Courage

by Taylor Longford

  They were regulars at the diner though not particularly well liked because they were flat-out bullies. But everyone in town honored the reservation and avoided sitting in the booth, except for a few crusty old farmers that Jed wouldn't dare go up against. But Jed wasn't in the booth. And I figured we could live dangerously as long as we didn't stay too long. I figured we had time for chocolate malts and an order of fries. We slipped into the booth and placed our order.

  Courage got a dreamy look on his face after he took his first taste of the chocolaty drink. "This is good," he said. "I'm really starting to like church."

  "This isn't church," I pointed out while Lena wrote up our charges and dropped the slip of paper on the table.

  "Aye, but we wouldn't be here if it weren't for church. So, I'm feeling very thankful for church and for Sundays in general."

  I couldn't help but smile at his logic. It might have been flawed but he was happy so why argue with him? In fact, I couldn't help but notice he was much more at ease than he had been the week before. "Truth or Dare?" I suggested.

  "Can I take the dare?"

  "But I want to ask you a question," I moaned, pretending to be disappointed.

  His laughing gaze narrowed on my face. "You don't mind cheating, do you?"

  I grinned back at him. "Not much," I admitted.

  "I was hoping you'd dare me to kiss you," he said, locking his gaze on my eyes.

  "That ain't gonna happen," I informed him, acting a lot more primly than I felt. "So, you might as well go with the truth."

  "Alright," he gave in with a sigh that would have made a drama queen proud. "Go ahead. Hit me. What do you want to know?"

  I started slowly. "Last week when we came to Limon, you seemed…worried…about traveling in this direction."

  "Aye," he answered but seemed less-than-willing to talk about it.

  "What were you worried about?"

  He pulled in a deep breath. "Harpies," he answered.

  I let that set for a while. Because it was totally unexpected. I knew a harpy was a mythical creature that was half human female and half bird. But that's about all I knew. And at that point, apparently the mythical part was in question. "Harpies, huh. Are there any other species I should know about that might pop up during casual conversation with one of your kind?"

  He blew out a laugh. "Nay," he answered. "I think you're up to date at this point."

  "Good," I murmured. "So, you're telling me there are harpies walking the earth, and you think there might be one in Limon?"

  "I know there was one in Limon," he answered, and finally filled in the details about the highway accident he'd been involved in, describing how a harpy had plucked him from the fire and how he'd gotten away from her and spent the winter in a stock tank—probably one of the tanks on our property. "So, I was afraid she might still be here," he finished, looking back over his shoulder, probably out of habit. "But if she was anywhere near, I think we'd have seen her by now."

  "What do you think happened to her?" I asked.

  He shrugged. "She might have moved on and reconnected with her sisters. She might have died. She wasn't in the best of health. There was something wrong with one of her wings."

  "Harpies have wings too?"

  He nodded. "Like mine. But bigger."

  I'm not sure, but I think he might have actually shuddered.

  "They're monstrous things. Big. Ugly. Strong. And nasty as hell."

  "How is it that the general public doesn't know about harpies?" I asked. "Or gargoyles? How have they avoided notice?"

  "Well, there haven't been any gargoyles around for centuries," he explained. "And the harpies have spent that time in their stone forms, waiting to scent a gargoyle. When they finally caught our scent, they returned to their living forms to track us down."

  "Harpies," I murmured in a high thread of noise that I hoped didn't sound hysterical. "What next?"

  I was going to ask why the harpies were tracking the gargoyles, but before I had a chance to get my question out there, Jed and company sauntered through the diner's front door. Immediately, the cowboy's gaze targeted me like a heat-seeking missile.

  "Keep your head down and follow my lead," I told Courage.

  "Why?" he asked, looking suddenly concerned. "What's wrong?"

  "I'll explain later," I muttered from the side of my mouth as I stood with the bill clutched in my fingers.

  But Jed and crew spread out, blocking the aisles as they closed in around us. A toothpick was clamped between Jed's teeth as he grinned down at me and said, "Hey Burns, you're in my booth."

