The day flew by. They were riding into camp and saw Dale’s truck and trailer. He was probably hard at work setting up the kitchen area. Sarah smiled just thinking about his crazy hair and all the pots and pans he’d have going at one time.
Second day of the horse drive and Sarah could feel it. Two days in the saddle – Creaking joints and stiffening legs. She dismounted and gave her horse to Frank to put with the others for the night. Sarah stretched every limb and wearily moved her head around from side to side. That helped a bit, as did walking around.
The cowboys finished putting the herd into its seasonal pasture and headed back to camp for a little rest, food and relaxation. Sarah thought it felt good to have achieved the purpose of the drive.
She’d gone back to help Dale get ready for the evening meal. He was boasting that tonight’s meal was going to be the best yet – Bison chili, salad, black-eyed peas, Jalapeno cornbread and blueberry dump-cobbler for dessert. Sarah couldn’t believe the incredible meals Dale was able to fix out in the middle of nowhere. She marveled at his cooking abilities and planned to continue learning from him. She enjoyed cowboy cooking.
Dale was instructing her how to prepare the black-eyed peas as they worked together in the kitchen.
“Hey, Sarah. Hang on a minute. I need to dump this dishwater and I’ll be right back.” He grabbed the big tub and headed out back by some rocks. Sarah was mixing her ingredients and turned to watch him as he leaned over to pour the tub of water. All of a sudden, she heard a rattling sound and Dale jumped back, holding onto his hand. She dropped what she was doing and ran out to him.
“Get back! There’s a snake over here.”
Sarah was frozen with fear for an instant. “What should I do?”
“Go get Cooper…”
Matt had come around the corner to see if Sarah needed any help just as she ran by. He grabbed her arm to stop her and saw the look of fear on her face.
“What’s wrong?”
“Dale was bitten by a snake out back. I’m going for Cooper.”
“Go! I’ll stay with him until you get back.”
Sarah ran off and found Cooper with some of the cowboys. After briefly explaining the situation, they all ran back with her to see about Dale. Matt was keeping Dale calm by making him stay seated with his hand lower than his heart. He was talking softly to him when Cooper hurried up.
“Let’s take a look, Dale.” He looked at the puncture mark on Dale’s hand.
“Damn thing got me when I dropped the stupid tub and bent down to pick it up.”
“Rattler?”
“Yeah.”
“Good work keeping him calm, Matt. That’s the thing to do.” Cooper looked around. “Okay, I need a volunteer to take Dale to the clinic in Wells. Who will drive him there?”
Cooper looked at Dale. “Sorry, cookie, your days on the drive are officially over.”
“Damn, damn.” Dale immediately turned to Sarah. “Will you take over cooking for tonight and tomorrow, Sarah?”
When she visibly gulped, Matt stepped in. “We’ll help her, don’t worry, Dale. Just get going.”
Aaron volunteered to drive Dale to the clinic and he had started up the truck.
“Sarah, get what you can out for dinner and tomorrow’s meals. Matt, give her a hand,” instructed Cooper.
Sarah and Matt walked quickly over to the kitchen area and started stocking a cooler with food that would keep for meals. Matt got breakfast foods together, while Sarah found sandwich makings for lunch. For dinner tonight, they found various breads that Dale had already made, some vegetables and fruit.
As they pulled foods together quickly, Sarah looked over at Matt.
“So you don’t cut the wound and suck out the venom?”
Matt laughed. “Nope. Only in the movies…”
“You don’t do anything for him?”
“He’s got to get some anti venom serum, which we don’t usually bring with us on horse drives. That was a freak accident that he and the snake were together at the same time. Probably scared the both of them.”
“So that’s why he needs to go to the clinic?”
“Yes, he needs medical attention as soon as possible. The best thing to do for him right now is to keep him calm. A fast heart rate will speed up the circulation of the venom.”
She smiled at him in the midst of their rush. “You’re pretty calm in a crisis, aren’t you?”
He smiled back at her. “I’ve been through a few. Maybe I’ll tell you about them sometime.”
Just then Aaron honked the horn. Frank and Richie had gotten Dale in the truck and he was ready to go. Cooper yelled over at Matt.
“Got enough for a few meals?”
“Yep. We’re good… Take off.”
Aaron drove the truck out of the camp area taking all their kitchen equipment and the rest of the food with them. Cooper turned to look at the scared, assembled guests watching Dale go.
