Samantha's Talent (38 page)

"You know, hon," Ronald said, "I hadn't realized how much we were holding back Sammie's education while we were in Alaska. I think now that we should have moved back to the lower states much earlier than we did."

"Hindsight is always so accurate, isn't it?" Elaine replied. "There's so much we could have done for her back then, isn't there? And I have to admit, much of it was my fault for not believing in her talent for so long."

He inched her skirt up and caressed her knee, then her lower thigh. "Like you just said, hindsight is so accurate. Neither of us are that much at fault. I do think we need to be considering what we should do now, though. It's hard to realize it, but our little girl is growing up and we had to move here before we learned what a high IQ she has." He carefully avoided mentioning her exceptional talent with animals, knowing whatever they said might be recorded even on the porch and if so, would be played back to the ones who had placed the bugs in their home.

She covered his hand on her leg with her own. "You know, she could actually start college now, couldn't she? Not only that but she could get credit for the courses she took on line if she took the university tests. She'd pass them, too."

"Uh huh. That's why I said we need to begin thinking of her future and not waste any more time."

"There's something else, Ron. She's been seeing Ray for months now, but I haven't noticed any overwhelming affection she has for him. Have you?"

"No. Nor with anyone else, either. Let's face it. She's outgrown this environment, but if we move to anywhere with a higher population she's sure to be recognized. That whole business we've been through would start all over again before very long."

"But if we don't, it's going to stunt her social growth. In fact, it already has. I'd like to have us move and just take our chances, but... Ron, if we did and something happened to her, I'd blame myself the rest of my life. And so would you. I guess we'd better take the offer of that agency's protection even if we don't know what it is."

"I agree, but we can't play mother hen and daddy rooster for much longer, not and do right by her. If the agency will offer her more schooling, I won't worry so much."

She leaned against him and kissed his neck. "Tell you what. Let me talk to her and see what she thinks, or would think, about staying here until she's sixteen then move to a big city. How does that sound?" She winked so that he would be sure to know she wasn't being serious. They wanted her out of the present environment as soon as physically possible. In fact they had hoped Jennie would be back this evening but so far she had neither shown up nor phoned.

"It sounds like a better idea than I've come up with. See if anything is bothering her while you're at it, too. She's been acting kind of morose lately. It's probably just the environment, but it could be something deeper we could help her with. She'd be more likely to open up with you than me."

"Only if it's boy trouble. Otherwise she relates to you just as well, if not better. You were the one who believed in her affinity for animals long before I did, remember." Everyone knew she had a way with animals. She wasn't revealing any secrets there, even if they were being listened to.

"Okay, but you try first. Another drink?"

"No, let's go to bed and snuggle and giggle and act like teenagers for a while. Tomorrow's Saturday and Sammie hasn't any plans that I know of. After breakfast you go find something to do for a couple of hours and I'll talk to her. When you get back we'll all talk if Sammie wants to. I think she will."

"Suits." He stood up and offered her an unnecessary hand up. He called to Caw-Caw and motioned to the door, indicating they were closing it for the night. The crow flew inside as the door opened and on back to Samantha's room. They went off to their bedroom with his arm around her waist. They both were smiling and mildly inebriated, just enough to relax them and provide a good basis for Elaine's suggestion, but any giggling was carried on in very low tones and their amorous activities were almost entirely soundless and carried out under the covers. Gene had said that the devices in their bedrooms were only audible but neither wanted to take chances.

***

Samantha was indeed somewhat depressed but not in the classical sense. She lay in bed, unable to sleep and thought back over the last conversation she'd had with Ray. He had invited her over to watch how he initiated a relationship with the wild horses his father bought and he tamed for riding. For one reason or the other she had never been present when they received a new shipment of horses. He came to get her in his rejuvenated pickup. On the way back to the ranch she thought he seemed even more inhibited than usual, as if there was something he wanted to tell her but didn't quite dare. She let it ride, knowing him well enough by now that she thought whatever was bothering him would come out eventually.

In the meantime she was wondering if their relationship was ever going to go anywhere, to progress to a more intimate level. She rather doubted it. There was still no real sparkle of romance between them, at least not from her vantage point. It simply wasn't how she thought romance should be. She had even begun thinking it was time to break it off between them, even though she knew it would hurt him. On the other hand, probably it would be best to say nothing and use their move as an excuse.

They walked to the corral together and leaned on the high-railed fence. He propped one foot on the lower rail and warned her not to talk while he waited patiently until one of the wild horses came near. He had broken a couple of apples and lain them atop the two nearest supporting posts. Eventually one of the horses ventured closer, lured by the aroma of the apple. He called out to it in a soft voice. The horse shied away but then came back, nearer and nearer as he continued to talk to it.

Samantha could understand the reaction of the horse clearly, just as she could with other animals. There wasn't much he did differently than she would have, except that he never asked a horse what its herd name was. An hour later he had the horse, a young mare, out of the corral and was on its back, guiding it only with his knees. He climbed off and back on it a half-dozen times, then talked the mare into accepting first a bridle and then a saddle. He rewarded her with bites of an apple or carrot each time. He made the whole process appear so simple and natural that the result seemed almost inevitable. Samantha thought she could have done it much quicker, though.

Finally he said, "That's all I try to do for the morning. This afternoon I'll repeat the whole sequence again, then reinforce it a couple more times during the next week or so. I always do it with the other horses watching so they'll understand what's going on and that it won't hurt them." He smiled sadly. "The only bad part is sending them off to the auction and not knowing what kind of owner they'll get."

She understood that perfectly. After helping Whit treat an animal she always tried to follow up on its progress in being ready to be returned to the wild.

"Ready for some lunch?"

