Texas Pride

by Gerry Bartlett

  Shannon thought about that. Working on a relationship. That was new. Could she do it? Long term?

  “Hey, you’re tired, I’m tired. And hungry.” Billy put his arm around her, obviously willing to let the relationship talk go for now.

  “Me too.” She leaned against him. “What are we going to do about it? I hope it’s not foraging for nuts and berries.”

  “I could catch a fish, cook it over a fire. But the crazy anti-government people might smell our smoke and come after us again.” He pulled her closer. “Of course, so could someone at the reservation. We might be getting close. If this creek is the one I think it is. I explored these woods as a kid, learning survival skills from my cousin Jacob.”

  “Seriously?” Shannon couldn’t imagine walking another mile right now, but close? “Maybe you should go on without me. I can wait here, soaking my feet.”

  “I’m not leaving you, Shannon.” He held her tighter.

  “I could hide. Wrap myself in the blanket in the brush. Wait for you.” She loved his protective instinct but hated how helpless she felt in the woods. Give her a cause and she’d raise funds all day long. She could even knock out a pretty good press release. But out here in nature? Billy had impressed her with how he’d seemed to know just by looking up at the sky which way to go. And he could move so quietly.

  Okay, maybe she deserved a little credit today. She’d been good at the quiet thing, thanks to her ballet training. And she’d pushed through some serious pain to keep going. She watched him scanning the area, his eyes intent. She didn’t ask him how he’d catch a fish or start a fire, pretty sure he’d figure out both things and do them efficiently with nothing but a nail file and a pocket knife. She told him as much.

  “I’m glad you have so much confidence in me, babe.” He smiled and kissed her cheek. “But I have a better idea. You don’t weigh much. Leave the boots and hop on my back. I’ll carry you. I think if I follow this creek, we’ll hit the reservation in about an hour or so. If I’m wrong, then I’ll light a fire. We should be close enough by then to alert someone to come find us. They don’t like anyone making a fire in these woods. Not unless it’s in an authorized campground. We’ve been under drought conditions for months now.”

  “Carry me? I won’t tell you my weight, but it’s too much!” She could see that he’d made up his mind though when he pulled his feet out of the water and dried them on the blanket. He had on his socks and shoes before she could talk him out of it.

  “Why won’t you tell me your weight?” He was grinning as he gently dried her feet.

  “Mama always says that a woman who will tell you her weight, will tell anything.” She gave in and hopped on his back when he turned around. He settled her legs around his waist.

  “Then I guess I’d better trust you. Since you’re so good at keeping secrets.” He nodded. “Put your arms around my shoulders.”

  “Are you sure you want to do this? I’m not a lightweight.” She squirmed, trying to get comfortable without strangling him. She spared a glance for her boots. No, she didn’t know what her car cost, but she sure as shooting knew what those custom-made cowboy boots with the red leather inserts had run, down to the penny. She’d had to wait months for them too. Oh, well, it wasn’t as if she didn’t have five other pairs of pretty boots in her closet. And what did that say about her spoiled existence to date?

  “Hang on, we’re off.” Billy strode along the creek bank, sure-footed and seemingly as confident as always about where they were going. “With luck, we’ll run into some signs that this creek feeds into the lake. That’s what I’m counting on.”

  “If I’m too much for you, just say so.” Shannon leaned against him, absorbing his warmth and glad that she’d given this man a chance to come back into her life.

  “Hey, this feels like one of those CrossFit workouts.” He chuckled. “You ever try one of those? Carrying you is nothing compared to some of the things they make you do to get you to sweat.”

  “I prefer dance routines for my workouts. I still do some ballet classes, though I don’t even try for en pointe any more. I like working out to music though.” Shannon closed her eyes. He’d sped up and watching the trees go by was making her woozy.

  “You like exercise machines? I never did show you my workout room. You can use it. Anytime.”

  Billy kept talking quietly but Shannon dozed off, lulled to sleep by the rhythm of his steps and the low rumble of his voice. Impossible but she was comfortable, even lost in the woods. She didn’t feel lost though, not as long as she was with Billy Pagan.

