Chapter Text
Poppylan Wilkes led a quiet life. She simply was there, nothing really to be afraid of. She had everything she needed growing up. A wealthy father, a loving step-mother, and plenty of land for young Poppy to romp and play around. She was grateful for her peaceful life, nothing disturbing her picture perfect family. The ranch house that she lived in gave her a roof over her head, her maids and cooks provided her with food. There wasn't anything that she could complain about. She was living an utterly perfect life.
Except there was one thing. She was outrageously bored with her simple life. Sure her father was the richest cattle baron in Moonbright, but that could only provide entertainment for so long. She did not enjoy riding around hooping and hollering like the senseless men her father had hired, and she did not particularly enjoy staying indoors and doing the women's work that her step-mother insisted she do. No, she was looking for some excitement to kick start her life, perhaps to take her away from the ranch for a few months.
She was at her wits end. There was only so many dresses she could make for herself and her favorite maid. Only so many cows she could talk to for company. The only neighbors they had lived 10 miles away, and they only came every two weeks for a Sunday dinner that Poppy's step mother put together.
No, Poppy didn't have very many friends at all. Unless you counted the neighbors daughter and son, Erdene and Jacob. They made for good company, but they only ever visited with their parents in tow, so it wasn't like they could get into any real trouble. She felt like she had missed out on her teenage years, and now as a 21 year old, she was expected to behave like an adult and not play around like a child anymore.
Poppy's skirts swayed around her as she walked, swinging with her hips as she moseyed her way down to the horse stables. She had found herself visiting the horses daily, the large animals making for good, silent company. Part of her wished they would talk back, but Poppy was sure it would be more off putting if they did, than if they stayed silent.
It did not matter in the end. Her father was coming back today, and she would soon have someone to converse with once again. But, that was depending on how quickly he decided to leave for his next trip again. Recently, he had been going on trips one after the other. Sometimes they were two days long, but the longest he was gone was a month. It was a lonely month, Poppy only having her maids and her step-mother for companionship. Not that they didn't make good company, but they had started to get on her nerves. They always wanted her to be doing something inside, never letting her step outside for longer than an hour at a time. Something about wanting her perfect complexion to remain flawless. Poppy didn't really care about the quality of her skin, as it would grow old and sag like the rest of her one day.
Poppy entered the dusty stall barn, stepping over the foyer to get underneath the shade. Today was particularly stifling, Poppy having to wear a low cut dress, not layering on quite as many petty coats as she would normally. She had tied a bandanna around her neck to hang loosely over her shoulder as to shelter her chest from the sun. It was doing little in fighting off the heat, but at least it was keeping the sweltering sun off her sensitive skin. That, and her step mother would die if she ever saw Poppy raw and sunburnt. Poppy would rather spare her ears from that conversation.
She roamed around the stall barn, feeding the horses carrots that she pulled from the garden. Her step-mother didn't like it when she did that, saying that the food in the garden was for the humans, not the horses. But Poppy always made sure to snag a couple of carrots to hide in her skirts for them. She much preferred giving the bitter vegetable to the mammal that would appreciate it.
She laughed as a horse tickled her palms with her lips. Her whiskers skittered along her open hand, searching for more of the orange treat. Poppy caressed the horses nose, allowing her to go digging for more carrots. When the mare could not, she huffed, pawing at the ground once or twice before deciding it was in her best interest to pay attention to the hay in her pen.
Poppy's next stop was to visit her own horse. Her horse was a broad shouldered chestnut mare, with great genetics. At least that's what Julri, her fathers right hand man, would say about her mare. Julri was irritated when he found out that Poppy had named his prized mare Roach. Actually he was vexed, his ill attitude toward her for the week after telling him the name of HER mare was only dropped when her father talked to him about his irrational anger. Even then, she did not regret the name. She saw it fitting, and it had nothing to do with the bawdy insect.
Roach stomped over to the opening in her wooden door, nuzzling Poppy's shoulder as she approached. Poppy let out a sigh, pulling out her special treat for her horse. A crisp apple, fresh from the tree lay in her palm. Roach took it upon her to crack the sweet fruit in half with her teeth, ripping into the halves impatiently.
