CHAPTER SIX
"You were gone for two days," Jim explained over breakfast the next morning. Mama was making pancakes again, and Blue was happily eying the bottle of syrup sitting in the middle of the table. "I got the roof repaired on the house and the barn and did some digging on what's been going on in Underhill that might have caused all this. Turns out, Dian Cecht and Nuada are close confidants these days. Dian Cecht did fix Nuada's arm, and then Miach finished the healing, which allowed Nuada to retake the throne. That gave Dian Cecht an unprecedented amount of power and influence even in the seelie court. Of course, that hasn't made some of the other courtiers happy. A number of fae have noticed Rin and put two and two together, and I believe one of them has the ear of a seelie who wants to remove Dian Cecht from power and was willing to ally themselves with Wesley."
"Like the woman who attacked me at the bar, saying she wanted to kill me because I was a member of Dian Cecht's family?" Rin asked.
"Most likely," Jim replied with a nod of agreement. "Most seelie sidhe won't come to the human world. They'll send lesser fae instead, but most lesser fae aren't strong enough to tangle with a kelpie, even a young kelpie like Blue."
Blue preened, neighing happily as he grinned at Rin.
"But Wesley might not even know Underhill exists. They may have approached him under human guise and offered him a way to destroy Lizzy that would allow them to get to Rin and therefore get to Dian Cecht. My guess is they were hoping Blue and I would go Underhill for the rescue, leaving Rin here unprotected. It seems like we might have outsmarted them. Now we need to stay a step ahead."
"Wesley gave us three days to ship the horses to him. It's now day three," Rin said slowly, trying to think through their options. "Do you think he knows Mama's been rescued?"
"If that bastard shows up here…" Mama snarled from where she was sliding the last few pancakes onto a plate. She joined them at the table and sat, dropping the plate onto the center of the table with an angry plunk.
"He very well might," Jim replied with a shrug. "But we're ready for him this time. Between Blue and I, we'll be able to fight off anything he tries."
I'll crunch his bones, Blue agreed eagerly as he took three pancakes off the plate and began to drown them in syrup.
"We can't kill him, Blue," Rin gasped, his hand pausing in the air on its way to the pancakes.
"It's bad enough we've got vindictive seelies trying to capture us," Mama groused. "Last thing we need is the human law looking at us too."
Rin finally took some pancakes and rescued the syrup from Blue so he could drown his own plate. He was hungry after the last two days of eating only the nonperishable travel crap he and Blue had stuffed in the backpack, and Rin was honestly used to Blue talking about crunching all sorts of things at this point, so as soon as there was enough syrup on his plate, Rin started stuffing his face. Mama irritably snatched what was left of the syrup bottle from him.
"I think we should wait and see if Wesley shows up here," Rin said once half his pancakes were gone. "Maybe he'll crawl back into the hole he came out of when he realizes Mama got away safe."
Maybe pigs fly.
Rin grinned at Blue, who smiled back.
Jim rolled his eyes. "Ineloquent, but true. Wesley will be here sometime today. I have no doubt about that. The question is, who or what will he bring with him?"
"I'll be bringing my shotgun," Mama cut in firmly. "They'll see what happens to them if they try lighting my house on fire again."
My arm's better now, so I can run really fast and hit them really hard. Since I'm not allowed to crunch bones, Blue grumbled.
"No bone-crunching, please," Rin replied even as Jim was rolling his eyes again.
"I have a few interesting trap spells I've been dying to use," Jim added between bites of his own pancakes. "Lizzy, did I ever mention how wonderfully you cook?"
"It's nice to hear someone appreciates my efforts," Mama said with a pointed look at Rin and Blue.
"Aww, Mama," Rin said with a pout.
"Go get in the shower, boys," Mama continued with a grin for them. "The barn still needs to be mucked and swept. Chores don't stop just because an idiot might be attacking today."
