Ben turned to react, but Griffen already had the shocked and swearing slob in a bear hug shoulder grip forcing him away from the crowd packing the power of an angry pit bull.
“I thought you were asked politely to leave,” he growled, hauling him back to the parking area.
“You some-bitch, git yore hands off me!” he roared.
By this time, Griffen was flanked by Ben, William, Christopher, two other men I did not know, and Mr. Stanford. The music had stopped. Everyone’s mouth was agape at Griffen’s explosion and the resultant removal of the menace from the premises.
“Eddie, I believe it is time for you to go home,” Mr. Stanford said in his deep southern drawl. There was no mistaking the authority in his voice.
“Them college boys ain’t got nothin’ on me, Miles,” he said. “I’ll whoop ever one of ’em in a fair fite.”
“Not at my house, Eddie. Now, I’ll have Em drive you on home. You can apologize to these ladies tomorrow after you’ve sobered up,” he said.
“I’ll not be sent away!” he shouted. “’Specially not by those dudied up fancypanters. And you! You, Stanford, you’ll pay for this!”
Griffen moved like lightning to punch the man, but Ben was on it and caught his arm.
“Not here, Griffen, not now,” Ben growled. “Let it go…let him go.”
“Come on, you jes see if you cun whup me – I’ll whup you so bad you won’ be able to cry out fo yo own mamma!” he slurred.
I was not entirely sure Ben would be able to keep Griffen under control, but he managed. Griffen was in a rage, and I understood why. And so did William. I caught his eye, and he stepped in to calm him.
“Griffen, get a hold of yourself, son,” William said. “He ain’t worth it.”
None too soon, Em arrived, huge, powerful, sober, and calm, and he and Ben were able to get Mr. Drunk filthymouth spewing expletives in the car and off the property.
“Elliott, come with me,” Christopher said.
I let him guide me away, reluctantly.
The band struck up a lively tune to get everyone’s mind off the incident, but Griffen didn’t return. Since I knew …Eddie…was safely encased in Em’s car, I went looking for him. I found him still in the parking area – right where Em’s car had been parked.
“There you are, come on, let’s dance,” I said.
“I’m not ready to dance,” Griffen hissed, his face contorted with rage. Somehow the soft tone was far more menacing than I had expected, and I backed away from him, from that look, and turned to leave. Suddenly, his arm was on mine and I jumped.
“Elliott, I didn’t mean to scare you,” he said, his voice still strained. “Give me a minute.”
“He didn’t do anything, and he’s gone,” I said. “What are you…?”
“A minute, please,” he snapped, but with a little less venom.
His face made me nervous, so I started prattling uncontrollably. I didn’t like seeing him like this, but I didn’t want to leave, either. The band started to play something I liked.
“Oh – I like that song,” I said. “Lets go back and dance to that one.” They were playing I’ll Stop the World and Melt with You – and they had just played Walk this Way. We’ve got to go back. That will get his mind off this…mess.
“Keep talking,” he said. “Your chatter’s calming me.”
“Chatter?” I asked, agitated.
“It’s helping,” he said. “Ask me something random.”
“How ’bout, where is Panzer tonight? Is he in your horse trailer or did you put him in your room?” I asked.
“He’s in my room. I’m sure he’s wondering why I’m out so late,” he said.
“I bet he is not wondering. I bet he’s sleeping,” I said trying to come up with some more jabber.
The band started playing Sweet Child of Mine so it was my turn now to get him back to the lawn and pull him to me. He relaxed and leaned his chin on my head. Thank you Axl. I relaxed and tried to forget that face.
“He’s trying to warn you, child, you best be noticing these things!” Grand barked.
Oh no! She was not welcome here while he was holding me. Get back! Go away!
I shut her remarks to the back of my mind, definitely disturbed that she’d spoken while Griffen was holding me. That was just creepy. She’s right, though. Notice. Boy, had I noticed. I’ll think about this later, not now.