“It’ll be fine, folks. Aaron can get him there in a few hours which will be plenty of time to fix Dale up.” Then he looked over at Sarah.
“What are you going to do for dinner?” It was interesting to Matt how quickly Sarah had become indispensible to the horse drive, but it didn’t surprise him.
“Well, he had a great menu for us tonight, which I can only do part of. I think we’re going to need some meat because I can’t do the chili.” She thought a minute. “How about fish? Can we have some people go fishing?”
Cooper laughed. “Exactly what a camping trip needs – Fish. We’re on it for you and we’ll grill over the campfire.” He turned to Matt. “Help her out in the kitchen, would you, Matt?” He winked at him and left.
Matt turned to Sarah. “So what is for dinner?” He almost laughed at the expression on her face --You’re asking me?
“…Um…” She actually wrung her hands for a minute.
“Hey.” He reached out to grab her hands before she twisted them into pretzels. “I’m here to help. What do you need?”
Sarah took a breath, looked at him and nodded. “Okay. I’ve almost finished the black-eyed peas and the salad is not hard. I’ve nothing to cook the cornbread in, but we found some breads he already prepared that we can use.” She took a bigger breath. “We don’t have an entrée. Fish would be great.”
“Have you cooked fish before?”
“Yes, I live in Baltimore, remember?”
“Oh, yeah, I forgot.” He smiled at her. “But have you gutted them before?”
“Actually, yes again. So there.”
“Sarah…”
She looked at him sternly. “Grab a few fishing buddies and get me some fish – What kind do we have here?”
“Trout.”
“Hop to it!”
It was amazing how everyone pulled together in the crisis. Matt and Richie got every fishing rod available and had people fishing up and down the stream. They spread out quite a ways and enjoyed the heck out of it. People were laughing and talking, enjoying the activity as much as the day. The nets were passed around and soon quite a few fish were heading to the back of the kitchen area for cleaning.
Sarah and Tess manned the kitchen with some help from the giggling teenage girls. Sarah glanced at the one she and Matt had rescued last night to see how she was doing. Apparently, she was thrilled that Aaron had left and was cheerfully helping set the picnic tables with plates, cups and utensils.
A few other women were cleaning pots and bowls as Tess and Sarah finished with them. The guys did all the gutting and soon skewers of fish and vegetables were grilling over the open campfire. The aromas from both the fish and the fire made one’s mouth water… Others made sure the campfire stayed going. It was a real team effort…
Dinner that night was nothing short of spectacular. Everyone had pulled their weight to make it come out right. The grilled trout was mouthwatering with salad, black-eyed peas, bread and fruit. Sarah wasn’t able to bring about the blueberry cobbler, but it was t
he best they could do. It was still enjoyable.
Cooper stood up for a toast near the end of the meal.
“Whew… This has been one exciting day.” He looked around at all the heads nodding and agreeing with him.
“Right you are, Cooper,” yelled Frank.
“I want to thank you all for pitching in and helping with tonight’s meal. Give yourselves a round of applause…” The guests and cowboys looked around laughing and clapping.
“But I want to single out Sarah for her willingness to step in and organize it all. Groups need leaders and she did a fine job.” He raised his coffee cup up in the air. “To Sarah…”
Everyone raised a cup or glass to toast Sarah, who had blushed five shades of red from all the attention. Matt, sitting beside her, beamed as he joined the toast. People now accepted that they were probably together, or would be soon. It seemed natural and they were a good fit. Guests smiled at him as much as her.
After dinner and cleanup, Sarah found a bag of marshmallows and suggested a roast over the campfire. That sent people scurrying around looking for sticks to roast their marshmallows with.
“Can’t do s’mores,” she said. “… Don’t have all the ingredients.”
“Never mind,” laughed Richie, “this will do just fine and be fun.”
After a colorful twilight of pinks and oranges, the sun finally set leaving a black, black night. The cowboys pulled out guitars and began singing songs that everyone knew. Between the marshmallow roast and the sing-along, people had a good time.
Soon a few got up to find their bedrolls or put up their tents. It was harder to put up the tents at night than it would have been earlier, but they shrugged, laughed and got it done. Cooper bid everyone a good night and went to find his bedroll. Tess looked over at Sarah, raised an eyebrow and then she and Richie left for their tent. Sarah smiled and shook her head.
Moonlight was reflecting off the water in the stream. Matt was setting up his bedroll over there and beckoned Sarah to join him. They were apart from the others when Sarah brought over her bedroll.
