Joyce, Rebecca - The Cattle Drive [The Armstrong Brothers of Cedar Creek] (Siren Publishing Classic)

by Rebecca Joyce

  “Maybe I should drive,” she said, looking at him.

  “Maybe you shouldn’t have worn that dress,” he said, mumbling to himself. Rachael just laughed.

  * * * *

  Michael had made reservations at the Double Nickel Steakhouse. The restaurant was one of the best steak houses in Lubbock. Upon arriving in Lubbock, Michael made the reservations without delay. All he wanted was a night away from cattle, dust, cowhands, and Jake’s trail cooking. Not that he was complaining, Jake was an excellent cook, but there was something said for a nice medium-rare steak, good atmosphere, and a beautiful woman dressed in a lavender dress.

  When they arrived, they were seated quickly. The restaurant was simple and elegant. The ambiance was relaxing, and the mood was what Michael was looking for.

  Since the snakebite, Michael had been doing a lot of thinking about what was going on between him and Rachael, but mostly he was thinking about his feelings toward her. He wanted to show her that he was much more than a cowhand who was good with his hands. He knew she had already known about his time in Chicago, but he wanted to show her the softer side of him. He actually had found himself looking forward to spending the night out on the town with her.

  Together they sat and talked about everything from the cattle drive to where they went to school, only being interrupted twice by the waiter bringing the wine and their dinner. As Michael refilled her glass, she leaned over and touched his hand. He smiled at her, taking her hand in his and lifting it to kiss her palm.

  “Are you enjoying the meal?” the waiter came over, asking, interrupting the quiet moment.

  “Yes, thank you,” Michael replied, never taking his eyes off Rachael.

  “If there is anything else I can get you, please let me know,” the waiter said and then disappeared.

  “Michael,” Rachael softly said, looking at him.

  “Yes.”

  “Let’s get out of here.”

  “Thought you would never ask,” he said, reaching for his wallet and laying down two crisp one hundred dollar bills. Walking around to her, he helped her with her shawl and together they walked out of the restaurant arm in arm.

  The ride back to camp was a quiet one, neither of them saying a word. Rachael was content and very happy. She loved being with Michael. He was smart, funny, considerate, and caring. He worked harder than any man she had ever known, and he was a wonderful father, and he loved her.

  She felt blessed.

  They were almost to the camp when they saw the flashing lights of three squad cars. Michael sped up, rounding the turn, and quickly skidded to a stop. He was out of the truck in a flash, walking fast toward the commotion.

  “What the hell is going on?” He yelled as he approached one of the sheriff’s.

  “I am looking for Michael Armstrong. Are you him?” the overweight man said, looking at him.

  “Yes, I am. Who the hell are you? What’s going on here?” Michael said, getting annoyed rather quickly with the man’s slow talk.

  “Well…apparently some of your boys were out havin’ themselves a good ole time at one of our local watering holes, when a fight was started. One of your boys refused to let a gentleman dance with a lady. They tore up the place rather a mess, but when we showed up, they skedaddled rather quick. I tracked them down here, and I plan on puttin’ three of ’em in jail for a slew of charges,” the fat sheriff said, pointing across the campfire. “So if ya don’t mind handin’ over them three boys over yonder, I’ll get out of ya’ll’s hair.”

  Michael looked in that direction and saw Matthew, Mitch, Marcus, and Brutus, standing with arms crossed in front of Hank Wilkins, Jeremy Allen, and Henry. All the boys were beaten up pretty bad, with black eyes, swollen lips, cuts, and scrapes. The way Jeremy was holding his chest, Michael knew the boy had to have broken a couple of ribs. Michael walked over to the boys to assess the damage, not saying a word to any of them.

  Michael turned his attention back to the sheriff, who was now leaning against the hood of his car, twirling the handcuffs in his hand. Shaking his head, Michael looked at his son. “Henry, explain fast.”

  * * * *

  Rachael just smiled and walked over to the sheriff, sitting next to him.

  “What’s going on, Ralph?” she quietly said.

  “Well howdy, Rachael. Whatcha’ doin’ out here?” the sheriff said, giving her a quick hug.

