Chapter 13 - Monster Come Uninvited
Leslie's arms were crossed over her breasts in a pitiful attempt at self-comforting as she watched Margaret drive away. Tears cut silent trails down her cheeks. Lauren came up behind her, silently padding across the front porch on bare feet, and wrapped her mom in a hug from behind Leslie.
Leslie sniffled as she tried to compose herself. The birthday party inside was still going on now that Cheyenne was sent to her room.
"I'm sorry Mom," Lauren apologized again.
Leslie responded by patting her daughter's topmost hand wrapped around her waist just below her fat 36 J-cup breasts but said nothing. Really, what was there to say? She and Margaret had, after years of loneliness for Marg and an abusive marriage for herself, finally met a man who loved them honestly.
Sure their relationship was a little unconventional, but for once in her life Leslie had felt safe. Safe to live, and safe to love, again. What Cheyenne had pressured Lauren into doing with her was so--manipulative, mean-spirited, and just downright evil. Even if her initial reasoning was protective and selfless.
"We'll talk about this more later," Leslie said firmly as she gave her daughter a firm pat on her hand before pulling at it signaling for Lauren to let go, "Go to your room."
Lauren didn't answer. Leslie left her standing there as she pushed the screen door open and walked out to the barn. She found a currying brush and went in search of a horse.
Later that evening, after the party and the visiting children present for Gwen's birthday party were gone, picked up by their parents, Leslie sent a moody twelve-year-old Hannah just coming into her womanliness, and a cheery, now, eleven-year-old Gwen off to their rooms. She had told them to do whatever they wanted before bedtime, but to keep quiet. Leslie cleaned the kitchen and dining room as the house fell silent. Once she was done she went to the living room.
She turned on the television and VCR, then put in the videotape the private investigator, Emma Recaras, made for them. The video was of Thomas and Margaret in their bedroom so many months before. She listened to Thomas tell Margaret how much he loved her and why he was not interested in Cheyenne or Lauren. He had been telling the truth the whole time. He wasn't interested in her daughters. They were too young and too immature, and nothing but trouble. Cheyenne and Lauren have proved to be all of those things and malicious as well. Well, Cheyenne had. Lauren had proved to be remorseful even if it took five months to get there.
It was pitch outside. It was a cloudy night and a new moon to boot. As black a night as there ever was. The wind was blowing as well causing the house to creak and groan and the trees to rustle outside. Leslie thought she heard noises and turned down the television, then turned it off completely as she struggled to hear what had caught her attention in the first place. She heard the horse whinny and it didn't seem to be coming from the barn.
Walking to the front door Lauren threw it open and walked out onto the porch. Out across the yard milling around were all of Margaret's barn animals. Horses. Chickens. Pigs. Sheep. And cow.
"Shit!" Leslie cursed emphatically as she ran back inside towards the kitchen and the mud room as she yelled, "Girls! Get out here now! Someone left the barn unlocked! The animals are out! Hurry up! Grab your boots and come help me get them back into the barn! Hurry!"
"Mom! I'm only in my panties," Cheyenne complained.
"Me too," Lauren added.
"I don't care!" Leslie shrieked, "Get your fucking asses out here now! I don't care if you're naked!"
Sure enough, a few seconds later Cheyenne and Lauren were pulling on their work boots in only their panties. Hannah and Gwen were there too though both of them were in long nightgowns. Leslie was the only one still dressed. They all pulled on their boots and then marched out the back door of Margaret's home to the cold February wind.
The nearly waist-high snow didn't help much this night. Usually, when the moon was out, the white snow gleamed and glowed in the moonlight that was only out-shown by daylight.
As they came around the house Leslie moved to secure the horses while Cheyenne moved determinedly to get the cow as she growled, "Shit! It's so cold! My nips are so hard they hurt!"
"Mine too," Lauren agreed as she held her hand over her breasts and tried to shoo the pigs back towards the barn with her elbows.
"It feels good to me," Gwen chortled as she and Hannah worked together to herd the chickens back toward their pin.
"It feels like Christmas to me," Hannah said with a wide grin on her pretty face.
"Take off your nightgowns and do this naked and let's see if you still feel the same," Cheyenne retorted tauntingly.
"Okay!" Hannah replied immediately, accepting the challenge.
And so, Hannah and then Gwen pulled off their nightgowns and their panties. They were careful but still Hannah fell into the snow with a yelp to which all the girls began to laugh. The banter continued as Hannah and Gwen waved their panties and nightgowns in their effort to herd the chickens.
Cheyenne caught the cow, which wasn't all that hard. The cow literally just stood there as the eldest girl walked up to her and grabbed her bridle. Lauren had less success with the pigs, slipping and falling several times scuffing her thighs and buttocks, and even her breasts while trying to herd the obstinate animals toward the barn. It was Leslie who helped Lauren up the last time she slipped. Leslie had already gotten the horses back into their stalls and was now seeing who needed help. Together they worked to get the pigs moving in the right direction.
Cheyenne got the cow into her stall and went back out to find that the sheep were milling about. These she called by name since they knew her voice after having spent many days herding them from one side of Margaret's property to the other.
"Come on Gromet," Cheyenne called, "It fucking colder out here than a witch's tits, and I should know because mine feel like they're frozen!"
Gromet moved toward her and she started for the next, "Come on Comet!"
"Yo Reginald, follow me!"
"Come to me, Betty."
"Follow me, Winston."
Cheyenne was making her way to two more sheep when she saw a faint orange-red glow in the shadow-darkened trees beside the driveway. The glow brightened to yellow almost white and then dimmed again to darker orange-red. Cheyenne came to an abrupt halt and stared at the small glowing light as it moved down and shook before being lifted up to where it had been previously. It grew white hot again and then dimmed.
"Lambchop! Julius!" Cheyenne called out fearfully, "Come!
The two sheep turned and looked at Cheyenne then started meandering towards her. The whole time her eyes were fixed on that red glow. She knew what it was. It was a cigarette, and she also knew that her father smoked Marlboro menthols. Turning around, she nearly ran back to the house, but instead, she turned and led the sheep to the barn.
Feeling much safer near her mother and sisters, Cheyenne continued to help even while it took almost an hour to get all of the animals rounded up and secured inside the barn. All that time Cheyenne kept looking back toward the trees and the driveway but she didn't see the orange-red glow again.
