Divine Mortals (9 page)

I stared at the back of his head, hoping that by sheer will I would be able to see straight into his mind, to answer all my questions without him being able to disguise the facts with something less then what had to be a truly amazing story.

A breeze fluttered gently around us, moving the trees and tossing Beauts mane, mingling the smell of horse and Robert as it got to me, making my head spin in a way that had nothing to do with fainting.

I was sorer then I could ever remember being but I had so many questions swirling around my head that there was not much chance for me to give in to what should have, by now, been exhaustion.

We continued the entire trip downhill in silence, neither of us willing to leave our thoughts long enough to make conversation.

The trees were starting to thin and soon we came back out onto the grassland at the base of the hill. Cattle grazed in fields on either side of us for miles, chewing their cud and lowing quietly as they waited for the coming twilight.

Hmm Twilight I mused, a small smile on my face, perhaps he was a Cullen, although looking back at him again I had to grin, no, far to bronze and warm for a vampire.

The homestead came into view and I could see Nan sitting on a chair beside the door, waiting.

Shit!

There was going to be no escape from her worry, which was sure to be followed quickly by her disapproval once she discovered my injuries were not life threatening.

“Ava!” Nan wailed as she saw us, hurrying down the stairs. Robert swung Beauts reins over the hitching post and looked over his shoulder giving me a sly wink, making me draw breath more quickly than I should have, hurting my ribs all over again. Worry flashed briefly over his features as he saw me cringe but this was covered quickly by his sly smile, as though something about this whole afternoon was amusing.

Nan, now at Beauts side, rested her hand gently on my thigh.

“Ava where have you been? What’s happened? Are you okay?” I took a deep breath, trying to piece together what I would say.

“Um,” I started, taking another breath.

“Good Evening Norma,” Robert turned his winning smile towards her, “I found Ava when I was checking the hill top paddock for Fred, Beaut threw her, I think she’s broken her ribs.”

I frowned down at him and then looked back at Nan, waiting for her reaction.

The gruff voice, however, came from behind her.

“What were you doing at the hill top paddock Ava?” Grandpop demanded from the doorway, “I told you it was too dangerous to ride up there.”

Well there was no point denying it, Robert had just ratted me out. I glared down at him

“Thanks a lot.” I grumbled.

“You’re welcome,” he beamed up at me, apparently rather impressed with himself.

“Shall I help you down?” he asked, his smile never faltering.

“No.” I fired back, lifting my right leg carefully over the saddle I slid down the side, looking over Beauts mane straight into Roberts sparkling eyes. I gave him one final glare before marching, to the best of my disabled ability, up the stairs past Pop and into the house.

“I’ll take care of Beaut.” I heard Robert tell Nan as I disappeared through the door to await my punishment.

R
etribution was swift and all in all less strict then I had imagined it would be. After Grandpop had followed me into the house, I had been sat down on one of the uncomfortable wooden dining room chairs and told exactly why I had been asked not to go up to the field, especially on a horse, when I so obviously didn’t know how to ride. After five minutes of Grandpop berating me over my city girl stupidity he got to the punishment.

“You may not attend the Ranchers Ball.” He grumbled. I didn’t have to pretend to look shocked, I was. I had expected something far worse than this, this didn’t really worry me so much, in fact I don’t think I had even mentioned the ball to my grandparents and besides I had only met a few people since arriving. Sally was the closest friend I had here and she was so totally filled with hope that Robert would ask her to go that she wouldn’t even notice if I didn’t attend.

Although I realized what reaction was expected and I quickly feigned a look of great disappointment, dropping my lip and quickly my head, keeping quiet for a full five seconds before looking up at him and answering in a dejected tone that sounded fake even to my own ears,

“Yes Grandpop.”

With that he stormed from the dining room. I guess I still held a soft spot with him, I had feared much worse.

I could barely remember the reason behind the decision for my spontaneous ride. And then it hit me again as I limped slowly towards my bathroom.

