Vintage Woman

Chapter 4

Chapter 4“Jane”

Despite her head no longer pounding as it had the day before, Jane was torn between closing her eyes against the unfamiliar sights out of the car window and being beyond curious. At first, the sheer number of cars on the highway was staggering, and none of them familiar. If she wasn’t crazy, surely something around her would trigger a memory, some sense of who—or where—she was.

And the roads passing one above the other! It had almost made her dizzy when she first saw not only all the cars around her, but some crossing both above, and at one point below, them! It was both terrifying and fascinating at the same time. For just a split second, she had had a vague image flash across her mind, but it wasn’t real, maybe from some cartoon, that had a vague similarity to what she was seeing. It was encouraging in that it seemed to be a memory trying to break through, but it still didn’t explain why she felt almost as though she were on another planet. Was she in a city she’d ever been in before or had she been abducted and deposited someplace far from her own home? Yet she really didn’t want to give Cory more reason to question her sanity by asking where they were, so she’d kept silent on the ride despite the million questions she wished she could ask. And the only information Cory had volunteered was that they were picking someone up at the rodeo.

“It’s probably best if you just stay in the truck.”

“Of course.”

It was weird how her memory was working. She had a general idea what a rodeo was—it wasn’t like she’d forgotten what all things were—so a rodeo must have been something she’d experienced in her life. But this was nothing like what she expected. No dusty fields and men in cowboy hats on horses, but pavement and buildings, with people milling about everywhere she looked. The whole area was fenced, and uniformed guards had demanded to see a pass before they let them through, which felt more like they were entering a prison or military base.

But Cory seemed unperturbed and fortunately it took only a minute or two before he reappeared with a young woman or girl leading a brown horse. Jane felt the truck shift with the horse’s weight as the two of them got the horse to go into the trailer hooked to the back of it. Watching in the side mirror, she saw the girl give Cory a brief hug before disappearing into the building again. She’d looked at Cory curiously though, and for a moment it seemed as if she was about to open the passenger door to introduce herself, but Cory headed her off and for that Jane was immensely grateful. The last thing she wanted was to have to explain to another stranger what she herself didn’t know.

“Time to head back to the house, then.”

From behind them came the sound of the horse stomping, its movements shifting the truck, and Jane was relieved once they were rolling along again, despite the unfamiliarity of the streets and houses. Cory was frustratingly silent on the trip. Jane dared not ask where they were going or what was going to happen once they got there. Best not to encourage Cory to second guess this kind act of chivalry to a complete stranger. The images flying past her window still made her a little nauseous, so she used the time to study her rescuer.

About average height for a guy, Cory had broad shoulders and strong muscular arms. His hands, while bigger than hers, weren’t large but she had felt the calluses on them when he helped her in and out of the truck. Cory’s right hand was resting on the steering wheel as he drove. His fingernails were short, but not neatly trimmed and one of his fingers was crooked. On several others she detected old scars, thin white lines on otherwise deeply tanned skin. Definitely working hands, they appeared strong, confident and capable, and not at all like—like—someone else’s who she had yet to remember.

Dressed the same as yesterday in faded blue jeans and some kind of scuffed-up work boots, his long-sleeved shirt sorely out of any fashion she was familiar with, Cory wasn’t much to look at. Except for his face, maybe. Jane cast several overt glances at him when she was sure he wouldn’t notice. Certainly not what one would call movie star handsome, she finally decided, though that fact somehow gave her comfort. It was more what she’d call a nice face, with warm brown eyes that had looked at her kindly, and a firm but not unkind mouth, with little smile lines at the corners.

It was difficult to determine his age. Obviously an outdoorsman, Cory did not have the unwrinkled skin of youth, but he sported no beard, not even a shadow of one on his strong chin. He must’ve shaved very recently. His brown hair, rather unremarkable in color, was cut in an unusual style, buzzed short on the sides and left longer on the top, long enough to show a slight wave and probably freshly styled that morning. She smiled. It must be the one thing he was proud of, for he certainly hadn’t paid any other aspect of his appearance the same attention.

“Are you done with your inspection?” His words, while more amused than unkind, startled her, even more so when she realized that now she was the one being inspected. She felt her face grow warm and quickly looked away, feigning great interest in the countryside now passing by.

“I’m simply taking in the scenery. It’s quite lovely now that we’re out of the city. Um, where did you say your home is located?” Despite her earlier reticence to appear ignorant, it may be prudent to know where she was being taken, should anything be amiss and she needed to inform authorities. Though honestly, she felt undeniably safe with Cory.

“Boerne. Have you been there be—? Never mind. We don’t live in the city part of it anyway. We live on what’s left of my granddad’s ranch.” A shadow crossed his face and was gone again before he continued. “It’s just my mom and me now. My grandpa died, oh, I don’t know how long ago. My grandma more recently.”

