Melody's Next Christmas

by George H. McVey

  The man wrenched his arm away from Tallis and cursed as he walked off. “You couldn’t run this place without me. When that pretty little filly is crushed by the loco horse just remember I warned ya.”

  The older Mister Ryder looked at his son. “Told you he’s gonna be trouble.”

  “I know. What am I supposed to do? Unless you have a seasoned hand you want to send me as foreman, I’m gonna have to keep him till I can find a replacement.”

  Melody waited till she heard the sounds of hoofbeats leaving the homestead yard and then she motioned for the four of them to take a seat on the benches the spectators had used earlier. “Let’s give the horse time to calm down a little. Please keep your emotions under control.”

  “No problem, Melody. I for one can’t wait to see you show these big strong rancher men how it’s really done.”

  Sara Ryder smiled at her dad and brother before grinning at Melody. “Well it won’t impress them much today. It will take a while to get that big fella to get comfortable and trust me. But once we’re over that hill then training him won’t be that hard.”

  The older Ryder just looked at her. “And how to you propose to win him over?”

  “By showing him he has nothing to fear from me and that I’m not afraid of him. I’m going to charm him and make him want to learn for me.”

  “You’re gonna make my devil horse fall in love with you?”

  ‘She smiled. “I guess you could say that. Just do me a favor: no matter what, don’t hurt that horse and don’t interfere.”

  “Even if he’s killing you?”

  “That won’t happen; unless you see me on the ground bleeding and unconscious don’t interfere, understood?” She looked at each of the three people sitting on the bench with her. When they all nodded she stood, reached into her saddle bag and pulled a small wooden rod out. She stuck it in the waistband of her britches and grinned as she walked over to the fence by the gate. She started to hum wordlessly and tunelessly very softly as she leaned up against the fence. As she got close the big roan stallion began to snort and paw at the ground, pacing around on the far side of the ring. She just stood there watching and humming until he seemed to calm down and turn to watch her. His ears perked up as she continued to hum softly. Then slowly she lifted the latch and slipped just inside the ring, closing the gate behind her, all the time humming as she leaned back against the fence. Again the horse started to snort and pace somewhat agitated but she just stood there watching him. After a few more minutes he stopped pacing and faced her again. She took three slow steps away from the fence toward the horse and he reared on his hind legs and came crashing down racing right for her. She stopped walking and calmly pulled the rod out of her waistband. When the horse was an arm’s length away from her she swung the rod as hard as she could, coming in contact with his nose, and to everyone’s surprise but her, the big stallion turned and raced away from her. He shook his head a few times and then turned back to look at her again. “Now then big fella, you see if you threaten me it hurts you, don’t you. But if you don’t threaten me, nothing bad will happen to you.” The stallions ears came forward and he snorted as he shook his head again.

  Once again Melody started humming and took a few more steps into the center of the ring. The horse made like he was going to charge her again but when she stopped walking he would veer off and circle away from her. They kept that dance up until she was standing in the middle of the ring. Then she held her empty hand out toward him and whistled one sharp, loud blast. His head came up and his ears came forward but he stood there looking at her. After a few minutes she lowered her hand and started to hum again. Then she did it again; raising her hand she whistled one shrill call again. The horse took a couple of steps toward her and then stopped. She stood there with her arm out for a minute and then lowered it and started humming again. The horse stood there for a few minutes and then turned his head away as if her presence didn’t bother him. She held out her hand again and whistled. His head came around and he took a few more steps toward her. She just stood there with her hand out and slowly the animal continued to walk up to her. When he was close enough she carefully reached out and rubbed his head. “Now see, that wasn’t so scary, was it.”

  She smiled when she heard the older Mister Ryder from the bench. “Well I’ll be!”

