by Alan S Evans
Tashawa led the trio down to a stream, where they rode a while in the water. This would make it difficult for the Indians and Bo to track them to the camp if they had a mind to. All three men were hurt badly enough to need to go home and lick their wounds. However, Tashawa figured it was better to be safe than sorry.
On the way back, Tigee’s voice came over the radio.
“Shane, come in.”
“This is Shane. Over.”
“Did you find the girls?”
“Yes, sir, we ran in to a little trouble. Over.”
“What do you mean, trouble?”
“We’re traveling pretty fast right now. We want to get back to the cabin before dark. I’ll talk to you later, but everyone’s okay.”
The old man hesitated and then said, “All right, over and out.”
The women were pretty shook up and hadn’t spoken much since they left the cave. It was Tara, who finally broke the silence. “With all the commotion, we forgot to tell you what we found. Tashawa spotted some covered up tire tracks. The storm hit before we had a chance to follow them very far, but someone had definitely gone to a lot of trouble to hide them.”
Tashawa finally spoke, “That’s probably what those pigs were out there doing before the storm drove them to the cave.”
“Do you think you can follow the tracks after the hard rain today?” Shane asked.
“Yes, I believe so,” she answered.
“We’ll go out in the morning and have a look-see then,” he said. “I don’t think those three will be coming out to the valley tomorrow. They were all pretty banged up.”
Suddenly Tashawa held up her hand, stopped her horse, and pointed down. She noticed some fresh mountain goat tracks in front of them. She told Shane and Tara to stay put, slipped off her horse, and quietly walked into the woods. It wasn’t long before they heard the faint shot of a rifle, with a silencer. Soon, Tashawa was back with a goat slung over her shoulder.
“Fresh meat tonight,” she said as she threw the animal up in front of her saddle.
The shack was a welcome sight. Shane suggested the women go to the pool and clean up, while he fed the horses and put them away. As an afterthought, he sent the dogs down to keep an eye on the ladies. By the time they returned, the goat was skinned, cleaned, and ready to cook.
Tara walked past him holding her head down as she went by. Shane wasn’t sure what was wrong, but it was obvious to him that she wanted some privacy. So he headed on down to the pool to wash up. While relaxing in the cool, refreshing water, he had a chance to reflect on what happened that day, along with the connection he and Tara had made. His thoughts then shifted to how enraged he’d become when he saw her pinned down to the ground by Jack. He was glad he’d kept his cool, though, and had not done something he would have regretted. He recalled what that son of a bitch told him as he rode off, “This isn’t over yet.”
Shane knew in his gut that it wasn’t the last time he would see Jack. He tried to put it out of his mind as he soaked in the pool a while longer.
Approaching the cabin, he could smell dinner cooking. As he walked within sight of the porch, he noticed Tashawa putting some of the fresh meat down for Butch and Jesse. He jokingly said, “You aren’t feeding those dogs our food, are you?”
All she said back to him was, “They did good today.” Then she turned and went inside.
“Looks like you boys finally won her over,” Shane mumbled to the wolves as he followed Tashawa into the cabin. The two women were busy preparing dinner. Along with the fresh meat, they had canned vegetables, potatoes, biscuits, and gravy. “Wow!” Shane exclaimed in surprise when he saw everything they were cooking. “You ladies went all out tonight.”
Tara still kept her back to him and didn’t say a word, but Tashawa looked at him and said, “This is because you did good today.” The meal was Tashawa’s way of showing her thanks without actually having to say the words. Tara continued to work with her back to Shane, and he was beginning to wonder if he’d done or said something to upset her.
He decided to go outside and sit with the dogs until dinner was ready. It was a nice, warm evening, and the afternoon storm had helped to settle the dust, leaving the air fresh. A few minutes later, Tashawa came out to tell him it was time to eat. As he stood, she gestured to him to follow her away from the front door.
“You seem to be a good man, Shane Carson, but I have something I need to say to you privately. Tara would be very angry at me if she knew I was talking to you about this.”
Shane looked confused. “About what?”
“I have known her since she was a little girl, but I’ve never seen her look at a man the way she looks at you. Even with what you did for me today, I’m telling you now, if you hurt her, you will have to deal with a lot of pissed-off Shoshones—including me.”
Shane wasn’t sure what to say. He thought carefully for a moment before he replied. “I don’t know what the future will bring for us, but I do care about her, and I’ll never lie to her or lead her on.”
Tashawa looked at him sternly. “I guess that’s all I can ask of you.” Then, she turned to walk back inside.
“Hey, wait a minute, why is Tara upset with me?”
Tashawa smiled out of one side of her mouth and answered, “She’s not mad at you. She doesn’t want you to see the way she looks. Her eye is turning black and her cheek is swollen. She’s pretty tough though, she’ll be okay.”
After they ate and cleaned up, Tashawa grabbed a couple of blankets to sit on and told Shane and Tara to follow. Tara was still shyly trying to keep the left side of her face away from him. The long day had given way to night, and a bright full moon lit the way as Tashawa led them up the steep trail that began near the back of the cabin. The narrow path wound its way up to the top of the ridge that served as one side of the corral where the horses were being kept.