“Elliott, it’s late. We need to go,” he said in a much softer voice when the song was over. “We do have jobs to do tomorrow, and I have a long drive.”
We walked back to the truck and he stopped at the door. We were in the parking area very much alone. Although he had relaxed, his face was pained.
“Elliott, that idiot, the words he said to you and Ashley,” he said. “And then later…they brought back those feelings…and some really bad memories.”
“Yes, Griffen, I saw them on your face,” I said. “But you just thought them – you didn’t do anything he didn’t deserve. He was just drunk and needed to leave. You did the right thing.”
“Did I?” he said and leaned in to kiss me softly. He pushed the hair out of my face and drew his finger along my jaw and down my neck. I shivered, but not for the same reason this time.
“Get in.”
As he walked to the other side of the truck I leaned back and pondered my reaction to that kiss. I could still feel his lips and my neck burned where he had touched it. My left hand, as usual, was throbbing.
We rode home in silence. I thought back over the lovely evening and for a moment, remembered his face when I found him in the parking lot alone…and shuddered…again. I’m sure he’s just protective. That would be fine. But, what if it’s more than that? I’ll think about that later, not now. I may wake up an old Motherspeech, or worse, Grand again!
As we approached the Patterson’s house, he gently squeezed my hand one more time. We were at their door way too soon. I was so wishing this night could last forever. I turned to thank him, but before I could say anything, he tilted my chin and kissed me again – I bent my leg to brace my foot against the door frame to steady myself. It would not do to collapse…here…at least.
“I’ll pick you up at 6:00,” he smiled. “Goodnight.”
~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Chapter 15 - Departures
She waits for me in her stall, eager to start the day and hungry for her oats. Her low nicker, my revile. Brushing her while she eats, I wonder what creatures we will see today, and what challenges we will face. I smile to myself, lean in to her soft neck, and inhale her strong, clean, and warm scent.
Viva was brushed and ready – tack gleaming – and I could hardly wait to see Griffen.
My dreamless sleep was interrupted by the Patterson’s rooster at 5:00 am. Although I was stiff from dancing, the morning’s adventure had me jumping out of bed to dress and get Viva ready for today’s hunt. Grand’s, Mother’s, and even Ben’s admonitions about my enthusiasm for this unknown had been successfully packed into the far reaches of my mind, so I woke having had plenty of rest.
The tradition of a two-day opening meet weekend continued, and today we were hunting a very different fixture from Stanford Hall’s open fields. This land was behind the Mississippi River’s levee, which runs all the way from Vicksburg, Mississippi to Memphis, Tennessee. The woods were deep and wild and thick this time of year with vegetation.
Wildlife abounded in these woods, so I knew Viva and I would get to see a lot of creatures. Highway hazards were not the biggest threat here. Our challenge today would be to keep up and ensure they were on correct game. The biggest threat would be getting lost, for radios did not work well in the deep woods. I kept two compasses on me all the time, just in case, especially when hunting unfamiliar territory. There was a lot of country between the Levee and the River, and I was really looking forward to the adventure.
I heard Griffen’s truck as he pulled into the Patterson’s barn. Viva felt my anticipation and pranced beside me as I led her
to his trailer. She pulled a little harder than usual on her lead rope, and I had to brace myself to contain her. I stopped her so she would settle down and gave her a carrot.
“Good morning, my beauties,” he smiled and kissed me on the cheek. Panzer nuzzled my hand for a pat. “Are you ready for some real adventure?”
He took Viva’s lead rope from me and she walked like a perfect lady beside him…no attempted surge or any other antic when he held her. I noticed and wondered how he did that. She did not even attempt to test him.
“You know I am!” I said. “I love hunting in the woods. There’s no telling what we’ll see today.”
After getting Viva settled next to Jet and returning Panzer to the tack room, Griffen walked me to my side of his truck. He leaned down and kissed me – a wonderful, soft, brush on my lips – he smelled so good, felt so near, was so here after all this time…thoughts of just how late we could be and still be on time started flitting around in my brain.
