Free Dark Solace by Tara Fox Hall Page B

strangers are
allowed inside Hayden’s grounds. What I can’t make or fix with my
hands, Titus does with his magic.” He flicked his forked tongue at
me. “Devlin doesn’t hire for this type of skill. They’ll learn by
trial and error, just like the last bunch did years ago.”
    The operator in the ditch was swearing now as
he tried to back the tractor up out of the ditch. But the back
tires wouldn’t grip, they were spinning in the mud, covering the
tractor and him in sludge.
    This was wasted time and wasted effort,
specifically mine if I sat here and did nothing. There was a better
way. “Do you want my help?” I said, folding my arms over my
chest.
    “You can’t get that tractor out of there,”
Lash said, flicking his tongue at me again.
    “The hell I can’t,” I retorted.
    “This will be fun. How much you want to bet?”
he hissed with a grin.
    Yes, it would be fun. “What are you
offering?”
    “What do you want?”
    Hmm. “I want you to tell me you are glad of
my help.”
    “That’s it?” he hissed in confusion, giving
me an odd look.
    “Yes,” I said with fake pleasantness.
“You?”
    “I want you to come an extra day this week to
Hayden, plus an extra day next week.”
    Always, it was about Dev. Oiy. “Deal,” I
agreed. “Now send all of them on a break. I need to concentrate
without onlookers.”
    Lash nodded. “Guys,” he said loudly. “Go
inside and have an early lunch.”
    “But it’s not even ten—” Nick said in
confusion.
    “Shut up and go inside,” Lash hissed. “One
hour.”
    The bears muttered and dropped their tools,
then began walking up to the house. I walked over to the stuck
tractor and climbed on, taking a few minutes to familiarize myself
with the controls. They were similar enough to my tractor that if I
went slow, I should be okay. The problem was what to do. I’d never
been stuck before as bad as this. I’d always steered clear of
ditches this deep.
    “The clock is ticking, Sar,” Lash called
mirthfully. “Fifty-six minutes left.”
    “Shut up!” I called back sweetly.
    First, I needed to get rid of the rock. I
extended the loader as far as it would go, and deposited the rock
on the far bank of the ditch. It was a foot back, so it shouldn’t
roll back in.
    From here on, it was trial and error. Since
going backward hadn’t worked for the bear, I’d try to go forward.
Putting the tractor in drive, I pressed gently on the accelerator.
While the tractor went forward a foot, it wouldn’t climb the far
bank, even with the help of the loader. The sides of the ditch were
too steep. But down about twenty feet, the ditch sides began to
slope more gently. If I could get down there, I could climb
out.
    I turned the steering wheel, and began to
work the controls. With a lot of going forward and going backward
the few feet possible, I managed to turn the tractor about thirty
degrees. Suddenly, the bank behind me gave way, the back tires
sliding into the ditch.
    Laughter and clapping sounded. Lash was
laughing his ass off and giving me a round of applause. “Bravo,
Sar! Now the whole tractor’s in the ditch!”
    My face flaming, I ignored him and put the
tractor in drive. Carefully, I turned the wheel, and drove the
tractor down the ditch to where the walls were sloped. As I moved,
the wheels sank down deeper in the mud, the front wheels more than
half buried when I stopped.
    Oh, shit. A spring joined the ditch here.
Instead of the foot of mud I’d been in, now I was in a foot and a
half at least. I was going to be a dirt queen by the time I got out
of this hole. Resigned, I began turning the tractor to face the
side of the ditch. By the time I had, the place I was maneuvering
in was a mud pit, and I was covered in it, my face, hair and body
spattered. Angry, I pressed the accelerator too hard, and spun the
tires, big chunks of mud scattering and spraying me in the
process.
    Lash began laughing again. I restrained my
urge to curse him out, and/or find a gun and