The Sage After Rain A love story

by Jaclyn Hawkes

  He was a little skeptical and asked, "How often do you see them?"

  "Every week or two."

  He couldn’t wait that long. "I was hoping to figure this out sooner than that. I'm not even sure where to head tomorrow."

  "Where are you starting from? And where is it you need to end up?"

  He pointed to a spot in the map. "From here to somehow eventually end up clear over here. The end destination is actually about four more maps this size in that general direction." He pointed. "But for right now, I just need to know how to get past this jumble." He pointed back to where he had started.

  She stood up and leaned into the map again to study it. "There's a way through right here, but I'm not sure where the bridge is exactly. Joseph just said to get the sheep to this point, and they'll know where they're going. There are some old ewes in there that are incredibly seasoned. And then you can get through right here, and back around this way. There are bridges there somewhere. And then this way and then you have to go west right here. There's nothing right up through this way. He said you go along and then out of nowhere there's an impassable big wash. So when you plan either plan to go right down the wash or avoid it. Those are the only ways I'm aware of and honestly I've never been down there myself at all. I'm sorry I can't help more, but I will be taking my sheep through this whole area in the next while. You could follow them once they go through. Other than that, you'll have to ask someone who knows this area better."

  She sat back down and he folded up the map and sat down on a nearby boulder. "How soon will you be taking them right where I was pointing?"

  "Tomorrow or the day after."

  He looked at the map again, trying to focus on it to figure out how long it would take him to get from place to place. The terrain had gotten rough enough that he probably wouldn't get around any sooner than she would. He looked up at her. "The men who were hassling you day before yesterday are supposed to be out here with me everyday, but they usually just hang around in the motel lounge and party. They didn't get close enough to see you, and the other guy and I tried to tell them to leave you alone, but it would be a bad thing if any of the three got very close to you. If they do decide to work, which is seriously doubtful, then I shouldn't follow you anywhere close, but if not then I'll try to get here by the time you take the sheep through or as near then as possible so that I can find the way. In the off chance that they see you, don't take chances. They aren't very . . . They're not . . . Uh . . . Just don't take chances with them. They are far from trustworthy. I'll just leave it at that."

  "I figured that, although Zeus would take them apart. Still, I'd hate to actually have to shoot someone. How long is this project supposed to take?"

  "It's supposed to be wrapped up in less than a month, but we're way behind schedule. I'm not even supposed to be out here at all. I'm the computer geek office guy who's supposed to be working back in Steamboat Springs, but when they stopped gathering data I came out to see what was going on and found them doing nothing." She looked over at him and glanced at him up and down before looking back at the map as he continued, "I've been trying to gather the data and then run it at night, but even working out here dark to dark I'm falling further and further behind."

  "Where's your boss?"

  "My incredibly industrious and professional boss is the jerk who was following you Tuesday. He thinks that what happens in the desert, stays in the desert. I have no idea what he's thinking about letting this all go, but I have nearly six months of my life invested, and I'd really like to get paid for it somehow."

  "Do you think you're not going to get paid?"

  "Honestly, I'm going to guess that Hyatt has already been paid for what I've done, but I have yet to see any of it. That's probably what's financing their parties. I'm supposed to get paid all at once when I'm done, but the deadline is breathing down my neck. If I don't meet it, the whole contract is off."

  "Can you bypass your boss and renegotiate?"

  "I hadn't thought about renegotiating. I was just worried that they'd completely yank the contract if they found out how far off schedule things are."

  "They'll find out sooner or later. And somebody is expecting that their work is being done. They might be more open to working with you if you're honest with them. If you truly don’t think it's going to fall into place, you’d be better off trying to salvage as much as you can."

  He ran a hand through his hair. "You may be right. Anything would be better than nothing."

  "The worst thing that could happen is they'll tell you no. That won't be any different than the status quo, so you have nothing to lose and possibly a lot to gain."

  He looked up at her. "What do you mean? That I'll get paid for what I've done?"

  "I mean that typically the guy who owns the contract makes far more than the people he hires to fill the contract. If your boss has violated the contract and it’s now void, you may be able to pick it back up and you make the profit he would have made, plus all the money for the work you've done."

  He looked at her wondering how what she had just said fit in with being a nomadic sheepherder. If she was that savvy about business, what was she doing out here? The more he found out about her, the more of an enigma she became. He glanced around at her camp. "Tell me. How does a sheepherder in the desert come up with something like that?"

  She shrugged. "Maybe I have too much time to think out here."

  He wondered out loud, "Does it ever get lonely?"

  "Sometimes. It didn't for a long time. Usually there's just a peace that settles into your very bones."

  He got up off the rock. "And I interrupted it. I'm sorry, I'll go. Thank you for your help."

  In a mellow tone, she said, “Its okay. We were just winding down for the night anyway."

  He looked up at the garbage can contraption as he went to leave. "What is it?"

  "Isn't it obvious that that is a neato, high-tech shower?" She gave him a smile that made her face even prettier. "That's my only concessions to not being able to live without modern conveniences. I had to have a shower. It's not fancy, but it's heavenly after a day in the desert."

