《The Horse Doctor》Chapter 12 - Tensions Build

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Things again settled down, though a report came in from the Jersey family members that their friend Steve had infiltrated the Mystery Keepers in the New York area and was having a field day messing with their officers. He had found several videos in the IT area and corrupted them past usefulness with an accidental spill of rubbing alcohol while cleaning computer keyboards that had been trashed by sugar-shocked techs. Several other small malfunctions had occurred in machinery, but nothing so major that it couldn’t be fixed eventually. His antics were comical and served to lighten the mood amid other bad news. Tim made it to several meetings but described them as relatively boring.

Aside from the run in with Sam’s cousin, nothing new had been even suspected of being connected in several weeks. Matt’s connection to Meredith’s riding school seemed to have gone by unnoticed, though Tim suspected that there was something not being talked about regarding why they did not seem to know who Matt connected with if they were following him. If it was a fluke, then Meredith might be able to return home, but at the very least, Matt would not be safe, and Teddy was refusing to leave his brother.

Sam and I made an occasional trip to Jo’s, but Sam kept feeling like we were being watched, so we did little else other than walk around the field. To get out and let his horse side run, we drove up into the White Mountains and went hiking for a day, choosing trails that would be good for riding. Everything else was stressful and tense, like waiting for the storm to break.

Then, almost like a miracle, Sam and I happened on a run-down ten-acre farm that was for sale on the outskirts of Boxboro. The edge of the field backed up to private state land, and the house was set far enough back from the road that we could easily see any one coming before they got there. Because of its condition, the price was within what we could afford, even if the trip to Andover would now take twenty to thirty minutes. Sam and I went back and forth on buying it for a few days, but finally, put a bid on it, and within a week, accepted the formal agreement and put Sam’s house up on the market.

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The house on the property was in fairly decent shape. The paint would need touching up before winter, but it was otherwise pretty good. The barn was another matter entirely. The roof had a distinctive swayback look to it, and the shingles on it were a mess. Nevertheless, we knew that what was wrong and needed fixing, so it would not take long to make useable again. Several of Sam’s cousins around the area promised to come and set it to rights with us.

It was then that Susan called late one evening while Sam and I were packing up some of the knick-knacks around the house that could be done without for a few weeks. Sam answered the phone and his expression went from expectant to shocked.

“They did what?” he asked, his tone one of shock and disbelief.

He listened to whatever his mother was saying on the other end of the phone for a long while, then asked,

“How many did they get?”

Her answer left him pale and shaking, and he finished the call and looked over at me.

“One of the other tribes betrayed the whole family. The bears are saying it was one of the cat clans, but Susan is not too sure. In any event, there was a group of the Mystery Seekers that came to the ranch, demanding to be let on the property. They had the local sheriff with them on some trumped-up charge, and it took all of my mother’s diplomatic skills to convince him that the group was full of it. They took a load of photos of her and the other family members that were there, but eventually they left. The problem is that they are now looking at all of the family connections that the group has. We need to be ready to get to somewhere safe if they connect me to the clan. Because of birth records and sites like Ancestry.com, they’ll find us sooner or later.”

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“Where is safe?” I asked.

“We are working on that,” he said, and then hesitated before speaking. “Laura, for your safety, you might want to leave for a while.”

“No!” I said, shaking my head emphatically. “I am not letting these people drive us apart. Not happening, Sam.”

He smiled wanly, and nodded.

“I figured you’d feel that way,” he said. “I wanted to give you the out, though. We’ll go ahead with the house purchase and try to keep things as normal as possible. Meredith is working with some friends of hers to have a place for us to go that is not directly tied to the family. Other than that, we need to have someplace else safe as well. Somewhere no one else knows of.”

We sat alone in our thoughts for a few long minutes before we got back into packing. Even the latest news couldn’t dim my excitement of buying the house in Boxboro. In my mind’s eye, I could picture how lovely it would be to have a place with some privacy, and I tried not to think of what might happen if things went south.

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