Part 1: 12 - Bow and Arrow
1988, Lisa pulls Dani back
Things That Can’t Be Broken is a novel presented as a live draft, one chapter every week.
Last week: 11 - Tickets for Demo Day Barb has extra tickets to give away, 1988
CONTENT WARNING
The following contains violence which may be traumatic to some audiences.
Part 1 | History is an Angel
12 - Bow and Arrow
Lisa Cartwright
June 10, 1988
La Mesa, California
Lisa held the phone to her ear while basting kite pieces to sew. Tim was in LA directing a photo shoot and wouldn’t be home until Sunday, but no matter where he went, Lisa could always count on his call after dinner and before Dani’s bedtime. She appreciated the call tonight; it had been a difficult afternoon with Dani.
She told Tim, “I have to finish this kite. I promised this customer I would meet her at the bay at noon tomorrow. My yellow silk was on back order, if you remember. It finally arrived yesterday.”
“Wow. Didn’t you get that phoenix order just last week?” Tim said.
“Yes, I know,” Lisa sighed. “I totally over promised, but it seemed important. It’s a birthday gift for her mother who just found out she’s cancer-free. Anyway, now she wants me to teach them both how to fly it. It’s a beautiful thought. I couldn’t resist the idea, but it means I’ll be up all night sewing—and it has to be perfect.”
“It will be perfect. You can do it if anyone can,” Tim said.
“Thank you, Sweetheart.” Lisa soaked up the encouragement.
“Where’s Dani, can I talk to her?” Tim asked.
“Of course. Although you should know, she’s had a rough time today. She’s in her room, pouting,” said Lisa. “She’s still mad at me.”
“Uh oh,” said Tim, a smile in his voice, “What happened?”
“Barb gave her tickets, three tickets, for a horse show at that horsemanship program she goes to,” Lisa said.
“Barb? I thought Dani wasn’t going out there bothering Barb anymore,” said Tim.
“Yeah, well, she’s been really good about it for several weeks, so I let her go out to the curb and say hello today. Now, I wish I hadn’t,” said Lisa, pulling pins from her tomato-shaped pincushion. “Anyway, the horse show is at 11 AM tomorrow morning. There’s just no way. I tried to explain to Dani again at dinner how important it is that I get this kite delivered. She’s just so set on this horse show. So, she’s gone off to her room to pout.”
“Well, she’ll get over it, especially when she finds out I have a surprise for her,” said Tim.
“Oh?” said Lisa, not sure the girl deserved a surprise at the moment.
“I’ll be home early. I should be there by about noon tomorrow,” Tim said.
“Oh, that’s great news! We’ll both be glad to have you back a day early,” said Lisa.
“There’s more,” Tim continued, “My colleague here got us a great deal on tickets to The Royal Lipizzan Stallion Show. It’s a horse show at the Sports Arena. Dani’s going to love it, and I think you will too. White stallions from Vienna . . .”
Loud voices were laughing and talking in the background. Lisa couldn’t make out what Tim was saying for a few moments. After the voices passed, she heard, “ . . .we’ll all go. I’ll meet you at the park. Barry will drop me off on his way to the airport. Spanish Landing, right?”
“Yes.” Lisa said. “It was loud for a minute there, but I think I got what you said. So, you’ll meet us and we’ll all go to this horse show?” Lisa was talking louder than she realized. She glanced around, hoping Dani had not overheard.
Tim said, “Hey, remember, it’s a surprise.”
“Right. Not a word.” Lisa said more quietly.
“Can you put Dani on the phone?” Tim asked.
Dani was already walking around the corner when Lisa called her to the phone. Her face was still a little puffy from the disappointed tears. She tried to look sad for Lisa but brightened immediately when she started talking to her daddy.
While Dani sat on the kitchen floor with the phone, Lisa’s sewing machine hummed as she carefully pushed silk under the needle. That flyer Dani brought home, it just came to Lisa where she had seen the name Todd Allen before. He was on the news a while back. It sounded like they did a lot of good things for high school kids like Barb. Dani had already started writing an essay. It really wouldn’t be a bad thing for her to check out this horsemanship program, but she wouldn’t even be eligible for a while. There would be next year.
Dani tapped her shoulder, looking more like her happy self. “Daddy wants to talk to you again,” she said, handing Lisa the phone. Dani picked up her cat, George, hugged him to her chest, and sat on the couch next to the sleeping dog, to eavesdrop.
“How did it go?” Lisa asked Tim.
“She’ll be fine. I told her I would have a surprise for her when I come home, but not when or what. And she has to be good.”
“Okay,” said Lisa.
“Is she listening?” Tim asked.
