Serial Stories

Dec 02 2022

Magpie Shiny, Chapter 13

Author: Jamie DeBree

This story will be moving to a free email subscription soon. Stay tuned!

This story is posted weekly in draft form. Need to catch up? Here are links to the previous chapters:
Ch 1 | Ch 2 | Ch 3 | Ch 4 | Ch 5 | Ch 6 | Ch 7 | Ch 8 | Ch 9 | Ch. 10 | Ch. 11 | Ch. 12 |

Chapter 13

When they got to the chute area, Maddie bobbed her head every which way, peering through the steel fence panels as she tried to get a better look. When she turned to look at Lauren with a victorious grin, pointing back through the fencing to a plaid-wearing back that gave her a familiar thrill just to look at. She’d recognize it anywhere. Shirt on or off.

“It’s him, mom! Let’s go!”

She turned around and ran before Lauren could stop her. Luckily, a tall, older man in worn cowboy boots, dusty wranglers, a red plaid shirt and a somewhat crumpled dark brown Stetson stepped in front of her before she could run haphazardly through the livestock loading area.

“Whoa there, young lady. Where are you off to in such a hurry?”

Maddie came to a short stop. The man’s face was wrinkled and permanently tanned from years baking under the hot sun, and his eyes tired, but Lauren would have known him anywhere, if not by sight, by his mid-range, somewhat gruff tone.

“Hi Bill.” Lauren stepped forward, putting a hand on Maddie’s shoulder. “Good to see you again.”

Bill looked at Lauren, and he didn’t exactly smile, but she thought there might have been a tiny spark of curiosity in his gaze. Colter’s dad never had been one to show much outward emotion.

“Lauren.” He nodded, a typical greeting for his type. “This your girl?”

“Bill Brennigan, I’d like you to meet my daughter Maddie. Maddie, this is Colter’s dad, Bill.”

Maddie looked at Bill with wide eyes, as if she were unsure about the gruff man standing in front of her and blocking her path. Lauren didn’t often see her shy side, but instead of her normal bubbly greeting, Maddie simply gave him a tentative wave. Bill cocked his head to the side, his eyes narrowing as he took in her features.

Bill snorted. “Have you talked to Colter yet? Does he know?”

Lauren nodded. “He does – we were just going to go see him. Maddie wanted to congratulate him on his ride.”

Bill gave her a long look, and then looked away with a sigh. When he looked at her again, his expression had softened.

“You two better come by for dinner. Tomorrow night – I’ll tell Darla. Be there by four so I can give Maddie the tour before we eat.” He bent down slightly to address Maddie. “And you need to slow down when you’re around livestock. Anything that stands tall on four legs can and will kick, so be careful, and don’t go around the backside of a horse without giving it plenty of room and making noise the whole time so it knows you’re there. Understand?”

Maddie nodded. “Yes, sir.”

He straightened. “You can call me Grandpa.” He turned and pointed toward Colter’s red flannel shirt. “Your dad’s over there. Fast walk, don’t run, and stay away from hooves.”

Maddie scooted past him and as soon as she was behind him, ran toward Colter. Lauren watched her go, and then realized Bill was still there, staring at her.

“You stickin’ around?” The question was casual, but Lauren sensed it was more than what it seemed.

“For awhile.” She looked away. “I gave up this life for a reason. I’m not really sure if I want it back permanently or not, but we’ll be here for a few months, at least.”

She looked back at Bill, who shifted so he could see Maddie talking to Colter. He sighed, and then looked Lauren straight in the eye.

“You may not feel like you belong here, but she does. And if Colter wants to make sure she stays, we’ll back him up all the way.” He gave her a quick nod and then walked past. He might as well have hit her in the gut.

Not once when she’d thought about bringing Maddie back and introducing her to her dad had she considered that Colter or his parents would challenge her for custody. But Colter probably had just as much right to Maddie as she did. He damn sure had more money. The very thought made her want to get Maddie, jump in the car and drive as far and as fast as she could away from this place.

Except right now, the valley was the only place she could be certain Mike couldn’t get to her.

Overwhelmed and suddenly exhausted, Lauren went to where Maddie was talking to Colter, and tapped the girl on the shoulder.

“Ready to go? I told your grandmas we’d be home by six, so we’d better start heading their way.”

Maddie’s face fell, but Colter’s eyes narrowed just like his dad’s. “What’s wrong?” he asked. He always had been too observant for her good.

She shook her head. “Nothing. I’m just tired, and ready to go home.” She couldn’t meet his eyes. Didn’t even want to think about him taking her baby away, even though rationally, she knew it was unlikely. “Come on, Maddie. Say goodbye. We’ll see him again tomorrow.”

Or not, if Lauren had her way.

Maddie was quiet as they walked out of the fairgrounds, and Lauren knew the girl had to be exhausted too. It had been a long day with a lot of new people and experiences involved, and they’d both probably think better on a full stomach and a good night’s sleep.

“I like it here,” Maddie said as they got into the car. “I don’t want to leave again.”

Lauren nodded as she started the engine. “We’ll stay for a few months, at least. I can’t promise you anything after that, but I can promise you that much.”

Maddie’s lower lip stuck out in a pout, and she crossed her arms over her chest as Lauren pulled out of the parking lot.

“Why do you hate this place so bad? Everyone’s so nice, and they all have houses and land and animals and everyone knows everyone else. Why would you even want to leave?”

“It’s a long story, and I’m tired.” Lauren sighed, glancing at the sullen pre-teen beside her. “Can we talk about it tomorrow?”

“Whatever.”

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Nov 18 2022

Magpie Shiny: Chapter 12

Author: Jamie DeBree

Note: There will be no serial installment next Friday, November 25th. The next installment will be posted December 2nd.

