Within the Heart

by Jeanie P Johnson

  He thought of it as an adventure. He planned to succeed at ranching, and eventually buy a ranch of his own. He wanted her to add her inheritance with his to purchase the ranch, once he learned enough to run one on his own. She was appalled at the idea, which made her feel all the more trapped in a life she hadn’t counted on. She felt she knew how Callie must have felt when she was sent out to Texas, only Callie had not had the luxury of living in a nice home, that she now afforded Carrabelle to live in. She was impressed with what Callie had done, considering what Callie had found when she first became Chet’s wife. Cooper had related to both her and Hudson the story of when Callie first came to Chet’s ranch. He had a certain respect for her while appearing disturbed by her success, Carrabelle thought. She wondered what had really transpired between him and Callie. She knew Callie had thrown him off her ranch and he resented it.

  Now she glanced at Connor, who wasn’t actually Callie’s son, though he called her mother. She was the aunt that came to care for her sister’s children, and Carrabelle could tell by the way Connor spoke of Callie, that he loved her as a mother. She must be an amazing woman, Carrabelle thought. She wished she could be more like Callie. Brave and adventurous, willing to build up a beautiful ranch from the ramshackle cottage where Mr. Daniels lived, to a beautiful mansion-like ranch house, where her family lived now. Only that took a lot of work. Something Carrabelle was not used to.

  Connor appeared sympathetic to her cause. He seemed kind. He took his position without being condescending to others. She liked that about him. He did not seem to look down his nose at her, and the fact made her feel a little more comfortable in his presence. Only she had to admit, she worked for Connor. She could never be his equal.

  He was actually handsome in a rugged sort of way, with a tangle of blond curls he kept hidden under his hat most of the time. His probing blue eyes were a little intimidating, though. He seemed older than his twenty-seven years, she thought. His eyes had a depth of knowledge not gained by a high-class education but gained through life experience. Cooper had told her of how all the Callahan children had helped on the cattle drive Callie took. It must have been a hard life for them, she thought. Something her father refused to experience. She realized it gave him stature her father never hoped to have, and she admired him for that.

  His lips were full and seemed to be smiling most of the time, which made her believe that he took all his challenges with a grain of salt and only looked to the positive side of life. He had smile lines around his eyes, his skin weathered and tanned, adding to his look of maturity. There was something about Connor beyond that, which she liked. She hoped he liked her just a little.

  Connor left Carrabelle at her door and went back downstairs. He hoped the weather held out until they could get the calves in. Even if they couldn’t brand them right off, they wouldn’t get scattered by the storm, he felt was brewing. The wind was a big indication that something was coming their way, but if they waited until after it hit, then there would be more strays to hunt down, and young calves in a storm may not fare well. They would have to start out early to stay ahead of the storm, which he believed might land the next evening. Hopefully, if it held off that long, they could get the cattle in and safe in the holding pens until the storm blew over so they could get to the branding.

  Connor, Tommy, Beth, and their Comanche friends started out at daybreak the next morning.

  Connor looked over the group and was satisfied with what he saw. They all seemed eager to get to work, and he was especially proud of his two sisters who always stepped up to any challenge or job handed to them on the ranch. He sometimes felt they were better than regular cowhands hired for the cattle drive.

  “We are going to work in teams,” Connor explained. “I want to get the calves in before the storm hits if possible. The wind has died down a bit so I think it may not be as bad as I thought it would be. However, even though the cows with calves sometimes stay together, there are always those who seem to want to protect their young from the rest of the herd and may be off on their own. Therefore I want Tommy and Konton to head out to the west side of the range, while Beth and Taima go east. Maska, Avonaco, and I will head south together to take up the distance between. We’ll separate the mother cows and calves from the herd and bring them back to the ranch. You’ll be on your own to bring in however many you find outside the herd in whichever direction you are going. I just hope we can find them all before that storm builds up. If you get caught in the storm, you are on your own as what you decide to do. If you can find shelter, try to keep the calves and their mother’s together, if you don’t think you can bring them in right away. Otherwise, try to bring them in as quickly as you can.”

  Tommy looked to Konton and motioned for him to follow her as she headed west. She hadn’t had time to get to know the Comanche brave, and wasn’t sure if she could count on him. However, she trusted Avonaco and he had chosen the young men to accompany him and Connor back to the ranch, so she would have to put her faith in his judgment.

  Konton was eying her, with his dark, probing eyes, probably worrying about her, the same way she was worrying him.

  “You know anything about herding cattle?” Tommy asked as they loped along together.

  She noted the slight smile that rested on his full lips, and how Konton’s long, black, flowing hair danced behind him from under his hat, as the wind caught it.

  “Enough,” Konton said.

  He didn’t seem too talkative, Tommy thought.

  “There’s a gully not far from here, and I was thinking it might be a perfect place for a mother and calf to hide if they wanted to keep their distance from the other cattle. Only problem is, once we get down in that gully, there is no way out until we come to the end. The gully spans the width of the ranch and opens up there, but it is tricky going and it might take a lot of coaxing to get any cows or calves to climb up out through the rocks at the other end. If they won’t go, we will have to herd them all the way back to the original opening, which will waste a lot of time. Connor is afraid of the storm breaking, so we need to try and make haste.”

