Cowboy Dragon

by Terry Bolryder

  This was the show horse who got all the blue ribbons, for sure.

  But he was still as tall and muscled as the others as well.

  “That was pretty tough of you back there, lil’ lady, tryin’ to tell those Copperheads off.” He gave her a wink, and Marian could sense Harrison tense across from her.

  “Copperheads? What… Who are they exactly?” She’d never been around such tall, devastatingly handsome men at once. It was kind of overwhelming.

  “Just some local punks with nuthin’ better to do than bother honest folk.” His drawl was by far the thickest, though they all had that classic Texas flavor to their speech that she’d always secretly liked. “But as you can see, we don’t tolerate people who bother pretty ladies such as—”

  “Dammit, I’m trying to do an interview here, Clancy,” Harrison said with a frustrated rap of his hand on the table. The fact that Clancy’s attention on Marian had made Harrison suddenly so uppity made her feel a twinge of something hot inside her.

  “Oh, we looking to hire?” Clancy backed away, putting his hands in the pockets of his fitted denim jeans. Harrison just wore an unsubtle “fuck off” expression, though he wasn’t saying it.

  Suddenly, Clancy noted the silver coin on the table, and he walked over and picked it up. “Damn, it’s that old coin.” He appraised it for a moment. “I haven’t seen this thing since the big-ass storm that hit back in…” He trailed off, looked down at her, then was suddenly silent. “Anyway…”

  He reached a friendly hand out to her, which she took. “Name’s Clancy. I’m the head wrangler here at the ranch. If it’s horses or shootin’, I’m your guy.”

  “Pleased to meet you,” she replied, noting Harrison’s furrowed brows watching where their hands met.

  “If you’ll excuse me, I have a mare to check on,” and with another nod of his head, he threw his hat on and walked out.

  Marian wanted to ask Harrison what all the fuss with Clancy being nice to her was about, when Beck came storming in again, this time with his beefy arm wrapped around Reno’s neck, dragging him into the house.

  “I told you it wasn’t me,” Reno barked, struggling fruitlessly against the bigger man’s size, even though he himself was huge by normal standards.

  “Unless we’re haunted and a damn ghost ate it, then someone here is at fault.”

  Beck threw open the fridge, shoving Reno’s face in it to make his point, then dragged him to the table.

  “I swear, Reno, this time I’m going to tan your hide so hard even the buzzards will…” They reached the table, and Beck’s gaze fell on the last few bites of sandwich left on Marian’s plate.

  Marian gulped, fearing the worst.

  Instead, Beck just dropped Reno on the floor, and he hit the ground with an oof. And when Beck’s silver eyes met hers, his expression was completely devoid of the rage he’d had only a moment ago.

  “No matter, I s’pose,” he muttered with a shrug.

  “Beck, this is Marian. Marian, Beck.” Harrison waved a hand between them.

  Beck just grunted, folding his huge arms.

  “He’s next in charge, and he oversees all of our large-scale operations.”

  By then, Reno had gotten to his feet and dusted himself off. And if he saw the sandwich too, there was no sign of it in his light-blue eyes as he flicked his mussed light-blond hair off his face.

  “Name’s Reno,” he said, introducing himself. “If it has moving parts, I can fix it. Horses, I ain’t so good with.”

  “He keeps everything, including the ranch, running smooth,” Harrison said as she shook Reno’s hand. “Now get out of here, you two.”

  Reno followed Beck out just as another figure appeared, his wild, dark hair untamed, amber eyes gleaming with awareness.

  “Lastly, Dallas.”

  He kept his hands to himself, just nodding to her politely but not saying a word as the massive guy moved quietly past the table and out a back entrance to somewhere she couldn’t see.

  Definitely the quietest of the bunch. But by the way he’d pulled that knife earlier, perhaps the deadliest.

  Then again, all five of them had appeared at her side like monsters, ready to kill for a solitary woman who none of them knew all of ten minutes before.

