Riding the River

by Jeanne Harrell

  “Well, he had a great menu for us tonight, which I can only do part of. I think we’re going to need some meat because I can’t do the chili.” She thought a minute. “How about fish? Can we have some people go fishing?”

  Cooper laughed. “Exactly what a camping trip needs – Fish… We’re on it for you and we’ll grill over the campfire.” He turned to Matt. “Help her out in the kitchen, would you, Matt?” He winked at him and left.

  Matt turned to Sarah. “So what is for dinner?” He almost laughed at the expression on her face --You’re asking me?

  “…Um…” She actually wrung her hands for a minute.

  “…Hey…” He reached out to grab her hands before she twisted them into pretzels. “I’m here to help. What do you need?”

  Sarah took a breath, looked at him and nodded. “Okay. I’ve almost finished the black-eyed peas and the salad is not hard. I’ve nothing to cook the cornbread in, but we found some breads he already prepared that we can use.” She took a bigger breath. “We don’t have an entrée. Fish would be great.”

  “Have you cooked fish before?”

  “Yes… I live in Baltimore, remember?”

  “Oh, yeah, I forgot…” He smiled at her. “But have you gutted them before?”

  “Actually, yes again… So there…”

  “Sarah…”

  She looked at him sternly. “Grab a few fishing buddies and get me some fish – What kind do we have here?”

  “Trout…”

  “Hop to it…”

  It was amazing how everyone pulled together in the crisis. Matt and Richie got every fishing rod available and had people fishing up and down the stream. They spread out quite a ways and enjoyed the heck out of it. People were laughing and talking, enjoying the activity as much as the day. The nets were passed around and soon quite a few fish were heading to the back of the kitchen area for cleaning.

  Sarah and Tess manned the kitchen with some help from the giggling teenage girls. Sarah glanced at the one she and Matt had rescued last night to see how she was doing. Apparently, she was thrilled that Aaron had left and was cheerfully helping set the picnic tables with plates, cups and utensils.

  A few other women were cleaning pots and bowls as Tess and Sarah finished with them. The guys did all the gutting and soon skewers of fish and vegetables were grilling over the open campfire. The aromas from both the fish and the fire made one’s mouth water… Others made sure the campfire stayed going. It was a real team effort…

  Dinner that night was nothing short of spectacular. Everyone had pulled their weight to make it come out right. The grilled trout was mouthwatering with salad, black-eyed peas, bread and fruit. Sarah wasn’t able to bring about the blueberry cobbler, but it was the best they could do. It was still enjoyable…

  Cooper stood up for a toast near the end of the meal.

  “Whew… This has been one exciting day.” He looked around at all the heads nodding and agreeing with him.

  “Right you are, Cooper,” yelled Frank.

  “I want to thank you all for pitching in and helping with tonight’s meal. Give yourselves a round of applause…” The guests and cowboys looked around laughing and clapping.

  “… But I want to single out Sarah for her willingness to step in and organize it all. Groups need leaders and she did a fine job.” He raised his coffee cup up in the air. “To Sarah…”

  Everyone raised a cup or glass to toast Sarah, who had blushed five shades of red from all the attention. Matt, sitting beside her, beamed as he joined the toast. People now accepted that they were probably together, or would be soon. It seemed natural and they were a good fit. Guests smiled at him as much as her.

  After dinner and cleanup, Sarah found a bag of marshmallows and suggested a roast over the campfire. That sent people scurrying around looking for sticks to roast their marshmallows with.

  “Can’t do s’mores,” she said. “… Don’t have all the ingredients.”

  “Never mind,” laughed Richie, “this will do just fine and be fun.”

  After a colorful twilight of pinks and oranges, the sun finally set leaving a black, black night. The cowboys pulled out guitars and began singing songs that everyone knew. Between the marshmallow roast and the sing-along, people had a good time.

