Healing the Forest Ranger

by Leigh Bale

  “What do you mean?”

  He shrugged one broad shoulder. “I think I better let him tell you about it when he feels the time is right.”

  She inwardly cringed, her imagination filling in the blanks. What was Dal talking about? Cade had been to war. Maybe even killed other men. No doubt, he’d been shot at. Lyn could understand all of that. But she got the impression that Dal was hinting at something even worse, and she couldn’t visualize what that might be.

  “I think you need to trust him,” Dal said.

  “You do, huh?” She wanted to. She really did. As much as she wanted to trust God again.

  “Yeah. Give him one more chance. I promise I won’t let him put Kristen on another horse, unless we can convince you otherwise.”

  “Well, you can’t.”

  He nodded. “Understood. But let him work with her again. Please.”

  Why was this so important to Dal?

  “What does it matter if Cade is Kristen’s doctor?”

  “He saved my life,” Dal said.

  She paused. “I thought you saved him.”

  “I did. But afterward, when I was in the hospital, it was bad. The pain and knowing I might never walk again. I couldn’t get over it. Then, when I came home, my fiancée broke off our engagement. What woman would want half a man like me? I thought my life was over. I wanted to die.”

  Her heart collapsed around his words. Was that how Kristen felt? Like no one wanted her? Like she didn’t want to live anymore?

  “I...I wanted to quit,” Dal continued. “But Cade wouldn’t let me. He forced me to keep fighting. To survive. To find joy in living again. And to have hope.”

  Hope. Something Lyn had buried along with her husband.

  “But why is it so important that Cade keep working with Kristen?” She had to know. Had to understand.

  He sucked in his breath. “Because being with you and your little girl makes Cade happy. I can see it in the way he lights up when you’re around. And I could be wrong, but I think you feel the same about him.”

  Yes. No. She couldn’t. Could she?

  Surely Dal was imagining things. He’d only seen her with Cade once, and they’d had a giant fight at the time. And yet, deep in her heart of hearts, Lyn knew he spoke the truth. She wanted to see Cade again. To spend time riding through the mountains with him. To take her daughter back to his office for therapy. To play with Lightning out at Sunrise Ranch and see him and Kristen laugh together. Being with Cade brought Lyn such peace. The first she’d known since before Rob died.

  “Will you at least reconsider? As a favor to me?” Dal asked.

  She nodded, against her better judgment. Against her common sense. “Yes, I’ll think about it.”

  He released a tight breath. “Good. Thank you.”

  He swiveled away from her, returning to his truck. She stood there watching as he drove away. The urge to go inside and tell Kristen she was returning to Dr. Baldwin pushed her toward the front porch, but she paused. Instead, she went to the backyard where she found a sheltered spot among the trees where no one could see her. Sunlight filtered through the thick branches as the cool shadows gathered around her. She knelt down on the soft carpet of green grass. Birdsong comforted her as she rested her hands in her lap. She bowed her head, closed her eyes and prayed. Pouring her heart and soul out to God. Telling Him all her troubles and fears. Seeking guidance for the first time in a long time. Wanting to believe that the Lord was there and really cared about her and Kristen.

  When she finished, Lyn stood and flexed her stiff legs and arms. Her doubts weren’t completely gone, but she felt reconciled with the Lord. It wasn’t everything, but it was a beginning. It was time. To take Kristen back to church. To have family prayers and discussions about the Lord.

  To renew their faith.

  * * *

  The next day, Lyn’s fledgling convictions faced yet another trial. Because of an all-day meeting at the supervisor’s office, she was late picking Kristen up from school. When she arrived out front, the girl was nowhere to be seen. The swings on the blacktop sat empty, rocking gently in the breeze. Not a child in sight.

  Lyn walked inside. The empty halls echoed her footsteps as she hurried to the principal’s office. The school secretary pleasantly informed her that no one had seen Kristen since classes let out twenty-five minutes earlier.

