Bareback(8)
Jessica glanced down at the trembling girl, puzzled by her defensive reaction. “No, I couldn’t get to the stall door quick enough, so I used my cane to push it shut.”
Skyler’s dark eyes burned into her for another long minute before she turned to the girl. “It’s okay, Jamie.” Her face and voice softened as she pulled the girl to her feet. “You didn’t do anything wrong. I should have told you not to go in that stall.” She shot another withering look at Jessica. “This lady will clean that stall herself. It’s her ill-mannered horse.”
Jessica watched, speechless, as Skyler guided the girl into the barn’s office and pulled the door firmly shut behind them. Jessica rubbed her aching leg and took a few slow breaths to gather herself. What just happened here? Well, I guess it was just too much trouble to thank me for saving her butt because she didn’t tell the kids to leave that stall alone.
She pulled a chair into Rampage’s stall, and placed it in the corner before sliding the stall door shut again and carefully lowering herself onto the seat. She wedged the cane against the chair to use as a prop on which to straighten and rest her painful leg. The big stallion shifted nervously and snorted at the human in his stall. Her confidence obviously puzzled him. He pinned his ears and shook his head. Jessica showed no sign that she’d noticed the display. Shifting to try to find a comfortable position, she reached into her pocket and found the second pain pill. After swallowing it, she worked to push the incident to the back of her mind. She didn’t need the stallion to pick up on her agitation.
“You’re not so tough, big guy,” she told him once she had her temper under control.
The stallion’s ears relaxed a little. He lowered his head and nudged his feline friend, but Peach only batted at the big nose. He seemed more interested in snuggling down into the hay and returning to his catnap. The Hanoverian shifted his white-stockinged feet and stared at her curiously with large liquid brown eyes that flanked a blaze of white.
“How’s it going, handsome?” Jessica pulled a paperback book from her back pocket. “This is where we get to know each other better, boy. I hope you like Black Beauty.” She flipped through the opening pages, and settled back. “Chapter one…”
The horse’s ears flicked back and forth as he listened to the melodious inflections of her voice.
Jamie’s sobs slowed to hiccups as Skyler swabbed her injury and taped a Band-Aid across it. The elbow scrape wasn’t that bad, not enough to cause the fear and pain Skyler had witnessed. Jamie was one of her favorites. She wasn’t aggressive and belligerent, as Skyler had been at that age. But, like Skyler, she was a natural around the horses and quietly private about her life outside Cherokee Falls.
“Tell me what happened,” Skyler asked. “Did she hit you or just scare you?”
“She didn’t hit me.” Jamie’s voice hitched. Shame-faced, she looked down at her hands. “I didn’t see her coming, that’s all. It’s no big deal. I’ll just go finish my work.”
Kids didn’t just fall apart like that from being startled. Giving Jamie’s new bandage a finishing pat, Skyler requested softly, “Jamie, turn around for a second. I want to make sure you didn’t scrape your back when you fell.”
Terrified eyes glanced toward the door, calculating the distance to escape.
“Come on, James,” she said, using Jamie’s favorite nickname to coax her. “You know I won’t hurt you.”
Jamie hesitated, then let Skyler draw her closer. She lifted Jamie’s shirt just enough to expose her back and swore when she saw the old bruises crisscrossing the flesh. Jesus Christ. She should have realized it earlier.
Jamie shrank away. “I just fell down. It’s nothing.”
“No, it’s something. Jamie, my teachers thought I was the most accident-prone child around because I always had bruises.” Jamie stared at the floor, unable to meet her eyes. Skyler knew she needed to be gentle, but she struggled with the anger she felt, knowing someone had beaten this child. “When I was ten, my father twisted my arm so hard he broke my wrist. That’s when the social work people stepped in, and I ended up here with Kate’s mom. I know what it feels like to be too embarrassed to tell anyone.”