by Caryl McAdoo
With one hand, Charley took his mother’s offering, and with the other, waved at Bay-lor. After two bites, he announced, “Me ride gray.”
The captain nodded. “Eat, you can ride with me later.”
Charley slumped against his mother. He wanted to ride by himself. But at least he liked getting to ride with Bay-lor better than sitting with his mother watching all day. He finished his cold breakfast then jumped off the wagon.
“Where are you going?”
He pointed to the clump of trees. “Make water.”
“Hurry back.”
He threw her a nod. She needed to stop treating him like a papoose. He was big now. He would show them.
Later, he rode with Bay-lor some and walked some, but mostly he had to ride with his mother. He always kept an eye out for his chance though. It came one later as long shadows covered the camp and everyone worked at chores. He eased Bay-lor’s rope off his saddle then slipped out to where the gray and Wallace’s gelding grazed.
The stallion ignored him and tore off another bite of grass. Charley tossed the rope over his neck, threaded it through the looped end, pulling it tight.
He removed the hobbles then hefted himself up with the rope. The gray crow-hopped, but Charley hung tight. He loosed the rope and tossed it over the horse’s head.
Gathering a double handful of mane, he laid his head on the stallion’s neck, then whooped his best war cry jamming his heels into the horse’s sides.
The gray bolted. Charley hollered again glancing at the camp. Bay-lor ran toward him waving his arms.
Giving the stallion his head for several strides, he nudged him with his left knee, but the horse didn’t turn. He reached for the jaw line, but had forgotten to put one in the gray’s mouth.
Though he pulled hard on the gray’s mane, the horse continued galloping and went even faster. He looked behind again, but couldn’t see the wagon or anyone.
Since he couldn’t stop him, might as well enjoy the ride. He leaned low over the stallion’s neck and whooped.
After long enough time to skin a herd of buffalo, the gray slowed, topped a short ridge, and then stopped. Below in a wide meadow on each side of a creek, more horses than Charley had ever seen before grazed.
Bay-lor’s mount bowed his neck and whinnied a call to the herd. Several mares neighed an answer, and a beautiful black stallion ran to the near side of the herd, prancing back and forth. The black reared and sounded his warning.
The songs they sang to each other, he loved. Great fun. He’d seen two stallions challenge each other before. He grabbed two handfuls of mane. Sure enough, the gray stomped, reared, and then charged toward the herd.
The black, with his long, flowing mane bowed his neck, snorted, then charged out toward him.
Both horses stood face to face with their necks bowed and blew into each other’s noses, but neither backed down. Charley’s heart pounded. A fight! He’d made a big mistake not slipping off up on the ridge.
The black reared and pawed at the gray, who whirled and kicked. Charley almost went off the side, but tightened his grip and stayed aboard. The mustang charged then reared with his teeth bared, his hot breath puffed on Charley’s neck.
The gray spun away. In the spin, he bumped the other stallion with his hip. The jolt knocked Charley sideways again, but he managed to right himself.
“Stop! No!”
He pulled on the gray’s mane and kicked his sides with his heels, but the horse acted as though Charley wasn’t even there. Should he jump off and roll? No, he’d get stomped before he could get away from the stallions’ thrashing hooves.
What should he do? Maybe he’d soon join the great Comanche chiefs in the sky. Would they know him?
But he didn’t want to leave this world or his mother or the Captain either. Not yet. He wanted to grow big and strong. Dumb horse! He kicked at the black.
“Get away! Get away now!”
The black screamed a high pitched neigh and fell back some. He snorted and threw his mane one way then the other. He reared, pawed the air, but the gray wouldn’t give up and leave. He reared again and walked on his back hooves toward the mustang pawing the air.
Bay-lor’s bad horse hit the black a hard blow and almost lost his balance. In righting himself, he jerked left leaving Charley back where he used to be. But he didn’t let go of the horse’s mane.
