Page 114 of Red Mountain Burning
Margot winked at him and held up her flashy diamond. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Carly came walking back up with several stalks of Swiss chard. “Do you think Elvis likes chard?”
“Try him.”
Carly stuck a stalk toward his face, and Elvis twisted toward her and flashed his giant front teeth before chomping down.
She giggled. “I’d say so.”
* * *
Margot rode a moresoutherly route on the way back, and once they’d reached a plateau, she said, “Elvis, how about we push the pedal down for a minute?”
As Shay had taught her, she clicked with her tongue and gave the horse a light squeeze with her legs. Elvis responded and broke into a trot.
Margot let out a yelp as they let loose through the vines. Her heart soared, and she wondered how she’d gone this long without this exhilarating feeling in her life. The smile that painted her face was so powerful she felt like the flowers and vines were standing taller, perhaps even saluting her, as she passed.
She gave Elvis another squeeze, and he sped up. Margot nearly lost her balance but fell back into the rhythm, completely focused on the cadence. Once she settled in, it was as if she were floating on air. Even at a full-on gallop, she felt stable and free.
What a life lesson this was, the idea of finding peace by letting go, even at the breakneck speed of life. When she heard Elvis pant, she pulled back, and he slowed down to a trot and then a walk.
Margot imagined this is what it felt like to reach the ground after a skydive. “Was that as good for you as it was for me?” she asked, patting his neck.
Elvis snorted satisfaction. She thought back to the shape he’d been in when he’d first arrived. His blindness had been the least of his issues. He’d walked with a limp, and his skin had sagged.
“Look at you, Elvis. May we all live life with such grace.”
She removed her hat and let her head drop back, letting the sun bathe her face. She closed her eyes and let Elvis steer for a little while, knowing he didn’t need his eyes to find the way home.This was the life indeed, Margot thought.
Riding up the next hill, she realized she’d come upon Till Vineyards. Otis’s cottage stood on a gentle slope to the right, his back deck facing her. She suddenly heard thebahsof his sheep as they came into view. Up the hill and to the right past the sheep and cottage, she could see his winery. Nowhere else on the mountain looked more European. It was as if she were riding Elvis through Priorat in Spain.
It was impossible not to think about all that Otis and Joan had been through. She thought of her friend in Richland still on the deck watching the river run, letting Joni Mitchell ease her troubles.
Riding farther toward Sunset Road, Château Smooth came into view. Every time she left her house to go into town, Margot passed by it, and she’d watched as the gold driveway had dried and as they’d painted the stucco a hot pink. The winery stuck out like a cartoon character in a bar, and Margot could understand Otis’s frustrations. From what she could tell, Château Smooth wasn’t too far from opening its doors.
It really was a shame, Margot thought. But what do you do? So far, Château Smooth didn’t seem to be affecting her business. The wines on the mountain were still just as good. It’s just that people saw this incredibly tacky hot-pink palace as one of the first sights upon entering Red Mountain.
“It’s another thing for the people to talk about,” she said to Elvis. “I guess that’s what it comes down to. We’d all get bored if we didn’t have all these surprises popping up.”
Margot was about to turn left and ride home when she noticed the beginnings of a wall rising in between Till Vineyards and Château Smooth. Riding closer, she saw several pallets of concrete block, and then she saw Otis. He lifted one of the blocks off a pallet and, hunched over, carried it toward the wall. Fitting it over a piece of rebar, he lowered it down and then aligned it with the others.
Even from this far away, she could see the sadness of him, almost like he was withering away. Thinking of all he’d been through, she tugged on the reins and went in his direction.
