Authors: Leigh Bale
“Do you come out here often?” Cade
asked.
Her gaze met his without flinching.
“Every Friday, when I have the time. But not just here in Secret Valley. I make
excursions to several areas, checking the water sources in the mountains and
valleys. Quite frequently, I come upon the horses. What’s your name?”
Cade stared at the Forest Service
woman for several moments, mesmerized by her commanding presence in spite of
her short height and slim build. Not many people would get this close to a wild
horse. Most stallions, even the tame ones, were fierce and treacherous. This
woman had grit, he’d give her that. Or perhaps she was too foolish to realize
the danger she’d been in. Another city girl who didn’t realize that wild horses
were wild.
“Most people call me Cade.” He
rested his arms across the saddle horn and leaned forward.
She paused, as though waiting for
him to ask her name. But honestly, he didn’t want to know any more about her.
In the ensuing silence that followed, Flash flicked his tail at a fly.
“Are you from around here?” she
asked.
Cade jerked his thumb up. “I own a
small ranch just west of here.”
“Ah, Sunrise Ranch.” She nodded her
head.
He wasn’t surprised she knew his
place. The community wasn’t large and everyone knew everyone else. So, why
hadn’t he met this woman before? He longed to ask where she’d come from, but
resisted the urge to show any interest.
“My name is Lyn,” she said. “I’m
fairly new in town. Only been here two months, so I haven’t had an opportunity
to meet you, yet.”
“Yeah. Come on. I’ll take you to
your truck.” He removed his foot from the left stirrup and reached out a hand
to help her step up behind him on his horse. His mind kept repeating her name.
Lyn. It suited her. Feminine yet decisive.
“No, thanks. I can walk.”
She limped away and he watched her
with a bit of doubt. Maybe it was for the best. It wouldn’t bode well if
someone saw him riding with a Forest Service employee. He’d never hear the end
of it. Instead, he rode along beside her, just in case she changed her mind.
“Did you hurt yourself?” He jutted
his chin toward her left ankle.
“Just a sprain. I was out here
checking the damage to the watering hole when I saw the horses. I didn’t expect
Buck to attack me. I’m sure he was still feeling defensive after his fight with
the bachelor stallion. Otherwise, I doubt he would have bothered with me.”
“Buck?”
“Yeah, that’s what I named the
buckskin.”
Cade’s jaw went slack, but he
quickly turned his face away so she wouldn’t see his surprise. “You actually
named one of the stallions?”
“Uh-huh. I take pictures of all the
wildlife I see out here on the Stokely Ranger District.” She explained about
naming the stallions of each herd so she could keep track of them in her
reports.
“Wait a minute. You’re the new
forest ranger?” He’d heard they were getting a new ranger in town, but had no
idea she’d be a woman, or that she’d care about the wildlife enough to document
them.
“That’s right.” She nodded and
smiled pleasantly.
“Hmm.”
“You don’t sound pleased.”
“I’m just indifferent.” And
stunned. A petite, attractive woman wasn’t his idea of what a forest ranger
ought to look like. In fact, he’d never met a woman ranger before. Especially
not one this pretty. Most of the rangers he’d met were men with pot guts.
Overbellies who wouldn’t listen to reason. At least not where the wild horses
were concerned. Cade wasn’t sure what to think about this turn of events.
“I suppose you’re planning to round
up the wild horses and take them off the range,” he grumbled.
“Not if I can help it.” She kept
her gaze trained on the rocky ground in front of her.
“What do you mean?”
“I love the wild horses. But I also
love the elk, antelope, big horn sheep, and mule deer. And they need to eat and
drink out here, too.”
“There’s plenty of feed for all the
wildlife,” he said.
She stopped and looked at him
squarely, resting her hands on her slim hips. A blaze of fire sparked in her
eyes. As stunning as the wild mustangs he’d seen minutes earlier. “No, there’s
not. Buck’s herd is starving. They’re too lean, I could see that with my own
eyes. And they’ll soon be out of water.”
What she said went against
everything Cade had been brought up to believe in. “Bah! The mustangs have been
running wild across this land for centuries. They’ll make do. They always
survive.”
