Chapter 5
The rider who returned the boss’s horse after an injury was called Keeper of the Reins.
Not an official title.
Worse.
A family custom everyone understood differently.
My grandfather once broke his wrist on a ride. His younger brother brought the horse home and handled field crews for two months.
After that, people started treating the gesture like precedent.
Ridiculous.
But useful to someone ambitious.
Caleb would ride back with my horse.
I would be injured.
Older capos already primed to believe age was catching me.
Then Elise would say what tradition suggested:
Let Caleb handle the field until Donovan recovers.
Temporary.
Another dangerous word.
“How long?” I asked.
Caleb looked at Elise.
She answered.
“Until you were ready.”
I almost smiled.
“And who decides when I’m ready?”
Silence.
Exactly.
Temporary authority controlled by people benefiting from its extension.
I looked at Caleb.
“You didn’t need me dead.”
His eyes lifted.
“No.”
“I believe you.”
That surprised him.
“You needed me embarrassed.”
His face tightened.
“A public fall.”
Silence.
“You return my horse.”
Silence.
“Everyone sees younger legs where mine used to be.”
Elise interrupted.
“You make it sound pathetic.”
“It is pathetic.”
She flinched.
Good.
Then Judith finally asked to speak.
She had been silent under guard near the stable office.
“Boss…”
I looked at her.
“I didn’t know about the strap.”
Possible.
“What did you know?”
Her eyes filled.
“Elise told me Milo had been listening around the tack room.”
“And?”
“She said he was repeating something dangerous.”
“So you held him.”
“Yes.”
“While she pushed him into a stall.”
Judith started crying.
“I thought the horse was tied.”
I stared.
“Would that make it acceptable?”
“No.”
Good.
At least she understood.
Then she told me something Elise did not want said.
“Milo heard more than the saddle.”
I looked at her.
“What?”
Judith swallowed.
“He heard them talking about Anna.”
The room changed.
Caleb’s face went white.
May you like
My daughter had been dead for two years.
Whatever they were saying about her had nothing to do with leather.
