Blood of the Rainbow (57 page)

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Sara rode back to the house with Jared in his father’s 4x4. Tom drove the jeep back with Nadine riding shotgun.

Jared and Sara took two canteens of water, and one of iced tea. Nadine made them some more roast beef sandwiches, and tucked in a package of coconut macaroons, when Jared wasn’t looking. “They’re his favorite,” Nadine whispered in Sara’s ear.

Sara, Tom, and Nadine waited out front, while Jared went to the garage, and brought out his bike. Jared passed Sara her helmet and put his on. Sara crawled in behind him and wrapped her arms tightly around his waist. Jared revved the engine a couple of times and looked back.

“Have a safe trip!”

“We will, Mother.”

“Take care of Sara!”

Jared turned round, lifted his and Sara’s visors, and kissed her, “With my last breath Mother. Don’t worry, Dad. I’ll be back in time to help with the chores. See you later,” he said and let out on the clutch. Sara waved back to Nadine and Tom, as they drove off.

Chapter 25

Jared took Sara where he and his father had been repairing the fence. There were still a few weak posts, so Jared said his father would probably keep the horses in the pasture closer to the barn instead of letting them in the northern range.

They stopped on a high ridge. Jared scanned the desert with his binoculars. He sat back on his bike and passed them to Sara. “I don’t like this….”

“Did you see anything?”

“No, that’s what bothers me.” He scanned the country again with his natural eye. “I suppose Satan could have found a wild herd of mustangs, and ran off with them.” Jared turned to face Sara. “Did Myra tell you Satan was a wild mustang?”

“She mentioned it, but she never told me the whole story.”

Jared sighed. “Dad and Granddad were out, scouting for mountain lions, when they came across the half-eaten corpse of a horse. Lying next to it was a colt - couldn’t have been over two or three weeks old. They thought the colt was dead too, but when they checked it, they found he was still breathing.”

Sara brought her hand to her mouth. “Oh dear.”

“Granddad gave it some water from his canteen. Dad wanted to get it out of its misery, but Granddad wouldn’t let him. He cradled the colt in his arms, and they rode back to the house. Neither of them had much faith in the little guy. Mother put him on the back patio on one of Grandma’s woolen blankets. He was so dehydrated and weak, he wouldn’t even eat.”

Jared smiled, remembering. “I came home from college, and when they told me about him, I tried to see if I could get him to drink, or eat something. Mother had taken some cornmeal mush, and thinned it out with warm cow’s milk, then put it in a huge bottle, used to feed calves. She hoped if the colt drank the liquid that the mush might give him a little strength since it was so near gone. Every time I tried to give him the bottle he just turned his head to the side, and laid it on his back.  We all expected the colt to die. Even Granddad gave up hope. He said if the colt hadn’t improved by morning, he would get it out of its misery.

Myra begged them to give the colt to her. She promised to take care of it, and nurse it back to health. Dad finally gave in, but made her promise if she kept it, she would be responsible for taking care of it, which included putting it down if necessary.”

Jared rubbed his hands together to get rid of some of the dust. “I had decided, if the little guy had to be put down, I would do it. I knew it would be too much for her – despite the promise she’d made. The colt responded differently to Myra, almost as if he had been waiting for her, as though their paths had crossed for a reason.”

Sara’s interest piqued. “So the colt ate for Myra, but, not for you or your grandfather?”

“Yes. Myra started feeding, well, force feeding it fresh cow’s milk in the beginning. What little she was able to get him to drink gave him the scours. He wasn’t used to it, and he nearly died from that. Finally, Myra kept working with him, and he got better. He’s Angelstar’s Daddy, by the way. Angelstar is going to be a little horror. She’s got her father’s fiery spirit.”

Jared kissed Sara. “Anyway, now you know the story of Satan.” He put his helmet back on. “Come on, we’ll go a little further out in the desert, closer to where the mustangs range, and see if we can find any tracks.”

“If he is running with the wild mustangs, how will you be able to tell his tracks from theirs?”

Jared smiled. “Easy. All our horses are shoed, the tracks will be different. Besides, Granddad taught me how to tell one horse’s tracks from another’s. The differences are subtle, but they’re there, if you know what to look for.”

Sara couldn’t understand why, but she had a gut feeling this day would end in sorrow and tears, for Myra. There was a strange feeling hanging in the breeze. Jared hadn’t said, but Sara knew he felt it too. She could hear the sadness in his voice.

