A Wolf Affair: Chapter 10

Cindy came around the following morning right after breakfast to take me up on my offer to go riding. She was accompanied by Wally. Since he was also an accomplished rider, I didn’t mind giving him a horse to ride. I was just glad that I had three. I don’t know how we would have managed if we were short a horse.

We said very little while we rode single file along one of my favorite trails in the reserve. Since I wasn’t much of a gabber, I was fine with the silence. It wasn’t until we reached the part of the trail that allowed us to see their farm that Wally spoke.

“That’s our place,” he called out as he pointed in the direction of the farmhouse.

“I thought so,” I said as I stopped Roger and waited for them to position their horses next to me.

“It doesn’t look lived in from here.”

“You’re right,” Cindy said as she shaded her eyes against the day’s intense sun and looked down upon the farm.

Wally scowled at his home. “Huh. Weird.” He pulled his horse’s head around and headed back the way we came. “Whether it looks lived in or not. It is, and we have chores to do. We’d better head back.”

Cindy sat back in the saddle and raised her face toward the tree tops. We were on the edge of the tree line and the sun’s rays felt warm and welcoming.

“What chores do you have to do?” I asked as I looked once more at the empty fields and silent buildings.

“I’m in charge of the chickens and the hogs,” she pouted.

“What?” I said with shrill surprise as I squinted my eyes and peered with desperation as I tried to find some sign of life. If they had chickens and hogs, they should be outside somewhere. I saw nothing.

Cindy clucked her tongue as she urged Daisy to follow Wally. I watched as she settled in for a leisurely ride back with Daisy’s head just feet from Peter’s rump. It was a good thing those horses were buddies. With a sigh of confusion, I fell in line behind Cindy.

We untacked and brushed the horses down with minimal conversation. Wally was first to turn his mount out to pasture. He came back into the barn and urged Cindy to finish, reminding her that they would be missed if they didn’t get back soon, and then went outside to wait for her.

His comment about being missed and his urging for her to get moving made me wonder if Michael knew they’d gone riding with me. “Did Michael give you permission to come here?”

“He’s not really keen on horses,” she replied as she stroked Daisy’s neck. “Probably because they don’t like him.”

“Is he mean to them?” I asked. I’d been around horses long enough to know that the primary reason they wouldn’t like someone was if that someone was cruel.

“I don’t think so. I’ve never seen him around one to know.”

“He’d never hurt an animal,” Wally said, defensively, as he stood in the doorway of the stable.

He’d pulled hay from a nearby bale and was chewing on it. It reminded me of the way Kenton tended to chew on grass and hay. The thought of Kenton saddened me, but I did my best to hide it.

“Then, why does he think horses don’t like him?”

“It’s his scent. They don’t like his scent,” Wally replied in a nonchalant way that gave no more room for questioning.

I shrugged lightly and made a mental note to sniff Michael the next time he was near. I wanted to see just what it was about his scent that horses wouldn’t like.

They were about to leave when the idea struck me to ask about Kenton. Maybe they knew him. If they did, they might know if he’d gone somewhere or if he was around and just avoiding me.

“Do you know a guy named Kenton Walters?” I asked.

Cindy had just started out toward the paddock to turn out Daisy when I asked the question. She stopped in her tracks, but kept her back to me. I could see that she and Wally were exchanging looks as a thick, tense silence permeated the air.

It seemed like forever before Wally finally spoke. “Why would you be asking about Kenton?”

The tone of his voice and the way he asked the question made me tremble with apprehension. I instantly regretted asking about my new friend. “I just heard that the Walter’s place was on the southeast side of the reserve and that Kenton was around my age. That’s all.”

“You’re better off staying away from that side of the reserve,” he said as he took Daisy from Cindy and turned her out himself.

Cindy kept her back to me while she waited for Wally to return.

“Cindy?” I said in a soft tone that was loud enough for her to hear, but not loud enough to carry out to the paddock for Wally’s ears. “What’s going on?”

With her back still to me and her head hung low, she said, “Just trust Wally. Stay away from the Walters.”

I was about to ask her why when she added, “Please change the subject.”

Wally shifted the mood almost immediately by bounding back into the stable with an enormous smile on his face. “I had a great time. Thanks for inviting us. Maybe we can do it again sometime.” He turned to Cindy. “We’d better hurry back or dad will have a fit.”

There was something about the look in her eyes that made me worry, but I said nothing. I didn’t know them well enough to judge or assume. I found it strange that they would tell me to stay away from Kenton, but maybe there was some Hatfield and McCoy war going on between their families. As for their concern about how Michael would react to their riding with me, well, I intended to speak to my mother about that. If he was an abusive father, then someone should be notified.

Wally and Cindy rode mountain bikes through the reserve and down the tractor road on my property. I watched as they maneuvered their way back up it toward the upper edge of the field. I just couldn’t shake Wally’s warning to stay away from Kenton.

I was about to head into the house when I noticed Josh at the top of the field. It was as if he was waiting for them. I didn’t want to look conspicuous if one of them turned around and caught me staring at them, so I slowly walked toward the house; keeping one eye on the threesome. Josh spoke with Wally for a short while before the two cousins continued on their way and my brother headed toward our house.

I waited on the back patio for him. To my surprise, he continued past the patio as if I wasn’t there and headed toward the chicken coup. Seeing that he was deep in thought, I gave him the benefit of the doubt and called out to him. He acted surprised that I was there as he stopped and looked in my direction.

“What had you so out of it that you walked right past me?” I asked in a voice that I hoped sounded curious and not critical.

He shrugged and shoved his hands into his front pockets. “Just deep in thought,” he said as he scuffed at the dirt road with the toe of his sneaker.

“Was it something Wally said?” I asked.

He looked at me with eyes that could only be labeled as suspicious and asked, “Why would you say that?”

“I saw you talking him. That’s all.”

“Is it a crime to say ‘hi’ these days?”

Taken aback by his defensiveness, I said, “Sorry I said anything.”

“You’re becoming as big a busy body as mom,” he complained as he started off again.

“Don’t be dissing mom like that,” I growled to his back as I watched him lope away.