Spirit Horses

by Alan S Evans

  “No, Tara, there is nothing to be sorry for. I appreciate the concern you’ve shown for me, and we’ve become close enough friends for you to know. I just didn’t know how to tell you. The last thing I want from anyone right now is sympathy, especially yours.”

  As Tara moved around in front of Shane, it was obvious that she wanted to console him for the terrible truth that her curiosity had inadvertently drawn out. Now face-to-face, she placed her open hands on his chest, and for the first time since she had met him, she was able to look beyond his features into his soul.

  Shane’s pulse began to race as he slowly and unsurely slid his hands around her waist. For a moment he found himself lost and confused between past and present feelings. But one glance into her still tearful blue eyes, and he became rapt in her gaze.

  Tara spoke her next words softly, “You have a big heart, Shane Carson. Do you think there’s some room in there for me?”

  Shane lifted his right hand, then gently brushed the hair from her cheek, “The truth is I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since we met. And even though I wasn’t looking for this, I think you’re already in it.” No one made the first move, it just happened. The kiss was soft and gentle, but so revealing.

  Neither of them could shy away from their attraction anymore. As they slowly separated, they each could sense the fear and apprehension that still lingered. For a while they stood there stunned, looking into each other’s eyes, but soon the feelings that had been growing between them overcame their doubt. Shane now knew in his heart that enough time had passed, and this was okay. He felt his family would want him to take this step, to find a way out of the prison of loneliness where he’d been trapped for so long.

  He’d become comfortable in his odd and lonesome existence. This really was the last thing he was seeking out in his life. It must be this particular woman and this special place that was the catalyst for this to be happening. Tara was definitely a woman whom any man would desire, but he also saw her as a person with a good heart, a person that he could trust and believe in. She was beautiful down to her core.

  With a smile that could melt any man’s heart, she looked deep into his eyes and asked, “Are you all right with this, I mean, I’ll understand if you’re not ready.” Shane just pulled her in close to let her know he was willing.

  Suddenly, the door of the cabin slammed shut as Tashawa barreled outside toward the corral to get the horses ready.

  “I guess I should go up and throw some sort of breakfast together, before we leave.”

  Shane nodded. “I’ll be up in a minute.”

  Tara only took a few steps before turning to give him another heart-stopping look, then slowly walked away.

  Shane took a deep breath and knelt down at the creek’s edge to splash some water on his face. “I don’t know if I’m ready for this.” He smiled at how good it felt to have this attractive young woman show an interest in him. Jokingly, he let his male ego surface, mumbling, “Looks like this ole man still has it.” He grinned at the thought as he looked down at his reflection in the now settling water. Knowing there was a busy day ahead, he shifted his mind back to the job at hand and hustled up to the camp to help Tashawa tack up the horses.

  After joining Tara inside for a quick breakfast of instant oatmeal and coffee, they went back outside. Tashawa reached into her saddled bags and handed Shane a silencer that she said would work on his rifle. He noted both women already had one mounted on their guns.

  Tara explained, “You can hear a gunshot out here for miles, so Tigee asked us to use these. We don’t want the whole valley to know we’re here when we’re shooting for food or protection. If we get separated, we have the radios that are set on our own channel.”

  “You ladies are old pros at this, aren’t you?”

  “You just wait and see her tracking skills,” Tara remarked as they mounted their horses and headed out.

  Tashawa had them riding at a fairly fast pace. She hoped to arrive at the northern border in a little over an hour. Shane noticed the two dogs slipping into the woods when they left the camp. He knew they were in the vicinity and would be following.

  Tashawa led the group to an area she thought would be the most likely place for the oilmen’s camp. Unfortunately, this was a low-lying area and the morning’s fog had settled in, which made for poor visibility. Even though they could hardly see their hands in front of their faces, Tashawa could sense there was no one else around. She suggested they ride further east.

