Fawn Page 5

  Zoe broke into peals of laughter and fell across her bed. Fawn said, "I wouldn't if you want to keep your teeth," which made Zoe laugh even more.

  Wade smiled. "Maybe I'll use it for baseball practice."

  At two o'clock Mrs. Porter knocked on the door and Fawn let her in. The nice woman said, "Well, hello again Ms. Woods. How're things goin' for ya. Adjustin' okay to ranch life?"

  "Yes, thank you, Mrs. Porter."

  Mrs. Porter lowered her voice. "Adjustin' okay to Zoe? Bless that sweet li'l girl's heart."

  "Zoe and I have become fast friends."

  Mrs. Porter gave her a startled look and then smiled. "Maybe yer jus' what the doc ordered for this fam'ly."

  Zoe ran down the stairs. "Hello, Mrs. Porter. Fawn and I made chocolate scramble and biscuit rocks." She giggled.

  Mrs. Porter patted Zoe's head. "Yeah? Well you can tell me all about it on the ride to my place."

  Standing on the porch, Fawn bid goodbye to Mrs. Porter and Zoe and watched the trail of dust stirred up in the car's wake. After the old Buick LeSabre disappeared around a bend, she hastened down the porch steps and circled to the back of the house and the old oak. Scanning the ranch, she looked to see if anyone was nearby. Other than Sam with his tail happily slapping against her legs, she was alone. Usually, she wouldn't shift during the day. However, she felt compelled to locate the young man from the night before. Speaking the prayer, she instantaneously became a sparrow and flew in the direction of Dugger MacKenzie's ranch. She needed to find the cowboy before Mrs. Porter returned at three-thirty with Zoe.

  She flew across Wade's pastures, past the canyon and valley beyond, and finally reached the bordering meadow of the Crooked J Ranch. From her birds-eye view she watched cowboys rounding up strays on the MacKenzie side. Landing on the branch of a cottonwood tree with several bovine grazing beneath it, she spied out the area. In the distance, one of the cowboys turned his horse in her direction. Flying to the ground in the midst of the strays, she shifted into a cow and mingled among them. Soon the horse and rider appeared, but it wasn't the young man from the previous night. Shouting and waving his hat, he steered the herd from under the tree and toward open pasture. When the cowboy turned his back to her, Fawn was about to shift and fly away, but then she heard the hooves of an approaching horse. She continued on with the herd.

  "Hey, Gabe. How's it goin?" greeted the first cowboy.

  "Not too bad. Is this the last of the strays?"

  "Yep. Wanna help me bring 'em in?"

  "Sure."

  ***

  Gabriel circled his horse around the cows, herding them toward the pasture. Glancing into the center of the group, his eyes alighted on a certain one. Grinning, he called to the other cowboy, "Hey, Jed. I'm gonna round this one back to the barn. Seems it doesn't have a brand."

  "That's weird. Bein' as old as it is, how do you s'pose it escaped the brand? You think it’s a stray from Wade's land? Even so, it would be branded."

  "Do you care if it's Wade's cow, Jed?"

  "Naw, just talkin' out my ass."

  Gabriel steered his horse toward the object of his intention, grabbed his whip, smacked the air with a loud pop, and then whacked the hide of the cow, separating her from the herd and driving her toward the barn.

  CHAPTER 11:

  BRANDING

  The sting of the whip sent Fawn quickly into motion. She lunged forward trying to escape another blow. Whack. It hit her again. The cowboy named Gabe relentlessly drove her toward the Crooked J Ranch. She endured the pain because she didn't want to shift in front of him. When Gabe had driven her a considerable distance, he laughed and said, "So, looks like you got yourself into a situation, eh cow. Shift and be seen or suffer the whip. I guess you've chosen the whip. But just wait 'til you get branded." Whack! The whip dug into her hide again.

  When they reached the ranch, Gabe drove her into a narrow chute that didn't allow freedom of movement. While still astride his horse and without completely turning around he yelled to another cowboy standing in the shadow of the barn. "Hey, Buster, bring me the branding gear."

  The leather-faced cowboy shot Gabe a rebellious look. "Git it yerself; or have someone else git it. Just 'cause boss made you foreman, you don't fool me. Yer a damn imposter."

  Gabe cursed. "Do you see anyone else around? Bring it to me old coot or we'll have a long talk later that I guarantee won't be pleasant."

