Right Out of Nowhere

by Laurie Salzler

  This part of the river was devoid of rapids, and the water flowed slowly. She rode into it and stopped Sparky as the water reached his knees. She loosened the reins and allowed him to drink. While he took his fill of the cold water, she drank from her canteen as well. She emptied it in four long swallows, urged Sparky to the other side of the river, and dismounted to refill it. As she held the canteen under the water with one hand, she used the other to splash the icy water onto her sweaty face and felt instantly refreshed.

  Sparky had moved off and was calmly grazing next to a pile of old logs that’d been thrown haphazardly against some large boulders by the river. The early spring melt had swept the logs downstream and wedged them into the massive rocks. She stood and moved toward the horse. Suddenly Sparky snorted and jumped back. His ears twitched back and forth. He didn’t seem overly alarmed. Just surprised.

  She walked over to him, put her hand on his neck, and quickly scanned the area. “What’d you see, big guy?”

  A small whimper came from the direction of the logs. She hurried over to the spot.

  “Is there somebody there? Cody? Is that you?” She heard it again. “Cody?”

  A miniature replica of David Gottburg crawled out from behind the largest pile of boulders. His face was dirty except where tears had cleaned long streaks down his cheeks. His hair was plastered against his head where he must have at one time worn a hat. The sleeve of his torn denim shirt revealed a long scratch on his arm. It was a little bloody, but at first glance, didn’t look serious. His jeans were soaked from the knees down, and there was a big streak of mud on the right of his backside.

  “Hey there. My name is Roni. Your dad’s been looking for you all morning.” She crouched down and handed him the canteen. “I bet you’re thirsty.”

  He nodded and silently accepted the water. He drank deeply and wiped his mouth on his sleeve. “Thanks.”

  “Are you okay?”

  Fresh tears sprang to his eyes, and he nodded again. He raised his injured arm, looked at it, and then back at her.

  She extended a hand, and he took a tentative step toward her. “It’s okay. Can I take a look at your arm? I have some stuff in my saddlebags that’ll make it feel better.”

  “Okay.” Cody closed the distance and offered his arm to her.

  “How about we sit on one of these logs? It’s hard for me to see because you’re so tall.”

  His face brightened a little, and he nodded again. He sat down, and she left him briefly to retrieve her first-aid kit.

  She returned, and he’d already taken his arm out of his sleeve. She straddled the log so she would have easier access to his wound. “That is one nasty scratch. How did you get this?”

  “When I fell off Cinnamon. Something scared her and she bucked. I was looking at a warbling vireo and didn’t expect it.”

  “Are you sure it wasn’t a red-eyed vireo?” She hoped easy conversation would comfort him a little.

  The boy perked up and shook his head. “No, it was a warbling vireo for sure. The red-eyed doesn’t come this far south in the summer.”

  She smiled at the boy’s knowledge of birds. She carefully cleaned the scratch, applied antibiotic salve, and wrapped it with gauze and tape. “How’s that feel?”

  He shrugged in a brave little boy kind of way. “Do you know where Cinnamon is?” His eyes begged an answer from her.

  “Yup, your dad has her. She evidently ran straight back to your camp. That’s how your dad knew something had happened to you.”

  “I tried to follow her but I got lost. I think I went the wrong way on a tributary or something.”

  “You sure know a lot about the wilderness for such an old man.”

  He giggled and it made her want to take him into her arms and hug him. She hoped the sudden shock of that unfamiliar feeling didn’t show on her face. Where in the hell did that come from anyway?

  “How about we head back and find your dad and my friend Selena? They’re still looking for you.”

  “Okay. Are we going to ride double on your horse?”

  “Yup. I’ll let you ride in the saddle, and I’ll ride behind you. How’s that sound?”

  “Cool! I’ve never ridden on a big horse before.”

  She weighed the options of going back the way she’d come or following the river. Based on where she’d left Selena and David, she figured they’d still be searching near the water. If they were following the river’s course, and she did too, in all likelihood she’d meet up with them sooner and be able to reunite Cody with his father.

  “Let me check out the rest of you to make sure you’re not hurt any place else.”