  Soon a few got up to find their bedrolls or put up their tents. It was harder to put up the tents at night than it would have been earlier, but they shrugged, laughed and got it done. Cooper bid everyone a good night and went to find his bedroll. Tess looked over at Sarah, raised an eyebrow and then she and Richie left for their tent. Sarah smiled and shook her head.

  Moonlight was reflecting off the water in the stream. Matt was setting up his bedroll over there and beckoned Sarah to join him. They were apart from the others when Sarah brought over her bedroll.

  “Guess I’m sleeping in my clothes tonight,” she laughed.

  “It’s only for one more day. Can you hang in there?” asked Matt.

  “Sure…”

  “So you let Richie take your place in the tent tonight?”

  “Yup… Seemed like the thing to do.”

  Sarah lay down on her side and propped her head up with an elbow resting on the ground. She took a deep breath and watched Matt. He was spreading out his bedroll by her, not too close, but close enough to see her face well. What a handsome guy… all that black hair… dark eyes… She sighed without realizing it. He turned to her.

  “… You okay?”

  She laughed at that. “Yes, I’m fine. Just a little tired.”

  “I’m not surprised with the effort you made today.”

  “Don’t make too much of it…”

  “You did good, cowgirl…”

  That got her grinning. “You did pretty well yourself, cowboy. You kept Dale calm, which was important.”

  “Yeah…He’ll be fine.” He gazed at her blonde hair, falling around her face -- Her ponytail long forgotten…. What a pretty girl, blue eyes that looked right through him…

  “Oh…”

  “What?”

  “… It’s nothing…”

  “It must be something. Tell me…”

  “Okay. My toothbrush is in the tent and there’s no way I’m going back to ask for it.”

  Matt laughed. “Want to use mine?”

  She scrunched up her nose. “Eeewww… Cooties…”

  “That’s what Richie said you had when we danced together the first night you were here.”

  “Cooties? How did I have cooties?”

  “We were dancing pretty far away from each other…” She laughed.

  “I get it…”

  “…So? Do you want to use my toothbrush?”

  “Have you used it tonight yet?”

  “No… You can use it first.”

  He reached into his saddlebag and took out the toothbrush and a bottle of water.

  “Sorry. I used all my toothpaste last night.”

  She smiled and took the brush and water. Leaning over into the grass, Sarah brushed her teeth.

  “I think this is a real first for me,” grinned Matt.

  She rolled her eyes. “I’m sure it’s such a thrill.” She spit out the water and rinsed with a sip from the water bottle.

  Then it was Matt’s turn. He was brushing away and she started laughing.

  “What?” He rinsed and spit.

  “This just reminded me of something a lady said on the airplane flying to Nevada. We’d been talking about Western movies and she remarked that she liked Robert Redford so much, she’d watch him brush his teeth.”

  “So I remind you of Robert Redford?” He set down the water bottle.

  “Oh, Heavens, no… You’re the spitting image of…” She stopped and closed her mouth. She’d spoken before thinking.

  “… Finish it. I’m the spitting image of…”

  Sarah kept her mouth closed and shook her head. “This is mildly embarrassing.”

  “Let me guess… A movie star, right?”
/>
  “Yes…”

  “Johnny Depp?”

  “Not even close…”

  “… Ah…Kevin Costner?”

  “She shook her head.

  “…Robert Downey?”

  “Nope.”

  “I’m out of ideas.” He shrugged his shoulders.

  “You’ve got to reach way back for this guy. I’ll give you a hint – 1958, ‘Big Country’…

  “I think I missed that one.”

  Suddenly, Sarah’s face radiated a glow that took Matt’s breath away. She had the biggest smile ever on her face and he couldn’t wait to hear this.

  “Want me to tell you?”

  “Yes…”

  “He’s my all-time favorite movie star and such a handsome guy – Gregory Peck.” She stopped, blushed deeply and looked down at the ground.

  He laughed at her. “Sarah, you just gave yourself away. I think I’ve got your number now.”

