Chapter 8, part 2: Strange New Colors

Altin didn't want to risk drawing attention to himself by shipping a bunch of large boxes from a supposedly vacant old warehouse, so it didn't take him very long at all to pack. Clothing, books, only what he could fit in Spot's saddlebags. It was still well after dark when they finally arrived at the Grey Meadow farmhouse the Ripley family had owned.

It was an odd old house. The little stone wall was well-maintained, but the paint was peeling from the window shutters and the grass was thin and heavily trodden. The lot seemed...sad.

Wow, Altin was getting melancholy. He needed to get some sleep.

After letting Spot into the empty stall, he looked in on Eastwood, who seemed none the worse for wear.

He got a little lost looking for the front door, before he realized the entire house was built on the barn's second story loft. He turned the corner looking for the way upstairs and ran headlong into a young girl coming down the steps.

"Oh, hi!" she said, sounding out of breath. "You must be Elsie's dad. I guess the social worker found you and sorted everything out or whatever?" She didn't bother to wait for an answer. "Listen, it's way late so I need to get home, but I left my number by the phone if you need any babysitting. It's the one labeled Kylee."

Upstairs, Altin realized two things. First: he really didn't know Kirk that well, or her parenting rules, schedule, dislikes, likes... And second: one of those likes was color.

EVERYWHERE.

He tracked down the nursery. And Elsie, who had slept soundly through the noise from downstairs. 

Hey, she was pretty cute. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all.

The sun was starting to rise by the time he found the master bedroom, the light hitting the violet furnishings reminding him so much of that night in the Appaloosa house that he paused in the center of the room. The bedroom was so...not his. So Kirk's. He didn't think he'd be able to sleep here, not while it looked like this.

He bedded down in the nursery, in what he assumed was Elsie's grandfather's bed. This strange new house, new town, and new life would take some getting used to, but he desperately wanted a full night's sleep first.

He woke up once during the "night". He needed a bathroom. Badly. Back to exploring.

"Really, Kirk? Really?"