Authors: Cerian Hebert
The figure remained as motionless as the trees around her, and he felt she could actually see him as well, that maybe their eyes had locked and they’d already sized each other up. So much for the element of surprise. He thought of attempting to catch his uninvited tenant. As quietly as she’d arrived, however, she melted into the forest.
He waited for a while longer but didn’t see any further movement. He had a feeling she’d left the area, maybe walking toward the road. There probably wasn’t much of a chance of seeing her again and Travis felt himself relax against the couch. He’d locked the door and all the windows were secured. If she returned he’d hear her. Past experiences had taught him to sleep lightly. He’d hear her if she even so much as stepped on the deck.
Travis doubted he’d seen the last of her. In the morning, he planned to secure the cabin. And to find out the identity of his mysterious guest.
Travis opened his eyes to gray morning light, spilling into the cabin from the living room window. Slowly he sat up and stretched out his legs, then his back. The sofa hadn’t been the most comfortable spot in the place. His muscles would pay the price for trying to sleep there.
He hadn’t expected her to show up again, which only confirmed his belief that she’d known someone had been inside. Impressive instincts, he thought with reluctant admiration. He didn’t want someone clever crashing here. Maybe she’d left for good. If she were smart, she wouldn’t break in again.
The thought of reporting this to the police did enter Travis’s mind, but he decided not to take that step yet. He’d keep an eye on things and if she put in an appearance again, he’d do some rethinking. For now, instead of hiking the woods as he’d originally planned, he’d walk up to Aunt Sadie’s place. Like his own house, Sadie’s farm bordered these woods. If someone had broken in here, then they may have tried one of his aunt’s barns. Although he didn’t feel this mystery person posed a threat, it would be best to give his aunt a heads up.
Travis followed the logging trail further into the woods. Eventually it would come out into one of the fields at Sadie’s farm. That fact alone made him worry the farm might be a new squatting spot for his mystery woman.
He didn’t want any trouble for his aunt, who was a decent woman, someone who could be easily taken advantage of. Sadie Kerr liked to collect strays. No doubt her big heart would welcome people as well.
Cobble Creek Farm lay behind a curtain of mist, a dreamy place that, on mornings like this, didn’t seem quite real. The sun peeked up over the fiery trees and cast everything in a yellowy orange glow. White fences against the backdrop of vivid autumn foliage and dark green pasture created a tranquil slice of the past.
The horses wouldn’t be out, but Aunt Sadie would be awake. In fact, as Travis approached the big white farmhouse, he could see the kitchen light on. No doubt he’d be able to smell coffee soon, and bacon and eggs.
Cobble Creek Farm and Travis’s own place had been in the family for generations. Originally the abutting properties had been owned by the Kerrs and Lithgows, as far back as the mid-eighteen-hundreds. At some point in this history Adele Lithgow married Seth Kerr, Sadie’s grandparents. Both families, knowing the importance of property, especially this slice of New Hampshire countryside, kept the farms working through the generations.
Neither properties had been farmed in decades. Sadie, an only child who never married, made Cobble Creek and its twenty acres of pasture and forest into a successful horse farm. Even now, in her seventies, she kept her passion for riding alive, and maintained a stable of ten to fifteen horses.
Travis’s own home, Shadow Oak, had neither crops nor animals. Not even a dog. He’d promised his daughter one now they were settled down. He meant to carry through on that promise as soon as he could talk Jessa into accompanying him to the local shelter to find one. She’d been too busy with other things so far. Soon. She’d come around soon.
Sadie would probably have some good advice. She didn’t have kids of her own, yet she always had a motherly way about her. She claimed it came in handy with horses as much as humans. There’d been a time when Jessa had loved to be at Cobble Creek, nearly as much as she liked to spend time with Travis. Before Laura had taken off. Before being sent to Afghanistan. When Jessa had enough innocence and faith in the goodness of life.
