I'm On a Ranch?

by Misty Malone

“Yeah, I remember. What was that about?”

  “My main goal is to keep you safe, and I will do whatever I need to do to achieve that. I see now that you've been feeling desperate enough that you haven't given thought to your safety. That's why it's even more important that you listen to what I tell you. If you don't think of your safety, I will, so you need to listen to me. You may not want to hear this, but I feel I need to keep closer tabs on you, shorten your reigns a bit, to put it in cowboy terms,” he said with a bit of a smile.

  “How?”

  “With more rules, and stricter rules. What I mean by that is I want someone to know where you are all the time. I don't mean I'm going to micromanage your day, and tell you from this time to this time you have to be here, or anything like that. What I do mean is if you're going to be reading in the den for a period of time, tell me, or Lena. Whatever you're going to do, tell one of us.”

  She started to object, he was sure, but he placed his finger over her mouth. “Hear me out. I don't mean this as a way of restricting what you do here. You can still do anything you would do before, as long as you can do it safely. I just want to know where you are. It's more so you can get into the habit of checking in with me, or with Lena, so we know where you are. We'll likely check to be sure you have a charged phone with you if you're going outside anywhere, but we won't keep you from going. Do you understand what I'm trying to say?”

  “I think so,” she said after a bit of thought. “But does that mean I can go outside? I thought you said until we know what those men are up to you didn't want me going out of the house.”

  “I've rethought that, now that I know you like being outside and it helps clear your mind. I don't want you out walking, or wandering around, but I think I may have come up with a compromise.”

  “What kind of compromise?”

  “Well, I know you want to get out of the house occasionally, but I want you to be safe, which basically means you would not be alone much. I've noticed lately while we've been going out for walks or something in the evening, you seem to like spending time in the barn with the injured animals. Am I right about that?”

  “I love being out there,” she agreed. “I think that's my favorite place on this ranch. Well, so far, anyway.”

  “One of my hands is usually somewhere close by that barn. I like to keep one of them at the barn most of the time in case someone gets hurt. It's good having someone at the barn. They can grab my EMT bag and bring it out in a pickup. We can take the injured person back in the truck, or to meet the rescue squad if it's a serious injury. It's also nice having someone around in case someone comes looking for someone. If someone comes to drop off supplies or something you need someone there to meet them. So, anyway, someone, usually Clay, is around most of the time.”

  “Why is it usually Clay?”

  “Clay is a heck of a mechanic. He can work on the equipment in the shed next to the barn we use for the injured animals, and if someone comes up the lane he'll hear them. If an injured animal is in distress, he'll hear that and go check on it. So he's somewhere around most of the time. If you like going out to visit the injured animals, I will allow that as long as you find Clay, or whoever's there, and let them know you're out there.”

  “So he can come babysit me then?”

  “No. If he's working in the machine shop he'll keep working there. I want him to be aware you're there, though, so he can listen a little closer. If someone sneaks in there I want you to scream, and he'll come running. If he's worried about an animal that's in there he may be checking on it regularly, but otherwise he'll be doing his work. He may check on you once in awhile to be sure you're okay, but that would be it.”

  She was shaking her head. “So I could go out there and hold a little baby animal while I think?”

  “You could. Does that sound like something you could live with?”

  “I think so, yes. And thank you.”

  “I meant it when I said I don't mean to restrict your movements, Sunshine. But will you agree to let one of us know where you'll be all the time, until we know it's safe for you to be out alone?”

  “Okay, I can live with that,” she said.

  Chapter 7

  The next several days went pretty well. She wasn't thrilled with checking in with people all the time, but was happy that they didn't stop her from doing anything she wanted to do. She and Lena spent more time talking, and she was surprised to learn that Lena seemed to understand how frustrated she was.

  She and Bryce continued spending time together each evening. One evening he took her for a ride on Thunder, holding on to her with one strong arm. She especially enjoyed that evening. She enjoyed seeing more of the ranch, and she liked feeling his strong arm around her, keeping her safe. They were getting ready to head back to the barn when he had an idea. “Sunshine, would you like to ride out to the area that seemed to look familiar to you earlier, the day you came home from the hospital? Maybe you'll see something that will spark a memory.”

  “Could we do that?”

  “Sure,” he said, turning Thunder around. He brought her into the area from a different direction, hoping something would jump out at her. As soon as they topped the hill, and the area came into view she gasped. He tightened his arm a bit to offer support. “What is it?”

  “I'm not sure,” she whispered. She looked at the area again, and he could feel her tremble. She turned her head away, took a deep breath and turned back. As soon as she looked at it again, she grabbed his arm.

  “What is it, sunshine?”

  “I've been here before. I was running,” she said. He could feel her trembling and heard the uneasiness in her voice. After a few moments she added, “Someone was chasing me.” Her breath caught. “Bryce, I was so scared.”

  He looped Thunder's reigns around the horn and wrapped both arms around her pulling her back tighter against his chest. “It's okay, I've got you now.” He waited a moment, watching her look around. “Do you know who it was that was chasing you, or how many there were?”

