Cowgirl Up (22 page)

“Yes, that would help me out here,” she answered. “Will you also check to see if Melissa has more black pepper in the pantry?”

Mary Leah walked over and opened the pantry door with a chuckle. “Would you like the industrial size or regular?”

“I’ve emptied out her shaker, so refill it with the industrial size, if it’s open.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Mary Leah said.

They toiled together in the kitchen until the dumplings were cooking slowly and the corn was on to boil. “Let’s take a break,” Coal said as she washed the flour from her hands.

“That sounds good to me,” Mary Leah said.

They walked onto the porch and watched a truck full of hay pull in front of the barn. Gene, Lucas, Roy, and Tom stepped out of the truck Melissa drove and began unloading the hay. She and Mary Leah walked across the yard.

“Do you need drinks?” she asked Melissa. “We made some lemonade.”

“Yes, that would be good.”

“Hang tight and I’ll get it,” Mary Leah said.

“How’s it going this morning?” she asked.

Gene and Lucas were placing bales of hay on the lift to raise it to the loft. “It’s going well, but we miss having you out there with us,” Gene said.

“I’ll be back in the field Monday,” she answered.

“How’s lunch coming along?” Melissa asked.

“Very well, we were just taking a break when we saw you pull up. What time do you want to eat?”

“Right about now,” Gene said with a grin.

Melissa smiled back at him. “We are going to put in another hour and then call it a day.”

“Should we set up for lunch in the bunkhouse then?” she asked as Mary Leah returned.

“That would be great. I think these guys have had enough sun for today.”

“We will be all ready to go in an hour then,” she promised.

Mary Leah passed around glasses of lemonade as the crew took a short break.

†

Lunch for the crew was a great success and after cleaning up the mess in the kitchen and storing the leftovers for the crew’s dinner, Coal and Mary Leah started for home.

“I think a nap is in order,” Mary Leah announced as they arrived home.

“That’s not a bad idea at all. Later would you mind if Shadow and I go for a ride?”

Mary Leah turned to face her lover. “Of course not, but remember to take it easy so you don’t open up that wound.”

“Yes, ma’am,” she answered.

Mary Leah flipped the switch on the bedroom wall to turn on the ceiling fan as she and Coal began to undress. When they climbed into the bed, Coal spooned next to her lover and held her until she drifted off to sleep. Unable to follow her lover in a nap, Coal rolled onto her back and stared up at the ceiling. She closed her eyes willing herself to sleep to no avail.

The soft whirring sound of the ceiling fan grew louder and reminded her of the distant thrumming of helicopter blades. She felt her heartbeat begin to race as her skin broke out in a cold sweat. She squeezed her eyes tightly together in an effort to exorcise the visions from her memory, but the images remained. The thrumming grew louder as the helicopter approached, dust swirling through the scorching air, coating everything with a rust-colored film. The evacuation chopper had arrived, skids settling on the dirt with a groan as the metal door slung open with a loud bang and the medics rushed from within.

Coal ripped her eyes from the approaching medics to look down. Tessa’s lifeless face stared up at her, her brilliant blue eyes fading with the pallor of death.

“Move away, soldier, and let us tend to her,” she remembered a medic saying, but she refused to move.

Her arms cradled Tessa’s body to her. “It’s too late for her, you’re too late for her,” she remembered saying.

The medic’s fingertips reached down to Tessa’s neck, searching for signs of a pulse. Finding none, he looked into Coal’s eyes. “I’m sorry,” he said as tears flowed down her cheeks.

Cries for help from one of his team made him tear his eyes away from hers as he ran to help some of the wounded soldiers in the unit, leaving her cradling Tessa’s lifeless body in her arms as her body rocked back and forth in complete anguish.

The co-pilot and another soldier placed Mitch’s torn body into a body bag as the medics prepared the injured for transport, leaving she and Tessa the last to be loaded. When they were ready to depart, the medic returned to Coal.

“It’s time to take her home,” he gently said. “You have to let her go.” He carefully removed Tessa’s body from her arms and she watched in horror as they placed her in a black body bag, her still beautiful face disappearing from view as the zipper slowly closed.

The medic helped her to her feet, pain ripping through her side as her wounds became evident. “Come, let’s get you tended to,” he said, offering a hand and her feet moved mechanically as she was led to the chopper.
 

Coal bolted up in the bed, gasping for a breath. Mary Leah lay unmoving beside her. She crept from the bed, hoping to leave without disturbing her slumber. She needed air and space, so she left the cabin and walked quickly to the barn to saddle Shadow.

Mary Leah rolled onto her back, her hand instinctively resting on the spot just vacated by Coal. She had awoken when she felt Coal’s body grow stiff from the tension of her memories. She desperately wanted to talk with her, but she remained frozen with no idea of what she would tell her or ask of her. She silently prayed she would come to her one day to speak of the horrors she had experienced in the desert.