She faced her back to the stall, allowing Roach to stretch her head over her shoulder. The pair usually stood like this when Poppy visited. She wondered how her mare knew to do this, but Poppy convinced herself that it was just Roach being her usual smart self. Her mare was strangely sharp. But, Poppy also chalked that up to being female. Women were usually more quick witted then men anyway.
Poppy talked for a while. Talking about her day, and how she woke up late by accident. She rushed out of the door before her maids had the chance to stop her for breakfast, eating her meal of apples out in the orchard, which is why she had Roach's favorite treat. She also talked about how much she missed father, and hoped that he would come home from his mystery trip soon. The sooner, the better. She was not sure how much longer she could be separate from her favorite person. When she was little, he was usually always by her side, rarely ever leaving for any trips. But, as she grew into the young woman she is now, he seemed to disappear more often. Poppy had a sneaking suspicion it was because she looked so much like her mother, but she didn't want to draw harmful conclusions. Poppy also was not sure if she wanted to face that possibility either.
She heard her father before she saw him. She heard the familiar shouting and the roar of hooves coming from her father's brigade. She rushed outside to see that she was right. Her father was back, and he had everyone in tow behind him.
Her father was a stocky man with a round, sunburnt face. Her eyes resembled his, the deep amber of his eyes shining in the midday sun. He was leaning forward in his saddle, obviously eager to get home. A spark of hope lit inside of Poppy's chest, and she hoped that he was excited to she her. But the spark died out when she saw that one of his men was dragging a limp body behind him on a make shift stretcher. His horse was having trouble dragging the hulking mass, the rope that was attached to the tarp was strung tight, looking as if it were to snap any moment.
She tried to get a closer look, moving in as everyone else stopped and dismounted their horses. She advanced past the men, trying to reach the mystery object on the canvas tarp.
Before she could get any closer though, a hand latching itself onto her arm stopped her, swinging her back the other way. She looked beside her, to see her father grinning at her wildly. She practically tackled him, jumping into his arms to get a hug from him. He wrapped his arms around her, hugging her like he hadn't seen her in a month. Which, he hadn't.
"Poppy!!" Her father exclaimed, letting her down and holding her at an arms length. He always did this when he got back, studied her to see how much time had gone by. Not much about her appearance had changed. She trimmed the dead ends off of her hair, and was testing out a new lipstick that Erdene brought her the week before, but she was still the same old Poppy. Nothing new or exciting to be told.
"Papa!!" she answered, beaming from ear to ear. She was glad to have her father back, but she was not sure exactly how long he would stay.
Before Poppy could ask anymore questions about the item that her fathers hired hands had drug in, her father was pulling her away, gifting her a fancy ribbon that he had bought for her on his travels.
She didn't get the chance to investigate the burlap sack any further, although her curiosity was burning a hole in the pit of her stomach.
~~~
Later that night, when everyone was at the dinner table, indulging father in his adventures, Poppy's mind wandered back to the strange object that was haphazardly shoved into the old barn to the east of the rest of the ranch. They used that barn to store old machinery that they didn't use anymore, along with other various ranching items that had grown out of their particular line of business. She offhandedly thought about what may be in the moving burlap sack. It had to be living, that much she knew was true. But what could they possibly have that would make her father hide it away in a shed away from the women and children.
Poppy did her best to shake the feeling of dread off her shoulders, trying to focus to the little boy sat next to her. Little John was Julri's younger brother, a thorough bred cattle rustler if Amos did say so himself. Little John was mean to grow up and run cattle, Julri insisted. It was simply in their blood.
However, Poppy liked to quietly disagree with him. The young boy was far to caring for his family and the animals around him to become a cattle baron like his older brother. Even if he did go on those long rides with Julri, his heart truly lied in taking care of the livestock, not simply ushering them from pasture to pasture. Little John loved to be there when Poppy and the Moonbright vet were taking care of a sicky animal, asking more questions than an undergraduate. Little John was always curious about the instruments that laid in Dr. Pearson's bag. The interrogative nature of the young boy had gotten him in trouble many times, but never had he been yelled at without an explanation. As of late, when the vet was visiting, John had taken to sitting behind the fence and watching as Poppy coaxed the animal and Dr. Pearson applied his wide expense of medical knowledge to the animal.
