Two Spirit Ranch

by Jaime Stryker

  This time, Jake, I’m coming out on top, Carl thought to himself.

  Chapter 5

  Right before lunch the next day, Jake pulled into the near empty parking lot of the Clearview Café. He looked up at the sky and noticed that it had turned a dark, almost black, blue. The wind had started to whip up and leaves blew through the air. Storm’s coming, he thought instinctively.

  He got out of the squad car and could feel the cool crisp air as he walked into the diner to find Mindy reading a fashion magazine and Sally watching the news on a small thirteen inch TV she kept on the counter.

  “The usual, hon?” Sally asked him as he sat the counter of the Clearview Café while handing him a menu.

  “Sure,” Jake answered.

  “Mindy, hon, go start Jake’s BLT and fries,” Sally said.

  Looking a little annoyed, Mindy grunted, sat down her magazine, and walked back into the kitchen.

  “I don’t think I’ve ever seen this place so empty,” Jake commented.

  “It’s this weather. Those clouds look downright scary. I’d be home too if I didn’t own this place,” Sally replied. She paused for a moment, and then said, “So, you going to the MontanaFair?”

  Jake knew Sally well enough that her tone suggested she was getting at something. He knew Sally too long to not be able to read between the lines.

  “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe,” he said evasively.

  She poured him a Coke out of the fountain and sat it in front of him.

  “’Cause I was thinking.”

  “I’m scared to ask,” Jake said, raising an eyebrow.

  She playfully reached out and slapped him on the arm.

  “Oh, come on now,” she said, trying to sound all innocent. “I was just thinking maybe you should ask Bud’s niece to go with you.”

  Jake moaned and said, “Sally, are you trying to play matchmaker again?”

  Sally leaned across the counter and placed a hand over Jake’s.

  “Darlin’, I know it’s hard for you to go out with someone, but it’s been a long time since…”

  Jake shook his head and said, “Look, Sally. I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but…”

  “But nothing! I saw the sparks between you two yesterday. Don’t you even try to deny it! What’s it going to hurt taking a nice beautiful woman to the fair for an evening and show her some of the finer points of our state? Who better to do the job than the town’s most eligible bachelor sheriff?”

  Jake chuckled, “You’re impossible.”

  “You know I’m right,” Sally replied, putting a hand on her hip. “I’m not asking you to marry her. Just go out and have a good time. Sometimes I worry about you. You’re too fine to waste! You think about think about that while I go check on your BLT.”

  She walked back into the kitchen just as Mindy slid the sandwich off a spatula onto a plate.

  “Sally, you’re really something,” Mindy said, shaking her head.

  “What do you mean?” Sally responded, shrugging her shoulders.

  “Trying to get Jake to ask that woman out,” Mindy said, setting a piece of parsley on the plate. “Every available woman in this county, including yours truly, has made a point of flirting with the sheriff, but he’s still committed to…”

  “I know, I know,” Sally said, waving her hands. “But how long can he put his life on hold? She wouldn’t want that. She would’ve wanted to see him happy.”

  Mindy sadly nodded in agreement, and Sally grabbed the plate and headed back out into the dining room.

  “Can I get that to go?” Jake said, standing up.

  “Now, hon, don’t be mad at me.”

  “No, it’s not that. You know I love you. You’re practically family. I just got a call from the station. A tornado was spotted about five miles from here in Twin Roses.”

  “Oh, dear Lord,” Sally said, glancing out the window to take another look out the window. The clouds had grown even darker and hard drops of rain began to pellet the diner’s glass windows. “Be careful, Jake.”

  She handed him his lunch in a take-out container.

  “I will. Going to head back to the station in case I’m needed there. You and Mindy keep an eye out, and don’t hesitate to run away from the windows at the least bit of a sign of trouble.”

  Terri had slept in until a very late for her ten thirty. She never slept late back in New York and even got up at six o’clock on the weekends to go running. It felt luxurious to not have a schedule for once.

  After sitting on the back porch sipping her coffee and having a blueberry muffin, she headed back inside to start the task of familiarizing herself with what her uncle left behind. It felt beyond strange going through someone else’s things and also knowing that she would have to be the one to decide what to do with all of it. She was well versed in legal work, but not being an executor of her uncle’s estate. She didn’t realize how emotional it would make her feel.

  She wasn’t aware of how much stuff Uncle Bud had until she ventured into his closets. His clothes smelled of his cologne and she could feel his presence in the massive bedroom with the gorgeous picture window.

  On the top shelf in his bedroom closet, she found an old shoebox of photos, and inside she found one of her as Terrence, the boy. Her parents and Uncle Bud were also in the picture. She suddenly found herself flooded with memories and more regret that she didn’t spend more time with her uncle these past few years. It had been so easy to get wrapped up in the little details of life like work obligations and to neglect the truly big parts like family.

  The house phone rang startling her. It was the first time the phone in the house while on her visit. She didn’t know who it could be, and she sure as hell hoped it was not that smarmy cousin of Jake’s. She was definitely not in the mood for him.

  “Hello?”

  “Hey, it’s Sally! Girl, how ya doin’ in that big old house?” she asked in her ebullient way.