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Ten or fifteen minutes later, Jared stopped on another high ridge and scanned the area again. He lowered his binoculars, handed them to Sara and sighed heavily. “Oh no….”

“What is it?”

“Hopefully not what I think it is. There’s a flock of vultures circling just over there.” He pointed below the ridge.

Sara looked but couldn’t see anything. Maybe it was too far away for her to focus on, or she needed to have her eyes checked. She shielded them with her hand. “Where, Jared?”

“We’re going down a rough area. Hang on.” The front of the bike dropped. Jared started weaving his way down a faded path to the bottom of the valley. When they were about twenty feet away from whatever the vultures were feasting on, Jared stopped the bike, took off his helmet and handed it to Sara. “Stay here. You don’t need to see this. If this is what I think it is, it won’t be pretty.”

Jared took his rifle from his saddlebag, aimed it toward the sky, and fired off a few rounds. The gathering birds took flight, rising from the ground like a thick black cape. Sara sat patiently waiting. A few minutes later, Jared came back. His dark eyes were glossed with threatening tears, filled with pain and remorse. He swallowed hard. “It’s him….”

Poor Myra
. “What happened?”

“I don’t know for sure, but Dad needs to see this. He jumped back on the bike, slipped on his helmet, and turned around, climbing back up the ridge, unlocking his cell. “Dad, it’s me. We’re about five miles west of the north ridge….. Yeah, we found him…. I want you to have a look first, but it looks like anthrax…. No, they were swarming overhead, and had just started to gather. I ran them off. We’ll stand guard, and make sure nothing gets to the carcass…. Dad, just in case it’s anthrax, don’t you think it might be an idea to get Leo…. Really…? All right, then, we’ll see you in a few…. Well, not entirely, but I’m pretty sure…. Right…. We will….. See you then.” Jared ended the call.

Fear bolted through Sara. “Jared, I’ve heard anthrax is dangerously contagious in its airborne form!”

Jared turned, reading the concern on her face. He circled his arm around Sara’s waist and pulled her close. “I was careful not to touch anything Sara. I’ve seen this before, but I’m not an expert, it may not be anthrax. We’ll have to wait. Dad is bringing our local vet, Leo, with him. Apparently Leo dropped by for a visit and they’d been having coffee.”

Jared put his helmet on again. “We need to keep the vultures from picking at the carcass.”

“They haven’t picked at it yet?” Sara would be surprised if they hadn’t already.

“No, they were just getting ready to feast, talk about timing.”

“If it’s anthrax, can’t it be spread by the vultures?”

“No, but it can be by the other animals, especially coyotes. If they catch the scent of the decaying carcass, they’ll come searching for it. Coyotes are scavengers themselves, and unlike the vultures, their digestive system doesn’t destroy the anthrax bacteria. Once my father and Leo get here, we’ll destroy the carcass if that’s what it is.” He sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. “Unfortunately, the rest of the herd will need to be tested. They may have to be… put down to keep it from spreading.”

Sara gasped. “All of them?”
That would mean they would lose the whole heard, including Jade and Angelstar!

He swallowed hard, reading Sara’s mind. “Yes Sara. I’m afraid, if they test positive, the entire herd, including Jade and Angelstar.
All
of them would have to be destroyed.”

Sara’s eyes filled with tears. “No!”

Jared wrapped his arms around her, as silent tears slid down her cheeks. “I’m sorry Sara. I know how much you love Angelstar
and
Jade. And the fact that Satan is Angel’s sire will make it worse. If we lose her, we lose Satan’s bloodline. Let’s just hope it hasn’t spread to the herd.”

They rode back down the ridge, closer to where the horse’s carcass lay, decaying and drying in the Arizona sun. Jared broke off some branches from a desert ironwood, and used them, together with some dry straw and made small fires, equal distances around the carcass. The fires would prevent the vultures from landing again.

Jared drove the bike a safe distance away, parking in the shadow of a giant saguaro cactus. He told Sara because the cactus had so many side arms it was ancient. Apparently, saguaros can take up to seventy-five years to form a single side arm. This one had several, which meant it could be hundreds of years old.

Sara didn’t care how old the cactus was. She was just glad it loaned them its silhouette against the unbearable heat. She could tell, by the prickling feeling on the back of her neck, she would soon be suffering severe sunburn, had it not been for the cactus.

