Desert Rose

by Victoria Hardesty

  Esteban and Mike had another cup of coffee when they polished off their plates before Esteban suggested, “Let’s get down to the barn and check on my handsome boy.” The two men got up from the table and walked out. Stevie began picking up dirty plates and cutlery from the table while Ginny ate the last bite of her breakfast.

  “Stevie, you don’t have to do that,” she said. “I’ll get the dishes done in a minute.”

  “No, Mrs. Hartley. I help my mother with the dishes every meal. I don’t mind, really.”

  Ginny smiled at him. “You wouldn’t want to move in here would you?” she asked laughing. “There are days I could use the help.”

  “If you guaranteed blueberry pancakes for breakfast every day, I’d see what I can do,” Stevie laughed back. He rinsed the dishes and helped stack them in the dishwasher for Ginny. He then washed her cast iron skillet out with hot water only and dried it carefully with paper towels so it didn’t rust. His mother taught him well. Ginny was impressed. “Are you sure you don’t want to move in here?” She laughed again as they put things away and Ginny started the dishwasher. “Why don’t you head for the barn and see what the menfolk are up to?” she suggested.

  Esteban and Mike walked into the barn. Brody was nearly done grooming Rosie in the barn aisle. He’d bathed her, clipped her, and braided her mane and tail. She was all over Brody with her nose, pushing him as he walked around her, and grabbing at his clothes as he worked at her side. She nickered or squealed at him continuously, but stood perfectly still as he braided her mane. He talked to her nonstop while he worked on her, kidding her, poking fun at her, and joking with her as though she understood his language. And she did. She understood the language of Brody perfectly. He expressed his affection for her in every stroke of the brush he pressed against her skin. And he understood her language just as well. Every nicker, every squeal, every tug for attention was clear. These two were an item! Had they been a “boy/girl combination” Uncle Mike would have called Brody aside to explain the facts of life to him. He and Esteban stood quietly and watched while Brody and Rosie were unaware they had company.

  Brody suddenly turned toward the front of the barn and saw Mike and Esteban. His face turned red. He stuttered, “ Oh, ah, hi there, I didn’t know there was anybody here. Did you need me for something Uncle Mike? I was grooming Rosie, and I thought I’d groom her mother before John and Rhonda take them home. Chet and Skip are grooming the others so they’ll be ready to get home too.”

  Esteban walked to Brody, put his arm around his shoulder and said, “Come with me, I’d like to have a little chat with you, my friend.” They walked out of the back of the barn together.

  “Now, tell me about you and my Rosie, will you?”

  Brody didn’t quite know what to say. “What did you want to know?” he finally asked.

  “How long have you two had this relationship?” Esteban asked. “Don’t kid me now. I saw you two together. I’ve seen that before. I see in you two how I feel about Cutter and how I think he feels about me.”

  Brody turned red in the face again and turned away from Esteban before he answered. “Rosie was my Bizzy Izzy. I was here when she was born. I got to know her then. She and I played together every day after school, and before school when I could sneak down to the barn. She and I became great friends. I was the first one to trail-ride her off the ranch. I helped teach her the reining patterns. We don’t talk the same language, but we communicate. I know that’s hard to believe since I’m a boy and she’s a horse, but we can talk to each other. We understand each other. I’ve never had that feeling about a horse before. She is so special!”

  “Son, you don’t have to tell me about that. I have that kind of relationship with Cutter. I bought him as a weanling and spent time with him. I wanted the best for him. That’s why I brought him to your Uncle Mike. We communicate too. It is different, but it is like being in love. That is something you will find out later. You have plenty of time for that.”

  “Then you don’t think I’m crazy?” Brody asked him,

  “No, not at all. I think you are a special person who has the capacity for loving and giving and that is not usual these days. I admire you for that.”

  “How long do I have before she leaves?” Brody asked bluntly. “How much time do I have with her?”

  Esteban thought before he answered. “I need to run to the Hacienda Rancho for some things. I will be back with John and Rhonda, but it will be later this afternoon. Will that give you some time for her?”