  “Oh, I’ve been going through Uncle Bud’s things this morning…,” she said.

  “Oh, darling, I’m sorry. I know that’s got to be tough. It’s hard for me to think about…him not being out there anymore.”

  “I know you have to be mourning, too.”

  Sally stayed quiet on the other end for a moment before finally saying, “I just try and remember the good times, you know? He would’ve wanted that. Your Uncle Bud loved life.”

  Terri picked up the picture of when they were on Coney Island. She’d always felt unbelievably awkward and out of place as a child. Only when Uncle Bud was around with his fun-loving attitude did she momentarily forget her pain.

  “I know. I’m trying to do the same thing, too, Sally.”

  “I don’t know if you’d had a chance to look outside lately…”

  “Looks like a major storm is on the way,” Terri said looking out the picture window at the ominous clouds gathering over the Montana landscape.

  “Well, they spotted a tornado a few miles from town. So, keep your eyes out.”

  “A tornado!” Terri repeated. Rain began to pelt the ground, and the sky had grown so dark it could almost be mistaken for nighttime outside.

  “I wanted to make sure you knew. If you need it, your uncle has a door in the kitchen that leads to the basement.”

  “Thanks for letting me know. I’ve been so engrossed in looking through Uncle Bud’s things I haven’t paid any attention to what’s going on outside.”

  “I know what else I wanted to tell you. The MontanaFair starts tomorrow. Maybe Jake should take you. Show you around. I’ll ask him to.”

  “Oh, I don’t know about that,” Terri said hurriedly. “I’m so busy right now, and…”

  “Exactly! That’s why you need to get out of the house for a bit. And well, I gotta tell you I saw the spark between you two yesterday. The way you two looked at each other almost caught my café on fire. I swear!”

  “I appreciate what you’re trying to do, Sally.”

  “Hmmm, where else did
I hear that today?”

  “But, I just recently got out of a relationship.”

  Sally says, “If you get thrown from a horse…”

  “I know I should get back on. But it’s just too soon, and I’m only here for a couple of weeks at the most.”

  “So what’s the harm then? Ain’t nothing bad about having a good time.”

  “I just can’t…”

  And then Terri heard the noise. At first, it sounded like a train far, far away in the distance. The noise grew louder and louder. Then a boom echoed in her ears. She turned towards the window to look out.

  “Terri, hon, you still there?” asked Sally.

  Terri’s jaw dropped when she pulled back the curtains for a look.

  “Oh, my God, Sally!” she said, dropping the receiver onto the wooden floor where it landed with a hard crash.

  Chapter 6

  When Jake heard over the sheriff radio that the tornado had been spotted not far from Bud's old ranch he felt a surge of concern. An instinct told him that he needed to ride out that way to check on Terri to check on her now that the storm eventually dissipated. Jake had seen firsthand the unexpected sudden destructive violence a twister could leash on a community.

  As he drove closer to the ranch in the sheriff car his worry grew. The tornado had made a path of ruin along the two lane highway. Trees that had dotted the road for decades were snapped like toothpicks, and the path of obliteration appeared to head straight towards Bud's ranch.

  Jake hit the gas, switched on the sirens, and sped towards the ranch. He hoped...he prayed...that Terri was safe.

  The small dirt road leading to the ranch was blocked by a fallen pine tree, so Jake stopped the car and hurried out. He jumped over the shattered trunk of the tree and began to run towards the ranch. The home appeared to be intact which eased his mind.

  “Terri!” he called out. “Terri, are you okay?”

  Being a city gal, Jake didn't know if Terri had the first clue what to do in the event of a tornado. He felt a pang of guilt for not thinking of telling her about the storm cellar on the property. His logical mind told him there had been no way he could have predicted the tornado, but his heart told him he had failed her. Failed her just like...

  “I don't think you should go out in this, Sherilynn,” Jake said, pulling his fiancée to him and placing kisses on her neck. “Stay here with me tonight and keep me warm. It's cold out there.” He couldn’t believe how much he cared for this woman and felt truly blessed she was in his life.

  She had been the prettiest girl in high school. He remembered when she first arrived in town to help take care of her homebound grandfather. While the other high school students would worry about trivial things like what to wear or which party to go to that weekend, she’d be at home making sure her grandfather’s needs were taken care of. She was so selfless. That was one of the things he liked best about her.

  “Now Jake, you know if I stay here tonight the last thing we're going to do is sleep. My shift at the clinic starts at five in the morning, and I've got to get some rest,” Sherilynn said, giggling and placing one last kiss on his cheek.

  She had just started her nursing career at the local clinic, and Sherilynn was determined to make a good impression. Also, now that they were engaged, she wanted to save money for their new life together. She was so ecstatic when Jake proposed. She made a promise in her mind that she would make Jake the happiest man in Montana.

  “I suppose I'll let you go,” Jake said, running his hands through her ginger curls and giving her another kiss on her pretty pink mouth. He felt an instinct to protect her, even though her fierce independent streak was strong enough for the both of them.

  A loud booming sound rocked Jake's tiny cabin, and a flash of violent light shot through the living room window indicating inclement weather approaching.

