Free Kingdom Come by Jane Jensen Page A

was suddenly way too low on the horizon.
    â€œListen, I wanted to walk over and take another look at the creek before it gets dark. Would you walk with me? I have more questions.”
    He hesitated a moment, then nodded. “Lemme grab my coat.”A moment later, he reappeared with a black barn coat and black hat, looking solemn and way more handsome than a man had any right to when putting so little effort into it. I could practically hear the wailing and gnashing of teeth of the metrosexuals of Manhattan. I smiled to myself at the thought as he opened the gate to his pasture.
    â€œSomethin’ funny?” he asked as I walked through it.
    I shook my head. “Not really.”
    It hadn’t snowed for four days, and with today’s warmer weather, the pasture was a slog. At least this time I’d worn wellies, so I had better traction. I kept an eye on the horse trails. The pasture was large—at least ten acres. The mules tended to use defined paths in the snow, much like we would. There were crisscrossing trails where the snow had been beaten down. The ones used most recently were muddy from the snowmelt. I looked back at the barn, where a large horse bay was open onto the pasture.
    â€œAre your animals free to come and go in the pasture all the time, or do you shut them up at night?”
    â€œThat bay’s open twenty-four hours a day. ’Cept if the weather gets too dangerous for ’em—deep snow or ice. In the spring, if we get too much rain, I have to close them in for days or they’ll hurt the sod. And the spring grass can make ’em sick too if they eat too much of it.”
    â€œWere they shut in the night the vet was here?”
    â€œNo. They ain’t been shut in for a good month.”
    â€œDo you know if they’re in the habit of going down to the creek to drink in the middle of the night or early morning?”
    He gave me a funny look. “Can’t say what they do at night. It’s a little dark out, ya know? But early morning they do. First light.”
    I thought he was joking a little, despite his absolutely grave delivery.
    â€œWhat about cows? Are they left free to come and go all the time? Would they typically go to the creek at first light?”
    Ezra stopped walking—not because my questions had been so perplexing but because a huge mule was walking straight toward us. Most of the animals in the pasture ignored us and continued to dig through the snow—looking for grass, I assumed. I was just fine with being ignored because, honestly, the mules were damned big animals. But this one was bearing down with a jogging gait and looked like it had no intention of stopping. I just managed not to duck behind Ezra and hide.
    He held up his hand. “Whoa.”
    The mule stopped in front of us and nudged Ezra with its head. Now that they were next to each other, I thought I recognized the mule as the one that had been comforting Ezra the first time I saw him.
    â€œThis here is Horse,” he said, rubbing the creature’s nose. “I’d tell him to get on, ’cept he won’t listen, not until he’s had enough of a hello.”
    â€œYou named a mule Horse?”
    â€œHorse has the same sense of humor as me, so I thought he’d appreciate it.”
    I snorted. Ezra kept walking and Horse walked along behind him, keeping his nose over Ezra’s shoulder to be stroked as if that were a natural way of moving along.
    â€œWhy do you raise mules?” I asked. “Why not horses?”
    â€œMy da bought one to try it out when I was fifteen. This one, in fact. Took to him right away. Liked him so much, I decided to raise ’em. A mule has a lot more personality than a horse, right from the time it falls from its mother’s womb. Horse here, for example, he’s always thought he was human. And mules’re healthier and steadier too. Less fearful on the roads.”
    â€œIt’s a crossbreed,