Hanging on the gray’s side, he tried again and again to pull himself back up. But every time he’d almost make it, the bad horse reared or spun or moved to keep him from throwing a leg over and mounting.
He didn’t feel big any more.
The gray acted like he was only a feather weaved into his mane to adorn him for battle. Should Charley drop and run? Could he land on his feet?
The gray spun again, and Charley’s feet flew out fanning the air. From his right, Sarge’s gelding raced toward him.
Hang on he told his fingers, the ranger would save him. The gelding neared, it was his partner! “Bay-lor! Bay-lor!”
“Hold on, I’m coming.” The man reined next to him then wrapped his arm around Charley. “Let go!”
It felt like he’d ripped his fingers off, like he’d left them entwined in the black mane of Bay-lor’s gray. He looked at his hands as his partner raced away from the fighting stallions. It surprised him to see fingers – all ten. Baylor reined the gelding to a stop away from the fight.
His partner hugged him hard, so hard that Charley could barely breathe. Bay-lor loosed his grip enough for Charley to free his arms. He grabbed the man’s neck and squeezed tight. “You save me.”
Bay-lor held him close a minute then at arm’s length. “Never. Do that. Again.”
Charley ducked his head against the man’s chest and nodded into it. He wanted to say something, but words wouldn’t come, only stupid tears.
Sassy bounced across the prairie bareback on a mule with only a rope bridle. She couldn’t bear to imagine the danger her son put himself in. She couldn’t see, but hearing the whinnies and snorts scared her senseless.
“Please, God, please. Don’t let him die. Help Levi to save him. Help him, Lord. Help him!”
The horses screamed again, but still hadn’t come into view. Her heart would fail if anything happened to Charley. Finally, she topped the ridge, but the scene before her in no way eliminated any fear.
Hundreds of mustangs grazed, most ignoring the two stallions who faced each other like two men who had enough of fighting, but neither would quit. “Oh, God! Where’s Charley?”
She searched the landscape. Her eyes landed on a small still lump curled on the ground. Her stomach lurched. Her heart stopped beating. No, no! But coming closer, she realized it was only a rock. She exhaled and shook off the horror. Then she spotted him and Levi.
“Praise you, Lord! Bless You!”
Her throat relaxed. She pulled in a lungful of sweet air. The boy clung to the man’s chest like the two were one. She reined the mule toward him, kicked his flanks, and slapped the ropes on the animal’s neck. “Giddy up! Faster, mule.”
Levi rode toward her with one arm wrapped around Charley. “He’s fine.”
Tears blurred her vision. She could barely make out her son, his face pressed into Levi’s chest. It seemed to take forever to cover the distance to him, but the mule came next to the horse, and she scooped her baby into her arms.
She hugged him and rocked him. “What were you thinking? You better never ever do that again. Do you hear me? Do you hear me?” She burst into tears and rocked. “Oh Charley, Charley, what would I do without you?”
He wiped his cheeks and shrugged with his bottom lip quivering. “I’m sorry, Mama.” His words were exactly what she wanted to hear.
“Why? Why would you do such a thing?”
“Me big, ride Bay-lor’s gray.” He lay his head on her chest then popped back up facing the ranger. “That gray fast, partner.” He looked at his mother and rattled on in the people’s tongue.
She continued to rock
. “He says fast as a shooting star.” She shook her head. “He absolutely has no sense of fear. Comanche taught him that.” She hated the people and their ways. The boy was her world, and she’d almost lost him.
Still sitting on the mule, she rocked and cried over his head. “I’m so thankful you’re alive, and I love you. But as soon as I’ve held you long enough, you’re likely to get a good switching for scaring me so bad.”
She turned to Levi, and her eyes filled anew with tears. “Thank you. Thank you so much.”
He waved her off and dismounted. “No need.”
She glanced down at Charley then at Levi. “He’s sound asleep!” He held his arms out to take him. She smiled, leaned over, and laid him in the crook of the ranger’s arm.
