“Last night, early this morning,” Daniel said. “But this is not what I called you out here to see.”
I looked at him.
“It’s up here,” he said. He turned and climbed the slope to flat ground, pointed down with a nod of his head.
I stood next to him and looked down at a bright blue tarp laid open over the snow. It looked like a thousand blue tarps. My mind raced and I imagined that there was a dead human under the cover.
Daniel bent over, grabbed a corner of the tarp, and pulled it away. Written in the snow, in red, in cow’s blood, were the words Red Nigger.
I blew out a soft whistle of a breath. “I don’t suppose you’re the one who wrote that,” I said.
“Pretty scary, eh?”
I nodded. “This makes my list of scary things.”
“So, what do I do?” Daniel asked.
“I’m afraid I have no idea.” I looked around at the ground around the writing, then started to pace a circle around it. I stopped and looked at some blue in the sky. “I say you call the sheriff.”
“I’ll consider that as an option, but what should I do?”
“Lock your doors, I guess. Face it, there are some bad folks in the neighborhood.”
“And I’ll keep a rifle loaded as well,” he added.
I couldn’t argue with that.
“You know, I have half a mind to camp out here and wait for the bastards,” he said.
“And you might end up with half a mind,” I said, looking at his eyes. “You can’t sleep out here every night. Just to end up getting shot yourself.” I began to circle the area again, looking for anything, maybe more shell casings. “I sure as hell wouldn’t park myself out here.”
“I should just let them kill my stock, kill my livelihood?”
“Listen, I’ll come back and help you round them up,” I said. “We can at least move them closer to the house.”
Daniel just shook his head.
“Well, think about it. I’m glad to come back and help. All you have to do is call.” I put a hand on his shoulder. “Come on, let’s go.”
We slid down the bank and made our way across the creek to the Bronco. “And call Bucky,” I said.
“I’ll call him,” Daniel said.
The largest presence on Christmas morning was Emily’s absence. The three of us didn’t celebrate the day, but Gus insisted on cooking a big meal, big insofar as he would be preparing real meat, moose steaks from the freezer, a gift from the Gunthers in the fall. That morning, Morgan and I lay in the warm bed silently watching the sky just beginning to turn light.
“I miss her,” she said.
“Me, too.”
There wasn’t much else to say. If Morgan were going to cry, she would cry. I’d hold her until she stopped crying. But she didn’t cry.
“Mother always gave the horses carrots on Christmas,” she said. “Can we do that this morning?”
“Of course.”
We pulled on our clothes and went down to the kitchen. We found a bag of carrots in the refrigerator. I had a thought that Gus wanted the carrots for the dinner and when I looked at Morgan I knew she was thinking the same thing. I shrugged and closed the door.
“Are you sure?” Morgan whispered.
“I won’t say anything if you don’t,” I said.
We went outside and began passing out carrots, one animal at a time. The mule was loose and following us, so he got several.
“What’s the mule’s name again?” Morgan asked, watching him walk away from us toward the hay once it was clear we were out of carrots. “His name is Pest now. He’s mine. I don’t like it, but I like him.”
“That thing at Daniel’s scares me,” she said.
“Yeah, I know.”
“Do you think we’ve got some crazed militia assholes around here?” she asked. She was studying my eyes.
“I know we do. There might be only one or two or there might be fifty, but they’re out there. I’d be a fool to think there weren’t.”
Morgan pulled my arm to her and hugged me. “John, I don’t want anything to happen to you.”
“Nothing’s going to happen to me. Nothing’s going to happen to any of us. I’m very cautious and, besides, I’ve got old Gus.”
“What will you do if they come around here?” she asked. “What are we supposed to do?”
That was a really good question and I didn’t want to let on that I had absolutely no idea.
“I mean the sheriff is an hour away.”
“Sweetie, things happen in a second. It doesn’t matter whether Bucky is a minute away. This is my home.”
“You sound like my mother.”
“Thank you,” I said. “I’ve lived here for twenty years. It’s been good so far. No Son of Sam, no LAPD, and, until now, no neo-Nazis. Everything will be fine.” I put my arm around her and pulled her close. “Let’s go in and have some coffee and a little something to gnaw on.”
Morgan and I sat at the table with our coffee and toast. Gus was at the refrigerator and he was pulling out things, surveying the stores. “I was sure I had a bag of carrots,” he said. “Did you move my carrots?”
When neither of us spoke, he let the door swing shut. “I asked if anyone moved my carrots.”
“Morgan, the man asked you a question,” I said.
“John ate them,” she said.
“I don’t believe you,” he said, flatly.
“We fed them to the horses,” she said.
“That, I believe.” He glared at us for a second. “How am I supposed to make glazed carrots without carrots?”
“We’re sorry,” I said.
“Well, you got that right.”
“My mother always gave the horses carrots on Christmas.”
Gus softened. “And a fine tradition it is.”
The phone rang. Gus answered it. “He’s right here,” he said.
Morgan looked worried.
“I’m not going anywhere,” I said. I took the phone from Gus. “Hello.”
“Hi, John, it’s me, David.”
I was thrown. It took me a second to realize it was Howard’s David. “David, how are you? Happy holiday.”
“Merry Christmas,” he said. He sounded subdued.
“So, how are things?”
“Okay,” he said. “Well, not so hot.”
“I’m sorry. Problems with your folks?”
“No, nothing like that. John, would you mind if I came out there and worked at your place next semester? I’m going to take some time off.”
I was really caught off guard now. “Hold on for a second,” I said. I slapped my hand over the mouthpiece. “It’s David,” I said to Gus and Morgan. “He wants to come here for the semester.”
Gus made a face.
“Is he okay?” Morgan asked.
I put the phone back to my ear. “David, are you all right?”
“Robert and I broke up,” he said.
“You broke up?” I repeated for the benefit of Morgan and Gus.
“He cheated on me. He slept with one of our friends.”
“That’s awful.” I could hear his pain. “It’s cold as hell out here, but you’re welcome to come out. I do need to build a shed and put up some fencing.”
“I’ll work hard.”
“I know you will, son,” I said.
“I thought I’d fly into Denver and take the bus up to Highland on the 28th. I don’t have it all figured out.”
“Of December?”
“Is that too early? It’s just that I really want to get out of here.”
“No, that’s fine. Just call and tell me when to meet you,” I said. He agreed to that and I hung up. “Is that okay?” I asked Morgan.
“What happened?” she asked.
“That Robert-boyfriend-guy slept with someone else, one of their friends. He sounded awful. Love trouble.”
“Of course it’s all right if he comes here,” she said.
“He can’t talk to his father?” Gus said.