  "I imagine it's a monster to fill with water."

  She shrugged. "It's not too bad really. It's filled with a small ram-jet pump from the stream."

  He turned back to look at her again. What kind of woman knew what a ram-jet pump was? One he wanted to get to know better. He came right out and asked her, "If I visit you again sometime, are you going to pull a shotgun on me again?"

  "Probably, but I'll put it down again when I figure out who it is. I'm wondering, if you find whatever it is that you're looking for with your project, will they drill for oil here?"

  He used her same word. "Probably, but all I know much about is the geophysics of the process. I just tell them what I think is under the ground and they take it from there. See you around." After taking a few steps, he turned back around. "Hey, can I ask you one more thing? Do you know who Louis L'Amour is?"

  "I'm a sheepherder. Of course I know who Louis L'Amour is."

  As he walked back to the motel, he thought back over their conversation. Something didn't add up here. She was articulate and polished and business savvy. And she didn't have the slightest bit of an accent the way the rest of the Indians around here did. And a ram-jet pump? She had just gone from interesting to intriguing to flat out fascinating. He hoped he did see her as he found his way through.

  Chapter 9

  He did, in a manner of speaking. She actually saved his bacon. After talking to her that night, he had gone back to his room and pulled the whole area up on Google Earth, and she was right. In the area that from the map looked the most promising, there was a huge wash that would be impassable with the heavy packs of gear without a bridge. He looked at the other area that was more convoluted and was able to actually see what had to be another sheep bridge from the satellite images. What she had told him checked out so far and that coupled with his gut feeling that she was hones
t made him comfortable to go ahead and plan out his next few day’s routes from their conversation.

  Hyatt and the others were partying more than ever, so he was surprised again when on the third day after talking to her, they all showed up to meet the helicopter in the morning. They looked pretty trashed, but he certainly wasn't going to complain. He couldn't figure out what it was that made them all the sudden decide to work again, but he was okay with it big time. They were a pain in the hind end to work with, and he didn't want them anywhere near his sheepherder, but the fact that they were helping even a little gave his hope for the project a lift.

  Everything went relatively well until just after lunch. They'd been in pairs again in the morning and then Wayne had wanted to go back to the others just a few hundred yards away to eat. Matt saw them break out a six pack of beer and he wondered if the afternoon was going to be as productive as the morning had been. He ate his own squashed peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and tried not to hear any more of their conversation than he had to. He got the impression that their sudden need to buckle down was due to the fact that they had been spending an inordinate amount of money on the local "ladies" and the illegal substances which they had so graciously supplied to them. They had decided they needed to get more serious about party funds.

  They went through a six pack of cans and then Hyatt actually took out a long neck bottle. At this point Matt decided he was out of there and got up and began to gather up the gear to get back at it.

  As he went to head out, he turned to them and said, "Just up ahead we need to veer right and head into that series of canyons and washes. There's a sheep trail that should be relatively plain. I'll see you around."

  Hyatt jumped right up with his face red. "Now just a minute here, boy! I know I ain’t been all that industrious of late, but I'm still in charge a this deal. I've let you call all the shots this morning, but ain't no way I'm letting you lead us on a wild goose chase through a maze of cliffs when we can set off right across the flat in the direction we need to go. We're going right straight across there to the left."

  Matt had to remind himself to be patient and he wondered, not for the first time, how Hyatt had ever gotten far enough to be in a position of authority. "Hyatt, there's a huge wash out there that's impassable." He nodded at the broken country to the right. "It's longer, and it’s going to be a pain to run lines and shoot, but it's the only way to get through."

  Hyatt came rushing over to him, his face flushed from the alcohol and huffing like a mad bull. His voice rose about eighty decibels when he yelled, "I told you boy, you ain't telling me what I'm doing here. You understand me?" The other two had gotten up and come over grumbling under their breath and Hyatt turned to the others. "We're about sick and tired of old pretty boy goody two shoes, ain't we boys? Too good to live with us, or even eat with us, but now he wants to order us around, even when I'm the boss. I have half a mind to teach him a lesson or two right here and now!"

  Until Hyatt smashed the bottom of his beer bottle against a rock, Matt had just thought he was blowing off steam from too much alcohol, but when Hyatt began to brandish the jagged bottle and then the other two grabbed Matt from behind, he began to realize that this could be serious. He struggled against the two who had both of his arms, watching Hyatt advance toward him with the broken bottle like a weapon. Hyatt was obviously not thinking too clearly, but that wouldn't matter a bit if he was able to do what it appeared he intended with the beer bottle in his hand.

  Just as Matt was preparing to kick Hyatt just as hard as he could, restrained the way he was by the others, there was the sharp crack of a rifle and the bottle in Hyatt's hand exploded like a grenade. Hyatt screamed and pulled his hand into his body as the other two let go of Matt and ducked for cover. There were two more shots, right in a row and the Nalgene bottle sitting on a boulder beside one of their packs was blown to bits just before one of their beer cans sitting next to it went skittering off into the rocks with a tinny clink.