“Yes, but many will die a slow, cruel
death. A lot of elk and deer will suffer the same fate. There isn’t enough
water and feed out here to sustain so many wildlife and domestic livestock,
too.”
He waved a hand. “You’re just
another cow lover. Get rid of all the rancher’s fat cattle and the wildlife
will have enough feed to live on.”
She chuckled, not seeming offended
in the least. “Well, I do enjoy eating a nice steak and hamburger now and then.
But the ranchers are definitely restricted on how many cattle they can graze on
public lands. They don’t take more than their fair share, believe me. I won’t
let them.”
That was just the problem. He
didn’t believe her. “Ma’am, there are more important things out here than the
ranchers and their cattle.”
She brushed her hand across a bushy
sage. “There are miles of sagebrush out here. It’s edible, but provides very
little nourishment for the horses. They need grass. Wild horses don’t migrate
to better areas when food and water runs out. They just stay here and starve.
And please call me Lyn.”
Not if he could help it.
She poked a tuft of Great Basin
wheat grass with the tip of her scuffed boot. “It takes fifty acres of this
kind of land to feed one horse for one month. That doesn’t include elk and mule
deer, nor any cattle either. You can do the math as easily as I can to figure
out how many miles of land are needed to keep that wild horse herd happy and
healthy. But I can tell you this area can sustain about one hundred and fifty
wild horses. We currently have over four hundred and fifty horses living in and
around this national forest. And that’s too many if we don’t want to see them
starve to death.”
She turned and continued walking.
In spite of his desire not to, he found himself liking the jaunty bounce of her
hair. Spunky and sure of herself. He’d never met anyone like her.
He flinched when she whirled around
and continued her dialogue.
“And you’re wrong about the cattle.
They’re just as important as the wild horses. Every man, woman and child in
this country needs to eat. And cattlemen make their living by growing cows. The
horses are important. The cows are important. And so is the other wildlife out
here. The issues aren’t easy, but we need to find ways to make it all work
together. And I have some ideas, if you’d like to hear them….”
He cut her off with a wave of his
hand. “Forget it. I’ve heard it all before and I doubt you have anything new to
add that’ll make a difference to me.”
“Have it your way.” With a simple
shrug, she kept walking. No argument. No blustering anger. She seemed easy
going and laid back. Disarming in her candor. And he couldn’t help wondering
about her ideas. For the first time, he really wanted to know. But asking her
to explain seemed a bit like admitting defeat right now.
They soon arrived at her truck, her
boots and pant legs covered by a thin sheen of dust. As she unlocked and opened
the door to the driver’s seat, she tilted her head to look up at him. “We might
have conflicting opinions, Cade, but I can make a big difference here in
Stokely. And I intend to do just that.”
She climbed inside and reached for
the armrest to pull the door closed. Before she did so, she gave him a smile so
bright it made his jaw ache. “Thanks again for all your help. I appreciate you
being so neighborly.”
He nodded once in acknowledgement,
his tongue tied in knots.
As she started the ignition and
pulled away, the tires of her truck bounced over the washboard road. Cade sat
his horse and stared after her, feeling withdrawn and out of sorts. He didn’t
agree with her assessment of the wild horse situation, and yet he felt as
though he’d just been scolded by his mother. In the nicest way possible.
He’d noticed the growing herds of
horses becoming emaciated. But the beliefs planted in his mind throughout his
childhood were hard to ignore. Wild horses should be left alone to live in
freedom. The government shouldn’t interfere. Right? Of course right!
Nope, he didn’t like the new forest
ranger, but he also couldn’t deny she seemed to know her business here. He just
wished he didn’t need to have any more dealings with her in the future. Since
he was the wild horse spokesman for the Toyakoi Shoshone Tribe, Cade figured
that wasn’t likely. He frequently participated in meetings and demonstrations
to protect the wild horses.
Oh, yes. He’d see the new forest ranger
again sometime soon. Much to his regret.
“How’d school go today?” Lyn
tightened her fingers around the steering wheel as she pressed on the break.
Her car came to a halt at the only stop light on Main Street in the town of
Stokely. Population eleven thousand and twenty-three, including dogs, cats and
gophers.
“None of the kids like me.”
Kristen’s simple reply vibrated with hurt and anger.
“I’m sure that’s not true, honey.”