"Yes, Mama," Rin replied obediently. Blue let out a heavy, whuffling sigh, but nodded as well.
"And your puppy ran off into the pasture this morning. Jim assures me he'll be back on his own, but keep an eye out for him when you're outside."
Rin cleared his plate and headed upstairs to shower, Blue right behind him. Only once they were safely enclosed in the privacy of the bathroom did Rin abruptly spin around and pull Blue tightly into his arms.
I'm still okay, Rin, Blue insisted gently, even as his own arms were just as strongly holding Rin close. You healed my broken bone and we found each other again. Underhill didn't defeat us and today we'll win over everything that dares threaten us. It'll be okay.
"You can't know that," Rin said, his voice muffled against Blue's shoulder.
I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that's the truth. That's what really matters. Will you promise to stay safe? Blue asked. His nose nuzzled into Rin's hair and he was neighing softly almost like a cat purring.
"I don't know how to fight," Rin said as an answer. Mama had made certain Rin knew his way around a gun since she didn't want him to accidentally shoot himself, but he wasn't any sort of marksman. Thanks to his legs, he hadn't ever taken martial arts. In fact, the only way he knew how to fight was the ways his father had shown him in that dream, except those ways led to unseelie and Rin honestly didn't feel comfortable purposefully making someone sick. "But I do know how to heal. If anyone gets hurt, I'm going to come help."
Blue sighed, his breath ruffling through Rin's hair. I understand. Just remember you're my favorite snack and I'll be very sad if you get hurt too.
"I know, Blue. Thanks." Rin slowly pulled away, not wanting to leave the warmth and much needed comfort of Blue's arms, yet knowing that that last thing he wanted was to still be in the shower when Wesley decided to show up.
It took a few seconds for the water to warm up. Rin stripped out of his pajamas and hopped in. Blue got into the tub with him and gently pulled the shampoo out of Rin's hands.
Let me, my pretty snack.
*~*~*
Showering took longer than expected for reasons Rin didn't want to have to explain to Mama. He hurried through the house, still damp, but in clean jeans and a T-shirt, Blue right on his heels. They made it outside, across the yard, and into the barn without being spotted.
"I think we should just put Demon in an adjacent stall," Rin said as they strode down the walkway between the loose box stalls on either side. "We can clean out his stall and get him back inside faster that way."
I'll get a harness, Blue called as he hurried past Rin toward the back of the barn, where they kept their tack. Rin followed because the pitchfork and wheelbarrow he needed were back there too. Except Blue had stopped walking just outside Demon's box, and both Demon and Blue had their heads cocked to the side as if they could hear something. Rin froze in place to listen too, but he didn't hear anything.
Stay in the barn, Blue said firmly to Rin. He pressed one hand to Rin's shoulder as he walked back to the entrance. Rin still couldn't hear anything. He walked to the entrance too, but as instructed, remained inside. Blue went directly to the middle of the yard and stood with his hands braced on his hips, staring not at the road like Rin expected, but instead down the hoof-scarred path that led past his lake and eventually to the forest.
The forest was glowing.
Rin blinked a few times to double-check, and the yellowish glow that enveloped the trees didn't change.
"What is it?" Rin called to Blue.
Blue didn't answer, all of his focus no doubt directed at whatever was causing the glow. Jim walked out of the house and went to join Blue in the yard.
"A sidhe of some power is attempting to leave Underhill, and they apparently don't know how to use a mushroom circle," Jim explained without looking away from the forest. "It takes power to force a doorway to open instead of simply using properly willed intent as you would with a circle."
"What does that mean for us?" Rin asked.
Bad, bad, bad things, Blue replied, his voice shaking slightly, which had Rin's stomach jumping up into his chest in worry.
Jim continued explaining, since Blue wasn't being particularly descriptive at the moment. "I think I told you at breakfast, most sidhe don't leave Underhill. They send lesser fae to do their bidding instead. Sometimes they'll send less powerful sidhe, but they never come themselves. They therefore never have cause to learn about a circle and have to force their way out if they ever do decide to leave."
