Wild Horse Rescue Page 16

  “Where are you meeting Carly? I didn’t know you guys had a secret place,” Laurel teased.

  Joey’s face darkened beneath his tan. “Ain’t a secret. Just some place Carly can hide out when her dad gets to ranting. Man, if my pa acted like that I’d never go home.”

  “Where do we meet her?” Laurel preferred not to talk about Mr. Cullen and his famous temper.

  “By the river, it’s on our way.” Joey turned the mare’s head and touched his heels to her sides.

  Laurel glanced at Coll and shrugged. They jogged after him in silence. Joey headed toward some sandstone abutments pockmarked with wind and rain sculpted holes and odd shapes. They followed a faint path until Joey halted and dismounted. Laurel and Coll dismounted as well and tied their horses to some brush.

  “This way.” Joey waved them forward. “I don’t know if she’s here yet, no sign of her horse.” He pushed through some brush at the base of the nearest formation.

  Laurel and Coll shoved through behind him. The trail wound along the edge of the tall cliff, a small creek rippled just below them. They rounded a blind corner and almost ran into Joey.

  “This is the place. Looks like she’s not here yet,” Joey sounded worried. “Makes no sense, she should have been here by now. I thought Chance looked awful satisfied with himself when he picked me up.”

  “Do you think she’s okay?” Now Laurel was worried too.

  “Joey?” Carly’s voice proceeded her appearance. She scrambled around some rocks from the opposite direction. “Joey!” She ran the last few feet and threw herself into his arms.

  “Carly, what’s wrong. What happened to you?” Laurel rushed to her friend’s side. She awkwardly patted her heaving back. “What the hell is wrong?”

  Coll shuffled his feet nearby. Eventually, Carly got control and let go of her death grip on Joey, but she still kept a hold of his hand. She wiped her cheeks with the back of her free hand.

  “They’re going ahead with the cull tomorrow,” she reported. “Dad caught me texting you and went nuts. I think Chance figured something was up and tipped him off. He’s always protected me before, but he just stood there and let Dad rip into me.” She wiped her face again and her sleeve slid back to reveal purpled marks on her forearm.

  “Who did this,” Joey’s words hissed between his teeth.

  Carly flushed and let go of his hand to pull her sleeve down. She shook her head and refused to look at anyone.

  “Who, Carly?” Joey insisted.

  “C’mon, Carly. Tell us, it’s not your fault. We should report whoever did this,” Laurel prompted her friend. “Was it Chance?”

  Carly shook her head so her hair flew around her shoulders, coming loose from her pony tail. “No…” she faltered, “…it was Dad. He didn’t mean to.” She lifted her head to stare at them. “He was just so mad at me for interfering with his plans…”

  “He still had no right to hurt you,” Coll interrupted her. “No more than Gort’s uncle had the right to treat him the way he did.”

  “He’s right,” Laurel said gently. “No one has the right to deliberately hurt someone. I can’t believe Chance didn’t help you.”

  “He’s so pissed at you for not falling in love with him, he takes it out on me too. Like it’s my fault you like Coll better’n him. And he’s afraid of Dad too when he gets all crazy. Wouldn’t have done him any good to step in, Dad would have beat on him too.”

  “Where was your mom?” Joey put a protective arm around Carly’s shoulder.

  “She tried to get between us, but…” she gulped, “…Dad pitched her across the room. I didn’t know what to do. I should have gone and helped her, but I was just so scared I shoved past Chance and ran. I grabbed my phone off the couch where Dad threw it and just ran. I caught one of the horses and rode most of the way here before I got off and turned it loose. Came the rest of the way on foot. I’m so glad to see you guys”

  “When did all this go down?” Joey tightened his arm around her shoulder.

  “Last night right after supper.”

  “You were out in the storm last night?” Laurel gaped at her.

  Carly nodded. “I made it here by then and hid in our cave.”

  “What cave?” Laurel looked around.