  “It’s just my arm. Well, my rear hurts a little too because I landed on it.” He looked at her shyly. “Do I have to show you that?”

  She laughed aloud. “No, you don’t have to show me that unless you think you broke it.”

  His eyes got big. “You can break your butt?”

  “Yup.”

  “How do you know all this stuff?”

  “My job during the summer is search and rescue. When I was in training for that I had to take a special first-aid class that focused on wilderness medicine.”

  “Wow. I want to do that when I grow up.”

  She slapped her knees. “Well, the first step is getting you back to your dad.” She got up and started toward Sparky with Cody in tow.

  “What do you do when it’s not summer?” Cody trotted to keep up with her.

  “I train horses on my dad’s ranch.” She crossed the reins over Sparky’s neck and untied her saddlebags. If she were going to ride behind the saddle, she’d have to drape the bags over the saddle horn and partially onto Cody’s lap. “I’m going to boost you up first.” She weaved her fingers together for him to step into. She lifted him up and in short order, plopped him into the saddle. She moved the saddlebags to the front of the saddle, then put her foot in the stirrup and hoisted herself up. Sparky fidgeted a little until she squeezed him lightly with her calves. She reached in front of Cody, gathered the reins, and guided the horse to the opposite side of the river.

  Cody kept up a steady stream of commentary as they rode. He told her about the list of birds he kept, that his father made a living doing carpentry work, and about his pony, Cinnamon. When he finished with that, he asked her a million questions about the ranch and horses she trained. Their conversation was entertaining, and she mused about all the things she’d eventually teach her niece.

  Fortunately Beth wasn’t a prissy type, so no doubt Ashley would grow up a tomboy, especially with the influence of the entire Oatman family. While Beth had worn the occasional dress to high school, she was apt to have a pair of jeans and a T-shirt tucked in her backpack should the opportunity arise for some fun on the prairie after class.

  Sparky stopped, suddenly yanking her out of her daydream. They’d run out of flat ground. The banks rose up abruptly and left nothing but deep water in front of them. They’d have to cross again. The far side leveled out in a nice slide of river wash. Nearby boulders shaded by low hanging branches of the hemlocks created eerily moving shadows that seemed to crawl over the landscape.

  She turned Sparky around and guided him to a shallower place to cross. She felt Cody lean to the downriver side of the horse. “Don’t look down at the water or you’ll fall off.”

  Cody grabbed onto the saddle horn in front of him and righted himself. The breeze wafting from upstream blew his hair into her face. She reached up and swiped it out of the way and leaned slightly to the left to avoid it.

  Sparky sunk his nose into the water and blew bubbles as he walked and made both of his riders laugh.

  “What’s he doing?” Cody turned his head around to look at her.

  “He’s playing. It’s only been recently that he figured out he could do that.”

  “Don’t they learn to play when they’re babies?”

  “Yup, but unfortunately some people think horses are just tools. They don’t recognize they have per
sonalities all their own. Sparky was abused and he lost all his confidence in himself and the people around him.”

  Cody reached down and patted Sparky’s shoulder. “Poor boy. But Roni’s got you. She’ll take good care of you.”

  She smiled at his words. The original plan was for her to get Sparky settled enough to sell him, but now she wasn’t sure she wanted that. He was proving himself to be a good alternate for Chenoa who was getting up there in age.

  Sparky suddenly jerked his head out of the water and spun around. She instinctively wrapped an arm around Cody to keep him from falling off. She looked up, and her heart shot right up into her throat. The mountain lion lay crouched on one of the boulders, gathering it’s haunches to launch an attack. Its low growl sent chills up her spine. She leaned forward, intent on pulling the rifle. But the saddlebags and Cody’s legs prevented her from grabbing it. Roni backed Sparky farther away from the rocks. She swung down and pulled the boy off with her. She quickly glanced around and found a safe place for Cody to hide.

  “Cody,” she whispered, holding him by the shoulders, “Walk, don’t run, to the log pile behind us. Crawl into that hollowed out tree and don’t come out until I say, okay?”