Mom and Dad.

I slipped straight back into a depression that the pain in my body seemed to echo.

It was time to inspect my war wounds.

Standing in front of the full length mirror I watched my reflection stare back at me. Considering all that had happened today and how much I hurt I almost laughed out loud.

Robert was right I did look like death – actually I looked worse than Frankenstein’s monster.

My hair resembled a hay stack, half of it had come out of my hastily tied pony tail and stuck up at angles full of leaves and twigs as well as having a little mud smeared through it for good measure.

I had a large lump above my left eye making my whole face look slightly out of alignment – apparently my left side had taken the brunt of the fall.

My left arm and leg both had open cuts and grazes, my shorts were torn, dirt and grass stained my shirt and skin, I carefully lifted my shirt over my head, flinching again as I raised my arms, before dropping it at my feet and looking back at myself.

I had dark purple bruises spreading like a rash across my ribs, running my fingers across them carefully, pushing gently here and there, the pain had me sucking in my breath causing me to flinch all over again. I was pretty sure there were at least a couple of ribs broken. I was also pretty sure I had read somewhere that you could do nothing for broken ribs except strap them and wait for them to heal, so waiting overnight to have my self-diagnosis confirmed would probably make no serious difference.

I let out a long slow breath before heading towards the shower. Turning the water on hotter than I normally would have I stepped quickly under the jets letting the heat wash over me, slowly untangling the leaves, removing the dirt and easing my aching muscles.

I let my mind wander again, it went straight to Robert.

He
was
extremely good looking, before today he had seemed so arrogant and stubborn, someone who thought themselves a little more important than those around him.

Now I was confused about him, he had been genuinely worried about me today, I had seen it on his face, and he had also smiled at me with that dazzling grin, making jokes, laughing at me when I was angry with him.

I was beginning to see why the other girls around Huntington thought him a prize to be won.

Stop it
, I commanded my wandering thoughts, I couldn’t be side tracked by his looks, not tonight. I saw again the expression on his face as he had stared at the mystery man, his eyes so dark, full of hate and trepidation. He hadn’t physically feared the other man, but he did seem to fear what he represented, even though he had tried carefully to disguise the fact.

If I had seen through his mask so easily then surely the other man had as well and what would that mean for Robert when he so obviously didn’t want this dark haired man around.

Perhaps the demeanor he presented to everyone, the arrogance, the indifference was merely that, a mask, something he put up to disguise the fact that he was different. If he didn’t let people get close then they wouldn’t be able to discover what he was.

Well that was the question…

I still didn’t know how he could move with the speed he had shown me, or how he was strong enough to split an entire tree with a small kick.

I turned the shower dial off and stepped cautiously out. I did indeed feel a little better, still sore, but far more clear headed.

Dressing as quickly as I could I headed back towards the kitchen. The smell of something delicious wafted down to greet me, which reminded my stomach just how hungry I was, it felt like an eternity since I had last eaten.

Nan didn’t disappoint, serving up my plate as I walked in, the casserole and fresh bread looked wonderful and I had to stop myself from snatching it from her and wolfing it back in three seconds flat.

“Thanks.” I muttered, sliding onto my seat, feeling a little sheepish about having disobeyed them now. I sat opposite Grandpop, already halfway through his own casserole which seemed to have his full and undivided attention.

Nan sat at the end of the table between us.

“Pass the salt please Ava.” she asked, happily enough, perhaps I would be forgiven more quickly than I could have imagined.

Passing it along, I did my best to give her a wide smile.

“You look a lot better dear,” she smiled back, “Not so much like a scare crow now.”

“We could have used you,” Grandpop murmured and I could hear the smile in his voice,

“The scare crow in the vegetable patch has nearly been demolished by birds, you would have made a good replacement in the state you were in when you came off the hill.” He and Nan laughed together.

“Ha Ha.” I snorted sarcastically “You are both very very
not
funny.”