Rin wanted to ask who was coming, but the words got stuck in his throat. They weren't prepared to fight a powerful sidhe. Not by a long shot.
The window in the sitting room next to the front door was pushed upward and Rin saw Mama's worried face look out into the yard before she stepped back and leveled her favorite shotgun out through the opening instead. Rin stepped back from the center of the open barn doors, tucking his body behind one of the jambs so he could still see out into the yard, but wouldn't be an easy target.
The sudden crunch of tires on the drive made him jump in surprise, and he saw Blue and Jim spin to face the oncoming car. Blue's human glamor snapped into place just as a pickup truck with a large horse trailer attached pulled into view. Wesley parked and jumped out of the cab, his usual smarmy grin already in place.
"I thought I would make it easier on you if I came and took the horses myself, since it looks like you're too lazy to bring them on your own. Don't you care what happens to Lizzy?" Wesley actually sounded genuinely curious as he glanced around the yard. Then he saw Mama grinning cheekily at him from behind the double barrels of the shotgun she had pointed right at his oversized head. He took a step back, almost as if he were about to make a run for the safety of his car, but then the car's passenger-side door opened.
"Now, now," a man's voice said softly, almost gently. "There is no need for violence. Please, put the gun down. Let us talk it over like civilized creatures." His voice had a beat to it, a gentle, hypnotic cadence that somehow made Rin want to step out of the barn and walk right up to him.
There was no way he was human. Rin shook his head, trying to get the words reverberating through his brain out. He plucked at a bit of his magic, wondering if he could shield himself from the magic in the man's words. Mama's gun hadn't moved an inch, but then Mama was stubborn as a mule and even less likely to obey someone's sweet words than Blue was.
"Are you done?" Jim asked sharply after a long, pointed moment in which no one moved.
The stranger said Jim's name, or what Rin thought was Jim's name. He had never heard Jim take four syllables to say before, but Rin also didn't think Jim was a sidhe name. It was probably a nickname instead.
"How surprising to see you here," the stranger continued. "I had heard a rumor you were consorting with a human. How base of you."
The name Jim said in reply took five syllables and was just as incomprehensible to Rin's ears. His English abilities parsed it down to something like Claire.
"Which faction do you support?" Jim asked Claire. "I assume it's one of the ones looking to topple Nuada from the seelie throne."
"Civil war is inevitable," Claire replied, and though his voice remained calm, for some reason Rin thought he heard snakes hissing among his words. "Nuada cannot contain it, and we will bring Dian Cecht to his knees when we kidnap his offspring."
Jim scoffed. "I don't know if you remember your history at all, but Dian Cecht killed his son Miach when Miach upstaged him in healing Nuada's arm. Blackmailing Dian Cecht that way is pointless."
"Fool." Claire laughed. "Miach asked to leave Underhill. He wanted to explore the other realms without the burden of his father's power tying him to responsibilities in Underhill. Everyone knows this, and if you don't believe me, then why have you been consorting with Miach's youngest son?" Claire pointed toward the barn door where Rin was hiding. "I will have the child now or I will kill you first and still take the child."
Jim was already shaking his head no in answer, but Blue was the one who spoke first.
He is mine! I won't let you have him! He let out an aggressive whinny full of the promise of sharp hooves impacting in tender places.
Claire glanced at Blue briefly, then dismissed him and refocused on Jim. Clearly, Claire was an idiot.
Blue growled low, and his glamor faded away. He didn't turn into his horse form; he remained human, but it was his most magical-looking shape in human form. He had horns and claws, and even the air around him seemed to be shaded slightly blue.
"I'm afraid Blue is correct. We will not be giving anyone to you," Jim reiterated firmly. His glamor didn't change, yet the way he was looking at Claire said he was just as ready as Blue.