  “Oh, I am just watching you try to arrest some of my boys,” she said, leaning against him.

  “Your boys? Rachael, honey, is this your cattle?”

  “Yep, so how’s Katie? I heard she got married a couple of years back.”

  “Yeah, to a sod! He’s no good, Rachael. She should have married that Chris.”

  “Well, you know he is still single,” she said with a raised eyebrow.

  “Really, is he still sheriff-in’ down at the Creek?”

  “Yep, so…Ralph, what’s it gonna take to make this mess go away?” she asked, standing up.

  “Awe, Rachael, honey, you know I can’t let this one slide. Those boys tore up that club pretty bad.”

  “Ralph, I will bet all of my cattle that my boys didn’t start that fight, and by that awful grin on your face, I believe you know that, too. So what’s it’s gonna take? Are we going to do this nice or are you gonna be difficult?” Rachael said, taking her cell phone out of her purse.

  “Rachael, honey, I ain’t bein’ difficult,” the sheriff hemmed and hawed. “But I have to take those boys in. They caused a fight.”

  “Okay, Ralph. I guess were doing this the hard way,” she replied, smiling as she opened her cell and began dialing.

  “Rachael, who ya callin’?” Ralph asked, standing up quickly, worried.

  “I think you already know that answer, Ralph,” she said with her finger on the send button.

  “Come, Rachael, don’t do me that way.” Ralph threw his hat on the hood of the car.

  * * * *

  Brutus was watching the whole scene between Rachael and the sheriff, and he started to laugh. Tapping Michael on his shoulder, he said “Hey, boss, watch this. Ms. Rachael is about to hand that sheriff his head on a silver platter.” Michael and his brothers quickly turned around to watch.

  * * * *

  “Ralph, you have one second to choose,” she warned him, pointing her finger at the overweight man.

  “Come on, baby girl. How ya gonna do me that way,” he said, kicking the front tire. With that, Rachael hit send and waited for the answer.

  “Daddy, how ya doin’?” she said sweetly into the phone.

  “Rachael, what’s wrong?” the judge said, not amused.

  “Come, baby girl, please don’t do this,” Ralph said, pleading with her.

  “Daddy, is Momma around? Uncle Ralph is here, and he would so like to talk to his sister,” she said, handing the phone to her uncle. Ralph took the phone, and soon those close enough to hear could hear the yelling through the phone. Rachael turned and tried to hide the smile that was across her face, and when Ralph gave her the phone back, he quickly kissed her cheek and got in his squad car.

  “Now, don’t forget, Momma wants you home for Christmas dinner. Bye, Uncle Ralph, give Katie my love,” she yelled as he peeled out of the camp.

  Once the sheriff was gone, the camp erupted with laughter. Rachael even found it hard to contain the giggles. Walking over to the young boys, she smiled. “Come on, boys, follow me.” Still laughing, she led them over to the camper.

  Michael and his brothers just stood there next to Brutus, stunned.

  “What I tell ya, boss,” Brutus said, laughing and walking off to join the others.

  It took Rachael almost an hour to get them mended up and bedded down for the night. After looking at Jeremy, she instructed Jake and Kenny to take him into town to get an X-ray of his ribs. She stitched what she could and bandaged up the rest. After the boys were finally asleep, she walked back into the camper to find Michael sitting quietly on the bed.

  �
�You okay?” she said, walking over to sit next to him.

  “You didn’t yell at them.”

  “Why should I? I knew those boys did nothing wrong.”

  “But you didn’t even ask them.”

  “I didn’t have to. I have known Hank and Jeremy since they were babies, and as for Henry, I know you raised him to always do the honorable thing,” she said, taking off her heels. Michael just sat there looking at her, amazed.

  “So, tell me. Did they say she was pretty?” she said, smiling at Michael.

  “You are just as bad as they are,” he said, finally laughing at the whole situation.

  “Come on, Michael. You mean to tell me that when you were their age, you never threw caution to the wind for a pretty young girl?” she said, smiling at him. But when Michael didn’t smile back, she stopped and looked at him.