This story is posted weekly in draft form. Need to catch up? Here are links to the previous chapters:
Ch 1 | Ch 2 | Ch 3 | Ch 4 | Ch 5 | Ch 6 | Ch 7 | Ch 8 | Ch 9 | Ch. 10 | Ch. 11 |

Chapter 12

The roar of the crowd got louder as they approached the outdoor arena, and a cloud of red dust hung suspended in the air . Lauren felt at least fifty percent lighter than she had when she left her parents house that morning. She been so anxious at how everyone would act when she saw them, and though they’d all clearly had some concerns, it was beyond anything she’d expected for them to take her in, sit with her, and allow her to have some time to re-acclimate.

She’d need to get together with Vinnie and Beth when they could talk freely, and soon. She owed them that much, but it was more than paying a debt. She wanted them to know how sorry she was for the way she’d treated them.

The old wooden bleachers she and Colter had spent too much time underneath in high school had been replaced with a newer, more durable set made of metal. As they began climbed the stairs to claim a seat near the center of the arena, two cowboys were on horseback in the ring, each coiling up a rope while the calf that had been laying between them got up and with a little hazing from one of the cowboys, trotted towards the other end of the arena where a third cowboy swung a big central gate open and let both calf and ropers in.

“That’s not bronc riding, is it?” Maddie pointed at the gate where the three had disappeared. “Because that looks way different than I’d pictured it in my head.”

Lauren shook her head and chuckled. No. They’re team roping. One of them ropes the head, and the other the hind legs.

Mattie wrinkled her nose. “Why would they want to do that? Doesn’t it hurt the cow?”

Lauren shook her head again and held one hand up to shield her eyes from the sun. “Cows are pretty tough – even the babies. Out on the pasture, they might have to rope a calf or cow to provide medical treatment, or apply a brand or an ear tag. Team roping turns that into a competition.” She peered to her left, noting that the cowboys were setting up for saddle broncs next.

“Does Dad have to do that on his ranch?” Maddie looked concerned, and Lauren realized she’d been remiss in teaching her daughter about rural life. This was definitely going to be an eye-opening experience for the girl.

Lauren shrugged. “Probably. They have ranch hands to do most of that kind of work, but I’m sure your dad helps out when he’s needed.” She pointed toward the chutes. “Look.” Lauren pointed to the chutes at the end of the arena. “They’re getting the broncs ready. Your dad will be up soon.”

Maddie looked, her eyes going wide as the horse in the first chute reared up, kicking the metal railing in the small space. Once all four feet were presumably on the ground again, a cowboy in a white shirt and a dusty brown cowboy hat climbed up from the side and settled carefully into the small saddle on the horse’s back.

“That horse looks dangerous,” Maddie said as the horse moved and jerked the under the rider in the chute. “Is he gonna be able to ride it?”

Lauren shrugged. “That’s the challenge. That horse will come out of the chute bucking, and the cowboy’s job is to stay on for eight seconds. He only gets one rein to hold onto, and he can’t touch the horse or his own body with his free hand.”

Maddie’s eyebrows went up higher. “Isn’t that dangerous? Why do they do that?”

“Well, when you raise a horse or capture a wild horse, if you want to ride it, you have to get it used to carrying something on its back. That’s called breaking a horse. The first time you put something on it, or get in the saddle, it’s gonna buck and carry on a bit before it figures out you aren’t trying to hurt it. So this competition is a simulation of that. Cowboys do it for the same reason we all do a lot of things – to see if they can, and to see who’s the best.”

They looked back toward the chutes, where a cowboy was in the arena now, holding a long rope attached to the chute door taunt. The announcer said the name of the rider – no one Lauren recognized – and with a nod of the rider’s hat, the chute door was open and the horse came out bucking.

Maddie gasped as the bronc bucked and the rider spurred, one arm up high in the air, spinning round in circles for a few long seconds until a particularly nasty kick-twist combo sent him flying through the air and crashing into the dirt. A rodeo clown jumped in front of the rider as he lay on the ground while two horsemen galloped into the arena and right up on either side of the bronco, grabbing the halter and guiding it out the gate at the far end of the arena.

The rider got up, dusted himself off with his hat and tipped it to the cheering crowd before settling it back on his head and hobbling back out behind the chutes.

The announcer called over the loudspeaker, “And next up, hometown hero Colter Brennigan riding one of the premiere broncs on the circuit this year, Dusty Knickers!”

Maddie looked at Lauren, fear in her young eyes. “Oh no! Mom, he’s up next! We have to stop him!”

Lauren reached for her daughter’s hand and squeezed it. “Honey, Colter’s been doing this since he was just a little older than you are now. It’s in his blood. He’ll be okay – just wait and see. He wanted you to see him ride, remember? This is something he loves. Something he wants to share with you. Just watch this once, and if you hate it, you never have to watch again. Deal?”

They looked back just in time to see Colter tip his hat, and the chute door fly open. The dappled gray horse he was on put up one hell of a fight, spinning and twirling and kicking up its heels, but Colter held on all the way to the buzzer, sending the crowd into a veritable frenzy of cheers and screams. The excitement was palpable as the two horsemen rode up alongside him and one helped him over onto their saddle while the other led the bronc out of the arena.

“Did he do it? Did he win? What does that mean?” Maddie was yelling, though Lauren didn’t think she realized it. She grinned and nodded.

“He did it. He stayed on for all eight seconds. Everyone else gets to ride before they pick the winner though, so we won’t know if he won until the end.”

The girl frowned. “That’s gonna take forever! Can we go talk to him? Pretty please?” She was already out of her seat and pushing Lauren’s knees out of the way. Knowing there was no reasoning with her at this point, Lauren sighed and stood up, following her daughter down the stairs. She grabbed her shoulders when they reached the bottom, and led her under the bleachers so they could avoid the crowds as they walked to the end of the arena.

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Nov 11 2022

Magpie Shiny: Chapter 11

Author: Jamie DeBree

This story is posted weekly in draft form. Need to catch up? Here are links to the previous chapters:
Ch 1 | Ch 2 | Ch 3 | Ch 4 | Ch 5 | Ch 6 | Ch 7 | Ch 8 | Ch 9 | Ch. 10

Chapter 11

An hour later, Beth was pretty well caught up on the last ten years of Lauren‘s life in pictures, minus the more recent parts she’d intentionally left out. Maddie was getting restless, and the Star-Spangled Banner was playing faintly in the background.

