by J. D. Oliver
I was starting to think she didn’t have a sense of humor, that was till I caught the twinkle in her eye. “Oh, you were just pulling my leg.” I said.
“Well Duh, I was starting to think you didn’t have a sense of humor. Come on in, we’ll give you a quick once over Faith, then we’ll see about that shot.”
I followed her in. The Doc glanced at me, then said to Faith, “Where did you pick him up?”
“He fell out of the sky, he’s mine and I’m keeping him.” Faith said.
“Well, I sure don’t want him, he’s all yours.” Doc said. “Although he is sort of cute.”
“Hey, I’m right here. Are you both blind?”
“Stifle it Edith, if you want to stay in here while I check your wife over.” Doc said.
“Hey, you called her my wife, how did you know we’re getting married?” I said.
“Well, what else would you be doing with Faith, she’s not a floozy, you know?”
“Yes, Doc, I do know that. And I’m not either. Do you know anyone who can marry us?” I said.
“Yeah, me. I’m the Clerk and Recorder and the Justice of the Peace for the Chama area. As such I’m licensed by the state.”
I looked at Faith, “Is that right, can she do that?”
“Yes, not only that, but being a doctor she can give us our blood tests.” Faith said.
“What’s your name Doc? I asked.
It’s Pretty Otter, Gail Pretty Otter. So how did you come to fall out of the sky?”
“Well, we didn’t really fall out, the starboard engine on my Cessna was giving a little trouble; we had to make an emergency landing.” I said.
“You said ‘we’, who else was with you?” Gail asked.
“My Dad and Brother. My Dad’s name is Karl and my brother’s name is Jake. Our last name is Bronson. Oh, by the way, as far as the wedding goes; Dad and Felicia are getting married also.”
“What? Felicia Cortez is getting married? I can’t believe it, really?” Gail said.
“What’s wrong with her getting married?” I asked.
“Nothing really, it’s just that with the Spanish Land Grant; you do know that her place has been in her family for three hundred years? I see that you didn’t, but anyway when she got married the first time she didn’t even take her husbands name, she kept her maiden name of Cortez. And speaking of the land grant; Faith, would you tell Felicia that there has been some lawyers poking around? They wanted to see her title, I told them to piss off.”
“Well you can rest assured that Dad isn’t interested in her property, that is outside of the intimate kind. My Mother died two years ago. We still own our ranch in the Big Horn Basin. We don’t need more land.” I said.
“I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong impression, I didn’t think your Dad was. It’s just that I can see trouble on the horizon; is your Dad sure he wants to get involved?”
“Sure, why not? We’re fighters, always have been. We especially like to take the underdog’s side.” I said.
“Alright, let’s forget about that. Since you guys are getting married, I guess I had better give you both a quick once over. When is the last time you had a physical Clay?”
“When I was mustered out of the Navy. I guess it’s been about two years.”
“Okay, but I think I’d better check a few things; we’ll draw some blood and a urine sample and I suppose we had better check your prostate.”
“Why my prostate, what for?”
“Well I think Faith would like to know that you’re in good operating condition, plus also I had better check you for testicular cancer.” Gail said, then added, “do you want separate examining rooms, or are you both comfortable right here?”
“Oh, I want to stay in the same room,” Faith said, with a diabolical giggle.
“Alright, Clay there’s a specimen cup in the bathroom, over there. You give me some urine, I’ll give Faith her shot and take a blood sample from her. Just leave the bottle on the sink when you come out.”
I went in and did what she asked. Then I came out and sat beside Faith on the exam table. Gail pulled a couple of vials of blood out of me. Then said, “Okay, stand up and drop your drawers.”
“Are you sure we have to do this?” I said, as Faith reached over and unbuckled my belt. “Yes, I’m sure,” Gail said. As she snapped some latex gloves on, she too had a diabolical grin on her face.
“Turn your head and cough,” She said, I did so. “Well there’s no hernia’s anyway, stand still so I can feel for lumps.”
Faith said, “Can I do that, I should know what to look for, shouldn’t I?”
