by Holla Dean
Didn't she know better than to take off on her own? Hadn't they already had this discussion?
She sure wasn't showing any signs of being able to handle the chores and work that went along with ranching. For somebody who claimed she knew what to do, that she had grown up on a ranch doing the work, she sure put herself in a lot of risky situations.
When he got to the area where she had to climb down, he saw just a few more footprints before they vanished. Looking out over the land, he tried to spot her but didn't see a thing. What he did see was another stray way up ahead. Bringing his gaze back to take a closer look at her tracks, he saw it wasn't that her tracks had ended, it looked like she slipped and fell. There was a wide swath of disturbed snow going downhill and his eyes followed it until he saw what could only be Julie laying in the snow at the base of a tree.
With his heart suddenly in his throat, he tried to call out to her. But all that came out was a low croaking of her name. He descended down the steep incline stepping with his feet sideways for better balance. He swallowed hard and called her name out again.
"Julie! Julie, are you all right?"
There was no answer and when he finally reached her he saw her face was almost as white as the snow. Ripping the glove off one of his hands, he put two fingers on her neck and sighed in relief when he felt a strong pulse.
He stroked her cheek gently and said, "Wake up, honey. Come on back to me."
Her eyes fluttered open and she looked at him while blinking a few times, "I think I fell."
"You did, what the hell were you thinking?" He tried not to let too much of his worry—or anger—show.
"There was another cow, and I thought I would go get it for you."
He looked at her sternly and said, "Do you think you can sit up?"
"Yeah, I think so."
She sat up and suddenly gripped his sleeve for support. He looked at her sharply and asked, "Are you dizzy? Are you gonna pass out on me again?"
She nodded her head slowly, "Just a little dizzy. I don't think I’m going to pass out again."
"Can you stand up?"
"I think so, if I hold on to you."
He put one arm behind her and helped her to her feet. She clung to him for a second or two while she got her balance.
"I'm a little dizzy and my head hurts." She put her hand on the back of her head and felt a good sized lump.
Seeing her wince when she touched her head, Seth put his hand on the bump to feel it for himself.
"You got a good goose egg there.” He stepped behind her and took a look. “There’s no blood. Let's get you up this hill and we’ll get Justin to come and collect these strays."
He squatted down in front of her and told her, "Put your hands around my neck and get on my back. I'll carry you up the hill."
"That's not necessary. Really, I'm okay. I just want to move a little slowly, but I'm sure I'm fine."
He gave her a look that made him seem almost angry and said, "Just this once, would you please listen to me and do what I ask you to do? If you fall again you could get seriously hurt. Now get on my back or I’ll have to just toss you over my shoulder. Your choice."
"You're being a little overprotective. Please, if you just let me hang on to you, I know I can get up this little hill by walking."
He sighed and said, "I guess you decided the over my shoulder method."
As he bent slightly to scoop her over his shoulder, she cried out, "No! I said I would walk."
She took a step back to put some space between them and almost fell again. He reached out and grabbed her arm, and using that voice that told her he meant business, he said, "One more time. Either you let me take you up on my back or I'm tossing you over my shoulder. Those are the only two choices you have. Which will it be?"
"Fine! I'll get on your back."
He turned around and squatted down in front of her again and this time she did as he told her and got on his back. Leaning forward slightly for better balance, he stood up and started climbing out of the gully. It didn't take long, she hadn't made it very far down before she was stopped by the tree. When they got to the top, he slid her off his back and said, "The snowmobile is barely a quarter mile up ahead, can you walk or should I carry you?"
"I can walk." Her voice was stiff with her anger at the high-handed way he thought he could just order her around and make her do whatever he said.
"Let's go then," he said as he took her hand in his.
Halfway to the snowmobile Julie stumbled and Seth didn't say a word. He just put one arm under her knees, the other behind her back, and picked her up to carry her the rest of the way.
When she opened her mouth to protest, he said, "Don't even start. You're in enough trouble now. We’re going to go tell Justin where the strays are and then I'm taking you home."
“What do you mean, I’m in trouble? How the hell can I be in trouble from falling? That’s not my fault.”
“It’s your fault that you wandered off without telling me where you were going. We already had this talk the last time you did that.”
“For Pete’s sake, I didn’t wander off! I saw another cow and went to see if I could coax it into coming back to the snowmobile. I am not in trouble!”
“You are in trouble and we’ll talk about it later. Right now, I’m going to put you on the snowmobile and tie the rope to a tree until Justin can come get this cow and her calf.”
Chapter Eleven
Mrs. Alvarez made an ice-pack to put on Julie’s bump and gave her three aspirins for pain. All the while she muttered about silly young girls these days thinking they could do a man’s job.
“Why you not let the men do the work? Women shouldn’t be working with cattle.” Her accent was heavier than normal as she bustled around to make Julie comfortable.
“Because I have my own ranch and I don’t want to do housework,” Julie said, gritting her teeth and trying not to be rude to Seth’s housekeeper.