“Mom, is dad riding yet? We said we’d watch him ride in the rodeo.” Dust swirled around them as the wind picked up, and Maddie leaned on the table, her chin melting off the slender hand just barely holding it up. Preteen speak for I’m going to die of boredom any second now.

Beth looked from Maddie to Lauren and raised an eyebrow. “Does he know yet?”

Lauren nodded. “I told him right before Vinnie found us. I told him we’d come watch him ride this afternoon.” She started gathering her things, and Maggie jumped out of her seat, clearly more than ready to do something different.

“I bet that was a fun conversation.” Beth looked at Maddie again and shook her head with a grin. “You really do look just like your father.”

Maddie nodded and rolled her eyes. “I know. Everyone says that.” She moved tugged at Lauren’s sleeve. “Come on mom!”

Vinnie laughed, collecting the paper plates and cups from the table. “Wow! This really is your first rodeo isn’t it, kiddo?” She deposited the tableware in a large garbage bin a few feet away from the table and replaced the lid.

Maddie nodded her head vigorously. “Yes, it is! I don’t want to miss it!”

“Okay, okay.” Lauren looked at her two best friends, and was hit with a wave of mixed feelings. She normally prided herself on not being sentimental, but being together with these two again made her feel happy and sad all at the same time. She wished that her younger self would’ve valued her friendships more. Maybe things would’ve been easier. Or maybe she’d have done things differently.

“We need to get together again soon”, she said. “I didn’t realize how much I missed this.”

Vinnie and Beth both pulled her in for a hug and they all laughed, trying not to cry. “I’m glad you had your adventure,” Vinnie said. “But I really hope you stick around this time. Or at least keep in touch if you don’t.”

“I second that,” Beth said. “Things aren’t the same without you around here. You should come out to the caverns soon, and bring Maddie. I’ll give you guys the special behind-the-scenes tour.“

Lauren nodded. “Absolutely – that sounds great.”

“Mo-om!” Maddie grabbed her arm, hopping from one foot to the other, clearly at the very end of her patience. “Can we please go now?”

“Okay – let’s go.” She laughed, taking Maddie’s hand and allowing the girl to pull her out of Vinnie’s booth. “See you later,” she called, an odd sensation in her gut of having called out the same thing to these same friends in almost the exact same spot the night she’d skipped town. “I promise,” she added, seeing a flash of the same recognition on their faces too.

Maddie started to pull her back through the midway, and Lauren dug in her heels, earning a dirty look. “I appreciate your enthusiasm, but were going the wrong way.” She laughed as Maddie immediately switched directions and pulled her back past a chuckling Vinnie and Beth, and towards the arena at the end of the midway.

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Nov 04 2022

Magpie Shiny: Chapter 10

Author: Jamie DeBree

This story is posted weekly in draft form. Need to catch up? Here are links to the previous chapters:
Ch 1 | Ch 2 | Ch 3 | Ch 4 | Ch 5 | Ch 6 | Ch 7 | Ch 8 | Ch 9

Chapter 10

“Do you know I’ve never set foot outside this valley?” Beth settled into the chair by Maddie and stole one of the girl’s French fries. “You must be Maddie,” she said, smiling at the girl and stealing another fry. “I’ve been looking forward to meeting you.” Her long, straight straw hair blew in the breeze, held back only by the teal scarf she wore tied around her forehead, nineteen seventies-style. Her white cotton blouse was loose and flowing, with a simple scoop-neck collar and teal raglan sleeves. And she was still rail-thin in those hip-skimming acid-washed Levi’s, damn it. Lauren tried not to be envious, but it had been a long time since her own hip-bones had disappeared into her cellulite.

Maddie giggled. “My mom said sometimes you know things without anyone telling you. Is that how you knew about me?”

Laure gave Maddie a warning look. “I told you we don’t talk about that.” Beth laughed and Vinnie joined in.

“I think we can make an exception for your daughter,” Beth said, her eyes glazing ever so slightly. “She’s family.” Turning back to Maddie, she nodded. “I do know things, sometimes not the exact thing, but I have a sense. As long as you don’t try to keep secrets from me, we’ll get along just fine.”

It was Maddie’s turn to nod, vigorously. “Mom told me that, too. I’ll try to remember. Do you want to get your own fries?”

All the women laughed, and Vinnie called out for Kevin to bring another order of fries. Lauren raised an eyebrow at Beth.

“What you have to do in order to be able to leave the valley?”

Beth rolled her eyes. “Oh, not much. Just get pregnant, have a kid, raise the kid, and then hand over my duties to said kid just when he or she is getting old enough to…you know. Want a life. It shouldn’t take more than a few decades.”

“Do you have a man picked out? Because the last I looked there were no fertility clinic clinics here in the Valley.” Vinnie winced, as Lauren checked her in the arm with the fist. “What? There won’t be any handing–kids–over–to–their–own–gruesome–fate unless there’s a man around to help kick it all off.” She thought for a second, then tilted her head and gave Beth a curious look. “Unless you can do something about that that we can’t.“

Beth shook her head, and rolled her eyes. “Yes, I need a man. And no, I don’t have one picked out. Hence the source of my current depression and the abbreviated store hours. I’m bored, I’m tired, and I can’t even take a vacation.” Kevin set a fresh plate of fries in front of her, and she looked at him like he was her very own sun and moon. “Thank you. It’s been way too long since I had good fries.”

“Does Silas have any ideas?” Lauren asked, stifling a grin as Maddie stole one of Beth’s fries. “Isn’t there always a loophole of some sort in these things?”

Beth smacked Maddie‘s fingers lightly as the girl reached for another fry. “He’s gone through all the books and documentation he has, and I’ve gone through all mine too. There’s just no way around it that we can see. If I leave the valley without having a blood heir in place, then bad things will happen.”