“Sure,” Gail said, “just feel all around, you can tell if there’s something amiss.”
“I don’t feel anything.” Faith said.
“Good, turn around Clay and bend over, here’s a tissue, sometimes you might leak a little bit.” I think she really took delight in my discomfort. I know my face must have been bright red.
“No, that’s fine too. You can just throw that tissue in the garbage. You can get dressed now.”
“Do you do that to everyman that gets married?” I asked.
“No, of course not. Faith just wanted to see if you were a good sport or not; you are. But really, a man should get checked every year for prostate cancer, it didn’t hurt you any did it?” Gail said.
“No, it was just embarrassing is all. But come to think of it, I would a lot rather have a woman doctor do that than a man. I always felt uncomfortable when a man doctor did that. With you it wasn’t so bad.”
“That’s just because my fingers are smaller.” She said, then added, “would you two like to get a cup of coffee?”
I looked at Faith, she nodded. “Sure,” I said, “do you know of a place?”
“Why wouldn’t I? I’m a local around here, you know. There’s not too many choice’s in a little town like Abiquiu; my cousin has a small Café. He needs the business anyway, you two being a couple of money bags, you can leave a big tip.”
“Oh, we can, can we? But yes, I usually do anyway, especially if the waitress is cute.” Faith kicked me. “But not anymore, even if their ugly, I’ll leave a big tip.” Faith kissed me.
“Alright, I’ll take my car, you two can meet me there, Faith knows where it’s at.”
It was a little bigger than Gail had led me to believe. Gail was already inside, she was setting at a corner booth. She waved us over. There were perhaps ten people already there, Natives with a long history in New Mexico, mostly Navajo and Mexican, a couple of whites. Or what could be called whites, now all of the races were so intermixed, it was hard to tell, look at me.
We were sipping our coffee, when Gail said, “You know, Faith’s condition made me think of something my mother told me. You’ve heard of the ‘Long Walk’, haven’t you?”
“Yeah, I have, I don’t know about Faith, how about it Faith have you?”
“Perhaps, something about the Indian wars, wasn’t it?” Faith said.
“But what does that have to do with Faith being a milk factory?” I asked.
“That was what I was coming to, it’s a little bit yucky, but not really. You see it was a matter of survival. The year was 1864. The Army had completed the burning of all of our crops and orchards; we had no way to sustain ourselves. In short we lost. Kit Carson was the officer in charge, he told us he would make sure we were treated fairly. They were going to relocate us from our homes, it started at Canyon de Chelly in Arizona. They made us walk, men, women and children from our homes to Bosque Redondo in Eastern New Mexico.
Anyway, they didn’t provide them with enough food; over three thousand perished on that walk. My Great Grandfather was just a small baby. My Great, Great Grandmother had the same condition as Faith, she made lots of milk. So what they did was to give her the food, in turn she fed both the baby and my Great, Great Grandfather on her milk. I told you it was little bit yucky, but when you think about, it wasn’t that bad, they all survived anyhow.”
“I d
on’t see anything yucky about that,” Faith said, “but I guess, some people probably would, but not me.”
“As long as were telling survival stories,” I said. “My Great Grandmother survived the Sand Creek Massacre. That was on Dec. 28, 1864. On Sand Creek, Chief Black Kettle was camped there with Cheyenne and Arapaho families. Chivington and 700 so-called Colorado Militia. That was when he said, ‘Kill them all, big and small, nits make lice.’ Out of 123 dead, a hundred of them were women and children.”
We three sat there for awhile, not saying anything. I finally spoke up, “Of course those two depredations were only two things that happened. There were many more. In the whole world things like that are going on everyday: Still! It has never stopped. But Hell, there’s not much we can do about it. I guess the only thing we can do; is for us not to be a party to any of it.”
Gail took a deep breath and said, “So, when do the four of you want to get married? I can have the paper work ready tomorrow.”
