Cowgirl Up (18 page)
Coal tied Shadow’s reins to the rail of the hitching post outside the bunkhouse and walked inside to find the crew finishing breakfast. “Morning,” she said as she walked to the counter and poured a cup of coffee.
“Good morning,” Harley answered. “We were just discussing the work for today.”
She joined them at the table. “What’s on tap for today?”
“Stan wants to give the hay we cut yesterday the morning to dry, so we are going to work on the next field. He wants you and Gene to ride up to the north pasture and check the boundary fence. Some of the neighbor’s herd made it into our pasture and may have done some damage.”
“That sounds like a good way to eat the morning up,” she said.
“If you see any more of their herd, move them back on their side of the fence and try to be back for lunch. If everything works out well we will start baling after lunch and you two will get a workout then,” Harley said with a grin.
“Speaking of Gene, where is he?”
“He’s already gone to the barn to saddle up and put some tools together,” Lucas said.
Coal grinned and drained her cup. “I guess I’d better get a move on then.”
“We’ll see you at lunch,” Harley said as she placed her cup in the dishwasher and headed for the door.
“See you soon,” she answered and opened the door to find Gene already mounted and waiting for her. She swung her body into the saddle and they started walking across the yard.
“Looks like we lucked up with fence mending duty,” he said.
“We better enjoy this morning. By the time we start loading those bales it will be nice and hot,” she said.
“Nothing like working up a good sweat,” he teased.
“I’ll remind you of that about two o’clock,” she teased back.
They rode in silence for a few minutes, and when Gene straightened in his saddle after closing a gate behind them, he turned to look at Coal. “You look refreshed and relaxed this morning.”
“I had a good night’s sleep for a change.”
“Did your appointment go well?”
Coal really didn’t want to talk about it, but remembered Del’s advice about talking about her experience in the desert. “Yeah, it did. I think she can help me get over the past.”
“You know I almost joined up after high school,” he said.
“Be glad you didn’t. In hindsight, I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.”
“How did you get in the army?” he asked.
“I joined after college and went through Army Ranger School and served four years before I had enough and transitioned to the reserves.”
“Is that where you learned to fight so well?”
“Yeah, I learned how to be a killing machine.” Coal seemed thoughtful for a few seconds. “My first experience in the desert was easy, pretty much mop-up duty. The major conflict had been over for months and our unit deployed to assist with transitioning troops back home. There was no fight left by then, but we had to remain vigilant for snipers and bombs.”
“Did you have to kill anyone while you were there?”
“Not while I was active duty. When I rotated out and joined the reserves, I went to work at a ranch in Dallas for a while. That’s when I met my girlfriend, Tessa, and Mitch. They were both part of my reserve unit.”
“I had just started working at the MC2 when he got called up,” Gene said. “He seemed to be a really great guy.”
“He was,” she said. “I really enjoyed serving with him.”
Gene bent over in the saddle to open another gate and they rode through. “How long were you with Tessa?”
Coal smiled at him. “You are full of questions this morning.”
Gene frowned. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to pry.”
“That’s okay, Gene. Tessa was a teacher in Dallas. We lived together for two years before our unit got recalled and we were sent to Afghanistan.”
“What was she like?” He noticed a dreamy look in her eyes as she thought of the words to describe Tessa.
“She was beautiful and had the kindest heart of anyone I have ever met. She worked at an elementary school in a low-income section of Dallas. I used to tease her that she spent most of her salary providing for the kids in her class. She always made sure her students had what they needed, whether it was a coat or notebooks, she was always first to act for their benefit.”
“She sounds like a good woman. What happened to her?”
She felt tears welling in her eyes and when she looked at Gene, he swallowed hard, realizing he had struck a painful memory in his friend. “Damn, I’m sorry, I should shut my big mouth,” he said, hanging his head.
“No, Gene, the doctor actually encouraged me to talk about it to help me with my therapy, so you are actually doing me a big favor. What I’m telling you Mary Leah doesn’t even know yet, so this is like a rehearsal.”
Gene smiled in relief at her comment. “That doesn’t make it easy though, I’m sure.”
Coal shook her head. “No, it doesn’t.” She took a deep breath. “We were two weeks shy of rotating back to the States when we were sent on a mission. It was a blistering Saturday morning and there was eeriness in the air. Normally, the streets on a Saturday morning would have been bustling with activity, families rushing to market and running errands, but that morning the only movement was the heat waves dancing on the streets.”
They had reached the final gate, so she waited until they passed through to continue. “We were called out on a report of a car bomb in a residential area. Mitch and Tessa were the bomb experts on our team and I was part of the sniper protection for them. As they approached to begin disarming the bomb, a crying child walked out to the street, headed directly toward the car. I turned my head for a fraction of a second to bark out an order for one of the soldiers to move the child to safety and my moment of distraction allowed the terrorist to activate the bomb. Mitch heard the click of the ignition and dove on the bomb to protect the rest of us and was killed instantly.”
