Smoky Mountain Home

Moving the magazines, Ruth Ann sat on the coffee table directly across from Darcy. “You’re welcome to stay and watch,” she said. “I need to see how you are around the horses, to be sure that you’re safe. Jonah said you’d broken your arm earlier this year?”

Darcy nodded. “In May, at a horse show. Rufus jumped a crossbar fence and I fell off. Before they caught him, he ran through a couple of other fences, tripped, and strained his leg. It was gonna take him months to get better.”

“That’s too bad for Rufus. I guess your broken arm needed a few months to heal, too, didn’t it?”

The girl shrugged. “It was okay. I don’t like swimming, anyway, so I stayed in the house.”

“Maybe Rufus doesn’t like jumping in the summer heat, either.”

“Oh, no.” Darcy looked shocked at the idea. “He loves to jump. My mother was going to take him to Europe with her, until he got hurt. He would have competed with some of the best three-year-olds in Germany.”

“You were jumping on a three-year-old? Have you done that much riding, Darcy?”

“Since I was five.” She sighed and shook her head. “But I don’t seem to get better at it.”

“What’s Rufus like?” Ruth Ann asked the question, though she thought she could predict the answer.

“He’s a seventeen-hand chestnut thoroughbred with a white blaze and four white socks,” the girl recited, as if she were reading off a sale list. “Really eager, jumps four feet and over, no problem.”

“Well, I don’t know about you, but I’d be scared to death sitting on a young horse that big.” Ruth Ann stood up and motioned for Darcy to do the same. “Sounds like a recipe for disaster. I’d give him another two or three years before I’d trust him not to dump me at a fence.”

“Oh, he didn’t dump me. I just…fell. I’m too fa—clumsy to ride.”

“Right.” Ruth Ann relaxed her jaw and tried not to hate Jonah Granger and his wife. “Okay, the way this works is, I clean up a stall, then walk the horse out to the pasture and bring one in. It’s kind of labor-intensive, but since I’m the one doing the work, nobody complains. All these horses are calm—no Rufuses here to worry about. So you just stand there and talk to them while I muck out. Okay?”

Darcy nodded. “Okay.”

Four horses later, as they walked back in from the pasture with Filigree, Ruth Ann asked casually if Darcy wanted to hold the lead rope. “Fili is a very sensible lady,” she promised. “She knows how to walk quietly beside you without making a fuss.”

“O-okay.” Darcy took the rope and held it correctly, about a foot from Fili’s chin with one hand, gathering the rest in her other hand. As Ruth Ann dropped back slightly, the girl and the mare walked without incident to the waiting stall. Darcy was so busy talking to the horse that she didn’t even think about leading Fili into the stall, where she turned her around, unbuckled the halter and stepped back outside to shut the door.

“Very good,” Ruth Ann told her. “Seeing you handle Fili, I can believe you’ve been around horses since you were little. You’re good with them, Darcy, calm and sure of yourself.”

The girl blushed bright pink, and she didn’t say anything. But her eyes shone with happiness.

Once they’d led the grays in, Ruth Ann set the manure fork aside. “I’ll clean up the last four stalls after dinner. We can just take these guys out to the pasture, and then I’ll walk you back to the Manor.”

The glow in Darcy’s face faded. “Okay.”

Leaving the indoor horses with hay to munch on, Ruth Ann showed Darcy the path from the stable back to the Manor. “You’re welcome to come visit any time. You don’t have to ride if you don’t want to. Horses are fun just to talk to or look at. As Winston Churchill said, ‘The outside of a horse is good for the inside of a man.’ Or woman.”

“Maybe I will,” Darcy said. But she didn’t sound very certain. “I have to get my homework done, too. And practice my music.”

“That’s true, though I always thought there was time enough for horses and homework. I never got to do music.”

“Did you go to Hawkridge?”

“No, I went to the public schools out in town. But my dad managed the stable, so I was here every afternoon and all weekend, working with him.”

“Was it fun?”

“Well, sure. I loved being with the horses.”

“Did you like working with your dad?”

Now there was a tough question. “He could be picky, sometimes, and he’d get mad if I didn’t do something just the way he wanted it. But he was a great trainer and taught me all I know about horses.”

Once they reached the manicured lawns surrounding the Manor, they could see other girls heading toward the dormitory to prepare for dinner. Ruth Ann glanced at the jeans and sneakers and sweatshirt Darcy had worn to the barn.

“Guess you’d better get changed in a hurry.” She checked her watch. “You’ve got ten minutes before the warning chime.”

“Okay.” That seemed to be Darcy’s favorite word. As she veered away, though, she stopped and looked back at Ruth Ann. “I had fun this afternoon. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, Darcy. Like I said, come back anytime.”

Ruth Ann watched the girl walk with dragging steps toward the residence hall. In the two hours they’d spent together, she’d gained the impression that Darcy’s energy level was dialed to Low—she simply didn’t put out much effort, even with the horses. She seemed competent with the animals, but uncertain of herself, reminding Ruth Ann of a child outside the toy store, nose pressed against the window as she stared at the gifts she knew she couldn’t buy, wouldn’t receive.

Jayne Thomas would be able to provide an explanation for Darcy’s behavior. Maybe a conference with the counselor and Darcy’s teachers would be a good idea. Ruth Ann wanted to know what she would be dealing with as she worked with Darcy, what sore points to avoid and what counseling techniques to use.

She was so deep in thought she hadn’t noticed anyone approaching. When a hand closed around her elbow, she gasped and automatically assumed a defensive posture.

Jonah Granger gave a derisive snort. “Going to take me out with a kick and a karate chop?”

Ruth Ann jerked her arm free. “Why are you sneaking up on me? What are you doing here? Parents aren’t allowed to visit until Thanksgiving.”

“But architects are,” he countered. “So I came looking for you.”

Chapter Four

“Looking for me? Why?”

Before Jonah could answer, a bell rang inside the building.

“Dinner,” Ruth Ann explained, at his questioning look. “What do you want?”

He gave a brief laugh. “For dinner?”

She didn’t get the joke. “What—do—you—want—” she said slowly, emphasizing syllables and consonants, “—that compels you to come searching for me on Thursday evening at dinnertime?”

A glance at the Manor showed Jonah the brightly lit dining-hall windows. Inside, girls were congregating at tables as the staff set out food. Some of the teachers he’d met were present, as well. “Are you supposed to be in there?” He nodded in the direction he’d been staring.

Ruth Ann shrugged one shoulder. “I usually have dinner in the hall, so I don’t have to cook. But I’m not assigned to a particular table this year.”

“In other words, you don’t have to check in for the meal?”

“No.” She folded her arms over her chest. “What are you getting at?”

“Why don’t we go into town and get something to eat? Then I can explain why I’m here.”