Chapter 4

 

 

 

Len pulled up in front of the Laughton family farm at about nine in the morning, thinking that wasn’t early by farm standards, and parked near the barn where he saw a few other vehicles. No one seemed to be around, but he heard a tractor and other equipment in the distance and figured that the other men were already working. Walking across the yard, he noticed how different things were from his last visit, before Ruby died. “Jesus, what in the hell is wrong?” Even to his eyes, things didn’t look right at all.

The yard around the house hadn’t been mowed in what must have been weeks; the grass was so tall. The buildings looked in good shape, but the rest of the place looked a little neglected. Walking along the path, he knocked on the kitchen door and waited. After a few minutes, he knocked again. Finally, he heard footsteps inside and the door opened.

“Yeah.”

“Cliff, it’s Len Parker. Janelle said I should come by. She said you needed some help.” Cliff looked terrible: dark circles under his eyes, drawn complexion, sallow skin. Nothing like the man Len remembered.

“Oh, yeah.” Cliff ran his fingers through his long, shaggy hair. “Come on in.” He moved to open the door farther but stopped, and Len saw a pair of eyes and a head of light hair peek out from behind his legs.

“I’m Len, and you must be Geoff.” The little boy stuck his thumb in his mouth and nodded before hiding again. Cliff picked up the little boy, who was still in his pajamas, and then opened the door wide enough to let Len inside.

The kitchen was a mess: dishes in the sink and stuff all over the table. It wasn’t particularly dirty, just a cluttered mess, like Cliff didn’t know what to do with everything. What the hell was wrong with the man? He led Len through to the living room, which wasn’t much better than the kitchen, except this room was filled with toys of every description, all over everything. “Sorry about the mess.” He moved the toys off one of the chairs and sat down. Len did the same. “So, Len, how have you been?”

“So-so. I was working at the Ford dealership until yesterday.” He handed Cliff his letter of recommendation. “Janelle said you needed some help.”

“I do. I lost the man who ran the barn a few weeks ago and haven’t been able to find anyone.”

More like haven’t had the gumption to look. Len kept that to himself, although he desperately wanted to say it. “I’ve worked with horses, and I can ride. Growing up I didn’t have the money for riding lessons, so I worked for them.” Worked hard too.

He waited to see what Cliff was going to say, but the man just sat back in the chair with Geoff spread over his body, holding tight to the little boy. The man was lost, completely lost. Len could see that, but it wasn’t his place to say anything, so he waited.

“Can you start today? Pay’s two hundred a week.” About what I was making at the car dealership.

“Sure.” Len smiled and watched as the youngster lifted his head off his dad’s shoulders and looked over at Len before squirming to get down. He stood at his father’s feet for a minute before walking over to Len. “He looks just like his mother.” The words were out of his mouth before he could stop them, and he wanted to kick himself.

But all Cliff said was a simple, “Yes, he does,” and then he clammed up. This man was so different from the outgoing, take-on-the-world Cliff he’d known before Ruby died.

“Well, I’ll get started then.” He’d worn work clothes just in case.

He stood up, and Geoff stepped back, looking up at him. “You taw.” It came out sounding like “Utah,” but Len understood and knelt down in front of the toddler.

“You’ll be tall soon too.” After ruffling the kid’s hair, he stood back up and headed outside. He stopped at his car and got a hat before heading to the barn. He took one step inside and recoiled at the smell. “Jesus Christ!” He pushed open the doors and let in some light and air before walking through. Four heads peered out of stalls, and he introduced himself to each one.

There appeared to be twelve stalls total: four occupied, four others that appeared dirty, and four empty. It looked to Len like they’d simply moved the horses instead of cleaning their stalls. “Jesus H. Christ, what a mess.” He continued walking through the barn and opened the tack room. Inside was a jumbled mess with half the tack on the floor. “Looks like I’ve got my work cut out for me.”

Behind the last stall, Len found a wheelbarrow, a shovel, and a pitchfork. Digging in, he began cleaning out the worst of the stalls, shoveling the soiled bedding into the wheelbarrow and hauling it to what appeared to be the muck pile. Back and forth he went for hours, hauling out the muck and carrying in fresh sawdust.

By noon, he had four stalls ready, and the horses were resettled in clean stalls with fresh hay and water.

He walked to his car and got out the cooler with his lunch and sat in the shade to eat. The late April warmth was nice. A great day for working, not too hot and not too cold. He sat, ate, and watched the house. There hadn’t been any sign of Cliff or anyone else all morning.