  It took less than a second for Matt to figure out that she was hidden in the rocks at the mouth of the wash ahead. She probably hadn't saved just his bacon, she'd saved his whole dang pig, and he owed her big for it. He straightened his pack, picked up the coil of cable he'd had looped over his shoulder and headed for the wash without looking back. They could hike all over tarnation carrying their loads if they wanted to; he was getting out while the getting was good!

  She was gone by the time he reached the mouth of the wash. He could see her ahead on the flashy horse and he saw where she'd left the three empty cartridges lined up on a rock almost as a warning. Grateful she'd been able to get away without any of them seeing her up close, he decided he'd have to find a way to repay her for this one.

  The trail was easy to follow and he crossed two more sheep bridges that afternoon, before calling for the helicopter to pick him up at a little before dusk. He'd become relatively good friends with the pilot, Mac, through this project and when Matt asked about the others he had to grin when the pilot said, "I picked 'em up hours ago right smack dab out in the middle of that flat." He indicated the sage plain below them. "They were stranded high and dry by a big wash that cuts that thing right in two. And mad! They were mad as all get out! Picking at each other like you can't imagine. They'll probably kill each other tonight. You'll want to move right out, when you get back to the motel."

  "Actually, I moved into my own room more than a week ago. They have some local ladies," He made a gesture to indicate quotation marks. "Who were making it uncomfortable to stay with them."

  "I wondered how you were able to deal with them this far. I'd have wanted to murder them months ago."

  "A lot of things have crossed my mind, but I hadn't gotten quite as far as murder. Although after today, maybe I should consider it."

  Mac let go of one side of the controls to wave a hand. "Aah. They're not worth going to prison for. Their kind self destruct. Give 'em time and they'll take themselves out of your hair one way or another."

  As they flew, Matt had been watching to see where she had moved her trailer. It was gone from near the motel, but was still relatively close to the highway, across another wide expanse of rocky sage flat. He wondered how she had been able to move it in that rough country. He could see her below, the stark blanket of her horse's rump standing out against its dark body as she rode among the sheep. The sheep dogs were bunching them again down the valley a ways from her camp, but the huge white one was like her horse's shadow. As threatening as Zeus had been toward him, it was still reassuring that she had protection like that.

  A line had been crossed that day Matt wasn't sure what to do about. Working and living with slobs had been one thing, working or living with three men who were willing to do him physical injury was another. He decided to retrieve his own hand gun from under the seat of his Jeep and keep it in his pack for the foreseeable future.

  To this point, he'd hoped they'd get back on track as far as helping, but after today, he decided they were more trouble than they were worth, and he was glad they were too busy in the lounge to hassle him as he went up the stairs to his room to shower and change. Rather than dealing with them and their women, he got into the jeep and drove the ten or so miles into the little town of LaHonda and ate in the Mexican diner there.

  On a whim, he ordered a dinner of smothered enchiladas to go and on the way back pulled off the highway at the closest spot to her trailer. In his jeep, he could actually drive right up to her camp and he realized he was following the tracks that must have been how she got the trailer there in the first place.

  When he got to her camp, at first he thought she wasn't around yet even though it was getting late, but then he noticed her saddle was sitting under the edge of the trailer, with her gun still in the scabbard. He put the enchiladas down on the table and was surprised to feel heat coming off the lantern. She had been here, but for some reason had left. The beat up truck was still hooked to the trailer, so he wondered where she could have gone.
He could hear the sheep, but all was quiet and there wasn't a sign of a dog anywhere. As he looked around, he realized another vehicle was bouncing across the sage flat on the same track he had just come in on.

  Deciding it must be her, he sat down in her folding chair to wait for her so he could thank her for saving his hide today. It wasn't quite full dark and he saw as the SUV neared, that it was two men in the vehicle and not the sheep fairy he had been expecting. He had no way of knowing if they were someone she was looking forward to or not, and without even thinking about it he reached across to her saddle and pulled the rifle out and put it across his knees. As the vehicle stopped the two got out and began walking toward him, looking all around them as they came. He heard one say quietly to the other, "It's not her."

  The other one whispered back, "Maybe it's her boyfriend."

  In the quiet of the evening he could hear their words perfectly. "Her and a sheepherder? I don’t think so. She wouldn't be living with a guy out here anyway. She was too churchy, remember. I knew this whole sheepherder thing had to have been a hoax."

  When they got near, Matt asked nonchalantly, "Can I help you two with something?"

  The one who had been sure she was a hoax said, "Yes, actually. We were told this was a woman's camp. Is there a woman sheepherder that lives here?"

  There was something about the two that had him replying, "I'm definitely not a woman. Sorry to disappoint you. Wish there was one around here though." He picked up the gun that sat across his knees and began to fiddle with the action. "Wouldn't a woman sheepherder be unusual? Doesn't seem like a very feminine lifestyle. Not but maybe one woman I know could hack it." He calmly pointed the gun out toward a small mound of dirt and pulled the trigger. At the explosive bang, both of them jumped and Matt said, "Dang rodents! Get into the trailer and really irritate a person. You know?"