  Frantic with worry, Lyn drove around the school complex to the soccer fields in back. Her gaze skimmed the empty bleachers and short grass, looking for her cute little girl.

  Nothing.

  A cold, sick feeling settled in Lyn’s stomach. She hadn’t been to her office or checked in with Cindy all morning. After pulling to the side of the road, she flipped her phone open and jabbed the buttons to call her office manager. Surely Kristen wouldn’t have walked all the way to her office by herself. Or home. Would she?

  Lyn had given Kristen strict instructions never to do such a thing. If she fell down and couldn’t get up, she could be in big trouble. Kristen understood she was supposed to go inside the school and wait. But that didn’t mean the girl would obey.

  “I don’t know where she is, but you better get over here fast,” Cindy told her.

  “Why? What’s wrong?”

  A blast of static stole Cindy’s comment, but Lyn caught the word picketers. A word Lyn had come to dread over the expanse of her career. But nothing mattered more to her than Kristen’s safety. Her child came first.

  Lyn made a quick trip home, but found the door locked, no one there. Maybe she’d pass Kristen on the way back to her office. She drove the route slowly, glancing at rows of tidy houses, the grocery store and park. No sign of Kristen.

  As she pulled into the parking lot at her office, Lyn blinked in disbelief. A crowd of people stood out front, waving a variety of colorful homemade signs. Perhaps fifty people, many wearing Native American dress, clogged the entrance to the building.

  “Save the wild horses. Save the wild horses,” they chanted in loud, singsong unison.

  Two-by-two, the picketers paraded in front of the glass doors, the line meandering around the side of the building. They waved their signs, trying to draw attention. A cameraman and local news crew stood among the crowd, the reporter holding a microphone as she interviewed the protestors.

  And smack-dab in the middle of the mob was Kristen, carrying a big colored sign that read I Love Wild Horses. No Roundups!

  Lyn laughed at the irony of the situation. Then a sick feeling settled in her stomach. Her face blazed with betrayal and embarrassment. Kristen was safe. That was the important thing. But her own daughter was picketing her. And that stung Lyn’s heart like nothing else could.

  Lyn stepped out of her car, bracing herself for what was to come. Trying to settle the racing of her pulse. She looked for Cade among the protestors, but didn’t see him. Oh, what she wouldn’t say when she found him...

  Kristen must have walked here from school. Her stamina had increased by leaps and bounds. Had she known about the demonstrators, or been drawn into their cause once she’d arrived? Did she even understand what she was doing? Either way, this wouldn’t look good on the evening news. The forest ranger’s own daughter picketing her.

  If only Cade had warned Lyn about this exhibition. Neither of them had made any promises, but she thought they were better friends than this. His treachery scalded her face with heat. First he’d put Kristen on a horse, and now this.

  Holding her head high, Lyn walked purposefully toward the redbrick building. She ignored a trickle of sweat between her shoulder blades and tried to remember who she was and what she represented. Tried to remember to keep her cool, no matter what.

  Billie Shining Elk separated himself from the crowd and stood on the hot pavement, arms folded across his beaded buckskin shirt. The regal majesty of a flo
wing white feather headdress sat perched low across his brow. His leathered face showed no sign of friendship, his black eyes slicing her in two.

  As she approached, she met his gaze with a challenging lift of her chin. Refusing to back down. Refusing to cower before this man who had shown her no respect.

  Standing in front of him, she looked up at his stoic face and spoke strong, but low. For his ears alone. “Chief Shining Elk, you can picket me anytime you want. But even you should agree it’s not nice to involve my innocent little daughter in this activity. You should be ashamed of yourself.”

  He blinked. Just once. A glimmer of disgrace flashed in his gleaming eyes, then was gone. So fast, she thought she must have imagined it. But it was enough to know her words had hit home.

  Pivoting on her heels, she walked to Kristen, ignoring the thronging crowd with their glares and taunts as they circled her like a pack of wolves. She felt like a cornered rabbit as they moved in for the kill.

