Divine Mortals (4 page)

I’d only exchanged two words with Robert but I already knew that Sally was holding out for the impossible, I was more than happy to concede.

“So how do you know him?” I asked, it was my turn to dig now and Sally seemed to love the subject, she obviously had an absolute crush on him.

“Oh I’ve seen him a few times when he’s come over to our place, he helps my brothers with our musters occasionally, isn’t he just… Hot!” She smiled, all lip gloss and pink cheeks.

Okay I was starting to think perhaps it was more of an obsession than a crush, it was also starting to sound like Sally had only said a handful more words to Robert then I had.

At this point in time from what little I knew about Sally, her obsession with Robert seemed to be her one character flaw, and a subject to be avoided, unless I was looking for something to put me to sleep.

I had to agree though, there was something about Robert that made you stop, it was more than his looks, something about him drew you in, his posture, his presence? I wasn’t sure.

So I nodded, acknowledging her sad crush before being happily interrupted by the arrival of our burgers, this gave me the chance to change the subject back to school. I wanted all the info I could get, I wanted to be prepared even though it was still weeks until classes went back. Sally didn’t seem to have a bad thing to say about anyone, she was very happy go lucky, talking about herself a bit, but considering her good looks she was more grounded then I had expected when I first saw her.

“So do you think you’ll like it here?” she asked, dabbing her mouth with a napkin as she finished.

I was thoughtful for a moment.

“I honestly don’t know,” I put down the last of my burger, too full to finish, “I guess I’ll have to wait and see how it pans out, it’s so different from Chicago, I’ve only ever lived in a city and everything here moves so, well, slowly.”

Sally was nodding, although her eyes didn’t seem to comprehend, I guess she found it just as hard to imagine living in a city as I did living here.

We paid for our food and headed back out to her car and she chattered happily without much prompting most of the way back to River Stone.

“I’m so glad you’re here!” she exclaimed as we pulled in front of my grandparents once more,

“It will be nice to have another girl at school this year.”

“Thanks for the ride.” I answered opening the door, “It’s been a great afternoon, you should come visit again, perhaps we could go for a swim?”

“That sounds great,” she sounded more than excited, I wondered if it was the prospect of swimming with me or the opportunity to run into Robert again. I didn’t have to wait long to get my answer, I was about to say goodbye when she spoke again.

“Maybe Rob might like to come swimming as well…”

I paused midway through shutting the car door.

“Ah yeah,” I muttered, “perhaps. See you later.”

“I’ll call you.” she replied happily.

Movement in the shed caught my attention as Sally pulled away, I looked up to find Robert watching me, a small smirk on his face, he ducked his head quickly as I caught his eye. I turned back towards the house again and continued inside without as much as a backwards glance at our snobby hand.

I dreamed again that night, so similar to my last dream however this one started with incredible speed.

I felt as though I were flying, the ground disappearing beneath me as I went hurtling through the night sky. I tried to scream but there was no sound. Laughter rung out above my head, looking up a face hovered just above mine, intent on the ground ahead of us. He was shrouded in black, featureless except for the glow of his eyes. I was transfixed by them, bright green and set in an evil scowl. Closing my eyes again I tried to escape the flying sensation, and the nausea that came with it, focusing instead on my breathing, knowing I had to get away from this man if the chance presented.

When I opened my eyes we were back in the field.

The silhouettes of trees in the distance, running almost completely around the fields perimeter. I realized then that it was raining, the icy drops running slowly down my face before falling to the ground. The shadowy man was gone and he stood there once more, my protector, the faceless person who was there for me, his entire being radiating an intense anxiety as he looked at me lying below him. Moving my head I tried to glimpse his face, but somehow it was always set in shadows, never clear through the heavy downpour. I couldn’t see who it was that stood in front of me but I knew him, I wanted him.

He knelt down, his hand slowly tracing the line of my jaw. His touch was like an electric shock, warmth coursed from his fingers making me shiver, all my fear left and I felt immediately safe.

