewhere.

“
We got into a huge fight
and I punch him in the nose. I got the worse of it though; he beat
me so hard I thought I would die; I wished I would have at the
time. That’s when he turned me out; refused to speak my name again,
he just called me
boy
. When I enrolled in college he tried to pay my way, I guess
he figured it would make him look like a good father or something,
but after the way he'd treated me and mother I refused. I used my
inheritance from my grandmother instead." Jeremy turned his gaze
back to Daniel.

"I know you haven't been sleeping with her,"
he said, more as an acknowledgment than a ribbing. "I interrupted
you tonight, didn't I?"

"Did Julia tell you that?" Daniel hadn't
heard his question, his mind consumed with the feeling of treason.
Jeremy nodded his head, seeing the look of male ego coming into
play.