  “No harm trying,” Konton said with a grunt.

  “If we run across any strays before we get to the gully, we’ll have to bring them with us.”

  “No choice, I guess,” Konton mumbled.

  Because Konton seemed uninterested in carrying on a conversation, the two traveled in silence as they scouted for any signs of stray cows with calves.

  Eventually, they found two cows and their calves. Tommy swung her lasso over her head while Konton took up the other side to keep the cows going in the direction they wanted them to go. His horse was well trained, and Tommy admired the way the horse responded to Konton’s every direction, which was mostly made by the pressure he put on the sides of the horse with his legs, leaving his hands free, in case he needed them for roping or something other than holding the reins.

  “The gully is just ahead,” Tommy pointed out. “Once we are inside, there is only one way the cows can go, so we won’t have to work as hard to keep them going towards the other end. It is really a washed out riverbed. Only holds water during a heavy rain, so I hope this storm is more of a windstorm than a rainstorm. I don’t want to be caught in that gully if it starts raining very hard. We sometimes have flash-floods out here.”

  Konton nodded, as his brows pulled together, but he said nothing.

  As the two herded the cows and their calves through the gully, Tommy noticed the wind picking up, but in the gully, she couldn’t feel it as much as seeing the grass and bushes at the top of the gully starting to whip around.

  “We had better hurry,” Tommy said, gritting her teeth. “Those clouds don’t look very friendly. Connor thought the storm would hold out until this evening, but I have my doubts about that.”

  The two picked up their speed, but the calves were too young to keep up the steady gait.

  “Hold on,” Konton said.

  In a moment he was swinging off of
his horse, picking up one calf and throwing it across the back of Tommy’s horse in front of her, and then putting the other one on his horse.

  “We’ll make better time if we carry the calves,” he insisted.

  “You may be right,” Tommy said, having admiration for Konton’s down to earth reasoning.

  Now they didn’t have to herd the cows because they kept up with the horses, knowing their calves were being carried. They found it wasn’t hard to get the cows to pick up speed as Tommy and Konton kept their eyes open for any more cows that may be taking shelter in the gully.

  “Doesn’t look like there are any cows here,” Tommy mentioned. “It’s not very far to the opening, so we might as well keep going and climb out of this gully before the storm hits.”

  She had to talk louder as the sound of the wind was starting to drown out her words. She could see the rocky path leading up out of the gully ahead, but before they got to it, the clouds opened up and started pouring down torrents of rain. Tommy kicked her horse, but the cows were having a hard time keeping up with them, and Tommy noticed water starting to wash down over the rocks at the end of the gully.

  “We’re never going to get the cows to go up the rocks with that water washing down like it is,” Tommy cried.

  “Might as well go back the other way,” Konton suggested, turning his horse and the surprised cows turned and followed as well. They seemed to know they all needed to get out of the gully before the water started to overtake them.

  The sand in the riverbed made it hard for the horses to keep up their speed, and the cows were starting to slow as well. Both the horses had a double load since the calves were slung over their backs along with their riders. The water was starting to fill the gully, and now the horses were splashing through the water, while rain soaked the horses and riders.

  “It’s getting deeper,” Tommy shrieked. “Do you think we can make it back before it gets too deep?”

  “The horses are tired, and once the water rises, they will have to swim, right along with the two cows,” Konton predicted. “They won’t be able to carry us and the calves once the water gets too deep.”

  “What should we do?” Tommy exclaimed.

  “I noticed on the way through the gully, there was a sort of hollow, up high in the side of the gully. I doubt the water will get that high. Once we get to it, we should get off before the water is too deep, swat the horses so they will keep going, and the cows should follow. Then we take the calves with us to the hollow and wait out the storm.”

  “How are we going to get the calves up?” Tommy wanted to know.

  “I’ll climb up and lower a rope for the calves. You tie them on, and I will hoist them up. Then I’ll throw the rope for you to help you climb up to the hollow. The horses and cows will probably swim to the end of the gully and find higher ground.”

  “The current is getting faster,” Tommy noticed. “I hope it doesn’t wash us away, once we get off the horses.”

  “We will just have to take that chance,” Konton shrugged. “I see the hollow up ahead.”

  A moment later, Konton was jumping down from his horse. “Leave the calves on the horses until I get up there,” he told Tommy, grabbing his rope and starting up the side of the gully, using small bushes growing there for handholds, and finding a place to secure each foot as he climbed. Tommy watched anxiously from below, remaining on her horse until he had reached the hollow. The rope was thrown to her, and she climbed down to tie the first calf.

  When Tommy’s feet hit the churning water, she lost her balance and found herself being swept off her feet, but she still had the rein of her horse in her hand, so she managed to pull herself up. Holding onto the saddle of Konton’s horse, she managed to keep her balance as she tied the first calf for Konton to hoist up.

