Part 2: 3 - Between the Raindrops
Maeve and Todd take a Sunday ride
Things That Can’t Be Broken is a novel presented as a live draft, one chapter every week.
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Part 2 | History is a Pile of Debris
3 - Between the Raindrops
Maeve Allen
June 12, 1988
Dehesa Valley, California
By the time they returned home from early Mass, the June gloom clouds had retreated from the hills. It was going to be a beautiful day. Maeve kicked off her heels and pulled on her riding boots to the sound of Todd’s voice cooing joyful greetings to their two labs. As much as she enjoyed the time with their students, she looked forward to the freedom of Sunday trail rides with Todd, and now they had eight weeks of student-free summer days stretched out in front of them.
Booted and ready to go, she found Todd in the front room with the two happy yellow dogs. Merrylegs was bounding around, teasing him with a tug toy, while Ginger stood by, squeaking a ball and wagging her tail. “Are they going to let you go for a ride with me this morning?” She asked.
Todd grabbed the tug toy and pulled, inducing happy growls from both dog and man. “I would nae miss . . . Grrr! . . a trail ride . . . RrrrRrrr . . . with my bonnie lass . . . Arrrhah! . . . on such a bonnie day!”
Todd let go of the toy and gave both dogs a hearty pat, winking at Maeve. He said, “I’ll take Miss Lacey out today. She’s been in harness all last week with Carrie, I expect she’ll enjoy a change.”
Maeve said, “Good, then I’ll ride Pappy. He needs to burn off some calories.” Pappy was short for Papillon, their latest equine acquisition, head to tail spots and as intelligent as they come, if a bit spoiled. He had a few bad habits and some extra pounds to lose.
“Aye, he loves the scran, that one. We’ll make a pair. Morgan bronze and chubby leopard spots!”
They were soon mounted and on their way. At the first steep rise beyond the ranch, Lacey bunched up and tried to pass Pappy on the narrow trail. Todd reined her in, but she took to prancing, neck arched and tail swishing as she plunged up the trail. “Do ye think the kids ha’ been running her up this hill?” Todd asked.
“Could be, but you know she always loves to go up. . . Hey, speaking of up, what kept you up last night?” Maeve asked.
“Grace,” Todd said with a small sigh, “I do not mean ta’ fash, but I do.”
Maeve said, “Your sister seemed to be in good spirits when we talked to her last week.”
“Aye. . . Nae, there was something off with Grace, something she wouldna’ say,” said Todd. “I took a daunder through the barn to shake it, but I wound up sitting in the Pontiac. My fears didna’ pass though, so I drove to the ocean and watched the waves for an hour or soo.”
“You haven’t driven out to the beach at night like that in a while,” Maeve said, “What makes you so worried?”
“She didna’ talk about the band,” Todd said. “She was. . . too quiet.”
“Maybe she just didn’t sleep well,” Maeve said, playfully pointing out the irony.
“Aye, that could be it,” said Todd, “I slept fine after my visit to the shore.”
She understood the pull of the water. She didn’t think of herself as a beach person growing up, but the ocean was never far away. She took it for granted until she was in Scotland and far from home. Before she met Todd, she would go to the water for comfort when she was missing home. The familiar sounds and smells, the waves, sand, and seabirds stirred something primal and nostalgic. It was a salve to pain for home. Home was out there, connected to the same water.
They reached the peaceful shade of the sycamore grove, sun glinting on the leaves as they passed under them. Her heart swelled. She said, “You are my home.”
She didn’t think he heard.
But after Lacey took a few steps, Todd said, “Aye. True for me as well, mo ghràdh. Ye ken you are my home.”
Maeve worried about his midnight drives. They say driving sleepy is just as bad or worse than driving drunk. If he could talk to Grace again, it might ease his mind and help him sleep. “Let’s give Grace a call when we get back. It won’t be too late there.”
“Aye. We’ll see if she picks up,” said Todd, his tone flat.
Several minutes passed as they rode through the dappled shade. When they emerged into bright sun at the edge of a small canyon, Todd said, “I’d like to go to Edinburgh this summer, maybe convince Grace to come here for a visit.”
Maeve said, “I like that idea.”
They continued down along the canyon and into an open valley before Maeve spoke again. “I’m going with you, of course.”
“Aye, I could nae imagine it otherwise.” Todd smiled.
He was holding Lacey back. She had her eye on the wide stretch of trail beyond the big oak they were passing. Pappy was trotting every now and then to catch up. As soon as they reached the flat straight trail, Todd called over his shoulder, “Maeve, I’m gonna let her have a wee run!”
“No, Todd—”
But off they went, Lacey flattened, tail high, with Pappy running after, kicking out his heels and farting. His squeaking gut-sounds accompanied the hollow tattoo of eight hooves pounding over the buoyant clay trail. She imagined his round belly inches from the ground in an all-out sprint. As they reached the bend, Maeve and Todd sat back down into their saddles and the horses slowed to a hard-breathing walk.
“Damn you, Todd!” Maeve shouted, unable to suppress an ear-to-ear smile.
“It’s practical practice, lass! Haven’t you heard of the pony express? It could start again any time. We’ll be ready!” Todd grinned.
Maeve laughed and shook her head. “It’s going to take the rest of the summer to convince Lacey that this part of the trail is not a racetrack . . . And poor Pappy, imagine the humiliation, never getting close enough to breathe the dust.” She patted his neck and tried to sound serious, but her smile couldn’t be contained.
