Rain Shadow (28 page)

“What do I do now?” Taylor spoke out loud, cursing repeatedly, and began a meaningless check of Rain’s tack. She had no rope and no strength to pull the horse out even if rope was available. She pulled her cell phone out of a filthy jean pocket and turned it on. No service. Her hands began to shake as she watched the device roaming for a signal. Rain was stuck and nobody knew where they were.

Sinking to the trail, Taylor felt her ankle begin to throb. She must have twisted it during the crazy dismount. Ignoring the pain, she cradled Rain’s jaw in her hand. The horse blinked a lone eye and looked up at her, an expression of complete surrender on her gentle face. 

“Oh Rain … ” Taylor began to weep and shiver uncontrollably. She put the mare’s head in her lap and caressed her velvet muzzle. Rain closed her eye and sighed deeply. She didn’t seem bothered that Taylor could not help but,
rather, relieved someone was near in her hour of trouble. The horse appeared
to be at peace with whatever might happen next.

With nothing left to do Taylor tried to remember how to pray to Mary. In her current state of mind the words she’d once known by rote failed to continue beyond, ‘Hail Mary full of Grace.’ A much simpler prayer tumbled out in its place as the tears fell. “God, please help me, please help me.”

Though she felt certain she needed more formality, more poetry, the plea continued, punctuated by thoughts that filtered into the night air and, she hoped, to the ears of the Almighty.

“I’m sorry, God; please hear me, please help me.”

There was nothing left to hide or avoid in the midst of the insurmountable situation on a muddy trail by a lonely river. Even if God didn’t hear it felt strangely good to talk to Him honestly. For once. And so she told Him about Savannah, and Ian, and Melissa. She told Him about her broken heart and resisted the urge to bargain for favors as she might have in the past. There was nothing to give, not even good behavior. Instead she pleaded for the future of Melissa and her unborn baby and for the kind-hearted mare that lay listening in her lap.

When the words had all come out a strange feeling of peace came over Taylor. She had not utterly disintegrated from the pain of remembering. The heavens had not beamed her with a bolt of lightening or the cougar returned to kill her for sins confessed. Like Rain, she felt okay with whatever might happen next. Even if a big cat was involved she felt freakishly calm about it all. The panic induced shivering had ceased without her realizing it and Taylor
lay her back against the stump and looked into the sky.

As she watched, the clouds slowly moved from the face of a full moon so bright she could make out the craters on its surface. Silver light beamed down, illuminating the surface of the river, the trail, and Rain’s pale face. The air seemed to thicken and warm, as if someone had thrown a blanket over her shoulders. At that moment, the mare opened her eye. Instinctively, Taylor rose to her feet and moved to the front of the horse.

Rain seemed to gather all her strength and with a mighty heave she rose up out of the bog and scrambled onto solid ground. Sticky mud dripped off the saddle and every part of the horse’s body. Her tail hung in a single black rope. Outside of her head and neck she was completely covered in ooze.

Taylor looked at the horse in amazement. “You okay?” She held the mare’s face in both hands and spoke to her as if she could understand completely. Rain nuzzled her arm. “Okay. I’m going to mount up. Maybe … ”

Her ankle throbbed, pulsing with an unrelenting fire. Taylor limped to the off side of the horse so she could mount with the good leg. Moaning with every movement, she slowly settled herself in the saddle and let her legs hang limply out of the stirrups. 

The earliest light illuminated the edges of the horizon as Rain made her way, unguided, to the trail head. Dreams of a terrifying cougar blocking the way, of penetrating cat eyes hypnotizing her, slipped in and out of Taylor’s consciousness as she dozed fitfully in the saddle, her body rocking like a rag doll with every step of the mare. In each dream a pale horse and its wounded warrior rescued her. He smiled and called her
“
Bellissima
,
” scooping her from the trail with otherworldly strength and placing her behind him as they galloped away.

It took Taylor a few foggy minutes to shake off the dreamy images
and realize their location. When Rain stopped at the metal gate that opened toward home Taylor leaned forward and wrapped her arms around the mare’s neck. She lay there for a moment and contemplated how to dismount. Her ankle seemed to have lost all feeling and become part of the leather boot. When she attempted to move it she nearly screamed out in pain. At that moment she saw the truck and trailer.



Chapter 37

“T

aylor! Oh my God!”

Melissa was running toward her with Liz hobbling close behind.
Too exhausted to answer, Taylor simply dropped the reins and allowed the women to ease her from the saddle. She put her arms around their shoulders and limped toward the truck, the mare following like a dog behind them. Easing Taylor to a spot on the wheel well of the trailer, Melissa bent down with difficulty to examine her friend.

“I’m all about mud beauty treatments, but this is a little ridiculous don’t you think?” She tried to smile and fingered a lock of Taylor’s dirt encrusted hair.

Taylor opened then shut her mouth. She stared into Melissa’s makeup-less eyes and felt a tear dribble down her cheek.

Melissa’s chin trembled. “Why didn’t you tell me?” She wrapped her arms around Taylor and burst into tears. They leaned into each other and hugged for a long moment.

“We need to get her to the hospital.”

Ever the picture of efficiency, Liz had already
untacked Rain and loaded her into the horse trailer. She bent down and lifted the edge of Taylor’s jeans.
“Looks like you did something nasty to your ankle. Can you move it?”

Taylor simply shook her head and tried to wipe her moist muddy face with an equally filthy shirt sleeve. “Is Rain okay?”

