After the Ashes(82)
Corey strode to the far side of the barn, then turned to face her while he kicked something with his heel. She kept her gaze on him, only briefly pulling it away to pick out the small leaves dusting the hay. The plant had been rolled in sugar. She brought it to her nose and recognized the scent immediately. Even coated with sweetener, the minty smell of skullcap evoked powerful memories. The plant grew in abundance back home, but still she had to hunt for it daily. Her mother required large doses of the brewed leaves to take the pain away. It usually lulled her into a deep, dead sleep. “Where did you get this?”
“Had some. Found some along the way.”
She checked the stalls of the other animals and found more of the sugar crusted leaves spread over the hay. She marched over to Corey, the evidence piled in both her hands. “Why were you drugging the horses?”
“It wouldn’t have hurt them. I wouldn’t do that.”
“They just won’t be able to work tomorrow. Really, Corey, are you so lazy that you would undermine Jay’s livelihood just to get out of a day’s work?”
“You don’t know anything about me, Lorelei, or you wouldn’t ask me that.”
“Explain it to me.”
He stared at her a long moment, then retrieved the bedroll and knapsack that he’d been trying to hide under the hay.
“I’m leaving. I don’t want to hang around and wait for Mullcahy to find me.”
“He won’t. Christopher said…”
Corey shook his head. “Braddock’s not going to make it. Didn’t you hear anything I said to him? He’s not going to get past the first checkpoint.”
“What did you do?”
He dropped his bag. “You know what? It would have been a lot easier for me to give the horses locoweed. There’s plenty of it around here, and that way Jay couldn’t come after me ever. But I didn’t.”
She stuffed the evidence of Corey’s deceit into the deep pocket of her skirt. “If you think I’m going to pat you on the back for this kind of behavior, you’re mistaken. I don’t know what you’ve become, Corey, but I don’t like it. You’re not the brother I grew up with.”
“No, the brother you knew would have given them so much locoweed the animals would have had to be destroyed. That’s what happened back in Louisville, you know. Pa went to jail because Mr. Ellard’s horse had to be shot after our old man got through with it.”
“Pa didn’t do anything wrong. Mr. Ellard was angry with me.”
“You actually believe that? Pa did it. And it wasn’t the first horse race he fixed either. He did every last thing he was accused of. I know. I was with him. He was proud of himself for poisoning Mr. Ellard’s horse. Thought he’d show him and win a bunch of his money to boot. Well, guess who showed who?”
Lorelei turned her back to her brother. The truth in his words swirled around her ankles like a cold fog. She burst into motion, pacing to one side of the barn, then back. She opened her mouth to deny his words but no sound came out.
“Why then…” She finally pushed words past her dry lips. “Why did Pa rave that Mr. Ellard had him arrested to keep me and Berkley apart when he really did poison that horse?”
She took a deep, cleansing breath, but it didn’t dissipate the awful clarity her words evoked. Unfortunately, she would never be able to swallow the lie again. “Why did he let me believe it was all my fault our family was ruined?”
Corey shrugged. “He was drunk most of the time. Probably forgot.”
She strode to Corey. “But you knew. Why didn’t you tell me?”
Corey tilted his head. His wet brown eyes pulled down at the comers. “I thought you knew. I thought we all knew Pa was a no good cheat.”
She shook her head. “I didn’t know.” But what she should have said was, I didn’t want to know. And she didn’t want to know now.
Corey picked up his gear. “Not like it was the first time Pa pulled a fast one.”
She followed Corey, her hands balled into fists. “Nor you.”
Corey glanced at her over his shoulder. “I do what I have to. I don’t like to hurt anybody.”
She put her hand over her mouth to stop the scream that grew in her chest. She moved her hand to her throat, closing off the wall of pain. “Christopher. You lied to Christopher.” His shoulders squared under his worn, wool jacket. He secured his gear to his horse’s saddle with stiff movements.
Everything Lorelei had ever believed in slid off her and lay in a black puddle at her feet. Her whole life had been a lie. Maybe she had known in some dark recess of her mind, but what kept the lie alive, gave it power and strength, flavored the illusion so it could be swallowed whole, was family. They had all conspired to protect the family at all costs, even if it meant embracing a lie. And now even family loyalty was a lie. Corey had betrayed her.