“What kind of bad things?” Maddie asked.

Lauren answered quickly before anyone else could. “It doesn’t matter, because Beth isn’t going anywhere until this is sorted out. Isn’t that right, Beth?”

Beth sighed heavily, picking up the last fry from her plate and offering to Maddie. “No, I’m not going anywhere. Not anytime soon.” She wiped her fingers and took a sip of Maddie’s Coke. “Which is why you have to tell me everything about the time that you spent away from us. I want to hear every detail, every little smell and taste and piece of art that you saw. You brought pictures, right?“

Lauren laughed, and nodded, reaching into her purse for her phone. “Of course,” she said. “Maddie and I would be more than happy to tell you both all about life in Denver. Or most of it, anyways.” She pulled up the photo gallery on her phone. “What do you want to see first? My first apartment? Baby pictures? Or the gym where I worked and practically lived?”

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Oct 28 2022

Magpie Shiny, Chapter 9

Author: Jamie DeBree

This story is posted weekly in draft form. Need to catch up? Here are links to the previous chapters:
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Vinnie’s fair booth looked the same as it had when her mom was running it. Set up like a horse corral right there in the sparse grass at the side of the paved walkway, it was ringed with a split-log fence, and the entrance was a high archway made of what appeared to be two huge logs standing on end with brands stamped around the circumference. A wide sign suspended between them proclaimed it The Prairie Dog Hotel & Saloon in fancy, burned-in old time lettering. Lauren remembered back to middle school, when they’d helped Vinnie’s mom make the faux logs for the arch the first year she’d rented a booth. Chicken wire, canvas, and a lot of brown paint. She, Vinnie and Beth had all been covered in it when they were done, and Colter had given Lauren hell for a week about being a “brown-noser”.

Simpler times.

At the back of the booth, there was a big cedar plank bar propped up on three old whiskey barrels, manned by what appeared to be a twenty-something guy with blond, spiky hair, a Godsmack t-shirt and jeans. Behind that there was a wooden facade that Lauren knew hid a modern tap system for the handles that showed on the front. On the right side of the bar, a cash register sat waiting, and all the way to the left a huge grill smoked as another employee with long blue hair and a very large Prairie Dog on the back of her shirt flipped burgers over flames and rotated hot dogs into the warmer on her end of the bar.

The tables were round card tables covered in a woodgrain contact paper, with matching chairs pulled up around them. A few barstools sat on the customer side of the bar, and Vinnie had added a wide canvas sail over top that provided shade from the back of the tap wall all the way to the front posts of the entrance.

“The shade is a really nice addition,” Lauren said, as they went through the archway. A light breeze drifted through the space, and she batted at a fly that buzzed near her head. “We could have used this in high school, when we were the ones back there flipping burgers.”

Vinnie nodded, looking around and nodding to the person manning the bar. “It definitely helps on these hot afternoons. I don’t handle the heat as well as I used to, and it’s not much more effort to set up and tear down.”

“Can we sit at the bar, Mom?” Maddie tugged at Lauren’s sleeve.

Lauren shook her head, pointing to a table close to the front of the booth. “No, let’s sit here. Then we can watch all the people walking by.” She looked at Vinnie as she slid down into the chair next to Maddie. “Is Beth here? Does she have her normal booth too?”

“She does.” Vinnie’s face showed concern. “It’s inside this year though. When is the last time you talked to her?” Her tone seemed a little off, like she wanted to say something, but shouldn’t.

Lauren thought about it. “Probably not since the last time I talked to you, or close to. Is she really mad? Like…don’t-go-near-her mad?”

Vinnie held one finger up and turned to look at the blond server. “Kevin, will you please bring us a hot dog, a burger, and a coke?” She turned to Lauren. “She can have pop, right? And do you want anything? We have hot dogs, burgers, soft drinks and beer.”

Lauren nodded. “Coke is fine – I’ll take one too, actually. And a burger – I’m starving.”

“Add another burger and another coke to that,” Vinnie relayed to Kevin, who nodded and got to work. Her expression grew serious as she turned her attention back to the conversation. “Beth has become more reclusive lately. Sometime this spring, it was like a switch flipped. When I tried to ask her about it, she wouldn’t talk. Now her store is only open a few days a week, and people are saying but she’s not friendly and that they hate asking her for things, which is really weird since normally everyone loves her.”

Beth had always been the popular one of the group, since they were kids. She was a great listener, had an uncanny way of knowing just what an individual needed, and most of the time, she could either provide it to them in a form that made sense to them, or tell them where to find it. She was older than either Lauren or Vinnie, though she wouldn’t say by how much. They both knew her family history though – they were two of the very few who did – and it was one of those ‘stranger than fiction’ kind of true stories. All very mysterious, yet Beth managed to make it seem normal.

“Probably a man,” Lauren said as Kevin came over with their drinks. “Men are nothing but trouble, and they are a known cause of depression, heartburn, and general malaise. And those are the ones we actually like!”

Vinnie laughed, and so did Maddie, though the poor girl was still innocent in that regard, thank goodness.

“You’re probably right on,” Vinnie said. “I just wish there was something we could do to help her. She’s done so much for us. I hate to see her so down.”

A shadow fell across the table and they looked up to see who was walking by so close on the other side of the fence. Lauren’s mouth went wide as she recognized Beth, and hastily stood up to hug her awkwardly over the fence.

“Beth! It’s so good to see you! Can you join us for lunch?”

She nodded and came through the arch, pulling up the empty chair at their table. “And it’s not a man. Or, not directly, anyways. It’s the lack of one that has me worried.”

***

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Oct 21 2022

Magpie Shiny, Chapter 8

Author: Jamie DeBree

This story is posted weekly in draft form. Need to catch up? Here are links to the previous chapters:
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Lauren grinned at Vinnie as they watched Colter walk away. The man filled out his Wranglers better now than he had as a kid, that’s for sure. 

“So you two still get along the same as always, I guess.” 