“No,” Grandpop gulped mid laugh, “Robert is the funny one, it was his suggestion after you stormed into the house.”

“Hmmm,” I sighed “Remind me to thank the comedian next time I see him.”

“Are you okay though darling, seriously?” worry flavored Nans voice once more, “Should we take you to see Claire”

“Claire?”

“Claire’s the doctor, been a friend these twenty years past. Lives just down the road.” Pop put in. Just down the road, in farmer talk, could mean two miles or twenty, I wasn’t much in the mood to ask for clarification tonight. Actually I wasn’t much in the mood for anything. Today had overwhelmed me, I could no longer think straight and so I decided the best course of action would be to not think.

I focused on getting my food from plate to mouth, a task that was harder than it should be, my hands were shaking slightly and twice I managed to drop scolding hot casserole onto my lap.

After dinner I ushered both grandparents into the living room to watch the late news complete with a packet of cookies and a cup of tea. I offered to do the dishes, another mundane task I could complete without having to think of my visit to the plateau paddock, my fall or my feelings.

Unfortunately though it only took a minute or so before I could no longer stop myself and thoughts of him returned, more questions than answers. Robert didn’t know who his parents were, they had never been on the scene, perhaps my thoughts from earlier had not been so far off the mark. Obviously he was no vampire, but maybe a modern day superman, or perhaps batman? I smiled at the thought of Robert racing though town in the Bat Mobile, Huntington locals wouldn’t really be able to deal with that, it didn’t fit in with their small town ideals.

Okay, so if he had been bought up in foster care from the time he was an infant, how was it that he had disguised his extra ‘gifts’ from the many families he must have spent time with.

He killed them when they found out,
the unreasonable voice in my head chimed in, I really was losing it tonight.

No one else here ever mentioned Robert in any out of the ordinary capacity, except Sally and that was because she was interested in dating him, almost to the point of obsession. My thoughts drifted to her for a moment, I really hoped she could go with Robert to the Ranchers Ball, I couldn’t bare to put up with her misery if she didn’t. Although just thinking of them going together caused a small stab of jealousy somewhere in the pit of my stomach. It wasn’t like me to fall for his type.

What type?
my subconscious chimed in,
the super hero type?

I smiled to myself, okay so Robert wasn’t any typical sort of type.

Ha, Maybe Robert was right, maybe I
was
suffering from concussion. I shook my head trying to clear my thoughts.

A knock at the door sounded from down the hall, followed swiftly by the sound of Nans footsteps as she went to answer it.

In my lack of concentration the casserole dish I had been repeatedly washing slipped through my fingers, the glass splintering as it hit the faded linoleum.

Would nothing go right today?

Sighing loudly I bent down to collect the pieces, bending a little too close to the side of the bench, my head or more precisely my already sizable lump hit the edge with an embarrassingly hollow sounding thump. My hands flew to my face and the world spun around me for the third time today, I fell backwards and waited to land amongst the glass on the cold hard floor. The last thing I remember was arms, reaching out to catch me, his touch scolding as he saved me from the glass strewn floor in the nick of time.

Ouch
.

Why did life hate me today.

I had come round again, my mind unwilling to surrender itself to sleep. Although I was far more comfortable now than when I had woken this afternoon on the hill, and so once more I slowly opened my eyes, a little apprehensive to see who would be in front of me this time.

I was back in my room, the light blinding, enhanced by the almost white walls. The curtains were still open and the window let in a cool breeze, stars twinkled brightly in the sky beyond.

Standing to my left with a pinched expression was Nan, and who I presumed to be Claire, a medical bag sat near the door and she had the kindly concerned expression adopted by every health professional.

Seeing my gaze rest on her Claire smiled broadly,

“Well Hun,” she declared, her southern accent almost as broad as her smile.

“I’m not surprised it took you a few moments to come round looking at the size of that there egg on your head an’ all.”

I grimaced, it was all I could manage, and it was all she seemed to want, she carried on without further prompting.