As everyone else was laughing and harassing her father and Amos for stories of their travels, Poppy and John liked to talk to one another. The nine-year-old had strangely become good company, as he was eager to learn, and Poppy was eager to teach.
But the peaceful conversation never lasted long with Julri around.
"John!" Julri bellowed, tipping in his chair a little. Her father had pulled out the special whiskey for the occasion. For what occasion, Poppy did not know. She also thought that the savory answer would be simply returning home from a long time away.
Little John's eyes lit up as his attentions snapped to his older brother. Jon worshipped his older brother, going as far as mimicking the way that Amos talked to Poppy. After a private conversation, John had stopped with that habit, but it didn't stop the child from hanging on to every word his kin uttered.
"Help me back to our cabin will ya?" Julri slurred his words, the lisp in his voice a product of the intolerable amount of booze he had drank.
John hopped to his feet to help his older brother, supporting most of the grown man's weight on his small body. Poppy held a tight lipped smile as Amos leaned over and Kissed her on the cheek, his stubble lingering on her face for longer than necessary. her father had started talking about how Julri was a 'strapping young man, worthy of marriage'. Poppy knew that eventually her father would want to marry her off, and to someone that he thought worthy of his only child. But Poppy had hoped in her youth that it would not be Julri. He was a wicked man, and she had seen how he treated his horse when the stud was not listening to his commands. She did not want to be his wife, trapped in a loveless marriage. But it seems that her prayers were not answered, because Julri kept making advances that she was starting to have trouble brushing off.
When night had fallen, and the crickets had started their familiar melody to drift over the prairie, Poppy had gotten ready for bed. She pulled on a night gown, brushing out her hair. She always loved sitting down and brushing out her hair. It was nice to let her strands down form her stiff scalp, to give her hair a break once in a while. Although it only lasted until morning, because her step-mother insisted that polite young ladies kept their hair up, as to not suggest anything to the men surrounding them. "It's a man's world Poppylan, we are just surviving in it," that was her step mother mantra, and it was starting to grate on Poppy's nerves.
Men's world? Yes. But living only to survive was not something Poppy was willing to suffer through for the rest of her life. Laying down next to a man at night who only wanted offspring and then to ditch her for the younger, greener version of herself was not something she was looking forward to.
She angrily brushed the last few chunks of hair, setting her porcelain brush on her wooden vanity. she took a minute to scowl at herself in the mirror, swearing to herself she would not fall into the clutches of a man like Julri. She would find herself a good man one day. An honorable man.
Then, a loud knicker sounded through her open window. She left her window open to allow the crickets to soothe her to sleep, but some nights she could not stand the sounds of the cattle bellowing at each other. Tonight was a relatively quiet night, so she opted for the window to stay open for as long as she could stand it.
When the winey sounded again, she grabbed her lantern, leaning partially out of her window to see what barn it was coming from. She turned her ears to the west barn, were the horses were stalled. But when the horse wined again, it came from the east barn. The old one, were the hired help had drug that canvas bag into. She couldn't imagine that a horse had been in that bag, the bag was too small for that. She wracked her brain for a reasonable explanation, coming up with nothing. Then she remembered that her father had indeed, put a horse in that barn. She was just being distracted when it happened.
She shrugged on her robe, and pulled on her mothers old lace up boots to go outside with. She covered her lantern as best she could with her hands when she stepped outside of her room. She avoided all of the squeaky floorboards, skillfully hopping over wooden planks she knew would give under her weight and alert the whole house that she out and about.
She pattered down the steps of the stairs, trying her best to remain quiet when she opened their squeaky front door. She cringed when the door slammed shut, hoping that her father would assume the wind picked it up and closed it. She waited for a few agonizing moments with batted breath to hear her father rampage down the stairs and ground her till she was 35. Or worse, betroth her to Amos. She took a moment to shudder before setting off to her destination.