"Too bad," Claire said, but from his grin Rin could tell Claire was excited by the prospect of a fight.
The wind suddenly picked up outside, the dirt from the yard blowing against Jim and Blue's ankles and swirling through the barns. Little dust devils spun around, picking up stray hay to fling at the house before they dissipated.
"He's a sylph," Jim growled. His shoulders flexed and a whip of magic flew at Claire, who batted it aside with a gust of air and a laugh.
"The strongest sylph in Underhill," Claire crowed in agreement. "Now give me the child!"
The air blew harder, rattling the open, heavy barn doors against the side of the barn. It blew in Rin's face and he had to shield his eyes from the dirt. Then the wind left him and took all the air around him with it.
Rin tried to gasp for breath, but there wasn't anything to breathe. He stumbled away from his hiding place, hoping to find another patch of air, but there was nothing anywhere.
RIN! Blue screeched. Water splashed in Rin's face, but his eyes were streaming and his lungs burning; he didn't have the energy to see what Blue was doing. He fell to his knees, still desperately trying to find any air at all.
The shotgun went off, a bang that Rin only vaguely heard through the rushing in his ears. There were sparkles flashing across his eyes, black and rainbow and a terrible omen. His heart was desperately thumping in his burning chest, but there still wasn't any air.
He was going to pass out.
And then what? an inner voice that somehow sounded like Mama's scolding asked him sharply. You'll let Claire take you to Underhill? What, you're going to wait around for Blue to rescue you, when you very well know Blue would die trying?
No way in hell. Rin gritted his teeth and called on his magic. He knew how to bring breath back to the breathless, how to feed the heart with oxygen to keep it beating and the body alive until the lungs could breathe again. It felt so very wrong inside his body to not have air pumping through his lungs, and he kept on gasping desperately, but the sparkles faded from his vision.
Blue went flying across the yard, pushed by a massive gust of air. His body hit the side of the barn with an awful thud just past where Rin could see through the doorway. Jim had dropped his glamor completely so Rin could see his horned head and deep-black skin as he fired spell after spell at Claire. The shotgun went off a second time. Blue hadn't gotten up.
Rin knew his magic couldn't sustain him forever—his body needed oxygen, but there still wasn't any air at all around his head—but even more desperately than air, Rin needed to know Blue was alive. He couldn't yell without air and couldn't reach out with his mind like Blue could. There was only one way to be certain.
His hands and legs were shaking as he carefully stepped out of the barn door. He couldn't say whether that was because he was oxygen-deprived or whether he was deeply afraid of what he was about to see. A few steps past the doorway revealed Blue's body, slumped on the ground. Blue wasn't moving, and Rin wasn't sure whether he was even breathing.
But Blue had to be okay. He had to be.
Rin tried to run, but his starved muscles protested, and he staggered for a moment to catch his balance, wasting precious seconds. He still moved as quickly as he dared and sank to the ground at Blue's side.
His hands were already glowing with power before he gently reached out to touch Blue on the shoulder. The power immediately sank into Blue. Broken ribs—three of them—and the start of a nasty concussion from where his head had hit the barn. Rin would have let out a sigh of relief had he the air, but his body shook free of the knot of worry he had been curled into. Thankfully, none of Blue's injuries were life-threatening, but they were still dangerous enough if not treated properly. Rin let his magic work through Blue, healing the injuries. With each reknitted bone, relief sank into him.
Blue would be okay. That was all that mattered.
Rin? You're okay? Blue's bright eyes blinked open slowly, unfocused as they took in Rin leaning over him. After another blink, his gaze sharpened. You're not okay. You can't sustain yourself with magic like this!
Rin wanted to tell Blue he was only doing what he had to in order to stay alive, but Blue seemed to understand him without the words being said aloud. He frowned and let out an angry snarl.
