Dirty Angel-BarbaraElsborg (12 page)

“Oh no, you must stay with Jester.” The woman widened her eyes. “He’s used to you now.”

“Do you tip her?” Aden asked.

“Well…er.” She gave her husband a desperate look. “Should we?”

Shawnee started to speak and Aden interrupted. “I’m always impressed with those owners who recognize the effort put in by kids who work for so little reward.”

“Derek!” the woman snapped.

He pulled out his wallet and handed Shawnee a twenty pound note. Then another twenty when he caught Aden’s glare.

“Will you put Jester in his protective gear…please?” His wife smiled sweetly at Shawnee.

Aden wondered if that was the first time she’d said please. He had to refrain from rolling his eyes as he watched Shawnee tack up the horse while the owner gave a running commentary and instruction on each item. Hoof boots, anti-slip saddle pad, rubber bit, breakaway stirrups, breakaway reins, florescent leg wraps. Maybe the woman ought to give Jester a phone and teach him to dial 9-9-9.

Once the Connaughts had left the stable with the horse and a beaming Shawnee, Aden snaffled a couple of carrots from a bag left by the door and made for Captain’s stall.

“Remember me from last night?” He unfastened the latch and went inside.

Captain stamped his hoof.

“Oh pack it in. You’re not scary. And if you tread on my foot, I’ll know you did it on purpose.” Aden handed over one of the carrots.

By the time Shawnee reappeared, he’d managed to put a halter on Captain and attach him to the walker. When he lunged for the backside of the horse in front, Aden laughed. “
That’s
what we have in common. Leave the poor guy alone.”

“Oh no,” she gasped. “You… How…? We don’t put Captain on there. He kicks off.”

The horse gave a loud neigh.

“Behave.” Aden scowled at Captain who snorted once, stopped lunging and settled into a steady pace.

Shawnee stared at Aden with what looked embarrassingly like awe on her face. “Only Des and Brody can handle him usually. He’s got the most horrible temper.”

“You know he had a bit of plastic in his teeth?”

“Des yelled at Leo. He must have left one of his bottles where Captain could get it.”

She and Aden began to clean out Captain’s stall, forking the dirty straw into wheelbarrows.

“Where did the horse come from?” Aden asked.

“Des told us Brody’s boyfriend was out riding him and Captain came back on his own. They found the rider dead in a field. It looked like he’d fallen, gotten the reins tangled around his neck and been strangled.”

Christ.
Aden stopped shovelling.
“Bloody hell. Is that something that happens often?”

“I’ve never heard of it happening before. But I can see how it could. Brody turned up one day with Captain in a horse box and left him. Then he got a job as a vet down here and moved. Doesn’t ride Captain though. No one does. Des walks him and when the weather’s okay, he lets him out into the paddock. I’ve seen Brody come and talk to Captain sometimes. He always looks sad when he does.”

At that moment, Aden fully understood the huge flaw in the idea of finding someone to love him, whether it was Brody or not. If Aden succeeded either in falling in love himself—unlikely as that was—or convinced a guy to love him, he was going to disappear in a month, and someone’s heart was going to get broken. Brody had already had his heart broken, it wasn’t fair to even think of doing it again. How was that being a good guy? What had he missed in what Raphael had said?

Still, it wasn’t as if Aden was a horrible person. He’d made a few bad choices in his life, but it wasn’t as if he was a serial killer or a torturer or a paedophile. Raphael hadn’t been specific on what he had to achieve. There were no challenges to meet, no golden coins to collect in dangerous situations. All he had to do was be good and learn what love was all about. Maybe he didn’t actually have to fall in love, or have someone love him. It was the capacity for that to happen that was all important.

Maybe.
Shit.
Aden wished he’d asked more questions. Was he supposed to wander around doing good deeds? Catching kids who fell off roofs?

He led Captain back to the stall. He didn’t want Shawnee to get hurt handling the horse
.

“Why don’t you watch from the other side of the door while I groom him?” Aden said. “Tell me if I do something wrong.”

Aden gave him another carrot and copied what Shawnee had done with Jester. When Captain tried to push him around, Aden shoved back.