  “Seriously, Sherilynn, I think you should stay here. It sounds like it's getting rough out there. I don't like the idea of you being out there on the road in this.”

  Sherilynn sighed loudly. She was a strong, stubborn one who had worked her way through college and stood on her own two feet ever since her grandfather passed away. Sometimes her stubbornness drove him nuts though. Once she set her pretty little mind on something, there was no changing it. And usually she was right.

  “I'm a big girl. It's just a little rain. I'll be fine. I'll call you when I get home. Love you,” she said placing a finger on his lips indicating the discussion was over.

  Jake stayed up and waited for the call that never came. The rain had increased steadily and the wind howled, causing the lights in the cabin to flicker. After an hour and no answer on her cellphone, he grew increasingly concerned. Finally, he couldn't take it anymore. He jumped into his car and took off down the highway headed to Sherilynn's grandfather's house. His heart twitched and his stomach twisted the moment his headlights illuminated Sherilynn's car in the pitch dark, now nothing more than an unrecognizable twist of metal which had crashed into a tree. Lightning had struck the tree, and it fell across the highway. She probably never saw it coming in the heavy rain.

  His foot hit the brakes, and his car skidded to a stop on the slippery highway. He jumped out of his car and rushed over to the scene, cold rain pouring down his face and soaking his clothes.

  “Sherilynn!” he screamed out, praying that somehow she was okay. Somehow she walked away from this. She had to have been okay. She had to. They had their whole future together.

  His few years on the sheriff’s force had already given him a sixth sense to know when it was too late. When he made it to the car, his eyes landed on her lifeless figure slumped over the steering wheel. Tears poured down his already rain soaked face and he let out a cry of grief as the thunder raged on. The love of his life, his fiancée Sherilynn, was dead. If it had been possible, he would have wished himself dead that very moment, too…

  “Terri!” Jake continued to call as he ran towards the ranch, jumping over fallen branches and smaller trees. An eerie sense of déjà vu tingled in the back of his mind which he tried to mentally push away.

  “Jake! Thank God!” he finally heard her yell back.

  And then she appeared, running out of the ranch and straight towards him. She didn't stop until she instinctively threw herself into his arms. Jake held her tightly, with all of his might, almost hugging the breath out of her, thankful she was alright.

  He pulled back and took a good look at her. Her face had turned an almost ashen pale shade, and she appeared to be trying to catch her breath.

  “Are you okay?” he asked, gripping her shoulders.

  All she could do was nod before throwing herself into his strong arms again.

  Jake embraced her as he scanned the area around them.

  “My God! It's a miracle!” he exclaimed.

  Fallen tress surrounded the entire ranch house, but not one single tree had fallen on the house.

  Terri reluctantly left Jake's arms and took in the complete damage for the first time herself.

  “I thought I was going to die,” she said softly.

  The moment she saw the tornado, she dropped the phone and had run into a bedroom closet to try and shield herself from the windows. The sound of the tornado became deafening, and Terri thought her heart would beat out of her chest. The smell and warmth of Uncle Bud’s old clothes surrounded and comforted her. She thought of and tried to focus on his smiling face as the storm raged outside. Loud snapping sounds filled the air. But just as soon as it appeared, the tornado passed over and a peaceful quiet settled in the house once more.

  “You're okay,” Jake said reassuringly, and without thinking twice about it took her hand into his. “I can't believe it, not one tree hit the house. Someone up there is watching over you, Terri.”

  “Uncle Bud,” Terri said quietly. In her heart, she believed that her uncle had looked out for her from beyond. How else could such a miraculous event occur?

  “Come on,” Jake said, leading her towards t
he ranch, “Let's go in and sit for a moment. I know where Bud kept his scotch, and I think you could use a shot right now.”

  “Yeah, I agree,” she replied, following him and holding his hand even tighter. This simple touch between them felt so natural, so easy...in a way she had never even felt with Tom who she thought she loved more than life itself. She was so grateful for having a strong, masculine figure like Jake in her life.

  As they neared the house, the sun cut through the clouds and illuminated an uprooted ponderosa tree. A slight glimmer near the roots caught Terri's eye.

  “Wait a sec,” she said, leading him to the knot of tangled roots.

  “What is it?”

  “I see something shiny in the roots of that tree.”

  When they got close enough to inspect it further, Jake muttered, “Well, look a there.”

  There in between the roots were fragments of what looked to be shards of multi-colored pottery. An array of different pieces with colorful designs seemed to have been preserved under the tree.

  “What is it?” Terri asked.

  Jake knelt down, picked up one of the clay pieces, and held it up to the light.

  “Looks like Native American pottery pieces from one of the tribes that lived in this area. Possibly the Crow people.”

  Terri bent down to have a closer look herself. “There looks like a lot of it,” she said, amazed. “How long do you think it was buried?”

  “That’s a good question. I don’t know. But there is someone who would. An old professor I had in college, Professor Redfeather, is an expert on the local history. I'd like to call him to come take a look at this if you don't mind. He lives nearby and does a lot of work with preserving and cataloging Native artifacts.”