  Brody looked relieved but sad at the same time. “Yes, sir, that will give me time to say goodbye to her. I thank you very much.” He turned away because his eyes were getting cloudy and he didn’t want tears to show. He would be 15 years old, and 15-year-old boys never cried, especially in front of another man. Knowing Rosie was leaving again was like rubbing salt in that wound all over again. It hurt.

  CHAPTER | THIRTY-FIVE

  Rosie talked to her mother from their opposing stalls. “Mom, I don’t want to leave you, but I’d love to live here with Brody. How would you make it without me? Can you do that? I’ve been with you since the day I was born. If I were to stay here and you were to go home, I would miss you terribly. Would you miss me?”

  “My dear. You are probably getting the cart before the horse. John and Rhonda are coming to pick us up this afternoon. What makes you think you are going to stay here?”

  “Mom, it’s not what I think, it’s what I wish! I would love to stay with Brody, but I would miss you more than I can tell you. I’ve been with you all my life. You’ve been my rock, my teacher, and my mother.”

  “Rosie, you don’t need me any longer. You’re grown up. You need to make a life of your own. If, and I quantify that as If, you stay here, I will not worry about you. Brody will be good for you as you will be good for him. You both need some time to grow up yet, but if you stay here, I’ll not have to worry about you. Mike and Ginny are good people. You will have the best of care. I will not feel bad knowing you are somewhere with people who will be good to you. But I will miss you.”

  “But Mom, I will miss you so much,” Rosie admitted tearfully.

  “Yes, my child, I will miss you too, but it is the way of things. I know you will do great things. I know Brody will care for you. I know you will care for Brody. It is the best a mother can ask. But you may come home with me. If that is what happens, you will be taken care of either way, and I will get to see you every day. So, no matter what happens, I will be happy for you.”

  ****

  The four men made “bank” on the second day of the Rodeo. Each of them had ridden broncs or bulls, and each of them stayed on long enough for points that translated into dollars at the window. They took their tickets in and collected their winnings individually and added them up at the end of the night. They still had one more day of competition. They were ahead by over $400, not including what they’d spent on Friday night enjoying themselves. The people watching them gave them no clue they watched every move they made. They were oblivious to that. The reason they’d not been taken into custody before this was they were never together at the same time. There had been occasions when three of them were together, and two of them were together, but never all four of them at the same time until that Sunday morning. About 2:30 a.m. on Sunday, the last straggler of the bunch headed for the trailer a bit tipsy after leaving a young lady who ended up being uncooperative to his advances. He’d just opened the door to the trailer when deputies surrounded their trailer with badges and guns drawn.

  Shocked beyond words, the four men stood outside the trailer allowing the deputies to handcuff them and stuff them into patrol cars for the ride to jail. Deputies shuffled each of them into separate interview rooms at the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office. Detectives or senior deputies interviewed them and quickly deduced that Merle was the brains of the group and he didn’t have more than two brain cells to rub together to begin with.

  “So what were you thinking, stealin
g a horse as high profile as Cut It Out anyway?” the senior detective asked Merle. “Did you actually think you could get away with this?”

  Merle’s feathers flipped. “Well, we didn’t get no ransom so there’s no harm and no foul is there?” he said with an attitude.

  “No, you didn’t collect a ransom on the horse because the owner was in Spain and never got your demand for two weeks. But you left that valuable horse out in the desert without food or water. What did you expect to happen to him? Did you realize he was worth $500,000 in today’s money?” the detective asked him.

  Merle was flustered but would not let on, “If you think I’d leave that much money on the table, you’re crazy. We only asked for $100,000. If we’d thought he was worth a half a million, we’d have asked for that!”

  “You disgust me. You chained two human beings to a cast iron headboard for days. What was your plan for them? They heard you talk about leaving them chained up and disappearing. What did you think would happen to them? Did you consider that you’d be charged with murder right now if they hadn’t gotten free?”

  “I ain’t talking to you no more without my lawyer. Where’s my lawyer? You have to provide us with a lawyer. I know our rights!” Merle shouted and shut down the conversation. He was the smart one of the bunch. The other three in separate interview rooms spilled their guts and told everything they knew.