  * * * *

  She woke up when he stopped and slid her off his back and onto her feet.

  “I give up. This is the longest, crookedest damned creek I ever saw. I guess I got turned around and we’re not where I thought we were. Jacob would be ashamed of me.” He spread out a blanket and sat on it, holding out his hand.

  “You sure it’s safe?” Shannon looked around the small clearing. “What if those Exiles see it?”

  “I know from exploring these woods as a kid that the creeks run toward the lakes. We’ve walked for hours. They wouldn’t have put their crazy camp anywhere near the lake at the reservation.” Billy was breathing hard.

  “How far did you carry me?” Shannon felt guilty that she’d actually slept while he’d been walking. It must have been a long way too. It was full dark now and the night was barely illuminated by a rising sliver of a moon. She looked around, trying to adjust her vision to the dim light.

  “Don’t worry about it.” He leaned his head on his knees. “As soon as I catch my breath, I’ll gather some branches and make that fire.”

  “I can do that.” Branches. Yes, there were a few nearby that had fallen from the trees. Shannon picked her way over to them and dragged them closer to the blanket.

  “Honey, let them go. I’ll take care of it. I know your feet hurt.” He did take out that little pocket knife, though, and started stripping leaves off the branches she’d brought him.

  “And your feet don’t?” She spotted another branch, this one bigger, and heaved it into the growing pile. “You’re not used to walking so far in that kind of shoe either, are you?”

  “No. You’re right. They hurt like a son of a bitch.” He hacked at the bigger branch. “Try to find some small twigs. We have enough big pieces. Feel them. If they bend and don’t break, they’re too green. Dry and brittle is better for our purpose.”

  Shannon got right on that, testing all the small pieces of wood she found. She was limping of course. Her feet were killing her. She dumped a small pile of what she figured would be his kindling next to him.

  “That’s enough for now.” He got up and gathered some stones. He made them into a circle, their wood inside it.

  “How are you going to start a fire? I don’t even have a book of matches and I haven’t noticed you carrying a lighter.” She collapsed on the blanket and watched him build a pyramid of wood.

  “One of my cousins taught me how to start a fire the old-fashioned way, by rubbing sticks together. It takes time and patience.” He glanced at her. “I’m not feeling a whole lot of patience right now because I want to get you the hell out of here, but I hope I can remember what he taught me.” He picked a flat rock and put straw on it, then started twirling a stick between his palms. She heard him murmuring.

  “What are you saying?” She leaned closer.

  “Jacob swore that chanting made the fire start faster. It couldn’t hurt. It also takes your mind off the fact that this is painful on your palms.” He grinned ruefully. “You think I’m nuts?”

  “No, anything to help. It’s getting chilly too. A fire would feel good as long as it doesn’t bring the bad guys down on us. Tell me the chant. I’ll do it with you.” She grabbed the blanket from around his waist. Unreal that he’d kept it on during that endless walk. It had cushioned her. He was so caring i
t made her eyes sting.

  “I promise the bad guys are long gone. Ready?” He had to repeat the unfamiliar words three times before she got it. Then they said them together. He rubbed the sticks against one another frantically. Their chant got louder and quicker too. Suddenly there was a spark and the straw caught.

  Shannon heard herself squeal. “Wow! You did it!”

  “Feed some of those small twigs into the flames or it will go out. Easy now. Blow gently on it too.” He kept rubbing his sticks. Flickering would come and go.

  Shannon grabbed a few dry leaves and poked them close to a spark. To her amazement, they did catch fire. She gave it a few careful puffs of air. It made a nice little blaze. “Now what?”

  “We have to get the fire from this stone to our pile of wood.” He added more twigs to the burning mound they’d already created. “I’m going to make a torch to light our bonfire. I hope we’re close enough to the reservation so the smoke and smell will drift over there and someone will alert the fire patrol.”

