At that moment something in Sam snapped. She grabbed two handfuls of horse poop, jumped up and ran full force at Lance. She saw his eyes widen in surprise seconds before she smeared his face with horse shit. He staggered back and tried to get the poop out of his eyes. She only had one chance and she was ready.
Sam took a deep breath and kicked Lance in the balls so hard they had to hit his brains. He immediately bent over and fell to his knees.
“Never trust a woman in Roper boots, you bastard!” Sam put her hand in the pocket of her duster and pulled out the extra syringe of Ace. While Lance was groaning and holding himself, she took the shot out, pulled off the cap and rammed it in his butt.
“Take that, you stupid sonofabitch!” Sam screamed at him. “You shot my dog and now you’re going to pay, you, you girlie-man!”
Okay. She knew she was over the edge, but girlie-man was the worst name she could think of right at that moment.
Lance groaned and then fell over as the drug took effect. Somehow it didn’t seem like enough punishment. Sam jumped on his back and grabbed his hair and started yanking his head back and forth.
“I’ve had a shitty day and I’m fed up!” Sam was sobbing uncontrollably. “And you killed my dog!” Tears flowed down her cheeks and blurred her vision. She was numb with grief but her adrenaline was flowing. She shook Lance’s head back and forth like a puppet. It felt good.
Suddenly someone grabbed her from behind and pulled her away from Lance. She came up swinging and kicking.
“Whoa, whoa!” Yelled a familiar voice.
Sam looked around and saw Cheyenne and Sheriff Olson holding her arms. Behind the Sheriff was Ricky, and behind him she could see a fire engine roar past them heading for the hay barn. In a matter of minutes the yard was filled with fire trucks and emergency equipment.
“He did it, Sheriff!” Sam yelled pointing to Lance. “He killed Marietta and he shot Mitch and Marcus. They’re in the barn. Mitch is in the treating room and Marcus is in one of the stalls in the back. Lance started the fire in his hay barn and he was going to burn this whole place down! Frank and Matthew are in the bunkhouse drugged and unconscious. Lance turned on the gas so both houses would explode when the fire got to them.”
Sam stopped and looked over at Dundee. She ran to him and bent down on her knees by his side. She leaned over and checked for a pulse before she hugged his still body.
“Don’t die, Dundee!” Sam begged. She gently picked him up and headed for her Chevy. Cheyenne, Ricky and the Sheriff came up and helped her load him in her truck.
“He’s alive and I’ve got to get him to the clinic.” Then she remembered her phone was dead. “Can I use your phone, Sheriff?”
“Sure thing, “he said and quickly handed over his cell phone.
Sam dialed Doc’s number.
“I need your help, “She told him when he answered. “Dundee’s hurt and may need surgery. Meet me at the office in fifteen minutes.” She hung up and handed the phone back to the Sheriff. Then she climbed in her truck and sped away.
Doc met Sam at their office ten minutes later. They carried Dundee to one of their rooms in the back and laid him on a stainless steel table.
Doc put his hands on Sam’s shoulders and looked her in the eyes.
“Sheriff Olson called me on my way over here and told me what happened tonight. Let me handle this, Sam. You’re too upset and distraught to be of any help. Why don’t you go wait in your office? It’ll be better this way.”
Sam nodded slowly and went into her office. She sat behind her desk and put her head down. She heard the office door open and looked up. It was her mom.
“Samantha! Are you alright?” Her mom came over and put her arms around Sam. “George called and told me what happened tonight and about Dundee. I’m so relieved you’re okay, but I’m sorry about Dundee.”
Sam could tell her mom had been crying.
“I thought you might need someone to sit with you while Dundee’s being checked out,” Her mom told Sam quietly.
“Thanks Mom,” Sam put her head against her mom’s shoulder.
The front door opened and Melanie came in. She didn’t say a word but came up and hugged Sam. Then she went back to their little office kitchen and Sam could hear her making coffee. Tears started trickling down her cheeks again.
A few minutes later Melanie came back with three cups of coffee and Sam eagerly grabbed one.
“Thanks Mel,” She told her. “You’re the best!”
Mel smiled and patted her hand.
The front door opened and Isabella came flying through.
“Samantha! What’s going on?” she cried as she grabbed Sam. “I was at a restaurant having dinner with my parents when your mom called me on my cell phone. She told me Dundee was hurt and that you stopped Lance Wilson from burning his place down tonight. Is that true?”
“Yeah, it’s true.” Sam told her.
The door opened again and Jaime and Ana came in followed by Ralph Anderson.
Sam could understand Jaime and Ana being here, but she didn’t expect Ralph. He looked sheepishly at his feet. “I heard on my short wave radio there was a fire at the Wilson place," Ralph told Sam when he saw the surprised look on her face. “My son is a member of the volunteer fire department so I called him to find out what was going on. He told me Lance had gone off his rocker and was trying to burn his place down, but you stopped him. He told me Dundee had been shot and you were on your way over here. I had to come check on him.”
“Doc’s looking him over now,” Sam told the group. She was getting a lump in her throat so she swallowed some hot coffee to push it down. Then she told them what had happened that evening, the call from Mitch to Cheyenne and the Sheriff pulling her off of Lance.
The front door opened and Cheyenne stepped inside. Sam looked up and their eyes met. He crossed the room in two steps and wrapped his arms around her.
“I got here as soon as I could,” he said as he held Sam close to him. “How’s Dundee?”
“We don’t know yet. Doc is examining him now.”
Then Doc came to the door. He didn’t seem surprised to see his office filled with people. Sam turned and looked at his face.