  “There were two of them. Two men,” she whispered. She exhaled and her shoulders slumped. “That's all I can remember.”

  “Hey, that's okay,” Bryce encouraged her. “You remembered something." He paused, deep in thought. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah,” she assured him. “I just wish I could remember more.”

  “The tree we found you in is not too far from here. Do you feel up to going to that again? Maybe now that you've remembered being chased through here something else will come back as you see more of the area.”

  “Please take me there,” she said as she squared her shoulders.

  “Are you sure you're up to it?”

  “I want to go, Bryce. Anything that might help bring my memory back, I want to try.”

  “Okay, if you're sure. But tell me if it becomes too much, and we'll go back to the house.”

  “Okay,” she agreed.

  He kept one arm tightly around her waist as he picked up the reigns and headed Thunder in the general direction of the tree. He could tell she was tense, but he had to give her credit, she was looking all around, on both sides as they went. They were moving rather slowly down an empty pasture, when she looked ahead and grabbed his arm again. He stopped. “What is it?”

  “That's a creek down there, isn't it?” she asked.

  “Yes, it is. Do you remember something about the creek?”

  “I was running through the creek. The water was cold, but I stayed in the creek. That's why I remembered seeing the field and woods. I remember thinking I'd like to try to lose them in the woods, but I would have had to run through that field and I would have been wide open and they probably would have seen me. So I ran in the creek, hoping they wouldn't be able to follow my footprints. The tree's by the creek, isn't it?”

  “Yes,” he said, “not too far up here.”

  “Can you take me there, please?”

  “Of course.” He went down to the creek and followed along that, in
the direction of the tree.

  “Stop here, please.” She was breathing heavier, looking at one spot in the creek. “Can I get down and look closer?”

  Bryce slid down off of Thunder and reached up and picked her up around her waist and gently set her on the ground. He tied Thunder to a nearby tree and held her hand as she headed down closer to the creek.

  She looked in the water in front of her, looked back up the creek, back down to the water, and further down the creek. She went up to a small tree growing close to the water. “I fell back there where I stopped first,” she said as she pointed to the area. “I fell when I slipped on moss on those two big flat stones. I fell backwards and hit my head on a rock.”

  “That explains your concussion,” he said.

  “Yes. My head hurt, but I knew I had to keep running or they'd catch up with me. As I tried to run again, though, I felt dizzy, and I knew I had to stop and rest for a few minutes and let the dizziness pass. I was going to hold onto this small sapling growing out over the water here to climb out of the water and up the bank, but there wasn't any grass around and I knew they'd see my footprints coming out of the water and could follow me. So I went up a little further until I found a place that had grass on the bank. Then I took my shoes off before I came out of the water so there wouldn't be anything that looked like a shoe print, and I walked as softly as I could on the grass.”

  “I'm impressed,” Bryce told her.

  “I put my shoes back on to climb the tree. I got up as high as I could, making sure there were plenty of leaves around me so they wouldn't see me unless they were looking for me, and I hoped they'd be concentrating on the ground, looking for footprints. I was as quiet as I could be and tried not to move an inch once I saw them following the creek down, coming towards me. Luckily, they kept looking down, and I watched them walk right beneath me. I waited until they were completely out of sight. My head really hurt, and I was afraid I'd get dizzy and fall out of the tree, so I went back down to the bottom branches, thinking I'd rest there a few minutes until my head felt better. I must have fallen asleep then.”

  “And that's when Landon found you,” Bryce said. “When the men passed right underneath you, did you see them?”

  “I don't think so,” she said. “It's still a little fuzzy, but I remember being afraid to move any, afraid I'd make a sound and they'd look up. I don't think I could see their faces from where I was.”

  “That's probably true,” Bryce said. “You do remember it was two men though?”

  “It was. One was tall and thin, and the other was shorter, but I don't know how much shorter.” She was quiet, and he assumed she was trying to think. She shook her head. “That's it.”

  “That's okay, sunshine. That's the most you've remembered yet, by far. I don't think it will be long before you remember everything.”

  “I hope you're right.”

  “I'm proud of you.” He opened his arms, and she walked into them, welcoming the comfort they gave her. He felt her trembling again and hugged her to him. “I'm sure that was a scary thing to go through,” he said, “but you did a real good job. You really thought things through.”

  “I wish I knew why they were chasing me,” she said.

  “I know,” he assured her. “Me, too, but you remembered a great deal. I don't think it will be much longer until you remember everything.” He held her until she stopped shaking. “Are you ready to go home? I think we should tell Deputy Armstrong what you remembered.”

  She nodded, and they went back to Thunder. As he was untying the horse he asked one more question. “Do you remember where you got in the creek? Was it back there just a little ways?”

  “No, it was way back there,” she said, pointing. “I was in the creek a long way before I fell.” She looked down the creek, looking all around. “Could we go down there a little ways?”

