by Kim McMahill
After another hour of peaceful riding the serenity was broken by the sound of a Humvee’s motor. It drove across a ridge on the opposite side of a deep and very steep ravine from where she and Deuce were riding, but the sound carried as if it were much closer. The vehicle stopped at the base of the cell phone tower or whatever it was and the engine silenced. It appeared to Niki as if at least five heavily-armed men in camouflaged clothing were busy doing something around the structure.
Deuce glanced back at Niki and motioned for her to catch up with him on the opposite side of his horse. Niki nudged Storm into a trot. She suffered the awkward gait until she was riding alongside and then slowed the horse to a walk.
“I’m going to have you and Bernie herd the sheep a ways further into the mountains than the current camp. Right now your grandfather is only about five miles from here. Even though I don’t think they could get a Humvee across the ravine, I’d feel better if there was some more distance between you and those soldiers. Those guys weren’t overly friendly when they came by the ranch and I’m sure you’d look pretty good to them after being stationed out here for a month.”
“Are you saying I only look good to a man who hasn’t seen a woman in a very long time? So Deuce, when’s the last time you saw a woman?” Niki asked as she batted her eyelashes at him.
“You know what I mean. You always look good and we don’t need any trouble.”
If she only knew how good she looked to him, he would never be able to face her again. Deuce loved the little streaks of red in her light brown hair that always shimmered in the sun whenever he spent time with her outdoors. The way her slight, but very feminine frame swayed when she walked in her cowboy boots. Her little perky nose, the tiny creases at the corners of her mouth that made her look amused even when she was mad, and those big deep blue eyes with long lashes that fluttered so innocently even when she was guilty as sin or conning him, like now. And, ever since he was eighteen and she was sixteen, he wanted to be much more to her than a friend or big brother. He had been weak when he made her those damn saddlebags and now every time she came to the ranch he was reminded that he almost lost his head over a woman too fragile to be part of his life and too important to risk losing.
“Don’t worry about me. Bob sent a little extra insurance for the trip,” she replied as she patted the gun scabbard.
Deuce knew he shouldn’t worry, but he couldn’t help it. With his mother gone, Niki was the most important woman in his life and she had been ever since he could remember, even if she didn’t know it. He had dated some, but didn’t have time for a relationship now that he was taking over more of the ranch responsibilities from his dad, and for some reason no one else seemed to measure up to the girl, and then the woman, who had dropped in and out of his life for so long. He wished, especially this year, that Niki would have stayed put in her nice, safe, little apartment.
“Remember that rifle has a pretty good kick for someone your size.”
“I’ve shot this gun before. Bob taught me how to use it before he took me deer hunting. He said I was a natural.”
“If I recall you didn’t shoot anything.”
“No, I had a chance, but I couldn’t pull the trigger. That buck just kept grazing without a care in the world. He didn’t even know I had a bead on him.”
Even though she hadn’t shot the deer, it was still one of her fondest memories. Bob was always busy, especially in the fall when hay had to be put up and the cows and sheep had to be brought in off the mountain for the winter. Niki knew it wasn’t his responsibility to be her surrogate father, so when he had made the time to take her out during the busy fall, she felt special.
“Well I certainly hope if you get in a position where you need to use the rifle you can actually pull the trigger this time.”
“If enough were at stake I could.”
Deuce glanced back over his shoulder in the direction of the soldiers and hoped she was right. He hated leaving her and Bernie out here alone, but he couldn’t stay with them. With his dad heading to Washington D.C. in the morning he had to get back to the ranch and take care of business.
A gentle touch on his arm brought his focus back around.
“Really, I’m not that fragile and I’m certainly not helpless. You have to be tough to survive in the city too, and I’ve done just fine. Besides, I’ll have Papa with me and he’d never let anything bad happen.”
Deuce wished he had as much confidence in Bernie as Niki did. At one time the sheepherder had been tougher than anyone Deuce knew besides his own father, but he was getting old. They had celebrated Bernie’s seventy-second birthday last winter as he had his knee replaced in a Billing’s hospital. Bernie insisted the surgery had been a success, but Deuce noticed he still limped significantly whenever he thought no one was watching. But mentally the old man was as sharp as ever and determined not to give up the solitude of tending a summer band of sheep in his beloved Big Horn Mountains. Deuce and Bob had tried to persuade him he was needed at the ranch this season, but Bernie had pleaded for just one more summer with his only grandchild.
“He’s getting too old for this. You need to convince him before next season that he’s needed at the ranch. There’s plenty he can do there where it’s safer.”
“I can’t do that. It would kill him to admit he’s too old to do the only thing he’s ever done. To him sheepherding isn’t just a job¾it’s a way of life, a family tradition, a link to his Basque heritage. He’s a third-generation sheepherder. His grandfather came to this country from Spain with nothing. They never found wealth, but they found a passion for the animals and the mountains. I feel guilty enough that the tradition will die with me, but I won’t shoulder the guilt of breaking his spirit as well.”
“Damn it, Niki. Can’t you see that neither one of you should be out here alone?”