“Our grandfathers call this place Gewaga-Mukua. In English it translates to next to the spirits.” Tashawa knew all the constellations of the stars and the Indian folklore for each. Shane had never seen her so talkative and was pleased to see she was opening up around him. Then, all of a sudden, she stood and said casually, “I’m going to bed now. You two should stay up here and enjoy the evening.”
Shane moved over to sit next to Tara on the handmade Indian blanket. She shyly looked at the ground, still trying to conceal the left side of her face. “If you hadn’t come to the cave looking for us when you did, who knows what they might have done to us. I want to thank you, again.” Tara was usually in control of her emotions, but the thought of what could have been had induced a single tear to run out of her injured eye. Without thinking, she reached up to wipe it off and grimaced at the pain when she touched her swollen cheek. “I look as though I’ve been hit with a baseball bat,” she said, with a quiet, angry tone. Then she looked away again.
Shane, sitting next to her, had picked up a stick and was scratching around in the sand in front of them. He slowly glanced over at her and said, “I’ve never been very good at coming up with the right words to say at times like this. One thing I do know is that sitting here next to you in this moonlight, I’ve never seen any woman look more beautiful than you do tonight.”
She slowly raised her head and met his eyes with her own. “Well, you’re either better than you think you are at saying how you feel, or you’re a smooth talker from way back. Whichever one it is, it’s working real well for you. So if I were you, I’d go ahead and make your move.”
The two then came together for a long kiss that both had yearned for all evening. Tara gently fell back on the blanket as the embrace turned into a passion that neither one of them wanted to control. It had been years since either of them had chosen to be with anyone, but tonight, under the moonlight and bright stars, they each knew this was right. They were meant to be here, together, in this place, at this time.
They lay there, tangled in each other’s arms under the clear starlit sky, totally at peace with the idea of bei
ng together. The closeness and comfort they felt with each other had allowed them to reach a level of passion they both realized could only be for one another. They were completely satisfied, although too tired and still too afraid to proclaim out loud their true feelings.
When they went back to the cabin, they crawled together into one of the soft cots. They fell asleep knowing that no matter what happened for them in the future, this would be a night they would both remember.
Shane woke just before sunrise. Even in her sleep, Tara seemed to still be trying to hide her injuries as she lay with that side of her face on the pillow. They had fallen asleep in each other’s arms, she with her head on his chest. Now, as she lay next to him, he found himself unable to take his eyes off her delicate light brown features. He again wondered if she had any idea how stunning she really was. He carefully slid out of the cot so as not to waken her. Tashawa was still asleep in the next room as he quietly tiptoed out of the door to go tend to the animals.
Late yesterday afternoon when they returned to the shack, he had called Tigee on the radio as promised. He told him about the trouble they had run into at the cave. He also told him about the truck tracks Tashawa had found. The old man was worried about them remaining out there, and he tried to discourage their going back out to investigate further. Shane promised they would get in and out of the area as quickly as they could. Hopefully, the equipment tracks would lead them to the evidence they came out here to find.
Either way, he and Tigee agreed they needed to get the women back safely to the ranch as soon as possible. If there was any more trouble, Tigee would send over JB and Hawk, who were already in the area watching the herd. They still didn’t know that Shane and the women were out there, and Tigee wanted to keep it that way if possible. Especially since the potential for a dangerous fight seemed to be growing every day.
Bo Nethers, Jack, and Thomas had made it back to town the previous night. Jack was in the worst shape, but they all needed to go to the emergency room. The doctors fixed Bo’s broken nose, stitched up Jack’s face, and then treated Thomas for a concussion, as well as the two cracked ribs he received from Tashawa’s furious kicks.
“Who was that son of a bitch?” Thomas asked as he slowly sat up in the bed grabbing his side in pain.
Bo answered, “I don’t know, but my friends and I already kicked his ass in town about a month ago. He ran off with that hot little Shoshone bitch, holding his tail between his legs. That’s the last I’ve seen of him, until today.”
“Well, whoever he is, he’s a dead man walking,” Jack said angrily.
Bo had called his father to tell him about the trouble, and Vince Nethers was at the hospital waiting for them when they came out of the emergency room.
“You’re telling me that one man did all this?”
“He got the jump on us, Dad. We were caught off guard.”
“What was this white man doing that far out in the valley, anyway?”
“I don’t know, I guess he was on a hunting trip.”
“Well, he must have had a guide to get him that far out. Did you see anyone else?”
“No sir, he was alone,” Bo said, as he gave a keep your mouth shut look to Jack and Thomas. Bo didn’t want to have his father find out what had really started the trouble.
Vince Nethers was a devious man when it came to business, but there was no way he would have put up with his men trying to rape the women. After all, they were supposed to be keeping a low profile in the valley.
“I want to find out who this guy is, and what he is doing around here. I don’t want this prick getting in my way.”
“I’m sure he was just hunting,” Bo lied. “I don’t think he’ll be any more trouble. We worked him over pretty good.”