I'll kill him for you, Rin. That'll make his nasty spell stop! Blue gently pushed Rin aside, then stood and ran for where Claire was battling with Jim. Water erupted from the ground around Claire, enveloping him for a brief moment before a gust of air forced the water away. Blue jumped through the gust feet-first, hitting Clair directly in the chest and knocking them both to the ground.
I'll kill you! Blue screamed. Let my snack go!
They grappled on the ground, rolling around in the mud and snarling. Blue's sharp claws scored bloody red lines down Claire's arms and chest, but Claire defended himself, somehow keeping Blue's claws away from his throat and face.
The sparkles were returning to the corners of Rin's vision. He had used too much of his magic healing Blue; there wasn't enough left to sustain him. He slumped against the side of the barn, leaning where Blue had been just a few moments ago, and helplessly watched the fight.
He didn't know if he wanted Blue to win the battle. Yes, Rin wanted to live. He wanted to spend many more days with Blue, romping in the shower, mucking out stalls, and swimming in the lake. But he didn't want Claire's death weighing on Blue's conscience for the rest of Blue's life. Rin wasn't worth that type of terrible pain.
There was someone else walking into the yard. Rin reached up to rub his eyes, certain he was seeing an oxygen-starved mirage, but when he lowered his hand the man was still there. He had come from the other side of the barn where the path to Blue's lake began.
A shot of alarm ran through Rin. They had forgotten about the glowing forest! He struggled to sit up, to try to do anything to warn Blue and Jim and Mama, who had their backs to the man, but his muscles failed him.
The man glanced over at Rin, his light-blue eyes sharp as they took him in, and a frown grew on his face. He turned to look at the fight, still frowning.
"That is enough!"
Rin recognized that firm voice, or a voice very similar to it, actually. It wasn't quite the voice from his dream, but the cadence and tone were so similar.
"My Lord!" Jim gasped as he spun around. He immediately bowed low to the man, and stayed bowed, with his back dangerously to Claire and Blue.
"I said, that is enough," the man repeated when neither Blue nor Claire appeared to have heard him.
Blue rolled away with a snarl, pushed by a bit of Claire's air. He was about to jump back into the fray—Rin could see Blue's leg muscles flex and his knees bend—but then Blue happened to glance over his shoulder. He froze in place, half crouched to leap, but unwilling to move.
Claire hissed when he saw the man, but didn't get up from the ground where he was bleeding from dozens of scratches.
"Release my grandson at once," the man said.
Suddenly cool, precious air flooded Rin's face. He gulped it down desperately, breathing so hard and fast he was almost hyperventilating. He let his magic fade with a sense of relief. Air had never tasted so good before, even though it was scented with horse and blood.
Blue unfroze when he saw Rin was breathing again. He trotted around the man in a wide arc, not quite looking up at him as he moved, and sank to the ground at Rin's side. He helped prop Rin up in a sitting position, holding him tightly in a hug Rin couldn't help relaxing into.
"My son had mentioned this bit of interest," the man said as he watched Blue and Rin together. "I will not forbid it."
As if, Blue scoffed, but quietly, as if he only dared let Rin hear.
The man heard anyway. "Yes, well, lesser fae have always been unbiddable."
Rin couldn't help scowling at that, but like Blue, he didn't quite dare open his mouth to say anything out loud. The man was oddly scary in a way Rin couldn't quite find the words to explain.
"I admit I had misgivings when my son asked me to leave Underhill to protect my half-human grandson. None of my own half children ever had such a need. But I owed Miach a great boon, so I came. It is unfortunate that Miach was right to send me." He was looking at Claire as he spoke, and his eyes had lost their gentle shade of blue. "I knew there were factions in seelie looking to end the current order of things, but to go so far as to attack innocents? That is unseelie in nature. Claire, to see one such as you fallen so far is truly saddening."
Claire's glare at the man said he wanted to refute that, but like Rin, he couldn't open his mouth.