  Melody slowly turned and walked away from the stallion who just stood where she’d left him. She got to the fence and reached into her saddle bag again and pulled out a couple of sugar cubes. Then she turned back to the horse and whistled that shrill blast again. Without a moment’s hesitation the horse walked right over to her and she held her hand out, letting him lip the sugar off her hand. “That’s a good start. She rubbed the horse’s head and even got to rub his neck and front shoulder flank. The big stallion even leaned into her a bit. She laughed. “You’re just a big softy, aren’t ya. Had them all fooled.” She patted him a couple more times and turned and left the ring. “That’s a good start. I’ll come back out and work with him tomorrow. Can someone go open the training stall so he can be put up for the night? I’ll call him in once it’s open.”

  Sara stood. “I’ll go open the stall he’s been in and then we’ll all go wait for you up in the house.”

  Melody shook her head. “No, you go open the stall and then come back here and sit. I want to see if he’ll come when I whistle if he has to pass other people. If he doesn’t, then you all can leave.”

  Tallis looked at her and she felt her knee’s grow weak at the look he gave her. “That was amazing, Miss Hughes. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone make so much progress that quickly.”

  She smiled and shrugged, “I wouldn’t know, it has always worked for me. I don’t often have to strike the horse, but as angry as your foreman got him, I knew he would need to realize that anger caused pain. He’s a smart horse. I’m thinking I can have a saddle on him in a week and have him taking a rider by two. Then we’ll work on desensitizing him after that. He’ll be ready for ranch work in a month.”

  “Well, even if you can’t teach us anything else, this alone will make us famous. Being able to break an unbreakable horse will be an amazing thing to be able to do.”

  Melody looked at him. “There isn’t anything as an untrainable horse if you don’t try to break them. You have to learn to understand them and make them want to understand and work with you.”

  Sara came back and sat on the benches. “Stalls all open.”

  Melody smiled. “Let’s see how much your devil horse trusts me.”

  She opened the gate and left it open and walked into the stable. After a few minutes she whistled that shrill blast and Diablo’s head went up and he started trotting toward the sound. He didn’t even pay any attention to the three people sitting on the benches as he passed them and went right into the stable looking for the woman who called him.

  When she walked out of the stable, Tallis Ryder was waiting for her alone. She had the impression he’d been standing in the shadow outside the stable watching her rub down the big stallion, waiting for her to come out. “Well Melody, can I call you Melody?”

  She nodded. “You’re the boss, you can call me whatever you want.”

  He stepped closer before he stopped himself and she swallowed as those moss colored eyes darkened with desire. “Be careful, Melody, I might just decide to call you mine.”

  She laughed. “I’m leaving you in six months, Boss, no matter what you call me.”

  “We’ll see, Melody, but I plan to convince you that you belong right by my side for the rest of our lives. Until then, welcome to Ryder Historical Ranch.”

  The week went exactly as Melody had claimed. By Saturday she had Diablo ready for a saddle and Tallis and Sara had both started working with their own unridden three-year-old. Not only was he impressed with her knowledge of training horses but she was constantly pointing out something modern they were still doing ranch wise. It seemed like she and Brent Cole were arguing daily and Tallis knew, if
he hadn’t been there, Brent would have lashed out at the young woman. Her willingness to point out everything and help his dream come true endeared her to him even more. She’d even been able to teach the cook he’d hired how to use the wood burning stove that had finally come in and been installed in the cookhouse as well as the one in the ranch house.

  Saturday rolled around faster than any of them had thought it would. The builders that were working under Mr. Bowe had raised almost all of the cabins and the foreman house and bunkhouse were well on their way to being converted back to the original 1800s condition. The modern two bedroom cabins built for the ranch hands up behind the welcome center were complete and they’d all moved in, making evenings peaceful with just Tallis, Sara and Melody on the ranch as well as the hands on night watch. Today Tallis had been so grateful for all the hard work his team had put in all week that he gave them the weekend off. Half the crew were watching the cattle today and would have Sunday off, the other half had today off. He’d given Sara and Melody the weekend off as well and he was surprised when he came downstairs that morning to see Melody sitting at the kitchen table eating breakfast. “I thought you’d be like Sara and sleep in today.”

