Heart of Texas

by Kirk Haggerty

  “Dad, maybe Daniel doesn’t want to talk about politics,” insisted Karen.

  I raised my hand to signal to her. “It’s all right, I’ll answer it.” I wiped my mouth with a napkin and faced Mr. Owens. “I think the country is doing better than it was four years ago. We’re getting out of the worst economic recession in over eighty years; the economy is recovering and we’re getting out of two long wars. The president is working hard to reform the social background for all citizens such as universal health care, investing in clean energy and making millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share of taxes like the rest of us.”

  “That all sounds very nice in Boston, son, but down here we see things differently,” explained Owens. “Most folk here see the president as a poor leader, who’s endangering the public debt and cutting back too hard on security, and he focuses too much on issues that I see as immoral and un-American, such as gay marriage.”

  I could see where this was leading too. I had to think fast to turn this discussion from digressing into some slugfest about moral downgrade or decadence. “Obama is not an anti-Christ, sir. He wants to see all Americans equal under the law. He even said himself that we are under obligation in public life to translate our religious values into moral terms that all people can share. I don’t think the country is slipping down a slope of chaos, however, it could very well be that the GOP’s shift to a far right policy in the past few years has damaged the party and allowed Obama to win.”

  “That might be,” said Owens, “The problem in general is that both parties have shifted too far in opposite directions. Nobody wants to work together or compromise anymore. Perhaps I think too much about my childhood in the 60’s when things were better because of hard work and neighborly co-operation. I’ll at least admit to you, son that Mr. Bush was a man who led, but didn’t think. Obama is a man who thinks, but doesn’t lead.”

  “I can’t answer that, sir. We just have to see how things work out in the course of time.”

  Karen rose from the table. “Dad, if it’s all right with you, I’d like to take a walk with Daniel around the ranch. All this talk about politics is getting us nowhere.”

  “I wouldn’t say it’s getting us nowhere, Karen,” said Owens.

  Mrs. Owens spoke, “I hope you don’t feel offended in any way, Daniel.”

  “Of course not, ma’am. My family discusses politics all the time.”

  “It’s just that we don’t get too many visitors form the East Coast, you know what I mean?”

  “I do, Mrs. Owens. It’s no problem at all.” I rose from the table.

  Karen asked, “Can I borrow two horses, dad?”

  “Certainly.”

  “Thank you Mrs. Owens for that wonderful dinner.”

  “You’re welcome, Daniel. It was my pleasure. I haven’t had lobster in a long time.”

  Mr. Owens objected. “Now, dear, don’t forget our vacation one time in Galveston. We ate lobster if I recall right.”

  “That was ten years ago, my dear.”

  We left the ranch house and went into the stall where lines of horses were feeding on fresh hay. Karen opened a sliding door and took out a beautiful brown horse.

  “What do you think, isn’t she a pretty one?”

  “I thought you had allergies.”

  “I do, but I took enough sprays to keep me wired half the night. Here take her outside, I’ll get the other horse.”

  I led the animal outside where I saw a rack with saddles. I would have done it myself but what did I know about horses? Karen came out with a grey horse and tied both to a post.

  “Give me a hand, will ya?” I helped her saddle the horses. It was very first time of doing so.

  “You do know how to get up on a horse and ride one?”

  “And if I say no?”

  She smiled and said, “Then I’ll just have to teach you.”

  I didn’t want to turn this into a comedy, so I did my best to put my foot into the stirrup and hauled myself onto the saddle. It wasn’t so bad. I just had to be careful not to piss off the beast.

  “I did do some riding in some of the summer camps I went to while growing up.”

  “You said it was kickboxing.”

  “It was a bit everything.” I pulled the reins a bit to guide the horse closer to Karen. “So, you lead and I’ll follow. But please don’t gallop away from me.”

  “Don’t worry, I won’t.” With that she guided her horse toward the main gate of the ranch and we moseyed up the same hill where I had my shooting accident. We rode beyond the hill for a few minutes and headed toward a crag of rock outcroppings. As we got closer we heard Kenny’s truck approach us from a dirt road. He parked near us at the base of the rocks.