  The two cows stood bewildered, bawling to their calves, as the calf being hoist up was crying in fear. The horses seemed nervous as well because the water was starting to get higher. It was already up to Tommy’s waist, and she was having a hard time moving from one horse to the other, in order to take care of the other calf, once the rope fell down to her again. When the last calf was on its way up, Tommy swatted the horses, as she clung to a bush growing out of the side of the gully. It took a few swats to convince the horses to leave, but the current of the water encouraged them. However, the cows remained, bawling to their calves up above, and even though Tommy tried to swat them, trying to get them to leave, they refused to go.

  The rope was before her for the third time, and she tied it around her waist and then started the climb, her feet slipping on the wet dirt, and her leather gloved hands trying to cling to anything she could grab as she made the slow ascent to the hollow above, putting her life in Konton’s hands, who was pulling her to safety.

  The cows below remained, bellowing their disapproval of their calves being tucked away above them where they could not follow. However, as the water got higher, the cows had no choice but to start swimming with the current, leaving their bewildered calves behind. Tommy grabbed Konton’s hand and he pulled her into the shelter of the hollow which was barely big enough to hold both of them, along with the calves.

  Tommy was covered with mud, and she was totally soaked, but she noticed that Konton was no better-off.

  “How long do you think it will last?” Tommy wondered.

  Konton shrugged.

  She sat looking down on the racing water below and could see the cows swimming towards the end of the gully, but then they disappeared around the bend. She felt Konton’s hand on her shoulder.

  “Lean on me,” he said, as he pulled her back against his strong body. “You are shivering,” he stated.

  “I’m not cold,” Tommy lied, “just tired and relieved.”

  Konton did not answer. He merely put both his arms around Tommy and pulled her into a protecting embrace. She leaned her head back against his shoulder, thankful for his strength.

  It dawned on Tommy that she had never relied on a man’s strength or protection before. No one had ever had to help her do anything. She was independent and capable, so this was a new experience for her. She could feel the warm breath from Konton’s mouth against her neck, and she found she liked the feel of his breath and the strength of his arms as he held her back against him, while the rain poured in front of the opening of the hollow.

  “This may last for hours,” she murmured, as the warmth of Konton’s arms started to warm her as well.

  “Nothing to do but wait,” Konton told her.

  “I appreciate you’re capable decision to climb up here and help me and the calves up,” she murmured.

  “I am here to help and protect you. Whatever you wish of me I will do.”

  “I don’t know what I would have done if you had not been here with me,” she said, shifting to look up into his eyes.

  She noticed the water sliding down the side of his face from his wet hair. He had removed his hat, and it was somewhere in the little cave, she figured. She had lost her hat when she started climbing the side of the gully, and her hair too dripped into her eyes, as she looked up.

  She found Konton’s finger pushing the wet hair out of her face, and she liked the feel of his finger on her face.

  “You have mud all over your face,” he smiled.

  Tommy lifted her arm and tried to wipe her face with her sleeve, but realized it was covered with mud too. She heard Konton give a low laugh at her attempt to remove the mud from her face.

  “Here,” he said, pulling the bandana from around his neck.

  He began to wipe the mud from Tommy’s face with gentle movements, then holding the bandana out to catch the rain and wringing it out as he continued to wash her face. His eyes seemed focused on his attempts. As he gazed into Tommy’s face, he paused and his eyes locked with hers.

  “The blue of your eyes remind me of robin eggs. Your golden hair is like the rays of the sun, warming my heart,” he breathed.

  Then he laughed again.

&n
bsp; “Only it is hidden by the mud right now,” he told her, causing her to smile.

  “Your smile also warms my heart,” he continued, and he ran a finger over her lower lip.

  The touch made Tommy shiver.

  “Do I frighten you?” Konton asked suddenly, starting to pull away.

  “No…no, I like the feel of your finger touching my face and lip,” she admitted.

  Konton’s full mouth was caught in a smile at her words, and he let his finger fall against her face again, tracing over it, as though exploring the shape of it. He was silent, and Tommy felt his eyes burning into her, as she almost held her breath while his finger traced over the features of her face. She had spent her life around men, yet this was the closest she had ever been to a man before.

  “Have you found a man?” Konton asked.

  “What do you mean?” Tommy responded.

  “Is there a man to be your man?” he revised.

  “I am too busy to be looking for a man,” she murmured, feeling a little embarrassed.

  “You don’t look busy now,” he whispered.

  Tommy caught her breath.

  “You are not suggesting that…”

  Konton placed his finger over her lips.

  “Think on it,” he said, pulling her back against him again, resting his cheek on the top of her head.

  “I am looking for a woman. If you want a man…”

  “I never said I wanted a man,” Tommy complained.

  “I would make a good husband,” Konton said unabashedly.

  “I just met you!” Tommy said, her voice shivering.

  “Do I not please you?” he asked innocently.

  “So far you do,” Tommy had to admit. “I mean you are strong, and you knew what to do when we were in a bad situation, and I know I can rely on you to keep me safe. It is just that…”

  “What?” he asked. “What more do you look for in a husband?”

  “Someone I am familiar with and have known for more than a day!”

  “There are many days ahead. You can get to know me.”

  “I can’t just promise to marry you because you ask,” she pointed out, starting to feel alarmed.