  Michael stood and quickly left the camper. Rachael sat there wondering what she had said. Quickly getting out of her dress, she threw on a pair of jeans and a T-shirt and ran after him.

  “Where did Michael go?” She ran up to Mason who was sitting near the fire.

  “Took off on Jasper, headed northwest.”

  Grabbing a saddled horse, she took off after him.

  * * * *

  Riding out, it took Rachael almost twenty minutes to find Michael, who was perched upon Jasper, watching the herd. She quietly rode up next to him and waited.

  “Rachael, I was that boy. I was the one who threw caution to the wind,” he said, looking at her.

  “Michael, those boys were just dancing. That’s all. They got into a fight defending a girl’s honor.”

  “Two girls,” Michael said quietly.

  “What?”

  “Apparently, Jeremy really knows how to cut a rug. He was out dancing with two girls, when a guy tried to take one away from him. Jeremy wouldn’t let him, and when the guy pushed him, one of the girls fell. According to Jeremy, he lost it. He told me that his daddy would flail him alive for ever hurting a woman, so when this guy refused to apologize to her, Jeremy decked him, and the rest is history.”

  “Well, all right Jeremy,” she said, laughing.

  “Rachael, this isn’t funny. Those boys could have been hurt.”

  “But they weren’t.”

  “What do you call what happened to them, then? Hell, Jeremy is still at the hospital with broken ribs. Hank and Henry are all busted up.”

  “I call that a little scuffle between young boys.”

  “That’s not what it was, and you know it,” he said, glaring at her.

  “Well, explain it to me. How is what those boys did any different than what you did?” she asked.

  “What are you talking about?”

  “Brutus told me what happened when Matthew had to cut my shoulder.”

  “That was different.”

  “How so?”

  “You were in pain.”

  “And she wasn’t?” she said, raising one eyebrow and knowing that she was about to win this argument. Michael had realized what she said and that she was right.

  He dismounted from his horse and walked over to her and reached up and helped her down from hers, and took her into his arms. “You are the most amazing, unpredictable, loving woman I have ever met. I don’t know whether to hug you or throttle you, but I know that I love you, Rachael,” he said, holding her.

  There under the night sky, he held her, slowly dancing to the crickets and lightning bugs. Soon he was humming a soft melody. She wrapped her arms around him, placing her head against his chest, listening to him sing to her.

  * * * *

  By October 15th, the cattle drive had made it through Oklahoma, and they were now fifteen miles from Pueblo, Colorado. Moving close to seventeen miles a day, the cattle drive was right on track for Silver Lake, Montana.

  It had been over six weeks since they’d left Cedar Creek, and though the trip was rough, everyone managed. With Rachael fully recovered from the snakebite, and the fight back in Lubbock, where Jeremy ended up with two broken ribs, and with Kenny breaking his arm trying to fight a steer back in Boise City, Oklahoma, all the hands were in relatively good spirits.

  The weather was quickly turning against them, and soon everyone was wearing their jackets and asking for extra blankets from Jake. Michael kept a tight rein on the boys when they stopped from time to time, enjoying the local life. He was bound and determined to not have a repeat of Lubbock. So when it was time to cut them loose for a couple of hours, Michael went with the boys.

  Rachael spent the better half of her days counting the cattle and working the maps. Together, Michael and Rachael found a routine that worked best for the both of them, only fighting over her calculations of the herd.

  * * * *

  “Hey, Jake, where’s the boss lady?” Michael said, riding back into camp around three in the afternoon.

  “She’s taking a nap in the camper,” Jake replied.

  Michael dismounted Jasper and walked in to find her sleeping on the full bed, covered with a blanket. He sat down next to her, gently rubbing her arm. “Rachael. Wake up, sleepy head,” he said softly. Rachael stirred under the warmth of the blankets and rolled over to see Michael next to her.

  “Yeah.”

  “Come on, get up. I want to show you something,” he said, trying to coax her out of bed.

  “What?” she said, rolling back over and pulling the blanket up around her head.

  “I’m not telling you until you get out of that bed.”

