“Let’s go have a look and get out of this sun. Maybe there’ll be some water for you to get a cool drink,” the rider said to his horse as he began moving down the hill. But as they approached the barn, his horse became nervous. Ears up. Nostrils flaring. The horse walked stiff legged and stared at the barn.

“There’s nothing in there but some old hay, a few birds and maybe some bats in the rafters so forget this. Get moving,” the rider told the horse.  “We’ve come this far, we’re not going back without going in that barn.”

Inside the barn in a cool corner, It sat. Hating the sun. It always retreated to the coolest corner of the barn during the day. Sometimes It never came out of its hiding places under the stacks of old, rotting hay in the back section of the barn. And seldom did It venture from hiding if It felt ground vibrations of anyone or anything close. But the ground vibrations this day told It there was only an animal out there. A large animal. It was not the vibrations vehicles had made months earlier when groups of people came to photograph the barn, walk in it, inspect rafters and talk about how important preservation of this barn was. At that time, It had hidden in its deepest dirt caves under the hay. 

It dragged Itself over to the side. It’s eyes blinked at the sun. It found a hole in the wall to stare out of as rider and horse approached the barn. As It watched, its claws dug into the dirt. Its teeth and fangs ground on each other. Sour saliva from its opening and closing mouth dripped onto the scales and hair of its body. And It began to change color from dirt brown to weathered gray blending in with the color of the walls inside the barn and the slight shadow It sat in. 

“What is wrong with you?” the rider asked the horse as the animal balked and refused to move forward. “It’s a barn. You’ve seen hundreds of them. Maybe there’s a deer in there. That’s what you hear.” the rider explained to the horse for the closer they came to the barn, the more nervous the horse reacted.

It sat watching rider and nervous horse. The horse bolted and spun. The rider dragged the horse around and tried to get the horse to move closer to the barn but after a few steps, the horse reared and spun again. 

Finally the rider dismounted and began to pet the horse saying “Look, I’ll go first. You follow me. That smell is probably a dead cow. It could have been in there for months. There’s nothing in there that’s going to eat you,” the rider explained quietly to the nervous horse as it continued to snort while sweat began to ran in little riverlets down its legs.  “We’ll just go in the barn.  Stand in the shade for a while.  And if you still don’t like it, we’ll leave.  But we’ve come this far.  Let’s go see what the inside looks like.”

The rider turned to face the barn. The one huge door hung open, “Anybody there?  Anybody home?”

It breathed softly and tucked itself closer to the wall, claws digging quietly in the earth.  It’s tail coiled along its side as It hunkered closer to the ground. It could wait until they were well within the barn. It could wait to fill its belly.

“Guess everybody went to town.  Let’s go,” the rider told his horse as he began leading the horse to the open door. 

At the door, the rider peered in. His eyes were having difficulty adjusting to the shadows in the barn and from the blinding overhead sun. The horse snorted again and the rider touched the animal’s neck. With a pull on the reins he said, “Come on it.  It’s cool in the barn.”

The rider stepped through the doors and walked into the barn. The horse, always willing and eager to follow his owner, stepped through the doors. Inside the shadows the horse suddenly spun round the rider then stood frozen. Wild eyed. Looking at something rising up from the dirt and shadows behind the rider.

It rose with a roar! Slashing. Growling. Tail twisting and coiling. Claws tearing and ripping whatever they touched. The rider felt nothing. But as his eyes became lifeless he had the sudden impression of something big and powerful coming through the air, slashing his neck and hitting the horse on the head as the animal reared, screamed and fell. 

Outside the barn for a few seconds, squirrels chirped in alarm. Birds fled out of the barn. Bats in the rafters hung to rafters tighter. Snakes slithered deeper into the hay. Then quiet. Nothing. The sun overhead blazed its heat onto the barn roof. And inside the barn, It began to feed. 

Happy Halloween everyone……..

Bonnie