Death By a Dark Horse

The horses, still munching their hay, regarded us with momentary curiosity before going back to their evening meal. I love the sound of horses eating. There is a quiet, comforting rhythm to their chewing that lulls me into a sense that all is right with the world. I relaxed against Blackie's stall door, and clucked my tongue. He raised his head and stretched toward me until his nose touched the door's bars. I reached through and scratched his forehead. When he lowered his head for another mouthful of hay I left him alone and watched my sister warm up.

Juliet began by practicing her forms, a specific series of blocks, kicks, and punches that have a graceful, dance- like quality to them. Eric joined us and stood quietly next to me. I glanced at him. He was absorbed in watching Juliet, clearly proud of her ability – or admiring her shapeliness.

The parts she wanted me to help her with were the self defense moves-specific 'attacks' from the front and behind that she would counter with a combination of defenses. Fortunately for me, Juliet was more cognizant of pulling her punches this evening than she had been the last time I helped her practice.

At this point Aunt Vi and Uncle Henry joined Eric and audience participation became rather boisterous. Between the cheering and hollering, I 'attacked' Juliet and she 'defended' herself. I got into the spirit of the thing as well, feigning attacks and trying to catch her unawares.

After we'd executed every move and counter-move several times over, Juliet decided I should learn some of the defense moves, since I had a demonstrable need for them. She grabbed Eric's arm and dragged him to the center of the barn aisle, declaring him the assistant. His look of alarm prompted a laugh from all of us, even Uncle Henry.

'Please?' She batted her eyelashes at him and ran the tip of one finger slowly down his cheek in a deliberately provocative move. 'We can do it in really slow motion.'

The double entendre elicited hoots from us all. Eric blushed and laughed, and when he agreed, we cheered.

'Okay, Eric, do this. No, no, to me, so Thea can see.' He took hold of her shirt. 'Okay, I'm going to do this.' She grabbed his wrist with one hand and brought her other hand up in a movement that would have hyper-extended his elbow. He released her and leapt back with a shocked expression. 'Good. Right! Don't let me hurt you. Jump out of range so when I kick -' and she did, 'I – whoops. Sorry.'

'It's okay.' He grimaced, and passed a hand over his ribs.

'Now Thea, you try.'

My first couple of attempts drew shrieks of laughter from our audience when Eric jumped nimbly away from me before I could begin the defensive move Juliet coached me through. At last he and I got the hang of it and pulled off an entire sequence of movements in acceptable form. Cheers went up from our audience, and even Blackie seemed to approve, giving us a half whinny and a toss of his dark head. Aunt Vi, standing in front of his stall, covered her ears.

'Okay now,' Juliet said. 'Let's finish off by seeing what you could have done to Greg this morning.'

Although Juliet substituted for me, apprehension played havoc with my gut as I instructed Eric where to place his hands and what to do. Juliet deftly evaded him and delivered a couple of well-placed 'punches.' With a sigh of relief, I clapped and hollered with the others as the demonstration ended.

Then it was my turn. Eric was to be Greg, again. Juliet stood next to me so I could copy her moves. Several things happened simultaneously. As Eric put his hands where Greg's had been, I stared to shake. A loud rushing sound in my ears nearly obliterated all other noise, and everyone's movements took on a bizarre, distant, slow- motion quality. Beyond the roaring in my ears I made out Blackie's frantic whinnying and the crash of his hoof striking his stall door. As all attention turned away from me and in his direction I saw a hand close around Eric's forearm to remove his hand from my face. Normal perception returned with a suddenness that made me stagger.

A hand on my shoulder steadied me, and I heard Paul's voice. 'I think her bruise is bothering her.'

At that moment, Paul's presence surprised me enough that I didn't notice what I realized later – no one had witnessed my panic but Paul.

And Blackie.

'Oops, sorry!' Eric said, and dropped his other arm. Blackie was immediately quiet. 'Are you all right?'

'Yes, fine.' I cleared my throat and gave him a weak smile.

'Your horse is weird,' Juliet said. 'Want to try again?'

'No, that's okay. I think I get the idea.' I tried to sound matter of fact. I looked at Paul and flushed. Please don't say anything. His eyes softened and he gave me a tiny wink. Just between you and me, his expression seemed to say.

She relented. 'As long as you think you learned something.'

'Oh, absolutely. Thanks for the lesson.'

'Sure.' My sister gave no indication that she was aware of my distress. She had other things on her mind, apparent from the sly glance she shot at Paul and the eyebrow wiggling aimed at me. Paul didn't notice. In that moment he was looking at me.

'It's cold out here,' Aunt Vi said, rubbing her arms. 'Let's go indoors.'

'Good idea,' Uncle Henry said.

As our small group made its way to the house Paul hung back and placed a hand on my arm.

'Are you sure you're all right?' His voice was low.

'Yes. That was so strange.' I shivered, slowed my pace and stopped.

'But not an unusual response to reliving a trauma.'

'You seem well acquainted with trauma symptoms.'

'I spent two years in the army. It's part of 'on the job' training.'

My desire to linger near him conflicted with my determination to quit being so helpless. Once again he'd rescued me. Never mind that this time it was from myself. Evidently this 'rescue-syndrome' Juliet had described so well was still at work, and I welcomed it with embarrassing enthusiasm. Standing close to Paul turned me into a hormonal train wreck. The muscles in my legs had the consistency of water and a hot flush spread rapidly up my neck to my cheeks. I mentally grabbed my self-control with both hands, and physically started toward the house. He matched my pace and stayed close enough to continue talking quietly, but not close enough to 'accidentally' touch.

'When did you join our party in the barn?' I asked, pleased with my cool tone.

'A little before Juliet seduced Eric into cooperating.' He chuckled. 'She's good.'

'The best.' I watched her take Eric's hand. She pulled him close and whispered something in his ear. He gave her a one-armed hug and kissed the side of her head in response.

When we reach the kitchen I grabbed my purse off the counter.

'Goodnight, everyone,' I said, and gave my aunt and uncle a quick kiss.

'Won't you stay another night?' Aunt Vi asked.

'No, I can't.' I was tired and wanted to sleep in my own bed. The drama was over. 'Thanks for dinner, it was great.' I did a lightning scan of the kitchen for Paul while trying to appear casual. He was across the room, leaning against the counter. He met my gaze. ''Night,' I said.

He gave me a small nod. ''Night.'

I headed for my car only to be waylaid by my sister.

'Wait for us,' she said, jogging up behind me. 'We'll follow you home and make sure everything's okay.'

'You don't need to,' I protested.

'We don't mind.'

'It's not necessary.'

'I told Aunt Vi we would.' She grinned at me, knowing she'd won.

So much for being a strong independent woman. I'd make sure to get the memo out first thing in the morning. I guess I was the only one who knew.

Chapter Eleven

The light that filled the room when my alarm rattled me awake could have only been produced by a cloudless