Pulling his hand back abruptly he froze as still as a statue, no longer looking down at me. He stood slowly, no longer calm, his fury rolling from him in waves. I knew the man in black was behind me.

In a sudden flash of movement my protector leapt at the dark figure, I screamed, instantly frozen in fear. I tried to turn, to see what was happening but I couldn’t move.

“Oouf.”

The air flew from my lungs as I landed heavily on the floor. In the struggles of my dream I had thrown myself out of bed. I relaxed, laying my head back against the carpet for a moment, feeling more than slightly stupid at having fallen out of bed.

Geez how old was I!

Tonight though, I remembered the dream, every part of it. That was strange, normally, my dreams were about things of no real consequence, general every day happenings. This last dream left me feeling unsettled, I wondered if it had a deeper meaning, if it was trying to tell me something, isn’t that why you dreamed?

I shook my head trying to free myself from the memory of it, climbing off the cold floor I slithered back under the blankets.

Burying myself deep, huddled in a tight ball in the center of the bed, I tried to shake the unease I felt by concentrating on relaxing each muscle slowly, focusing on one limb at a time, and eventually sleep came to claim me once more.

It was hot when I opened my eyes, my pajamas stuck to me, I couldn’t see a thing and it took me a moment to realize I was still under the covers and dive immediately towards the surface. The sudden need for fresh air was overwhelming.

I broke through into blinding sunlight, my curtains had blown almost completely open and the breeze hit my damp face, cooling me instantly.

I washed quickly and headed for the kitchen. Nan and Pop were nowhere to be seen, I was slightly disappointed at having missed the porridge this morning, it was definitely worth waking early for.

I poured a glass of apple juice from the fridge and hunted instead for some cheerios. As I reached into the cupboard the box slipped from my grasp, bouncing off the bench and onto the floor.

“Dammit.” I cursed, dropping to sweep up the hundreds of tiny cereal rings that seemed to have scattered across every inch of the linoleum.

I cleaned up and finished breakfast quickly, with no idea of what I was going to do today.

I would have to come up with more to fill my time on the farm, either that or get a job.

This was only day two and I was already at a loss for how to fill my days.

Wandering back down the hallway out onto the porch I pondered exactly what it was people did in the country, I had no idea.

Pop was packing some things onto the back of his pickup, this one was older than his current pride and joy, obviously the one they used for work around the farm. I could see Robert and Shaun herding some cattle over by the pens, Shaun caught sight of me and waved, I waved back giving him a smile. Robert turned to see who he was gesturing at, I felt his gaze land on me, a sudden jolt of electricity coursed through me as our eyes met, then it was gone and he was back to his work.

“Morning sleepy head.”

Pop greeted me with a smile as he lifted sacks from the ground onto the bed of the truck. I could tell by the set of his jaw he was preoccupied with his own thoughts but the smile he gave was genuine.

“Morning,” I answered, trying to sound as cheerful as I could.

“Can you do me a favor love,” he asked, climbing onto the pickup he began moving the sacks into a tidy pile.

“Sure,”

“Can you chuck me up that tool box.” he gestured towards a large tin box on the ground, I made my way down the porch steps towards the pickup.

“How long has Robert worked here?” I asked, trying to sound casual as I descended the last step. Pop shot me a sideways look, a smile tugging at the corner of his mouth, I ignored this, stepping out through the gate and into the yard.

“Bout three years.” he didn’t look up as he answered, busy retying a sack that had come undone.

“Left his last foster home as soon as he was able to, legally I mean, and ended up here.”

I had been in the process of bending down to pick up the tool box, this made me pause for a minute, perhaps that explained why he was so uncomfortable around people, he was a foster kid, although I wasn’t sure yet if it
was
all people or just me.

Grunting loudly I swung the tool box onto the back of the pickup, causing Pop to leap backwards when I almost dropped it on the toe of his boot.

“Sorry,” I mumbled, pushing my hair behind my ears, “So he’s adopted?”

“No not adopted, although that probably would ‘ave been a nicer option for him.”