  “Here, we’ll show you.” Joey led the way toward where Carly had appeared. Just behind the sharp outcrop the path widened a bit and a little further on a dark shadow marked an opening in the cliff. When they reached it, Joey and Carly disappeared into the shadow. Coll and Laurel followed them into the shade. Inside, the cave opened up into a space wide enough for the four of them to stand comfortably. The remains of a fire smoldered in a small fire pit, beside it a couple of wooden crates set against the wall with folded blankets on top.

  “So, this is your secret place?” Laurel grinned at Carly. “Who knew? You and Joey?”

  Carly ducked her head. “Yeah, Joey’s great.” She smiled up at him and her expression changed completely. “I’m gonna help you guys save the horses. I’m gonna enjoy taking those pens apart tonight.”

  Laurel hugged her tight. “I’m so glad you’re with us. Somehow we’re going to keep those horses from getting rounded up.”

  “We will,” Coll agreed. “But we still need to figure out what we’re supposed to do with them after that. They can’t stay where they are, or they’ll just get caught up in the next cull.”

  “Dad is still pressuring some of the guys on the Council, but so far no one is budging,” Joey said.

  “My dad refuses to even talk about using my trust fund to buy some land for them, and he went through the roof when I suggested selling Gramma Bella’s house in Bragg Creek.” Laurel kicked a rock out the cave opening. She pivoted back to Carly as a sudden thought struck her. “What are you going to do? You can’t go back home after this. You’re not safe there.”

  “I haven’t thought that far ahead yet. Let’s get through the next couple of days first, I’m sure not going home before then.”

  “You can stay at my place. I know Mom will let you and Dad won’t be happy to hear about your dad hurting you. He’ll stand up to him.”

  “Thanks, Laurel. I’ll take you up on that.” Carly managed a smile.

  “We need to go check on the cattle. I promised Dad we would. But we can’t just leave you here alone,” Laurel said.

  “I’ll be fine. Nobody at home knows about this place. I’ll be safe here. You guys go do what you need to. Just come back when you’re done. And bring me some food, I’m starved.”

  “If you’re sure,” Joey said.

  “Go.” Carly pushed him toward the entrance.

  Moments later Laurel shoved through the bushes and waited while Coll and Joey mounted their horses. It took a few hours to find the cattle herds and assess the damage. Other than a few knots on some of the calves and one lame old cow, everything seemed okay. Laurel made a note of which herd the lame cow was with and where they found them. Dad and Harry would come out and bring her in later.

  When they got back to the house, they put the horses away and headed to the house for lunch. Laurel gathered up sandwich fixings, some cans of pop and snacks for Joey to take back to Carly. He disappeared out the kitchen door just in time. Laurel’s parents and Harry showed up looking for lunch right after Joey left.

  “Where’s that kid of mine?” Harry glanced around the kitchen. “He run off somewhere again?”

  “He just left. Didn’t say where he was going.” Laurel figured it was close enough to the truth not to count as a lie.

  “Suppose I’ll catch up with him later.” Harry sat down at the table with Colt.

  Laurel helped her mother put together a big plate of sandwiches and a jug of iced tea.

  “Any problems with the cattle,” her dad spoke around a mouthful of sandwich.

  “A few knots on the calves and the old cow with the crooked horns is limping pretty bad. She was with the herd over by Writing Creek when we saw her. I don’t think she’ll go too far.�
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  Colt nodded and made a note in the small pad he kept in his shirt pocket. “We’ll go out and have a look at her later. What are your plans for the rest of the day?”

  “Figured we’d clean up some of the fallen branches and stuff from the storm this afternoon. Do you need us to do something else?” Laurel cut some banana bread and placed it on the table between the men.

  “That would be a big help. Can you check the corral fences too, please?” Colt leaned back in his chair and sighed.

  Chapter Thirteen

  The afternoon passed quicker than Laurel thought it would. The task of cleaning up the yard let her take her mind off what she planned to do in a few hours. Every time the thought of sneaking out in the middle of the night crossed her mind her stomach clenched and sweat bloomed on her skin that had nothing to do with the work she was doing. If we get caught I’ll be grounded ’til I’m ninety. And what do I do if Mr. Cullen decides to press charges against us? Coll will be in real trouble, more than me. Emily will be mad at me and Mom will get that look on her face she gets when she’s really disappointed in me. But I can’t just do nothing…. Laurel heaved the large branch into the bed of the old farm pickup and waved to Coll to move it on to the next pile of debris.