“Go to hell, Deuce. My family may have never been able to afford land of our own and have always been dependent on people like you, but we love these mountains and we’re just as capable as anyone else of being here. Thank goodness the rest of the Blackburns have been kind enough to make us feel like we belong. I’m not sure what happened to you.”
“I just don’t want anything to happen to either one of you. Bernie’s like family.”
But apparently I’m not. Niki tapped Storm’s sides with her heels and galloped ahead, determined to enjoy the scenery and not fight with the infuriating man who had made it impossible for her to find anyone else to share her life.
Compared to Deuce, the men she knew were just boys and held no appeal. The only man who had ever made her yearn for a family of her own had always been just out of reach. But she would survive on her own—she always had and her grandfather often reminded her that her independence made her resilient and successful.
If an old man can see it, why can’t a stubborn cowboy? Niki reached down and rubbed Storm’s neck. The horse tossed his head and a smile eased across her lips. Deuce might push her to rage nearly every time they came within shouting distance of each other, but in a few hours he would head back to the ranch and she could relax with her grandfather and enjoy the horse and the land which always made her feel powerful and a little more in control of her destiny, if only for a short time.
CHAPTER FOUR
Deuce hadn’t allowed a lunch break, so they made good time reaching camp. As they crested a small rise, looking down into a lush, green, grassy meadow filled with fat sheep, Niki spotted the familiar wall-tent. An old man emerged as the horses approached. She slid off Storm, tossed her reins at Deuce and ran for her grandfather. Niki wrapped her arms around him, clung to his slight frame and buried her face in his chest to keep from crying.
She missed him so much when they were apart, though at the moment they didn’t have much choice. His life was herding sheep and she had to earn her own way. Niki hoped she could get a business started in a nearby small town before he had to retire and Deuce’s earlier comment made her feel pressured to make it happen soon. Niki
knew her grandfather would never move to a big city and she was determined to care for him in his old age, just as he had taken care of her as a child.
“I’m leaving the pack horse.”
Deuce’s matter-of-fact tone brought Niki back to reality. She let go of her grandfather and watched as he limped toward Deuce, fearing maybe he had been right about her grandfather’s ability to continue working safely in a rugged profession in such a remote location. It worried her too when her grandfather was out here alone, but she had accepted the fact that it was his choice. His work had kept him as fit and young as possible and made him happy.
The two men shook hands and she was surprised to see Deuce smile. He had a wonderful smile and she missed seeing him happy. He had always been serious, even as a child, but when he did lighten up, her heart melted. As a boy and young man there had been something mischievous, but warm and comforting, in his grin and she hated the fact that she seldom saw that light anymore.
“With the military so close, I’d like you to take the sheep to the far end of our permit area for awhile. I don’t want them to start eyeing our mutton.”
“Or my granddaughter?”
Deuce ignored the old man’s comment as he checked the cinch on his horse. “I figure it’s a good idea to leave Niki’s stuff packed and load your gear up, so you two can head out this afternoon for a different grazing meadow.”
“Whatever you say, boss,” Bernie replied as he whistled for his mules.
Deuce made quick work of taking down the tent as he listened to Niki relay to her grandfather everything she’d been up to for the past year. She worked efficiently alongside the old man and Deuce couldn’t help but admire how the act of tearing down the camp and packing up seemed second nature to her¾tasks that would normally be foreign to a city girl.
He sneaked occasional glimpses of Niki as she happily organized the camp cookware, her ponytail swaying with each animated story she told her grandfather. She had gotten a promotion at work, had taken a trip to Florida with her friend Kate, volunteered at one of the many soup kitchens in Denver and had joined a women’s softball league. She made no mention of a man. Deuce wasn’t sure why he felt such relief. A young woman alone needs someone to take care of her, doesn’t she? He studied her familiar feminine figure bustling around camp.
Deuce continued to listen as Niki filled her grandfather in on the crisis sweeping the country. She explained the amassing of Iranian solders just across the border a few hundred miles due north, the rumor that some troops had already crossed into the U.S. and the concern over the politically connected colonel leading the IRGC forces. She then detailed all the economic fallout and told him about the layoffs at work, but assured him she would probably be one of the last to go.
“My job security is thanks to you,” Niki informed her grandfather as she gave him a smile Deuce wished was directed at him. “Our biggest client is this company that’s the largest retailer of farm and ranch equipment in the Rocky Mountain area and, believe it or not, I’m the most knowledgeable at our firm on the subject.”
“And I’ll bet you’re the prettiest too,” the old man replied.
Niki blushed, but kept working and talking to her grandfather. It always surprised her how little she forgot from year to year as she continued to dismantle camp. The hard work and sun on her back felt good and she relaxed. Despite the crisis underlying her thoughts, contentment filled her heart for the first time since she had left her grandfather at the end of the previous summer’s trip to return to Denver and a lifestyle she found little satisfaction in.
“The mood in the city is so gloomy I couldn’t wait to get out of there. And the best part of this year’s trip is my boss gave me a couple of extra weeks off. I can stay a month, so I’ll be here long enough to help bring the sheep in for the winter. I’ve always loved herding the sheep back to the ranch. It’s so much fun and the dogs are a thrill to watch in action.”