  “Sure,” he said. He helped her up onto Thunder and climbed up behind her. They headed down along the creek. They followed it for a little ways before she pointed ahead. “That's where I got in the creek,” she said. “I remember coming out of that woods there and getting into the creek, hoping they wouldn't have footprints to follow and I could lose them.”

  “You're sure you were in those woods?”

  “Positive.” She thought a bit. “What's on the other side of these woods? I don't remember where I was before the woods, but I remember coming out of them to go into the creek. I was almost at the end of the woods and there was nothing but open field after the woods, so I went in the creek to try to lose them. But I don't remember where I was before the woods.”

  “Do you want to ride down that way to see beyond the woods?”

  “Could we?”

  “Of course.” They rode to the edge of the woods and down alongside of it. When they reached a clearing, she looked all around. She kept looking in one general direction, and Bryce walked Thunder slowly in that direction.

  She looked side to side before saying anything. “I went into the woods from down there by those buildings. I remember being behind the buildings. I don't know if I was in one of them, or in front of them or what, but I remember being behind them and running into the woods.”

  “You've done terrific for one day, sunshine. You've remembered a great deal, and we need to talk to Deputy Armstrong. Are you okay?”

  “Yeah. I'm tired, but I'm fine.”

  “Let's get you home so you can rest a little. We'll call Deputy Armstrong and see if he can come out later on.” She nodded and leaned back against him as they rode back to the house.

  By the time they got home she was yawning. “Why don't you go upstairs and take a nap?” Bryce suggested.

  “A nap sounds good, but I don't want to be alone,” she said, feeling embarrassed.

  “I can understand that. You not only had a memory breakthrough, but you relived a very scary episode in your life. I have an idea. Why don't you come into my office with me? You can rest on the couch in there while I do some work.”

  “That sounds wonderful if I won't be too much trouble.”

  “That would be no trouble at all. In fact, I'll be able to get more work done if I can see you, assure myself you're okay.” She studied him a bit. “Hearing what you went through upset me, Sunshine. I hate to think of that happening to you. I'll feel better for the next little while if I can see you so I know you're okay.”

  Their eyes met, and they knew it was too late. They already cared more for each other than they should. He gave her a little half-hearted smile, which looked almost sad, and she returned it with one of her own. He led her to his office and put a pillow at the end of the couch. Once she was lying down, resting, he covered her with a blanket. “If you need anything or want to talk, just say something.” She nodded, but he wasn't surprised when she was sleeping ten minutes later.

  He let her sleep until Deputy Armstrong arrived. They went to the living room to talk where Bryce explained Jane had had a rather significant memory breakthrough. He described what she'd remembered about being chased and climbing the tree.

  “I don't know how significant it was,” Jane said. “Now we know how I got in the tree, but I still don't have any idea what happened right before that or who the men are.”

  "It's pretty significant in another way,” Bryce explained. “Deputy Armstrong has been working on a theory, hoping to find out who you are. They found an abandoned car about two miles from where we found you. It was from out of state, and they haven't been able to locate the owner who is a lady that fits your general description.”

  Her eyes looked hopeful. “And?”

  Deputy Armstrong was just as interested. “How is her memory today related to the car?”

  “I asked her where she got in the creek, and we went to look at the area further. She found the spot she entered, and knew which direction she'd come from, and it's pretty much the opposite direction from the abandoned car. I don't see how she could have been coming from the car.”

  Deputy Armstrong an
d Jane both looked defeated. He asked her a few questions, which confirmed what Bryce had reported; she had come from a different direction.

  The deputy thought a few moments. “Well, don't be too upset, Jane. I think the fact you remembered this much is significant. I think soon you'll be adding more and more memories, and we'll be able to figure out who these men are and what they want you for. For right now, though, I want to hear every detail of what you can remember. As I'm investigating, you never know how one little detail will fit in and break a case open.”

  Jane spent the next half hour recanting her new memory, while both men listened carefully, tucking every detail away in their mind.

  The next few days went well. Jane was doing her best to follow Bryce's rules. It helped a great deal being able to go to the ranch hospital. Bryce stopped there on his way in for lunch and supper. She was there more often than not, playing with or nursing the new or injured animals. He loved watching her. She seemed happy with the animals, not a care in the world. It was just what she needed to get her mind off her worries for a while.

  Her memory continued to come in small bits and pieces, but she still had no idea who she was, which was affecting her mood. She was frustrated again, and the anger returned. She didn't know whom she was angry at, but she felt angry all the time. It wasn't fair, and she'd been forced to live without an identity for too long.

  Bryce warned her one evening after supper about her attitude, which had fueled her anger. “Well, dammit, Bryce, you try living without knowing who you are sometime. It sucks, and I don't know how much longer I can do it.”

  Without saying a word, he went to her, taking her by her arm and turning her sideways. He landed five sharp swats on her jeans-covered bottom before she knew what was happening.”

  “Ow!”

  Before she could say anything else he warned, “Cussing will get you a full blown spanking in the future. Remember that.”

  She was so angry with him she could pull her hair out. She had to smile at herself a bit, though, as her next thought was she'd rather pull his out.