After finishing his lunch, he went back to work, cleaning out the remaining four stalls and then sweeping down the barn. By the time he was done, the barn smelled fresh and clean.

He checked his watch. It was just after three, so he went into the tack room and began ripping it apart, getting all the loose and jumbled items pulled out. Then he began putting them back and organizing them. “What a job. It looks like nobody’s done anything in here for months.”

“Close enough.”

Len jumped at the voice and turned around to see a tall, slim man leaning against the door frame. “Sorry, I didn’t know anyone was there. I’m Len Parker.” He held out his hand.

“Fred Jenkins.” The two men shook hands. “I take it Cliff hired you.”

“Yeah, he said the man who took care of the barn quit.”

Fred smiled a huge smile that wasn’t completely pleasant. “He didn’t quit; we run him off, the lazy, good-for-nothing loafer.” Len wondered if he needed to be worried. “You got more work done in here in a day that he did in a week.” Now the smile changed and became much more genuine.

“Well, I’m almost done here. The tack’s nearly organized, and the stalls are cleaned. I just got to get some hay down from the loft and make sure the horses are set for the night, and I’ll be ready to call it a day.”

“I’ll help you get the hay down. We need to make sure the oldest is used first.”

Len nodded and smiled before turning around and finishing up the tack room. When he was done, the room was swept, organized, and clean. Closing the door behind him, he saw Fred watering the horses.

“Thought I’d help. You ready to get the hay?” Fred led him upstairs, and Len whistled as he saw the nearly full loft. “We used to have a lot more horses, but when Cliff’s dad died and with that ass Holder running the barn, most of the boarders left.” He shook his head and led Len around to the back of the barn where the back quarter of the loft was empty. “This is the oldest, not that it’s that old, but we need to use it first.” He raised a trap door in the loft, and they started throwing down bales.

“What’s going on here? I haven’t seen Cliff all day.”

Fred shook his head and shrugged before grabbing another bale and dropping it through the hole. “Wish I knew. None of us does. We’re all doing the best we can.”

“What time does everyone get here in the morning?”

“Most of us are here at seven, but we need to be quiet because of Geoff.”

Somehow Len doubted that was really the reason. He’d noticed all the beer cans in the kitchen trash, and he knew the circles under Cliff’s eyes weren’t only from lack of sleep, but he didn’t say anything to Fred.

“Sundays are a quick day, feed the horses, and take care of anything pressing. We try to leave at noon.”

“Hey, Fred!” A new voice called from outside the barn.

“In here, Randy!”

A huge, barrel-shaped man lumbered into the barn. “Hey.” He stopped when he saw Len, but it was the clean barn smell that really got him. “You the guy replacing Holder?”

Len nodded and actually heard Randy inhale.

“Damn, I love the smell of a clean barn.” The big man held out his hand, “Randy Marsh.”

“Len Parker.” They shook hands, Randy’s paw dwarfing Len’s as he gripped it.

“You do all this today?” Len smiled and nodded, liking that he’d made a good impression. “You’ll do just fine.”

“Does anyone else work here, or is it just the two… I mean three of us?”

“It’s just us.” Randy squinted like he was trying to remember something. “I’ve seen you around here before.”

“I knew Ruby. She and I were….” He swallowed. “…close friends, had been since high school.” As a group they all nodded slowly.

Randy tilted his head in the direction of the house. “He ain’t been the same since she passed.”

“I knew Cliff in school, and he’s nothing like he was then.” Len almost said more but stopped himself. They didn’t need to be gossiping about their boss, even if they all seemed to feel for him. “So how do things work around here?”

They two men looked at each other before Fred answered. “When Carter was alive, we’d meet every morning and discuss what needed to be done. He’d hand out assignments, and we’d get to work, but lately we’ve been on our own, so we just get to work.”

“Do you mind if we get together tomorrow morning?” Len looked around the barn. “Taking care of things in here isn’t a full-time job, and I can help with other things if you’re willing to work with me.”

Both men looked at each other and eventually nodded. “We won’t say no to the help,” Randy said as he turned and left the barn with Fred right behind him. “We’ll see you at seven tomorrow.”