“You’re really good with him,” Shawnee said. “Des wants Brody to sell him but he won’t. He needs riding. You could ask if you could.”

Aden smiled as he brushed Captain’s mane. Riding Brody was more appealing. Maybe Aden could un-break Brody’s heart, take his mind off what had happened, make his face light up by showing him he could have fun again. Love not needed.

Des had a few animals apart from the horses. Sheep, beef cattle, hens. Aden had seen the twins feeding the hens, and Martin had beckoned him over.

“You want to check for eggs?” he asked.

Aden nodded and the twins showed him what to do. Jamie told him all their names and when he put a warm egg in Aden’s hand, it was the strangest thing, as though some shard of ice in his heart melted.

“We have to make double sure they’re locked up at night because there are foxes,” Martin said.

Sly creatures that helped themselves to what they wanted. Was Brody’s door going to be locked tonight?

By the time Aden had finished working, he was shattered. As owners returned horses to the stables after riding them, a lot of the work needed doing all over again. Some of the riders took care of the horses themselves but others just handed over the reins and drove away in their mud-spattered top-of-the-range four wheel drives. Aden was surprised to not find himself resentful.

Something about him had changed. Maybe Raphael was helping, but Aden felt stuff he didn’t think would usually have touched him. The twins had made him smile. He liked the hens. Shawnee was sweet and he felt sorry for Captain. Whatever had happened the day his rider died was hardly his fault. He hadn’t deliberately set out to kill. Aden wished he could take the horse out but he had no idea how to ride. Still, he
did
know how to put on a saddle. Maybe if he got the chance he could let Captain take
him
for a walk. What was the worst that could happen? The horse couldn’t kill him.

It was dark as he made his way back to the cottage. He unlocked the door, switched on the light and took off his muddy boots. The hall was empty, no sign of his stuff and his heart sank. But he found his coat hanging in a room on the left, his boots clean, stuffed with newspaper and sitting on a rack. He took off the jacket he was wearing and hung it up. It was warm in the cloakroom and a touch of his coat told him it was almost dry. He pulled the newspaper out of his spotless boots. No one had ever cleaned his footwear for him before. Aden didn’t usually do more than wipe shoes over with a damp kitchen towel.

There was a washing machine and tumble drier under the window. Aden had never had his own washing machine. He always used a launderette. He smiled because now he had no clothes to wash. There was a toilet in a room off to the side and next to that a large cupboard holding a water tank and heating system.

The cottage had two bedrooms, two bathrooms, and his bag had been put in the room with the double bed. It had freshly painted walls, shining hardwood floor, new furniture, plantation shutters at the window and there was even a TV on the wall.

Across the back of the cottage was a room that served as a kitchen, dining and living space. Identical to Brody’s. On the table was a note along with a basket of provisions.

Hung up your coat, it was so wet. Stuck your jeans and shorts in the drier. Food is in the fridge. A few toiletries in the bathroom. Anything else you need, let me know. Thank you again. Karen x

Aden opened the fridge to see milk, butter, eggs, cheese and pasta. There was a loaf of bread in the basket on the counter along with fruit, cereal, jam, biscuits, a couple of potatoes, and a small packet of cornflakes. By the kettle were sachets of tea, coffee and sugar, and salt and pepper. He was stunned by their generosity. He hadn’t thrown himself off the roof because he’d thought it would make Des and his family beholden to him. He’d done it without thinking, not even remembering he’d be okay because he was already dead. It showed there was good in him, didn’t it?

Or just that he was stupid.

He made himself a doorstop of a cheese sandwich, picked up his coffee and sat in front of the TV. Warm house. Comfortable couch.
Fuck it.
There was even Sky connected. Thousands of programmes to choose from and temptation living next door. How could he leave after a week of this?

Once he’d calmed Martin down, Brody had headed back to his cottage wondering whether Des had caught up with Aden. He saw no sign of either of them. He ought to have gone after Aden himself. He’d just opened the door to his place when his phone vibrated in his pocket. Minutes later he was driving to a farm seven miles away where a heifer was in labour and struggling. Milking breeds tended to have larger calves and apparently the one in trouble had been trying to give birth for almost four hours and was now in the danger zone.