“You’re a young wife now. You should make babies for Señor Seth.”
Julie chose not to answer and was grateful when Seth changed the subject and said, “I have to get back to the men. You lay down and rest and do what Mrs. Alvarez says. She’ll take care of you. We’ll talk tonight.”
He gave her a stern look and she had a sneaky suspicion that when he said they’d talk, it was some kind of code that meant she was getting spanked.
Julie spent the afternoon watching TV, and letting Mrs. Alvarez bring her ice packs and hot chicken noodle soup. She dozed on and off all afternoon, unable to stop thinking about the “talk” Seth planned to have with her that night.
At 6:30, the housekeeper came into the living room and said, “I am leaving now; there is a big pot of chili on the stove and some warm bread in the oven. It will stay warm until Señor Seth comes home.”
“Okay, thank you for all your help today.” Julie replied sleepily from the sofa.
Glancing at the television, she saw the weather alert telling local residents about a second wave of the blizzard that had already started hitting the area. She was glad to be safely in the house and figured Seth would be showing up any minute. She dozed off again and this time when she woke up, the television was off and the house was in complete darkness.
Pushing herself up into a sitting position, she realized she felt much better. Her headache was gone and she was more rested than she’d been in a long time. Not since Gramps had died had she had this much rest.
Picking up the remote, she clicked the on button and nothing happened. She had the fleeting thought that it was odd that Seth hadn’t left some kind of light burning for her. And why the hell wasn’t the television working?
Her eyes had become accustomed to the darkness and she could make out the shapes of the furniture. She looked towards the table that held a small digital clock and saw nothing. Power outage, she realized.
She fumbled on the coffee table until she found her cell phone and turned it on. It wasn’t working either, which w
as no surprise. She had hoped she might get at least the time. Where was Seth?
Thinking he must be in bed, she got up and slowly made her way out of the living room, down the hall, and into Seth’s bedroom. Their bedroom now. It was darker in there and she felt her way towards the bed with her arms stretched out before her. When her legs bumped against the end of the bed, she put her hands on the mattress and made her way to the side. Sitting on the bed she reached her arm over to nudge Seth awake but found only empty space.
Now what? The only other place she could think where he might be was in the barn. She walked to the window which had a faint glow to it and pulled aside the thin curtains. What she saw made her gasp and her hand went to her chest.
Total, complete whiteout. She couldn’t see the barn, she couldn’t see anything at all other than the dark gray color telling her they were in a complete whiteout.
She stood at the window for several minutes thinking about what she should do. What could she do? She thought about the rope that was tied from the porch to the barn and then remembered that was at Gramps’ ranch, not here.
Fumbling in the nightstand drawer, she found no candles and no lighter. With her hand guiding her along the edge of the bed, she walked around to the other side and checked the nightstand on Seth’s side of the bed. There, on top of the nightstand, she found a low candle holder with two tea lights on it and a book of matches next to it. Apparently Seth was prepared for a power outage.
She lit the candles and waited a few seconds for the faint light to spread as far as it could across the room. On the floor next to the nightstand she found a lantern and quickly picked it up and shook it to determine how much white gas was in the small tank. It sounded pretty full and she lit it, pleased to see it filled most of the room with soft light.
She blew out the tea candles just in case she might need them later, and left the bedroom. She went down the hall to the guest room and saw that everything seemed all right there. She spotted another lantern next to the nightstand in this room. It was full of fuel too and she took it back to the master bedroom, lit it and put it in the window just in case anyone was out there trying to find their way back to the house.
Her next stop was the kitchen and her stomach growled when she smelled the chili sitting on the stove and thought about the bread in the oven. Dinner would have to wait just a little longer. She opened the pantry door and just inside on the floor were four more lanterns, each one filled with fuel. Julie picked up two of them and brought them to the kitchen table before going back to the pantry and getting the last two. She lit two of them, put one in the window and one on the kitchen table. She left the two remaining ones unlit, not wanting to risk having all the lanterns on and end up running out of fuel.
Back in the living room she found two more lanterns and lit one of them, keeping the other one in reserve. Sitting down on the sofa, she turned out the lantern she had been carrying through the house. The one in the window gave enough light so she could see what she needed to.
What should she do next? It would be a fool’s errand to try and make her way to the barn under these conditions. And if Seth wasn’t there, then what? Her stomach growled again and she went back to the kitchen and filled a bowl with chili. Then she pulled out a slice of the warm bread wrapped in foil. She ate the food sitting at the kitchen table with only the dim light from the lantern in the window.
Other thoughts were rushing through her brain now. What if Seth was in the barn? What if he was trapped in there? What if he was hurt? What if he was still out on the range with all the men and they couldn’t get back to the house? She damned the lack of cell phone service on the ranch. There was no way to get in touch with anyone. And even if there was cell service, would it work under these conditions?
