Chapter I
The morning was grey and cold; if today was to be sunny, the sun wasn’t going to show until around maybe eight or nine in the morning if they were lucky. Lately, the sun peeked out during the noon hours only for the clouds to swallow it up again in the evening. In Perfection, California, a town that thrived off agriculture, these bi-polar weather conditions were perfect for crops but left much to be desired for the locals. It was supposed to be summer, yet it felt more like winter at times. For those who worked in agriculture, this wasn’t a bad thing but for those like the Samuels family, mornings like this were the absolute worst.
That was the sentiment for sixteen-year-old Riley, who was persistent about staying in her bed until her older sister finally had enough of it. When Riley dared to ignore her five times, Brooke barged into the latter’s bedroom with an old Home Depot bucket filled with iced water. She threatened to dump the whole bucket on the teenager if she didn’t get out of bed within the next three seconds.
“You’re evil,” Riley moaned as she begrudgingly removed her blankets from her body, showing that she was still dressed in an old tank top and sweatpants. “What time is it anyway?”
“Six-thirty,” Brooke pointed toward the cheap digital clock that her sister had next to her bed. “It’s the last week before your summer break, you can survive until Friday.”
An exaggerated groan escaped the teen, “Bullsh⸺”
“Finish that word and you’ll be drenched,” Brooke held up the bucket again, giving it a slight jolt so that the teen could hear the ice cubes clink against the plastic. “Get up, I’ve got breakfast waiting downstairs.” With her threat made, the twenty-year-old left the room.
Riley obeyed her sister’s order, knowing too well that any further disobedience wasn’t going to yield favorable results with that bucket around. Besides, she was lucky that it was only Brooke who came for her. Had their grandfather Benjamin, or Old Ben as everyone called him, been the one to come in, Riley would have been drenched the first time she refused to get up.
Speaking of the old man; “Where’s Gramps?” She called out to her sister.
“Outside with the dogs,” Brooke replied over her shoulder; she was well down the hall at this point. “Boss has a gash on his shoulder.”
Riley was suddenly alert; Boss was her German Shepherd and her baby. To hear that he had been injured during the night, which was odd, worried her enough to dress quickly and race downstairs to the backyard where their grandfather was with all five dogs.
Boss was whimpering as Old Ben carefully inspected the wound to make sure nothing got into it. Surrounding them were the two Australian Shepherds, Daisy and Lily, Old Ben’s Pitbull, James, and Brooke’s Border Collie, Tess. All of them worriedly crowded around the duo despite Old Ben pushing them away.
“What happened?” Riley asked as Boss pushed past the old man and the other dogs to reach her, crying as he did so. “A wild dog?”
“Maybe.” Old Ben groaned as he pushed himself off the ground, “It ain’t that deep, but he still has to go to the vet. I can’t tell how long it’s been like this.”
Riley looked down at Boss; he was trying to find some comfort in her arms and wouldn’t settle down. She knelt, hoping to calm him, but he tried to claw his way into her arms, smearing mud onto her denim jeans and scratching her bare arms. She was forced to push him down and use her shirt to cover his eyes; it took a minute, but he calmed down enough to not hurt her any further. It also allowed Old Ben to get a better look at the gash, though there was nothing else he could say.
“Brooke works today, doesn’t she?” Riley asked as she gently pressed her hand onto Boss’ neck. She could feel his erratic heartbeat under her palm.
“Yeah, so I’m going to have to take him.” Old Ben came up to his granddaughter and patted her head, “If you want, you can come with and I’ll drop you off at school.”
Riley agreed to the idea without hesitation. “Thanks, Gramps.”
Old Ben nodded and pushed both her and the dog toward the house, “Take him inside so he doesn’t get into anything out here; I have to call Rodriguez and tell him what happened.”
Riley nodded and led her dog into the house, taking him to the kitchen where Brooke had a plate made for her. Boss laid down beside Riley’s chair, still crying, and Brooke coaxed him to shush momentarily by offering him some of the sausage links she’d made.
“What do you think happened?” Riley asked as she shoveled down her eggs and toast. Given the circumstances, she would have preferred to just skip breakfast, but that was a huge no-no in their household.
“Don’t know, but I think it’s weird that we didn’t hear anything.” Brooke set down a plate beside Riley for their grandfather and then worked on her own. “We’ve heard him fight with strays and whatnot before, so…I’m not sure what to think at the moment.”
Brooke leaned a bit to her left, looking toward Boss; he was quivering and quietly whimpering. She had a theory of what could have happened, but it was best that she kept her suspicions to herself.
Riley agreed, “Yeah…”
Looking back up at her sister, Brooke shook her head and headed toward the fridge to pull out a pitcher of orange juice. Brooke poured a glass for everyone and placed the cups next to everyone’s plates. “We should let the vet tell us what he thinks before making assumptions.”
Riley agreed, but she wanted to believe that it was another animal that caused Boss’ injury. It was better than thinking a person could have done it. “Alright.”