  "You're very perceptive," I answered, purposely using a big word that Jed would have trouble with.

  "Damn right, I'm perceptive. I'm all that and more. And you're still in my booth."

  "Not any more," I pointed out. "We're just leaving. We were just…uh…keeping it warm for you."

  "Did I ask you to keep it warm for me?" he demanded, acting all bored and superior.

  "Not recently," I answered, and searched for an opening between the tight line of teenagers.

  "Who's your boyfriend?" Jed asked, thrusting a meaty finger at Courage's head.

  Without looking like he was even trying, Courage shifted his weight and tilted his head to avoid the thick finger coming his way. Jed's momentum carried him forward and he lost his balance. For a minute, I thought the massive cowboy was going to do a face-plant in my chest. But Courage's hand shot out and righted Jed before he could fall on me.

  "Just a hired hand who wandered in from Canyon City," I answered in a strong voice, hoping the reference to Canyon City would make Jed think twice about picking a fight; there's a big prison out there. It wasn't a bad idea but I'm not sure Jed knows anything about geography.

  Apparently, the Canyon City reference went right over his head. He and his friends proceeded to pick a fight, saying mean things and pointing out how I'd finally found a boyfriend but he had to cover his face because he was so ugly. And when Courage didn't fight back, they even called him a coward.

  I pushed through the hefty line of brainless beef and Courage followed. "Sorry about that," I muttered as we made our way to the cash register at the front of the diner.

  "It's okay," he answered like he wasn't bothered in the least.

  "And those guys are wrong," I said as we stood waiting at the register for someone to ring up our bill. "You're not a coward. You did the smart thing walking away from that bullcrap they were dishing."

  "No, I'm not a coward," he agreed quietly. "But I won't get into a fight if there's another way out."

  "That's just smart," I muttered and searched impatiently for someone to help us, finally catching the eye our waitress.

  "But if anyone ever threatened you…" he murmured.

  I held my breath and waited for him to go on.

  "I'm gonna come out fighting," Courage finished with a hard look on his face. "And I won't stop until that threat is removed. Completely. Forever. I wouldn't give someone a second chance to hurt you."

  I just stood there staring up at him…with my mouth probably hanging open. It wasn't just what he'd said. It was the intensity in his voice. He wasn't spouting off. He really meant it. Every word of it. And I was pretty sure he was capable of carrying out his threat. He was strong enough. Working with him every day for almost two weeks, I'd seen living proof of exactly how tough he was. What I couldn't figure out was why he'd feel so strongly about someone like me—plain as peas Lorissa Burns.

  "Sorry," Lena said, interrupting my wandering thoughts and shaking her head when she reached the cash register. She glanced back at Jed's booth where the boys were causing some major disruption. "Jed and his friends haven't been so bad lately, ever since some kids from outta town straightened them out a few months ago. But it's been a while since then. And it looks like the boys have forgotten that little lesson."

  "That's okay," I murmured and handed her a ten. "They don't scare me much. They're all bark and no bite."

  "
They're all bark and slobber," Lena snickered, and handed me my change.

  Lena might have been right about the slobber thing but we should have moved more quickly, because the boys decided they weren't done with us. They surged toward to the front of the diner en masse, Jed leading the way.

  "Let's see what kinda ugly your boyfriend is," Jed sneered, whipping the white cloth from Courage's face before we could get out the door.

  Of course, I was outraged. And I'm pretty sure Jed knew it when the toe of my shoe connected with his shin. Howling, he dropped the bandage and reached for his leg. While he was doing that, I scooped the cloth from the floor and glanced around. I figured everyone in the restaurant would be shocked when they saw Courage's face. And they were. But not like I'd expected.

  It was mostly the girls in the room that reacted. A low rush of sound lifted to the ceiling as about a dozen females pulled in a gasping breath. Honestly, you'd have thought some country western star had just walked through the door of the small town diner.