Doc broke out in a big smile. “He’s going to be okay, Sam. I took some x-rays and he has several broken ribs. He’s bruised and sore, but there’s no internal bleeding.”
“What about the gunshot wound?” Sam asked anxiously.
“The bullet hit his front leg. I did a little surgery and took it out. He may limp for a few days but I think he’s going to make a complete recovery.”
Sam threw her arms around Doc and hugged him. Then they all ran into the back room.
They circled the table and Sam gently patted Dundee on his head. He opened his eyes and whined in greeting. Then he grinned.
The next morning the sun was streaming through Sam’s window and woke her up before her alarm went off. She slowly rolled out of bed and went over to check on Dundee. She’d made a pallet on the floor for him the night before since she knew he was too sore to get up on her bed.
Dundee raised his head and looked at Sam for a second before he laid it back down and closed his eyes. Sam patted his head and then made her way to the bathroom for a shower. She looked in the mirror over her sink and saw the dark circles under her eyes. No surprise. She had tossed and turned all night and didn’t sleep much. She had a lot of questions about what happened the night before. Who called Sheriff Olson and the fire department? Why was Cheyenne there? How did they all manage to get to the Lazy W just in the nick of time? Her head was throbbing. She decided to get under the hot water and worry about the answers later.
She had finished dressing for work when there was a knock on her door and Mason came running in.
“Mom told me Dun was hurt,” he told Sam solemnly. “I came to see him.”
“He’s in the bedroom and I’ll know he’ll be happy to see you,” Sam told her brother. “Be gentle with him because he’s very sore.”
“Will he be okay?”
“Yeah, he’ll be fine.”
“I will watch him for you while you’re at work because Mom told me he won’t be able to get in your truck for a long time.”
“That’s true and I really appreciate it.”
Mason put his arms around Sam’s waist and hugged her. Then he looked up with tears in his eyes. “You don’t have to pay me either. I’ll watch him for free because I love Dundee.”
Sam leaned down and kissed her brother on top of his head. “Thanks. I know he loves you too.”
Dundee limped into the living room and Mason bent down and kissed him on his nose.
“Let me give him some medicine before I leave for work,” Sam told him.
She went into the kitchen and came back with two pain pills wrapped in raw hamburger meat and gave them to Dundee.
“That should hold him for a few hours. I’ll come home at noon and check on him.”
“Come on, boy,” Mason told Dundee. “I’ll help you get to my house.”
As Sam watched the two make their way slowly across the yard she felt like the richest woman on earth. She had a brother like Mason, and a dog like Dundee. Who could ask for anything more?
WHEN SAM GOT TO HER OFFICE she went back to their little kitchen and made some coffee. When it was ready she got a cup and went to her desk and sipped the hot liquid while she looked over her messages.
Jaime was the first to call her.
“
Chica!
” his voice boomed. “Are you okay this morning?”
“I’m good.” Sam told him.
“I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart and Pablo and his family thank you too. He was released from jail this morning. He had a happy reunion with his wife and children a few minutes ago. It was all because of you,
chica
. I want you to know I wrote a poem for you,” Jaime continued. “If you can come to Mass with us on Sunday I’m going to read it to our whole congregation. Pablo and his family will be there too. They want to thank you in person. You’re a hero!”
Tears spilled over and ran down Sam’s cheeks.
“You wrote a poem for me? No one’s ever done anything that nice before. I am truly honored and I’ll be there on Sunday.”
When she finished talking to Jaime she hung up the phone and picked up her coffee cup. The second call she got was from Sheriff Olson.
“I thought you’d want to know that Marcus and Mitch are doing okay. It was a good thing Lance was drunk when he shot them or they wouldn’t be alive. He’s usually a good marksman. He hit Marcus in the shoulder and Mitch in the stomach. They both lost a lot of blood, but they had surgery last night and now they’re recovering on the same hospital floor as your dad. They’re all going to be alright,” he said with a chuckle. “I suppose Cheyenne told you last night that the fire department was able to put the fire out before it spread to the horse barn and houses. All that was lost was the hay barn.”
“Yes, he told me. That was good to hear. What about Frank and Matthew? Are they okay?”
“Yep. They were both treated and released early this morning. By the way, how is Dundee? I worried about that dog all night.”
The tears were coming again.
“He’s doing fine. Doc met me here after I left the Lazy W and checked him over. He’s going to be okay. Before I forget, thanks for calling my mom and Doc. I really needed support last night. What about Lance?”
“He’s recovering in my jail. He confessed to everything when he finally came around and could talk. What did you inject him with anyways?”
“Ace. It’s a drug I use to control large animals and lunatics.”
Sheriff Olson chuckled again.
“We’re going to transfer him to a maximum security facility today where he’ll undergo a complete psychiatric evaluation. I guess after all those years of living with Marietta he just went off the deep end. If they find he’s not fit to stand trial he’ll go to a mental institution. Either way, he’s going to be put away for the rest of his life.”
“That’s so sad. What’s going to happen to the Lazy W?”
“I’m not sure. Lance’s only relative is his nephew, Luke. I talked to him this morning. He’s going to finish some project he’s working on in San Francisco and fly back as soon as possible. I imagine he’ll turn over the day-to-day operations to Cheyenne until we know what’s going to happen to Lance.”
“I have some questions Sheriff. Who called you and the fire department? How did you know to come out to the Lazy W when you did?”
“Ask Cheyenne the next time you see him. I think he can explain things better than anyone.”
Sheriff Olson hesitated a moment before he continued. “I wanted to tell you if you ever decide to change jobs let me know. I’d be happy to hire you.”
Sam smiled. “Thanks sheriff. I’ll keep that in mind if I ever decide to quit my wonderful career.”