Thomas and Jack kept their mouths shut. The two had revenge on their minds. As far as they were concerned, their beef was with Shane and had nothing to do with what Nethers had hired them to do.
Vince looked over at them and said, “Did you get everything covered up out there?” He was referring to the equipment tracks at the two new locations where they had done some testing.
“Yes sir, Mr. Nethers,” Jack said. “It would take a real pro to find anything out of the ordinary around there.”
“Well, at least that’s been taken care of, but I’m still going to check into this guy and find out who the hell he is.”
“I’ve seen him talking to old man Jensen,” Bo said.
Vince nodded his head. “I’ll have a talk with Jensen tomorrow. In the meantime, I want this hunt set up, and I don’t want a single horse breathing when it’s over.”
“Yes, sir,” Bo answered. “With Jack and Thomas here, we’ll be able to come up with a plan to take the herd out of the picture real soon.”
Vince looked at the two Indians. “How many guns will you need to get all the horses at one time?”
Thomas shrugged his shoulders and said, “There are probably sixty to seventy horses all together. If we can get them all into Jasper canyon, I think a dozen good shooters could handle it.”
“You guys will have a big bonus coming to you if you pull this off,” Vince replied. “You just let us know when you’re ready, and Bo will get you all the men you need.” Vince turned and walked away.
By the time the women were out of bed, Shane had the horses tacked up and ready to go. He was eager to get back out to the area where Tashawa spotted the equipment tracks. As he turned he was surprised to see Tara standing in front of him. “Damn,” he said, “why do you people always sneak around like that?” Tara laughed and with no hesitation she slid her arms around his neck and softly kissed him.
“Did my hideous face scare you out of bed?”
“It was like waking up next to the bride of Frankenstein,” he replied.
This caused a frown and a mixed reaction from Tara at first, then she playfully slapped him on his chest. “Very funny,” she said as she turned her bruises away from him.
Shane slowly reached his hand out to her chin and gently pulled her face back around to look in her blue eyes. “You know between me and the two dogs, that jerk ended up paying quite a price for hitting you.”
“I thought for a minute that you were going to kill him.”
“If he ever touches you again, I swear I will.”
Tara quickly replied, “I want you to promise me that you won’t go looking for trouble with him. He’s bad news and capable of almost anything. I don’t want something bad to happen to you because of me.”
“Okay, relax, we don’t have to talk about this now. You know,” he said, changing the subject, “that eye will look just fine in a few days. Until then, maybe you could wear a veil.”
“Shut up,” she answered, as she caught him off guard and pushed him backward into one of the horses.
“Easy,” he said, “or I might have to tag that other eye of yours.”
“Yeah, right, I’d kick your skinny ass,” she replied.
Still joking around, they walked back to the cabin. As they got close to the porch, Tashawa was coming out the front door with some more meat for the dogs. “You keep feeding them like that, they’re going to start thinking you’re their ma,” Shane said.
After breakfast, they went outside and finished packing the horses for the day’s ride.
Tara asked Shane, “Do you mind if I try your horse out for a short ride?” The request took Shane by surprise, but he had no objection to it.
“Why do you want to ride him?”
“Tommy went on and on after he rode your horses. He said their training is pretty cool, and if I ever had the chance, I should get on one.”
Shane took a few minutes to show Tara some of his horse’s control and maneuverability.
“Wow! How did you get him so light and responsive?”
“You like that, do you?”
“Yeah, he feels great.”
Working with Tara on his horse, brought back memories of when he put his wife Jennifer on Tory for the firs
t time. The horse was only about four years old then, but her reaction was the same as Tara’s had been today. As Tara stepped off Tory, she noticed the change on Shane’s face as his mind slipped to the past. It was only a few seconds before he snapped out of it, stuck his foot in the stirrup, and climbed in his saddle.
“It’s a good thing that you still keep your family alive with your thoughts of them,” Tara said when she got back on her own horse. “I admire how you honor them with your memories.”
Shane wasn’t sure how to respond to this, so he didn’t. He was just glad that she understood that Jen and the kids would always be a part of him. She seemed to accept and appreciate this, and to be secure enough with herself to keep it from getting in the way of her feelings for him.
“Well, now that everyone is on their own horse,” Shane said loudly, “let’s go finish what we came here to do.” The three planned to stay close together today. All of them, including the dogs, were, of course, more on guard after what happened yesterday. Just as he and Tigee had discussed on the radio, Shane was dead set on getting in and out of the area as fast as possible.
As they rode through the wilderness, Shane tried to think of how he might describe this place to the folks back home in Tennessee. He just couldn’t think of words that could do it justice. After all, there were plenty of mountains with their wilderness beauty in the great state he came from. But, for some reason, things seemed more invigorating out here. He couldn’t quite put his finger on why, they just were. The mountains, forests, and even the sky seemed to have an ambience that was unique to this place. Maybe it was because this land and these people had given him back his life and a reason for living. No matter what the future brought, he would be forever grateful for that. It was hard for him to believe, in this vast valley where there were so many similar fields and forests, that Tashawa could find the exact spot where she’d seen the tire tracks yesterday without any wavering.