Carrying him over next to a tree, he gently eased him to the ground. She dismounted, and he handed the gelding’s reins to her. “Hold onto this fellow for me. I’ve got to try to get the gray back before I lose all light.”
He started taking the makeshift rope bridle off the mule. With her son safe, her concern fell on Levi. “Be careful.”
He grinned. “Always.”
Worried, she gazed away. On the horizon, just topping the rise, she made out a rider. “Look, look! Here comes the Calvary!” She grinned. “Thank the Lord.”
A second mule came loping up carrying Wallace. “How’s the little wild man?”
“Scalawag fell sound asleep.”
He shrugged then scanned the valley below. “There must be a hundred mustangs down there.” He smiled at Levi. “What do you think, Captain? Want to catch more than your gray?”
Levi laughed. “Not tonight.” He looked at Sassy. “You alright here?”
“Of course, but what are you planning?”
“I figure Wallace and I go on his gelding and rope my horse.”
She turned to Wallace. “Number one, what do you weigh, one-eighty?”
“Maybe, why?”
“Because I’m thinking it’d be better for me to go with Levi. You two wouldn’t have any chance of catching up to the gray if he runs. Number two, I think it’d be wise for you to just keep the saddle on that mule.
“Why’s that?”
“It’s what? Forty more pounds?” She glanced from one man to the other. “What do y’all think? It’s getting darker by the minute.”
Levi looked at Wallace who shrugged. “I can stay here and watch the boy and the mules, or go back to camp if you want, build up the fire to home in on. She’s right about one thing, it gets real dark real quick.”
“Alright then, let’s do it. You want Wallace to stay or go, Rose?”
There he goes again making her feel all soft and beautiful. She loved him calling her that. “Go; I like that big fire idea. I’ll wake Charley.”
The men tied a lead on the second mule. She sat her still-drowsy son up in front of the ranger. “I don’t think he’ll give you any trouble, but we’ll be back quick as we can.”
“He’ll be fine, don’t you worry.”
They rode off toward camp. Leaving her and Levi alone in the last of the day’s light made the flutterbyes butter her stomach something fierce. And she hadn’t even climbed up to ride double yet.
Had she connived to be so close to him? No, her plan was simply logical and the best thing to do. Either way, she had to keep her wits about her if she was going to help get his horse back.
Could she dismiss all that buttering going on?
“Think I should ride up front to free you to rope him?”
“Sure, that sounds good.” Levi held the gelding’s reins, went to one knee offering the other as a step, and smiled. “You first. Hope we don’t regret sending that saddle off.”
Returning his grin, she gathered her skirt and used his knee to mount the gelding. “We won’t. I’ve watched the Comanche do this a hundred times.”
He handed her his lariat then hopped on behind her grabbing her waist as he settled. She handed the rope back and swallowed. Her muscles turned to mush.
Sure was glad she sat the horse because no way would her legs hold her upright. With each step the gelding took, some part of him touched her, his hand on her hip, then his chest against her shoulder.
Strength radiated from him.
Was she breathing? No. Take a breath she told herself. Remember to breathe. She closed her eyes.
“Ready when you are.”
His voice startled her and brought her from her thoughts. She blew out the breath she’d been holding, and with great willpower refrained from sounding the sigh that shuddered her core. “All right, here we go.”
She nudged the gelding into motion, acutely aware of every inch of her that he touched. Without any doubt, she should not be thinking or feeling the things she thought and felt, but waned powerless to stop, either.
Never in her life had she experienced such as she did this night on this horse in the dusky Texas hill country. And even though all dead wrong, she couldn’t help loving it.
“Go easy; we don’t want to spook him.”
Chapter
Ten
Levi held the rope end of the lasso in his left hand and the loop in his right. Could he get this done? It’d been years since he’d roped anything. The stallions stood snorting and stomping at each other.
Seemed like a lot of bluster with not much fight left. He studied the horses, but what he really wanted was to close his eyes and forget about everything but her.