  “Hi, Mom!” Kristen greeted her with a blameless smile. She lowered her sign, resting the stick on the ground beside her feet.

  Lyn knew her daughter well enough to know that the girl didn’t realize what she was picketing. Not really. Not when Kristen’s guileless expression showed such an earnest smile.

  Lyn gritted her teeth, determined to keep her voice calm. “Hi, hon. You weren’t at school when I went to pick you up just now. I was very worried about you.”

  “You were late.” A thread of sullenness wavered in the girl’s voice.

  “I’m sorry, but you should have waited for me inside. Remember we’ve talked about this many times?”

  “Sorry.” Kristen’s surly glare spoke volumes. She was anything but sorry for leaving.

  “Please go inside and wait for me in my office. I need to speak with these people, and then I’ll take you home.”

  The girl frowned. “But I wanna stay. I’m helping them picket.”

  “Yes, I can see that. But do you understand what you’re picketing?”

  “Yeah, they’re trying to move wild horses like Lightning off the range. That’s so mean, Mom. You can stop them, can’t you?”

  Lyn coughed. Though she wasn’t getting along with her child, Kristen thought she could help. Lyn would have found humor in the situation if it wasn’t so serious. Obviously Kristen had no idea the picketers were protesting her own mother. And yet, if Kristen knew the full story, Lyn feared her daughter would picket her anyway.

  “Why don’t you leave her alone, Ranger? She knows where she belongs,” someone jeered.

  “Yeah, she knows what’s right, even if you don’t. Let her stay with us.”

  Lyn’s heart beat faster. Kristen belonged with her. Mother and child. Always and forever. No matter what. They couldn’t be separated. Not even in death.

  Kristen’s eyes widened in confusion. “What do they mean, Mom?”

  Lyn placed her hand on her daughter’s shoulder as she met the girl’s eyes. “I need you to trust me right now, honey. I’m doing my best for everyone involved. Please go inside and wait for me. I’ll explain everything to you in a few minutes. But first, I need to talk to these people. Okay?”

  The girl’s brow crinkled, and Lyn feared she might refuse. The last thing Lyn wanted was to have an argument with her child here on the street with all these people gawking. She hoped her daughter still trusted her enough to obey.

  When the girl handed her sign off to a matronly woman next to her and headed for the door, Lyn breathed with relief. Kristen’s actions reinforced what was most important to Lyn. Her fledgling faith in God and her child.

  As the door closed behind Kristen, Lyn turned and faced the angry crowd.

  * * *

  “What’s going on here?”

  Cade jogged toward the throng of picketers, his gaze focused on Lyn as she stood among them. The drab olive- green of her ranger uniform stood out like a beacon, and the angry horde swarmed her. She wasn’t a big woman and looked small and defenseless against the tall men packing a melee of signs. Yet she didn’t back down.

  If only Cade had found out about the protest an hour earlier, he might have been able to stop it. Maya’s warning had come a bit too late. The stethoscope hanging around his neck bounced against the white smock he wore over his red chambray shirt. Having run all the way from his office four blocks away, he breathed deeply, trying to catch his breath.

  “I think it’s apparent what’s going on.” Lyn indicated the mass of people with her hand. “Are you responsible for this? Your people are picketing me. They think I’ve called for a roundup.”

  Cade’s mouth dropped open. He’d feared something was up last night when the tribal council asked him to leave the meeting just after he’d given them his latest report on the wild horses. They’d planned to picket the forest ranger and hadn’t told him about it. “No, Lyn. I didn’t know anything about this.”

  She didn’t seem to hear him. “How could you turn my own daughter against me, Cade? She’s been picketing, too. Was that your plan all along? Using Kristen’s physical therapy and Lightning to win her over to your cause so she could pressure me to leave the horses alone?”

  Her eyes filled with anger and hurt. She’d trusted him. They’d become friends, yet it appeared that he’d betrayed her.

  “No, Lyn. I’d never do that to you or Kristen. I didn’t know about this. I’m innocent.”