The sisters fell into an uneasy silence, eating their breakfast slowly until their grandfather returned with a perplexed expression.
“Gramps? What’s up?” Brooke gave Old Ben a quick once-over and saw that nothing was physically wrong with him. “Did you find anything?”
“Not me,” He answered. He was in a bit of a daze as he took a seat on his usual barstool next to Riley. “Rodriguez. He and his boys went to go herd some of the cattle. Dogs have been losing their shit and trying to go out to where the cows usually slept so they went to look. They’re missing half of their stock.”
The sisters stared at their grandfather. How does someone lose twenty-five cows? And then the bigger question came to them, what about their own cows? If Rodriguez was missing half of their joint-stock, then what about their half?
“He’s already gone to look at our cattle.” Old Ben sighed, rubbing his temples with the palms of his hands. “Less than half is gone, but he’s found some them wandering so he can’t get a good count yet. We might be lucky and not lost any.”
“What the hell…?” Brooke turned to her sister and they shared a confused look before Brooke offered to take Boss and Riley to the vet.
“No, you can’t be late,” He gave the older brunette a pointed look. “Besides, you’ve been fighting with that manager of yours a lot lately. You better start giving him less to work with as far as firing you goes.”
Riley glanced at Brooke, who only rolled her eyes in response.
“Don’t give me that attitude,” Old Ben wasn’t bothered by her sarcastic response, but he was serious about what he had said. “you need to be more careful with that little shit. Just like Riley needs to stop fighting with that Gutiérrez girl.”
Riley straightened up slightly, “When did this become about me?”
Old Ben shook his head, “That’s not the point, the point is that you girls need to behave. Now, I’ll be taking this one to school after we drop off Boss and I hope to not get any phone calls about either of you while I help Rodriguez. Got it?”
Though neither liked being scolded like bratty children, the sisters both nodded and swore they wouldn’t do anything that could get them into trouble. The only problem with that was that they never went looking for trouble, trouble just liked finding them.
Old Ben, of course, knew that, but at least he tried. “Good, what time is it?”
Brooke turned toward the small clock that hung over the kitchen sink and read the time out loud, “Seven-ten, you got time to get to the vet’s office if you leave in ten minutes.”
“Right, go get your stuff, kid. Grab a blanket for Boss too.”
“Okay.” Riley handed her plate to Brooke and left to gather her backpack and jacket, Boss following her along the way.
When Riley was up the stairs and out of sight, Brook sighed and asked if Old Ben thought a person had hurt Boss. “That cut looks too clean to have been from another animal, and now we’re missing cows?”
“I know, but who the hell would do this?” Old Ben handed his dishes to Brooke and then let out a snort, “Unless Shirkley kept to his promise, but I doubt that.”
Brooke let out a sarcastic laugh; there was no way that the coward that was William Shirkley would dare set foot near their property. Not only would her grandfather gladly put a bullet between his eyes for trespassing, but that man feared their dogs; he once told her that he thought their dogs were spawns from hell.
“No way,” She said, “One-Eyed-Willy’s a puss. Had to have been a stranger, and someone who could put the fear of God into that dog.”
“I know, that’s what’s worrying.” Old Ben stood from his seat and made his way around the island to hug his eldest granddaughter. “You hear about that girl? Wright’s kid.”
“Riley’s old friend?” When Old Ben nodded, Brooke let out a long sigh and gently pushed herself out of the embrace. “I saw the paper, and that’s not happening to Riley, Gramps,”
“I thought the same with you, and I still failed.”
“No one failed me except mom and dad,” Brooke moved away from her grandfather to finish cleaning. “I’ll keep an eye on Riley. Every day after school this week she’ll be at the diner. Once school’s out, you can drop her off with me or keep her with you. She’ll understand.”
The two ended their conversation there; Old Ben had to get the keys to his truck and Brooke needed to finish cleaning so she could get ready for her shift at Rosita’s Armory Diner. Riley came back with her backpack slung over her left shoulder and a blanket tucked under her arm. In her hand was the tank top she wore to bed.
“What’s with the shirt?” Brooke asked as she gathered Old Ben’s dishes.
“It’s for Boss. He hates going to the vet without me so I thought this might help.” Riley replied as she adjusted her bag slightly. “So, what am I doing after school? Am I being picked up or going to your work?”
“Head to the diner, and don’t be late.” Brooke turned to give her sister a dirty look. “No fighting or detention.”
Riley gave her sister a dirty look, “Got it. I’ll see you after school then.”
Brooke was unfazed, only sticking her tongue out at Riley before returning her attention to the dishes while Old Ben came back with his keys and his favorite denim jacket. He checked his pockets to make sure he had his wallet and cellphone before urging Riley toward the front door.
“Alright, let’s get out of here before you’re late.” He ruffled her hair as she passed by him. The two of them left the house with no enthusiasm for the trip into town.
