If you like

Gage looks at his glass skeptically for a moment, raising it close to his face to smell the drink that was new to him. Seeing Sapphire taking a sip, he dares to do the same. The thickness and richness surprise him and he lifts his eyebrows, smacking his lips a little as he savors the flavor.

"That's pretty good. I... think I like it." A grin appears as he sees Sapphire's mustache. Reaching out with his thumb, he wipes it from her upper lip. "Why don't they have it year 'round?"


"Mmm... I'll be staying as long as it takes to know you're gonna be okay." Jeff winks at Katie. "I'll be around for a bit. They got a nice room here with a cot that suits me just fine."

Jason turns his head to try and see Katie, just trying to figure everything out. He still felt pretty tired, but most of his emotions were somewhere near confusion and frustration than anything else.

Rick moves about, making sure they're comfortable and helping both of them to the point where eventually they can sit up and talk a little easier. For the first time, Jason realizes that not only is his own hand bandaged, but Katie's opposite hand is bandaged as well. "Rick... we both hurt our hands?"

Rick nods and wanders slowly between the beds. He exchanges a look with Jeff, who knew about the strange injuries. "Yes... yes you did."

Something seems odd... I don't know why he won't just tell us what happened.
"Care to explain?"

Rick takes a deep breath, setting his hands in the pockets of his lab coat. "Well... it's kind of hard to explain. Maybe you know more than I do."

"I don't understand."

"Neither do I." Rick sits down on the edge of Jason's bed and takes the injured hand. Unwrapping the bandage, he then removes the gauze slowly. The burn was healing - it had been under his attention for over a week. But it was a bad enough burn that it would no doubt scar.

It still hurt a bit, and Jason spreads his fingers, bringing his hand back to stare at his palm.
What on earth... it's... I don't....
He looks up and turns his head to see Katie. She was still a bit blurry, but he finds her eyes then slowly reveals his palm. The spiral pattern was very clearly marked.

Before anyone can ask questions, Rick removes Katie's bandage as well. It was just as far along with healing, though he knew it was still pretty tender, so he's gentle and slow. But when he turns it over for Katie to see, it shows that it's a mirrored pattern, exactly the same as Jason's.

Jason's eyes widen a little.
How...

Rick clears his throat. "If you're looking for answers, I don't have them. The best I can come up with is that your emotions, Jason, were funneled to Katie at such a rate and with such force that it burned both of you. And the pattern... your guess is as good as mine."

What happened, Katie? I don't understand. I did this? But why? How did it form such a precise pattern? It's... scary.


Sparky chuckles. "Yeah... once you're around horses a few years, you kinda get used to these things. Most importantly is that the horses respect their handlers. After that, it's not so tough."

For a moment, he just looks at Faith, finally daring enough to really take in her features and study her face.

"Come on inside." Motioning for her to follow him, he continues leading the way into the barn. He points out a few of the horses, and introduces her to a few of he other guys. At one point, he has to climb up into the hayloft but he keeps up the small talk, speaking loudly so Faith can hear him down below.

"...so they get enough exercise during the day, then some of 'em we bring in again at night..." A hay bale comes flying down from the loft, landing with a thud a safe distance from Faith. Little bits of alfalfa scatter across the floor. "...'course when there's bad weather, we bring all of them in. Most of the stalls get filled up. Right now we've got a few more horses than we need, but Mick's been working training them to sell. Or should I say, I have the last week or so." Another bale comes down.

It only takes a few minutes for twenty bales to come down and Sparky descends the ladder. Adjusting his cowboy hat, he sets to work stacking the bales, easily throwing them up one on top of the other arranging them with skill. "Some days though, all we got time to do is clean stalls. It's worth it in the end though. Some people can't stand the work, smells or hassles but..."

Sparky pauses, setting his hands on his hips, breathing a little heavily from the work. "...I like it."

A little gray mare sticks her head over her stall door and smells the air in Faith's direction. Sparky grins. "And this little girl here..." He moves over to scratch the mare's cheek lovingly. "She's one of the sweetest one's we've got. She learns quick and she's patient." Reaching in his pocket, he pulls out half a carrot he'd been saving and lets the mare crunch happily on it.

"Sparky, you wanna finish before or after supper tonight?" Clint was done in the shop for the day and had started helping out in the barn.

"Uh... doesn't matter. It's supposed to be pretty cold after dark tonight though, so lets plan on trying to get it done before supper."

"Alright. Oh, and Luke wondered about the south pasture. Fence is down again."

"I'll get Dan on it tomorrow." Sparky heaves a sigh as he sets his hands on his hips and looks around the barn. He glances back to Faith, hoping he wasn't making her feel in the way. For the last week, he'd been the one the hands had come to for direction, so it got a little busy around chore time. "I gotta bring in a few of the horses now. You can keep tagging along if you want."