by Zoey Kane
His eyes darted upward as he shook his head no.
“Heavens no,” Marlene added with a laugh. “You two need to go home where you belong. This place is for paying guests who can afford to stay here.”
Zo smiled. “Buzz off, Marlene.”
“Do you know who you are talking to?” questioned the woman with bulging eyes.
“Do you know who you are talking to?”
“Yes—freeloaders, transients, no-class intruders on these good people.” She waved an arm toward the other patrons.
“I would say you have a better opinion of yourself than you deserve,” Zo quipped. “You are dismissed.”
“What?” she said breathlessly. “Well, I never!”
“That’s right,” Claire interjected. “You never have been gracious.” She could never resist those “well-I-nevers.”
Grabbing Richard by the arm, Marlene snarled, “Let’s go!”
Bill sat silently with a funny grin, obviously soaking up the hard-hitting punches of women in a word-fight. Finally he said, “You should have just knocked her out. So much simpler.”
The server reappeared, fanning out three flyers. “Here are your pamphlets, ma’am. Are you thinking about prospecting for gold?”
“I appreciate gold when it comes my way in bricks. I doubt I’ll be digging for any.” Zo read her plastic nametag. “Thanks, Cindy. Oh! By the way, what do you know about Marlene over there?”
“I’ve heard her say she is a woman of many accomplishments: President of a garden club. Uh… she also claims to be the Chairwoman of Social Events at a country club. As well as being an exceptional artist. Will that be all today, ma’am?”
“For sure. Thank you.”
“Here, Bill.” Zo handed him the pamphlets. “Make sure your map doesn’t look like any of these.”
“Okay! I better find a ride to a store and load up on provisions for prospecting.” His eyes glistened with excitement before he excused himself and went on his merry way.
“You couldn’t pass the opportunity up, huh?” Claire eyed her mother.
Zo tilted her head and said, “What would be the fun in that?”
“But we don’t need more wealth…”
“Oh, I know that. It isn’t always about having wealth, but the adventure in finding it. I wouldn’t deprive Bill of that.”
“And your heart didn’t race at the possibility of undiscovered treasure?”
Zo avoided Claire’s brown eyes that matched her own, before admitting, “Oh, all right. You know me too well.”
FOUR
As Zo and Claire entered the foyer, they spotted Bill. He was talking to a couple of dirty-looking guys that looked like they just came from mucking out the barn. One had a heavy, dark unibrow bushing out underneath his straw hat. The other wore camouflage pants, and his hair was slicked back in a feeble attempt to appear like a lady’s man.
“Do you think they work here, or just have gold lust too?” Claire asked.
“I think…” deduced Zo, “they are going to be at the dance tonight! Lucky us.”
As the bell rang over the door on their way out, one man was overheard saying, “Yeah, well, I’m tired of not getting anywhere!”
The duo looked at each other with a nod and said, “Prospectors…”
It was even brighter out now than when they arrived, and a faint scent of hay drifted on the light breeze. The women headed toward the stables, where they saw Brooks. He walked toward them with a confident cowboy swagger that made Claire catch her breath. “Hi, ladies!”
“Hello!” they replied.
He came right up to Claire, glistening with a sweaty sheen. Bulging veins ran down his arms and hands from having lifted hay bales. To top things off, his tee clung perfectly to his chest. Claire had to divert her eyes, lest she stare. “You two wanna ride… for fun this time?”
Claire happily said yes. “Mom’s ridden before, but I’m a newbie.”
“That’s fine. Expected, actually, at a place like this. So I’ve got you covered. Where would you like to go?” He turned toward the great expanse of desert. In the distance lay a few rolling hills amidst one flat-top monolith—Devil’s Tooth.
“I was thinking about riding around the ranch,” Claire said, “but now that I see those hills, maybe we can head out that direction a bit.”
“Yes, ma’am. Follow me to the barn.”
The doors were open at both ends, making the breeze even more refreshing inside. There was only a trace of horse smell since it was kept so clean. Claire took the reins of Brooks’s palomino, Goldstrike, and Zo’s mouth dropped open in surprise when a white mule was pulled out from a stall for her.