It was impossible not to keep a look out for Aden as he drove along the road though Brody expected him to head toward Caterham, and the farm he was aiming for lay in the opposite direction. So that was that, and it was probably for the best though he was disappointed. But Aden had secrets and so did Brody. If anything had happened between them, it would have gone the way of all Brody’s encounters, no matter how good the sex. He was broken into too many pieces for anyone to put back together, too damaged to want anyone to even try.

He delivered a live calf, and to both his and the farmer’s relief, it was female. Male calves born to dairy cows would be unlikely to live more than a few hours or at most a couple of days. They were just not needed. Brody had no sooner cleaned up and got back in his car, than he had a call about another cow in labour. He liked that the practice did some large animal work but it was physically exhausting.

Brody finally crawled into bed at two in the morning on Sunday. The TV show featuring the practice was due to air that night. It was wishful thinking to hope he’d sleep through it, as was the hope that Matt might not see it. If he did, Brody suspected—no, he
knew
Matt would come and look for him. He ought to have told Henrik he wasn’t prepared to be filmed but he’d been trawled into it, caught up in the excitement of everyone who worked at the practice.

He was an idiot for thinking there could be anything between him and Aden while there was the risk of Matt interfering. Usually, a single thought about Matt sent Brody into a maelstrom of anxiety, though not this time. Aden filled his head. His eyes, his smile. How had he survived being hit by his car, falling off the roof? Not one miracle but two. Brody didn’t believe that story about the job. He was running from something.
Just like me.
Was his name really Aden? Where was he now? Had he found somewhere to sleep, someone’s bed to sleep in?

I wish he was in mine.

Aden was shattered by the end of the first full day working for Des, but at least working stopped him thinking. Karen had come to the stables, invited him to dinner and refused to take no for an answer. The old Aden would have just not turned up if he didn’t feel like it, but the new one showered and shaved. He changed into another of Brody’s shirts, put the pale blue sweater back on, his own jeans, and donned jacket and boots.

As he walked across to the farm, he wondered if Brody was invited too. He’d not seen him since he’d taken Martin into the farm. Maybe he was pissed off that Des had let him have the cottage. Did he even know, let alone care? Brody could have stopped him leaving yesterday after he’d fallen, and he hadn’t. It was Des who’d come after him. There’d been no knock on the door and Aden knew he could have done the knocking, but he couldn’t bring himself to do the chasing.

If Aden had somewhere to move to, maybe he’d have gone. Except…something kept him here. It was more than inertia, more than the warm bed, more than SKY TV.
Captain?
He chuckled. More than the horse, but at least someone was happy to see him, assuming getting bitten was a sign of affection and he thought it was.

He knocked on the door of the farmhouse and Jamie opened it.

“Hi. Mummy says I have to say thank you. I did, but thank you.”

Karen came up behind him. “Mummy also said to invite Mr…?”

“Aden will do.” He didn’t want them Googling his name just in case.

“To invite Aden inside. Please come in.” Jamie grinned at him. “Want to see my spaceship?”

Aden glanced at Karen and she nodded. “Ten minutes. Then we eat.”

Jamie tugged at Aden’s sleeve and pulled him into a playroom. Martin was already in there surrounded by a sea of multi-coloured Lego bricks.

“Look.” Jamie pointed to an elaborate construction that bore no resemblance to anything. “That’s my spaceship.”

“Wow.”

“That’s the airlock. That’s the gun. That’s the place with the hyper-drive control.”

“Right.” Aden wasn’t used to talking to kids.

“It’s not aerodynamic,” Martin pointed out. “There’s bits sticking out.”

“Doesn’t matter in space,” Aden said. “There’s no air, so nothing to create drag. But to get into space you need a craft with rounded surfaces.” That didn’t seem likely with sharp-sided Lego.

“Want to make something with me?” Jamie tugged him down to the carpet.

“Sure.”

“Did you have Lego when you were little?” Martin asked.

“No. I’ve never played with it.”

Martin frowned. “You must be really old.”

“I am.” Aden picked up some of the bricks and began to put them together.

“What did you play with?” Jamie asked.

“I did a lot of reading.” Aden started when Des’s black and white dog pushed its head under his arm and wriggled onto his lap.