“Seems to be.” Liz stared at Taylor, her eyes and mouth twitching. “I’m not concerned about Rain, I’m concerned about you.”

“It’s just my ankle. I’m okay otherwise.”

“Hmm,” Liz looked unconvinced. She straightened and hitched up her leg. “Well, lets get you inside the truck and to a doctor.”

~ ~~

The ringing of her cell phone awoke Taylor from a drug induced sleep. Willing her mind to engage in reality, she reached for it and punched ‘talk.’

“Yeah.”

“Taylor Ann! It’s your mother. My God, I’ve been worried sick. Your landlady called me, what’s her name?”

“Rowan,” Taylor rubbed her itchy eyes that felt too heavy to open. “Her name’s Rowan.”

“What on earth happened? I might have known you’d have a serious accident riding that horse of yours.”

“It wasn’t Rain’s fault, Mom, it was mine
.
I
took her out without telling anyone
,
I
pushed her to take the wrong trails. She didn’t choose to fall into a bog. Or run into a cougar, I might add.”

Simply saying the words sapped her strength. She was in no shape to argue with her mother.

“Does Jacob know?”

Since Minnie’s accident, Taylor’s mother had become the veterinarian’s number one fan. Regular check ups to monitor the dog’s
recovery  had endeared Jacob to her mother’s heart, a place few men had ever occupied. In no time at all they were on a first name basis and she blogged about Minnie’s “Favorite Uncle” more than once. The fact he had also rescued Rain from certain death seemed to give the horse a measure of value, even though she refused to support Taylor’s interest in the sport of Ride and Tie—“Too dirty and dangerous for a woman.”

“No, I haven’t called him yet. I’ve been sleeping off my pain medicine. My friends have been taking care of
everything.”

She emphasized the word ‘friends.’ It would be nice to see her mother’s face and know she cared more about her daughter than a tiny dog.

“Well, no
t
everythin
g
. Seems you let that sale get away—the coffee stand. Steve has a buyer, though, and they’ve put in an offer. Owner just signed the contract to accept it if no better offers come in the next seven days.”

“Thanks for kicking me when I’m down, Mom, appreciate that.” Taylor felt the tears rise, hating that her mother could always get to her.

“Sweetie, I’m not trying to kick you when you’re down!” The voice
turned soothing but, as always, disapproval leaked through.
“
You
r
buyer
couldn’t get financing. It happens.”

Taylor gritted her teeth. The thought of Steve striking before Melissa
could try again for loan approval made her want to scream. Instead, she sighed deeply. “Mother, this conversation has been ever so uplifting, but me and my seriously sprained ankle need rest.”

“Of course. Just one thing before I go … something’s to be delivered today.”

“Something?”

“A gift.”

“What for?”

Her mother was quiet for a moment.

“I wanted to thank you for taking such good care of Minnie.”

“She broke her leg at my house.”

“I know. But she was so happy with you. I could tell.” Her mother spoke in a peculiar voice. “It wasn’t your fault she got hit by a car.”

“And that deserves a gift?”

Taylor felt confused. Praise of any sort was not her mother’s specialty.

“It’s not just Minnie. This is something that should go to you now; I want you to have it. That’s all I’m going to say.”

“Okay.”

Curious and more confused than before, Taylor snapped the cell phone shut and closed her eyes.



Chapter 38

W

hen Taylor awoke the second time it was nearly four. To be still in bed, on a weekday, felt odd. And completely wonderful. Liz would be arriving soon to visit and take care of Rain. As she slowly sat up and maneuvered her way out of the bedroom with a pair of crutches, Taylor heard a knocking on the door. Assuming it was Liz, she opened it immediately.

“Delivery for Taylor Ann Reed?”

Two men stood on the small porch. A large box van with the sloga
n
Move It
!
on the side was parked in her driveway.

“Uh, yeah, that’s me.”

“Sign here.” The older of the two pushed a double-sided paper on a clipboard at her.

“What is it?”

The men moved to the back of the van and released a roll-up door. “Piano,” said the younger, his back to her, “and it’s a bitch to move.”

The older man shot his companion a meaningful look.

“Sorry.”

Taylor’s mouth dropped open in amazement as she watched them struggle to remove a huge wooden piano strapped inside the interior of the van. Even with nearly every surface wrapped to prevent scratching during the journey from Seattle she recognized the instrument immediately.

The piano.

It took nearly an hour for the movers to get her mother’s piano out of the van and safely to a spot in Taylor’s living room. When they finally left she immediately removed the blankets and bubble wrap, excited as a child on Christmas morning. She didn’t care that the piano dwarfed everything else in her small cottage or that she didn’t know how to play it. Sinking to the futon she stared at the carved flute-playing maiden as joy bubbled inside. Grabbing her cell phone she punched at the numbers.

“Mom! You gave me the piano?”

Her mother chuckled, obviously pleased at Taylor’s surprise and delight.
“It was time for you to have it.”

“But I can’t play and yo
u
d
o
.”

“Taylor,” her mother paused to measure the words, “playing the piano has never been my passion. Sure it was an outlet at times, but the truth is Grandma and Grandp
a
mad
e
me play. When I got to the point in my life where I could choose the piano playing went by the wayside. You are the one who loved the music. You and your dad.”

Taylor could count on one hand the number of times her mother had said
‘
your da
d
.’ If she had to refer to him in conversation he was simply ‘Neal.” Sometimes Taylor thought she believed her daughter to be the product of immaculate conception.

“Maybe I’ll get lessons.”

“Yes, that’s exactly what I was thinking.”