“All the other horses are on a guided tour with other guests,” Brooks said with an apologetic expression. “This is Roy.”
Zo wasn’t sure she would like riding a mule all that much, but Brooks assured her Roy was “a guy with personality. He knows names, especially his buddy’s there.” He pointed at Goldstrike.
“Yeah. Uh-huh!” She was very skeptical.
Brooks handed them each a white straw cowgirl hat and some sun block from one of the barn’s lockers. After slathering up, Zo donned her flat-brimmed hat. Claire’s was curved just right, complimenting her sleek, dark brown hair while accentuating her long neck, which resulted in multiple compliments from Brooks.
Zo had to admit once Roy was all saddled up on a red blanket, he was pretty cute. Outfitted with black-tooled saddlebags in which Brooks placed a few bottles of water and a couple of apples, didn’t ensure the mule would be a pleasant ride, however.
“You put a red bow on his tail? How cuuuute,” Zo said sarcastically, having a good idea what it was there for.
“Oops. That’s his only fault,” Brooks admitted sheepishly. “A red bow on a tail tells other riders he’s a kicker, meaning, they should stay a good distance away from his rear end.”
“Great! You hear that, Claire? No tailgating!”
Claire was smiling at something. “Roy sure is looking you over.”
Zo turned to see that the mule’s head was swung around and he truly was looking directly at her with his big eyes. Okay, so he was pretty cute.
“Okay, ladies, it’s time to mount up…”
Claire stepped up with no trouble at all, feeling confident with the reins in her left hand, ready to go.
“You’re a natural,” Brooks said with smiling eyes.
Zo positioned the stirrup and inserted her foot to swing up. “Okay, Roy. No funny business.”
The mule nodded his head as if he understood, but began walking, making Zo hop on one foot. “Whoa! I said no funny business!”
“Haw-haw-haw.” Roy looked at Zo with a toothy grin and large, teasing eyes.
“He likes you,” Brooks announced.
“Yeah right,” she replied doubtfully. Swinging up into the saddle, she took the reins and gave a heel command. The mule didn’t hesitate, eagerly trotting forward.
They rode around, looking over a few cattle, some horses in a fenced pasture, and eventually, opened a gate that led to the badlands. They decided to make their destination the monolithic, flat-topped structure with a natural path that wound up to its top. It took just a little over an hour to reach the base. It was shady on the east side where the two stopped. They dismounted to stretch their legs and peer up at the tall butte. To celebrate their safe arrival, they each drank a bottle of water.
The mule brayed, looking at Zo.
“I think he wants water,” Claire acknowledged, taking a bottle and pouring water into her cupped hand for Goldstrike, who drank it right up.
Zo brought water over to Roy and was about to pour it into her hand when the mule chomped his long teeth around the bottle top, then stretched up his head to pour it down his throat in huge gulps. “Really? The minute that becomes a whiskey bottle, you and I are through!”
Roy bobbed his head, eyeing Zo intently.
They tied the animals to some desert scrub. The two intended
to take a little hike up the natural path, at least until it looked too dangerous or they got too tired. After only a little while, Claire suggested they call it quits. It was too slippery and their boots were designed more for style than for hiking.
On the way back down, Zo noticed something glinting through the powdery, beige dirt. She picked it up and discovered it was a silver cuff bracelet. She rubbed a little of the sand off, revealing a sculpted head with a gold nugget between its teeth—very similar to Captain Daniel Walks-With-Secrets’ bracelet. Zo put it on.
Claire’s voice interrupted her thoughts. “Wow, you found something kind of neat!”
Zo held out her arm for her daughter to inspect her discovery. The sound of softly pulsing drums thrummed from somewhere close by. They both shot glances all around. “You hear that?” Zo asked.
“Drums,” Claire said, now peering down at where Goldstrike and Roy were patiently waiting. “I can’t tell where it’s coming from.”
“Me neither.”
The warning shake of a rattlesnake tail interrupted the drumming, and Claire said, “It’s giving me the creeps. Let’s hurry back down.”