  CHAPTER | THIRTY-SIX

  Esteban thought about Brody and Rosie. He thought about himself and Cutter. He knew what was the right thing to do. He owed Brody for the way he’d worked so hard to find his Cutter. He pulled Rosie’s registration paperwork from the files at the Hacienda Rancho and rode with John and Rhonda back to Hartley Ranch with the horse trailer. He talked to his wife in Spain. After all that Brody did to help find Cutter, Rosie should belong to Brody. She agreed with him. It was the least they could do. They were going to bring five horses back to Hacienda Rancho, not six. Stevie decided at the last minute to come with them. He enjoyed Brody’s company and wanted to see how he reacted to his father’s idea.

  They pulled in the driveway at Hartley Ranch. Mike waved them on to the barn so they could load their horses. Mike walked down with Ginny and Brody to the barn to help out.

  They haltered the horses going home and walked them into the trailer one at a time.

  Brody haltered Rosie himself and got in the back of the line in the barn with a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. How would he see her again? It was painful when he found her gone the first time. How could he load her on the trailer to leave again? He swallowed hard and tried to keep his mind blank. He just didn’t want to feel that pain of losing her once more and he didn’t want to be the one who handed her off to someone else. His heart ached but he was determined it wouldn’t show.

  Rosie was heartbroken. Her Brody wouldn’t even look at her. He was like a stone figure holding her lead rope. This was not the feeling she was used to getting from him. “Mother, what is wrong? Why is he acting like this? I want to stay here with him and he won’t even look at me right now? Have I done something wrong?”

  “No, my daughter. You have done nothing wrong. I don’t think he wants you to go away again, but he is powerless to stop it. It is an odd thing with people. I remember the woman who owned my mother. She was very kind to me and I learned to respect her and look up to her. Then one day another woman came to see me. She was also kind to me. The two women talked to each other while I played with the other foals in the pasture. Then the other woman came with a trailer and brought me here. I missed my friends and my mother for a long time. After a while I met Luisa, Mr. Garcia’s wife. I knew right away Luisa was my special person. I miss her right now and wish she was here. Miss Ginny taught me how to carry a rider, then taught Luisa how to ride on my back. She became my heart person. I love her dearly. But I had no control over where I was taken and by whom, and neither do you. But I know Mr. Garcia and John and Rhonda will take care of us.”

  “Mother, if I have to leave my Brody, it will break my heart again.” Rosie whispered softly.

  “You will miss him, I know. But your heart will not really break,” her mother answered gently. “You will miss him for while, but you must keep your mind open to possibilities.”

  Esteban walked over to Brody and said, “She’s not going anywhere. You can put her back in her stall.”

  Brody, confused, asked, “What do you mean?”

  Esteban said, “Well, with your parent’s permission, I would love to gift her to you. I can’t thank you enough for all you did to help me find my Cutter. Please accept this gift of Desert Rose from me and my family.”

  Brody was not sure he heard what Mr. Garcia said, but Rosie did hear it and went a little nuts. She began squealing and whinnying and circling Brody on her lead rope as he stood confused and shook his head.

  Desert Fire walked into the trailer with her head held high. She would miss her daughter dearly but she was happy for her at the same time. She was going to stay with her heart human. She wished she could spend time with Luisa. She would understand. Her own son, Stevie, was growing up and would soon leave. Mothers share that universally. They raise their children and watch them as they move away and form their own lives. “Have a good life, my daughter,” was all she could think.

  “What I’m saying is that Rosie is your horse, now and forever. She loves you, and you love her. You two should be together. I have her registration paperwork here. I’ve signed it off to you, Brody, in thanks for helping to find my Cutter for me. Do you understand now?”

  Ginny and Mike were standing looking at him as Rosie circled around him squealing and whinnying her head off. “Brody, you might want to calm your horse down a little so we can load the others,” Uncle Mike said. “I think she needs some attention, don’t you?”

  The “your horse” finally sunk in. Brody was not sure how to act. His mind reeled with the realization that Rosie would never leave him again. He hugged his horse as if they were the only two creatures on the face of the planet. Then he hugged her some more for good measure struggling to keep his tears at bay. Rosie squealed her joy and hugged Brody back, pressing his body close to hers with her beautiful curved neck.

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