by Tom Wilson
My wife was in the saddle.
I felt my own forehead, sure it was a fever dream of sleep loss, but she waved to me on horseback, a cowboy hat covering her fuzzy head and throwing a shadow across her smile. Another horse's head, this one all brown and moving slower, came out from behind the blue cement wall, and another. It was my daughter Katie, then Sarah, and Ellie catching up on a black pony, all on horseback, riding toward me.
Shock didn't allow me to make a sound yet, but I pointed to them as they came across the street and the crowd cheered them and patted the brushed fur of the horse's neck's as they passed. Then Danny rode into the intersection bringing up the rear, following slowly on a tired horse, kicking its sides and yelling. "Hyaa! Come on!! I said come on! What's up with this?"
"What…" I finally managed as Caroline rode up next to me, "What are you doing here?"
"Come on!" Danny kept yelling, "Why did I get the slowest one? JYP!!"
"He told us to come," she said.
"He told you?" I said, "How did he do that?"
"He brought us the horses. He said you would understand."
"I would understand?"
"He said he promised he'd get you what you want," she said, and then she shrugged her shoulders, laughing, as Danny crossed the street behind her.
"Get across the street, stupid! Come on!" he yelled, as a bubbling fountain of something clear was opened somewhere deep in my chest as I stared at my family, my heroes, my rescuers, all smiling on horseback.
"He promised, Daddy," Ellie said, "Whatever the promise was, I'm keeping this pony. Her name is Chica!"
The Ranger ran out of the market holding a big plastic globe full of root beer barrels. "Hey, looky what we've got here!" he said, jogging toward us. Small hands poked through the crowd to grab the candy as he began distributing the loot. He untied Twister's reins while spilling root beer barrels onto the cement, held the leather in his teeth, and bounded into the saddle, surrounded by squealing children. "I dinnint get one, cowboy!" a girl said.
"Well then, you should have three!" the Ranger said, tossing a handful of golden wrapped candies toward her.
"And looky what we have here!" he said, catching sight of Caroline and the kids on their horses, "That's perfect! Just perfect!"
"Why did you send me this one?" Danny called out to him.
"Did you try talking to him?" the Ranger said.
"This horse talks?"
"No, Danny, you have to talk to him. Be gentle," he said, "Let him know you're a friend."
Danny leaned out of the saddle to speak directly into the nag's ear. "I'm your friend. Can we go faster, please?" And not a bit faster, the horse clip-clopped him up to join the others.
The Ranger took Twister's reins and walked the horse through the crowd, raining root beer barrels onto the upraised palms of joyful children.
"Oye, Vaquero!" Paco's father yelled, laughing and tipping his hat.
"Adios, muchacho!" the Ranger said to him, then he turned Twister around to face me, "Hey, Tom!" he yelled over the children's heads.
"What?"
"Can I borrow twenty dollars?" "For what?" I said.
"To pay for this candy!" he said, leading a grand parade of the morning and throwing root beer barrels into the air.
"Jack," I called out over the squeals.
"A promise is a promise, friend!" he said, "I got you what you want. 'Course, you already had it. Ha!"
I sighed as his mask fluttered at my side. "You're right, Jack. You're right," I said.
"When have I been wrong, compadre?"
"When you interrupted my show in Las Vegas," I said.
"You got me there."
Jack," I said, taking a few steps toward him, "is everything going to be okay?"
He stood up in the saddle and looked into the cobalt blue sky, than back at me, smiling.
"There's more up there than blue," he said.
He spun the horse in a clattering pirouette and high fived some kids still reaching up for candy. "Hey!" he said, "This is what you want! This is life!! Life!!"
And as he shouted out that word, a dog barked several times. It was a German Shepherd, turning the corner and running across the grassy embankment surrounding the gas station. Bullet raced through the crowd, and with a long, galloping leap, jumped up onto Danny's horse into his arms.
"He gave us the dog, too," Katie said.
"He said it's my dog," Danny said.
"His dog?" I said.
"Our dog!" Sarah said, waving off Danny.
"Danny," Caroline said, "You promised you're going to take care of him!"
"A promise is a promise!" the Ranger said, winking at me.
"Can I ride him? He's faster than the horse," Danny said.
The growing mob of children unwrapped fresh root beer barrels and looked through the golden cellophane wrappers toward the clouds, and the Ranger tossed the rest of the candy into the air as a boy grabbed the empty plastic container to wear it as an astronaut helmet and Twister trotted to the street.
He was still laughing and waving to amazed commuters as he turned to face me across the parking lot. I took a step toward him, ready for him to lead us all home, but he lifted his right hand to stop me.
"I'll pay the guy inside and let's go!" I said.
He said nothing, but motioned to me with his hand like he did on the airport runway, letting his black glove rise and fall, telling me something in the ways of the Indian. Safe travels, I think it meant. He waved one more time toward me, then to my wife and children on their brand new pet horses and Roy Rogers' dog.
"Bye Twister!" Ellie said, and Twister shook his white head up and down, nodding yes to something more than life and bigger than joy, and the Ranger clicked his teeth and leaned forward in the saddle, galloping away and focused on something over the next hill. He grew smaller in the distance, and I called out after him, yelling "Jack! Jack!" as he disappeared into the blazing sunrise.
Laughing and beautiful.
Table of Contents
Front Cover
Title Page
Copyright
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty-One
Twenty-Two