When they got to the bottom, Roy’s head was up and his ears were pointing forward. Goldstrike looked like he was half asleep.
They were almost to the back gate of the ranch when, across the desert floor, they spotted a red, off-road vehicle bouncing along, heading directly toward the range of hills.
“They must have something going on over there,” Claire said.
Zo agreed. “Judging by the speed they’re traveling, maybe they just struck it rich.”
*
Back at the ranch, Zo and Claire were delighted to find a note taped to their bedroom door, inviting them to a special dinner. They took extra time getting ready. Zo put her hair in a long ponytail, and Claire slicked hers into a French braid that reached past her shoulders. At dusk, they entered the dining room all washed up, and in clean clothes, to find a long table that was set beside the hearth. Name-cards told them where to sit. They anticipated a nice meal with Bill, Mackey, Captain Daniel, and Brooks.
Claire picked up her name-card and said, “They sure know how to make a guest feel welcome.”
She found Brooks’s place across the table. The cowboy must have been reading her mind, because he showed up right then and switched name-cards with Zo.
“Hey, I saw that,” Zo said with a knowing smile.
Brooks pulled Claire’s chair out and said, “I hope it’s all right with you, ma’am…”
Zo strolled over to Bill’s name-card and switched it out for Captain Daniel’s. “Mmm-hm, it’s quite all right.”
Brooks sat and turned to Claire. His turquoise shirt, rolled halfway up his tanned forearms, accented his blue eyes. His signature hat was absent, showing his sun-streaked hair. “There’s going to be a bonfire before the dance tonight. I’d like to take you. Do you think your mother would mind?” He glanced at Zo with a smile. “There’s going to be apple betty, buttered popcorn, and s’mores. And… Captain Daniel is going to tell us a Keelywot tribal story. It should be lotsa fun.”
Claire didn’t have to think twice. “I’d love to.”
Soon, all the table guests arrived, except Captain Daniel. When he strode in, Zo hoped her eyes weren’t playing tricks on her in the dim light, and she was truly seeing a hint of his defined pecs. As he neared, it became apparent he wore a beaded vest without a shirt, and his sleek, dark hair cascaded over his strong shoulders.
Zo let herself sigh, being swept away as if she were instantly transported into a romance novel. Even the slow-spinning fans, mounted low despite the high ceiling, ruffled his hair just barely. Owwoooo! She thought she heard a wolf, but realized it was her own low howl. By the time he took his seat beside her, she looked down, hoping the heat in her cheeks wouldn’t betray her by revealing her feelings. What’s more, she could have sworn she heard the low beats of a drum. Or was that her heart? It was hard to tell.
She felt a swift, little kick at her shin, and snapped her eyes on Claire, who was passing a torn piece of her napkin. Zo turned it over. It read, “You’re ogling, Motherrr.”
“Evening,” Captain Daniel said to Zo, resting his elbows on the empty table, clasping his hands. His eyes were mysteriously dark, and his silver cuff bracelet with the clamped gold nugget faced her.
“Good evening,” she said, her eyes shifting to his bracelet.
He greeted the rest of the diners at the table. The drumbeats stopped, and Zo mentally shook away a sudden eeriness. She diverted her attention to the menu, which included country-fried catfish, cheesy potatoes, green beans with bacon flavoring, and cornbread with plum preserves, just for starts. Ingredients for a real heart attack, she thought, but Zo let herself loosen up, as she inhaled a deep breath of the enticing aroma floating from the kitchen.
When the food orders were delivered, everybody seemed to be having a good time. In the middle of a group-laugh, Zo picked up her napkin to place it on her lap. The captain looked at her arm, and appeared stunned. “Where did you get that?!” he inquired, indicating the silver cuff that she found.
“Oh, I found it at Devil’s Tooth. Yours is very much like it.”
“There are only two bracelets like this and you evidently found the mate to this one.” His eyes narrowed at the strange piece of jewelry.
“Well, I didn’t purposely go out to find it. It was covered by dirt, but I saw a silver glint and pulled it out. Does it belong to someone?”
“It looks better on her than it does on you, anyway,” kidded Brooks.
