Page 13 of Bryson's Treasure

“She does that often?”

“Almost every night,” Hannah replied. “I catch her talking to him a lot.”

Bryson wanted Lynn to talk to him. He glanced out the window in front of the barn and watched as Lynn and Azadeh continued playing. The sudden urge to be with them came over him. He laid a carrot in the palm of his hand and held it out for Midnight. The horse quickly ate the carrot and licked his hand, wanting more. Bryson patted him on the neck before turning toward the exit.

Hannah walked behind him as he reached for the barn door and pulled it open. Azadeh looked his way when he stepped outside, and she came running toward him and wrapped her arms around his waist. He couldn’t help but smile down at the little girl.

“We were having a snowball fight.”

With each passing day, the hollowness in her blue eyes went away a little. Every so often, he would catch her staring off into space, and the haunted look would return. He knew she would need more sessions with a therapist. Bryson could only do so much, but the time at the ranch had seemed to help.

Lynn stood a few feet away with her hands in her pink snow jacket. Her long brown hair was down with a matching pink hat covering part of it. The slight wind had made her cheeks pink. “Azadeh has a good arm.”

“I used to carry water for the younger girls so they wouldn’t get in trouble.”

Nobody spoke. This was the first time she spoke about what happened when living with her uncle. She had been too young to carry water when she lived with her parents, so she had to be talking about her time with her uncle.

Bryson cleared the emotion from his throat and reached down and playfully squeezed her arms. “Wow, you do have guns on you.”

“I not carry a gun. Only the boys carried a gun.”

He ignored the gasp that came out of Lynn’s mouth. “No, we call muscles in your arms guns. I was talking about how strong you are.”

“Okay. Me not want to carry a gun.”

Bryson wrapped his arms around the young girl and pulled her in tight. Over her head, he watched Lynn quickly wipe tears from her eyes. “I promise you won’t have to carry a gun.”

“Even if Uncle comes for me?”

“He won’t.” Bryson would die before he let anyone take her away from him. If he had to, he would go back to Afghanistan and take care of her uncle himself. The thought had already crossed his mind a couple of times.

Bryson was so focused on the girl, he hadn’t noticed Hannah leave. He was alone with Lynn and Azadeh. Lynn must have also noticed Hannah was gone.

“I had fun playing today. Maybe tomorrow you could help me brush Midnight.”

“Yes.” Azadeh ran and threw her arms around Lynn. “I help.”

Lynn raised her brow. “I’m sorry. I should’ve asked you first if you even had time to come back tomorrow.”

A smile danced on Bryson’s lips. “We’ll be back tomorrow, but we also don’t have anything going on right now. Azadeh is having so much fun already. Do you want to show us how to brush the horses?”

“I would, but I have to take a few supplies out to Percy and Vasquez. They’re working on the fence.” She tilted her head to the side. “You guys could come with if you know how to ride a four-wheeler. I bet Taz would let you use his.”

He looked at Azadeh. “You want to take a ride on a four-wheeler?”

“Four-wheeler?”

Bryson pointed over to the ATV and watched Azadeh’s face light up. “Yes!”

The three were heading toward the ATVs when Bryson heard horse hooves pounding against the cement. Midnight was the only one in the barn, and Bryson knew for sure he was locked up and Hannah had headed toward the house.

Lynn must have heard the same things because she looked back at the barn right as Midnight plowed through his closed door, splintering the wood into a million pieces. The horse’s eyes were wild. Something had spooked him, and there was no stopping him.

Midnight was headed straight for them, and Lynn wasn’t moving her feet. She called the horse’s name, but he didn’t slow down. The horse was picking up speed as it got closer. The thud of his hooves hitting the ground grew louder.

“Run to the house, Azadeh.” Bryson didn’t have to ask twice. Azadeh took off, but Lynn wasn’t moving. Without thinking, he threw his body at Lynn to knock her out of the path of the horse. He twisted in midair so, when they came down, she landed on top of him.

Even with snow covering the ground, it didn’t do much to break his fall. When his back hit the dirt, the wind was knocked out of him. The bruise on his back hadn’t healed from his time overseas, so it added an extra layer of pain.

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