Fourteen

“I’m sad, Grampa.”

Jake carried Tricia off the front porch. “So am I, baby girl.” He walked past Randy’s many roses planted all around their log home. The bushes were barren now and mostly buried in snow. Come spring they would open their glorious blooms of red and pink and yellow and white. No one was better at growing roses than Randy Harkner. He just hoped Sadie Mae would be awake and alive to help her grandmother tend them.

“It’s cold, Grampa.”

“I know.” Jake opened his jacket and wrapped her into it. “Now I can keep you warm and you can keep me warm. Let’s go to the barn and look at the new colt that was born last night. Do you want to see a baby horse?”

Tricia brightened. “Yes! Oh, yes!”

Jake winced with the pain in his leg as he carried the girl to a huge new barn a little distance from the house. The fresh air felt good, and showing Tricia a new colt would help take both their minds off of Sadie Mae.

He carried Tricia to the stall where the new horse stood beside its mother on spindly, unsteady legs. It let out a funny little whinny that made Tricia giggle. “He has a white face, Grampa, just like his mommy.”

“He sure does. And look how well muscled he already is…perfect form. He’ll make a good cutting horse someday. That’s what his mother is. Her name is Marble, because the colors in her coat swirl around like a marble.”

“That’s a good name. Can I name her baby?”

“We’ll have to ask your daddy. These horses belong to him.”

“He’ll let me name it if Mommy tells him he has to. Daddy does everything Mommy wants.”

“Is that so?” The thought brought a smile to Jake’s lips. “I’ll have to ask Lloyd if that’s true.” He set Tricia on the wide board atop the wall of the stall, where she could observe the colt without going inside. “I can’t wait to hear his answer.” He thought how much fun it would be when he brought up what Tricia said in front of the whole family. He loved teasing different members of the family, especially Katie. Her fair skin would turn beet red. And it was also great fun to tease Lloyd, always so serious and stoic. Father and son were constantly jabbing at each other in a “one-up” contest.

“Sit still there, Tricia. I don’t want you to go inside the stall. Mothers of any breed get a little ornery when they think they have to protect their young. Marble is gentle, but you can’t be too sure when a female animal has just had a baby. It’s usually when they have their young along that female grizzlies attack.”

Jake lit a much-needed cigarette, taking a deep drag and throwing the match into a small bucket of water that hung nearby for matches and cigarettes. He thought about Lloyd again, how their jabs at each other were nothing more than a form of loving each other. It gave him a good feeling to know Lloyd would be there for the family once he himself was gone from this earth. Lord God, don’t you dare take that little girl before me. Don’t you dare.

He stood near Tricia and let her watch the baby horse, which wobbled toward her and let out another small whinny.

“Can I pet him, Grampa?”

Jake moved an arm around her from behind to make sure she wouldn’t fall inside. “Sure you can. Marble looks pretty calm.” He let Tricia pet the horse while he finished his cigarette and thought how Sadie Mae would also love to be out here watching a new baby horse. Little girls loved animals and babies. Sadie Mae’s special love was for the baby chick-a-dees.

Baby chick-a-dees.

It hit him then. He took one last drag on his cigarette and let go of Tricia just long enough to drop it into the bucket of water. He came back and lifted Tricia into his arms again. He kissed her cheek. “Tricia, I have an idea how maybe we can help Sadie Mae.”

“How, Grampa?”

“Baby chickens! She loves baby chickens!”

Tricia smiled and nodded her head, the springy red curls jutting from under her cap bouncing when she did so. “What are you going to do, Grampa?”

“We’ll go get a few baby chicks from the chicken coop and take them into the house. Maybe their peeping will wake her up.”

Tricia’s big blue eyes turned to saucers, and Jake thought how she and Sadie Mae were as different in looks as night and day.

“That’s a good idea, Grampa!” Tricia told him, her blue eyes sparkling. “Let’s go get some baby chicks.”

“Well, now, there’s the problem, Tricia,” Jake told her as he headed out of the barn. “Do you remember what happened to me the last time I went in that henhouse?”

Tricia giggled. “Everybody teased you, Grampa. That old rooster came after you, and you had scratches all over your face. Sadie Mae told us you said a bunch of bad words!” she answered.

“That’s right. I haven’t gone near the chickens or that henhouse since then. That mean old rooster hates me, Tricia. He behaves for Sadie Mae, Evie, and your grandmother, but not for anyone else.”

“Let’s get Mommy then, or Grandma.”

“Well, your mommy is busy feeding your new baby brother, and Grandma has a little cold. I don’t want her to come out here and breathe the cold air. You and I will have to do it.”

“We could try to explain to the rooster that we need the baby chicks for Sadie Mae. Maybe he would understand. He minds me too, so I can go in with you.”

“I don’t think you should go in. If Outlaw decides to attack, the chickens will all go wild and you could get hurt. I’d like to shoot that beast, but Sadie Mae would be awful mad at me if I did that, and we need the rooster to make baby chickens.”

“How does he do that, Grampa?”

Jake realized he’d talked himself into a corner. The way Grandpa loves on Grandma, he thought with a grin. “Well, mama chickens get scared when the rooster isn’t around,” he lied, using an authoritative ring as he spoke. “So scared that they won’t lay eggs that will hatch. When mama chickens are scared, their little brains produce something inside them that stops the eggs from ever hatching. Those chickens like the rooster’s protection. He’s kind of like me and your daddy—watching for bad things in order to protect you and all the people we love.”

Tricia pouted her lips. “Mommy says Daddy is brave and strong, like you, Grampa. And he’s handsome like you, she says.”

Jake grinned. “She thinks I’m handsome?”

“Yes, she does. But she says Daddy is the most handsome of all.”

Jake laughed. “Of course he is. He’s a lot younger. And your daddy is a better man that I’ll ever be because he grew up surrounded by lots of love.”

Tricia put a small hand to Jake’s cheek. “I’m sorry your daddy was mean to you, Grampa. How come your daddy didn’t love you?”

The old pain tried to return. “I guess he was just not a very happy man, sweetheart. No one will ever really know, and it was a long, long time ago. Right now we need to worry about Sadie Mae and how we can help her. Let’s see if that mean old rooster will let me put a couple of chicks in my coat pocket. And if there is a bucket sitting around, we’ll gather a few eggs for Grandma. We all miss Sadie Mae being the official egg gatherer.”

Tricia puckered her lips. “Will Sadie Mae wake up, Grampa? I miss her.”

“Sure she will.” Jake fought the sickening dread inside that he might be wrong. He held Tricia close and headed for the chicken coop.