It was as if Brooks just brought Daniel back to the reality of eating at a table with other guests. “Oh, yes. It does. Of course!” He raised his wine glass. “A toast to good food, good company, and beautiful women,” he said, nodding toward Zo and Claire with a charming smile.
Zo was still left with an uneasy feeling. Claire eyed her mother, feeling the same.
The ranch owner, Mackey, changed the subject by asking, “Well, who plans to go lookin’ fer The Lost Dutchman’s Mine? Anybody here?”
Bill coughed. “I’m tempted to take a pick-axe and try chipping away at that Devil’s Tooth across the way. Maybe I’ll run into something fun.”
“I’ll tell you one thing,” the scruffy, old man warned, “a lot of people have been killed over yonder, or gone missin’ while lookin’ fer gold there. Don’t mess around an’ fall off a ledge or into a hole. Seriously! Lookin’ fer gold over there is downright dangerous.”
Daniel added with a serious frown, “Apache history not like white eyes over there. Much bloodshed and evil spirits walk in shadows of mountains.”
Zo asked, “What about Keelywots?”
“We’re cool with it,” he said happily. “There aren’t enough of us to start a battle anyway. Soooo, we make love, not war.” His dark eyes rested on her in emphasis.
Zo was self-conscious and couldn’t say a word.
“Mom…”
“Oh… huh?” Zo was still deep in thought.
Claire pointed with her fork. “I was asking what you think of the kid.”
“I’m not having another kid!” she said.
“Fish.”
“What?”
Claire wrinkled her forehead. “I said fish, Mother. Fish.”
Zo laughed with relief. Thankfully, Daniel was talking to Mackey about coyotes, not paying attention. “It’s good.”
The restaurant smelled heavenly. The clinking of knives and forks punctuated the happy conversations between bites. Some sipped on water, while others preferred soft drinks or wine. After a while, the coffee and apple pie a la mode were brought out on carts.
Daniel was the first to say, “I can’t eat another bite. I always love coming to dinner here. Mackey, what does your time-teller say?”
The old man looked at his watch after swallowing the last bite of his pie. “It says it will be dark soon. We better go git the campfire set up.” He moved his chair and so did the rest of
the guys, except Bill.
“You too, Bill,” called Mackey over his shoulder, walking away.
The waitress, Cindy, came over to clear the dessert plates. Claire slid hers over with a thank you, then leaned forward, resting her head against the palm of her hand. “Mom, you look pensive.”
Zo’s head tilted. “Have you ever noticed how guys always have bigger eyes and thicker lashes than women?”
“That’s what you were thinking about? You mean your medicine man, no doubt.”
“Yes, but there is something a little strange about him.” Zo munched a leftover piece of crust as she considered her comment.
Claire bobbled her head. “Just a bit.”
FIVE
Brooks soon returned. “Are you ready?” he asked Claire before turning to Zo, and adding, “I’m stealing your daughter, Ms. Kane.”
“Okay. It’s Zo.” She suddenly felt a little lonely. She walked out toward a glowing fire in front of the ranch house.
The breathtaking, desert sunset painted vivid pinks and purples across the sky. Cacti silhouettes dotted the bumpy, bushy landscape, as the campfire smoke softly mingled with an earthy aroma. Zo was never the type to go camping, but this wasn’t bad at all. After savoring the scenery, she grabbed a single-serve bag of popcorn from among others being offered on a fold-up table. She looked for an empty chair to sit, and chose to settle behind a crowd of patrons to satisfy her desire for people-watching. Pretty soon, however, somebody came up beside her and sat down with an “Umph.”
It was Roy. His huge ears pointing forward, his lower lip moved in some kind of greeting.
“You’re pretty tall sitting down. Have some popcorn?”
He threw his head up and down. She poured an ample amount of popcorn into her palm. “You know what I think?” she said while Roy busily chewed the treat. His soft, fuzzy muzzle tickled her hand as she continued, “I think that despite how big and fat you are around the belly, you make a pretty good date. I’ve had much worse.” She poured more popcorn, which he eagerly gobbled up.