  So, I was puzzled to say the least. But when I finally worked my gaze back to Courage, it wasn't the Phantom-of-the-Opera version of Courage that I saw. I didn't see a boy with half his face burned and scarred. Instead, I saw the most beautiful boy in the world…with the worse imaginable haircut.

  Against all odds, the ruined side of his face had healed. Completely. And after I'd recovered from my initial shock, I clutched his elbow and whisked him out of there.

  Chapter Seven

  "Wh-what happened to your face?" I asked Courage when we were safely across the road in the church parking lot.

  "It got better," he answered.

  "When?" I asked, probably sounding incredulous. I hadn't seen his face since Monday, but it had gone from being a disastrous mess to virtually completely cured. It was like a total recovery. He had eyebrows. And eyelashes—thick eyelashes. His hair had filled in the bare places where stubble had previously whiskered from the side of his head. Even the shell of his ear had grown in where he hadn't had any ear only six days earlier!

  "I don't know," he said, looking away and focusing on the cars going by on the road, like he didn't want to face me. "Sometime this week."

  "That's…that's almost impossible!"

  He rolled his shoulders in a shrug. "Maybe your healing kicked in. Or maybe it was little Ivy's prayer."

  He didn't sound convinced on either of those scores.

  "Or?"

  "Or maybe it was something else," he muttered.

  "Like what?"

  "I'm…not sure."

  "Why do I get the feeling you're not telling me everything."

  "Because I'm not telling you everything," he confessed with a short sigh.

  I stared at his face, looking for any imperfection that would suggest he had once been injured. I couldn't find a trace of his former scars. Abruptly, I turned away and walked out a small circle before I faced him again. "Okay. Spill."

  He squinted against the sun, the corners of his eyes crinkling in a way that only made him more attractive. "Remember how you told me to be careful of snakes?"

  "Yeah."

  He unbuttoned his shirt cuff and rolled his sleeve up to his elbow. Twisting his wrist, he showed me two small marks on his forearm. "Well, I wasn't careful enough."

  I gasped when I realized what he was saying. "You were bitten by a rattlesnake?"

  "Those things are really fast," he muttered. "Way faster than I expected. I thought I'd be quicker but I was wrong."

  "You were bitten by a rattlesnake?" I repeated like some kind of broken record.

  "I'm sorry," he apologized.

  "B-But it should have made you sick. Your arm should have swollen up. You should have gone to the hospital!"

  "That's the thing," he said slowly. "It didn't hurt. Not much. And it didn't make me feel bad. It made me feel…good. Then my face started healing. Like almost right away."

  "When did this happen?" I demanded.

  "The day before the tornado," he muttered.

  "Wow," I murmured, overwhelmed. His face had healed almost a week ago and he was still acting as if he…liked me? When he could do so much better than me? I took a step away from him. "Th-that was six days ago. Why didn't you say something?"

  "I thought you'd want me to go to the hospital," he explained. "And I couldn't do that because of my wings and everything. The people at the hospital might have discovered what I was."

  "That's not what I meant," I argued. "I mean, why didn't you tell me your face had healed?"

  He turned his head and gave me a serious look. "Because of what you told me earlier."

  "What?" I sputtered. "What did I say?"

  "You said you wouldn't be comfortable around a nice looking guy."

  "Oh," I murmured, recalling the conversation.

  "We've…been getting along really good, lately. And I didn't want you to get all awkward around me. So, I kept it to myself."

  "Oh," I sighed, thinking that was kinda nice of him and kinda conceited of him all at the same time.

  "So," he continued after a short pause. "What do you think?"

  I was still staring at his perfect face. "Are you asking what I think of the new you?"

  "Aye." He flicked his finger at me then back at himself. "Is this going to be a problem between us? Are you going to get all self-conscious around me?"

  I considered his face. It was beautiful. Was I gonna be self-conscious? Yeah, probably. But that's not what I told him. Because someone that good looking didn't need to have his ego fed. "Not with that haircut," I snickered and handed the bandage back to him.

