Amateur Hour

Janice

Janice was not thrilled; she was not amused; she wasn’t even in the mood to admire Tucker Rawlings, her favorite cowboy. She found all her attention drawn to the beautiful and intimidating animal in front of her. The horse was tossing her head and making low noises in her throat.

Lisa wasn’t helping. She was chuckling, at the moment, as she cut an apple into quarters, with her pocket knife.

“Yeah, I know what you want,” she was saying to the horse. “Settle down, now. You’re scaring Janice.” Lisa held out a quarter to the mare, who worked it into her mouth with her lips, and crunched on it, happily. “Your turn,” she said, putting a section into Janice’s hand. “You can cup your hand, a tiny bit, to keep from dropping it, but keep it fairly flat. She wouldn’t bite you, on purpose, but you don’t want to get nipped, by accident. Trust me,” she added, prodding Janice.

Janice did as she was told, and the mare took the apple wedge from her hand, with some delicacy, her soft, warm muzzle grazing Janice’s palm. Janice released the breath she’d been holding, and smiled a little.

“See? She’s very sweet.”

Lisa handed her another piece of fruit.

“Okay, but how is she going to feel about me riding her, and not you?” Janice asked, while Luna lipped up the second wedge from her palm.

“She’ll be fine. I ride her, most of the time, but I’m not the only one. Here,” she handed Janice the last piece, wiped the blade of the knife on her jeans, and folded it.

Janice shook her head and smiled.

“What?” Lisa asked, catching the expression, as she stowed her knife in her pocket.

“You have no idea how much you’ve changed. You’ve become the person you always should have been.”

“Why, thank you, Janice. If I have, I didn’t do it, alone.” She was blushing, but pleased by the observation. “Tell me about you, though,” she invited, leaning on a support post, and crossing her arms.

“What’s to tell?” Janice responded, petting Luna’s neck. “I adore my husband, love my dog, like my house, and hate my job.”

“Maybe you should keep everything else, and ditch the job.”

“I wish it were that simple. The job, the work… it’s not bad. In a regular school, I’d like it. You were right about me, getting along with the students. Some of them are challenging, but I’ve managed to connect with most of them, so far. But the school is just horrible, Lisa. I honestly think it’s sucked the soul right out of some of the teachers.”

“Liam says it’s strict. He told me the answer to just about every suggestion is: ‘no’.”

“Draconian, is more like it. But that’s not the worst part. I think kids are going missing. Not runaways—missing.”

“Why do you think they aren’t runaways? It sounds like the kind of place a kid would run away from.”

“It’s the way they go missing. Like clockwork, alternating sexes, and they take nothing with them—none of the very few little things they’re allowed to have; things of no great value, except for sentiment. The last girl? She liked fountain pens, and she had three—nice ones, that her Mom had given her. She didn’t take a single one, and she left behind her journal, too. The boy before her had a mug with a photo of his brother, in Marine dress blues. He used it for a pencil holder. I’m reliably told that it was his favorite possession. Don’t tell me he wouldn’t have taken that.”

“How do you know this, Janice?”

“I saw the pens and the journal, myself, on the Dean’s desk, when he was chewing me out for having my blouse cuffs rolled up. The mug was there, too, on one of the bookshelves—with the pens and pencils still in it! Only, I didn’t know, at the time, that it had belonged to a missing—pardon me—‘runaway’— student. I found that out, later.”

Janice felt angry tears sting her eyes, and she blinked, hard. She was astonished when Lisa stepped forward, to draw her into a sisterly hug. It was at variance with her usual reserve.

“I believe you,” Lisa said. “It does sound fishy, as hell.”

“You do?” Janice asked, drawing away, a bit, to scan her sister-in-law’s face. It was grave, and held in it no hint that she was merely being humored.

“Sure. You believed me about my haunted church bookstore. Your suspicions are far more believable, than my ghost stories.”

“Yeah,” Janice chuckled wearily, “but I saw your ghost. You have nothing but my word that things at New Canaan are a nightmare.”

“Doesn’t Liam believe you?” Lisa frowned, releasing her.

“I think so, but he refuses to discuss it. I can see his point, in a way. There’s nothing we could do about it. There’s no hard evidence, and we haven’t personally witnessed anything. It should be investigated, but…I hate to say it, Lisa, I don’t know if the local cops can be trusted. The school is very remote, you see, so…”

“Sheriff’s Department, then.”

