A Finder's Fee (11 page)

“I love your sense of humor,” he fired back. “At least I
hope
you weren’t serious.”

Dinner turned out to be scrambled eggs we made in his tiny kitchen. The eggs were covered with chili and cheese. Jake loved things spicy. He’d almost emptied a bottle of Texas Pete at my house each time he’d had dinner there.

I wasn’t much for spicy food and gasped when I tasted his chili.

“Here. Eat some cornbread. Drinking water won’t help.”

I enjoyed his company as we talked about the elections in Duck and the dead driver in the race car.

“You know I’m not political.” He leaned back on two legs in his chair. “I’d vote for you if I lived in Duck. You’re smart as a whip, twice as cute, and you find dead people. Perfect qualifications for a mayor in my book. Who wants all those dead people rotting away down there?”

“Great campaign slogan. Mind if I use it?”

“Go right ahead. Maybe you could put it up there with the big picture of your face on the water tower. What does it cost for something like that? Bet I could feed a lot of horses with it.”

He joked around about my picture scaring seagulls off of the tower. Then he told me about his new horses. We got bundled up and went out to the barn to take a look at them. They were beautiful, one caramel colored and the other mahogany. They let me pet their noses while Jake put down some feed for them.

“Someone hit this one, probably with something smaller than a car.” He pointed out the damage to the caramel colored one. “We’ll never know if it was an accident. They left him there, not able to get to his feet. I don’t know what’s wrong with people.”

“What about this one?” I patted the dark brown horse’s side. They were a little shaggier and smaller than most horses, possibly from spending their lives in the wild.

“She got tangled in some wire. People put it out to try and keep them off their property. She was all cut up when I got her, but she’s healing nicely. I think both of them should be able to go back to the herd.”

“Wouldn’t it be better if they didn’t? People put out the wire because there are so many wild horses. They eat all their plants and shrubs.”

Jake smiled at me and pushed his cowboy hat back on his head. “The horses were here before the people, Dae. They have a right to live here in peace like God meant them to. It’s bad enough we have to sell some of them every year to outsiders. If a few people had their way, there wouldn’t be any more wild horses here.”

It was a lot for him to say at one time. I knew he was passionate about the horses. It’s what made him good at what he did and what made the wild horse protectors lucky to have him.

“You have my vote for wild horse protector of the year,” I joked then shivered. “I’m not good for long in these colder temperatures. You’d better show me the artifacts before I freeze.”

“I wouldn’t want that to happen.” He settled his jacket around my shoulders. “Come right this way.”

Jake explained how he’d been looking for another well site when he’d found the homestead. His current well was going dry. “It’s easy to use a hand auger to drill down and find water—it’s only a few feet. I got to about twenty feet and hit something. This is what I found.”

He picked up a tarp covering a hole in the sand. It was right outside the barn. This was much deeper than twenty feet and had been dug out to a six-by-six area. He shined a flashlight into the pit. There were pieces of wood on the sides supporting the sand so it wouldn’t cave in.

“After you.” He shined the flashlight on a ladder going down into the hole.

I stared at him, wondering if I’d lost my mind or if he’d lost his. Why would he bring me out here at night to see this dig? Surely daytime would have been better.

It occurred to me that everyone might be right and that Jake was interested in me—besides being my friend. Men did some weird things sometimes to show you that they loved you. It seemed to start when they were kids and punched you in the arm.

“No way. I’ve seen too much nighttime excavation recently. You go down first. I hope you have a bigger light down there.”

“Chicken.” He laughed and turned on two floodlights that lit up the darkness.

“I can’t believe you were trying to trick me into going down there in the dark. You’re lucky I don’t have secret service protection or something. I
am
a public official, you know.”

“Okay. I’ll go down first. And don’t worry, I’ll catch you if you fall.”

There it was.
My stomach started churning. I was going to have to tell Jake that I wasn’t interested in him that way. I really hated to lose his friendship, but suddenly, I could hear that tone in his voice.