“Wonder if William would mind us being a little late?” he smiled. His eyes drinking in my reaction to this idea.
My knees were starting to falter, again, so I leaned my head back and closed my eyes. “Let’s go,” I said weakly.
He bent down and kissed my throat, “If you insist,” he said. “I don’t know much help I’ll be today, though. May as well just stay here.”
With all the willpower I could muster, I pushed him playfully aside. “Get back, you beast!” I said. “William needs us to be on today. I’m not sure how much staff will show up after last night’s frolic.”
He relinquished his spell and helped me get in. Then he left me to get into his side of the truck. Once he got in, his phone buzzed. Griffen’s face was serious, but amused.
“You were right,” he said. “Two whipppers-in down. William’s going to be short-staffed today, so we won’t be riding together. We can take someone with us, but he wants us both to cover the far southern end of the property. You’ll be southwest on the River side and I will be southeast near the Levee.”
“That’ll work. Maybe you will not be so distracted if I’m miles away,” I said as I reached over and nuzzled next to his strong arm.
“Maybe we can meet in the middle,” he grinned as he brought my left hand scar to his lips. “Just be sure to stay out of trouble.”
Oh heavenly morning, what a way to start a day! “Wouldn’t you love an excuse to come rescue me again?” I beamed up at him through my lashes and blinked.
He stiffened, “do that again and we will not make the hunt,” he growled, playfully of course. “Now, stop looking at me like that and tell me about this fixture. Are there hogs?”
“I’ve never seen any, but there is plenty of sign. There’s also supposed to be some bears and an occasional panther. The main hazard here is that there are so many deer, possums, raccoons, and skunks.
Most of the time we chase coyotes, although there are plenty of bobcats,” I said. “William will probably bring the hounds that are strongest on coyote to keep them off the other distractions.”
“What about the country?” he asked.
“The southern and northern boundaries are the club’s boundaries, and they are wide gravel roads. All the other east-west roads are trails with no gravel. The landowners are giving us a special exception to hunt today. We have the place from 10:00 until 2:00, but the surrounding clubs will very likely be deer hunting all day, so we need to stay on our land,” I said.
“Obstacles?” he asked.
“There are some pretty deep sloughs, but most of them are easily crossed on a horse. A few lowland areas are impassable, but they will be for game, too. The woods are pretty open, but there are lots of armadillo holes, so you can’t travel too quickly through them. The trails are excellent and wide enough for galloping,” I said.
“Oh, and one more thing. Radios don’t work very well, so we’ll have to stay close to the pack to hear what’s happening – we’ll be hunting the old fashioned way,” I grinned.
“That sounds all well-and-good, but they didn’t have coyotes when they had to hunt that way,” Griffen said. “This could be a very dicey day.”
“Cell phone coverage is spotty, but you can text. I usually keep mine on me just in case,” I said.
As we neared the fixture, we saw a good many trailers already on site. There were also a lot of four-wheelers – landowners and their friends, I’m sure – that were gathered around the hound trailer.
“That will be another level of difficulty for William,” Griffen said. “Not exactly what he needs today. Noisy machines zooming around making it hard to hear.”
“Well, maybe they will stay out of the way. They’re hunters, too, you know, so maybe they can actually help,” I said hopefully.
“I doubt it,” he said.
Griffen unloaded Jet and Viva and tied them to the trailer. Panzer patrolled the new area and took in all the smells. A child on a four-wheeler zoomed by us, and the horses reared but were caught short by their ties and pulled back in panic.
“Jet, Viva, easy, settle,” he said gently, but his eyes were blazing with fury. They calmed at his voice, but his sudden anger at the errant wheeler was not lost on me. “I hate those things. And the people who rev them up in the woods…!” he said leaving his expletives dangling.