Coal hesitated for a second as her eyes rested on a stray steer that did not wear the brand of the MC2. “Let’s get him back home and then I’ll continue,” she said. “Might as well find out where he breached the fence first,” she added.
“You check the fence and I’ll round him up,” he said and rode toward the stray.
She rode forward along the fence line and found the area the steer had pressed his way through and whistled to Gene who was already moving the steer in her direction. She backed Shadow away from the gap to allow plenty of room for the steer to enter his home pasture and waited for Gene to run him through.
Gene stopped beside her and said, “I’ll fix this section if you want to keep riding the fence line to make sure this is the only breach. I’ll catch up with you when I’m finished.”
“You sure you don’t need help?”
“Naw, I’ve got this.”
Coal nodded and turned Shadow to continue riding the fence line. She reached out and checked posts as she passed them to ensure they were solid and the wire was intact. The cry of a hawk overhead broke her concentration, and she looked up to see him flying toward the pasture the crew was cutting for hay. He soared in the soft winds high above, his sharp eyes searching the ground for any signs of movement. She watched for several more seconds until his cry rang in her ears again and he dove swiftly after his prey, becoming lost to her vision as he descended beneath the tree line. She waited for several seconds to see if he would reappear with his prey caught in sharp talons, but he remained invisible to her eyes.
She resumed her investigation and Gene joined her ten minutes later. “Welcome back.”
“Thanks, did you see that hawk?”
“Yeah, I did. I wonder what he caught?” she said.
“I couldn’t tell either,” he said as he settled in beside Shadow.
They walked in silence for a few minutes before she resumed her story. “When Mitch dove on top of the bomb, it killed him instantly but protected several others from major damage. Tessa, however, was closest to him and took a major hit from the flying shrapnel. I took out the terrorist with my rifle, but I was a second too late. I rushed to Tessa as another team member called for a medical evacuation unit, but it was too late for her too. She died in my arms and there was nothing I could do to save her.”
“Damn, that sucks,” Gene said. “I’m sorry, Coal.”
“Thanks, Gene.”
“Were you injured?”
“I took some shrapnel to my side, but my injuries were not serious. I didn’t even realize I was bleeding until the chopper arrived. A few dozen stitches and I was good to go, physically at least.”
“Is that when you came to the MC2?”
“I resigned my commission when I returned to Dallas and tried to live in the home Tessa and I made, but I couldn’t live there without her. I heard from my ranch foreman that the MC2 was hiring, so I applied, not knowing that it was Mitch’s ranch or that Melissa was his wife. I guess fate just brought me home.”
“When did you make the connection?”
She chuckled. “Melissa and I were going to watch a movie after we had finished the hay in my first week here. When I walked into the den I saw pictures of Mitch and Tessa I had taken hanging on the wall and I passed out in shock.”
“I bet that was a shock to your system.”
“Neither Melissa or I had made the connection until that night.”
“Thank you for sharing that with me. I promise I won’t tell anyone else what happened, but I really hope you don’t blame yourself for what happened.”
“I did for a long time,” she admitted.
“What is happening with you now?”
“I don’t know. Mary Leah and the doctor think I may have post-traumatic stress. I don’t understand why it is coming out now, but I’ve been having nightmares and losing sleep.”
“I hope therapy will work quickly for you, Coal,” he said, blushing.
“Thanks, Gene, I hope so too.”
They had checked the remainder of the fence line and found no further breaches. “You ready to throw some hay?” she asked.
“Sooner we start, the sooner we finish. Are you going to feel like practicing some tonight after dinner?”
“I think that could be arranged. I know Shadow is ready for some exercise.”
“Let’s give them a short run then,” Gene said and urged his horse into a gallop as they raced across the open field.
†
Melissa had just driven up with lunch when Coal and Gene arrived at the hayfields. “Well you two sure have perfect timing today,” she teased.
“Gene smelled food,” Coal answered and Gene laughed.
“You know I can smell it from a mile away.”
“Tend to your horses and join us. I’ll fix your plates,” Melissa said.
Coal and Gene tied their reins on tree branches and then unsaddled their horses in the shade. “Should we let them loose to graze?” he asked.
“Might as well. We’re going to be here a while,” she answered and took Shadow’s bridle and hung it on the limb.
They walked over to the group resting in the shade, enjoying lunch. Melissa brought plates and drinks and then sat with the group. “You know, I can drive the truck to allow two to load and two to stack,” she said.
“That would speed things up some. Are you sure you wouldn’t mind?” Stan asked.