The McCullen Ranch

If anything, it proved that, even with all this going on, I was more a lover than a fighter. Perhaps I could get Abe to inscribe that on my headstone after he killed me.

It was Kelly who took over from then on; she showed me how to strip the Sig down and build it back up again. I had to memorize and name all the parts, and that included how many bullets the magazine carried. She showed me the target range and the walk-around range, although she did say that the target range was the only one we would use.

She then showed me how it was done when she took up a stance and then withdrew her own Sig from its holster and emptied the whole magazine into the target. Even with the sound of gunfire still in the air, she asked me how many rounds she had fired. Instinct once again played a part in my answer when I told her, and then became confused because the magazine was empty, and yet she had fired two fewer then the maximum capacity.

With the Sig still in its locked open position, she placed it onto the table and walked over to me. Her arms went around me as we kissed. She looked a little flustered when our lips parted, and I know the half pace back so she didn't feel my erection start to harden against her thigh didn't go unnoticed by her either.

She gulped in air and, with that knowing smile giving her away, she said, "You paid attention, so that was your reward."

I sure made it a priority to pay a lot of attention that day. Abe hovered, but said and did very little. We went back a second and even a third day; my own calculating mind told me we had shot over a thousands rounds over three days at various targets. By late the third day, my grouping was within two inches and I had received twenty-seven kisses as rewards.

*******

My time at the McCullen Ranch was well over half-way gone and, looking back on what I had achieved as a person, I actually felt rather proud of myself. It was still with reluctance that I put on my Stetson, my admiration for every man and woman who wore it being endless. I might not be a cowboy by any stretch of imagination, but when Abe told me to wear it you just didn't argue.

My times got better at every task asked of me, and my comfort level grew when Missy or Abe smiled and nodded at me. Something else I noticed was my weight distribution. I was losing body fat, and yet keeping close to the same weight when muscle took over. Modesty kept me from swaggering; these folks earned their living working out here, and I was just a visitor.

Abe caught up with Missy and me at the outskirts of the ranch, telling us to spend the rest of the day roaming. Some of the younger cows had walked away from the herd, and we were to collect any we found and bring them back. We did as we were told, but it didn't stop either of us from talking as we did. Missy was just like any young person; she just couldn't wait to grow up.

Her plans were simple and already partly acted upon: she was going to run the ranch with her father. She said with some relief in her voice that the local college had a business management degree course that she planned to take. It also seemed that opening the ranch to outsiders so they could experience what it was like was actually her idea, even though she admitted to stealing it from some documentary she had watched.

For my part I laughed, and reminded her that all the best ideas get stolen by others over time. Missy admitted that she had had a hard time getting her father to try it; when Abe retired from the army he all but hid out on the ranch.

It took both daughters together to get him to any of the remembrance celebrations. Missy struggled with the last part when she admitted that men like Abe, on days when they were with those that served, felt that they didn't bring enough of them back.

We found three cows that day. Abe watched us return and, as the three runaways returned to the herd, Abe looked at his daughter and told her that, since we did this well at finding them, we would both get that duty every other day.

*******

A week later...

Missy called a halt to our ride.

"My horse has something in her shoe. I need to dig it out before whatever it is cripples her."

I watched as she jumped down, pulled a knife out of her belt and set about cleaning the horse's front hoof, humming a gentle tune to calm the horse. She suddenly went stiff for a moment and looked the other side of Jenny. Her gaze was very intense, and it felt like she was looking for something. Eventually her attention went back to cleaning the horse's hoof.

She called me, but just kept dealing with her horse. "Chase."

"Yeah, Missy?"

"Something is spooking Jenny, and it's not me holding a knife to her foot. Be casual about it, but tell me if you see anything."

As I scanned the area around Missy and checked everything further back, nothing looked out of place. Domino sensed something as well, and started to get agitated. I kept looking around and pulled on the reins to turn her. Once my right side was hidden from Missy, I pulled my Sig out of its holster.

"I can't see anything, Missy." I started to think that was the part that worried me. "You going to be much longer?"