  And at the head of them all, Harrison.

  “So just five? For this whole big ranch?”

  “That’s all we need to get the job done. I wasn’t lying when I said I don’t trust people.”

  She sat in silence as the realization that her car was dead and that she was stranded on a quiet ranch run by the most attractive, frustrating man she’d ever met in her entire life dawned on her, and Marian almost broke down in tears right there. From relief, fear, or frustration, she wasn’t even sure.

  Harrison’s expression softened, but it just emphasized her desperate situation.

  She hated that she would have to rely upon a man, any man really, but especially a cowboy.

  But at least, if she had to hate someone, it was probably the most handsome one in the entire state. Maybe the northern hemisphere for all she knew.

  Harrison slipped his hand over the coin and put it in the pocket of his blue shirt.

  “You can stay with us for a month. At the end of that month, I’ll decide whether you’re worth keeping around or not.” He stood, straightening his shirt and doing up the buttons as if to spite her for the fact she’d been checking him out since the moment he’d shown up and scared off those coyotes. “Welcome to the crew, Marian.”

  She tried to think up a reply, but nothing came out as Harrison nodded at her, then left the room.

  A moment later, she could hear him calling for Reno as she sagged against the chair with a long sigh, relaxing for the first time the whole day. Maybe for the first time in her adult life.

  For once, it felt like something good was coming out of all the years of toil and moving around.

  Then again, as she looked over in the direction Harrison had gone, thinking of his steely eyes and wide back, she wondered if maybe she hadn’t just landed herself in even more trouble than she’d ever been in before.

  Perhaps she should’ve taken her chances with the coyotes.

  6

  An hour later, Marian was feeling much more comfortable with the place as Reno finished giving her a short tour of the ranch, letting her know where things were and getting a feel for the grounds.

  By now, night had fully fallen, casting the entire ranch in a warm darkness that was cut through by lamps and lights.

  She’d never really been a fan of the dark. But for some reason, there was a sense of safety here, of home, that made the black wall of silence feel more like a blanket than an encroaching monster.

  “Here we are, home sweet home.” Reno came up to a small, one-room guest house that was just kitty-corner to the main home, separated by a short walk of a dozen or so yards.

  He opened the door, turned on a light, and she saw what was supposedly going to be her new home, at least for the next month until she got back on her feet.

  “There’s running water and a bathroom in the back,” he pointed. “If you’re looking for food, just use the common area at the house.”

  “What, no ramshackle outhouses?” She joked. Reno was already feeling like the older brother she’d never had, the two of them sharing an easy, friendly energy.

  “Can’t say this is the Ritz or anything, but we ain’t slumming it,” he said with a shrug, carrying two large boxes they’d thrown anything she might need from her car into so she could have it handy.

  There was a bed and a dresser, both old and hand-carved. She sat on the mattress, and it bounced as she took off her backpack with her personal belongings in it and set it aside.

  Reno set a note on top of the dresser. “Here’s my number, as well as Dallas’s, in case you need something.”

  She twiddled her fingers, uneasy to be in a new place such as this but grateful for all the help.

  “Sorry, for earlier
,” she said.

  “Sorry for what?” His light-blue eyes looked down at her.

  “For eating Beck’s sandwich and getting you in trouble.”

  He just chuckled, waving a hand. “Eh, nothing to be sorry for.” He got a mischievous look in his gaze. “I was planning on nabbing it before Beck could get to it. So I s’pose I got what was coming to me anyway.” He made for the door. “Anything else ya need?”

  “I’m good, thanks, Reno.”

  “Anytime. Glad to have you on board.” He laughed about something to himself. “Sparring with Copperheads and going head-to-head with the most stubborn man this side of the Rio Grande. You are a hell of a fighter.”

  He disappeared through the doorway, closing it behind him before she could even ask what he’d meant.

  She took in a long breath and let it out.

  Time to get settled in.