  She guided them to a place on higher ground. By now the fog had lifted, so from the top of this canyon wall they could see for quite a distance along the property line in both directions. Shane pulled out his binoculars and began to scan the area while still sitting on his horse. The two women stepped off their mounts and propped their rifles on low tree limbs, while looking through their scopes. It was Tara who spotted the camp. “There they are,” she said, “look northeast from here, at about one o’clock.”

  The camp was about two miles away. It was set up near an old logging road that ran across Vince Nethers’s land.

  “You sit up here and keep an eye on them,” Tashawa told Shane. “Tara and I will go down and see if we can find signs of them coming onto the reservation with that equipment.”

  Just then, the three heard the rumbling sound of thunder off to the west. The dark sky indicated that a bad storm could be heading their way. Tashawa, thinking out loud, suggested, “We better get down there quick and have a look around before the rain washes away any tracks. The storm is still pretty far away; if we’re lucky it will go around us. Down below, there is an overhung cliff about a hundred yards east. If the storm comes, we’ll meet you there. It’ll be a good place to stay dry until the weather clears.”

  With that said, the two women rode out at a fast trot. Shane sat on the high ridge watching the oilmen. All the trucks seemed to be staying put, and the men were just lounging around. Tory was resting calmly; the two dogs had shown up and were lying contentedly nearby. Watching the storm move in his direction was quite a sight from this high perspective. It was still several miles away, but the whole western sky was dark and angry. Lightning was bursting through the black clouds, and every now and then, he could see one of the bright jagged streaks make it to the ground. The storm was growing in strength, minute by minute.

  Chapter 19

  He waited impatiently as the hour passed, and finally decided it was time to make his way to cover. Feeling the first drops, he hastily rode down the slope, barely making it under the ledge as the dark sky opened to a drenching downpour. He was surprised and concerned to see that the women weren’t there. All he could do was hope they found shelter. He, Tory, and the dogs sat and waited out the storm for the next forty minutes. Shane attempted three times to contact the women on the radio with no luck. He figured the storm was interfering with the reception and finally gave up trying. When it ended, he tried to contact them again, still with no answer.

  Tigee picked up his call at the ranch. “What’s going on, Shane? Over.”

  “We were separated by a storm. I’m still waiting to hear back from them. I thought something might be wrong with my radio. Over.”

  “I can hear you fine. If we can’t reach them soon, you’d better go look for them. I’ll stay in touch. Over.”

  “Roger. I’ll give them a few more minutes, then head north to see if I can locate them.”

  A short time later, Shane rode out in the same direction as the women. He’d seen them ride off from the high ridge, and since the heavy rain had now washed away their tracks, his memory of watching them leave was the only way he could follow. That’s when he noticed the dogs had picked up their scent. With their noses to the ground, they were now moving at a fast pace. He cued Tory into a slow canter and followed for about twenty minutes.

  Suddenly, the wolves slowed down and started acting very anxious. Butch and Jessie both trotted over to Shane, then looked ahead toward a thick group of trees befor
e starting a low, deliberate growl. Obviously, the dogs were trying to tell him something was wrong. Shane slowed his horse through the heavy foliage. The last thing he wanted to do was to ride in on a feeding bear.

  During the storm, the women had made it into a large cave. It was well hidden behind the thick patch of trees through which Shane was now riding. Tashawa had used this cavern many times before for cover. When they first arrived, Tara tried to contact Shane via radio to let him know they couldn’t make it back to him before the storm hit. Just like Shane, they couldn’t get through on the radio due to the weather.

  When the bad weather passed, Tara decided to try again. As she took the radio from her saddle, someone grabbed her from behind and snatched it away. The two women looked back toward the cave opening to see three very wet male figures standing there. Tashawa, who was sitting on a rock, made a quick dash for her rifle that was in its scabbard on her horse. Just as she got to her gun, one of the men tackled her and wrestled it away.

  “What the hell do you think you’re gonna do with that, you little bitch?” he shouted. Two of the men were Indian, whom Tashawa knew as hunting guides from the Arapaho tribe. She also knew these guys were bad news and had been in and out of trouble with the law their whole lives.