  “Michael, I am really tired,” she moaned.

  “Too bad, so is everyone else. Get your butt up, Mrs. Mason,” he said playfully, pulling back the covers and attempting to remove her from the bed.

  “Damn it, Michael! I said I was tired,” she yelled, grabbing the blanket and covering back up. Michael just sat there for a moment, looking at her and eventually getting angry.

  “Fine. Stay in bed. I don’t give a rat’s ass what you do!” he yelled back at her, walking out of the camper. Soon he was riding back toward the herd.

  * * * *

  Later that evening when the crew had set in for the night, Michael rode up and handed Jasper off to one of the wranglers. He took the plate of food Jake had handed to him and went to sit near the fire, trying to get warm.

  “Hey, Dad,” Henry said, sitting next to him.

  “Yeah.”

  “How much longer till we get to Yuma?”

  “Two weeks or so, why?” he replied, looking at his son.

  “Well, you know those two girls back in Lubbock.”

  “Yeah.” Michael groaned, looking back at his plate.

  “Well, Jeremy said one of them is from Yuma. Well, he called her, and both of the girls said they wanted to meet up with us when we get there. Jeremy just needed to know when we would get there.”

  “Two weeks, Henry, give or take a day.”

  “Thanks, Dad,” Henry said, getting up to find Jeremy.

  * * * *

  It was late when Michael finally headed for the camper and found Rachael sleeping. He quietly removed his boots and clothes and climbed into bed next to her. He soon drifted off to sleep.

  The night was restless for him.

  Michael tossed and turned, unable to get comfortable. Something inside him kept telling him that something was wrong. Trying to put it out of his mind, he rolled over. It didn’t take long for him to realize that he was alone in the bed. Sitting up, he looked at his watch. It was around two in the morning, and he soon realized why he was uncomfortable. Rachael was gone. Grabbing a pair of jeans, Michael left the camper and walked out into a lightly snow-covered ground.

  “Holy shit, it’s cold,” he muttered to himself, walking back in the camper looking for his boots and jacket. Once dressed appropriately, he walked back out into the snow. He saw Mark and Mason riding up and walked over to them. “Have you seen Rachael?”

  “Nope,” Mark replied, dismounting his horse.

  “Okay. Go get some sleep,” Michae
l said, patting him on his back. Michael looked around the camp, unable to locate Rachael. Going back into the camper, he grabbed his walkie-talkie. “Rachael. Come in, Rachael,” he said, talking into the item and hearing his voice coming from the bed of the camper. Michael walked toward the bed, and there on the floor was her walkie-talkie. “Damn it!”

  Michael walked back outside to find Matthew, who was sleeping in his sleeping bag.

  “Mattie, wake up,” Michael said, shoving him into a semiconscious state.

  “Mike, it’s too early, go away,” Matthew muttered.

  “Damn it, Mattie! Wake up.”

  “What!” the man yelled, sitting up and stirring the others that lay near him.

  “Have you seen Rachael?” Michael questioned him.

  “Come on, Mikie, it’s late. Just tell her you’re sorry and let your brother get some sleep,” he said, lying back down.

  “Mattie! Have you seen Rachael?” Michael yelled, waking some of the boys nearby. With the urgency in his voice, Matthew woke up and stared at the worried brother before him.

  “All I know is that she went to take a nap around two this afternoon. I haven’t seen her since.” He yawned. “Why?”

  “She isn’t in the camper. She doesn’t have her walkie-talkie, and her coat is still here,” Michael said quietly, trying not to alarm the boys who were starting to stand up.

  “Have you gone out and checked the herd?” he asked, putting on his boots.

  “I asked Mark and Mason when they rode in. She’s not out there.”

  “All right, Mike. Calm down. She couldn’t have gone far. We will get the boys up and go look for her,” he said, jumping out of his bag and grabbing his coat.

  When the camp came alive in a matter of minutes, all hands were on deck as they geared up into pairs and soon all were searching for Rachael. They searched for damn near two hours, but when the weather took an unexpected turn, Michael order the younger boys back to camp, while the others still searched.