The Coy Circle

“Where are we going?” “I’ve got to get you home before the whole town wakes up!” “But don’t you think we should get some help?” “No, the fire’s already out of control. The barn’s going to burn down. But you getting in trouble isn’t going to help none.” Katie agreed. She didn’t want to be grounded from being with Rex. Rex dropped her off, gave her a quick kiss good night, then lifted her up to her bedroom window. He stuck around for a moment to see if he could hear any voices. Once he was satisfied that Katie had snuck back in without being caught, he jumped back in his truck and headed to the Loa fire station. Loa had a volunteer fire department. Rex parked his truck next to the old fire truck. He quickly cranked the handle on the front of the engine until he had produced enough juice to get the truck started. He then climbed in and drove the engine as fast as it would go—which was about thirty-five miles per hour. It seemed to him like the pace of a snail at that moment. By the time Rex reached the barn, he could see his family and a few of the neighbors standing around watching the barn burn, one of which was Darvyl. Darvyl stood out among the crowd because he was leading his horse by the reins and talking to Clint. Everyone had a bewildered look on their faces as they noticed Rex approaching in the fire engine. The walls of the barn were all on fire, with flames climbing high above the roof line. The only thing left to do was to wait for the barn to collapse upon itself, then stand by and make sure the flames didn’t spread to the alpha-alpha or the corrals. As the barn burned down, many questions arose—Rex had a lot of explaining to do. He told a white lie; he couldn’t sleep, so he came out to the barn to unwind and get some fresh air. When he sat the lantern down, Spike came by and knocked it over. No one asked him if anyone was with him, so he left that part out. In an attempt to divert attention away from himself, Rex went over to Clint and Darvyl to see what they were talking about. “Hi there,” Rex said approaching his father and Darvyl. “Hi, Rex. I was up walkin’ my horse around, then I noticed the flames. I rode over to see what was goin’ on.” “What ya up walkin’ your horse for this late at night?” “His horse can’t pee,”Clint bluntly interrupted. Darvyl looked slightly embarrassed. “So what do you do for that?” asked Rex. “I told him I’d go get the turpentine out of the shed and we’ll rub in on those frogs on his legs,” explained Clint. “I’ll go get it,” offered Rex. Moments later Rex returned with a can of turpentine. Clint poured some out into his hands and rubbed it on the horses frogs. Soon the horse started rearing and bucking. Darvyl hung onto the reins while the horse went wild. “It’s stingin’ hi!,” said Clint, “That’s what it’s suppose to do!” Eventually the horse stopped fussing, and to everyone’s dismay of the cure, was able to urinate. “Wow, that was almost as interesting as watching the barn burn,” thought Rex. He hoped his parents thought so, too.