“Well, hallelujah,” the old man bellowed as he stopped what he was doing to give his granddaughter another hug. “It gets a little lonely out here sometimes and I sure do miss you when you’re away.”
“I miss you too, Papa.”
Deuce watched Niki beam with happiness at her grandfather’s words. They had always been close, but he hadn’t realized how difficult it was for them to be apart. He knew Bernie had tried to convince her to come live with him after her mother died, but she had been determined to finish high school with her class, go to college and take care of herself. He respected her for being independent, but still wished she would just stay where she belonged, in the city, and out of danger.
“Did you hear that, Deuce? We have Niki for a whole month.”
Deuce grunted his acknowledgement and kept breaking down camp. Whenever Niki was around his resolve weakened and when he thought of her out here with the old man, he didn’t sleep worth a damn—it was going to be a long month.
“I think he said he’s thrilled, Papa,” Niki laughed.
Deuce tried to look annoyed and had to fight the urge to smile. She lit up a room, or even a sheep camp, whenever she walked in. His pulse raised several beats when she was near, but he assumed the elevation was from annoyance and nothing more. When Deuce witnessed what his mom’s death did to his dad, he swore he’d never put himself in a position where grief could consume and nearly kill him. If he ever decided to marry, which he doubted, it would be to a sturdy western woman. But so far he’d never met a sturdy woman who he wanted to share his life with or who looked as good as Niki. When he dreamed about his future Niki was always in it and that just made him mad.
These mountains were no place for a small delicate woman like Niki. When she was out here with the old man every possible scenario ran through Deuce’s imagination, making it difficult to stay put at the ranch and get his work done. There were bears and cougars, she could fall off that ornery horse, fall in a creek or get sick. And out here, by the time they could ride back to the ranch and drive to the hospital in Sheridan, they were a good day or more away from a doctor if something bad happened.
“We can get it from here. You better mount up if you hope to reach the ranch before dark.” Bernie walked up to the pack mule where Deuce was cinching the sawbuck saddle.
Deuce nodded and allowed Bernie to help him lash the homemade wooden alforjas boxes to the sawbuck saddle. He placed the heavy canvas tent on top and the two men tied the load down with a diamond hitch, securing it for transport. Deuce preferred using canvas panniers, but would never question Bernie’s packing choices, nor did he take offense when the old man rechecked the mule’s double-cinches, breeching and breast collar. Real cowboys never trusted anyone else with their animals or their rigging, and Bernie was a true cowboy¾one of a dying breed.
“Frank and Joe should be back from moving the cattle to the high pasture in a couple of days and then we’ll get back on a rotation of sending one of them out every other week to bring you supplies.”
“Oh, that reminds me.” Bernie dug a crumpled slip of paper out of his front shirt pocket. “Here’s a list of some things I could use the next time one of them rides in.”
Deuce read over the list and laughed. “Since when do you drink chamomile tea, eat cinnamon bears and butterscotch kisses, roast marshmallows and read Cosmo and Budget Travel?”
The old man shrugged his shoulders and smiled. “She’s tougher than she looks, but I still hate her giving up all the usual trappings of civilization just to spend time with an old goat like me. Besides, what’s the good of going to your grandpa’s if he doesn’t have any candy for his little girl?”
“I’d much rather spend my time with an old goat than a horse’s ass,” Niki said as she came up behind her grandfather and wrapped her arms around him, giving Deuce an angry glare.
“I guess that’s my cue to leave.” Deuce stepped into a stirrup and swung his leg over the back of his young gelding.
He reined the horse around and watched as Bernie hobbled toward his mule. He gl
anced down at Niki and knew she had seen the limp too. “Think about what I said.”
She walked up to Traveler and ran her hand down the sorrel’s soft neck. Niki was a little sorry for blowing up at Deuce earlier, but wasn’t sure she had it in her to apologize. He was only worried about her grandfather’s well-being, but she would have much preferred a little kindness to his overbearing demand to bully her grandfather into giving up the job he loved. She took a few steps back, then reached out and slapped the gelding on the rear.
“Better make tracks. Tell Bob to give’m heck in D.C.”
Deuce watched as she strode away, head held high. He was sure she had wanted to say something else, but she was about as obstinate as he was and maybe more so than her grandfather.
“Niki?”
Deuce’s low deep voice stopped her mid-stride. She turned and looked at the handsome man on the horse and waited for him to speak.
“Be careful and take care of that stubborn old man.”
She was about ready to smile and say something reasonably pleasant back when he added, “Just don’t do anything dangerous or stupid.”
She turned, flipped him the bird and strode off after her grandfather.
“Maybe I have become a city girl,” she giggled, out of earshot of both men. “I’ve never even given a Denver rush-hour driver the finger and Lord knows most of them deserve it.”
She glanced back one last time. Even though Deuce was riding away, she could see his head shaking back and forth and had no doubt he was smiling.
CHAPTER FIVE
Storm stood a good three hands taller than her grandfather’s riding mule, making the two mounts comically mismatched. The gelding always held his head high and his precise movements advertised strength, power and confidence. When Niki rode Storm she felt a little invincible and trusted the horse to never let her down¾so far he hadn’t.