Suddenly Jenny let out a whinny, and her flanks flexed in anticipation. Missy put her horse's leg down again and tried to calm her.

"Chase, we're in big trouble: Jenny can smell a cougar. We need to get out of here."

The mountain lion jumped from the bush the other side of Missy and her horse, digging both sets of front claws into Jenny. She reared, her front leg catching Missy under her chin and flinging her a good four feet out of the way, hitting her head on a rock when she came down.

Jenny turned with the cougar still attached, its mouth wide open and ready to sink its teeth into the horse. As its head came into my line of sight I emptied a full magazine into the big cat. With my Sig locked open, the hours of practice on Abe's firing range became reality as I changed the magazine and made my gun ready once again. The cougar slid off Jenny and she bolted.

Keeping my attention on the cougar meant listening to Jenny gallop off into the distance; I didn't even know what direction she went, other than the general direction of "over there." An eerie silence descended on the whole area; Domino didn't even move as I dismounted and checked to ensure that the cat was dead before looking over at Missy.

Even my own very basic first-aid skills told me she was in a bad way, and I needed to get her back to the ranch. My own horse had calmed now the threat was dead. Un-strapping and dropping the saddle and keeping the blanket on my horse seemed the logical thing to do. Despite what the Hollywood movies say, you can't get two people on one saddle.

My riding skills were still in their infancy, and that was with a saddle. I just hoped I could ride without a saddle, and that Domino wouldn't try to drop us both off her back.

Getting Missy on was a task on its own, but my self-opinionated horse seemed to know that now wasn't the time to mess me about. We had a long ride in front of us to return to the ranch house and, with two people on her back, I let my horse set the pace. I cradled Missy in my arms, talking to her as we walked back. It was a wise move on my part to give my horse her own head, as I recognized enough of our surroundings to know we were going in the right direction.

We must have been like this for about two hours before I spotted a dust cloud in the distance. I stopped and thanked my horse, and then told Missy that the cavalry were coming and to hang in there. If she heard me she gave no acknowledgement; she hadn't for the last two hours, as I spoke utter rubbish to her in the hope that something I said had penetrated far enough to let Missy know that she wasn't alone out there.

Abe was flanked by three of the ranch hands, all armed and ready for a small war. Abe slid to a halt and seemed to dismount at the same time. As soon as his feet touched firm ground he ran the rest of the way.

Between us we eased Missy onto the ground, and one of the ranch hands started to pull a medical bag open. Another came over and handed me a canteen. I let my horse drink first; she was the one who had done all the work. Abe stood to one side with a satellite phone in his hand and nodding his head on occasions before packing it away. He then knelt next to his daughter, holding her hand.

The ranch hand who passed me the canteen told me that Jenny came back to the stables, covered in her own blood. They recognized the claw marks, and Abe grabbed the nearest guys and headed out the same way Jenny had come back. It was as he spoke that he looked over my shoulder and called Abe. Abe turned, recognized the oncoming silhouette and pulled a flare out of one of the saddlebags, lighting it and tossing it over to a clearing that looked free of loose brush. The Blackhawk landed on the other side of the flare.

I held onto Domino, and the other guys did the same with their horses, as a soldier with a medic's hat and bag bent low, jumped out of the helicopter, and then set to work on Missy. Two others dismounted carrying a stretcher. The three placed Missy on the stretcher and Abe joined them. We all watched as the rotors slowed to a stop while the medic continued to work on Missy.

Nothing moved other than the medic as he shouted instructions to his two companions. Abe had hold of one of Missy's hands and kept up his own conversation with his unconscious daughter.

Eventually the medic called out to the pilot, and the two in the front went into a well-rehearsed routine as the three on the ground carefully lifted the stretcher into the helicopter and secured it in place. The blades were already rotating as Abe climbed in after his daughter and, when they had picked up enough speed, the chopper lifted off. We all watched until it became a dot in the distance. I climbed back onto my horse and turned back the way I had come.

"Chase, the ranch is this way."