  “Well, that’s not how it looks to me. Maybe you better explain.”

  People were closing in on her, their faces filled with hostility. A protective feeling rose up inside of Cade, and he stepped in front of her. As if he could defend her against this angry horde. But he knew he’d try. No matter what the cost. To the death.

  Because he loved her.

  The realization struck him like a bolt of electricity. He loved her. Dal was right. Cade finally admitted it to himself. But how? How could he love a woman he barely knew?

  And yet, he knew more than enough.

  “I’ve been completely honest with you from the very first,” Lyn said. “I thought you’d been honest with me, too.”

  “I have, Lyn. I have.”

  If only she’d believe him.

  “Then why this? You know I wouldn’t call the BLM for a roundup without telling you about it first.” She tossed a frustrated glare at Billie. “And you. I’ve sent a letter and called your office numerous times to ask for a meeting with your tribal council. Not once have you responded. Yet you show up here today with picketers and trick my daughter into helping you. What kind of a man does that?”

  Cade blew out a breath as he looked at Chief Shining Elk. “Oh, Billie. What have you done?”

  The chief’s jaw clenched, hard as chiseled stone. He did have the good grace to look away, but he didn’t apologize. He didn’t say a word.

  “Lyn, I’m sorry,” Cade said. “I didn’t know, or I would have warned you.”

  “That’s why we didn’t tell you,” Billie growled at Cade. “We feared you’d been swayed by the woman. You have sided with her.”

  The woman! Referring to Lyn in such a manner seemed so demeaning to Cade. He didn’t like it. Not at all.

  “She’s the forest ranger, Chief Shining Elk,” Cade said. “Her gender has nothing to do with her work here. And I haven’t sided with her. I just think we should work with the authorities if we want to do what’s best for the mustangs. That’s what I told you and the other tribal elders last night. But I think you’ve made this personal because of Clarisse.”

  Billie drew back as though he’d been struck in the face. His eyes narrowed in anger.

  “Who is Clarisse?” Lyn asked.

  Cade kept his gaze locked on Billie as he answered. “My mother.”

  Lyn shook her head. “What does she have to do with the wild horses?”

>   Cade didn’t respond, but Billie’s expression hardened, his eyes darkening to black daggers. For several tense moments, the two men glared at each other. The crowd quieted, watching and waiting. Finally, Billie looked away, ending the explosive moment.

  “I’ve had it. You two can talk this out.” Lyn spoke in a low, angry voice. “I’m going inside now. You can sit out here and picket me all you want. And once I’ve finished my study of the wild-horse situation, I’ll make the best possible recommendation I can to the BLM. With or without your cooperation.”

  She turned and went inside, her long ponytail bouncing with her brisk stride. Cade’s gaze followed every step. He’d witnessed her dedication to doing what was best for the mustangs. He couldn’t fault her efforts. And yet, he knew that any wild horses not adopted by people who could care for them would be sent to holding stations where they’d live their lives in confinement.

  And where did that leave him, Lyn and Kristen? Nowhere he wanted to be, that was for certain. His insides were a jumble of confusion. This situation had gotten out of his control.

  “You used her daughter to help picket?” Cade asked the chief.

  Billie’s response was nothing more than a tight-lipped grunt.

  “That’s pretty low, don’t you think?” Cade pressed.

  No response. But Cade didn’t expect one. He’d lost a lot of respect for the chief, and yet he felt sorry for Billie, too.

  “Go home,” Cade called to the crowd with a wave of his hand. “You’re picketing the wrong office. The forest ranger isn’t the one to decide if there’ll be a roundup. That’s up to the BLM. You shouldn’t be here.”

  A murmur of doubt rose among the throng. He’d known each person most of his life. Many of them were his patients. They trusted him, for now. But this volatile issue could drive them away. He’d be lucky if he could keep his medical office open after this fiasco.

  “The ranger’s been trying to help us,” Cade continued. “She’s trying to save the mustangs. I’ve seen it with my own eyes. We need to work with the authorities, not against them.”