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Owen
All showered up, I head to the big house to talk with Kelly and Trent. As I walk along the path, something in my gut is sending signals to my brain, telling it that the boom is about to drop on our ranch. I can’t shake the suspicious feeling.
After a couple of consecutive days without any trouble, something awful usually takes place. And being gone a day from the ranch, it’s difficult for me to believe that nothing is awry.
I see Kelly up ahead in the distance, just about to the homestead. “Hey, Kelly,” I call out to her. “Wait up!”
I kick up some dust as she waits for me to catch up. “What’s up?” she asks.
“Nothing and yet, everything,” I look at her as we both step onto the stairs leading into the house.
“Care to explain?” She stops and turns to face me. She crosses her arms and leans against the railing, her face enlisting a thousand questions.
“Nothing is wrong between us three, if that’s what you’re thinking,” I say, “But it’s been quiet around here for a couple of days and the ranch hands say that all is well.”
“Okay, and?” She shakes her head holding out one hand, palm up as if to say ‘so what.’
“It’s just that,” I look at her trying to convey the anxiety that I’m feeling, “That after a silence, usually something ends up broken, missing, or dead.”
Kelly nods her head, lost in thought for a few minutes. “So, you’re suggesting that a drastic thing is on the horizon? The scope of which could take out the ranch?”
I shake my head, “No, nothing that drastic, but maybe.”
“Let’s go have a word with Trent and get his thoughts on the subject,” she says, stepping up the final two stairs and opening the door to the inside. “Have at it.” She swings her free arm, motioning for me to go before her.
I find Trent sitting at his desk, going over some papers. He sets them down as I and Kelly file in. He smiles and leans back in his seat, folding his hands across his lap, resting on his crossed legs. “Hey there! I trust a hot shower made you feel better?”
I nod but Kelly says, “I did, but Owen here,” she points a thumb in my direction snickering. “He’s all worried about the ranch and what’s about to happen since the last few days have been virtually quiet.”
“I can’t blame him,” Trent leans forward and rests his forearms on the edge of his desk. “That's usually the correct pattern.”
“Yeah,” I say, shoving a playful nose in her direction. “Take that!” I chuckle as Trent smirks.
“Okay then,” Kelly says. “I see how it is on the ranch.” We all have a good laugh about teasing her. “But in all seriousness, is that truly the pattern?”
Trent levels a gaze at her that says he’s all business. “Yes, it is. The day you got here, a field was destroyed, two days later, a tractor is broken. The same one that Elizabeth is still working on. And then The new sign mysteriously disappears a couple of days after that.”
Kelly makes a note in her pad. “I understand now. You’re not being crazy, just cautious because of recent circumstances.”
“Absolutely,” I tell her, crossing over to sit on the corner of Trent’s desk. “Why don’t you get another chair in here?”
“Haven’t needed one until now,” he explains.
I begin to pace in and out of the office in hyper-thought mode. I know I'm fixating on the possibility of another thing happening. “I can’t help it guys,” I stop and tell them. “Something is gnawing in my gut, but I can’t put a finger on it.”
Trent leans back again, this time his hands cross behind his head. “Buddy, I say let’s not worry until we actually have something to worry about. Besides, I felt the same dread, remember? I asked you if you felt it too?”
I nod my head yes, “Yeah, I do,” I agree with him. “So, how did you put it on a shelf then?”
“Man, you’ve always been wound up tighter than a three-day clock,” he says. “The hot shower beat it out of my head. Plus, I had a chat with the guy I left in charge and he said everything’s been good.”
“That’s what I mean,” I say a little aggressively.
Kelly looks at me and begs my attention. “Owen, I know that things are uneasy right now, but you have to relax a little and let things happen so that we can catch whoever is behind it all.”
“Or maybe, whoever is aware that they’re being watched, so they’re not doing as much harm right now,” Trent adds.
And that makes some sense to me. I breathe out a heavy sigh, letting the anxiety fall away with it. Nothing happening is nothing to worry about. “I get that. It makes sense to me.”