  “Kenny, what do you want?” Karen asked, looking irritated.

  “Dad said there’s a stray foal that wandered off in this direction and I think it went into those rocks for protection.”

  “A foal is a baby horse?” I asked.

  Karen nodded. “Yes, but I tend to think that Kenny was sent here just to chaperone us.”

  Kenny got out of the truck with the motor running. He looked at the rocks and said, “You guys are can do anything you want. I’m not interfering. I swear I saw the foal go in here – through this narrow gap. I’ll get her back, then I’ll leave you lovebirds alone.”

  “We are not lovebirds,” insisted Karen. Kenny ignored her statement and disappeared through the rocky gap.

  We moved the horses to a higher area, where we had a great view of the woodlands, prairies and hills, with the sun low on the horizon. Karen dismounted and tied her horse to a low branch of a tree. I got off too and did the same. She stood there admiring the scenery. I came close to her from behind, near her shoulder.

  “I hope you weren’t offended by Kenny’s statement and all?” I said.

  “No, he can be a little immature.”

  “Funny that you’re twins and I find you very mature. I don’t think I’ve met anybody quite like you before, Karen. And you know what?”

  She turned. It looked as if her eyes were trying to gauge me. “What?”

  “I like what I see.” I placed my hand on her shoulder and came closer.

  I thought this would be the clincher, but she turned away from me and gazed again at the horizon. “Do you like being here in Texas, Daniel?”

  What sort of a question was that? Did she know something that I didn’t know?

  “Sure,” I said, as honestly as I could.

  “I know you like me, Daniel. I never did explain why I danced with you that night when you showed up. Willi used to work as a ranch hand for us. He was in love with me and he proposed. I said yes. How could a woman resist a strong, hard-working man? But he didn’t treat me like a woman. He used me."

  I nodded and said nothing as she stopped to think about her next words. She turned and gazed for a moment at the scenery before us – as mysterious as a woman’s mind.

  “When he drank too much and wanted to sleep with me, all he did was romp all over me with his heavy body. He was so painful. I hope you understand what I mean. It’s something I don’t even tell my folks about. Willi never considered how I felt. It was only about sex and possession, nothing else. He always got what he wanted, then collapsed and fell asleep snoring."

  Did that ever happen to me and Debbie? I forgot who snored the loudest. Pay attention, Daniel.

  “What a wonderful relationship that turned out to be,” she said sarcastically. “Nobody understood why I broke off the engagement. It doesn’t matter now. Willi’s been a bitter man ever since, as you saw at the club.”

  “I’m sorry, Karen.”

  “That’s why I ask you, Daniel. Do you like it here? I can’t imagine any other place to live but this place. So far I see you as a visitor. You couldn’t possibly want to stay here, a sophisticated East-Coaster like you. Never.”

  I didn’t know what to say anymore. She got me on that one.

  “That’s why I think there
must be some other motivation you have for opening the business. I’m being honest with you. I hope you’re being honest with me.”

  I nodded. “I want to be honest with you too. OK, let me put my cards on the table …”

  Kenny’s voice called out from the rocks. “Karen, I need you. The foal is stuck and I can’t pull him out. I’m stuck too on the rocks.” She rolled her eyes and headed down the incline to the boulders. I might have been saved by the bell at the moment, but I couldn’t hide the truth from Karen forever. I turned my face to the majestic view of the wildlife of the Cross Timbers and tried my best to determine if this could be a place I could be happy living with Karen? After all, there was no Boston Harbor, no Red Sox, no Celtics, no lobster restaurants or bar jokes to tell. I turned once again, Karen approached the opening of the crag of rocks and reached for a holding.

  My thoughts were interrupted by a blood-curdling scream – from Karen.

  “Help! Rattlesnake!”

  I high tailed it to the rock opening and saw the biggest snake I’ve ever seen outside the zoo, biting Karen’s right arm while rattling the end of its tail loudly. She turned and continued screaming blue murder – the serpent released its gaping jaws from her bleeding arm and fell to the ground. Out of instinct I kicked the thing in the head with my boot and it flew a few feet away from us. It was an adult diamond back rattlesnake.