Dani was staring hard, eyes half-squinted. “Don’t worry, I can’t hear anything,” she said from the couch.
“Yes, she is definitely listening,” said Lisa. They both laughed.
Tim said, “It’s a fancy horse show, Lisa, you’ll enjoy it too. We’ll make a night of it.”
“Well, I’m sure she’ll like your surprise.” Lisa tilted her head and gave her daughter a smile, which Dani returned to the cat, still shunning Lisa for the moment.
Whatever Tim said to Dani, she was back to her happy bouncy self again. She helped Lisa with the dishes after dinner. And they enjoyed their regular bedtime routine with no further resistance from Dani.
Lisa sat by Dani’s bed as they took turns reading from Marguerite Henry’s King of the Wind. How long would it be before Dani would choose to read on her own? She would miss these simple childhood moments. As Lisa took her second turn reading, she watched Dani’s eyelids getting heavier. She read:
“Butterflies grazed Sham’s nose, leaving the powder from their wings as a token of trust. And Agba made a friend of the hooded crow. One minute the crow was an earthy creature perched on his shoulder. The next he was an arrow piercing the sky.”
When she looked up from the book, Dani’s eyes were closed. She marked a pencil “X” at the beginning of the next paragraph, on page 148, and closed the book. She kissed her daughter’s forehead softly, clicked off the bedside lamp, and closed the door, her heart full of love for her little girl.
She smiled her way back to her sewing machine, a few more hours of kite building ahead of her before she could rest. But as Tim said, she could do this.
Dani Marie Cartwright
June 11, 1988
La Mesa, California
Dani opened her eyes from a dream she was with Barb, Fancy, Sham, and Agba, living peacefully on the oasis in King of the Wind. From her bed, she could see the white horses running on the poster push-pinned to the wall, the shiny black feather tucked behind the upper left pin. No heaven without horses.
It was Saturday morning. Her heart began racing with thoughts of the day ahead. Daddy had a surprise for her, and she knew what it was. She heard Mom on the phone with Daddy. He was coming home early. He would meet them at the bay, and they would all go together to the horse show. She even heard Daddy say “Fancy.” They would finally get to meet Barb’s special horse and watch her perform in the Demo Day show. Dani couldn’t wait! She could tell that Daddy was excited about the surprise, too.
But as Dani lay there waking, she began to wonder. Would they get there too late to see Barb’s demonstration with Fancy? Her throat tightened. Why did she have to go to the bay with Mom, anyway? It didn’t make sense. She would be sitting there, watching Mom teach a lady how to fly a kite, when she could already be at the Demo Day picnic with Barb and the horses. They would be late for sure if they waited for Daddy. They might even miss it completely. She wanted to see the whole show.
She ran to the kitchen, where she found Mom pouring coffee.
“Good morning, Sweetie!” said Mom.
“Good morning,” Dani said. Then she blurted out, “Do I have to go to the bay with you? What if I just go with Barb to the horse show? There will be room in the back seat of that bug that always picks her up. I’m not very big. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind.”
Mom hugged her. “Honey, I don’t want you to do that. Number one, it would be rude to ask. And you know I don’t want you to go next door.” She handed Dani a plastic cup and a piece of cinnamon toast. “Go ahead and pour yourself some orange juice.”
“Okay,” said Dani, “thank you,” remembering that Daddy said she had to be nice and not talk back, or there would be no surprise —no horse show. But why couldn’t she ask Barb? How was it rude? She gave her tickets, didn’t she?
She sat down at the far end of the table, across from Mom’s sewing machine. Jelly came to comfort her, and she scratched the dog behind the ears. “It would be so easy,” Dani said to her pointed corgi face, loud enough for Mom to hear. “All Mom has to do is let me ask Barb.”
Dani looked up to see if Mom was thinking about it, but she was still bent over her machine, ignoring her. She got up and danced around, teasing Jelly with the ball. When she threw it, it bounced under the table and hit Mom’s feet. Oops! Mom gave her a look. She washed her hands, finished her toast, and took her dishes to the sink. Later, she brought George over to say hello. He was so cute! Mom didn’t even look up. She just waved her away.
Dani knew Barb wouldn’t mind. She liked her, and she knew how much Dani wanted to see the Demo Day show. She decided that as soon as she saw Barb at the curb, she was going to go out there and ask. It never hurts to ask. Then she would tell Mom, and Mom would let her go with Barb so she could finish the kite in peace.