  Cody nodded slowly, but she still had to nudge him a little to get his feet moving. He backed into her, turned, and walked stiff-legged away from her. She’d seen enough of his eyes to know he was terrified. She alternately watched the cat and the boy. Cody safely tucked himself out of sight, and she turned to Sparky and was surprised to see him gnashing his teeth. He tossed his head and pinned his ears flat. She slowly raised her hand and grasped the gunstock. She had it halfway out and Sparky charged forward. She lost her grip, and the rifle twisted in the scabbard. The force of thirteen hundred pounds of horseflesh hit her shoulder. She whirled to avoid him and the end of the gun collided with her head. Pain shot lightning bolts through her skull. She saw a flash of white and everything went black.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  RONI ROSE THROUGH the depths of unconsciousness and with it came a thunderous pounding in her head. She cautiously opened her eyes to discover she was lying facedown on the riverbank. Her eyesight blurred and focused repeatedly. She blinked several times to rid her eyes of the film that seemed intent on coating them. A heavy drop of something hit the side of her head. Heavy breathing above her and the swish of a tail gave Roni the telltale sign Sparky straddled her.

  “Goddammit, that better not be piss, Sparky,” she mumbled against the ground. She tentatively reached up and touched her face. Her fingers came away bloody. “Crap. What the hell happened?”

  She stiffly rolled over onto her back and immediately regretted it. The intense dizziness threatened to make her pass out again. She fought it and concentrated on taking deep, even breaths. The world slowly stopped spinning.

  The shuffling of hooves and hot breath on her face coaxed her into opening her eyes. Her vision swam slightly until she focused on the hoof planted between her legs. The events leading up to what she could remember rushed back. Her stomach lurched. She swallowed the urge to vomit. Cody! The mountain lion!

  A stirrup dangled close by, and she reached for it, intent on getting to her feet. Something wet dripped onto her outstretched hand. Blood. Unbidden, Roni’s gaze crawled up Sparky’s body. Wounds identical to the ones that’d recently healed marked his hindquarters. Only these were deeper and more severe. And there were more of them.

  “Oh, God, Sparky.”

  She pulled herself to her feet and ignored another onslaught of dizziness. After blinking long and hard, she attempted to examine the horse’s wounds. Several were deep and bleeding steadily. Sparky shifted uncomfortably. And that’s when she noticed the deep gouges in the back of the saddle where the cat had bitten and held on.

  She wrapped an arm around Sparky’s neck for support. “Don’t worry, buddy, we’ll take care of you.”

  “Roni?”

  Cody! Roni damned herself for briefly forgetting about him. She turned her head toward his hiding spot. Her knees buckled, and she slipped to the ground.

  Next thing she knew, water dribbled out of her mouth and she sputtered and choked. She looked up into Cody’s concerned eyes. Her head rested on his little lap. She pushed the canteen away to keep from inhaling more of the liquid. “What happened?”

  Cody dabbed her head wound with her wet handkerchief. “I think you were surprised to see me. When I said something, you went down like a shitload of bricks.”

  She laughed despite the painful pounding in her head. “I did, huh?”

  “Yeah, but don’t tell my dad I said that.”

  “Promise. Can you help me sit up?” She pushed against the ground, and with Cody’s surprisingly strong shove from behind, she was able to stand upright. She used Cody’s shoulder to steady herself, and she smiled as she felt his arm go around her waist. She searched for Sparky and relaxed when she saw him grazing upstream. “I guess if he can eat, he’s not too bad off.”

  Cody followed her gaze. “He’s awesome. He killed the mountain lion,” he said, matter-of-factly.

  She whipped her head around to look at Cody and nearly fell down again. She tightened her grip on his shoulder. “I think I need to sit down.” He helped her to one of the logs near where she’d first spotted him when she came to. She took a drink from the offered canteen and wiped her mouth on her sleeve. “Okay, tell me how you know he killed it.”

  Cody swiveled on his seat and pointed downstream. Roni caught her breath. The pounding in her head kept time with her increased heart rate. The body of the cat laid half in and half out of the water about fifty feet from where they sat. It was clearly dead. The mountain lion’s head was submerged in a small pool of water. “I guess he did.”