  “Kenny, help me! Daniel!” She was now in full panic. “They’re poisonous!”

  I held Karen in my arms, trying my best to keep her calm. “Kenny, come quick!” I yelled.

  “I can’t,” he yelled back, deep from somewhere in the rocky crevice. “I’m stuck too. The foal is blocking my way. Daniel, take the truck. Don’t worry about me. I have a phone. Get Karen to the hospital!”

  Panic began to flow through my veins. I saw the rattlesnake creep into the grass, still rattling away. I picked up Karen in my arms and laid her on the passenger seat of Kenny’s truck. Karen whimpered, “Oh, God, no, it can’t be. Help me!” I took off my shirt and wrapped it around the bleeding wound on her arm, then drove the truck down the hill and onto the dirt road, back to Hamilton.

  Karen was hyperventilating by now. “Daniel hurry. The poison, I’m going to black out. I feel it.”

  “Don’t panic. We’re on our way.”

  It was hard to drive as she continued to twist and turn, like a child who wanted to wake up from a nightmare, but couldn’t. “Oh, God, Daniel, I can feel it. It hurts, it hurts. I don’t know what to do!”

  I used my free arm in my best attempt to hold her down and stop her rolling back and forth. “Calm down, take deep breaths.”

  “I feel sick, I feel sick, oh God, I don’t know what to do. Help me, Daniel. It hurts.”

  “We’re on our way to the hospital. Hang in there.”

  She rested her head on my shoulder and cried, “Oh, Daniel, I’m sorry. I feel terrible, please help me.”

  “If Kenny is smart, he’ll call your folks and call 911. How far is the hospital?”

  With her other arm, Karen pointed to the GPS device mounted on the dashboard. “It’s still programmed … when we took you. Hurry please.” She pushed some buttons with shaky fingers and found the location. The automated voice began giving me instructions.

  “I’m not doing well … I’m not feeling….” She blacked out on my shoulder. I held her with my free arm.

  “You’re going to get through this, Karen. Don’t black out. Don’t leave me. You hear me?”

  It took almost half an hour to get from the ranch to the Hamilton Hospital. I pulled up in front of the emergency doors and carried her limp body inside.

  “Help, help. She’s been bitten by a rattlesnake. Help me!”

  The hospital staff appeared already prepared for our arrival. They took Karen out of my arms. They laid her in a gurney and wrapped a breathing mask around her face and injected an IV into her arm. Her injured arm was red and very swollen.

  The attending physician approached the other nurses and examined the bite on her arm. “I need at least four vials of Crotaline antivenin now.”

  Another nurse began to give readings to the doctor. “Temperature 98.6, pressure 130/70, heart rate 120, respiratory 20 per minute.”

  They wheeled Karen into another room. I wanted to follow but a larger, black male attendant blocked my way and refused to allow me to pass.

  “Karen,” I whispered.

  Chapter Nine

  The Owens family and I waited in the side room at the hospital for about an hour. Mrs. Owens was the first to arrive and I sat next to her to talk. Mr. Owens showed up later, with Kenny, after freeing him and the horse from the rocky crag.

  A middle-aged doctor came to us. “Mr. and Mrs. Owens?”

  Everyone rose from their seats.

  “Your daughter is recovering from the snake bite. She had an allergic reaction with wheezing when we first administered the anti-venom, so we stopped to give her antihistamines and prednisone until the reaction abated. We’ve restarted the anti-venom treatment at a slower rate and her condition has stabilized. We want to keep her here for at least twenty-four hours. She’s tired, but you can see her for a short while, then we’ll take her upstairs.”

  “Thank you, doctor,” said Mr. Owens.

  We were led into the treatment room where Karen was lying on a hospital bed, looking a little white in color. Her right arm was bandaged up and an IV drip tube going into her other arm. She smiled when she saw her family and everyone greeted her. She was tired, but it was also getting late. I was the last to leave the room when I came closer to her.

