Free Blood of the Rainbow by Shelia Chapman Page A

had too good of a day to let her spoil it now.”
    “ Sara …” Lucy hesitated. “ I know you’re a big girl, and I know you’re responsible. Jared is a very good friend, and I would trust him with my life.... ”
    “But?” Sara prompted.
    “ Just be careful Honey. This is the first serious relationship you’ve been in since, well, you know, since Jeff. I don’t want to see you get hurt again. Just be sure this time Sweetie. ” She paused for a minute when Sara didn’t respond.  “ Uh oh . Am I starting to sound like your Mom? ”
    Sara chuckled. “Yeah, a little.”
    “ I’m sorry Honey. It’s just, well, you’re living with me, and you’re my responsibility, ok? I’m not trying to pry, just be careful. ”
    “I will Lucy, and I’ll be home in a little while.” Sara ended the call and went inside.
    Jared looked up when she entered the room. “Is everything all right?”
    “Yeah. Mom’s just getting edgy. I’ll call her in the morning, let her yell a while, and get it out of her system.”
    Jared smiled. “Seems your Mom and I are going to get along like cats and dogs.”
    “That’s what I’m afraid of….”
    Jared kissed Sara’s cheek and took her hand. “Stop worrying about your mother. We’ll get along, or we won’t. It’s that simple. Come on. Let’s go take a walk down memory lane. Ready to see my trinkets?”
    “Yeah, sure.” Sara followed him up the stairs. He led her to what she assumed was his bedroom. It had the right look. She took a deep breath and walked through the door with him. This was the first time she’d been alone with Jared in his bedroom. Sara had fallen head over heels in love with Jared, and she was a little nervous. Jared grinned, sensing her feelings.
    He knelt down by the side of his bed and pulled out an old trunk. He opened it up and handed her a stack of papers. “I’m not going to attack you Sara, unless you want me to attack you,” he grinned. “Here, start going through these, and I’ll see if I can find any of my earlier stuff.”
    Sara laid the folder on the bed, and kneeling on the floor, used the top of the bed as a desk. Jared scrambled around in the top of his closet. He pulled out an old briefcase. “Oh, yes, here they are.” He opened it and handed Sara another small stack of sketches. “When you’re finished going through those, I’ll show you my Navajo room. I have it arranged, like a museum display, with separate curio cabinets.”
    Sara started thumbing through the sketches. They were extremely realistic. She glanced up. “Is this how it looks in Arizona?”
    “Yes, but I’m afraid the sketches don’t do it a lot of justice.”
    “There are so many colors. Is it really like this? You didn’t exaggerate, when you colored in the sunset?”
    Jared seemed mildly annoyed. “No Sara. I’m a perfectionist when it comes to my art. I try to make them as real as possible. Sometimes, I might add the odd blade of grass, or leaf to a bush, but I never go overboard with it.”
    Jared waited for Sara’s reaction as she went through the smaller stack of sketches. “Ah – I ah - I did some of those while I was still in high school, in El Dorado. A couple of them might be… disturbing, but remember what I told you about my dreams, and try and keep an open mind about it.”
    Sara glanced up at him and smiled, “When it comes to you… my mind will always be open.”
    Jared knelt beside her and brushed the back of his fingers across her cheek. “I’m glad.”
     The small stack of sketches only contained four drawings which looked as if they’d been drawn on older paper. Sara gasped, bringing her hand to her mouth. “Oh my! This is me, when I was about ten. I remember the birthday cake. It was in the shape… of a wolf, baying… at the moon. My mother and grandmother searched all over Shreveport, trying to find the right shaped pan.”
    Sara held up another picture. “This one was at my thirteenth birthday. I felt so alone. All