“Yeah. You know how much I like Tucker, and I hate to cast aspersions on a Sheriff’s Department. I truly don’t think all cops are dirty. Yet… this has been going on, for years. It smacks of someone being paid off, or turning a blind eye, for other reasons. I can’t help it, if I think so.”

“I think you should sit down with Tuck and have a conversation.”

“I couldn’t. He’d be so offended, and rightfully.”

“No, I don’t think he would. Tucker lives in the real world, Janice. He doesn’t think all cops are the incarnation of St. Michael, Archangel, any more than you think they’re all dirtbags. He could give you better advice than I can.”

“Will you come with me, to talk to him?”

“Of course. By the time we get back from the ride, Will and Toni will be home. We can slip off for a few minutes then. Liam will be all interested in them, for a while.”

*******

As it turned out, Liam was the one who wound up riding alongside the the Historical Society fellow, behind Tucker and the man with the troublesome horse. Troublesome Horse Man was younger than everyone else in the party, somewhere in his mid twenties, but he seemed nice enough, youthful arrogance aside. The horse was another story. He was big, for a quarter horse—the same size as Tango; a blue-black stallion, with a tendency to nip other horses, and people, too.

The buckskin and black gelding Lisa rode was Will’s new acquisition; friendly but a bit feisty. His head tossing made Janice nervous. She hoped it wasn’t contagious, but Luna moved as quietly as a dowager in a drawing room.

The lady bringing up the rear was on a sedate, older mare who was in no hurry. The lady was, herself, what Janice’s mother would have described as a ‘character’, kitted out as she was in jeans, a ten-gallon hat that sported a huge owl feather, and chaps. She seemed content to mosey along the trail, singing ditties to her horse.

At one point, Janice dared to lean a bit, in her saddle to query Lisa. “Is she okay?”

Lisa chuckled. “Connie? She’s fine. Daisy is her old pet, and she likes to bring her out, now and then, for a stretch. Poor old girl is half blind— Daisy, that is, not Connie. She may not hang, for the whole ride, so don’t be alarmed if they fall behind, or turn back.”

“I should have known Liam would monopolize your Historical Society guy. Sorry about that.”

“It’s fine. It’s a relief, actually. I don’t know if I could keep him half so entertained, and Tuck’s on tenterhooks, with that stud. Scott isn’t interested in having him trained, even though Tucker offered to do it, at a discount. Scotty has a case of proud young man syndrome. The horse is too much for him. See how hard he is, on his mouth?”

“I don’t, actually.” What Janice knew about horses and riding would half fill a thimble.

“Well, he’s holding his reins too short, and he’s riding him with a curb bit, and chain, which gripes Tuck, no end. He’d have that animal gelded in a heartbeat. Scott thinks he might want to breed him someday, though.”

Lisa shook her head, with an exasperated puff of air between her lips. Janice had to laugh.

“You’ve gotten so horsey,” she observed.

“Look who I married,” she shrugged, with a fond smile at Tuck’s back.

“Mm-hmm… What do you think the odds are, of my skinny, academic spouse making it all the way back, without falling off that gigantic animal you put him on?”

“I’d say they’re fifty-fifty. But, don’t worry. Tango will turn himself inside out, trying not to step on him, if he comes off.”

“I think this lady is lulling me into a false sense of security,” Janice leaned forward to pat Luna’s neck.

“Nope. Luna walks, unless you ask her to do otherwise, and no one will. This is strictly a walking trip.”

“Lisa, Honey—“ Connie called, from the rear.

Lisa drew her mount up, and turned him.

“Has Daisy had it, for the day?” she called back.

“Yeah, bless her old heart. She’s stumbling, a little. I’m going to rest her a bit, then head back.”

“Okay, Connie. Take care.” Lisa waved.

“Happy trails,” Connie responded with a smile, tugging on the brim of her hat.

“Bye, Connie — It was nice to meet you.”

“Same here, Dear. Have a nice ride.”

“I feel kind of bad, just leaving her,” Janice said, when they were a little farther away.

“They’ll be fine. Connie never pushes Daisy too hard. She has other horses, for that.”

“For pushing too hard?”