  She lay on her side pretending to look aloof. “Oh, really…”

  Matt lay back and his hands cradled his head. “Look at the stars tonight. Have you ever seen anything more beautiful?”

  Yes, you, she thought as she gazed at his handsome profile. His eyes were as dark as the night and took in everything around him, especially her.

  “What do you want from me?” she whispered.

  He turned his head to look into her eyes. Was she scared? Nervous? Excited? He couldn’t tell. Matt got up to pull one end of the bedroll over her for a cover. Sarah watched his every move… When he was satisfied that she was warm enough, he lay back on his bedroll and covered up as well. She thought he’d forgotten the question.

  Matt turned on his side to gaze directly into Sarah’s questioning eyes. His own eyes softened as he drank her in and he knew… He just knew…

  “Everything…” he whispered back at her. Then he closed his eyes.

  Sarah knew it too. She smiled at him, reached out to touch his face and then burrowed down into her sleeping bag. She fell asleep quickly. Matt touched his own face where her soft hand had been. He fell asleep smiling and dreamed of horses, green meadows and a pretty girl with a horseshoe.

  CHAPTER NINETEEN

  When Sarah awoke the next morning, there were wildflowers in a pretty bouquet by her bedroll. She yawned, stretched and took a deep breath of fresh air before she noticed them. Picking them up, it made her smile and blush that he would do such a sweet thing.

  Matt’s bedroll was empty, so he was up already and doing whatever cowboys did first thing in the morning. She was hoping she could get a fresh shirt from the tent before going in to start breakfast. A quick glance at the closed tent told her she’d better wait a while, until the occupants were up and out of there.

  She went into their makeshift kitchen area, which was severely depleted now that Dale was gone. Coffee would be campfire coffee and that was fine… Sarah got to work putting together what breakfast she could. She’d grabbed a few boxes of cereal when they were hurriedly picking things to stay behind when Dale left. There was milk and fruit. Nothing was left from last night’s excellent fish dinner, so breakfast would be sparse. By the time other guests had roused and were moving around, Sarah had the coffee hot and breakfast was assembled on a picnic table. They could come get what they wanted.

  “Hey, Sarah,” Richie called out to her while crossing the campsite.

  She raised an eyebrow at him. “I need to get a clean shirt and my hairbrush, Richie.”

  He had the good grace to blush, before giving her a big grin.

  “Thanks for last night.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “Your night out in the open couldn’t have been too bad, however.” He smiled at her. “Didn’t I see you and Matt getting cozy over by the stream?”

  It was Sarah’s turn to blush.

  “Breakfast is on the table.” She laughed and started for the tent and her clean shirt.

  By the time she got there, Tess was moving around and changing clothes. Sarah opened the flap and peered in.

  “Have a good night?”

  “Yes… Thanks to you. There’s definitely something sexy about cowboys,” Tess purred.

  “Could it be the sex?”

  “… Can’t be beat, Sarah.”

  Sarah laughed while changing into her clean shirt. “Come on. You need to help me make the lunch sandwiches.” She found her hairbrush and got her hair smoothed back into a ponytail.

  “What’ll we do about dinner tonight?”

  “I’m hoping like crazy that we’ll make it back to the ranch tonight. Otherwise, it’s fish and wild berries.”

  “There’s nothing left?”

  “Not lots, but I suppose we could make the fruit and bread stretch. It’s hard to be creative with food when you don’t have much to work with.”

  “You’ll make it work, I’m sure.”

  They went off together to get sandwiches made for lunch. All the foodstuffs left now had to be packed in saddlebags on their horses. It was going to severely limit their dining experience for the evening.

  It was the third day of the horse drive and everyone was getting sore and tired. It was hard riding fifteen to twenty miles a day in the saddle. They didn’t have to chase the strays any longer or keep the herd moving, but somehow they didn’t seem to go much faster than they had with the herd.