“Aye. But you liked it!”
The horses blew hard for a while. Pappy’s eyes were brighter, his step lighter, Lacey was eager for another run, but soon they both settled into a contented walk as the trail looped around another set of hills.
“We’ll need help for the summer if we’re both going to Scotland,” Todd said.
“Yes. I think we should go.” Maeve loved Scotland, and it had been years since they had seen his family there.
As the horses shuffled carefully down the last ridge, Todd asked, “How about Barb?”
“Barb? . . . Oh, you mean to watch the ranch? Does she have a way to get here every day? What about Chris?” Maeve suggested. “He did well the week we went to Virginia for my brother’s wedding.”
“Chris is going on to university,” Todd said. “He’ll nae be available for long, if at all. Barb can do everything, down to maintaining the lorry, er, truck.”
Maeve said, “I agree that Barb is a hard worker, and she’s made a lot of progress these past four years. She’s going on to university too, though, isn’t she? UC Davis. . . Well, wait-listed anyway. I wrote her a letter.”
“Aye,” Todd sighed. “I hate to say this Maeve, but I don’t think that will happen. I ken your getting these kids into good schools is important but consider Barb’s situation. Not a pot to piss in and raising her little brother while mum works two jobs. Something must give. Not everyone goes to college. . . If she does well here . . .” He paused for a moment to let Lacey take a closer look at a squirrel hole that startled her, then continued, “If she does well, maybe we could use someone full time to help us out. I think we could afford it now. She could help us take on more students. . . Do ye ken she’s good at hoof-trimming, too? We could even get by without the farrier for the horses we keep unshod. And she’s got the drive to learn more.”
Maeve’s jaw tightened. Could she let Barb represent the Allen Horsemanship Program if she never goes to college? She said, “I’m a little worried Barb could be the wrong influence for the younger students. Do you think she’ll fall back into her old habits, blurting out swear words?”
Todd said, “Barb is a different person these days, ye ken, a far happier young lady than she was when she first started the program.”
Maeve tilted her head, considering. “Yes. She’s still a little rough around the edges, but I agree with you. She has never complained about any hard work. In fact, that’s when I’ve found her most pleasant—when she’s working hard. She really has been your shadow these last four years, hasn’t she? Studying your every move. I think she’s got a crush on you, Todd.”
“Nae. She likes the work. And she’s nae been given a lot of positive feedback at home,” Todd said.
The truth was, she knew Todd thought of these kids as his children. Barb in particular picked up on that. She was in need of fatherly guidance, and he was in need of giving it. One day, she hoped they would have their own children, but so far it was not happening. Maeve was beginning to believe it never would.
As they neared the barn, they both dismounted. Todd said, “We’ll have a chance to ask her some questions tomorrow morning. I invited her to come by to talk about possible summer work.”
“Oh.” Maeve said, “That’s good, but sooner than I expected.”
Todd said, “Barb had such a bad day yesterday. I meant to cheer her.”
“Yes,” said Maeve. “It had to be hard on Barb when her family didn’t show up.”
“Aye, and she was stopped by a deputy on the way here, ye ken,” said Todd.
“That’s right. They thought her neighbor might be with her. Did they ever find the girl?” Maeve asked.
“I’m sure they did,” Todd said, lifting the saddle from Lacey’s back.
“That had to be on Barb’s mind, too,” said Maeve, “And I wonder what happened with her family. I wonder why they weren’t here.”
“I expect we’ll find out in the morning,” said Todd.
They led the horses to the wash rack to hose them down and scrape the sweat off. The sun was hot and the cool spray felt good, though Maeve’s shoulders remained a little tense. They attached the horses’ halters to opposite sides of the hot-walker carousel to walk themselves dry, and headed to the barn to finish the morning’s chores.
Maeve said, “I’m not ruling Barb out as a candidate for full time work. If things go well tomorrow, let’s see how she does while we’re gone. I’ll ask Genny to stop by now and then to see that all is in order.”
“Aye, sounds like a good plan, mo ghràdh.”
Todd turned the nob on the dusty radio in the windowsill. Pat Benatar was singing Run Between the Raindrops. He put a hand out to Maeve, who had been reaching for a rake to begin tidying the barn aisle. She stopped, looked up at her husband’s warm smile, and took the offered hand instead. They moved together as they had so many times before, to so many different tunes, since the day they met. It was just another day in this sweet dream they shared.
“ . . . run, run, run, run baby run,” the song faded out and the DJ came on. “Eleven fifty-eight now in San Diego, here on 101 KGB FM. We need your attention. We have a missing child alert. Sheriffs are asking for help locating a nine-year-old girl missing from her La Mesa neighborhood. Miss Dani Cartwright has long straight black hair and is just under four feet tall. She was last seen Saturday morning near 70th Street and El Cajon Boulevard, wearing a light blue OP t-shirt, blue shorts, and red Keds sneakers. If you have seen Dani or have any other information, please call the Sheriff’s Office at . . .”
Maeve stopped suddenly. “Isn’t that the girl the deputy asked Barb about yesterday?”
“Och. Aye. I hope they find her.”
Next
Part 2 | History is a Pile of Debris
4 - Monday
These two are so sweet.
I look forward to chapters with them. 🤍🥰