"Sure. I need to get home early, though."

"That's okay. Nothing much interesting happens the rest of the day."

They had sandwiches, cleaned the kitchen and sat in his pickup for a half hour or so, kissing occasionally and not saying much. She waited patiently, suspecting he was going to tell her something he thought important. She hoped he didn't intend to tell her he loved her, because she knew she couldn't reciprocate the affection.

"Sammie, if I told you a secret, would you promise not to ever repeat it to anyone unless I tell you it's okay?"

"I guess so, as long as it's not something illegal."

He gave a shallow laugh. "It's not. The thing is, I... I can talk to horses and they understand at least part of what I say so long as I'm patient. They answer me, too, just like a person would. Well, not exactly like a person because they aren't that smart, but they do talk back to me in their own language and I understand them, mostly. That's what I was doing this morning."

He gave her a quick, apprehensive glance from his place in the driver's seat when she didn't answer immediately. "Don't you believe me?"

"Yes, I believe you, Ray. Can you do the same thing with other animals?"

"Huh? Golly, I don't know. I've never tried it. I just thought I was attuned to horses somehow."

"Try it sometime. You might be surprised. Let's go. We can talk on the way. While you're driving, see if you can talk to Shufus, but don't get distracted. I don't want you to have a wreck."

"Don't worry! I'm real careful. Dad would kill me if I did."

"For having a wreck?"

"That's how Mom died. A driver not paying attention wandered into our lane and hit us head-on. I don't remember it, though. I just woke up in the hospital and she wasn't there anymore."

"How awful."

He said nothing for a long while then began talking to Shufus as if the dog was a friend. Shufus cocked his head but answered in dog sounds. Soon they were conversing haphazardly back and forth with Samantha sometimes having to intervene when he couldn't make the dog understand him.

"I really can talk to him, can't I?"

"Sort of, but Shufus doesn't understand you about half the time." He really can talk to animals she thought, but not nearly as well as me. Shufus only understands him because we've talked to each other so much. Nor could he talk to horses at the same level as her. Whether it was lack of practice or a lesser talent, she didn't know, but suspected he wasn't nearly as good at it as she was and never would be. "Ray, I'm just surprised you never thought to try it with any other animal besides horses."

"That's because you can do it, can't you?"

"I've always had an affinity with animals, but don't tell anyone. You shouldn't either. Look my name up on the internet and you'll know why."

Despite his questions, she would say nothing else. It was disheartening. She had always wondered if anyone else had her talent but now that she'd found someone that did, she discovered that it didn't mean that much to her. Ray was nice enough but she didn't feel drawn to him romantically, nor did she think he was very ambitious. In fact, she admitted to herself honestly for the first time, he was
dull
. She also didn't think he would ever be able to understand animals as well as she could. Not even close. He seemed content to work the ranch with his father and had voiced no other goals in life. She knew this was going to be a problem if the family stayed at the Sanctuary much longer. He liked her too much, but she felt hardly anything toward him despite their similar and extremely rare talent. It made her want to cry and rail at the unfairness of the universe. She had fantasized so much about meeting a handsome young man who could talk to animals and loved them like she did. They would meet and fall in love and... well, do all sorts of good things. Ray wasn't the one though, she sadly admitted to herself.

She kissed him quickly when they arrived at her home. "I'll see you later. Remember, don't tell anyone. Look my name up and you'll know why." She turned and ran toward the entrance so he wouldn't see the tears trickling down her cheek one after the other, as if they were washing away futile dreams that would never come true.

In bed and remembering that day, she was having more thoughts about it. She shouldn't have told him about her talent or worse, told him to look her up on the internet. She knew already it had been a mistake. She hoped it didn't come back to haunt her. Probably there were crazies who were hackers and followed up on anyone who searched her name. Or wrote computer programs that identified them, more likely, considering how many hits her name garnered. She and her parents were probably leaving soon but he wasn't. She turned over in bed again, wondering whether he should be warned or not, and trying to decide whether to tell her parents. She hated to make stupid decisions and hated even worse having to admit them on the rare occasions when she did. This time, she thought, it would almost certainly be best to tell and accept the consequences, whatever they turned out to be. For all she knew the people who had bugged their home might have bugged his, too, or discover him when he searched her name with Google. Eventually she slept but it was not at all restful. The next morning she felt drained, like a great weight had been pressing down on her while she slept and some of it was still there, making her feel heavy and sluggish.

Elaine joined Samantha after breakfast. She was sitting desultorily on one of the lounge chairs on the porch, wearing a windbreaker against the early chill and drinking a cup of coffee. She sat down beside her daughter and asked, "Sammie, are you looking forward to moving again?" She spoke casually, as if the question meant little, one way or the other.

Samantha was surprised. She wondered how her mother had zeroed in on one of her worries so astutely. "I guess, but it's kind of depressing not knowing what's going to happen. Sometimes I think I'd be happier where I could go to a big school again."

"High school or college?"

She was surprised again. She knew she could handle college. She had proven that already by passing a number of courses on line with no problem at all. The thought of actually attending at her age hadn't occurred to her for some reason. "Could I really start college this young?"

"Of course you could. By the time you were admitted you'd be sixteen. Plenty of students younger than that are attending schools that are very prestigious. Many young teens or even pre-teens are admitted to college. You're certainly smart enough, and already have more than enough background. You've proved you can do the work, even the courses like math and science so many college students have difficulty with."

"I hadn't really thought about it, Mom."

"Then maybe you should start. Your father and I were talking and we don't think the Sanctuary and the home schooling here is really doing you much good any more. Besides which, you've been kind of down in the dumps lately, haven't you?"

"I guess maybe I have. Nothing exciting ever seems to happen around here."