  She opened her backpack and took out something that was wrapped in old butcher paper. She unwrapped it and set the old photo of her father on the nightstand next to the bed.

  His eyes were creased with mirth, wild beard graying at the corners. The last photo that had been taken before he’d died.

  There were a couple of low-res photos she had from her old flip phone and a handful more in an album she kept in the trunk of her car, but this was the photo that looked most like how she remembered him.

  “I guess there weren’t dragons or legendary cowboys out here like you said, Pa.” He just smiled back, not speaking, though sometimes it felt like he could hear her when she spoke. “I’m glad you at least did one good thing so I’d have a place to stay when everything went to hell.”

  She looked around, the hoot of an owl disturbing the silence. Then, far, far away in the distance, she could make out the howl of what sounded like wolves.

  Her first night at the Dragonclaw Ranch.

  The smell of the last embers from a campfire wafted into the room, along with the crisp scent of fresh air and pure wilderness.

  Now all she had to do was prove to Harrison that she wasn’t an untrustworthy, good-for-nothing city slicker. That she had what it took to be deemed worthwhile.

  She crept to the window, beckoned by the sound of low, masculine voices. She peered through the dusty shades and saw three towering figures, long shadows cast over the ground by their silhouettes on the far side of the ranch.

  Harrison.

  Even at this distance, she could make out the hard profile of his face, the hard lines of his build as he leaned against the lamppost.

  If she was a photographer, she’d take a picture and probably make out like a bandit.

  Then again, for some reason, she felt strangely possessive of that picture in her head now. Even if he was a lowdown, lying cowboy that had tricked her and saved her all in one day.

  Unable to hear what they were saying, she watched for a minute longer before getting more things from her backpack to bed down for the night, her heart already beating excitedly in anticipation of tomorrow.

  Even if she was never going to involve herself with another cowboy in her entire life, at least life seemed to be taking a turn for the better.

  “Night, Dad,” she said to the photo.

  “What’re you thinking right now, boss?” Beck asked as Harrison glanced over at the guest house for the twentieth time since coming out for his nightly meeting with his dragon partners.

  Harrison had heard of dragons that could read thoughts and speak to each other with their minds. But he was of the opinion that if any man or woman had a mind to say something, then they needed to tell it to him straight to his face and deserved to hear it straight from him in turn.

  “A lot of things, Beck. I’m not sure if I made the biggest mistake just now or if this whole business will actually work out.”

  “You mean the lady?”

  “I mean all of it.”

  “Well, can’t say you had much of a choice in the matter with her, don’tcha think?” Clancy chimed in.

  He kicked a stone with his fancy boot, the only thing that was still fancy on him. At the end of the day, he shed his fringe and leather and wore just a simple white top with aged denim pants and a Stetson that was older than the tractor in their barn. Harrison looked over at Clancy, his deep green eyes having the tendency to nearly glow in the dark when he was curious or excited.

  “After all, I don’t expect you ever thought the dragon’s talon was going to come back, did ya?”

  “No, I didn’t.” He could still feel the coin in his pocket. The coin that signified a promise made. A life saved, a debt owed.

  A coin that bore the mark of an immortal dragon slashed across one side.

  “You never told me what happened to it all those years ago. I guess I know now,” Clancy said.

  “She smelled familiar from the moment I saw her,” Harrison replied.

  “Think she stole it from someone?” Beck asked.

  “You know I don’t abide thieves or liars in our crew. If I had any doubts, I would’ve sent her packing.” Though, in his heart, Harrison had a sneaking suspicion that was easier said than done.

  Everything about her was complicated.

  Off to the side, masked in shadows, Dallas sat on an old barrel, whittling a piece of wood down with a knife. Though Dallas was always invited to their meetings, he often never spoke a single word.

  “So that day when you came back looking like shit, what happened?” Clancy asked, only the sounds of his boots scraping the dirt and a thousand crickets audible at the moment.