As expected, the strong, exquisite smell of breakfast hung in the early morning mist when Travis knocked on the back door to his aunt’s white farmhouse. “Come on in, Travis,” she called from the kitchen beyond the mudroom on the other side of the door.
“You need to start locking up,” he told his aunt as he closed the door behind him and wiped his boots on the mat.
“Pah, this is the country. I’ve never locked these doors in my entire life. Don’t plan to start now. Now come on in and have a cup of coffee. Breakfast?”
“I can’t say no to your cooking.” He crossed to the cabinet to retrieve a heavy pottery mug.
“You better believe it.”
When most people her age were slowing it down and taking things easy, Sadie lived her life full steam ahead, with the energy of a person thirty years younger. She owed it to the fresh New Hampshire air, clean living, good food, and hard work. Tall and lanky, her snow-white braid hung down her back, long enough to reach her waist. Although not even seven o’clock, she was dressed in an old pair of denim overalls and a red flannel shirt. Ready to go outside and start the day.
She cracked two more eggs into the frying pan and tossed in three strips of bacon. Travis dug through the breadbox for a homemade loaf, and cut off two slices.
“So what are you doing out and about this early in the morning? Hunting season is a week away.”
“I slept down at the cabin last night. Granola didn’t sound too appetizing this morning, so I decided to hike up here for a real breakfast,” Travis lied. He didn’t think Sadie would appreciate him checking up on her.
“I’m glad you went down there. That place needs some life. In my childhood, a weekend didn’t go by when your dad, Cousin Frank, and I didn’t go down there. Now that it’s a lot fancier, I’d think you’d be down there more often.”
Travis shrugged. “I’ve been busy getting back to normal, re-acclimating myself to life over at Shadow Oaks.”
“And how’s that girl of yours? I thought I’d see her by now.”
“She’s been hanging out with her friends. I guess it’s normal for someone her age.”
“Well, I miss her. You tell her to stop on by. I have a horse she can ride.”
“I’ll bring her down next weekend.”
Aunt Sadie always had a horse for someone to ride. She even had Travis out a few times, and while he wasn’t in love with the sport, he and Jessa had had fun times out on trail rides.
More things to miss
.
Old memories hadn’t brought him here in the first place. It was time to mention the squatter. “Listen, I think someone broke into the cabin. I don’t want to alarm you, but it looks recent. Watch for anyone who doesn’t belong here.”
Sadie set the plate on the table and gave Travis a narrowed stare, her lips pursed together. “So you were checking up on me. Stop treating me like an old woman. I haven’t seen any strangers around here. Now sit down and eat your breakfast. Then after you’re done I’ll bring you out to the barn to meet my new horse.”
Travis smiled and shook his head. Sadie collected horses as quickly as she collected friends. Generally, they were horses desperate for rescuing, or in need of a place to retire and live out their remaining days in a lush pasture. She’d always been a sucker for hard luck cases. He couldn’t question her sense for horseflesh. For as many sad cases living in her barn at any given time, there were often the same number of talented and healthy horses.
“You’ve got to stop bringing them home, Aunt Sadie.”
“Never. Not as long as there’s a free stall out in my barn.”
Together they finished their breakfast, Sadie hurrying to start the day at the barn. The clock in the living room chimed seven and she pushed herself to her feet, gathered both their plates, and carried them to the sink. She returned to the table with the coffee pot to refill his mug.
“Take it out with you. I’m running late. Time to put the children into the paddocks.” Her “children” being the horses.
“I hope you’re not doing this all on your own.”
“No, I have a girl who comes in every day. She won’t take a day off.”
Sadie slipped into her jacket and headed for the door, Travis following closely. The morning had already turned considerably brighter. The air still had a definite nip to it. The chill would hold on for the rest of the fall. She led him to the white barn on the other side of the drive.
“Rio must be here already,” she said.
Travis noted the barn door had been opened far enough to let a person through. “Rio?”
“My girl.”
“Odd name.”