“Well, not too hard. But, she does push them. She’s a barrel racer. You’d never guess it, from the way she babies Daisy, would you?”

*******

Janice was in some awe, at the sight of the old Lovejoy house. Liam stared at it as if he had discovered a time portal. The Society man merely nodded at it, with a smile.

“It is in fine condition, for its age, Mr. Rawlings,” he said, to Tuck. “May we have a look inside?”

“That depends,” Tucker replied, with a small smile on his face, as he dismounted.

The rest of the party followed suit, except for Scott. Janice was a little stiff, already, but Tucker helped her down, before Liam was out of his own saddle. “You doing okay, Darlin’?” he asked.

“Holding my own, Handsome,” she chirped, automatically.

He grinned at her slip back into flirt mode.

“Depends on what?” The Historical Society man wore a bemused smile.

“Why, on whether or not Miss Margaret is receiving guests today, Mr. Templeton. Lisa, Honey?”

“Margaret isn’t actively receiving today, but we may enter.” It sounded like message, from the hostess, and Lisa smiled, but she wasn’t joking.

The only one of the party who found this laughable was the boy on the black stallion, who snickered. “Oh, you can’t be serious, Mrs. Rawlings,” he said, seeing Lisa’s smile fade slightly, at his laughter.

“Of course not, Scotty,” she gave him a harder grin. The expression didn’t touch her eyes. “It’s just a big, empty house, but Mr. Templeton wants to see it. I’m sure you find that inexplicable.”

“I do want to see it,” Templeton said. “Very much. I’m honored that Miss Margaret is willing to allow it.”

“Delusional…” Scott muttered, shaking his head. “Don’t forget to wipe your feet,” he taunted, as the others trooped up the steps. He was only just dismounting, when the front door closed, behind them.

Janice flinched a little, at the sound. There was something emphatic about it, though it wasn’t a slam, by any means. Lisa gave her a reassuring smile.

“It does that,” she said.

“As long as we’re not locked in,” Janice laughed nervously.

At that moment, the knob moved. There was nothing supernatural about it— It was obviously Scott, trying to open the door, and failing.

“More like someone else is locked out,” Templeton observed, amused. “After you, Mrs. Rawlings,” he deferred to Lisa, still smiling.

It was a good tour, once they were away from the distraction of Scott’s knocking and efforts to open the front door. There was nothing much to see, in the way of furniture or artifacts, but Lisa had an uncanny grasp of the purpose of each room, and even an anecdote or two to share.

“Is she making this up, as she’s going along?” Janice whispered, to her husband.

“I don’t think so, Honey. I believe Lisa has a source. She’s okay, though.”

She did seem okay, Janice thought. She appeared to be enjoying herself, in fact, and Tucker didn’t look troubled, either. It was just as well that Scott had been excluded from the tour. Janice had the impression that he wouldn’t have appreciated any of it.

Templeton was eating it up, however. He was full of observations and questions. He looked pleased, when Lisa correctly answered the ones that only an expert could be expected to know, and identified features of the house that baffled Janice, at first glance.

It took about an hour and a half to see most of the place. When they came full circle to the great room, Templeton gazed around himself, with a satisfied air.

“I think it’s worth making an effort to preserve, Mr. Rawlings. I’d be happy to put you in touch with a number of specialists who can help you, if you want to make the investment. It would be considerable, of course.”

“I expect it would,” Tucker agreed. “I’d like to have an assessment on what would be necessary, and some estimates. It’s a white elephant, but I do hate to just let it go.”

“That’s so often the case, with historical homes. If the cost of restoring it, yourself, is too prohibitive, might you consider selling it, to the Society? It would make a fine museum.”

“It’s a bit off the beaten path, surely?” Lisa interjected.

“It is, ma’am, but a path can be beaten, to it. Unless I miss my guess, that old wagon road comes out close to the county road? Drop a culvert in the ditch, and pave the rest of the way in, perhaps. Publicly owned, or privately, I’d say you have an unpolished gem, here. Either way, I’m at your disposal with regard to information.”

“Don’t you just love the way he talks?” Janice asked Liam, again, in a whisper.

“Reminds me of Judge Lovejoy, himself,” Liam agreed, with a grin, slipping his arm around her waist.