  He seemed relieved. He even smiled as he lifted the white ring of white cloth in his hand and motioned toward me. "What do you want me to do with this?" he asked.

  "Maybe you should put it back on for a while," I suggested. "Just 'til I get used to the new you."

  He got his face covered up before Kellen arrived on the scene and didn't have to deal with any questions from my big brother. So, he dodged that bullet for the time being. But I didn't get used to the new Courage. Not right away. And I couldn't help but waste my time wondering useless stuff like if he might be moving on now that he'd healed. Now that he looked like some kind of boyish god. And if he'd start looking for someone else—someone prettier. That's what any sane, good-looking guy would do, right? He'd keep his eyes open for a hot girl and take off with her the first chance he got.

  Of course, he wasn't going to get many opportunities to do anything like that when he was stuck out on a ranch in a location popularly known as the middle of nowhere. And he was still there on Monday morning. And there was still work to do.

  I trimmed his hair before we headed out to the fields. My mom cuts my dad's hair pretty regularly and I found the electric clippers in the bathroom drawer.

  "Your hair's so thick," I told him as I went to town with the clippers.

  "I've noticed that some guys wear their hair short while others wear it long," he said. "Which way do you prefer it?"

  "Are you asking me how I like a boy to wear his hair?"

  "Aye."

  I didn't answer right away. When it came to Courage, I was pretty sure either long or short would do it for me. He'd look good if he shaved his skull. He'd look good with his hair down around his knees. In a braid. In a man-bun. But I didn't want him to get a big head about it. "I like it in between," I told him. "Not too long and not too short."

  "Is that the sort of haircut you're giving me?" he asked.

  "Let's get it all the same length," I suggested. "Then we'll see about growing it out a bit."

  "Alright," he answered with a smile.

  We went back to work in the northwest quadrant. And on Tuesday at midday, we were ready to start stringing wire again so we left the fields and headed back to the house to see if Kellen was down for making a run to the supply store.

  We found him in the kitchen, finishing a late breakfast of store-bought cinnamon rolls. The kind that come in a deep pan, cover
ed with about an inch of icing. I don't know how he eats that stuff; it's so sweet. Anyhow, it was the first time he'd seen Courage's face since it had healed. So, it wasn't too surprising when he did a double take as we walked through the kitchen door.

  Kellen squinted up at Courage and studied his face for a while. Finally, he said, "Did you…cut your hair or something?"

  "Aye," Courage answered, hiding a smile. "At least, Lorissa cut it for me."

  Kellen snapped his fingers like he'd just had a genius moment. "I knew there was something different about you."

  Courage shot a quick grin in my direction.

  "Can you sing?" Kellen asked suddenly.

  "Why do you ask?" Courage asked.

  "Because we could use a lead singer," Kellen told him. "And you…have the right looks for that kind of work."

  "Rage doesn't have time to be in a band," I spoke up right away. "So don't you go trying to steal my hired hand."

  "Your hired hand?" he challenged me with a lifted eyebrow. "When did he become your hired hand?"

  "About the same time you got him in here to do your work," I answered.

  "It would only be like evenings and weekends," Kellen pointed out. "You'd never miss him."

  I quit arguing because it really wasn't up to me. I sent a questioning look at Courage to find out if he wanted to be in Kellen's band.

  "Is that true?" Courage asked quietly. "Would you not miss me?"

  He'd kinda missed the point of my questioning look. But the seriousness in his voice and the searching expression in his eyes took me by surprise. When I recovered, I cleared my throat. "I'd miss you," I said, and forced a careless smile onto my lips. "But right now I need you and Kellen to go pick up some fencing wire."

  Courage turned back to Kellen. "Guess I won't be joining the band," he said cheerfully. "Let's go get Lissa's wire."

  There wasn't room for me in the pickup so I opted to stay home while the guys ran to Limon. I figured it would give me a chance to call Jesse and get caught up.