Lorraine slept. It was only for an hour (a very fitful hour), but it was an hour of sleep nonetheless.

She woke to the popping and scratching of a vinyl that was playing "You Are My Sunshine." The smell of bacon and eggs wafted down the hallway, and she travelled towards the smell urgently. "Clarice?"

   "Yes, darling, I'm in here," she said, pushing the eggs around in a frying pan on the stove.

   She wanted to offer to make some tea, then realized that there were already tea cups sitting on the table. "You feeling okay, Clare?" she asked, pulling a chair from the table.

   "I'm alright, dear, how about yourself?"

   Lorraine glanced at the door. There was a little boy staring at her hungrily. She ignored him. "My morning's been alright."

   "You slept, then?"

   "If you could call it that," she replied rather bluntly.

   "Well, I'm sorry that you're not sleeping well, but I'll need your help with the horses. They need to be fed and groomed, and their stalls need to be mucked out. Ed went to the store to get some bread, he'll be back after a while. I've decided not to call your mother, at least, for now."

   Lorraine snorted her tea. "What?"

   "Don't think I don't know what's going on with that boy. Your mother must be insistent on keeping him away, but I told her it's obviously no use. When I came into your room last night, you were muttering his name like a parrot."

   She blushed, suddenly remembering the vision she had the night before. "I mean, he's a nice boy and everything, but I--"

   "I know how your mother thinks. Frankly, I think it's a load of horse hockey. You need to be around people your age, not around older folks like myself."

   "You're not old," Lorraine chided, smiling at Clarice lovingly.

   "Don't be sucking up to me girl," she warned her. Her tone was serious, and for a moment Lorraine was surprised. Clarice grinned back. "I know you better than that. You try to be all prim and proper and all this," she said, waving her arms, "but down inside, you're a fire," she mused.

   The two had a good breakfast, and Clare gave the younger woman a pair of clothes better suited for cleaning stalls and bathing horses.

   "I'll take Rain and Midnight to the north end of the pasture," she told the older woman. "I'll just have to keep an eye on em' until Ed gets here to fix that fence."

   "You sure you wanna take Midnight?" her cousin questioned. "He's been quite the brute lately."

   "Well, forgive me if I'm being rather blunt, but I'm not sure you're in much of a position to argue," Lorraine said, indicating Clare's current state.

   "I'll take Pandora, then."

   Lorraine nodded. She was more familiar with Midnight and Rain; she hadn't visited since Pandora was born and would've been surprised if the yearling paid any attention to her. She pulled a bridle over Rain's head easily; the mare was calm and friendly with Lorraine even after all these years. The young horse followed easily as well, and Lorraine pulled an apple slice from her pocket as a reward.

   "Here you go," she muttered, holding the palm of her hand flat against the horse's nose. Rain crunched the apple happily.

   A shadow moved in the corner of her eye. Lorraine turned, noticing that Midnight had started to follow her. Something stopped the massive Clydesale from continuing on the route; his ears were bent downwards and he whinned nervously.

   "C'mon, Midnight, you know me," she said, patting the animal's cheek. "C'mon, big boy, let's go," she took his nose and pinched the bottom of his chin, pulling gently. His eyes were wild as he shook his head again, showing his great big teeth.

   "What's got you so worked up?" she wondered aloud, rubbing his broad shoulder. He calmed a little, but refused to move.

   "Hey, what's the hold up?" Clare asked, stopping Pandora. The wiry blue horse whinned excitedly.

   "Something's got Midnight spooked," she warned, stroking the stallion.

   "Here, let me try," she said, patting his buttock. She walked backwards in front of the stallion, cooing to him. She was just barely out of distance from him when he reared, frightening Clarice and throwing Lorraine backwards into the mud.

   "Lorraine!" she hollered, kneeling to check the spot where Midnight's hoof met the girl's forehead.

   Lorraine squinted. Her vision was blurry for a moment and she wiped the blood from her forehead. She cursed. "He got me good," she muttered, sounding dazed.

   "Come on now, let's get you inside. Your mother will kill me if you get trampled by a horse," she paused, hearing a vehicle pulling into the driveway. "I'll bet that's Ed. You know if he has any experience with horses?" she asked.

   "I-- don't know, you need to ask him, maybe he could get Midnight settled down," she responded, grinning awkwardly. Heck, he could get me settled any day, her conscience quipped.

   "Hey, is everything okay?" Ed questioned, keeping his distance from the obviously irritated horse. He instantly regretted his question when he noticed the sizeable dent on Lorraine's forehead. His demeanor changed immediately; he bent down and cradled his girlfriend's head, wiping away the blood with the hem of his shirt.

   "I- I've got a massive headache..." she muttered, trying to sit up.

   "I'll take Pandora back to her stall and call the doctor. Can you get her up to the house?" Clare asked.

   "Yeah, I got her." He glanced up at Midnight. "What are you doing to do about him?"

   "I'll leave him here for now," she said, sighing. "No one's going to be able to move him if he's acting like this, but I doubt he'll run off."

   Ed wished they could move the horse, but at the moment, Lorraine was more important. "Easy now," he told her, lifting her up out of the mud.

   She wobbled. "My head--"

   "He hit you pretty hard," Ed explained, letting her lean on his shoudler as they walked. He wanted to pick her up and carry her to the house, but he was afraid that his gesture would make the situation more awkward.

   "He's not normally like that, Ed."

   "Something's got him spooked, that's for sure. If Pandora wasn't behind him, he probably would've kicked me, too."

   Lorraine laid on the couch. Ed took a folded blanket and shook it out, laying it across her rather gingerly. He then retrieved a cloth from the sink, dampened it with cool water, and laid it over her bleeding head.

   "Ed, I've got something really important to tell you," she managed.

   "Yes, Lorraine?"

   "I see dead people."