  “Biggest storm of the century. Took out the whole east bank of the river,” Beck murmured.

  “Yeah. Unlucky for me, I just happened to be there when it happened.”

  Beck and Clancy went silent. “Right after the fight with the—”

  “Yeah, same day.” Harrison glanced over at the guest house again, wondering if he saw movement in the window, but maybe his eyes were playing tricks on him. “I probably would’ve made it out, but with the flood and my strength gone, I’m frankly glad that cowpoke pulled me from the river. Might’ve drowned if not for that.”

  West. That had been his name. Frank West.

  Felt like yesterday and an eternity ago at the same time.

  “So you gave him your promise. Makes sense,” Clancy said.

  “Yeah, I just didn’t expect it to come back to me. Especially not now, with everything going on.”

  “Or for it to be such a nice lady too.” Clancy had a grin on his face that Harrison wanted to punch clean off. But Clancy also had a habit of trying to get under people’s skin just because he could.

  Marian West. Such a pretty name.

  He’d been intrigued from the second he’d laid eyes on her, all womanly curves and pouty lips and eyes that shot daggers the size of sewing needles. Feisty and tenacious. Just perfect, even if she smelled like city and was about as useful to him as a steer trapped in a ditch.

  Harrison shook his head. “What we need to do is figure out how we’re going to handle this Copperhead business.”

  Beck smiled with his mouth but not his eyes, more than a little excited at the prospect of any reckless danger. “I could fry ‘em for ya.”

  Dallas perked up as well.

  “Hold off on the frying. We’ve kept peace in these parts for years, long past the times of the open range and the Wild West. I don’t intend to go starting a war if it isn’t needed just yet.”

  Beck grunted in disappointment.

  “I also want you to stay handy, Beck, ya hear? No disappearing for weeks or months without my say-so. We’ve made a lot of good progress with our herds, and I’m not going to lose it just because you get another case of wanderlust.”

  Another grunt, this one in assent.

  “Think the lady will actually be of any help?” Clancy asked, staring off at nothing in the distance.

  “If she doesn’t frighten our livestock with her stubbornness or accidentally drive a tractor through the barn, I think so,” Harris
on replied, watching the guest house again, trying to not look when the others were watching him.

  But he couldn’t shake the surge of protectiveness that wanted to burst out of his skin like a bucking bronco whenever he thought of her. He’d never felt this before. Especially not for a woman. A human at that.

  Humans were fickle, untrustworthy creatures that were more harm than help.

  Maybe this one was different, though.

  Suddenly, a scream rent the night air, and Harrison charged for the guest house, heart thudding as he bolted in front of his crew.

  In seconds, he threw the door open and saw Marian sitting up straight in her bed, eyes wide.

  She was in a tank top that showed off creamy shoulders and an utterly kissable neck that was exposed by her brown locks being up in a loose bun. And if she hadn’t been screaming to high hell just a moment ago, he’d be having entirely different ideas about this woman right now.

  Her eyes met his, and she pulled her blanket up over her chest. “There’s something in here. Something crawling around. It could be a snake!”

  Harrison strode in just as the others reached him. The room was silent. Then he heard skittering again, like something with tiny hands rummaging around.

  “I swear I heard it. I’m not crazy.”

  He walked past the bed, then reached down into a box full of stuff that must’ve been from the lady’s car. There was a hiss, and he yanked a furry, black and gray creature up by the scruff of its neck.

  “Aw hell, it’s just Gary,” Harrison growled. The raccoon swiped its claws and hissed again at him, and he pinned the annoying varmint with a glare.

  “Gary?” Marian asked, confused.

  “I was wondering where the hell he beat off to. Haven’t seen that little guy in weeks,” Clancy exclaimed, amused.

  “Missy, the only thing that’s crazy here is that you don’t know the difference between a snake and a damn raccoon.” Gary slumped over in Harrison’s grip, defeated in his search for whatever he’d been looking for in Marian’s belongings.