The ruckus in the front yard startled them all. They could hear Scott shouting and horses stomping. Furious equine screaming carried Tucker to the door, like a shot, and he flung it open. The rest of them were on his heels.

Janice ran out onto the porch, just in time to see Scott’s horse flying down the magnolia lined carriage drive, with the young man pelting after him, still shouting. A strangled little noise of dismay drew her attention from the spectacle.

Lisa was hurrying toward Luna, making shushing sounds, mingled with soothing words. The grey mare was bleeding in three places, and seemed to be favoring her right foreleg. Lisa caught her up and tried to calm her, while Tucker hurried toward them.

His hands were gentle, as he patted her, then ran them down the injured leg. “Nothing broken,” he reassured his wife. “Probably just a deep bruise. She’ll have to be led home, though.”

“Will Buckshot be all right, carrying two? It’s pretty far.”

He looked a little surprised by the suggestion, and slightly irritated.

“You want two inexperienced riders on one horse?” Lisa demanded, with mild asperity.

“What I want is to kill that kid,” Tucker growled, nodding in Scott’s direction. The boy was plodding back toward them, with his head down. Tuck fetched a deep breath. “But, you’re right. I’ll swap with Liam. I can always kill Scott, later,” he joked. “Getting your girl home is what matters.” He eyed Luna sadly, and went to check on the rest of her hurts. “She’ll heal,” he said, after inspecting the wounds. “None of them are very deep.”

“Good thing horses don’t have fangs.” Lisa tried to smile.

*******

“I’m so sorry, Tucker,” Janice said, when they were all underway again. All, that is, but Scott, who was walking.

“Whatever for, honey? You had nothing to do with this mess.”

“I just feel so bad for Lisa and Luna.”

“Luna will be fine. She’s not limping much. The leg will be as good as new, in a couple of days. She can put weight on it, and we can take care of the bites, at home.”

“What set that animal off, do you think?”

“Horses can get ugly with each other, just like people. That black is bad tempered, as it is. It’s going to be a pleasure, to evict him.”

“If someone can find him.”

“Oh, he’s back at the barn, by now. One of the kids will have caught him, or he’s cropping clover in the yard. Runaways usually find their way back to their home base.”

“I wonder if that goes for runaway kids, too.”

“Statistically, it does. If a kid flees a custodial parent, the first place cops look for him is with the other parent.”

“If a kid ran away from school—“

“Home is the place he’d be most likely to go. Unless home is untenable. Then, another relative would be the most logical person to check with.”

Tucker glanced at her, over his shoulder, distracted from his annoyance with Scott and his horse. “Got a runaway problem, at your school, Janice?”

Janice found herself relating her tale to her brother-in-law. He didn’t interrupt, and his body language remained easy, even when she admitted that she didn’t think the Sheriff’s Department was handling the situation as she thought they should.

“That is perplexing,” he allowed. “Of course, you can’t know what they know. They’d never tell you, as a matter of policy.”

“That’s the main reason I haven’t asked. It would be pointless.”

“Pretty much. Of course, if you had a brother-in-law, a former Deputy, who had connections with several county Sheriff’s departments, you might find something out. ‘Specially, if he thought he owed you one.”

“You don’t owe me a thing, Tucker. But, if you’d be willing to ask some questions, I couldn’t thank you, enough.”

“I’d say I owed you several, and Liam, too. Right now, I’m thinking of how you got me out of trouble with that sweet lady, back there, once. That one favor is worth a few, in exchange. When we get back to the house, Toni will give you a pen and paper to jot down the names of the students you mentioned, and anything else you can think of that’s pertinent.”

“Thanks, Tucker,” she gave him a little squeeze, and he patted her hand. “Could I ask you for just one more thing?”

“Name it.”

“Would you mind keeping Liam occupied, while I’m at it? He…I don’t think he’d approve.”

“I can manage that. Might have to pry him away from Mr. Templeton, though. They’re still talking up a storm, back there.”

“Mr. Templeton seems very comfortable, riding. He’s no novice, is he?”

“He isn’t, no. We met him at a show. Lisa beat him out of a red ribbon. He’s a very good sport, and passionate about local history. Meeting him was a stroke of good luck. I like the old house, but Lisa’s the one who’s really attached to it.”

“Should I be worried about how strongly attached?”

“No. She’s as safe there, as in her own living room. Margaret would no more harm her than the Judge would.”