As she walked, her lantern did the bare minimum to light her way, the moon overhead doing most of the work. She startled herself when she assumed that the ranch dog was a wolf, but simply chuckled to herself as she scratched the friendly dog behind his floppy ears. The cowdog was a loyal one, and could recognize Poppy's scent from a mile away, so Poppy assumed that as long as he got ear scratches, he wouldn't give away her position. She was right, his wagging tail all the confirmation she needed before she was once again back on her mission.
When she reached the creaky barn door, she paused. She thought about how she has lived in bliss for the last seven hours, not knowing what was behind this door. however, it was not peaceful bliss, and Poppy had a feeling she would not be able to sleep if she didn't find out what was behind this door right now.
She set her full body to open the door, grunting as the old hinges provided push back. It was dark inside of the old barn, holes in the ceiling providing for a little light. Other than that, she didn't have anything but the lantern in her hand to lead her way through the ominous barn. She coughed a bit as dust was kicked up, her hair on the back of her neck standing straight up.
When a loud neigh startled her into nearly fainting, she swung her lantern around, trying to find the horse making to distress call. When she found it, she was stunned, to say the least. The horse was a beast. This was the biggest horse she had seen, and his hooves were the size of her face, if not bigger. he was very shaggy, which was uncommon for horses in the summer months. But as her eyes trailed up his body, she realized that the shag was only at his feet, and the rest of him was short haired, including his mane, which had been shaved down to his crest. His hair was all black, save for a white beauty mark above his shoulder.
The horse pawed one immense hoof into the ground, kicking up more dirt that was already floating in the air. Poppy rushed forward, her fevering hands trying to find a place to calm the large beast down. How did one calm down an animal four times the size of you, while still remaining alive? She settled for his shoulder, bringing her small hands to smooth his sweaty pelt down. This seemed to help, but only a little. He began to rut his muzzle against her robe, taking one of the strings into his mouth. She realized then, that he was hungry.
That made a lot of sense.
"Okay! Well, I will be right back … and... just stay here!" Poppy rushed out, putting her hands back to her sides and rushing out of the old barn.
A horse? That's what her father had been hiding from her? A horse? A big one, but it was a horse. No, there had to be more to it, Poppy though to herself as she fetched a pail of water and a flake of hay for the poor horse. She would probably be picking alfalfa out of her robe and hair for the next week and a half, but that was not the matter at hand. It was a matter of feeding a horse that her father's employees had neglected.
She was sour about it. Actually, scratch sour, she was downright pissed. No matter if the horse had no value to them, you still feed the animal! How long were they planning on going without feeding him? Poppy huffed as she pumped water from the horses water well, hauling the pail next to her as she hurried back to the waiting animal.
When she was sure that he was set for the night, she pushed the barn door closed once more, latching it as it had been before so she could avoid raising suspicion. She had long ago put her lantern out, sure that the moonlight would lead her back ot the safety of her house.
~~~
When she woke up the next morning, there was a new air about the house. Her step mom was quiet, too quiet. her father was humming to himself at the table. Amos was nowhere to be seen, but Little John had made it there just in time for their morning tutoring sessions.
The sun was still rising when he dipped into the ranch house, the red hue sending her mixed signals about the day ahead of her.
Poppy liked to tutor John every other day as to keep him educated, however Amos despised this about the young woman. Poppy had fought tooth and nail to be able to teach his younger brother, and frankly she was baffled that he thought education was such a worthless thing. just another reason not to get married to him.
Poppy didn't get out of the house till midday, having to do her daily chores around the house before finally having time to herself. She changed into a lighter dress, knowing that today would be another scorching hot day. She secured the tied around her neck just as she was stepping out of her house, only to be stopped once more.
She suddenly knew why he father didn't want her near the barn, and why he pulled her away from the burlap sack so quickly. She understood why he was celebrating last night, and why Amos had seemed more arrogant about his travels than ever before.
In the training pen, where the new employee's trained colts and rode bronc's, was a man, tied to the wooden pole in the middle.