Josephine “Joey” Preston
Applejack was the last horse out of the barn, and Joey slapped him on the rump to get him to join the others. She had no idea how Percy was going to explain away the matinee, but it wasn't going to happen. The horses, along with their owners, were too traumatised to even think about competing.
When she reached the barn, the others had formed a line and were saving all of the feed and tack that had been stored in the storage room. Relief ran through her because none of them could afford to replace any of it.
Worry about what started the fire plagued her as she headed for Percy's office. If one of the competitors had been careless, Percy would have no problem dumping the entire fault and financial fallout on whoever it was. She wanted to alert him in case he hadn't heard, and she wanted to get ahead of him starting the blame game. She also needed to make sure he was cancelling that afternoon's rodeo.
She glanced over her shoulder, and it seemed like the smoke had lessened. Drake must have gotten a handle on it and hopefully saved most of the barn.
Without knocking, she yanked the door to Percy's camper open. Usually, she waited for permission but today was no normal day, and this was certainly an emergency situation.
Percy stood by the windows with a couple of his goons while they watched the fire. Except they weren't quite right.
Joey blinked twice and tried to make sense of the scene in front of her. It was like when she saw both of Drake's entities, except this wasn't double vision. They were just... wrong.
They looked like dragons, but not quite. She shook her head. Maybe the smoke had gotten to her. When she peered at them again, they looked like skeleton dragons. Their elongated bodies gyrated and writhed against each other, almost as if they were excited at the scene they were watching. They were so enraptured with the fire, or with each, she couldn't tell, that they didn't realize she stood behind him.
One of the creatures lifted its snout to the ceiling and let out a very inhuman sound, almost like a celebratory sound.
She let out a shriek without meaning to, and they all turned toward her. In a blink, they were fully human again. Percy stepped toward her, and she automatically took a step backwards away from him.
"What are you doing here, Joey?"
She stared into his almost sneering face. Had she just imagined what she saw? Her gut told her no, but her mind begged her to reconsider. She pointed out the window.
"The fire."
"What about it?"
"We got all the horses out. And the gear."
"Good. Then the show can go on as planned."
"Are you crazy?" The words burst from her. "The horses are traumatised. Everyone is scattered. We have to help the Hales figure out what happened."
He took another step toward her, his goons leering at her like they were expecting another show. "I don't believe you've listened to me about staying away from the Hale family."
"How can you say that?" Joey was incredulous, especially as she tried to decipher real from imaginary. "I had literally just left here before I saw the fire. I haven't had time to even speak with the Hale family."
"So my source was incorrect that you kissed Drake before you went to the barn to save the horses?"
She thought about it. It had been such a gut reaction. "It's an emergency situation. I wanted to be sure he was safe."
"And that, Ms. Preston, is why I know that you won't listen to me. Tell Cheryl to pack her bags. She's out." He turned away. "And while you're at it, send Scarlet packing also. If none of you are performing this afternoon, I can easily replace them before we reach Denver."
She almost attacked him. "You can't do that."
"I just did. And if you continue, the entire roster will be empty and my men will be driving the campers while you all stare at each other trying to figure out what happened." He snapped his fingers. "Maybe the Hales will help you out."
She hissed. "You know damned well I won't let that happen. You can't use me against all these people. You need them to earn your money."
"Let me explain something to you, Josephine. I don't need any of you. I don't need this rodeo. It's a means to an end. It's because I enjoy it, and it gets me where I need to be. As far as you people, I couldn't care less."
"What the fuck is wrong with you? Do you not have one shred of human decency?" She paused. "Are you even human?" She was convincing herself that she had actually seen what she thought.
"You are treading on very dangerous ground. But since I'm in a good mood, I'll forgive your indiscretions and reconsider firing the entire entourage. But I suggest you go look over the horses and prepare to pull out. We're leaving now, so that will end this silly little argument of ours. Once we hit Denver, we'll never come back this way."
"Why did we come this way anyhow? We have never done a small show like we did here. Why didn’t we just go straight to Denver? There's no way you can deny that you had an ulterior motive."