She turned her head and whispered. “As tired as he looks, we should be able to get pretty close. When you rope him, I’ll try to get next to him so you can get over on him. If we manage that, then maybe I can spook the black.”
He put his mouth next to her ear and instead of kissing her cheek whispered, “Ease on up.”
The black stared right at him for a moment. Rose stopped and let the gelding have his head. It went to grazing, and the stallion turned his attention back toward the gray.
The minute he did, she nudged the gelding forward again. This game went on until she got him within roping distance. He held the loop end out and fed more rope making it bigger.
The gelding took three more steps. Levi twirled the loop overhead. The black looked up, and he tossed the lariat. The loop hit the gray’s ears, but he ducked his head. The black whirled and ran back toward his mares, whinnying as he went. The whole herd took off on the move as hundreds of hooves dug into and beat against the earth.
The gray threw his head away from the rope and galloped after the other horses. The noose fell to the ground.
He’d missed! Wallace’s gelding shied and almost left him in the dirt with his empty loop, but he grabbed onto Rose and quickly regained his balance.
Mercy how he loved touching her, but he shouldn’t. Why did she move him so? Why did she have to be married? If only she was free, he would –
“Oh, I’m so sorry, Levi. I don’t think it would do us any good to follow them in the dark, Do you?”
Her voice startled him and brought him out of his thoughts. “Yes, you’re right. Let’s head on back to camp.” He gathered the lariat.
She turned the gelding around. “You want to ride up front?”
“I’m fine. You?”
“Fine, too.”
He set his gaze on the starry night, and did his best to ignore the rhythm that caused her to move against him. “Ever study astronomy, Rose?”
His hands rested on her hips. His chest pressed into her back, and his broad shoulders overshadowed her being. God, she loved this man. It was so wrong, but she loved him, everything about him, his voice, his kindness, his generosity, his touch.
She loved his touch.
“What?”
“Astronomy, the stars, ever study the constellations?”
“No, never did. You talking about Taurus and Sagittarius and Gemini and the like?”
“Those are associated more with astrology, like fortune telling. Aunt Sue had brought a lot of books back from Tennessee. One was on astronomy. Some nig
hts, I’d see if I could find the ones I’d read about.”
She looked up at the darkened sky. “Can you really tell the difference? It seems like there are millions of twinkling diamonds up there. It’s so beautiful.”
“Actually, we can only see about fifteen hundred in a night, but it does seem like more.” He pointed to the right. “See that cloudy looking line with the stars in it?”
“I do.”
“That’s the Milky Way, the galaxy we are a part of. We’re looking from the inside of it. That’s why it always looks like a band.”
“Is that so?” She stared at the night sky thankful for the diversion, but when he had pointed…
“Did you know farmers are credited to be the first who studied the stars?”
She laughed. “No, I never heard that. You wouldn’t suspect –”
“They sure were. The stars helped them decide the best time to plant and harvest. Then the mariners used them to sail by at night.” He pointed at the dark sky. “See that one?”
“The bright one there?”
“Yes, ma’am. That’s the North Star. If you can see it, you can find your way anywhere at night.”
“Well, I never.”
Silence followed in which she once again became acutely aware of his nearness. She closed her eyes a moment and allowed herself to dream of a different life.
The gelding topped a little ridge, and the campfire’s golden light lit a small piece of the night. Something in her wanted to turn around, but to what end? Reality cared not one whit about her heart. Being married to her son’s father sealed her fate.
Charley ran out to meet her, or more likely, to meet his partner. “Where Captain Bay-lor’s Star Shooter?”
Levi jumped down and scooped up the boy. “He’s visiting the mustangs. We’ll get him tomorrow.”
Rose slipped off and held the horse’s reins. “You eat, Charley?”
“Yes, ma’am.” He glanced toward Wallace who stood halfway between her and the fire holding the gelding’s hobbles. “Sarge feed me; we partners, too.”