“That’s fine with us,” Faith said, “but I had better call you in the morning, after we talk to Felicia and Karl.” On that note, we all said our goodbyes. Faith and I got back in the Pickup. It snapped to life, with a throaty growl. “So how fast does this thing go? I asked Faith.
“I don’t’ know this is the first time I’ve every rode in it. But Teddy did say that he could bury the needle, whatever that means.” She said.
I looked down at the speedometer, it read up to 140. I don’t think I would like to go that fast, but it was nice to know it could. When we got back to the Hacienda, Alita was awake and hungry. The four of them were playing cards, Texas Hold Em. Alona was winning. I looked at Jake, for once he wasn’t a sore loser.
Dad and Felicia were playing by remote control I think, because they couldn’t take their eyes off of each other. Which made me glad, Dad deserved some happiness again.
Faith had taken Alita into the bedroom to feed her. The poker game broke up. Alona went off to bed, Jake went to his own room. I guess I was supposed to sleep with Faith, my bag was in there anyway. And I think Dad’s was in Felicia’s room.
The three of us were having a short nightcap. I told Felicia about what Gail had said; that some lawyers were poking around the records.
She said, “Yes, I know. They have been trying to overturn my Spanish Land Grant. They haven’t made any progress though. But still I’m worried, you know how some of these crooked lawyers are; if they can’t find a loophole they will try to make one.”
“You know, there is one thing about loop holes; they sure resemble a hang man’s noose,” Dad said. “That old saying, ‘give a man enough rope and he’s libel to hang himself’; it sure could prove true in this case.”
“Oh yeah, one more thing, Gail says that she can marry us, she wants to know if tomorrow is fast enough?” I said.
Dad put his arm around Felicia, she smiled up at him, she said, “No, it’s not fast enough, but I guess it will have to do. That is if your Dad doesn’t mind living in sin for one night?”
“I sure don’t mind, as long as we tie the knot first thing tomorrow, does that go for you too, son?”
“I reckon I don’t have much choice, if I don’t go in there; she will just come out and drag me in, but that suits me to a tee.”
Chapter Three
As I closed the door quietly behind me, Faith said, “I’m not asleep, but Alita is, would you put her in her crib? Lay her on her back, not her tummy.”
I laid her on her back and covered her up to her chest with a light flannel blanket. She stirred a little bit, but didn’t wake up. I heard the bed squeak as Faith got up and went to the bathroom, I glanced around, all I seen was her naked backside as she padded away.
I sat down on the bed and pulled my boots off. One of my socks had a hole in the toe. I was setting there contemplating that, when Faith came back.
“What’s the matter, how come you’re not undressed?” She said, standing there with her hands on her hips, with her head cocked to one side looking at me. I looked back, she sure was pretty. I think she was the first natural blond that I had ever seen.
“Uh, no reason, I guess I was just waiting for you to tell me, I didn’t want to assume anything.” I said, as I started to unbuckle my belt.
“Land sakes, you sure are something, what do you mean you don’t want to assume anything? We’re getting married tomorrow, here let me do that, you’re all thumbs.”
Alita slept all night, it must have been just after daylight when I heard her whimper, I got up and got her, I changed her diaper before I woke Faith and put Alita in her arms. Then I went and got in the shower. As soon as I was dried off, Faith handed me the baby. And she stepped in the shower. I laid Alita in the middle of our bed, she just giggled and smiled at me; I think she liked me.
I got my bag out and was looking through it for clean underwear; I couldn’t find any. I was still rummaging when Faith came out, drying herself, she said, “What are you looking for?”
“It seems I don’t have any clean underwear.” I said, standing there in my all-together.
“No problem, on the right side of the dresser, top drawer, it’s full of men’s underwear. You don’t mind do you?”
“Huh? You mean they were his?”
“Yeah, but I threw away all of the used ones; these are brand new, they have never been washed. I don’t know why I kept them, sort of a hope chest I guess. Anyway, were my hopes realized?”
“Well, I would say so, that is if I fit the bill?” I said, walking toward her, she met me half way, jumping up, she put her legs around me and one thing led to another; as I backed her toward the wall. Alita wasn’t paying any attention to us, she was busy playing with her toes.