"I know, but I left my saddle back there, and I'm responsible for it."

The guy who handed me the canteen moved his own horse in front of mine.

"We will take care of that. You need to get back to the ranch."

He was right. I was city folk and not to be trusted on my own out there. The rest of the guys seemed to sense my hesitancy, and moved to place my horse and me in the middle of the group.

Kelly was waiting for us on the porch steps. The group tried to steer me towards the ranch house but I made it clear that my horse needed tending to. Abe had said from the outset that this was my horse, and that she was my responsibility. Kelly heard me and said something in Spanish to one of the men. They broke formation then, and I took my horse back to the stable. I walked her, brushed her down, fed and watered her, and put her into her stall.

I patted her neck and, with the emotions of the day starting to wind down for me, my hand reached out to her neck once again. It had been a love/hate relationship between us, and I had carried the bruises to prove it, but I had discovered something that day that in my rush to get Missy out of there, I didn't realize. This horse was my rock; she saw everything, and seemed to understand what it was going to take for us all to get out of the situation alive.

Just as Jenny had looked out for Missy, Domino had done the same for me that day. In the face of fear she stood still so I could take the shot to kill the mountain lion that was going to kill us all. Since the day we had been introduced she had been my nemesis, and yet when I needed her the most she had carried us both without complaint, and taken us home while my own concentration was on talking to and holding on to Missy.

That day I had found the relationship the men of the old West had with the horse. A trust, formed with a "need," or perhaps a dependence on one another. The day before, I would have gladly sold that horse to the nearest meat market and slept peacefully after I did but, after the cougar, she was my friend. I was sure we would still love to hate each other, but that day proved beyond doubt that she wasn't just an animal with four legs. She was my friend; I patted her neck one more time and thanked her.

Two men were standing looking into Jenny's stall. The vet was still working on her as she lay on her straw bed. I could see what looked like hundreds of stitches repairing the wounds that the cougar had inflicted on her; a drip fastened to a makeshift holder contained the clear liquid that helped to keep her alive while he worked on the rest of her.

I sensed Kelly standing next to me; her perfume helped, of course, but she always smelled nice. Her hand found mine and our fingers interlocked. Right now that was all the intimacy I could handle, and I knew she sensed that and didn't take it further.

"She made it as far as the courtyard before she collapsed from her wounds and blood loss. Dad took one look at her and saddled up with three of the hands."

The day was going round and around in my head like it was Groundhog Day. All four of us seemed to be fixed on the actions of the vet.

"Even when the cougar attacked, Jenny was looking out for Missy." I don't even know who I said it to.

The woman beside me placed her hand on my arm, and for the first time I properly looked at her.

"You may not realize it yet, but you're heading towards shock. Let José take care of your Sig; you need to rest."

I had to slip the buckle with my left hand, as Kelly refused to let go of my right. She was right, of course. I couldn't get the cycle of events to stop going round in my head, my mind wanting to challenge me at every point on the outcome of events. Missy was in hospital somewhere. Jenny was fighting for her own life and I was left without a mark on me.

Right then, I felt so fucking worthless.

*******

She got me undressed; I just stood watching her doing it. The shower was running, and I stood watching this woman undress me. The sad part was, when she was naked next to me and my eyes looked on this wonder in human form, I didn't even have an erection. Something; anything that would show my appreciation of the goddess who once again held my hand as we both entered the shower, but my body wouldn't even rise to the occasion.

Those brown eyes of hers bored deep into my soul and read me like an old novel. "You need to let it out, Chase. It will turn on you if you don't, and you're a better man than that."

The water from the shower splashed down my neck and back; her eyes never looked away and mine filled up so quickly.

"I'm sorry, Kelly. I tried; so help me I tried."

Her arms went around me as mine went around her, and I cried like a baby. She even followed me to the floor of the shower when my legs gave out.

I don't remember much after that; just snippets really. My eyes would open and I would feel her warm body wrapped in my arms. Her smell and the sensation of skin to skin were enough that my mind would rest once again, and my eyes would close as sleep would take me until the next time.