  “You’re going to be fine.”

  “I know. Thanks for saving me.”

  “Oh, come on. Snakebites are hardly fatal.”

  “This one could have been. Doctor said the bastard pumped a lot of venom when it bit me. Kenny has sworn revenge and wants to hunt it down tomorrow.”

  I smiled. “I’ll tell the crew at the store that you’ll need a few days off. I’ll manage things from my side.”

  “Thanks.”

  I reached over to hold her hand, she took it and squeezed a little. I took that as a good sign.

  “I’ll come by tomorrow to see how you’re doing. You get some sleep.”

  Kenny allowed me to keep his truck for the evening, since mine was still at the ranch. When I returned the next morning to the Owens house to exchange our vehicles, Kenny came out of the house and waved me over to meet him.

  “Come, we’ll do this together,” he said.

  “What?”

  He pulled out a video camera and handed it to me. “I’ll do the catchin’ and you record it.”

  “Huh?”

  “The snake, man. I know how to do this.”

  “I wanted to exchange trucks so I can go to work. I got a store to manage.”

  He shook his head. “Managers don’t go by the time clock. You can come in anytime you want.”

  Something told me that if I wanted to win his respect, and ultimately Karen’s, I would have to do this. I sighed and followed him. He placed a gas container and a few tools in the back of his truck. Then we headed back to the scene of the crime.

  At the rock outcropping, Kenny went over and began to dowse the opening of the rock wall with gasoline.

  “What are you doing?” I asked.

  “This is the snake den. If you pour gas around it, the fumes will intoxicate the snake and it will come out confused.”

  I pulled out the video camera and began filming. A minute or so later, we saw the culprit slither out.

  “Move over to the side,” Kenny ordered. I didn’t argue with that. I didn’t want to tangle with this thing, not after what Karen told me about it.

  Kenny pulled out a pipe with a lasso at one end. He crept behind the snake and got closer. I aimed the camera and filmed. Kenny moved the lasso around the snake’s head and pulled the rope tight. The diamondback was now caught. It tried to wiggle free, but Kenny came up and stomped his cowboy boot on
top of the snake’s head. Then he pulled out a knife.

  “Now you just cut its head off,” he said. With a few fine strokes back and forth, he decapitated the creature. “It’s that easy.” He smiled.

  I focused the camera closer to the head of the snake, before Kenny kicked it into the nearby brush. He picked up the long, lifeless body and went to the truck bed.

  “What are you going to do with it?” I asked.

  He turned and laughed. “Daniel, you’re goin’ to learn how to cook a snake.”

  We returned to the house and went out to a side veranda that had a work bench. Kenny showed me how to skin and gut the snake, and cut it up in little bite-size pieces. He took the meat into the kitchen and pulled out some utensils. He already had a recipe in mind. We dipped the meat in bread crumbs and placed it in a frying pan where it spattered in the hot oil. When that was done, we added French fries to the pan and cooked that up too. Kenny took the pan to the dining room table as I took out three dishes – since Mr. Owens had come in and was enthusiastic about having some snake as well.

  We sat down and dug in. I took a bite of the thing that bit Karen yesterday.

  “They say it tastes like chicken,” said Kenny. He watched me chew and swallow my first morsel. “And, how does it taste?”

  I smiled and said, “Like a snake.” Kenny and his father laughed.

  We returned to the hospital together later that afternoon. I bought a bouquet of flowers and a teddy bear for her, which blew her away. Karen looked much healthier but the color in her face still was pale. The doctor decided to continue with one more vial of anti-venom and see how she would respond the next day. I promised I would visit again tomorrow. She looked happy about that.

  As I hopped in my Dakota to go back to the book shop I got a call. The number was Mr. Bronsworth.

  “Good day, sir. How’s things Boston?”

  “Fine, thanks, Daniel. How’s the book shop?”

  “Good, but my assistant manager suffered a snake bite yestihday and I need to get back.”

  “Get another worker to look after things because I need you to go somewhere for a couple days.”