  The Arapaho tribe were a proud and honest people, but these two men were different. They’d been bad seeds since the day they were born and had shown no respect for the Shoshone, or anyone else for that matter. Tashawa had heard a couple of months ago about their latest stint with the authorities. They were the only suspects of a convenience store robbery in a nearby town where the clerk had been violently beaten. The prosecutor handling the case couldn’t put together enough physical evidence to convict them. Their names were Jack and Thomas. The third man with them was Vince’s son, Bo.

  The two Arapahos were familiar with this shelter, and had headed over to escape the storm. As they arrived, they could tell someone was already there. They tethered their horses out of sight and sneaked in on the unsuspecting women.

  “Let her up,” Tara yelled as she tried to jerk her own arm away from Bo, who had a tight grip on her. “What do you guys want?”

  “Oh, we’re just out on a little hunting trip,” Bo said. “We didn’t expect to find you two sweet things way out here. What do you say we have us a little party.” Bo pulled out a flask of whiskey and shoved it in Tara’s face. She struggled to get free, knocking the flask out of his hand and spilling it. He laughed maliciously, “Don’t worry blue eyes! I’ve got more in my saddlebags.” As he leaned over to pick up the flask, Tara kneed him in his throat as hard as she could. Bo dropped to the ground letting her go while he grabbed his neck, struggling to inhale. Tara ran for her rifle but was cut off by Jack. With Thomas holding on to Tashawa, and Jack gripping Tara, both men began laughing uncontrollably at Bo, still on his hands and knees, gasping for air.

  Bo crawled over to a rock he could lean against while he tried to catch his breath, cussing and gesturing obscenely at the two men.

  Jack took a close look at Tara and sneered, “Look at you, you’re a fine little bitch. You and me are going to have some fun!”

  Thomas, who was still holding Tashawa, looked down at her and said, “When I’m done with this one, I want a turn with the pretty one.”

  Jack, a big, strong guy, picked Tara up, kicking and screaming, and carried her outside. He threw her down on a wet grassy spot, tore off her shirt, and slapped her hard across the face. “Stop fighting me you little whore. You know you want it.”

  At the same moment, Shane happened to be cautiously slipping through the trees to see what had bothered the dogs.

  In spite of Jack’s hard slap to her face, Tara continued to hit, kick, and fight back with everything she had. It only took Shane a second to realize what he’d ridden up on. He spurred Tory to a full gallop through the rest of the woods and into the clearing where Jack had Tara pinned down. The Indian saw the horse charging him and scrambled to get to his feet. Tara, adrenalin pumping, got herself off the ground and made a quick getaway. As Jack stood up, he reached for a long knife from a sheath attached to his right boot. He wasn’t entirely upright, so the knife had barely cleared the sheath when Shane smashed into him with his horse. This sent the knife flying out of his hand and the Indian tumbling across the ground. Jack stared at his knife that was now lying on the grass a few feet away. By this time, Shane was out of his saddle, and had reached Jack just as he was stretching for his blade. With one swift, accurate kick, Shane used his spur to slice the Indian’s face open from his mouth to his ear. Jack grabbed his cheek and hollered in pain as the deep wound began to gush blood. Enraged, the Indian reached down and pulled a second knife out from his left boot. He let out a screaming war cry and then charged Shane with every intention to kill him.

  With no time to get to his rifle, Shane picked up a rock and readied himself for the unfair advantage Jack had with the large knife. Jack, still screaming and charging, nearly made it to Shane when out of nowhere, came a vicious, coordinated attack from Butch and Jessie. The two wolves were on top of Jack with all the speed and precision they had acquired while hunting together since they were pups. One bit down hard on Jack’s knife hand while the other went for the back of his neck.

  Tara, her shirt ripped, and her face bruised, had already grabbed Shane’s rifle off of Tory and hers from her horse. She tossed Shane his gun and yelled, “There are two more men in the cave, and they have Tashawa!”

  Thomas had since moved off the feisty Tashawa and was running out to see what all the hollering was about. Shane met him at the cave entrance with a crashing blow to the forehead from the butt of his 30-30 rifle. Thomas barely got a look at Shane before the blow dropped him hard to the ground.