My nose was buried in the hair which always smelled so nice, and my hand was cupping her breast. My goodness! My hand was on the Promised Land.

"Good afternoon, Chase."

She must have felt me giggle to myself. Kelly McCullen was in my bed with me! I had my hand on Kelly's breast, and she wasn't making me take it away. A part of me felt like a kid getting caught with his hand in the cookie jar. I was a dead man, of course, or would be when her father found out, but until then I had Kelly's breast in my hand, and I wasn't giving it back. I giggled again and it set her off as well.

"We have to get up, and I don't mean the part of you buried between the cheeks of my ass."

That's when I realized that another part of me was oh so close to the Promised Land. Reluctantly, on my hips' part anyway, I backed away. For a second it felt like mine weren't the only hips that felt that reluctance. Kelly turned around and we faced each other, the palms of her hands resting against my chest. She leaned in and kissed my lips ever so gently, before backing away so that we could both focus.

"Missy wants to see you."

It took me a moment to understand what she said. Kelly read my mind.

"Three days, Chase; you've been out for three days. They brought Missy back this morning because she was moaning about being away from the ranch for so long."

I nodded my head and asked about Jenny. Her smile didn't waver, so that had already telegraphed good news. Jenny was mending well. The vet had her up on her feet and feeding. Missy wanted to see her, but Abe had put his foot down and made his daughter rest up.

"Chase, you need to close your eyes so I can get out of bed."

That both confused and saddened me at the same time. When she saw me hesitate, Kelly did that rolling of her eyes thing that all women have down to a fine art when they try to make us males understand something.

"Just think of it this way. You've seen me naked because that was medical. I've shared a bed with you naked because it comforted you and kept the demons in your head at bay. You're well now and, if you want me back in your bed this evening, you're going to have to unwrap your present yourself, understand?"

Well, I thought about it, for all of a nanosecond. The open-ended wish for me to open my present later was way too tempting, so I nodded my head and closed my eyes.

"Remember, keep them closed, or else."

I should have known this wasn't going to be that simple. Oh, Kelly moved all right; she used her weight to put me on my back and our lips touched, locked and sealed tight as she threw her leg over me and rested her whole body on top of mine. Her thighs parted and gave a little jiggle so my cock slid between them and came to rest against a very moist part of her.

All this was held in a promise that I keep my eyes closed. Life just wasn't fair, sometimes.

"Okay, you can open them for now."

I did, and smiling eyes looked back at me. "Listen up! For three days I've kept my hands off you while that dick of yours has tortured me with all its poking and prodding, and I've been a good girl because I didn't want to take advantage of you."

Her finger came into view and then very forcefully poked me in the chest.

"Daddy knows I'm here and dressed like this, so he won't come after you with a shotgun, but you better be ready for an early night, buster, because it's playtime later."

We kissed again, and she meant it. As our lips parted, her voice was both soft and sweet.

"You need to close your eyes now, Chase, so that I can get dressed. I had to promise my sister that I would bring you to see her, or she would come over here herself."

*******

Abe was out somewhere. Kelly held my hand as we walked through the house and stopped at the door. It was ajar, but she still knocked.

"Come in, already! Geez, Kelly, what took you so long?"

Missy was sitting against some pillows; her hair was gone. It had to be, as the bandage that covered the top of her head left me in no doubt she would have no hair. The bruising made me wince. Damn, that had to hurt!

She shrugged. Missy knew what I was staring at.

"They told me it had to come off. I wasn't awake to argue with them but it's only hair, Chase. It'll grow back."

Once I got over the shock, another thing caught my attention: pink. Pink walls, bedding and curtains. Missy watched as my mouth hung open and my head checked out the entire room.

"You tell anyone about my bedroom, Chase, and I swear you will feel pain like never before." Kelly giggled, and Missy glared at her. She couldn't hold it long, though, and a faint smile appeared before she shrugged as I replied.

"Missy, I'm in the bedroom of a twelve-year-old young lady. Do you honestly think that's something I'm going to be advertising to anyone?"