"Be gone, Claire. Return to Underhill, where you will face seelie justice for your unseelie crimes."
Claire's body began to move, dragging along the ground toward the man. Claire let out a desperate scream, his fingers and toes digging into the earth around him, but nothing he did stopped his forward momentum. He went past Blue and Rin, around the barn, and up the path toward Blue's lake without slowing. Rin could hear his screaming for a few minutes after he was gone from sight.
"My Lord," Jim said from where he was still bowing. "Claire worked for a faction looking to unseat King Nuada."
"Rise, Jim. I was aware of those factions, and I had guessed Claire's allegiance given his presence here. It is good to have confirmation. Now, introduce me to my grandson and his kelpie."
Jim rose from his bow, but he didn't move otherwise. "This is Rin Roark and Blue. Rin, Blue, this is Dian Cecht."
I know who you are, Blue huffed. You saved my snack. He ran a hand through Rin's hair as he spoke, smiling down at Rin.
"Your thanks is noted, Blue," Dian Cecht replied, his lips tilting upward slightly in an amused grin as he watched them together. "Miach should be here within an hour or so. I will take my leave now that your safety is assured. It was nice to meet you, Rin Roark. Should you and Blue ever have cause to enter Underhill, please come visit me." He nodded to them and Jim, and then headed off after Claire.
A few moments after Dian Cecht left, the front door of the house opened and Mama stomped outside, her shotgun still in her hand.
"Miach's coming here?" she asked sharply, glancing around the yard as if to assess the damage. She would probably have to get a load of gravel sent up to fix the driveway, but somehow the house and barns had been spared.
"Apparently," Jim replied with a shrug. "Probably just to see Rin, and I doubt he'll stay much longer than his father. Still, it's best to have this mess cleaned up before he arrives." He and Mama both turned on the pickup truck and trailer still sitting in the driveway. Wesley was nowhere in sight.
"Where did that bastard get to?" Mama said with a groan.
"I couldn't keep track of him in the fighting." Jim craned his neck to look around. Rin didn't see Wesley anywhere either, not that he had a great vantage from where he was still sitting.
A yipping sound came from behind the horse trailer, then a growl and a yell of pain. Wesley stumbled into view with Rin's little puppy's teeth dug deep into his ankle.
"Call him off, Rin," Jim instructed. He and Mama advanced on Wesley shoulder-to-shoulder, equally grim looks on their faces.
"Good boy," Rin called obediently. "Come here now." The pup released Wesley and ran toward Rin. He skidded in the dirt as he came to a stop and panted happily up at Rin, who couldn't help reaching out to rub the pup's ears.
You have a name for him yet? Blue asked.
"I don't know. What's the Celtic word for white?" Rin replied.
Boring. Think of something else.
"You've done enough tricking and stealing, Wesley," Mama was saying firmly across the yard. "You need to stop before you get in even more over your head."
Wesley opened and closed his mouth a few times. He was shaking all over, his eyes wide with shock, and he didn't seem to know which part of Jim's unglamored form to stare at first.
"I think the best thing for him is to erase his memory of the last few days," Jim said after studying Wesley for a moment. "Make him forget about magic and the fae, and even forget about his plans to steal our horses."
"Fine," Mama replied shortly. "Get on with it so we can get back to our chores." She glanced over her shoulder as she said that. While her glance was as assessing as it was pointed—she no doubt wanted to make sure for herself that Rin was okay—Rin got the message.
"Help me up," he told Blue, who scrambled to his feet before holding out his hands for Rin to take.
Rin felt fine. He knew he should have felt wobbly or unsteady, but he felt as strong as he had before the fight. He checked Blue over quickly too while their hands were clasped, healing the few bruises and scratches Blue had gotten in the last part of the fight.
Jim's hands were glowing as he traced symbols in the air over Wesley's head, and he was mumbling something under his breath. Mama was looking at Rin, watching him stand and then walk into the barn without even a limp. Rin didn't doubt she was going to insist on him taking a hot bath later to soothe any remaining aches, which Rin didn't mind, since he was sure Blue would be happy to join him.