Vinnie shook her head with a thoughtful smile. “We get along okay – we tease. But Beth and I always kind of thought he might have been the reason you left, so we may have held that against him a bit. I’m actually surprised to see you so friendly with each other. You lookin’ to pick up where you left off all those years ago?” 

“Well,” Lauren looked at Maddie, who was running toward her with the poor goldfish she’d set out to win in a bag. “There are mitigating circumstances, and you’re about to meet the main one now.” She smiled as Maddie ran up, holding the bag out. 

“Look Mom! I won! His name is Alfred. Can he sleep in my room?” 

Lauren nodded, taking the bag to save the fish from more shaking.

 “Until he gets too big, and then he’ll have to move out to the pond. For now, my old aquarium is probably still in the closet in your room.” She turned to Vinnie and struggled not to laugh at the shock on her friend’s face. “Maddie, this is Vinnie, one of my oldest and best friends. Vinnie, this is my daughter, Maddie.” 

“Wow.” Vinnie shook her head. “She looks just like…” she clapped a hand over her mouth, her eyes wide. “I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to—” 

Turning back to Maddie, she took the hand offered by the girl and gave it a shake. “It’s very nice to meet you, Maddie. I’m so glad you and your mama came back to town!” 

“It’s okay – she knows.” Lauren shifted the goldfish for a better hold. “And so does Colter, as of about twenty minutes ago.”  

Vinnie raised her eyebrows. “So I did interrupt a serious conversation, then. How did that go?”

Lauren shrugged. “Better than I thought it might, though I think he still has some questions. You saved me from having to answer right away, so thank you.”

“That’s what friends are for. Or did you forget?” There was a sour note in Vinnie’s tone. More hurt than angry, but it still hit Lauren in the gut. “I thought maybe you just didn’t want anything to do with us anymore after you went radio-silent.”

Lauren nodded in acknowledgment. “I know I have a lot to answer for, and I will,” she said, glancing at Maddie. “But if it’s okay with you, I’d really just like to get a drink, and maybe a snack, and enjoy the afternoon.”

Vinnie gave Lauren a gracious smile. “I think we can make that happen.” She looked down at Maddie. “What do you say Maddie? Do you want to come see what kind of snacks I have at the booth?”

“I’m starving!” Maddie nodded enthusiastically.

“She’s always starving,” Lauren noted, earning a chuckle from Vinnie as they started walking down the midway.

The fair was everything Lauren remembered, but somehow less at the same time. The rides were mostly the same, and kids were still screaming and holding their hands up on rides to get that pit-of-the-stomach rush. The carnies still yelled as they went by, enticing anyone in the vicinity to try their hand at one of the obviously rigged games. Large Plush toys hung from the booths as extra incentive for people to gamble their money away one coin at a time.

It had all seemed so much bigger when she was younger.

She remembered when she, Vinnie, and Beth had spent hours walking the midway, eating everything deep-fried and sugar-coated and hoping to catch the eye of the boys they all secretly crushed on. It had seemed so adult, so important. Now it just seemed silly.

“I bet the fairs in the big city are more impressive,” Vinnie commented as they walked. “Our little County fair probably feels tiny by comparison.”

Lauren shrugged. “I wouldn’t know. I never really had a reason to go to the fair in Denver. I mostly worked a lot, and took care of Maddie.” She’d wanted to go, but it had all seemed like too much work by herself with a young child. Now, that seemed silly too, and she regretted not taking Maddie and giving her the memories Lauren had made right here at this fair when she was young.

They left the main midway, and entered the food row, where there were food trucks and booths offering just about any kind of food one could imagine. Maddie’s eyes grew huge, and she started pointing to everything.

“Mom, look there’s cotton candy! And fried Oreos! Can I have a fried Oreo?”

Frowning, Lauren shook her head, wondering who came up with such a concept. Probably the same guy who thought fried everything was a good idea. Although she had to admit, fried cheesecake was actually really good.

“No, not now. Let’s see what Vinnie has for us at her booth first. Maybe we’ll get a fried Oreo later.”

Or cheesecake.

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Sep 30 2022

Magpie Shiny, Chapter 5 (Serial fiction)

Author: Jamie DeBree

This story is posted weekly in draft form. Need to catch up? Here are links to the previous chapters:
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4

The next morning, it was overcast as Lauren shuffled Maggie out to the car after breakfast.

“Are you sure you don’t want one of us to come with you?” Her mother asked. “It might be easier with Colter if one of us is around.”

Lauren smiled and shook her head. Funny that now her mother was going to act all concerned after giving her the cold shoulder the previous night.

“I know how to handle Colter, mom. It’ll be okay. But thank you for offering. I appreciate it.”

“Will you be home for dinner?” Her mother asked as Lauren opened the driver side door and started to get in. Her voice was a little off, and Lauren stopped, turning to search her expression before she answered, realizing her mom was probably afraid she was just going to disappear again.

“We should be. I’ll let you know if we’re going to be late.” Her mother looked confused, and Lauren chuckled, pulling her cell phone out of her purse and waving it in her general direction. Cell phones weren’t something that her mother and grandmother had embraced yet. Not that they really needed to. It was yet a reminder of how much simpler and slower life was here in the valley.

She and Maggie drove the 10 miles back to Meadowlark. It had been dark the first time they came through, and she marveled at how much it had grown since she left. They took Main Street through town, home to the main shopping district where the storefronts were all attached and the signs and colors from years past were preserved as if they’d just been put up the day before.

“It looks like something out of a movie,” Maggie said. “Like those old movies that are on late at night, with the old west stores and boardwalks. Only without the boardwalks.”

Lauren nodded. “It is kind of like stepping into a movie, isn’t it? Some of these old buildings have been here since Grandma Rose’s mom first moved here. They were built to last, and they have, with the right care.” She turned off of Main onto Bowman Street, and stopped two blocks up in front of a small, box-style house that had clearly seen better days. “That’s the house your great, great, great grandma Madeline lived in before she moved out to Magpie.”

Maggie’s eyes got big and her mouth dropped open as she looked out the window. “It’s so small! No wonder she moved!”