  The weathered old man shoved his cowboy hat to the back of his head, squinted at Gabe in disgust, and said, "Okay, okay, shithead."

  Fawn needed to think fast. She had no intention of suffering branding, but neither did she want to shift in front of Gabe, although from the way he'd talked he knew she could shift. How can he know?

  Gabe dismounted and, keeping his eyes on her, lifted his boot to the cross board on the chute and kicked it. She was penned in.

  A few minutes later Buster returned pulling an apparatus behind him. With a smirk, Gabe ordered the grumbling man to plug it in.

  Tossing some choice profanities at Gabe, the stoop-shouldered cowboy flipped the protective covering on an electrical post near the branding chute, and obeyed. Within minutes, the iron turned fiery red and Fawn looked from the hot brand in Gabe's hand, into his eyes, and what she saw stopped her heart. Evil.

  Unexpectedly, Buster's feet got tangled in the electrical cord and he cried out, falling face first onto packed earth. Gabe automatically lurched around and in that instant, with no one watching, Fawn prayed, shifted, and lifted skyward as a tiny sparrow.

  Realizing his error, Gabe immediately whipped back around. She heard him curse and the wizened cowboy exclaimed, "Where'd the cow go?"

  Gabe jerked his cowboy hat off and threw it on the ground, stomping and cursing profusely.

  Fawn smiled inwardly. The old cowboy would certainly have a tale to tell about the disappearing cow. After she reached a safe distance, she shifted into a larger bird and made haste back to Wade's ranch. Landing beneath the gnarly oak, she shifted again and stepped around the tree, hastening to the house. In her bathroom she lifted her blouse to inspect the welts on her back and sides reflected in the mirror. Gritting her teeth at the intense pain, she focused on healing. She located a tin of salve in the medicine cabinet and gingerly spread it over the red areas. After that, she sat on her bed and continued focusing on healing, but soon heard a car coming down the drive. Walking to the living room she peered out the large picture window as Mrs. Porter's old Buick LaSabre parked in a swirl of dust. She pretended to be straightening pillows on the couch when Zoe and Mrs. Porter entered the house.

  Mrs. Porter ruffled Zoe's golden curls and said in her straightforward manner, "Zoe's a gifted musician. When she outgrows my teachin', I'm gonna talk to Wade about gettin' another teacher for her. You play any instruments, Fawn?"

  "No, not really." Fawn grimaced at her white lie, thinking about the lyre Boethius had taught her to play during the 6th century.

  "Well, as usual I can't stay. Got too much on my plate. See ya later Zoe and Fawn."

  "Goodbye, Mrs. Porter," said Fawn.

  Zoe was already running toward the kitchen and when Fawn entered, she found her flipping through their cookbook. Zoe looked up and asked, "What'd you do while I was gone?"

  "Oh, I enjoyed some fresh air and sunshine."

  Zoe gave her a questioning look, but didn't say anything, and Fawn wondered what the child was seeing in her aura.

  CHAPTER 12:

  BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENT

  Wade looked at the unappetizing display on his plate and then at the expectant face of his daughter. Forcing a smile, he lifted his fork and tasted beef burgundy. It tasted even worse than it looked.

  "Do you like it, Daddy? Do you like it?"

  Wade chewed and chewed and chewed. "Honey, it's…unbelievable."

  Zoe squealed and clapped her hands. "I knew you'd love it."

  Wade glanced at Fawn and the adorable dimple playing peek-a-boo as she tried to suppress a smile.


  "We're gonna surprise you again tomorrow," Zoe announced after he finally swallowed his first bite. He lifted his fork with another and inwardly sighed.

  Fawn said, "Zoe, why don't you grab that drawing you did earlier so you can show your father?"

  "Yeah, okay." Zoe pushed through the swinging kitchen door and called, "I'll be right back, Daddy!"

  Fawn laughed and said conspiratorially, "Quick, give me your plate and I'll dump it down the disposal while she's gone."

  "Am I that transparent?"

  "No, you're actually a good actor. I just happened to have tasted our latest disaster before we served it to you." Fawn grabbed the plate Wade handed her and rushed to dispose of the contents.

  He laughed and then said something he'd been meaning to say for a while. "Fawn, I want to thank you for spending quality time with Zoe. She's become a different child this past month. I haven't seen her so happy since…well, since her mother died."

