Wounded Legacy Chapter Three

Sam stepped into the barn quietly and stood very still, listening for any sound she could hear. The sound of a horse breathing in the stall next to her was the only sound she heard. Walking quietly through the barn, she checked each stall, finding nothing. Heading back to the stall the foal was in, she noticed a gum wrapper beside a bucket. Picking it up and sniffing it, she realized it hadn't been there long, it still had a peppermint smell to it, the kind Jake always chewed. She stuck the wrapper in her pocket and went into the stall. The foal was standing up and licking the empty bucket hanging on the wall. Sam laughed and stuck the bottle of milk she had with her, in the foals mouth. He quickly devoured the warm milk and began to lick Sam, greedily begging for more. "Alright little one, we'll get you back to your mama tomorrow after one more round of meds." Sam told him as she stroked his soft nose.

Cutting off all the lights, she headed into the house, tired to the bone. Her parents had already gone to bed and she cut off the kitchen light and went up the stairs. Tossing and turning for better than an hour, was getting Sam nowhere, so she got up and went down to the kitchen for a glass of milk. Not wanting to wake her parents, she didn't cut the lights on, she left the fridge door open for light. Glancing out the window as she poured the milk, she saw a light going across the yard. Quickly shutting the door on the fridge with her foot, she continued to look out the window and followed the light to the porch. Her hand went to her mouth to cover the gasp that was about to come out, as the door handle turned.

The flashlight was peeking in through the glass on the door and skirting all over the room. Sam backed up against the sink, watching the light slink across the floor, almost touching her toes. She curled them up as tight as she could, so the light wouldn't find them. The door opened a crack and then wider, a figure stepped into the room and Sam thought she was going to scream, fear building inside her chest. The light from overhead turned on and Sam was facing..her father. "Dad! You scared me to death!" she said, leaning on the table. Luke was a little taken aback himself, not expecting to find anyone in the kitchen either, "Sorry honey, I thought I heard something out in the barn, like a radio." Sam flopped into the chair, "I thought the same thing earlier this evening. I have a feeling it's Jake, holed up in the loft out there, actually I 'm sure it's him. He already spent everything you gave him, so he has nowhere to stay." Sam looked away, not wanting to meet her father's eyes.

Luke leaned against the door and rubbed his head, "What should we do Sam? I can't hardly stand for one of my children to be hungry." Sam felt her fathers pain and looked at him, "Dad, Jake got himself into this mess. If we keep feeding his addiction, he won't stand a chance and we'll go broke in the process. He has to suffer Dad, before he can find the other side, if he can find it." Her father went up the stairs, back to bed. Sam cut out the lights and went up to her room. She stood at the window, staring at the barn until the first rays of daylight began to creep across the mountain. Almost ready to lie down for awhile and let go of the useless vigil she had kept through the night, she noticed a truck driving through the pasture behind the barn. Finally satisfied that she had been right, Sam laid on the bed, totally exhausted.

She was awakened suddenly, with Robbie calling out her name and shaking her. "Mom, what's wrong?" Robbie touched her forehead as Sam pulled away, not understanding what was going on, "Are you sick honey? I was worried when it got so late and you were still in bed." Sam rolled over on her side, "I'm ok, I just couldn't sleep, so I decided to stay in bed for awhile. I'll be down in a bit mom." The shower poured over her still tired body and Sam just stood under the water, waiting for the warm fluid to get her body motivated. Finally, she was dressed and went down to the kitchen, where her mother had kept her breakfast warm for her. "Mom, you don't have to wait on me anymore, you have other things to do now. Go, have fun. I can get my meals all by myself, just like a grownup." she said, smiling and winking at her mother. Robbie just smiled back at her, happy that her daughter understood her needs too.

Sam walked the foal out to the coral where his mother was drinking from the water trough. When the mare saw her foal, she ran to it and nuzzled it from head to tail, dancing around and creating a cloud of dust. Sam stood leaning on the gate, watching the mother's happiness at finding her foal again. After she locked the gate, Sam walked over behind the barn. She found the familiar tire tracks she had thought would be there. Bent down on one knee, touching the track, she heard a noise behind her. Jumping to her feet and turning around, she was face to face with her father. "Dad!" she laughed. "You scared me. Stop doing that!" Luke looked down at the track she had been looking at and shook his head. "Jake." "Don't worry about it Dad, I think I have a plan. Let me take care of it." she told him gently. His worried face made her want to take the burden from him, almost the way a parent allows a child to not worry about the hard stuff, even if it is always there in front of you. Luke turned and went back to the house calling out, "Lunch is ready." Sam smiled and brushed the dust off her jeans, before heading in the same direction as her father.