“She actually lived there with her husband and kids, until her husband died. After that, she moved out to the ranch, and that’s where my family has lived ever since.”

“How did her husband die?” Maggie asked. “And how many kids did they have?”

“They had four children – two from his first marriage, and she had two of her own. And no one’s really sure how her husband died, though there are rumors that she killed him. The town all believed she did, though no one could prove it. That’s partly why she moved out to Magpie, with her two best friends who were also sort of ostracized by the townfolk.”

“Wow!” Maggie wrinkled her nose. “Why would she do that?”

“Well, supposedly she was pregnant, and people speculate it had something to do with the baby. Maybe she was having an affair? No one’s really sure, but her husband died, and she never had a third child. So something happened there. It’s our family mystery.”

Maggie’s eyes were big. “That’s crazy!” She looked out the window again. “There’s a lot of weeds, and it kind of looks abandoned. Does anyone live there now?”

Lauren shook her head. “Nope. Our family still owns it, but none of our people have lived in it since Madeline left. I think we pay someone to mow the grass and check in on it once a month or so – or we used to, at least. Everyone says it’s haunted though – by Charles, her late husband. And sometimes people say they can hear a baby crying in there, even though no one’s lived there in years.”

“Whoa!” Maggie reached for the door handle. “Can we go in, Mom? Just for a minute?”

“Not today, hon. I don’t have a key, and we need to make sure it’s okay with your Grandmas. I’m not sure when anyone was in there last, honestly. It might not be safe.” She took one more look at the quaint dwelling, with its peeling paint and overall air of something long forgotten. “We’ll come back in a few days, and poke around. How’s that?”

“Good.” Maggie said, sitting back in her seat. “I think we should talk to those ghosts, and find out what happened to Charles.”

“Uh…okay.” The whole talking-to-ghosts thing was new, but Lauren wasn’t going to discourage it. At least not until she figured out exactly what Maggie meant, and her daughter’s matter-of-fact tone and mic-drop attitude had her curious.

She pulled away from the curb and drove a few blocks more, taking a left on Bourbon, and then a right three blocks later on Maple Street, which dead-ended into a big parking lot that was just starting to fill up.

“Mom, I’m hungry. Can we go to Taco Bell?”

Lauren laughed as she pulled into an empty parking spot and turned off the engine. “We’re already here.” She pointed past the other parked cars to a single-story wooden building at the back of the lot. “The fairgrounds are right over there. We’ll get something to eat there.” They got out of the car, and Lauren locked it, stowing her keys in her purse. “Besides,” she said as they started walking toward the building, “There isn’t a Taco Bell here.”

“No tacos?! How do people live without tacos?” Her daughter was clearly on the verge of a meltdown in the face of a fast-food fast. “Are there burgers? A McDonald’s?”

Lauren shook her head, enjoying the show her daughter was putting on. “If people here want tacos, they make them at home. Same goes for burgers, except if I remember right, there’s a Dairy Queen on Main right before you get on the highway. And there are a couple of cafes, that sell food, too. You just have to go in and sit down to eat. No grab it and run, although I’m sure they’d make a meal to go, if you ask them nicely.”

“Wow.” Maggie was going to wear out that word before the day was over, and it amused Lauren. This was a whole different side of life for her daughter, and she was glad they’d come, even if the circumstances could have been better.

They reached the building, which was actually two long meeting house type log structures connected by a covered overhang. In the center of the overhang was a ticket booth, and she paid for them both, thanking the ticket seller who looked vaguely familiar and seemed to have the same reaction to Lauren. They pushed through the turnstile and walked into a colorful, bustling carnival midway with carnies calling out to them to come play, and all sorts of rides blaring loud music to almost cover the screams of the people being shook and flipped in all manner of different ways.

“Ooo…balloon animals. Can I go get one, mom?”

Lauren nodded and handed her daughter a twenty dollar bill. “Stay where I can see you.” She watched Maggie run the twenty feet or so to where a clown was entertaining a small group of kids, and tried to remember what it had been like to be twelve years old at the fair.

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Sep 16 2022

Serial Story: Magpie Shiny, Ch. 3

Author: Jamie DeBree

This story is posted weekly in draft form. Need to catch up? Here are links to the previous chapters:
Chapter 1 | Chapter 2

Chapter 3

When Lauren woke sometime later, the sun was high and shining brightly through the flower-print cotton curtains that covered her window. There were birds chirping outside, and the low rumble of voices filtering up from the main floor below. She sat up and stretched, blinking as her eyes tried to adjust to the brightness. A cuckoo clock that her great, great grandmother had hung on the wall ticked away as though it wasn’t over a hundred years old, the cuckoo long having given up its duties. According to the dial, it was just about half-past twelve. If she slept much longer, she definitely wouldn’t be able to sleep tonight.

Yawning, Lauren swung her feet over the edge of the bed and forced herself to stand. Her duffel bag was on the chair in the corner, and she rifled through it to find a clean shirt. Pulling on the same jeans she’d worn before, she topped it with a yellow tee emblazoned with ‘Pump You Up!’ in puffy orange letters on the front, and slipped on a clean pair of athletic socks before she turned to the mirror.

“Oh good lord,” she murmured, getting a good glimpse of her face and hair in the mirror as she turned her face right, and then left. No wonder her mom and grandmother had looked so concerned last night. The bruise on her cheekbone had faded, but there were others at her temple, and on the side of her neck and jaw that had grown darker in the last 24 hours. She considered covering them, but it seemed pointless now. She’d made a mistake and been lucky enough to have the means and motivation to fight herself out. She was luckier than a lot of women, and she wasn’t going to take that for granted.

She pulled her dirty-blond hair into a messy bun on top of her head and secured it haphazardly with an elastic. She needed to get it cut, and had for a while, but she’d had other things on her mind. Hopefully Jewell’s salon was still open – she’d check tomorrow. Anita was the best in the area, and Lauren could use some pampering.

