This Never Happened (Olympus Drive Chronicles)

Part 6 - Cannibal horses

Naturally we're crouched down in the brush above somebody's private horse farm, spying with binoculars.

"According to Dara police have been getting weird reports about these horses, so we're supposed to check it out," Juno is reading off of her phone, standing above me and Ian who are looking through one set of binoculars. "So that should be easy. Just make sure nothing untoward is going on. We should just go get a hotel and try to talk our way onto the ranch in the morning. I've spent enough time with my sisters I can pretend we're sales people or something. Not the first place I've lied my way into."

"Not the first place of slutted my way into," I say. She kicks me.

"It's fine my grandma calls Uncle Hugh a slut all the time, she also calls him queer," Ian says, unconcerned.

"I am queer," I say, surprisingly myself.

"Is that why you got sold into slavery?" Ian asks.

"No, different reasons all together," I grunt, glad that was the only question he had on that.

"Dad says you used to be queer like he thinks you're not anymore you might want to tell him." Oh he wasn't done.

"Nope, don't think I will," I say, my throat tightening with embarassment.

"If you did it would be helpful because then he'd not care if I am or not," Ian says, tugging the binoculars.

"Are you?" I ask.

"Gay? Bi? Pan----trans---sorry ignore me—," Juno asks.

"I think they're making some of those up---are you?" I ask him.

"I haven't decided yet, but I'm keeping my options open. I was going to a Catholic school there weren't a lot of girls so I'd have to be around some I think," Ian says, very seriously, "Before I make a decision. Figured I'd tell you since you're queer and also nobody would believe you if you told them because everyone thinks you're crazy."

"Glad I could be here," I mutter. Great. Just great. The kid shouldn't be hanging around me he should be with normal people.

"What school do you go to now?" Juno asks, nicely.

"None I got expelled something to do with small explosions that weren't to do with me," he grunts.

"Bull shit," I put down the binoculars.

"That's the story I'm sticking with I get less trouble for it," Ian says, haughtily, putting the binoculars up to his face. "They oughtn't have called me queer even if it's true I don't like being called it by other people."

"Stop taking after me, all right?" I sigh, rubbing my face. Possibly we should just be parenting this kid? Why am I here to parent him? My son is dead because I am clearly not deserving of children. Isaac is lucky this kid alive and well and ---interested in incendiaries.

"Maybe it's a phase, me and Isa and Elena had a pyrotechnic phase---well maybe they never stopped having a pyrotechnic phase. Anyway," Juno says, "I'm going to book us the Hilton. We'll go have a nice night and try to talk our way on in the morning."

"Should we do that when they're feeding the horses people?" Ian asks.

"What?" I tug the binoculars away from him and Juno flops down to look through them as well.

"That's just---weird horse food."

"I know what a human foot looks like, Uncle," Ian crawls on top of me to steal the binoculars.

"That's---shit," Juno sits up.

"You saw that too huh?" no I'm not gonna describe it. Yes, of course Ian was right. That's exactly what's happening.