†

Shadow stamped his hoof in excitement as she walked into the barn. “It’s time to go, isn’t it, big boy?” Coal opened his stall and walked him over to the tack, slipping a saddle blanket onto his back. She gingerly lifted her saddle, wincing at the pain in her side as she placed it on his strong back. Ignoring the pain, she continued to saddle her steed and after slipping the bridle over his head, she placed her foot in the stirrup to mount Shadow.

They left the barn and walked deep into the pastures, beyond the haying fields toward the herd grazing in the furthermost section of the ranch.

†

From the front porch of her home, Melissa saw Coal and Shadow as they entered the pasture. She sensed Coal’s distress and her heart reached out to her. Gene stepped from the bunkhouse at that moment and she hollered out to him. “Gene, will you saddle a horse for me?”

“Yes, ma’am,” he answered and rushed to the barn as Melissa entered the house in search of her boots.

Gene saddled Melissa’s palomino mare and led her to the front porch. When Melissa emerged from the house, she found Gene waiting for her. “Is everything all right, boss?”

“Yes, I’m just going out for a ride,” she said as she took the mare’s reins and mounted her. “Thank you for bringing her to me.”

“You’re welcome. Be safe and enjoy your ride,” he said as he watched her ride from the yard. In the distance, he saw the fading view of a black horse and rider, knowing instantly Melissa was following Coal.

†

Coal allowed the soft thuds of Shadow’s hooves relax her as they crossed the open expanse. She could see nothing but fields for miles, ringed by thin strips of gnarled trees, scorching in the summer heat. The memory of Tessa lying in her arms weighed heavily on her heart as she slumped in her saddle. She knew she had to find a way to purge the guilt of her death before it drove her mad. Tears flowed down her cheeks, Shadow, sensing her distress, plodded aimlessly, no purpose but to serve his master.

The cry of a hawk circling above drew her attention to the sky. It had been some time since she had seen the pair flying together and she wondered if it too had lost its mate. Her eyes followed the flight of the bird as he dove and then emerged, carrying a squirming rabbit in his talons. A cry from the distance solved her riddle as the predator’s mate called to him. A slow smile grew on her face as she watched the bird fly swiftly to the tree, dropping to a branch to share the bounty of the kill with its mate.

Approaching hoofbeats made her turn in the saddle. She shielded her eyes from the sun to see a golden horse and rider approaching through the haze of heat waves. “Melissa,” she spoke softly.

She pulled Shadow to a halt and waited for Melissa and the mare to catch up. “I saw you out riding. Mind if I join you?”

“Not at all,” Coal said, managing a smile.

Melissa saw the tearstains on Coal’s cheeks. “You can tell me to mind my own business if you want,” she said.

“I would never do that,” she said.

“You look like you’re having a rough time.”

Coal sighed deeply. “Mary Leah and I laid down for a nap, but I couldn’t sleep. I closed my eyes and the whirring of the ceiling fan sounded like copter rotors and my head was filled with memories of that last day.”

“When Tessa…and Mitch died?” Melissa asked.

She nodded her head.

“Share them with me,” Melissa said.

“I was holding Tessa in my arms when the chopper landed. She whispered, ‘I love you’ and then died in my arms. Mitch was lying several feet away, the pooling of their blood running together as the dust kicked up by the chopper filled the air.” She choked back her tears. “They took her away from me and she disappeared behind the zipper of a body bag. I let them die,” she said and broke down in tears.

“You are not responsible,” Melissa said. “For Tessa’s death or Mitch’s.”

“My hesitation got them killed.”

“No, it didn’t. The bomb killed them. Coal, no matter what you think, you couldn’t have stopped that.”

“But, I could have if I hadn’t been distracted.”

“His death grip on the detonation device would have triggered the explosion and more would have died if Mitch hadn’t buffered the bomb.”

A part deep inside her knew that Melissa’s words rang true.

“How long has it been since you have visited her grave?”

“Too long,” she admitted. “It’s just so far away.”

“You can have whatever time you need off, if you want to visit.”

“There is too much to do, and we have the rodeo coming up,” she said. “Maybe afterward,” she said. But even to her own ears, the words didn’t sound sincere.

“Have you talked to Mary Leah about what you experienced?”

“No, besides you and Del, Gene is the only one I have talked to about my time in the desert. I’m not sure how to talk to her about Tessa.”

“Just open your heart to her and the words will come,” Melissa said.

They rode in silence until they reached the boundary of the MC2, and Melissa reached for Coal’s hand. She smiled at Melissa’s gesture and they turned to stare at the setting sun.

“Are you ready to head home?” she asked Melissa.

“Yes, let’s go home, Coal.”

†

Mary Leah watched as she rode back into the barn and unsaddled Shadow. She was washing vegetables in the sink for a fresh salad when the door opened and she walked into the kitchen. Coal strode across the floor and took Mary Leah in her arms for a fiery kiss. “We need to talk,” she said.

“Over dinner?” she asked.

“Now. I can’t eat until I get this off my conscious,” she answered.

“Grab some beer and I’ll meet you on the deck. Maybe we could have a fire in the pit?” Mary Leah said.

“I will start one,” Coal answered with a smile.