Later, Sam sat in the chair opposite Tim's desk and admired the way he had decorated his office, with the large water color prints farms and ranches. The art work gave the dark paneled walls a lighter feeling, which it desperately needed. The building was old and needed a good make over. Tim walked in, "Hi Sis, what brings you in today?" Sam smiled, "To invite you and Selena to a cook out." Tim raised one eyebrow, questioning what Sam had said. "Don't look so quizzical! It's high time we had a family cook out. I don't ever remember our family doing anything like that, and I want to start." Sam told him. He laughed and held up his hands, "No problem. At least not from me, I think that would be..interesting." "Tim! Could you get on board with this? I have a two fold reason, actually." She waited for Tim to comment, but he just put his chin his hands and waited with a silly grin. "Fine, be that way, I'm pretty sure that Jake is holding up in the loft at night, and sneaking out at daylight, actually I've seen him leaving at daylight. So I figure he is spending the day somewhere within sight of the barn. He might be up in that old cabin we used to play in. Anyway, I want him to see that we can be a family and have fun together. Even if he only sees it through binoculars, which I am sure he is using to keep an eye on things. Watching." Tim laid back in his chair and frowned, "I don't get it. Why would he care now? He's never cared about anyone but himself, even as a kid."

Sam knew she was in deep waters now, "He never has, I know. I want him to see that we can get along without him, better than with him actually. I want him to leave on his own, just go away. I know how bad that sounds, but Tim, you know as well as I do, that Jake is a walking explosion now. I just thought that this might be a way to get his back up and then he would huff away on his own." Tim smiled wryly at her thinking, "So you want Jake, our brother Jake, to get his "feelings' hurt, so he will go away without any more trouble? Huh, I think the cookout is a great idea, but don't think for a minute that it will have any effect on Jake. Feelings aren't exactly his strong suit." Sam looked out the window at the clouds rolling in fast, "I gotta go, storm coming!" She went flying out of the office and headed out the door to her truck. Leaving town in a hurry and traveling the two miles home at a speed frowned upon by local cops, Sam arrived just as the first drops of rain were spattering in the dust.

Luke was heading to the house from the barn, "Go on in the house Sam, I got everything taken care of out here." Sam went in and left the door open for him. To her surprise, a large dog came in with him. The yellow lab came to her and looked up at her with a giant tongue and eyes wide open. "Oh...who are you fella? Where did you come from?" she cooed at the dog. "He's been following me around all morning. I don't know where he came from, but he sure is good company, doesn't bother the livestock at all and obeys pretty darn well too." Luke told her, grinning all over, as he reached down and patted the dogs head affectionatly. Sam turned the collar around on his neck, finding there was no tag. "Well Dad, looks like you got a dog. What are you going to call him?" Luke smiled, "Dog." Sam laughed, "You can't do that to the poor thing, he appears to be quite mannerly, come on Dad, pick something that fits him."

Naming the dog would have to wait as a loud crack of lightening struck somewhere close by followed by rolls and rolls of thunder. Luke headed out the door with Sam on his heels, worried that one of the horses had gotten struck. They stood together, searching through the downpour of rain to see if anything was burning. Almost at the same time they saw the giant fir tree, starting to blaze now, even through the rain. "Go in Sam, there's nothing we can do, it won't fall on the barn." Luke told her. He went over to the barn and stood in the door, waiting to see if the tree would fall and making sure that the livestock didn't get scared by the storm. If they were scared by the lightening they could break through the fence and it would take days to get them all rounded up again.

 Sam made coffee and changed her wet clothes, assuming her father was upstairs doing the same. As she took the towel off her hair and shook it out, her mom came in from the den, "Where's your dad? I thought the two of you came in together." Sam was only mildly disturbed that he was still not in the house. She went out on the porch and looked over towards the barn. The tree had burnt out and the rain had almost quit, but there was no sign of her father.
Slipping into her barn boots by the door, she headed over to the barn at a jog. Opening the door to the darkness, Sam had to adjust her eyes for a moment. There in the ally was Luke, lying on the floor of the barn and unconcious, the dog lying beside him, with his head on Luke's chest looking up to Sam as if asking for help. "Dad!" she cried out!