The inside of the barn was still cool from the summer night. The heat of the day always took a while to penetrate the wide space. Rin welcomed it, letting it finish steadying his frayed nerves. He was trying very hard not to think of that fight. Suddenly not being able to breathe was terrifying, but seeing Blue slumped on the ground like that had been even more so. If Rin allowed himself to dwell, he knew he would start shaking and crying again.
There was no reason to break down like that. They had won the fight, everyone was alive, and Rin had healed all of Blue's injuries. It was just a delayed reaction from the adrenaline, Rin tried to tell himself, hoping his nightmares wouldn't be too bad.
Demon's stall was halfway down the line, and when they reached it, Blue let out an unhappy whinny.
Poor horse! Blue gasped. He yanked open the stall door and hurried inside to Demon's side.
Demon's large body was pressed against the back wall of his stall, as far away from what must have been terrible noise coming in from the barn's front door. He was shaking uncontrollably, the same way Rin was fighting to keep himself from doing. Blue whickered at Demon.
It's okay. It's all over. The scary bit is done.
Rin knew Blue's words were for Demon, but they soothed his fears too. He followed Blue into the stall and carefully reached out to pat Demon's neck.
"It's okay, Demon," Rin said, echoing Blue's words out loud. "It's over. I'm sorry you were scared by it. I think we all were."
Outside, Rin heard the sound of an engine starting and the faint crunch of tires turning out of the yard. Jim had finished with Wesley and was sending him away. It really was over.
Mama came running into the barn. She stopped outside Demon's stall when she saw what Rin and Blue were doing.
"Rin, go make Demon a mash and grab some of the peppermints, see if that will help calm him down," Mama said.
Rin gave Demon's neck one last, gentle pat, then pulled away. When he got out of the stall, Mama grabbed him, pulling him tight in a hug. She didn't say anything, but Rin could feel the neck of his shirt dampen where her face was pressed. Mama pushed him away a few seconds later and Rin walked away to where the feed was kept.
It took him a few minutes to mix the ingredients correctly in the big bucket they used for the horses. By the time he returned, Demon had stopped shaking, although he was still pressed against the back wall of his stall. The scent of the food had his ears pricking up, and his nose was pushing into the bucket before Rin could pour its contents into his feed trough.
"Good food, gentle care, and a clean stall. That's all horses need," Mama said thoughtfully as she looked at Demon. "This one's finally starting to come around, I hope." She smiled at Rin and Blue. "When he finishes, put him in the paddock so he can get some exercise. Jim and I are going to go up to the pasture to check on the other horses. I want you to take a long bath after Demon's settled, Rin." Mama was definitely getting predictable, Rin thought with an inner smirk. "Ease whatever aches you have left over. Let's get everyone back into shiny health before Miach arrives."
Mama looked at Rin and Blue one more time, as if she still needed to double-check they were okay, before turning on her heel and striding back out of the barn.
Demon didn't take long to scarf down his treat. Blue went to get a halter, and he slipped it over Demon's head while Demon was happily crunching a peppermint. Rin walked with Blue and Demon outside because he couldn't quite make himself leave Blue's side just yet. Blue let Demon into the paddock, and they headed back to the barn to muck out Demon's stall.
Rin's puppy was snoozing in the middle of the yard, flopped on his belly and looking self-satisfied even in sleep.
"What if I named him Snow?" Rin asked.
Still boring. Keep thinking.
Rin couldn't help laughing. "Okay Blue, I'll keep working on it."
Work faster. It's almost bath time. Rin didn't need Blue's pointed wink to understand what Blue meant. He hurried his feet back into the barn for the thankless task of mucking out Demon's stall. With the promise of a bath afterward, Rin couldn't help grinning the entire way.