Len got back to work, filling the mangers with fresh hay and greeting each horse with a stroke on the nose as their heads appeared. “Would you guys like some treats?” Majestic heads bobbed as though they understood what he was saying. “I’ll bring you some carrots tomorrow.” After a final check of the barn, he closed the door and walked across the hayfield that passed for a yard.

Approaching the house, he saw the back door open. A tiny foot lowered itself onto the step, and then a small body slipped around the door.

He called the toddler’s name, not wanting him to fall. “Geoff.”

“Wen….” Geoff pointed to the barn. “Hos, hos.” He turned around and then lowered himself down the next step and onto the ground before running through the tall grass toward the barn as fast as his legs would carry him. “Hos, hos.”

Len scooped the youngster into his arms. “You want to go see the horses?” Geoff’s little head nodded violently. Len looked back at the quiet house and wondered again what was going on but decided it couldn’t hurt to let Geoff see the horses. “Who dressed you, little man?” Geoff was still wearing his pajama bottoms, but he’d pulled off the top and was just wearing his undershirt and a pair of blue socks with no shoes.

“Me.” He seemed so proud of himself.

“Okay, let’s go see the horses.” He bounced the little boy in his arms, giggles, squeals, and laughs accompanying them as they walked to the barn. Len opened the barn door, and large heads appeared, looking at their visitors.

“Hos, hos.” Geoff’s little hand pointed at the nearest head.

“Let’s go see Misty; she’s really nice.” She’d appeared to be the most docile when he’d moved her to clean her stall. Len lifted Geoff, holding him where Misty could see him. His little hand stroked her nose.

“Nice hos, nice hos,” Geoff chanted in his small voice, as he stroked Misty’s long nose.

“Geoff!” He heard Cliff’s voice carry into the barn, sounding a little panicked. “Geoff, where are you?”

“We’re in here, Cliff. He’s fine.” Heavy footsteps came up behind them as he held Geoff so he could stroke the horse.

“Hos, daddy, hos.” The delight in Geoff’s voice rang through the barn. “Hos, hos, hos.”

Len looked over at Cliff and saw the worry and panic begin to fade. Cliff stepped close, and Len handed Geoff over to his father. “I found him climbing out the back door heading toward the barn.”

“Thank you.” Len nodded slightly and watched as Geoff leaned toward Misty, trying to reach her again. “We should go back inside and get you ready for dinner.”

Cliff began to walk out of the barn. “Hos, daddy, hoooosssss.”

“I know; you can see them again tomorrow.” A glint of happiness crossed Cliff’s face as he talked to Geoff.

“Pwomise?” Cliff’s response died away as they left the barn.

Len patted Misty on the nose and left the barn as well, closing the door behind him and heading to his car. He opened the door and collapsed into the seat. “Fuck, I’m tired.” He started the car and pulled out of the drive, heading for home. The drive home was almost automatic, and he pulled into the yard and half stumbled into the house.

“I take it you got the job?”

“Yeah, I got it all right.” He collapsed into one of the kitchen chairs, resting his head on the table. “Barn looked like it hadn’t been touched in weeks. The entire place looks sort of neglected.”

“Doesn’t he have enough help?” Len’s mom stood at the stove, making dinner.

“Don’t know, Mom. But I didn’t see him all day. Just stayed in his house.” Len didn’t mention the things he suspected. “I met the guys. They seem nice enough, and they’re concerned about him too.” He let his voice trail off.

“Do you want to help him?” She began dishing up plates, and he pushed himself up and got the silverware and glasses, forcing his cramping legs to move.

“I don’t know what I can do.”

“Do a good job, and be a friend when he needs one, even if he doesn’t realize he needs it.”

“How’d you get to be so smart?” She put his plate in front of him, and he looked up at her. “Can we really afford steak?”

“It was on sale, and besides, you’re going to need your strength.” That was a definite. He cut into his meat and raised the fork to his mouth. As soon as that first bite hit his tongue, his ravenous hunger took over, and he wolfed down his meal.

“Thanks, Mom. That was delicious.” He put his plate in the sink and sat back down to keep her company while she finished eating.

“Go get cleaned up and rest. Do you work tomorrow?”

He made a quick mental note to call Janelle and let her know he got the job. “Only till noon or so.” He lifted himself off the chair and dragged himself into the bathroom where he started the shower.

A half hour later, clean and relaxed, he sat in the living room watching television, but soon he found himself falling asleep, so he said good night and headed to bed, immediately falling into a near comatose sleep that he didn’t wake from until his alarm blared in his ears.