I wiped my palms on my shorts, the day was already sweltering, and waited for Pop to continue.

“He was in foster care, from what I can gather he never knew his parents, they died while he was still a babe. Then he was passed from home to home, you know how it is, you hear these stories, poor lad.” Sweat was running freely down Pops face, following the deep creases of his wrinkles, he pulled a handkerchief from his pocket and scrubbed it quickly across his forehead.

“So how old was he when he came here?” I couldn’t shake the curiosity I felt, something about this guy made me nosey.

“Ooohhh,” Pop considered for a moment, shoving the damp hanky back into his pocket.

“Dropped out of high school when he was sixteen if I remember right, was here soon after.”

So he was nineteen, I’d been almost spot on with my guess.

The slam of the tail door bought me back to reality, Pop had finished packing the truck and was casting his eyes across the load once more, double checking the packed supplies.

“Can you take that sack over to the stables for me love?”

For the first time I noticed a lone sack sitting in a wheel barrow on the other side of the pickup, it looked heavy.

“Sure,” I murmured, tilting my head to read the weight on the side of it, forty pounds!

“Tell your Nan I’ll be back for dinner.” He called, climbing into the cab.

“Of course.” I smiled sarcastically, he smiled back just as ironically,

“Of course.” he laughed and then he was gone leaving me to haul the last sack to the stable.

I eyed up the heavy looking load, surely it couldn’t be too hard, it did have wheels to help me push it.

Lifting the handles of the barrow experimentally, I weighed it gently in my palms, it was heavy but I could lift it off the ground. Giving it a little shove, grunting slightly, the wheel started to roll forward and quickly gained enough momentum that it wasn’t really tough going.

I made my way slowly but surely past the pens towards the large entrance to the stable. The doors were already open, like usual the horses were outside for the day, grazing in the paddocks beyond.

As I pushed the barrow across the threshold and into the inner sanctum of the large timber building I felt the wheel snag on a stone and then stop all together, the handles twisting in my hands before I could stop them, the barrow tipping sharply to its side.

I couldn’t believe I had managed to tip it over, I was so close to my destination, I groaned out loud, I was really,
really
not cut out for this ranch work.

It was going to be one of those days. First the cereal and now this, I hadn’t even been up an hour yet.

I tried to pick it up, but it was useless, my puny arm muscles couldn’t even lift it off the stable floor.

I sat the barrow back up, kicking the offending stone across the stable until I heard it hit the far wall with a satisfying thud. I tried once more to lift the sack, but I knew it was pointless, and a small amount of feed spilt onto the ground as I jostled it.

“Shit.” I cursed out loud, totally frustrated. I spun, kicking the sack causing more feed to flow out onto the dirt floor, I was only making this worse.

Who would have thought I could make a mess of such an easy chore. I flopped down, sitting on the sack that may as well have weighed a ton. I would go and get Shaun from the pens shortly and ask him to lift it for me but for now I would just sit here and sulk for a minute.

I put my elbows on my knees and my head in my hands and stared dejectedly at the opposite stall. Someone walked into view, I hoped it would be the Shaun, I liked him, he was happy and friendly and I wouldn’t be too embarrassed to ask for his help, it would also save me from going to find him.

Apparently luck had completely abandoned me today, Robert strode straight into the stable walking very quickly, his whole presence commanding, and I wished suddenly that I could melt into the shadows. He saw me and paused, taking in my feed transportation disaster.

Rallying myself I glared back at him, after all I could be just as rude as he was and I wasn’t in the mood to be polite today.

The hint of a smile tugged at the corner of his mouth, his dark eyes dancing but he forced his face to stay calm as he walked towards me.

“May I?” he gestured towards the sack. I stood slowly, I was right he
was
trying not to laugh. I felt my cheeks burn and looked away.

“Sure,” I waved my hand at it trying to act as though I couldn’t care less. He bent quickly scooping up the sack as though it weighed nothing at all. His movements were fluid and graceful, it didn’t seem like any effort at all for him to lift a forty pound sack.