I watched him go down the metal ladder. It wasn’t in good shape, all bent and rusted. When he got down there, I assumed it must be stronger than it appeared, and I followed him.

On the way down, I noticed all the large rocks embedded into the side walls. It was unusual to see so much rock in one place. This even seemed to have patterns, as though someone had been trying to create an image of some kind.

At the bottom of the hole, there was barely enough room for both of us to move around. Jake reached around and found a wood box that was filled with strange artifacts—horses of all shapes and sizes made from shell, wood and stone. They appeared to be very old, possibly older than anything else that had ever been found on the island.

“What do you think?” He held one of the horses in his rough hands.

“I think you found something really important.”

H
e picked up a few more horses from the box. “Do you
want to hold one?”

I really wanted to, but I’d left my gloves at home. Jake didn’t know about my gift, and I wasn’t thrilled with the idea of what could happen if I picked up something that might be from the prehistory of the island. I didn’t want to pass out or find myself in another time with Jake standing there wondering what was wrong with me.

On the other hand, he was bound to find out about me if we stayed friends. “Let me wear your gloves. I can’t touch them with bare hands. No one should, really. I’m not an archaeologist, but I know it’s bad to get the oils on artifacts.”

He took off his gloves and gave them to me. “I haven’t touched them with bare hands because I’ve been digging. I hope I haven’t done any damage to them.”

“They’re probably fine, especially the stone ones.” I picked up a gray stone pony whose tail was missing but otherwise was in perfect condition. “Again, I’m not an expert, but I think this goes back before the records we have from the native tribes that lived here.”

The pony was beautiful with smooth flanks and muscular legs. I admired it, processing what it could be worth. My brain told me all of this should be in a museum.

To someone like Dillon, these little statues would be worth a lot of money. My hands inside the gloves itched to find out more about them, but I was chicken, as Jake had said, to try it.

“There’s something else over here.” Jake moved over a little so I could see what he was talking about. “I’ve only unearthed part of it.”

We both knelt in the damp sand and he shined his flashlight on a lower part of the wall near the bottom. My heart pounded when I saw the beginning of a very large horse’s head.

“The whole thing must be buried in there. Jake brushed a little more sand from the horse’s face. “If the nose and mouth are this big, there’s no telling how large the whole statue is.”

“I’ve seen things like this in books.” I carefully touched the horse’s nose with my gloved hand. “I think there may have been a horse cult here. These statues are older than our stories about how the wild horses got here. This little hole could rewrite history for our part of the world. You have to tell an expert, someone who knows how to excavate this properly.”

Even with the dim light at the bottom of the pit, I could see Jake’s expression harden at the idea.

“That’s not gonna happen. I don’t want a bunch of government employees running around on my land. You know what I mean, Dae. They’d want to write about it in magazines, take millions of pictures and put the whole thing on the damned Internet. I’m not into that.”

I knew he felt that way. Of course he didn’t want strangers out here every day, possibly for years. “Maybe you can find one person who’d be an expert at this kind of thing and have access to the equipment you’d need to carbon-date the site.”

“You and I both know we don’t need all that rigmarole.” His earnest face was very close to mine. “You can hold one or two of the horses, touch the big horse’s nose and find out everything about them. I know we haven’t talked about it, but I’ve heard the stories.”

I didn’t know what to say. Not that my gift was a secret. I didn’t try to hide it. I was surprised that he hadn’t said anything about it before. Most people talked to me about it right away.

Jake had saved my life. Asking me to do this wasn’t anything in return for that. Of course I could do it—but not here. “I’ll take a few home with me.” I gave him back his gloves. “I can’t touch them here. It’s too dangerous.”

“Dangerous? How so? Is there something I can do?”

I thought immediately of Kevin. I wouldn’t want to try something like this without him. He’d pulled me back from other murky places I’d gone by touching objects I shouldn’t have touched.

Jake didn’t have that experience. He wouldn’t know what to do.

