"Think hard."
He did, but he couldn't think of an enemy. He could think of people who didn't put him high on their list but not a violent enemy.
Two hours after Fair left for the clinic, Harry worked with the babies. She'd gotten them used to halters; now she was getting them accustomed to the lead rope, with their mother's help.
Tucker watched from the middle of the paddock, and each cat sat on a fence post.
Harry trotted with a little fellow.
She suddenly stopped. "Oh, my God, I've been blind as a bat!"
39
It's funny how when one person realizes something, so often another person thinks of this at the same time.
Harry took the lead rope off the foal, patted the little guy, then quietly walked to the barn. Rushing about, being emotional around horses, particularly foals, upsets them. No matter what her realization, Harry was a horsewoman first.
Her cell phone, sticking out from her back pocket, irritated her. She plucked it out, holding the small device, as she opened and closed the wooden gate to the paddock. Then she sprinted for the barn, Tucker at her heels.
As they ran, they heard a big diesel engine throbbing in the driveway.
"Intruder!"Tucker alerted Harry, who heard it, too.
"I'm not taking any chances, Tucker. We don't know whose diesel that is. You stay in the tack room."
Harry skidded into the center aisle, grabbed the fixed ladder to the hayloft, climbing the steps two at a time. She'd stuck the cell in her back pocket again. When she reached the top step she held the rails of the ladder, which extended three feet beyond the top foot rail. She swung onto the loft floor with such force that her cell dropped from her back pocket. She didn't notice as she ran for the open loft doors.
Mrs. Murphy, dozing with Pewter in the tack room, awakened with a start. She leapt off the saddle blanket over the saddle, dashed out the open tack-room door, and climbed up after Harry.
Tucker sat in the center aisle, looking up.
Pewter opened one eye as she reposed on a second saddle—Fair's, since it had a larger seat. She closed it, only to open it again as she heard the truck door slam, motor still thrumming.
Harry ran past Simon, who was playingwith his curb chain, and hid behind the highest stack of hay bales as she thought about what to do. She was three hay bales down from Matilda, who did not like the thumping on the loft floor. Why couldn't Harry walk? In the cubbyhole next to her, Matilda's eggs jostled slightly.
Simon put down the curb chain. The cell phone captured his attention. What a wonderful toy. He scurried to fetch it, carting it back to his nest. He pulled out the antenna and inadvertently pressed buttons until the small unit glowed. This was his best-ever find.
Harry flipped open her pocketknife. She always carried one, as do most country people. The blade, at four-and-a-half inches, was sharp. She was confident it was better than nothing. That was all she was confident about.
"Harry," Arch called. When he received no answer he cut the loud motor. He noticed her truck. He walked to the back porch door and knocked. No answer. He gave the fields a cursory look, since she was usually out working or in the barn. The next stop was the barn.
When he saw Tucker he knew Harry had to be there. He checked the tack room. Checked each stall and the feed room. He wasted no energy calling for her. He now knew she knew and he knew she was hiding. Didn't take a genius to figure that out. Arch was no genius, but he possessed ample cunning.
A call came on the cell phone. Scared Simon so bad he flipped the phone right up in the air and it hit the floor with a thud. The ringing reverberated on the wooden floor, which made Flatface open her eyes. She was even more displeased than Matilda.
Mrs. Murphy flattened herself on a hay bale to the left of Harry, who was crouching behind hay bales. Harry wished she hadn't dropped her phone, because she would have called Coop. Too late.
Harry knew her only hope was surprise. Her heart beat so hard she thought Arch could hear it.
He swung through the top of the ladder, his work boots hitting the floor. He scanned the hayloft, then walked over and picked up the flashing cell phone. He tossed it on the floor and it skidded toward Simon, who watched with his black shining eyes. His nest faced away from Arch, but the big manwalked over, his boots hitting the boards hard.
Flatface's anger rose accordingly.
Simon, terrified, flopped on his side and played dead. Arch kicked the cell phone again as he walked past Simon toward higher stakes. Simon, still as a corpse, nevertheless opened his eyes, then twitched his nose. Relief flooded over him, since Arch couldn't have cared less about one slightly overweight possum.
"I forgot how smart you are." Arch walked with deliberation now. "Of course, Harry, you can't be all that smart. You married that two-timing bastard again."
Mrs. Murphy flattened herself as much as she could. She scarcely breathed.
Tucker frantically ran back and forth under the ladder."Pewter, do something! Climb the ladder."
For all her carping and diva ways, Pewter came through in a crisis. She shot off the saddle, brushed past Tucker, and then stopped quickly."Stay to the side of the ladder. If he comes down, bite hard. Run circles around him and keep biting. Maximum pain." As Pewter hauled herself up the ladder she called over her shoulder,"Shutup. You don't want him to know where you are when he comes down."
Tucker immediately stopped barking to crouch by the ladder.
Pewter just reached the top as Arch found Harry, who sprang out like a jack-in-the-box. She hit him with her shoulder low, a decent enough block. Arch reeled back two big steps, his heel squishing into Matilda's eggs. She struck with such speed that all Harry saw was a black blur.
Matilda caught him above the right ankle, sinking her fangs in full length, then she disengaged and slithered with amazing speed to the back of the hay bales. Mrs. Murphy launched off the top of her hay bale as Arch screamed in pain. She hit his head hard, nearly slipped off, and dug her claws into his face to hang on.
Arch bent his head. Harry saw her chance and rammed her knife up under his chin as hard as she could. She stabbed him at an angle. She'd used so much force that the blade stuck in his jawbone. She couldn't dislodge it. She stayed too close. Arch could use his long reach even with the tiger valiantly biting and scratching. He graspedHarry's right wrist, twisting her arm. She hollered in pain.
Pewter, frantic at the sight, climbed up Arch's leg. He didn't bother to shake her off. Arch was fixated on killing Harry. Pewter climbed up his torso, reached his shoulder, perilously dug her claws in, and hung on as she inched down his right arm. Finally she reached his hand and bit for all she was worth. Howling, he released his grasp.
Maybe Harry should have run, but white-hot rage flooded her. She lowered her shoulder again and slammed his gut as hard as she could. This time, his leg throbbing from Matilda's deep wound, struggling to see because of the blood running into his eyes, he hit the floor hard with his knees. But he lunged forward, closing his left hand over Harry's ankle like a vise.
The cats leapt off as Arch went down.
Simon watched in horror. A bit of a coward, Simon's first instinct was to withdraw deeper into his little nest. All creatures recognize their own, who cares for them, and this won over his natural timidness. Simon waddled forth as Harry slugged Arch over and over again, aiming for the exposed handle of the pocketknife so each blow causedsearing pain. But he dragged her down. As he wrapped both hands around her throat, blood now pouring out of his right hand and from under his chin, she hit again, so hard that the knife snapped off at the hilt.
The cats, knowing he was strong enough to choke Harry to death despite everything, went for the eyes. When Pewter sunk her claws into his left eyeball, clear gel oozed out. She knew she'd succeeded. He'd never see out of that eye again. The pain seared. Arch had never felt such pain in his life. He let go. Harry scrambled to her feet. Four big strides and she reached her cell phone. Arch, screaming, covered his face with his hands. She prayed her cell worked, and it did. She punched the preprogrammed button to call Coop. As she did, Arch again struggled to his feet.