  The terrain could be difficult. Climbing up the side of one small mountain, there was another hill to go over before the rolling valley finally came into view. People had definitely grouped by now… The cowboys generally hung out together, the teenage girls were a group, several of the other guests stayed together and Cooper was by himself. Richie, Tess, Matt and Sarah made up the last group. They rode together for most of the day back to the ranch.

  Before the break for lunch, Sarah and Matt were riding off by themselves. She hadn’t had a chance to talk to him alone today.

  “Hey…”

  “Hey yourself…”

  “Thanks for the flowers. They were lovely…and my first.” Sarah tipped her cowboy hat at him, which made him laugh.

  “… Oh, come on, cowgirl. A man’s never given you flowers before?”

  “No…”

  “Really?”

  She shook her head. “Honestly…”

  “Look, Sarah, I really don’t mean to pry, but…”

  “… But what?”

  “I thought you had a boyfriend in Baltimore.”

  “Well, yes, I had one, but I broke up with him before the trip.”

  “Wait a minute… First, I want to know why he never gave you flowers.”

  “Ben’s not a romantic guy. He’s a lawyer and a numbers person– political. Grandfather loves him.”

  “Okay, now the next part. Why did you break up with him?”

  “…Apparently, you haven’t been listening. He’s an unromantic lawyer who would never have left me a pretty bouquet of wildflowers…”

  “Did you love him?”

  She thought about that for a minute.

  “I might have thought so early on, but I called him my absentee boyfriend for a reason. I never saw him… It was a strange relationship.”

  Matt shook his head. “I’d think so, if you never saw him. What a waste…”

  She knit her brows. “What was a waste?”

  Matt gave her a leisurely look from her feet to the top of her head. By the time he reached her face, she had blushed scarlet.

  “To have you and not want to spend any time with you. The guy was seriously nuts…”

  “I like to think so.”

  The lunch break came and went, and with it went many good moods. A quick look at the sky told everyone the same story – a storm was coming and fast… Cooper rode up to speak with Matt and Richie.

  “We’ve got the river coming up and we’d better make it across, if we want to get home tonight. What do you think?”

  Richie looked up at the darkening sky as Matt shook his head.

  “…Dunno,
Cooper. It doesn’t look good. Maybe we should camp on this side for the night and wait the storm out. That river could get fast in a hurry.”

  Cooper took off his hat and ran a hand through his graying hair.

  “I don’t like the looks of the weather, but we’re almost out of food too. I’m thinking we should make a run for it…”

  “Our guests would probably prefer to starve than drown,” added Richie. Cooper gave him a sour look.

  “We’re going to go for it,” he decided. “Get your group ready to make a fast crossing. I’ll tell the others…”

  Cooper turned his horse away from them and rode quickly over to the rest of the guests and cowboys. Sarah and Tess had questioning looks for Matt and Richie who rode back to them wearing very serious looks.

  “What’s up?” asked Sarah.

  “The river’s ahead and Cooper wants to cross it tonight,” said Richie.

  “But the problem is that the river could get nasty pretty fast with this storm about to hit,” added Matt.

  As soon as he said that, lightning streaked across the sky. A few minutes later, the sound of thunder boomed overhead, spooking horses and riders.

  Matt reached into his saddlebag. “Everyone get on your ponchos. The rain will be coming pretty quickly now.” As soon as they all got on their rain ponchos, the rain started falling fast and hard.

  “Yow,” grimaced Tess. “I didn’t know that rain could hurt.”

  “Pull up your hoods,” yelled Matt. He reached over to pull Sarah’s up for her. “Let’s go…”

  Everyone started riding towards the river. The wind was blowing trees around and bushes back. A huge darkness came over them as the sky took on a menacing look. With the constant rain, the ground beneath the horses became slick and slippery. The horses were struggling to go forward.

  Suddenly lightning struck a tree close by Sarah, splitting it in half. Sparks flew… Part of the tree starting falling her way – Her frightened horse snorted and whinnied, but moved quickly out of the way. It happened so fast that all Matt could do was watch as Sarah’s horse pulled her to safety. They looked at each other in fear…