  “There’s a patrol?” Shannon watched him cut a strip from the blanket then use it to tie some short branches to a long one. He lit them, then carried the torch carefully to their bigger pile of wood. She clapped when it caught immediately. If she was good for nothing else, at least she could serve as cheerleader. “You did it!”

  “Yeah. Now we have to keep watch over it. These woods are too damned dry. One stray spark could cause a forest fire that would be devastating to the region, not to mention anyone who gets in its way. The drought is killing the local trees and drying up the lakes and creeks. Notice how we can see the rocks in the bottom of the one we’ve been following? I remember when all the creeks around here were overflowing their banks.”

  “I’ve heard about the drought on the news. And devastating fires in other parts of Texas.” Shannon watched the fire. What would they do if the fire spread? Throw dirt on it? Too bad they had nothing to carry water in. Billy’s shoes? Not enough to do any good. They sure couldn’t outrun a forest fire.

  “That’s why they have fire patrols. We’ve been praying for rain, but a stray lightning strike or careless camper could start a fire that would be hard to stop.” He walked around the fire, pushing a few more sticks inside the rock ring. “There’s very little breeze this time of night but they’re very vigilant.” He finally settled back on the blanket and gestured for her to join him. “Relax. There’s water nearby. If we see there’s a problem, we can soak our blankets in the creek and put out the fire with them.”

  “Oh, the blankets.” Shannon finally breathed a sigh of relief and hobbled over to his side. Walking barefoot over the rocky terrain was no treat. Every burr and sharp rock had seemed to be out to get her.

  “Now we sit and wait. I could try to catch a fish but it’s really too dark to see one.” He glanced at the creek. “You sure you don’t have any food in that purse of yours?”

  “I have sugarless gum and breath mints. Pick your poison.” She pulled her small bag off her shoulder and dug into it.

  “The gum. Maybe chewing will fool my stomach into thinking that food is on the way.” He took the gum, stuck the wrapper in his pocket then chewed with a groan. “Spearmint. Delicious.” He leaned back and held out his arms. “Come here and keep me company.”

  “We can’t accidentally go to sleep, Billy. The fire.” Shannon could see sparks floating up into the night sky. The crackle of the flames worried her. How could he just lay back like this was no big deal?

  “I’m watching it.” He’d wadded up the extra blanket to make a pillow for his head. “Come here.”

  “Thanks for carrying me. You know I fell asleep, don’t you?” She did finally snuggle next to him.

  “It was pretty obvious when you drooled down my neck.”

  “Did not!” She shoved away from him.

  “I didn’t mind.” He laughed and pulled her in with a hand around her waist. “It showed that you trusted me enough to relax completely.” He rubbed her back. “I am so damned tired. If I close my eyes for a few minutes, will you watch the fire?”

  “Oh. You trust me to do that?” She glanced at that fire again. It was a big responsibility. But he’d walked miles with her on his back. “Sure. I don’t dare lie down though. If I get too comfortable, I might fall asleep too. I’ll stay sitting up.”

  “Good. I’m glad you’re taking it seriously.” His yawn was loud and contagious. “Just a quick nap, then I’ll be good as new.”

  Shannon fought her own urge to yawn. No, she got up and walked around, stepping carefully over those pebbles and rocks determined to cut her feet. It seemed like a good idea to gather more dry sticks. The fire might be dangerous, but they didn’t want it to die out. She poked them in near the bottom, jumping when a log shifted and crashed. A glance at Billy reassured her that he’d slept through that. He needed that sleep desperately.

  She scanned their surroundings again and felt better. Nothing stirred and the trees weren’t close enough to catch fire. At least she didn’t think so.

  She settled on the blanket again and tried to enjoy the novel experience of camping out. Yeah, that’s what they were doing. Too bad the peppermint she’d chewed hadn’t satisfied the nagging hunger that made her feel slightly nauseated. But the fire smelled good and so did the pine and fresh water nearby. The next thing she knew she was nodding off. Oh, hell no. She pinched herself, which didn’t do a thing but add a bruise to her other aches and pains.