“Who cares? She’s a good worker. And those, my boy, are hard to find.”
“I guess. Is she local?”
“Why don’t you stop worrying and meet her. Rio, where are you?”
“Down here in Dante’s stall, Sadie,” came a voice from the far end of the barn. Then the door slid open and Sadie’s pride and joy, Dante, stepped out of his stall. The horse stood an impressive seventeen hands tall. His dark bay coat gleamed in the dim overhead lights.
He had been a part of the Cobble Creek family for at least seven years. Sadie purchased him when he was a yearling and had trained him herself to be a jumper, though she never had competed with him. Travis could tell it broke Sadie’s heart, but she’d hired someone to show the animal in a couple of New England shows. Whether that partnership remained in effect, Travis didn’t know.
For a moment he didn’t think anyone controlled the horse until the large animal turned down the aisle. Dwarfed by the Dante’s size, the petite, dark haired woman leading the horse had a confident step.
“You’re up early. The kids fed?”
The groom pulled Dante’s lead and stopped the horse. “Yep. I decided to start early so I can clean the tack.”
Travis stared hard at the young woman. He’d hadn’t seen her before. He’d been away long enough that he wouldn’t necessarily know everyone in the area anymore. She piqued his curiosity more than a little, especially after the discovery of a female squatter at his cabin.
Unfortunately, the low light overhead didn’t offer the best opportunity to study her. She couldn’t have been more than five-three. Her baggy sweatshirt hung down past her hips, hiding her figure. Underneath, she wore faded blue jeans and a pair of dusty duck boots.
Her short dark hair curled around her ears and the nape of her neck, and he figured her complexion to be fair. Right now she stared at him with the same intensity, through a pair of large, light colored eyes. If he believed in petite forest elves, this girl would be one, except her ears weren’t pointed.
“Rio, this is my nephew, Travis Lithgow. He lives over at the farm next door, Shadow Oaks. Travis, meet Rio Presley. She’s been with me for the last few months. Best groom I’ve ever had.”
“Nice to meet you,” the young woman said, her mouth curving up into an attractive smile. She didn’t seem a bit nervous. Surely if she were the one who’d been staying down at the cabin, she’d appear somewhat apprehensive about meeting a stranger from the area.
“And you,” he replied. “Rio. Interesting name.”
She laughed shortly. “My mother was a very interesting person. I have a brother named Storm and a sister named Diamond. I may have come out on top in the name game.”
Travis nodded in agreement. “Let me get out of your way before Dante drags you along.”
The big horse stomped a hoof, the noise clattering off the walls of the barn.
“This baby?” Rio planted a quick kiss on the horse’s jaw. “He wouldn’t dare.”
Travis and Sadie stepped aside anyway and let Rio pass. Travis stared after her, now more curious than ever about her.
“Rio has been my savior,” Sadie said after Rio and Dante left the barn.
“Well, I’m glad you found her then. She seems quite competent. At least so far.”
“She actually came to me looking for work last May. Excellent timing if you ask me. Leslie Dionne had left for a summer in Europe before heading to college and I couldn’t find anyone to replace her. I had my doubts at first about Rio’s size, but that doesn’t stand in her way. The horses adore her.”
Travis studied her leading the big gelding out the doors, breaking into a run as Dante trotted along beside her until they reached the paddock.
“Where did she come from?” he asked his aunt, determined to find out more about this woman’s past.
“Pennsylvania, she said. It’s not like I asked for a resume and background check.”
“Maybe you should,” Travis muttered.
With a pat on Dante’s shoulder, Rio released him in the paddock and headed toward them. She didn’t say anything as she passed. Her gaze locked with his, as if she were sizing him up just as closely.
In the morning sunlight, her eyes were a pale green, a strange and intriguing combination with her nearly black hair and slim, arched brows. She appeared confident, no doubt about that.
So, who are you really, Rio Presley?
No matter what, Travis planned to find out. And soon.