Since Jared and Sara had gone down trails the 4x4 wouldn’t be able to follow, it would take a while for his father to get to them, so they decided to eat their roast beef sandwiches, before they spoiled. Because of the heat, the sandwiches almost tasted as if they’d just been taken out of the microwave. The cold iced-tea made the sandwiches taste even better. It helped to wash down some of the desert dust their throats had been parched with.

Jared saturated his bandana with water and handed it to Sara. “Wipe your face with this, it looks a little red. You’re not getting a headache or feeling dizzy, are you?”

Sara smiled and squeezed the bandana above her head, relishing the water as it fell like raindrops on her face. Her skin absorbed them, almost as fast as the desert drank the excess water splattering on the sand. “No, I’m fine, but I‘ve got a mild headache, probably caused from the constant rumbling of the bike, I’m not used to that.”

Jared touched the back of his hand to her forehead. “Are you sure?”

Sara smiled, insistent. “Really. I’m fine Jared. I’m tougher than I look!”

Jared sighed, subjugated. “All right, but if you start feeling dizzy, we’re going back, coyotes or no coyotes.”

Sara smiled and nodded. She furrowed her brow, held her bottom lip between her teeth, glanced at Jared, and then looked away. She drew in a breath and sighed deeply. Jared watched her with curious eyes. “What’s on your mind Sara?”

“On my mind – nothing,” she answered quickly. “Why?”

“You look as if you wanted to ask me something.” He brushed the back of his fingers down the side of Sara’s face, smiling into her eyes. “You can ask me anything, and if it’s something I
can
tell you, I
will
tell you the truth.”

Sara grinned, lowering her head, mildly embarrassed. “I’m curious. What exactly is a mirage? Are they real, or do they just happen in the movies?”

Jared laughed. “Is that all?”

Sara scoffed. “That’s exactly why I hadn’t said anything. I figured you would think I was being silly and laugh at me – forget it!” Sara turned away. Jared laughed again. “See, you’re still doing it,” she said, glancing over her shoulder and turning away again.

Jared cradled her face in his hands. Sara glared at him. Jared sighed and leaned, locking his gaze with hers. “Sara… I wasn’t laughing because of what you said. I was laughing because I’m relieved. I was afraid you were going to ask me something that I couldn’t tell you, or
shouldn’t
tell you. It’s hard for me to deny you
anything
.” he whispered. Sara flicked her gaze at him and then away, eyes still narrowed, brows still pulled together. Jared grinned, kissing her until she stopped resisting him. Sara gasped, when he let her breathe.

“You don’t fight fair….”

Jared grinned temptingly. “All’s fair in love and war Sara.” He kissed her again, molding his lips to hers. Her entire body tingled. At that point, Sara was more than a willing participant, almost as demanding as him. He opened his mouth, teasing her lips apart and sweeping her mouth with his tongue, mingling his hot breath with hers. He pulled back. “Sara, unless we want to be caught with our pants down –we need to cool it a bit. My father is on his way out here, remember?” Head tilted back, eyes still closed; Sara couldn’t comprehend what Jared was saying. His kiss had teased her leaving Sara wanting more. “This is not a rejection, Sara.” He gently kissed the end of her nose. “It’s a
postponement
.”

Sara sighed, disappointed. “Not that it will make a lot of difference in this heat, but I’ll give you a rain check.” She smiled alluringly, tracing his lip with her fingers, teasing him.

Jared groaned, rubbing his body against hers. “You certainly can have a play on words sometimes Squaw. You keep this up, when I use my rain check - I’ll make you pay….”

“Jared?” Sara shyly said, making his name a question.

“Hmm?”

“Since we’ve accomplished what we came out here to do, does that mean we won’t be spending the night under the stars?”

Jared grinned, an evil gleam glowing in his amber eyes. “Not necessarily….”

Sara smiled. “Sometimes your eyes remind me of glowing stars….”

“Oh, sorry,” he said, sounding embarrassed, closing his eyes for a few seconds. He took a deep breath and let it out slow, opening his eyes again. “Better?”

Sara licked her lips with the tip of her tongue and kissed him passionately. She studied his eyes, now glowing closer to crimson. “You’re determined to get me in trouble, aren’t you?” He stood.