We had a late breakfast with Dad and Felicia. It was just the four of us; everyone else was already about their chores, including Jake and Alona. Gail showed up before the noon hour, she had all of the needed paperwork.
We had the wedding at two PM, in the yard under the big cottonwood tree. There were about forty people there, some from town, Gail had told them about the wedding. And of course all of the people from the Ranchos de Chama.
The rest of the day turned out to be a big fiesta. Everyone had brought some kind of food dish; plus of course the Ranch had supplied enough to feed an army. Some of the ranch hands played on their guitars and whatever. It was the best wedding that I had ever been to; of course I guess because it was mine.
The next day Dad and Felicia left for a short honeymoon. They said they were going to Mazatlan. Miguel drove them to the airport in Santa Fe. Faith and I decided to stay right at the Ranch, what could be more romantic than here?
The Rodeo in Santa Fe was a week long affair. There was four days left, Jake had called and he could still compete. Alona was entered in the barrel racing anyway. So we went to the Rodeo. I didn’t have a roping partner, but I did sign up for saddle bronc.
We took the quad cab with a horse trailer behind for Alona’s horse. It sure was nice that Faith was nursing; we didn’t have to take bottles along, but of course the diaper bag was a necessity. We got rooms at the Holiday Inn. Yeah, Jake and Alona had separate rooms.
That horse of Alona’s was a good one, she took second place money the first day. Jake was in top form, he placed third in the bull riding, second in bareback. I got bucked off, I don’t think my mind was on my riding. Besides it sure was nice having Faith to assuage my wounds.
The second day though, I did better, I took second place money. I had to show my wife that I wasn’t a complete duffer. Of course she knew that I wasn’t. She liked my riding capability.
I don’t know why we got rooms for Jake and Alona; cause they slept in the stables with her horse. Turns out someone was messing with the horses. I guess it was the sign of the times when a horse wasn’t safe anymore. But they did come back to their rooms to take showers; so I guess the cost wasn’t a complete waste.
The second night there, we were laying in bed talking, right after we put Alita dow
n for the night. Faith said, “You know, you haven’t told me much about yourself?”
“I haven’t? What do you want to know? You know my Dad and Brother, you know my mother died from a drunk driver. You know we have a ranch in the Big Horn Basin. I told you I was in the Navy, so what else is there?”
“You personally, what makes you tick? Oh, I know what turns you on. And that you’re a caring and gentle person. You said that you were in Iraq, tell me about that?”
“Are you sure you want to hear about that? I guess you are or you wouldn’t of asked. Okay, here goes. Like I said, I was a Navy Combat Pilot, our Carrier was in the Persian Gulf. I flew both daylight and night missions, pretty routine stuff, they gave you a target, you went in and dumped your load and headed back. That was all except this one time, I was on a night mission, but before I could unload I was hit with a SAM missile; you know a Surface to Air Missile. It took off one wing, I ejected. Have you ever parachuted to earth at night? No, I suppose you haven’t. Anyway it sure is different at night, sort of pretty though.
I came down on the outskirts of this little town. The first thing I did was bury my chute. I made sure my locater beacon was on. You know so they could find me. Are you bored yet?” I said, as I did a few navel maneuvers around her navel…
“Stop that, I’m not bored, I want to hear all of it.”
“Alright, well this town was controlled by Al Qaeda, I went toward some buildings, just on the edge of town, like I said it was night and I was always pretty good at playing hide and seek at night; I enjoyed flitting from shadow to shadow. I heard and seen a bunch of guys talking in Arabic in the courtyard of this one house. Now I could understand Arabic, but can’t speak it too good.
Now these guys weren’t locals, they were Al Qaeda, for sure. I got up real close, when I buried my chute, I also buried my flight suit and helmet, all I kept was my .45. With my complexion and hair color, you couldn’t tell me from one of them. Anyway, they were getting this young guy ready for a suicide mission, they were strapping the C4 to him.