Turning away from her reflection, she went out into the hall and knocked on the door next to hers.

“Maddie? Are you awake? I’m coming in.” She turned the doorknob, and pushed it open, finding only an empty bedroom, where surprisingly, the bed was made. There was a small treasure chest on the dresser, and she smiled, moving into the room. That chest had been hers as a child, and she carefully lifted the lid, her heart giving a little flutter at the treasures still inside. She picked up a pocket watch with a wooden case – a rarity even in 1899, the date on the case. Now it was probably more rare. Probably the rarest piece in the box, and the one she would most likely have to return someday.

There was a tradition in the family started by Madeline Rae Henry, Lauren’s great, great grandmother. She’d been obsessed with the magpies upon moving to the valley, and she’d challenged her daughters to befriend the birds, trading foods and little bits of handmade jewelry for whatever the birds would bring back. On occasion the magpies would accept something metallic and shiny, but more often they’d take bits of what Madeline called “magpie shiny”, which included jewelry made from polished rocks and semi-precious stones. The girls had kept their treasures in boxes much like the one on the dresser.

When Madeline could no longer take care of the farm herself, she tasked her oldest daughter, Addison, with taking the most valuable gift that the magpies had traded to her when she was young, and doing anything possible to find the former owner and return the bauble. By returning the gift, she closed the loop, and proved herself worthy to inherit everything Madeline had worked so hard to build.

Addison had continued the tradition with Rose, Lauren’s grandmother, and Lauren’s mother Madeline had completed the task as well. Theoretically Lauren would be next. She put the pocket watch back in the box and carefully closed the lid, overwhelmed by the inevitability of it all. Part of her wanted badly to continue the cycle and keep the tradition alive. To be part of something bigger than herself, something that had started with Great, Great Grandma Madeline.

But the other part was freaking out about being back in the valley, and trying desperately to plan a path to escape before things became too comfortable again. She closed her eyes for a moment, reminded herself that this was her daughter’s legacy too. She wasn’t sure what to do with that just yet.

Closing Maddie’s door behind her, she went downstairs and into the kitchen, where she found Mattie at the table with her grandmother while her mother stood at the counter making sandwiches. Her mother looked up as she walked in, her eyes narrowing, possibly at the darker bruises in the light of day.

Or maybe just at the daughter who hadn’t cared enough to contact her after running away from home.

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Sep 09 2022

Serial Story: Magpie Shiny, Ch. 2

Author: Jamie DeBree

This story is posted weekly in draft form. Need to catch up? Here are links to the previous chapters:
Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Lauren turned onto the gravel road that served as a long driveway, pulled off to the side when she reached the house and parked next to an old farm truck. An old Lincoln was parked on the other side – the car her mom had bought with the profits of her first harvest from the farm. She kept it in impeccable shape, and it looked like she still drove it whenever she went to town.

 

“Are you ready?” She looked at Maddie, who yawned and then nodded. “It’s probably gonna be a little weird at first, but they’re going to love you. They’re family. They don’t have a choice.” Lauren smiled and her daughter smiled back.

 

“I’m ready.” Maddie got out of the car, and so did Lauren. Going around back, she opened the trunk and handed Maddie her small bag, before tossing her own over one shoulder with her purse. Closing the trunk, she led Maddie across the gravel drive and up the wide stairs to stand in front of the women on the porch.

 

“Well, well. Look what the cat dragged home.” Her mother looked at Maddie, raised an eyebrow, and looked back at Lauren. “Beth told us she had a feeling there would be two, but we weren’t expecting this.”

 

“Mom, Grandma, this is my daughter, Maddie. Maddie, this is your Grandmother Madeleine, and your Great Grandmother Rose.” She put a hand on Maddie’s shoulder, and gave her mother a weary smile. “I know you have questions, but we’ve been driving all night, and I could really use some sleep. I promise to catch you up on everything once I get some rest, if that’s okay.”

 

Her mother started to speak, but stopped when her grandmother stepped forward, eyes narrowed. Lauren braced herself, remembering the epic lectures she’d gotten as a teen staying out too late. Staying away nearly twelve years was a pretty big magnitude of worse behavior.

 

But her grandma reached out and touched Lauren’s chin, the thin, bony fingers turning Lauren’s head to the side for inspection.

 

She should have known. Grandma always had eagle eyes, and there was still a shadow where the big bruise had been.

 

“Does he know you left?” she asked, letting her hand fall and leaning back to look in Lauren’s eyes. Lauren shook her head and turned her head more so her mother could see, since she was clearly peering closer at Lauren’s cheekbone as well.

 

“No. And he doesn’t know anything about this place, and only a little bit about our family. He’ll probably be along eventually, but it’ll take him awhile to find us.”

 

Her grandmother turned her attention to Maddie, inspecting the girl as well as she could from a distance.

 

“And what about you? Did he hurt you too?” Rose put a bony hand on Maddie’s shoulder. She appeared far more fragile than she had a decade ago, and Lauren felt a pang of regret that she hadn’t bothered to stay in touch.

 

Mattie looked up at Lauren. She gave the girl a slight nod to let her know it was okay to share.

 

Maddie shook her head. “No, just mom. And I didn’t tell anyone where we were going either.”

 

Her great grandma smiled. “Very good. You’re both safe here – I guarantee it.” She folded the girl into a big hug. “I’m so very, very glad to meet you, young lady.”

 

“Come inside.” Lauren’s mother held the door open, her eyes meeting Lauren’s with the tough stare Lauren remembered so well. There may have been a fleeting touch of sympathy in there too, but it was gone before Lauren could be sure. “We have your rooms all set up. You can both rest, and then we’ll talk.”

 

“Thank you,” Lauren motioned for Maddie to go inside, followed after. “We really appreciate it.” Her head was getting fuzzy. Clearly her body recognized this as a safe space, and was done issuing the cortisol necessary to stay awake while fleeing.

 

Her grandmother shook her head as she closed the front door behind them. “No thank you necessary. We’re family, and this is your home. You’re welcome anytime, and you can stay as long as you want.”