  Splashing from upriver drew their attention. Sparky raised his head, whinnied, and got answers from the three horses headed their way. “There’s your dad.” Roni patted Cody on the back and smiled.

  “Dad!” He got up and ran to greet his father. David dismounted, ran the remaining distance, and gathered him into his arms.

  Selena rode up with Chenoa in tow. Puller barked from his pocket in the vest. A wide smile of relief painted Roni’s face. She’d never been so happy to see someone in her life.

  Selena dropped her reins and ran to her. “Jesus, what the hell happened? Are you okay? Did Sparky throw you again?” Puller wiggled out and jumped onto her lap. She had to push him away to stop his face-kissing.

  “Shhh.” She put a finger against Selena’s lips. “I’m fine. I got whacked on the side of the head pretty good. But Sparky is the hero of the day.” She pointed at the cat’s carcass with her chin.

  “Sparky killed the mountain lion? Wow. I mean. Wow!” Selena looked back and forth between the dead lion and Roni in disbelief. Her eyes settled on her face. “Stay here. I need to get the med kit.”

  Roni swallowed hard and watched Selena trot to her horse. She heard but couldn’t make out the words she said to David. He followed Selena back to where she sat.

  “Cody here has told me quite the tale. How can I ever repay you for finding him?”

  “I wouldn’t even think of accepting anything. Apparently I needed him as much as he needed me.” She smiled at Cody. “Right?”

  “Right.” Cody grinned back at her.

  “Roni, hold still.” Selena grabbed her chin and shone a light into her eyes. “Your pupils are a tad uneven. I think you might have a slight concussion.”

  “She did fall a couple of times,” Cody said.

  Roni shot him a warning glance. “I’m fine.”

  “Don’t be afraid of her, Cody. She’s really just a softy.” Selena rummaged around in her bag and removed scissors and tweezers. “Tilt your head to the side. I need to dress your head wound.”

  “Ow!”

  “Oh, hush. See, Cody? I barely touched her.” Cody giggled despite the sideways glance Roni gave him.

  “Cody, will you do me a big favor and bring Sparky down here? As soon as Mi
ss Frankenstein gets done with me, I need to check him out.” He didn’t need to be asked twice and took off at a brisk walk.

  “Are you sure about that?” David watched his son. “I’m a little concerned that horse is too big for him to handle.”

  “He’ll be fine, trust me. He may look a little rough around the edges, but you have a brave little boy.”

  “Thanks. He’s pretty special. We lost his mom to cancer six months ago. It was his idea to come camping so we could get out of the house and away from the memories.”

  Selena wrapped a wad of gauze around Roni’s head. “Do you feel dizzy or nauseous?”

  “No. Come on, I need to check out Sparky’s wounds. Bring your kit.” She pushed herself up and met Cody and Sparky halfway.

  Selena followed her. She sighed and rolled her eyes, which elicited another giggle out of Cody. “See what I have to deal with?” She stood next to Roni, who carefully palpated the horse’s injuries. “What are you thinking?”

  “I’m not sure with the extent of these wounds, that he’ll be able to make the climb up to the cabin.” She turned to Selena. “Give Jeff a quick call and let him know we found Cody. Tell him to let Elk City know.”

  “I called him as soon as we saw you with Cody. Told him if you needed help I’d call him back.”

  “Good job.”

  “How about we take Sparky to our trailer?” David said. “I’ll haul him wherever you want. Really. It’s the least I can do.”

  “You should see a doctor too, Roni,” Selena said.

  “Selena, can I talk to you for a minute?” She walked over to where her hat laid, gingerly picked it up, and gently placed it on her head. She repositioned it to make it fit more comfortably.

  Selena followed her over. “I know what you’re going to say, but there’s no room for discussion. Both of you need to see doctors.”

  “But it’ll just be you and Jeff up there.”

  “And that differs from just you and Jeff up there, how?” Selena put her hands on her hips and pursed her lips. A slight gust of wind lifted her hair from her shoulders.