  “There, that’s the last of it.” Laurel climbed into the cab of the truck next to Coll. “We just need to take it over to the brush pile behind the corrals. Some of it will need to be cut up for firewood and kindling, but we don’t need to worry about that now.”

  “Almost time for dinner.” Coll eased the truck into gear and they bounced across the rough ground.

  “This thing rides like a tractor with no suspension,” Laurel remarked hanging onto the holy shit handle by her head.

  “It’s brill, like a carnival ride.” Coll shot her a wide smile. “I’m gonna miss this when I go home.”

  “Miss what? Working your butt off and then riding in a pile driver so you can sweat some more?” Laurel gave him a wicked grin.

  “Honestly, yeah. And I’ll miss you like crazy.”

  “I’ll miss you too. I can’t believe it’s almost time for you to go back.”

  “I know. The summer’s just gone by like nothing.”

  They jounced to a halt beside the pile of broken branches, wilted green leaves fluttering in the light breeze. Laurel slid down from the truck and wiped the perspiration from her face with the tail of her shirt. “You’d never know the skies opened last night and this was all covered with hail, would you? Man, it’s hot.”

  “Let’s get this load off. I’m starving, and I heard your mom say supper was steaks and baked potatoes on the bar-be-que. Now, that I’m really gonna miss! Bar-be-que anything.”

  Laurel giggled. “You know what I miss about Cornwall? Cream tea and pasties. But not together,” she added at the expression on Coll’s face.

  They made short work of unloading the tangle of branches and left the battered pickup by the machine shed. Her dad was under one of the combines tinkering with something, just his booted feet sticking out.

  “We’re done with the yard, Dad. You coming in soon?” Laurel called from the doorway.

  Colt scooted out from under the machine, a smear of grease down one cheek. “Almost done, here. Tell your mom I’ll be about twenty minutes.”

  “Anything we can help with?” Coll eyed the huge machine with interest.

  “Thanks, but no. You could start the bar-be-que and get the grill warmed up if you want. That’ll be a big help.”

  “Sure, Dad. I’ll let Mom know. I think we can get the grill going without blowing up the house.” Laurel laughed.

  Colt shook his head at her lame attempt at humour and slid back under the combine.

  * * *

  Now that supper was done and the last of the dishes put away Laurel was hard put to appear like everything was normal. The last thing she needed was for Dad to suspect she was up to something. Already this evening she’d caught him giving her odd looks when he thought she wasn’t paying attention. Coll was slouched in a chair in the front room engaged in a text conversation with Gort. It must be the middle of the night in Cornwall, she mused. Hopefully Gort wasn’t suffering from nightmares again.

  “Everything okay?” Laurel plopped down in the big leather chair next to Coll. “What does Gort have to say?”

  Coll looked up, peering through the hank of blond hair that always fell over his eyes. “What? Oh, Ash says hi.” He waved the phone at her. “Gort’s fine, no aggro.”

  “Why is he awake in the middle of the night?” She leaned over to read the last message on Coll’s phone.

  “I told him what’s happening tonight, and he wanted to know how it’s going.” Coll lowered his voice glancing toward the kitchen door.

  “Don’t look so guilty,” she hissed. “You’ll get Dad’s spidey senses twitching.”

  “Sorry.” His fingers flew over the keys again. “There, I told him I’ll text them when it’s over.”

  Laurel’s phone beeped almost as soon as Coll stuck his back in his pocket. “It’s Ash. She wishes us luck.” She got to her feet and wandered out to the front porch. The evening was clear with the first stars just starting to glimmer in the silver-blue sky. A few pennants of clouds flew low to the western horizon. Coll came to stand beside her and she leaned into him.

  “Looks like it should be a nice night,” he remarked.