  "She's a joy, Wade; a special little girl." Fawn handed his plate back. "Um, Wade, have you ever wondered about the voices she says she hears?"

  He set his plate down and placed his knife and fork across it. "I had a shrink tell me Zoe creates the voices as a way to garner attention."

  "What if there's more to it than that?"

  "I'm not sure I'm following you."

  "What if…"

  Zoe burst into the kitchen. "I got it. Hey, Daddy, you already finished. You want more?"

  "Ah, Punkin, I think I'm good for now. What have you drawn?" He reached for her paper.

  Excited, she said, "Fawn and I have been drawing my bedroom in different ways. And look, here's what it'll look like with lavender walls."

  Fawn's cell phone squawked and interrupted Wade's praise of his daughter's design. Excitement lit her eyes as she grabbed the phone from her jean's pocket and said to Wade and Zoe, "That ringtone of an eagle's squawk belongs to my friend Roth. His wife is expecting their first child any day."

  ***

  A shiver of anticipation ran up Fawn's spine. "Hello, Roth."

  "Our prince has arrived."

  "Oh, that's exciting! How is Rainey?"

  "It was tough going for a while, but she's recovering quickly."

  "You sound like you need recovery time, yourself."

  He sighed. "Watching Rainey give birth to our son has given new meaning to the word love. I'm just happy the delivery part is over. Davide is beautiful; Rainey is beautiful; and life is beautiful."

  "I can't wait to see our little prince." Fawn glanced at Wade and Zoe and gave them a thumbs-up sign. The deeper meaning behind her words, however, was known only to Roth and herself. She talked a few minutes longer and encouraged Roth to rest. After she ended the call, she sighed contentedly.

  "What did your friends name their baby?" asked Zoe.

  "They named him Davide. But they spell his name a little different." Fawn spelled the name for them.

  "Is he a real prince?" Zoe asked.

  Fawn coughed and fenced the question. "Wouldn't that be something?" To divert the conversation she asked Wade if he wanted a refill on his coffee.

  "Yes, thank you. Where do your friends live?"

  "Not far from Portland, Oregon."

  "They sound like close friends. If you'd like a few days off to see the baby, I understand."

  Fawn had a sudden inspiration, but she didn't want to speak it in front of Zoe. "Thank you, I'll think about it."

  Later, when Wade walked to the barn to check on the horses, Fawn walked with him, leaving Zoe to search the cookbook for their next culinary adventure. Sam followed at her heels and Wade laughed. "That dog is head-over-heels in love with you."

  "The feeling is mutual." She stooped to pat Sam's head and his old tail swished back and forth. She looked up at Wade and asked the question on her mind. "Wade, would you allow Zoe to go to Oregon with me and visit my friends?"

  He knelt beside her and rubbed Sam's back.

  She said quickly, "I think she would enjoy the trip, and my friends would love to meet her."

  Wade rocked back on his heels. He chewed the inside of his cheek and pushed his Stetson back, and Fawn thought he was going to refuse, but then he stared into her eyes and the intensity of his emerald gaze put butterflies in her stomach. He must have found his answer in her eyes, because he said, "Maybe it would be good for Zoe to get away. All right, but I'm paying for both your airline tickets."

  "Goodness, no; I'll pay for them."

  "Fawn, I'll pay or the answer is no."

  Seeing his determination, she relented. "Okay."

  CHAPTER 13:

  MANOR HOUSE

  Zoe scrunched her head against the airplane window and watched the clouds below. She loved seeing them from the top down. They looked like fluffy pillows she could jump on. She giggled and Fawn smoothed her hair.

  "What's so funny," Fawn asked and sounded like she wanted to giggle too.

  "I was just thinking what fun it would be to jump on those clouds. I like looking down on them instead of up."

  That made Fawn laugh. "I know exactly what you mean."

  Zoe turned to smile at her nanny who was also her friend. Fawn stroked her hair again, which felt good. Even though Fawn wasn't her mother she understood her like her mommy had. She'd even helped her not to be so scared when the voices got really loud. She'd sit Zoe on her lap and rub her forehead and hair and ask her to listen to the voices and stop trying to make them go away. After Zoe started listening, she'd heard the pretty voice better. At first she couldn't understand what the lady was saying because of the loud voices, but finally she'd figured out one word, and then another. It was like the lady kept repeating herself because she wanted Zoe to know what she was saying. The first word Zoe had understood was "love," after that she'd picked out, "Prince." What she'd heard was, "…love…Prince."

