Gatekeeper's Secret
Copyright© 2026 by Fick Suck
Chapter 16
“Where are your thoughts, Grady?”
He looked up from his soda can with a pinched face. He held up a hand and with each name, he lifted a finger, “Jessica Witt, Christina Witt, Brianna Coles, Laia Alvarez, and the ghosts of Jedidiah and Henrietta. If I didn’t need the damn horses...”
“If you didn’t need the damn horses, you’d be cooped up here like an embittered hermit, Grady,” Bettina said. “I even made you Beanie Weenies and did I get a thank you?”
He drew a deep breath. “I apologize. Thank you.”
“Then get off your silly high horse, if you want to show gratitude,” Bettina said. “What has gotten into you?”
“Besides Jessica and Christina sticking their noses where they don’t belong,” Grady said with some heat, only to drop his voice, “When Brianna stepped out of her truck this afternoon, it was an instant hard on. Jesus, Joseph, and Mary: I’m not sure my tongue wasn’t hanging out and drooling.”
“She’s built like a brick shit house,” Bettina mused. “She had me doing a double-take. We now know that one, you’re not dead and two, you know muy caliente when you see it.”
“It’s embarrassing,” Grady moaned, before taking a swallow.
“Sometimes I forget you’re only eighteen,” Bettina said with a rueful laugh. “She wants the boys to notice her, you know. You don’t dress like that and not expect to get a reaction.”
“She was simply wearing a tee shirt and jeans. Holy shit.”
“Yeah, she needed at least fifteen minutes to squeeze her buns into those pants and let’s just say, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was a little dart or two to emphasize the chest. They were certainly high mounted breasts.”
Grady stared at her, “Real or enhanced?
Bettina coughed on her mouthful of sweet tea. “Women judge women, and we eyeball down to the details. I don’t want to touch them and find out though. Sorry, you’ll have to toss away another adolescent fantasy.” Bettina stood up and stretched. “Didn’t I hear you say you were going riding with her tomorrow?”
“Yeah, we are,” Grady said. “Finally.”
“So, take time during the ride to talk to her. Get her to talk about herself,” Bettina suggested as she walked her glass back to the kitchen. When she returned, “See if there is something more substantial than today’s infatuation. You know she screwed up at school. Check out the red flags. I’m done with my advice, Grady, but I’ll add the consultation to my bill. Goodnight.”
Grady wished her goodnight too before he stood and took his empty can to the recycling bin. He closed the door to the office and retrieved a journal from the safe.
February 28, 1963
I took Jedidiah with me when the alarm sounded. We arrived at the gate late in the afternoon, which is not my favorite time because going downhill after dark is a fool’s errand. The being waiting for us at the gate was a lump of mottled stone with a head of fireflies. The head was a gas-like, cloudy globe with spinning points of light going in every which direction. A point of light detached itself from globe and touched the jewel. A hissing filled our ears.
“Gatekeeper, we seek the metal to cure a plague in our world. We were told we could find the metal here easily. We will trade what is most precious to us. Jedidiah said he had a silver dollar that he won in a poker game in his pocket that he kept for good luck. I had him place the coin at their blocky feet. They examined it and announced the coin had what they sought. They gently lowered a small sack, smaller than my palm, to the ground. Without another word, they departed. I opened the sack and inside was a marble with a pinprick of light in it. For the life of me, I have no idea why this marble trinket is precious. Some days you can’t win, and dinner was cold too.
“Where is this marble stored?” Grady asked the journal. “There is no way I can locate this object and if I do come across it, am I going to remember that this marble is mentioned in this journal entry. Holy Moley Rigatoni. Did no one in my family understand what an inventory is?”
Disgusted with his day and disgusted with himself, Grady crossed the hallway and crawled into his bed. Other than dumping the Kimberly Master’s problem on Christina, the day was a long boring waste of time and energy. He looked at his limp dick and put away that idea too. Laying his head on the pillow, he pulled up the blanket and closed his eyes.
Grady tried to tamp down his impatience the next morning as he waited for Jessica Witt to return with her adopted niece. Brianna had not stayed in the bunkhouse last night. If she had, Grady was sure they would have been on the trail by now. He saw Bettina was at the barn with her tools, starting the process of replacing the electrical panel. She had already contacted the geothermal company to ascertain what additional requirements they had for their installation. Looking at her list of notes, Grady knew she was going to beg off a horse ride.
Jessica’s SUV sped past the house, skidding to a stop next to the barn. Grady watched both women hop out and run into the barn. Brianna’s jeans were a little looser today, but Grady was still impressed. Checking the time, he poured himself the last of the coffeepot and gave them a half hour. After washing his mug out in the sink, he grabbed his lighter jacket and his hat before exiting through the back door.
By the time he got to the barn, most of the horses were in the first corral. The stallion and one of the chestnut browns were waiting outside their stalls. Grady demonstrated that he remembered how to saddle a horse. With an admonition to be careful, he led the quarter horse westward with the other quarter horse following.
“Where’re we going?” Brianna asked once they were out of earshot.
“Like I told Jessica, we’re heading westward,” Grady said. “There are three basic trails in this direction, low, middle and high. The further up the mountain you climb, the more difficult the trail becomes. We never took guests on the high trail, and only the good riders were allowed on the middle one. Northwards are several trails that are more popular in season. There is a small loop and a large loop. Off the large loop is the footstep trail that leads around the back side of the mountain. On the east side, there is a trail we use strictly for land management that parallels the highway going back into town.”
“You’ve got a huge chunk of land,” Brianna said.
“Yep,” Grady said. “I’m the fourth generation, and each generation has added to the land holdings. We’re a fair distance from the ski resorts and the corporate ranches out here, which leaves the land mostly untouched and unmolested.”
Grady shifted in his saddle. “What brings you out here, besides the horses?”
“Aunt Jessica didn’t tell you?” she asked. When Grady shook his head, she continued, “I was flunking out at college. I withdrew before I would have pulled F’s for my courses. Mom was thoroughly pissed, threatening to throw me and my worthless ass out of the house. When Aunt Jessica announced she was moving her stable of horses immediately, I begged for a job. You can call me Bri; Christina does.”
“Bri, it is,” Grady said. “I’m signing up for community college online first. I’ll see how it goes before deciding on next steps. What didn’t you like about college?”
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