“I have to be prepared for what might come to me.” I knew it sounded ridiculous. “Something like this could be bad for someone like me. You never know what could happen.”

“Okay. I understand. I’ll bring a couple of horses up with me. You can take them home and see what happens.”

“I don’t know what to say about the big horse, Jake. I’ll have to see what happens with the smaller ones first and we’ll go from there.”

I went up the ladder first, my cold hands finding that the ladder was old, made in Michigan about twenty years ago and sold at the hardware store in Corolla.

I’d learned to process the information I received from everything I touched like I would have noticed it was cold and made of metal. It was the other information—particularly held in older artifacts—that led me to trouble.

The amber necklace was like that, trapping me in the past, not really ever part of it, for a few days. It was the emotions in the objects I touched that brought disaster. While some were good memories held in love and hope, others were dark and terrifying. I’d once worn an old dress that a woman had drowned herself in.

I knew I had to be careful.

I waited while Jake climbed to the top after me. He pulled the two small horses out of his jacket pockets. I’d have to find a box or bag to take them home in.

The spotlights were still on, so the area was bright enough to see. I thought about what this end of the island was like when those horses were buried. Who had owned them and what were they used for?

I turned to start back to the house through the old, ramshackle barn where Jake kept his horses. Maggie chose that moment to flirt with him.

“Oh, come on now,” she said to him with a wink. “Surely we aren’t going home just yet.”

“
Shh
,” I cautioned her, but it was too late.

“Maybe we should go inside for a nightcap, if you know what I mean.” She winked at Jake. “The night is young. We should take advantage of it.”

Jake caught up with me and smiled as he put his arm around my shoulders. “I’ve been waiting to hear you say something like that, sweetheart. I hoped you’d think about us being more than friends.”

Darn Maggie’s mouth
.

“I only meant we could look at the horses inside before I go home.” My hands were shaking as I moved away from him. I’d never meant to give him the wrong idea.

“Sure.” He stepped back. “We can still have that nightcap too.” His face was shadowed, but I could see the sincerity in his eyes. “Anytime the equation changes between you and Kevin, let me know. I think you and I could have something special.”

I thought he was going to kiss me, and I tensed, trying to decide what to do. I don’t know if it was Maggie’s effect on me or what. I panicked. My heart was pounding and my mouth was dry. I could have moved away, but I didn’t.

I focused hard on Kevin and how much he meant to me. The moment passed and the danger was over. I hadn’t asked for this to happen, but at least while Maggie was inside me, I wouldn’t be alone with Jake again.

He acted as though nothing had happened, or almost happened. His left arm was still draped across my shoulders as we walked inside. There was no more talk of anything personal. It was all about the horses and what information I thought he could look up to get an idea about what he’d found.

He wrapped the small horses carefully in pillowcases then put them both in a big tote bag. “I wish you’d tell me about this ability of yours.” He handed me the bag. “What kind of bad things could happen from you touching something?”

I explained a little about my gift and how it worked. “I seem to absorb emotions, good and bad, when I touch things. When things are new, it’s not a problem. I just see where they came from and a little of their history. Old things are different. I’ve had to give away some of my most prized possessions because of the emotions trapped in them.”

He grinned and went to get a brown horse blanket. “Okay. Time to prove yourself. This is a new blanket. What can you tell me about it?”

I smiled and touched it. “It was actually made in this country, in New Mexico. You bought it, and a few more like it, because they had them on sale at the feed store last week. The store manager bought too many, so he needed to get rid of some.”

“Well, I’ll be. That’s a neat parlor trick. You should’ve told me a long time ago. I would’ve been dragging out everything so you could tell me all that.”

“That’s okay. I only started touching things to understand them recently. Sometimes I’m not sure if I’m going to come back from the places they take me.”

“You’re a strong lady. I’m sure you’ll always find your way back.”

We had a drink for the road and Jake took me back home. The horses in the bag on my lap called to me, daring me to touch them without gloves. There were deep mysteries hidden in that place Jake had found. How long had those horses been there? Maybe more importantly, how would he handle the intervention that was bound to come as people found out about the discovery?