 

Lauren gave her a weary smile as she followed her mother and Maddie up the single staircase. She loved her grandma and her mother, and in a way, she loved the farm too. But it wasn’t how she wanted to spend the majority of her life, and she had no idea how to tell either of the women that they would be the last in the Tate line to own this property.

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Sep 02 2022

Serial Story: Magpie Shiny, Ch.1

Author: Jamie DeBree

Chapter 1

The sun was just beginning to rise over fields of prairie grass, wheat and clover as Lauren Tate drove down into the valley she’d left eleven years ago. Barbed wire and wooden posts lined the two-lane backroad that dead-ended into an old mine shortly after running through her hometown of Magpie, Montana – population fifty when she’d turned eighteen. Probably several less, now. There hadn’t been much keeping the economy going when she’d been growing up, and she couldn’t imagine it had changed much for the better since.

She stood to inherit a big part of this valley, not that she really wanted it. Growing up out here in the boondocks, where prairie dogs, snakes and magpies outnumbered the people had been boring, and she couldn’t wait to get out. So a couple months after graduation, she’d just left in the dead of night, determined that nothing and no one would hold her back from seeing the world.

Now, getting closer to the farm where she was raised and the two women who were going to expect some explanations, she felt equal parts exhaustion and resignation. They would take her in, no doubt about that. But there would definitely be a price.

“I thought you said no one knew we were coming,” Maddie said from the backseat. Lauren’s daughter was just one of many secrets she was bringing back. Arguably the biggest.

“I didn’t tell anyone. Why do you think they know?”

Maggie pointed to the sign coming up on the right side of the road. “Because your name is on that sign.”

Lauren looked closer at the welcome to magpie sign and her lips curved into a gentle smile. Someone had added a plus sign and the number two behind the current population of one hundred, and hanging from the bottom of the larger sign was a smaller banner that read “Welcome Home, Lauren!”

“Beth.” She shook her head and laughed, pulling off onto the shoulder and turning off the engine. “I should have known she’d spill. I’ll be right back.” She went and got the smaller sign, putting it in the back seat before getting behind the wheel and continuing down the road. Maddie frowned. “Beth – your friend from high school? How would she know if you didn’t tell her?”

“She has a way of knowing things – it’s not something she talks about much. She has a sort of intuition, that you’ll learn to appreciate once you get to know her.”

“So she’s psychic?”

Lauren shook her head. “She hates that word. All you need to know is that you really can’t hide anything from her, so it’s best not to even try. And if you get hurt, she’s the one you go to, because she has all sorts of knowledge about how to use plants and nature to heal.”

Maddie’s nose wrinkled. “I bet her kids don’t like that very much.”

Lauren chuckled. “I’m sure they wouldn’t if she had any, which she doesn’t, as far as I know.” Though she supposed Beth was probably starting to get restless in that respect. Lauren, Vinnie and Beth were all descendants of the three founders of the Magpie community, and the land and town responsibilities had always been passed down to the daughters rather than the sons. Lauren had kept in touch with Vinnie and Beth over the years, though less so in the last few. Both of her friends had mentioned the lack of heirs in each family somewhat recently.

“How much farther do we have to go?” Maddie looked out the window and let her forehead rest on the glass. They’d been driving almost non-stop for twelve hours, and had gotten up early to sneak away before that. Maddie had napped on and off, but she was probably nearly as tired as Lauren was, and ready for a proper bed and pillow.

“Not far now.” Lauren stifled a yawn. “Just a few more miles until the turn off to grandma’s farm.”

Maddie leaned her head back against the seat rest. “It’s been a long time since I saw another car. Are there really only a hundred people where we’re going?”

Lauren knew this was going to be a major adjustments for her urban daughter. Maddie had been born in Denver, and it was the only life she’d known in the ten years since. Going from a bustling city filled with people and amenities to a small farming community with one grocery store and no movie theater or fast food restaurant was going to be a big life change for them both.

“I know this will take some getting use to,” Lauren said. “But we didn’t really have a choice, and we’ll be safe here. You didn’t tell anyone where we were going, right?”

“No,” Maddie said. “I don’t want Mike to find us. He can’t hurt you again. We won’t let him, right?”

“That’s right. I never should have gotten mixed up with him, but he won’t be able to hurt us here, even if he does find us. I just need to get us settled before he comes looking.”

Lauren yawned, not bothering to hide it this time. She wanted nothing more than to lay down somewhere safe, and sleep without worrying about someone breaking in to come after her, or worse, hurting Maddie. Mike Halverson had been completely charming when she’d met him two years ago. He’d been the perfect companion and she’d thought maybe the perfect dad for Maddie until he finally convinced her to move in with him six months ago. That’s when the control issues started, and the yelling, and the threats that eventually became promises and bruises. It seemed clear that it was only a matter of time before he started hurting Maddie, and Lauren was not going let that happen.

He had promised to come after her if she left. She’d only mentioned her mother in passing, and never where she grew up, so he’d really have to work to find her here. And there was something about Magpie and the founding families that offered some protection as long as they were in the valley. She didn’t know what it was or how to explain it, but she was definitely going to take advantage of it in this situation.

Beth obviously had sensed something was wrong, and that she was coming home. She’d have to pay both of the girls a visit soon, and see if they had any insight to keeping a psychopath from hunting them down.

And then there was Maddie’s father, Colter. If he was still around, he’d definitely want to be a part of Maddie’s life – once he found out about her. That was a conversation she wasn’t looking forward to, but she knew Maddie needed a good male role model.

The old homestead rose up on the left, a somewhat imposing triple-story clapboard house with a wrap-around covered porch on two sides. A lush set of gardens had taken over the front yard area, and in the back, there were trees that she knew would be ripe with fruit any day now. Her chest grew tight as she watched the front door open, and two women step out on the porch, watching her approach.

“Look, Mattie.” Lauren pointed at the house. “That’s where we’re going. And your grandma and great-grandma are up and waiting.”

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