  When Zoe had told Fawn what she'd heard, she'd watched Fawn's eyes get big and knew the words meant something to her, but she hadn't told her what.

  A man's voice coming over the plane's speaker got Zoe's attention. It sounded kind of garbled like the voices she sometimes heard in her head. She sat back and Fawn reached across her to pull her seatbelt over her lap. "We're almost there, honey."

  ***

  Fawn spotted Johnson immediately. The muscular chauffeur, who was Roth and Rainey's primary driver, as well as a highly trained bodyguard, stood next to a black Lexus SUV at the airport's arrival terminal. Giving Fawn a wide grin, he said, "It's good to see you again, Fawn. Roth and Rainey are excited about your visit. And the baby…he's beautiful."

  "Thanks for picking us up, Johnson. It's good to see you, too. I'd like you to meet Zoe."

  Johnson squatted to Zoe's level. "I'm sure happy to meet you, Zoe. Welcome to Oregon. You can call me Johnson like everyone else." He extended his hand.

  Fawn watched Zoe shyly grasp his hand. "You have nice colors," she said.

  A questioning look passed over Johnson's face and he glanced up at Fawn.

  Fawn laughed. "That's Zoe's way of saying you've passed her inspection."

  Johnson patted Zoe's head and then walked to the hatch of the vehicle. He punched his key fob and motioned toward their backpacks. "Is this all you brought, Fawn?"

  "Yep, we stuffed everything in our backpacks so we wouldn't have to wait for luggage."

  He loaded their backpacks and opened the door to the back seat. "Zoe, you hop in and buckle up. Fawn, why don't you sit in the front so we can catch up on things?"

  Within minutes they were leaving Portland International's access road and headed toward the Childress Estate.

  Fawn said, "I've been so excited to meet little Davide that I haven't been able to sleep. Tell me everything that's happened."

  Johnson chuckled. "Well, the closer it got to Rainey's due date, the more of a basket case Roth became. I swear, as a bodyguard he has nerves of steel and a mind as calculating as a computer, but as an expectant father, he's a wreck. He was starting to drive Rainey
bonkers with his protectiveness, so a couple of days before Davide was born, she begged me to kidnap him for a while."

  Fawn looked in the backseat and smiled at Zoe. Turning back around she said, "So tell me what happened when Rainey went into labor."

  Johnson laughed so hard he snorted. "Since Rainey insisted on having the baby at home, a full-on birthing room was assembled. When she went into labor the doctor was called and it took him and his two nurses perhaps forty minutes to arrive, and I think that was the longest forty minutes of Roth's life. He couldn't stop pacing and entered the surveillance room every few minutes watching for the doctor's car." Johnson lowered his voice so Zoe couldn't hear. "I guess the delivery was pretty rough on Rainey, so I'm glad her mother and the cook, Beth McGovern, were also with her. Her father couldn't take it and stayed with the rest of us. At one point the doctor ordered Roth to leave the room for five minutes and do some deep breathing. I swear he had tears in his eyes. He just collapsed on a chair and placed his head in his hands. I've never felt so helpless. But as soon as the five minutes were over, he was back in the room." Johnson's tone turned light again. "It was maybe a half hour later that he proudly announced Davide's grand entrance into the world." Johnson reached to push a button on the dash. "ETA, fifteen minutes." A voice responded, "Roger that."

  Excitement prickled Fawn's skin when she realized she was about to witness the fulfillment of ancient prophesy in the form of a tiny baby. Although Roth had first learned of the prophesy about a coming prince from the Bedouin tribe he and Rainey had caravanned with in Egypt, the specific details were known only to the Thirteen co-Princes and those they made privy to it. Fawn remembered when the co-Princes had summoned her and requested help in bringing Roth and Rainey together. Out of necessity, they had revealed that the Great Prince could only be sired by Rainey and Roth, but the kicker was that he must be conceived in love. Unfortunately, at the time the co-Princes had revealed this information, Roth and Rainey had constantly been at odds with each other, and for that reason they had enlisted the assistance of Fawn and Rainey's mother, Stella, in a scheme to isolate the couple for an extended period, hoping they would fall in love. Their plan had worked and the Great Prince was the result.