“Keep me in the loop about the horses.” I needed to emotionally keep my distance, but I wanted to help with what he’d found.

“You know I will. Let me know what you find out when you touch them. I’m curious what might be attached to them. Be careful, darlin’. I wouldn’t want to be the one who caused you pain.”

Maggie rolled “our” eyes as she said, “Oh, for goodness’ sake, give us a kiss, lad.”

Jake’s expression was confused but willing. I couldn’t explain, so I kissed him quickly on the cheek and got out of the pickup.

“For luck.” I smiled through my anger and hoped he didn’t think I was a big flirt.

“Thanks.” He didn’t get out of the pickup, just waved and left the house.

“What about my relationship with Kevin don’t you understand?” I raged at my alter ego when we were alone. “Here I am, looking for the spot where you can rest in peace because it’s near your lover. Did Thomas know how amorous you are?”

“I have been alone for a very long time.” Her voice was pitiful, on the verge of tears. “You can’t image what it has been for me. Surely you could have given someone a little kiss or a hug.”

I felt bad after she said it. I also realized I was standing in the front yard having a conversation with myself. She was right. I didn’t know what she’d been through, how lonely she was. I wanted to help, but she couldn’t go around throwing us at every man we met.

“I’m sorry, Maggie. The next time I see Kevin, we’ll give him a big kiss. Okay?”

“Thank you, Dae. You are very kind to me.”

I went inside quickly, worried about Old Man Sweeney next door calling Gramps and telling him I was crazy. He loved to snoop.

I was also worried about my relationship with Maggie. Was it my imagination, or were the changes coming too quickly, too easily, between us? I hoped this would end the way I’d thought it would when I first took on this burden.

A little voice whispered,
What if Maggie becomes me and I don’t exist anymore?

I wasn’t sure whose voice that was. Not mine and not Maggie’s. I had to get hold of myself. This was going to be okay.

Of course, the more we changed places, the easier it would get. I was letting all the witch talk color my judgment. I knew what I was doing.

I slept dreamlessly that night. There was a full moon shining in through the bedroom window, but it didn’t keep me awake.

I woke early and took a quick shower, despite Maggie’s longing for a bath. I went downstairs and started making pancakes for Gramps.

There was a knock on the back door and Kevin glanced inside. “I brought donuts if I can stay for breakfast.”

“Too late. I made pancakes. You can stay anyway. What brings you out so early?”

“You.” He shut the door and came inside. “I had a dream about you and horses. I don’t know exactly what it was all about. You were scared. It was enough that it woke me up and I decided to come over.”

I smiled and kissed him—extra long and hard for Maggie’s benefit. I could feel her sigh.

“You don’t have to worry about me and Jake. You know that, right?”

“This really didn’t have anything to do with me being jealous of Jake.” Kevin sat down at the table. “It’s not the first time I’ve dreamed about you and it came true. I think I’ve lost my objectivity with the subject.”

I put my arms around him. “Would that be me? If so, I don’t like being called a subject.”

“Is this your idea of love talk?” Maggie blurted out. “Your words should be tender and gentle. Ask him to kiss us again. Mmm, it was
good
!”

Kevin frowned at Maggie’s words. “What’s going on, Dae?”

“Nothing. I got back late last night.” I told him about the horses, hoping to distract him. This wasn’t the same as fooling Jake. Kevin knew me so much better. Worse, he was still suspicious about what had happened to me.

“I guess that’s why I had the dream about the horses. You didn’t touch one, did you?”

“No. Of course not. I wanted you to be with me when I touched them.”

“I’m sorry.” He smiled and put pancakes on plates. “I know I can’t be with you all the time, but you can’t blame me for wanting to protect you from men who make me jealous.”

“Really? You’re jealous of Jake?”

He laughed. “I hope you’d be jealous too if I was having secret meetings with some cowboy who saved my life.”