“Guess I’m sleeping in my clothes tonight,” she laughed.
“It’s only for one more day. Can you hang in there?” asked Matt.
“Sure.”
“So you let Richie take your place in the tent tonight?”
“Yup. Seemed like the thing to do.”
Sarah lay down on her side and propped her head up with an elbow resting on the ground. She took a deep breath and watched Matt. He was spreading out his bedroll by her, not too close, but close enough to see her face well. What a handsome guy… all that black hair. Dark eyes. She sighed without realizing it. He turned to her.
“… You okay?”
She laughed at that. “Yes, I’m fine. Just a little tired.”
“I’m not surprised with the effort you made today.”
“Don’t make too much of it.”
“You did good, cowgirl.”
That got her grinning. “You did pretty well yourself, cowboy. You kept Dale calm, which was important.”
“Yeah…He’ll be fine.” He gazed at her blonde hair, falling around her face. Her ponytail long forgotten. What a pretty girl, blue eyes that looked right through him.
“Oh…”
“What?”
“… It’s nothing.”
“It must be something. Tell me.”
“Okay. My toothbrush is in the tent and there’s no way I’m going back to ask for it.”
Matt laughed. “Want to use mine?”
She scrunched up her nose. “Ew! Cooties!”
“That’s what Richie said you had when we danced together the first night you were here.”
“Cooties? How did I have cooties?”
“We were dancing pretty far away from each other.” She laughed.
“I get it.”
“…So? Do you want to use my toothbrush?”
“Have you used it tonight yet?”
“No. You can use it first.”
He reached into his saddlebag and took out the toothbrush and a bottle of water.
“Sorry. I used all my toothpaste last night.”
She smiled and took the brush and water. Leaning over into the grass, Sarah brushed her teeth.
“I think this is a real first for me,” grinned Matt.
She rolled her eyes. “I’m sure it’s such a thrill.” She spit out the water and rinsed with a sip from the water bottle.
Then it was Matt’s turn. He was brushing away and she started laughing.
“What?” He rinsed and spit.
“This just reminded me of something a lady said on the airplane flying to Nevada. We’d been talking about Western movies and she remarked that she liked Robert Redford so much, she’d watch him brush his teeth.”
“So I remind you of Robert Redford?” He set down the water bottle.
“Oh, Heavens, no. You’re the spitting image of…” She stopped and closed her mouth. She’d spoken before thinking.
“… Finish it. I’m the spitting image of…”
Sarah kept her mouth closed and shook her head. “This is mildly embarrassing.”
“Let me guess--A movie star, right?”
“Yes.”
“Johnny Depp?”
“Not even close.”
“Ah…Kevin Costner?”
“She shook her head.
“…Robert Downey?”
“Nope.”
“I’m out of ideas.” He shrugged his shoulders.
“You’ve got to reach way back for this guy. I’ll give you a hint – 1958, ‘Big Country’.”
“I think I missed that one.”
Suddenly, Sarah’s face radiated a glow that took Matt’s breath away. She had the biggest smile ever on her face and he couldn’t wait to hear this.
“Want me to tell you?”
“Yes.”
“He’s my all-time favorite movie star and such a handsome guy: Gregory Peck.” She stopped, blushed deeply and looked down at the ground.
He laughed at her. “Sarah, you just gave yourself away. I think I’ve got your number now.”
She lay on her side pretending to look aloof. “Oh, really.”
Matt lay back and his hands cradled his head. “Look at the stars tonight. Have you ever seen anything more beautiful?”
Yes, you, she sighed as she gazed at his handsome profile. His eyes were as dark as the night and took in everything around him, especially her.
“What do you want from me?” she whispered.
He turned his head to look into her eyes. Was she scared? Nervous? Excited? He couldn’t tell. Matt got up to pull one end of the bedroll over her for a cover. Sarah watched his every move. When he was satisfied that she was warm enough, he lay back on his bedroll and covered up as well. She thought he’d forgotten the question.
Matt turned on his side to gaze directly into Sarah’s questioning eyes. His own eyes softened as he drank her in and he knew. He just knew.
“Everything…” he whispered back at her. Then he closed his eyes.
Sarah knew it too. She smiled at him, reached out to touch his face and then burrowed down into her sleeping bag. She fell asleep quickly. Matt touched his own face where her soft hand had been. He fell asleep smiling and dreamed of horses, green meadows and a pretty girl with a horseshoe.
* * *
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Riding the River (The Westerners, Book One) Page 24