  Tara was right behind Shane and soon inside holding her gun within an inch of Bo’s face as he was still leaning on the rock, recovering from her previous kick to his throat. Bo stood up, pointed at Shane with hate in his eyes, and yelled, “You tell this squaw bitch to get that gun out of my face so I can finish you off, man-to-man, like I should have done in town that day.” In the meantime Tashawa stumbled over and begun hysterically kicking Thomas in the back as he lay unconscious at the cave’s opening.

  Shane looked at Tara, who was pointing her gun at Bo, and told her, “If he moves or even twitches, shoot him in a knee.” Then he went over to get Tashawa away from Thomas as she continued relentlessly kicking the still unconscious Arapaho. “All right, girl! That’s enough,” he said, as he put his arms around her from behind and pulled her back. “He can’t hurt you anymore. Just get your rifle and keep a close watch over him.”

  He then hurried outside to check the dogs. They had Jack on the ground propped against a tree, and he was pretty mauled up. He was also still bleeding profusely from the cut Shane gave him with his spur. Shane called the dogs off, walked up to Jack, leaned over, face-to-face, and said, “Man that’s got to hurt.” Then, with a look that could kill, he told him, “I’m going to let you go get some help now before you bleed to death. Seeing as how we’re out here in the middle of nowhere, I don’t have much of a choice. But just keep in mind, the next time I see you, I won’t give you a chance to pull a knife on me. You’ll be dead before you can get it out of the sheath.” Shane grabbed the injured Jack by the collar, dragged him over to his horse, and pushed him up into the saddle.

  Jack was hurt badly. With blood pouring from his face, he could hardly speak, but somehow he managed to look down at Shane and muttered painfully, “Fuck you, white boy, this isn’t over yet.”

  Shane looked him square in the eye, “Not by a long shot, asshole.” Then he slapped Jack’s horse on the hip, and sent him galloping into the thick woods.

  Shane quickly made his way back to the cave. Thomas was now beginning to regain consciousness. Tashawa still had her rifle stuck in his face, and he saw the dogs were now helping her keep him pinned to the ground. Shane was confident that Thomas was under control and wasn’t going anywhere. The
n he walked over to Tara, put his hand on her shoulder, and told her to stop pointing her gun at Bo. “All right, dipshit, I’m going to give you that opportunity you asked for. Man-to-man, you can show me what you’ve got.”

  Bo, with a cocky smirk, stood up. Trying to seize the advantage, he suddenly threw a sucker punch at Shane before they had a chance to square off at each other. Shane was expecting a cowardly move like this and adeptly blocked the sorry punch. Quickly reacting, he hit Bo with a crushing blow to his face, breaking his nose and knocking him to the dirt. Bo furiously struggled back up onto his feet and took another swing at Shane, hitting nothing but air. Shane countered his punch once again, this time connecting with Bo’s left eye. Bo dropped to the cave floor, out cold.

  As Shane stepped back, he noticed Butch was still helping Tashawa with Thomas, while Jessie had come over and positioned himself to pounce on Bo, in case things had gone the other way with their fight. He looked down at the wolf and said, “What’s wrong, Jessie, didn’t you think I could take him?” The dog looked back up at Shane and wagged his tail.

  At that moment, Tara walked over to Shane and sighed emotionally as she put her arms around his neck.

  He pulled her in close and whispered in her ear, “It’s all over now.”

  “I sure am glad you came looking for us,” she said, as she took a deep breath and recovered her composure.

  Shane whistled for Tory, and the horse immediately came inside the cave and over to him. He untied a jacket from his saddle and wrapped it around Tara’s torn shirt.

  “What are we going to do with these jerks?” Tashawa asked.

  The two men were now beginning to regain consciousness. “We don’t have much choice,” Shane answered. “We’re too far out to do anything but let ’em go. We’ll talk to the law about them when we get back.” Tashawa was not happy with this. She would have killed them if Shane had not been there to stop her. Reluctantly, they let the two injured men leave.