  Finally, she got up and stuck her feet back in the water. It felt pretty cold now that it was dark. She shivered, wishing she had the blanket under Billy’s head around her shoulders. She’d just peeled off the bandanna to wash the nasty cut on her wrist when she heard a buzzing sound coming from down the creek. It kept getting louder. A motor.

  “Billy! Wake up. Someone’s coming.” She jumped up and poked him, not surprised when he was on his feet immediately, grabbing his makeshift torch in one hand and the pocket knife in the other. He looked like a warrior, ready to defend them.

  “Who? Where? Get behind me.” He frowned when she didn’t cower there. Instead, she picked up a big stick that hadn’t made it into the fire yet and moved next to him.

  “Coming from down the creek. Do you hear it? A motor. Maybe a four-wheeler.” She waved her stick. “Didn’t you say the reservation is in that direction?”

  “I hope to hell it is. I admit that the last few miles I was staggering. If this creek made a turn on us, I might not have noticed.” He thrust the torch into the fire and lit it. “Please get behind me, in case these aren’t friendlies.”

  He looked down at her. “I’m sorry, baby. I never should have brought you along on this flyover. Ethan and I could have come. Or I could have brought Albert.”

  “You think I’m blaming you for this?” She pulled his head down to kiss him. “Stop it. Who could have foreseen a forest full of tax evaders? Now let’s hope these are some of your relatives from the reservation coming to rescue us. Whoever it is, I am not blaming you.”

  He stared down the creek. “If it’s the Indians, then they’ll be mad as hell. Lighting a fire next to their beloved forest? Brace yourself, babe. We may be facing a pissed off Indian Chief.”

  Two four-wheelers came charging at them out of the darkness, their headlights blinding them long before it became obvious that the men on them were from the reservation. They wore jackets with the Opako Casino logo Shannon recognized. Of course, she’d done research on the Patagi Indians and their reservation as soon as she’d started seeing Billy again. Their new casino was getting advertising time on local TV stations now. The logo was colorful and easy to remember—a passion flower, bright purple and beautiful.

  “It’s one of my cousins and his posse,” Billy murmured as they stood their ground. The vehicles halted a few feet away on the bank of the creek.

  “What the hell? Billy?” The man riding the first
vehicle parked and marched toward them. He pulled Billy into a hug and pounded his back. “Thank God you’re alive. But I never expected that the idiot setting a fire in our woods would be someone I knew and taught better.” He turned to the men in the second, larger vehicle and issued orders. They got to work, pulling out buckets and going to the creek to fill them.

  “Shannon, this is my cousin Jacob Johnson, the man who taught me how to start a fire. Jacob, my girlfriend, Shannon Calhoun.” Billy caught the flashlight Jacob tossed at him and thrust his torch into the creek where it died in a sizzle.

  “Ms. Calhoun? Welcome to our home. Billy Pagan is a special friend to the Tribe. So now you will be special to us as well. I don’t know what happened to Billy’s plane, but it’s obvious you have had to make your way through our woods. I’m sure you wish to find a comfortable place to rest. We will leave as soon as I’m certain these woods are safe from the fire.”

  “Yes, thank you, Mr. Johnson.” Shannon shook his hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. What you taught Billy certainly came in handy tonight. I’m sorry if the fire causes problems for you. We needed a way to signal for help.”

  “We’re hungry and exhausted. It’s been a hell of a day.” Billy kept his arm around her. “Shannon’s right. We had to get your attention. We’ve been running since about ten o’clock this morning. Did you know you’ve got a nest of crazies living on the edge of the reservation? They fucking shot my plane out of the sky.”

  “You’re kidding me. We assumed you had engine trouble and made an emergency landing somewhere between Houston and here.” Jacob stepped over to the fire and kicked dirt over a stray ember. He turned to his crew. “You guys make sure there’s not a spark left.”

  “Not kidding.” Billy wished he could sit on that blanket again, his legs felt like they weighed a thousand pounds. But he tried not to show weakness around Jacob, who was a respected member of the tribe, a mentor, and a man he had looked up to all his life.