Credence

“You would think ‘her family’ would know that about her,” Patel mocks me. “Goodbye, Mr. Van der Berg.”

And then the line is dead.

I stare at my screen for a moment and then back at Tiernan. She and Noah are bantering back and forth, a big ass grin on his face and keeping the rake from her as she tries to take it back. Finally, she grabs hold of it and marches back into the stall.

I smile to myself. She’s stronger than that woman gives her credit for. Mirai Patel may care about Tiernan, but she’s had her for ten years. What good did it do the kid? That woman had her chance.

Pulling a cloth out of my back pocket, I head into the stable, shaking out the square and matching two corners to make a triangle. Finding Tiernan in a stall, I see her bent over, shuffling the hay with her ponytail sticking out the back of one of Noah’s caps.

“Hey.” I touch her back.

She jerks up and spins around, bumping into my chest.

I hold up the cloth, gesturing toward her face.

“It’s clean,” I tell her. “It’ll help with the smell.”

I move to tie it around her nose and mouth, but she shakes her head. “I’m okay.”

I laugh under my breath, expecting as much. “Why are you so stubborn?”

And I move around her, tying it at the back of her head before she has a chance to fight me more.

Coming around the front, I only see her eyes peering out from under the cap and the rest covered with the handkerchief.

She looks like a bank robber, and I almost snort, but she doesn’t look happy right now, so I keep the joke to myself.

“You don’t have to be so tough,” I tease, knocking the bill of her cap. “It fuckin’ stinks in here. You’ll get used to it, though.”

But instead of saying ‘thank you’, she simply turns back around and continues working.

I stand there a moment, my muscles tight with slight frustration. I’m sure you’ve noticed that she’s quiet.

Yeah, lady, she’s quiet. Slowly, I turn to leave, but I glance over my shoulder at her once again.

But when I do, she’s staring at me. She’s stopped raking.

Her eyes, dark under the shadow of the cap, make my heart skip a beat, and I pause.

But quickly, as if it was nothing, she puts her head back down and starts working again. I stand there, watching her.

Everything building up inside of her will eventually spill over, Mirai had said.

I turn my lips up in a slight smile. Maybe that’s exactly what the kid needs.

“Finished already?” I ask when Noah and Tiernan head over to me.

I stand in the truck bed, pushing the broom and the last remnants of hay, dirt, and shit I’ve had to haul this week.

“Don’t worry,” Noah chides. “We did it right. She’s on a mission, though.”

“Do you have more?” Tiernan looks up at me expectantly with my handkerchief around her neck.

More?

She breathes hard, and I pull out my phone, checking the time. They got done with that a lot sooner than when it’s just Noah and Kaleb.

I stick my phone back in my pocket. “Take the clothes off the line,” I tell her. “And I need fresh, soapy water. Hot.” And then I look at her. “And then breakfast.”