  Melody smiled at him and his pulse climbed. “I guess I’m just used to hard work, Tallis. As my Pa would have said, there’s never a day off on a working ranch.”

  He smiled at this woman who held his heart. “Maybe not, but everyone needs a day of rest. Are you going into town later with Sara? I know she was planning on going shopping and to hang out.”

  “That would mean getting into one of those metal monstrosities called a car or truck, so no. I have everything I need and I’ll just saddle up Sunset and go for a ride later.”

  Tallis grinned. “How about if I show you another way to travel, that you might like better. Then I can take you into town and show you a few of my favorite spots. Maybe take you dancing.”

  Melody looked at him. “I’m not taking one of those airplane things either.”

  Tallis laughed, she really didn’t understand modern transportation at all. “No not an airplane. Tell me, Melody, what is it about a car or truck that you don’t like?”

  “I feel like I’m closed up in a box. Reverend Johnson tried to put the top down on his car for me but I still felt too boxed in.”

  “Then let me take you for a ride on my motorcycle. It’s open and more like riding a horse that goes faster than a whole team of them.”

  “Faster than a team? Is it safe?”

  “As safe as riding a horse is.”

  “I’m not sure I can do your kind of dancing either and would it be proper for us to go somewhere unchaperoned? What will people think?”

  Tallis looked at her and felt like his gift was telling him that this conversation was important to figuring out what his dad had been trying to tell him. “Wow! That place you grew up was really deep into the living like the 1800s, wasn’t it?”

  Melody blushed and then nodded her head. “Yes, we did everything just like they did back then.”

  “Yet they let you work on a ranch. I know that wasn’t allowed in the 1800s.”

  “I was only allowed because my Pa owned the ranch I worked on and I had to work with him. After he died the man who took over wouldn’t let me work the ranch. He insisted I marry him and be a proper wife. That’s why I left when the Reverend offered me his contract. He promised me a ranch that would let me work.”

  Tallis face wrinkled in thought and his fists automatically balled at the thought of some backwards hick trying to force her to become his wife and stop doing what she loved. “Then let me take you out today and show you how the modern woman lives. No one will think twice about us being alone and your reputation is safe with me. I won’t even try to steal a kiss unless you want me to.”

  “You aren’t doing anything to make me feel like I should spend the day with you, Sir.”

  “Well, Melody Hughes, I can’t ask your father’s permission to court you; so I guess I’ll just have to ask you if you’ll allow me this outing and trust me with your reputation.”

  She looked at him and blushed, then looked down at her plate. “You do realize that the purpose of courting someone is to get to know them before marriage, don’t you, Mister Ryder?”

  Tallis walked slowly and purposely across the room and lifted her out of her seat, tilting her head up to look him in the eyes. “Would that be such a bad thing, Melody? If I wanted to get to know you before marriage?”

  Her eyes softened and she shook her head. “It’s useless, Tallis, no matter what we feel I’m leaving here forever when my contract is up.”

  He leaned so close he knew she thought he was going to kiss her but he put his mouth next to her ear instead and whispered. “I plan to convince you to stay here forever as a Ryder. As my wife, Melody, will you let me try and convince you?”

  He could see her heart beating fast in the vein in her throat. “I will allow you to try, but my contract with the Reverend is pretty unbreakable. It would take a miracle to keep me here.”

  Tallis brushed his lips across her cheek as he pulled back to look in her eyes. “I’m a descendant of Nugget Nate and Nathan Ryder, making miracles happen are part of our family history.”

  She shuddered in his arms and he stepped back, instantly feeling empty without her presence. “Go ask Sara for some dressy riding clothes. Tell her I’m taking you dancing and for a ride on the viper. She’ll understand what you need; and wear your boots. We’ll leave in about two hours. I’ve got to go talk to Brent about the men’s rotation for today and tomorrow.”