“That was just a kid,” I said. “No need to think everyone is going to act that way once we get started.”
“I hope not, or we’ll be in for some real frustration,” he said.
We mounted the horses and moved towards William. He handed me a radio, for he kept all the hunt radios together to ensure they were charged and ready. Griffen had his own.
“Radio check, Griffen,” William said.
“10-4 sir,” he said.
My radio was not responding.
“Radio check, Elliott,” I heard on Griffen’s radio.
“William, Elliott’s isn’t working. Do you have another one?” he asked.
“No, I’ve only got that one left,” William said. “And it’s never been right since she took it swimming. The landowners have all the extras.”
“I’ll go see if I brought my extra one,” Griffen said, his lips a hard line.
We rode back to the trailer and saw that the tack room door was open. Panzer was inside on his blanket, but someone had obviously paid him a visit – and left abruptly.
“Who the …?” Griffen growled an obscenity and leapt from Jet to inspect his trailer.
Someone had to have opened the door of his tack room, but he could find nothing gone – thanks to Panzer, I am sure. There was no other radio, so he gave me his.
“Griffen, I’ll be fine…I have my cell phone…” I said.
“Take it – don’t argue,” he said, his scowl betraying his mood as he lifted himself into his saddle.
“But you don’t know the country,” I said.
“We do not have time to discuss this,” he said. “Just take it and stop arguing.” He spun on Jet and returned to William and the pack.
He was maddeningly authoritative, but I bit back my comments since we were now in front of the rest of the hunt. I smiled politely at the other members, nodded to Ben, and took my place behind William on the left side – Griffen on the right. Lydia and Stephen were at the head of the pack in their respective corners, and we framed the hounds as William moved them into position for announcements.
I looked over at the field and saw my friend, Addison Falls, next to Ben. That was a nice surprise – she’d not been able to ride yesterday due to a wedding function command performance, and I was glad to see her. Her big black Quarter Horse, Harley, stood patiently while we waited on William. Her horses were always so well mannered.
William thanked the landowners for letting us hunt their land during deer season. He encouraged anyone willing to follow to do so, but requested that they remain behind the four-wheeler field master, the club’s caretaker, to ensure that we would be able to provide them with the best sport. Away from Gr
iffen, the air was festive, for many of these hunters had never seen a mounted foxhunt. We were dressed in formal attire today, too, for a change, in honor of them letting us hunt this time of year.
Since I had started foxhunting, I had learned that deer season in Mississippi is hands-down the most widely renowned sport for all walks of life. For these landowners to allow us to hunt coyotes on their property this time of year was a real treat. They had plenty of game and were happy for us to stir up their woods during midday, for their members all hunted in the morning and evening. They hoped that by us kicking around in their woods during the middle of the day, more deer would move around in the afternoon for them. It did not hurt, either, that three of the landowners fox hunted with us on occasion.
William sent Griffen and me on to our southern positions to find places to watch and listen. The horses were keyed up, and as we trotted past the field, one of the riders on a way-too-much but beautiful horse lost control. The horse spun across the trail and lashed out with both back legs. His shod hooves laid Jet open across the flank. The poor rider screeched in horror and apologized profusely while trying to contain her fractious mount.
“I’m sorry!” she wailed. “Oh I hate that, I am so so sorry!”
“Take him to the rear of the field Mrs. Harrison, Christopher will help you,” Ben said.
Griffen said nothing, but his eyes could have melted steel. As soon as he was out of sight of the melee, he dismounted and examined Jet’s flank.
“Griffen, is he ok?” I asked.
“Just go to your position, Elliott, Jet’s fine,” he said through clenched teeth.
We left them, but I didn’t like the way he was reacting. Overreacting, actually, but whatever. I needed to get into position.
As Viva and I moved into the bottomland, I forgot my frustration with Griffen and let the tall, beautiful trees embrace me. We soon came upon a long field planted in winter wheat, due south of where William was casting the hounds. Perfect.
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