Maybe he did run a rope from the porch to the barn, she thought to herself. If he’d done it at her grandfather’s place, then surely he would have taken the same precaution here. She'd be safe if she stayed on the porch and just felt along the railing for a rope. She wouldn't get off the porch unless there was a rope. Pulling on her boots, parka, and gloves, she went out the back door thinking that would be the most likely place for him to run a rope to the barn. The small back porch faced the barn and it would be a shorter, more direct route.
Making sure she didn't lock herself out of the house, she stepped out onto the porch and was almost blown back against the door by the force of the wind. She made her way to the railing and held on tight as she inched her way across the right side of the porch. There was no evidence of a rope and she made her way back to the stairs and continued to the left searching for the rope. There was nothing. But it was more probable that he tied the rope to the post at the bottom of the stairs. She made her way back to the staircase again, and then holding on to the railing, she went down the five steps and felt along the whole length of the post. Again there was nothing. The steps were only about five feet wide and she could stretch out and reach the other one without having to go back up the few steps and then cross over and come back down on the other side. When her fingertips touched the rail she let go with her other hand from the left side of the stairs and fell when a gust of wind slammed into her.
She almost panicked for a moment, but then told herself she didn't have time for panicking. She turned very slowly, doing her best not to roll further away from the stairs. With one hand waving around her front and side searching blindly for some part of the stairs to hang on to, she managed to stand up by pushing herself off the ground with her other hand. The hand of her searching arm brushed against the hard post of the stair rail and she grabbed it and hung on tightly pulling herself to it. She felt down along the post and almost missed the rope, but it was there, tied under the banister section of the rail and looped twice around the newel post. Relief flooded through her and she climbed back up the five steps to collect her lantern.
With the lantern in her left hand, she wrapped the rope around her right arm twice and gripped it tightly with her gloved right hand. Going slowly, holding the lantern up for light, she made her way to the barn. It took her nearly fifteen minutes to cross the few hundred feet and when she pulled open the door, she knew by the darkness inside the barn that no one was in there. The horses neighed softly and the milk cow mooed when she entered. She released the rope and closed the door tightly behind her. The cow mooed again as though she were in distress, and Julie went to check on her. It didn't take long to discover the poor thing was very uncomfortable from needing to be milked. Julie put the lantern down in a safe area and went to get a milk pail.
Once she was done with milking, she made sure the horses had enough feed and she talked to them all soothingly knowing they would be safe in the barn. But she needed to get back to the house.
By the time she finally bundled up again and got out the barn door, the storm had gotten worse. If it weren't for the rope, she wouldn't dare try to make it back to the house. Again she wrapped the rope around her arm and held the lantern in her other hand and began to fight her way back to the house. Not twenty feet into her short journey she stumbled and almost fell. She was so determined not to let go of the rope and lose that lifeline, she ended up dropping the lantern into the snow and the light was snuffed out. She picked up the lantern so the fuel wouldn't leak out and went the rest of the way to the house in the dark.
She stomped the snow off her boots when she reached the back door and let herself into the house. It was as dark and quiet as when she had left nearly two hours earlier. Seth had not come home. At least now she knew he wasn't in the barn, although he could be anywhere. He could be lost in this horrible weather. Hell, all the men could be lost in this weather. Only time would tell her if they were safe.
She knew there was nothing else she could do at this point other than wait it out. She checked on all the lanterns that were in the windows and found they all had plenty of fuel left in them. She couldn't go to sleep worrying about Seth and the other men so she sat in the big recliner chair and wai
ted. And waited. And waited some more.
By now it was after midnight and she eventually dozed off in the chair. She woke intermittently and finally at about two in the morning she got up and went to the windows. One at a time, she peered out and tried to spot anything at all in the blinding snow. Putting her boots and parka on again, she went out onto the front porch with the lantern, hoping she'd be able to see more than she could from just looking out the window. But there was nothing to see. The wind was driving the snow in an almost horizontal path and she could only see a few feet in front of her. She went back in the house to continue waiting.
Chapter Twelve
Six cowboys didn't exactly fit in a line shack that was meant for two men. When it became evident another wave of heavy blinding snow was coming through, Seth had the men all head for the shack. It was shelter, and that's what they needed. The shack had two cots, a small table with two rickety chairs, a dry sink against one wall, and a six pack of pork and beans and another six pack of chili. Half a case of bottled water was in a corner under the dry sink. The canned food and water had come from a monthly trip to Costco. Seth worked hard at keeping the line shacks stocked with at least a little bit of food and water just for this kind of thing. A one-pound bag of ground coffee was also part of the line shack staples.
Justin, the foreman of the hands, sent Billy, who was the youngest, outside to get some clean snow they could use to make coffee and to collect some firewood from the pile that was stacked on the side of the shack.
Once they got the fire going in the wood-burning stove, they melted enough snow to make a pot of coffee and heated up two cans of beans and two cans of chili to split between the six of them. It was a meager dinner, but they didn't know if they'd be able to leave in the morning. The smartest thing to do was to save a little food in case they were stuck there for more than a day.