Dani was playing ball with Jelly in the front room when she saw Barb moving fast outside, not stopping at the curb. She had her tape-player headphones on, and her backpack was full, with fresh carrots sticking out from the top zipper. Mom was working on the kite’s tail, and that meant the phoenix was almost done. As soon as it was finished, she would take Dani to the bay, where she would be stuck until Daddy showed up. She had to get out there and ask Barb if she could ride along with her. This would be her only chance.
“Mom, I’m going outside to say hi to Barb,” she yelled as she ran out the screen door. Squeak. Bang.
Mom shouted back, “Okay honey. Come right back.”
By the time Dani reached the sidewalk, Barb was already going around the corner at the end of the block, now at a run, her tape-player in her hand, and the backpack full of carrots bouncing on her back.
Dani yelled, “Barb!” as loud as she could.
But Barb didn’t hear her with the headphones. She didn’t stop, so Dani kept running. Barb was a lot faster. By the time Dani reached the corner, panting, she saw Barb at the end of the next block. Sometimes on a Saturday morning, Daddy would take her to Sunny Donuts. She must have been going there. But she passed the parking lot and kept going. She disappeared behind a city bus. Dani ran as fast as she could, her Keds pounding the sidewalk, but by the time she got there, the bus had left. Barb was gone.
She got on the bus! She didn’t even look back. Dang it!
Dani stood there at the bus stop. She told herself that maybe if the bus driver had seen her running, he might stop—he didn’t. Not that Dani had any money, and she certainly didn’t have Mom’s permission to get on the bus with Barb. She just had to get to the horse show. She had to see the horses. She didn’t want to miss anything!
The bus was gone though. Dani gave up. She looked around and realized Mom was going to be really mad if she found out she had run so far. I better not just walk. I better run home.
She saw her stupid shoe was untied, so she crouched next to the bus stop bench to tie it. All she needed was a skinned knee from tripping on her shoelace. The cars passing by were loud. The light must have turned red because she could hear one stopped and rumbling by the curb. When she looked up from her shoe, the door of a lime green car opened in front of her, and she saw a photo of a happy little white dog.
The big man inside was reaching across the seat holding the photo. “Hey,” he said. His eyes were red like he had been crying. “Could you help me? I lost my dog. Can you help me find him?”
Dani started to reach for the photo. How awful it would be if Jelly was lost. Just as she realized the danger and went to pull back, he grabbed her by the arm and yanked her into the car with one hand, shutting the door with the other. Her heart slammed into her ribs. She was trapped! She took a breath to scream, but before she could let it out, he stuffed an oily cloth in her mouth. Dark purple tint on the windows made the car feel like a mouth full of chrome teeth. She tried desperately to kick away while reaching for the door handle with her free hand, but she couldn’t get to it. She kicked the man in the face as hard as she could. She got him. He grunted. She went for the handle again, but missed! The man clutched her shoulders and pulled her up violently. She saw his eyes, now furious and watering, blood dripping from his nose. He shook her and flung her hard into the dash. She felt a loud pop below her ears.
That’s when everything changed.
It went bright and turned slow and fast and quiet and . . . Dani was outside the green car again, above it now, looking down.
A QUICK RECAP
Part 1 | History is an Angel
We have reached the end of Part 1 | History is an Angel. I’m getting excited all over again for the start of Part 2. At this point, I’ve introduced you to the four storylines, represented by the perspectives of Lisa, Maeve, Barb, and Kiko.
Most of the chapters you’ve read so far were at least somewhat written when I started sharing them with you. A few were almost entirely rewritten for this Chapter by Chapter draft. I expect Part 2 will be similar in that regard. The events I edited in Part 1 will affect what I have already written in Part 2. So, while Part 2 is also mostly written, I’m sure there will be even more rewriting to do.
By now, you should be well-acquainted with the Cartwrights, Lisa and her sweetheart, Tim, and little Dani. You know about Lisa’s complicated childhood with her mother’s disappearance, and Dani’s ever-deepening obsession with horses. You’ve seen that Tim is ambitious in his career and also a protective father, indulgent of his daughter’s interest in horses.
You’ve met the Cartwrights’ next-door neighbor, Barb, and have an understanding of her life’s challenges and goals. You’re familiar with the Allen Horsemanship Program and what Maeve and Todd Allen are all about. You know that Maeve’s cousin, Veronica, and her daughter Vera, are a source of tension for them, and that Todd misses his twin sister Grace, back in Scotland. You’ve also spent a little time with Kiko, our veteran mechanic who dances in the hills.
It has all been sweet—warm and cozy as a cup of Scottish caramel pu’erh tea. But if you read the prologue, you knew that trouble and heartbreak were coming.
Next
Part 2 | History is a Pile of Debris
1 - Outside of Time
Whoa. That was an intense ending. I was practically shouting “Don’t do it!” Well done!