“Shh!” Haley blurted out.
“Back here with Big Mac,” Nelson answered.
She walked with her arms crossed, feeling nervous, like she was a stranger. She came to the last stall and saw Nelson brushing Macintosh, but no Haley.
“Hi,” she said shyly. “Um, I want to say I’m sorry for how I acted yesterday.”
He reached out and touched her arm. “Sam, there’s no need. I know you’ve been through a lot, we all have. I said some things to you that I’m sorry for too.”
“God no, I deserved it.”
“No one deserves anything. We need to stick together.”
They looked at each other, their eyes communicating an understanding that neither could voice.
“Where’s Haley?”
Nelson tilted his head toward a large pile of hay in the corner of the stall.
Samantha pointed and mouthed, “She’s in there?”
Nelson smiled and nodded.
Samantha said in a loud, theatrical tone, “I wonder where Haley is?” She entered the stall and walked around Macintosh till she reached the large pile of hay. “Hmm, well, since I can’t find her, maybe I’ll rest, ’cause I’m really tired. This pile of hay looks comfortable.” She flopped down.
Haley giggled from beneath the hay.
Sensing she could relax a bit, Samantha reached into the hay till she felt Haley’s little body. “Oh, no, there’s a monster in the hay. Nelson! Save me!”
Haley played along by growling. She rose out of the hay and jumped on her mother.
“Nelson, help me,” Samantha said, giggling.
Nelson watched as the two embraced each other and rolled in the hay. He smiled. This was the old Samantha he used to know.
“Um, guys, you might want to… oops, never mind. Too late,” Nelson said.
“What?” Samantha asked, hay sticking out of her hair and clothes.
“How do I say this…. You just rolled in horse poop.”
“Ahh, oh, no!” Samantha squealed, looking down at her jacket.
“Ha, ha, Mommy rolled in horse poopy!” Haley laughed. “Mommy, you stink!”
Samantha laughed out loud, then grabbed Haley. “Come here, time for you to get stinky too!”
Nelson was so happy to see Haley and Samantha connecting. It had been a long time since he’d seen Samantha smile.
This moment of happiness was interrupted when a cold blast of air shot through the barn as the main door opened up. Scott walked up to Nelson, concern in his eyes.
“Hey, Scott, what’s up?”
“Nelson, I need your help. There’s a group of men outside. They’re looking for someone.”
“Who are they looking for?”
“A guy named Raymond. From their description, it sounds like our visitor from yesterday.”
Nelson’s eyes widened. “What did you tell them?”
“Nothing, don’t worry. I’m not an idiot,” Scott remarked.
“Where are they now?”
Hearing Nelson and Scott’s urgent low tones, Samantha stuck her head out of the stall. “What’s going on?”
Scott looked uncomfortable and deferred to Nelson.
“There are some men outside and they’re looking for a guy that fits the description of you-know-who.”
“What did you tell them?” Samantha asked, clearly startled.
“Nothing, nothing at all. I know how sensitive this is and these guys look scary. I don’t want to know what they’ll do if they knew you killed the guy.”
“Nelson, what are we going to do?” Samantha asked, fear creeping into her voice.
“I’ve got this. You and Haley just stay in here, okay?” Nelson instructed. He grabbed his coat and started for the door.
Scott stopped Nelson before they exited. “There are four guys out here and I meant what I said about them looking scary. They look like bad news.”
“How did they get past the gate?”
“I don’t know. Mack was supposed to be manning it.”
“You carrying?”
“Always,” Scott said, opening up his jacket to reveal his holstered pistol.
Scott’s description of the men wasn’t an exaggeration. All four were in their thirties, with average builds. Three of them looked especially dirty, with greasy shoulder-length hair sticking out underneath beanie hats. The fourth man, who stood in front of the others, appeared to be the leader, by his swagger and bearing. His appearance set him apart from the others. His hair was cut short and his beard was trimmed, and he wore a large brown cowboy hat with two gold tassels.
Nelson stepped out with Scott and walked up to within a few feet of the group.
“Afternoon, gentlemen. Scott told me you’re looking for someone.”
The man with the hat answered. “Yes, maybe you can help us. I’m looking for my baby brother, Raymond.” Though he was clean cut, his mouth revealed stained yellow teeth.
“We haven’t had anyone here recently,” Nelson answered.
“Like I said,” Scott followed.
The man looked at both of them and asked, “Are you sure?”
“Yeah, I’m sure,” Nelson said, trying to hide his nervousness.
“You mind if we look in the barn?”
“Yeah, I do. Listen, we haven’t seen a person named Raymond here. By the way, how did you get in here?” Nelson said.
Ignoring his question, the man leaned forward. “What’s your name?”
“I’m Nelson. And you are?”
“Nelson, I’m Truman Biggs.”
“Truman, I’m sorry you can’t find your brother, but like I said, he’s not here.”
Truman took a few steps forward and was now standing only a foot away from Nelson. “Nelson, I really need your help. You see, my brother, he can’t hold his liquor well. He’s been going on and on about this place. Specifically that a couple a lovely ladies lived here.” He paused, grinning. “Raymond has a bit of a problem when dealing with the ladies and he tends to drink too much. Oh, how do I put this, he doesn’t know the word no.”
Nelson began to size the men up. The tense exchange was heading in a direction that he feared would end in bloodshed. “Truman, I can appreciate that you’re looking for your brother, but he’s not here. I can tell you that. If we can help in any way…”
“You can help by not lying to me,” Truman said bluntly.
“How did you get in here?” Nelson asked.
“You guys have a nice little neighborhood here, but you have to watch the back door too,” Truman quipped. The other men laughed.
Nelson looked to Scott and returned his look with a raised eyebrow.
“Nelson, I assume you’re not from around here, are you? I don’t know if you know about snow like we have here in Idaho. How when it freezes over, you can see a person’s tracks for days. Well, we tracked my brother to this neighborhood, to that house,” Truman said, pointing to Nelson and Samantha’s house. “We have a place like this over the hill. My little brother was watching you guys. He would drone on and on about some little blonde here. Well, yesterday he got drunk and left my house saying he was going to get laid. That’s the last time I saw him. We tracked his footprints in the snow to that hill there, but then we noticed somethin’ a little suspicious. We can’t find his tracks back.”
Not knowing how to respond, Nelson nervously shot back, “You need to leave now, this is private property!”
The barn door opened and Haley ran out and grabbed Nelson’s hand.
“Haley, come back here!” Samantha commanded from inside the barn.
Nelson looked down at her and whispered, “You need to go back inside. Mind your mother and go, now.”
Haley had seen enough already to know that something bad was about to happen. “Leave us alone!” she yelled at the men.
Truman and his men looked at each other and laughed at Haley’s command.
“Oh my God, you’re so precious. What’s your name?”