No wife, then, and no children. He must be younger than she thought. Surely if he’d had a wife pass away, he would have mentioned that loss as well. Divorced, perhaps? Also seemed unlikely, but one never knew. At any rate, it was a relief to know that she would not be completely alone with Cory. Surely the presence of an older woman could only be beneficial. Unless it was the mother that drove off women in the past.

“I’m sorry. Er, about the loss of your grandmother. Grandparents.” She swallowed. At least she was getting some information out of him. She struggled to think of a topic that would not cause him to lapse into silence once more. “Do you have other horses?”

“Yes. A couple. One that I’m riding, and then of course Cheyenne, plus a few retired ones. Oh, and we also have a donkey. He originally belonged to some neighbors but then he got chewed up really bad by their dogs to where he almost died and, well, we took care of him and somehow just never gave him back.”

He looked almost defensive at that, ready to growl at anyone who disputed his ownership of the donkey, and something told Jane that it had been Cory who’d saved the poor beast. She hoped that he didn’t see her as some sorry, beat-up creature that he was honor-bound to take pity on, but what else was she? Anyway, if not for that particular tendency of his, she might still be wandering the streets, or worse, lying in one of them.

Under different circumstances, it would be fun to be going to this man’s ranch and seeing the animals. Jane didn’t sense that she’d ever been on a horse, but they certainly were beautiful. What little girl didn’t dream of having a horse one day? Another image flashed through her mind, one of tying a bicycle to a fence as though it were a horse. A memory returning? Something she’d seen? No, it felt as though she were there. It was blue and white, and she could feel the heat radiating off the metal handlebars. Maybe seeing the horses would trigger more memories. It did seem as though they were trying to come back, slowly.

All of a sudden the truck rattled and shook—in the side mirror she saw they’d driven over some evenly spaced metal pipes in the ground—and when they approached another one she steadied herself first. The dirt road curved, and behind some trees that sheltered it from view, there was a small one-story house. A bit behind it and off to the left sat a second house of approximately the same size and style. Some distance from the houses were a few other buildings, obviously not dwellings for people. One was mainly a roof on wooden supports, with blue tarps stretched across three sides. Cory pulled the truck up to one of the structures and turned it around.

“Got to let Cheyenne out first.” Without waiting for any affirmation on her part, Cory jumped out of the truck and soon was leading the horse past the building and up to a fence behind which she saw several other horses waiting.

“Apache! Get out of the way, will you?” He undid a gate and somehow got the brown horse in without letting the tan horse out. Two other horses were watching from a distance but she didn’t see the donkey.

“I’ll feed them later. Let’s get you in the house first, so you can get, em, settled.”

Looking at the expanse of uneven ground between the truck and the houses, she took in a breath and slowly released it, then opened the plastic bag on her lap containing her shoes. She removed the ugly yellow socks given to her at the hospital and slipped the broken shoe on her left foot. She held out the unbroken one to Cory.

“If you don’t mind, do you think you could break the heel off this one so I have a matched set? I’m not in the mood for a return visit to the hospital for a broken ankle.”

“Crap! I totally forgot about that.” Looking a bit chagrined, Cory took the shoe and neatly snapped off the heel. “Actually I can do one better.” He dug around behind the seat. “My niece forever leaves these in the truck.” He produced a pair of flip-flops, presenting them to her like some kind of trophy.

She smiled as a brief image of the ocean crossed her mind, hearing the calls of gulls, the scent of cocoa butter pungent in her nostrils. A little oversized, she nonetheless slipped into the offered footwear and slid to the ground, remembering to release the seatbelt this time.

“Thanks. Getting off a horse must be a lot like getting out of your truck. But it seems to be less challenging the more I do it.” Jane turned to Cory with a serious expression. “I’m sorry for acting so helpless. Honestly, I don’t think this is typical behavior for me. I promise, as soon as I can remember where I belong, I’ll be out of your hair.”

Cory looked skeptical, but the little snatches of images she was experiencing gave her hope that her memory would be returning in full soon. Heading toward the closer of the two houses, she struggled to keep up with Cory’s confident stride. “I haven’t properly thanked you for all you’ve done. Maybe once we’re settled I can make dinner for you. Would you like that? Or does your mother cook for you?”

“Sometimes. Oh, there she is now.”

An older woman was coming around one of the houses holding a bucket. She smiled widely when she spotted Cory. “I see you’ve brought back Cheyenne.” Her eyes travelled up and down Jane, more curiously than with any trace of animosity. “And who’s your friend?”

Cory shifted nervously and cleared his throat, obviously unsure how to answer the question. Jane stepped forward confidently and extended her hand toward the older woman. “Hello, ma’am. I’m Evelyn Brubaker. Pleased to meet you!”