"Caitlin, are you here?" Garrett yelled as he busted in the front door. He threw his arms around her and held her tighter than he ever had before. "Are you okay?" She shrugged. She stared out the kitchen window saying nothing. "Mystique?" he asked, cautiously.
"In the back pasture."
She felt his breath on the back of her neck, but nothing could comfort her now. "Caitlin," he said, rubbing her arms. "Are you sure you're okay?"
"Sure," she said, her voice emotionless. No words would ever describe the intensity of disgust she had for the person who torched her barn and almost destroyed her horse. These were not emotions to put onto Garrett. He had nothing to do with it. The one person who could truly help, refuses to, she thought. Guess I really do have to fight this battle on my own. Where do I go? Where do I look? "What did the police say?"
"Nothing. They'll look into it."
"This is horrible, I admit, and I'm sorry." He saw the lifeless look in her face. "Hey, it's festival weekend. Let's go and enjoy ourselves." Garrett said softly while putting his arms around her.
Caitlin remained still as if she never heard him. With a nudge, she finally glanced his way. A look of stark fear stared back at him. "We'll find who did this." Again she said nothing as she shuffled into the dining room and then the living room. Her gaze darted back and forth between the rooms, taking in every corner, every wall, and all knick-knacks, as if photographing it.
A chill settled over her and she rubbed her arms, creating outer warmth like wearing a sweater, but a chill settled deep in her bones, a place where warmth rarely entered. Her dream from a few weeks ago popped into her mind. There she was in the ground being covered by dirt. The men laughed as they buried her alive. Even though she did not believe in omens, something was telling her to stay home.
"Hey," Garrett said tapping her shoulder. "You need to get out of here for a bit. Let's go to the festival." Light twinkled in his eyes and his crooked smile found the path to her heart and opened the locked place. "Nothing else will happen. I promise."
She nodded. "Go ahead," she said, smiling. "I'll meet you later."
He hesitated but knew from her smile she would keep her word.