Lyn glanced at her ten year-old daughter who sat next to her, tugging against
her seat belt.
“Yes, it is.”
“It just takes time to get to know
everyone when you’re the new kid in town. Maybe you could invite one of the
girls in your class over to the house to play on Saturday.” Lyn lightened her
voice, trying to sound positive. Trying to encourage her daughter the only way
she knew how.
The stop light turned green and she
pressed on the gas, moving slowly down the street.
“They’ll never like me.” Kristen
tugged her skirt lower across the C-leg prosthetic limb on her right leg, as
though trying to hide as much of the amputation as possible.
Lyn studied her child’s tight
profile and long white-blonde hair. The girl was beautiful. If only the other
children would treat her like a normal kid. But that was just the problem.
Kristen wasn’t normal. And she never would be. “How can they not like you? They
hardly know you yet. We’ve only been here a couple of months.”
Kristen tapped her knuckles hard
against the socket of the prosthetic limb. “This is all they see, Mom. They
call me peg-leg and gimp.”
Lyn’s heart wrenched. Kids could be
so cruel. If only they’d get to know Kristen, they’d learn what a smart, sweet
girl she was. And so easy to love.
“I hate it here. I want to go
home.” Tears watered Kristen’s voice as she flounced around and glared out the
window.
“We are home, honey.” Lyn wanted to
cry too, but didn’t think that would do Kristen any good. Alone at night in her
dark bedroom, Lyn allowed her emotions to flow across her pillow. But in the
light of day, she must be strong. For both her and Kristen’s sakes.
“Maybe you could wear blue jeans
more often.” Dresses were easier in case Kristen needed to adjust her
prosthetic limb, but pants hid the apparatus from view.
“It won’t help. I limp and can’t run.
They know something’s wrong with me. They don’t like me.”
Lyn’s heart ached for her daughter.
How she wished she could protect her from this pain. Even if they covered up
the prosthesis, Kristen jerked so hard when she walked that people frequently
stared at her. They knew immediately that the girl was impaired, but they
didn’t understand why. Lyn had even heard a woman in the grocery store
yesterday whisper loudly that Kristen must be retarded. As if her leg had
anything to do with her brain. In fact, the opposite was true. Kristen pulled
top grades in science and math. If only she could walk better, she might fit in
more.
“Well, I adore you,” Lyn said with
a smile.
“You don’t count, Mom. You have to
love me because I’m your kid.”
Lyn snorted. “If that were true,
there’d be a lot fewer abusive mothers in the world, honey. I love you more
than my own life. And that’s that.”
Kristen tossed her head and huffed
out a big sigh of exasperation. “You just don’t understand.”
Lyn understood more than Kristen
realized. But friends and peer pressure were so important to a young girl.
Especially a girl with only one leg. Moms didn’t count at this point in life.
If only it had been Lyn that had lost her leg in the accident. Not Kristen. Not
her precious little girl.
Pressing on the break again, Lyn
came to a stop sign. A lance of vivid memory pierced her mind. The car crash
had been caused by a drunk driver, now incarcerated in a state penitentiary.
But that wouldn’t restore Kristen’s leg or bring Rob back. Nor did it ease
Lyn’s conscience over her part in what had happened. Though it’d only been a
year earlier, Kristen had been so young at the time. Only nine years old.
They’d both lost the father and husband they dearly adored.
Rob. The love of Lyn’s life.
She glanced in the rearview mirror.
No one behind her, so she paused long enough to talk with Kristen for a few
moments. Reaching across the seat, Lyn brushed her hand down the silken length
of Kristen’s hair. “I know this is hard, honey. But you’re so pretty and smart.
All your teachers tell me you’re their best student. You’ve got a lot going for
you. We’ve just got to keep trying.”
Kristen shrugged off Lyn’s hand,
her voice thick with resentment. “You mean I’ve got to keep trying. I’m the one
without a leg, not you. And Daddy’s dead. The only reason I’m a good student is
because I promised him.”
Oh, that hurt. So much that Lyn
thought there must be blood on the floor. Not a day went by that she didn’t
feel guilty for surviving uninjured while her husband had died and her daughter
lost her leg. But Kristen was too young to understand how much a mother loved
her child. Or just how much Lyn missed her husband.