  “Thank God. Last night would have been a disaster. Although, maybe we should wish for some clouds. Too much moonlight will make it easier to spot us if someone’s watching for trouble.”

  “You having second thoughts?” Coll looked down at her.

  “You almost sound like you wish I was,” Laurel accused.

  “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried about what might happen, not only if we get caught tonight, but about what goes down when we confront them tomorrow. That’s still the plan, right? Get between the men and the horses?”

  “If we can’t get the horses hidden before they find them, and if we don’t have any safe place for them to go…yeah…I don’t see any other option except to get between them and chase the horses in the opposite direction they want them to go.”

  Coll shrugged. “I guess we just see how it goes.”

  “Dad is going to kill me.”

  “And me right after you.” He grinned down at her. “At least I get to runaway home next week. You have to live here.”

  “It’ll be worth it.” She tightened her grip on the railing. Light leaked from the sky while they stood in silence. A skein of wild geese cried down the evening wind while the V of their flight stitched the sunset clouds together. “They’ll be gathering soon to leave for the winter. Soon there’ll be hundreds of them every night coming to the sloughs and the pot holes.” Laurel dropped her head back to follow their flight.

  “Pot holes? That’s a new one?” Coll tipped his head back too.

  “It’s just a name for those random ponds and bits of water that are everywhere. For some reason most of them are sort of round. I have no idea who came up with that name for them.”

  A cool wind ruffled the tattered leaves of the cottonwood near the house and whispered through the grass. “Brrrr, it feels like fall already.” Laurel shivered and wrapped her arms around her waist. “I sure hope we have a long open fall this year. Early snow makes it hard on the cattle and the wildies.”

  “It sure comes early here. Back home it’ll stay pretty warm right until the end of October.” Coll moved a bit closer to her. “You’re right, it is chilly.” Night had truly fallen now. The waning gibbous moon threw shadows across the yard while stars pricked the sky in diamond points.

  Laurel pulled her phone out and checked the time. “It’s almost nine. We should try and get a couple of hours sleep. Mom and Dad will be asleep by midnight at the latest. It’ll depend on if they watch the news at eleven. I’ll text you when I’m ready to go. I already made sure the tack is all ready and our horses are up by the barn. I’m gonna text Joey and
let him know. He’ll pass it on to Carly.”

  She sent a short text and waited for Joey to reply. “He must be with Carly at the cave,” she fumed when there was no response. “Oh well, he’ll see it when he gets service. I know he’ll check it before they do anything. Oh, good.” She checked Joey’s reply. “He says they’re all set, and he’s got a horse for Carly all lined up. Looks like we’re good to go.”

  “There you are. I wondered where you’d gotten to.” Anna Rowan stepped out onto the porch. “Sure is a pretty night.”

  “It is, isn’t it?” Laurel agreed.

  “I just made some hot chocolate. I thought you might like some before bed.”

  “Thanks, Mom. That sounds great.” Laurel moved toward the door.

  “Thanks, Mrs. Rowan,” Coll echoed.

  “You go ahead in, Coll. I need to speak to Laurel about something.”

  “Sure.” He glanced at Laurel as he passed, she gave her head a tiny shake and turned her attention to her mom.

  “I know you’re upset about the cull tomorrow. I’m proud of you for not making a big deal about it. Your dad was worried you were going to do something foolhardy. I know how much those horses mean to you, but there really isn’t another solution.”

  “I think there could be a better way to deal with them, but nobody else seems to care.” She bit her tongue to hold back the rest of the heated words on the tip of her tongue. “I guess you’re right though, there’s nothing I can do to change what’s going to happen.”

  “That’s very mature, sweetie. I’m happy to hear you say that. C’mon, let’s go get that hot chocolate.”

  Anna put her arm around Laurel’s shoulder and they went in search of the hot chocolate. Coll and Colt were sitting at the kitchen table when they got to the kitchen. Coll handed Laurel a steaming mug and pulled out the chair beside him. Laurel left the conversation with her parents to Coll, while her thoughts ran ahead working out which traps to hit in what order. Finishing her hot chocolate, she took the mug to the sink.