  She nodded as he turned and walked out. He needed to know what hold the Reverend had on her and how he could break it. He pulled his phone out of his pocket and dialed his brother. “Nate, I need you to dig deeper into Johnson and go ahead and start looking into Melody, too. I want to know what he’s holding over her.”

  Nate chuckled. “Dad said to tell you to plan on him coming to see you soon. He has the answers you need. But he also said you’re not going to like what he has to show you. He doesn’t know if you can overcome this one.”

  Tallis growled. “I’m making her my wife and that shifty Reverend better not get in my way.”

  “If you need me or the cousins let us know, we’ll all show up.”

  “Appreciate it. I got to go. Tell Dad I’ll be looking for him.”

  “Yep and I’ll see what I can dig up, too.”

  “Thanks brother.”

  He hung up and walked into the stable to hear Brent Cole talking to two of the hands who seemed to follow him around like puppies. “I’m just saying boys, if anyone gets a taste of that fine looking trainer, it’ll be me. I’m the boss here and don’t you boys forget it.”

  Tallis saw red when he realized what they were discussing. “That’s funny,” he said with the ice of a Ryder in his voice. “I was pretty sure the name on the sign said I was the boss here.”

  “Didn’t mean anything by it, boss. Just the boys and I talking.”

  Tallis walked up to the three of them and gave them the hard cold stare that made his ancestors feared by outlaws all over the west. “Let me make this plain. I catch anyone harassing any female on this ranch, Miss Hughes, my sister, or a guest, it will be the last thing they do on the ranch. Is that understood?”

  The two hands mumbled and Cole stared at him and said, “I didn’t realize she was yours, boss.”

  “Doesn’t matter whose she is or isn’t, Cole. Women on this ranch get treated with respect and my hands act like gentlemen at all times.”

  “So you’re saying you don’t have a claim on the trainer then?”

  Tallis eyes went dead and he saw the man try to contain the fear that threatened to overtake him. “I’m saying leave her alone. Is that plain enough for you.”

  The man smirked “Sure boss. We got it. Leave the women folk alone.”

  “Now are you three on duty today or were you heading out?”

  “We were just getting read
y to ride out and check on Dalton and the boys before we headed into town. Wanted to see if they needed anything at the Western store since it’s closed tomorrow.”

  “Then I suggest you boys get on with it then.”

  With that he headed into the house to change into something date worthy but still appropriate for riding. He was going to show Melody what he had to offer her besides the life on the ranch she wanted.

  Chapter 8

  T here were indeed some things about this modern time that Melody was coming to love, the first being a warm shower. Where getting ready to be courted would have taken a lot of time back in 1870, just to heat water and take a bath alone, stepping into a shower that was already warm every day was quickly becoming her favorite thing. She still had trouble with what was viewed as acceptable attire in this time. She had asked Sara to pick her up some modern clothing while she was out and especially undergarments since wearing a corset and everything she wore in her time didn’t go with most of the modern clothing. It had been hard to explain without admitting that she was from a different time why she didn’t know her sizes, but a quick measuring tape and a look on Sara’s cellphone at something called google had taken care of that issue.

  Now here she was in a pair of britches called jeans and a top that Sara had told her was acceptable and cute, that kept falling off one shoulder and showed more of her bosom than she’d ever would have thought would be acceptable to display to a man who was not her husband. At least she’d been allowed to put a jacket on over it to protect her arms on the motorcycle. Her stomach had clenched and heat had filled her cheeks when Tallis had seen her and told her she looked absolutely lovely.

  The other thing she loved about this modern time was Tallis’ motorcycle. He was right, it was a lot like riding a horse only faster than any she’d ever ridden. It had felt scandalous to sit behind Tallis and wrap her arms around the hard muscles of his stomach, leaning against his body so close they felt almost like one. However, after a few minutes of speeding down the road, the exhilaration of being free to hold him and experience the feeling of speed against her face with the wind whipping past her had caused her to somewhat relax. It didn’t hurt that the air flowing past her brought with it the smell that she was quickly realizing belonged to the man she was holding on to.