Janice was satisfied. The Judge had taken such a shine to Lisa that he showed no signs of leaving the bookstore, any time soon. If Margaret was equally benevolent, there was no cause for concern.

*******

Liam

Liam was as contented in Will’s company as he had been, in Mr. Templeton’s. There was something satisfying about the physical work of helping to unsaddle the horses and giving them a quick brushing, before turning them back out to pasture. Will was good company, though he didn’t look too pleased with the task of handling Scott’s horse.

“Best not get too close to this one,” he’d said, as he’d tied the stallion up short, to a post. “He’s a ton and a half of ugly. No, you just put that foot back down, son,” he added, to the horse. “Kick me, and see if I don’t kick you, right back.”

“He’s no gentleman, that’s a fact,” Liam observed.

“It’s my fault he’s here,” Will replied. He proceeded to haul the saddle, blanket and all, off the horse’s back, grunting a little with the effort. “I like Scott, and I put in a good word for him. Pa didn’t want to board a stud. Says they belong on breeding farms, not in riding stables. Guess he was right.” He dropped the tack onto the barn floor, in disgust. “He’s still warmish. I’m going to put him on the hot walker. I’ll be right back.”

Liam watched him go. For something to do, he hefted the saddle clumsily, dropped it over the rack, and spread the damp blanket over it, to dry. That done, he wandered over to the old barn, and found his sister and her husband, tending to Luna.

Lisa had cleaned the bites and smeared ointment on them. She was now holding the mare’s head lightly, and stroking her, while Tuck wrapped the injured leg, with expert efficiency.

“Is it worse than you thought?” Liam asked.

“No,” Tuck replied. “This is mostly just to make her more comfortable. Couple of days, and she’ll be just fine. How did Will dispose of that ugly bugger?”

“Which one? The horse is on the hot walker. Scott has yet to arrive.”

Tuck grunted a short laugh at this, and finished his task. “That’ll do it, little lady,” he addressed Luna, with a friendly pat. “You can join your friends, now.”

“Thanks, Honey,” Lisa smiled at him, and tiptoed up a bit, to kiss his cheek, before leading the wounded mare away.

Liam watched them go. When he looked at Tuck again, the man’s face was like a thundercloud, boding ill for Scott, whenever he showed up. Liam was suddenly glad he wasn’t it that young man’s boots.

“What are you going to do?” he asked, as Tuck gathered up his kit.

“I don’t know, yet. My impulse is to send him packing. For all of me, he can call his daddy and tell him to bring his trailer. Your sister, of course, disagrees,” he smirked.

“She does? That mare is her pride and joy.”

“Yep. Says it would look bad, even though I’ve had no hand in training Scott’s animal. All we do is feed him, turn him out, for grass, and clean his stall. It’s frustrating, but she’s probably right. I can afford to lose Scott, and the horse, but I can’t afford negative publicity.”

“I imagine the kid feels pretty bad about it. Maybe you could use that to your mutual advantage. He might be persuaded, now, to let you train the horse, or him, or both.”

“Will my farts start to smell like lilacs, too?”

Liam had to laugh. “You never know. Look at the progress you’ve made, with Lisa. Didn’t you tell her once that delinquents crave boundaries?”

“She told you that? I’m gonna have to have a talk, with her.”

“I’m her twin. She tells me everything, eventually.”

“I did say that,” Tuck admitted. “I reckon if Scott had been just a little worse, he might have ended up in a place like your school.”
Liam followed Tuck to the tack room, where he dropped off his first aid kit.

“They’re not bad kids. They’re just struggling. A little kindness and respect seem to go a long way. Could be Scott’s a little older, but still trying to work some things out.”

“Everyone struggles. As far as kindness and respect go, he didn’t have much of either, for Lisa, did he?”

“No, and I understand how you feel. The Dean took a jab at Janice, the other day. He’s old enough to know better, so the coward did it behind her back. It was pure meanness. Scott struck me as a kid, making a nervous joke, then backing it up with bluster. I know I wasn’t good at thinking before I spoke, when I was his age. Were you?”

Tuck chuckled. “I’m much more subtle now, than I used to be,” he replied, in a rueful tone. “I was a regular jackhammer, once upon a time. Difference was, ladies were off limits, for disrespect. Times have changed, I guess.”