Riding the River (15 page)

The cowboys finished putting the herd into
its seasonal pasture and headed back to camp for a little rest,
food and relaxation. Sarah thought it felt good to have achieved
the purpose of the drive.

She’d gone back to help Dale get ready for
the evening meal. He was boasting that tonight’s meal was going to
be the best yet – Bison chili, salad, black-eyed peas, Jalapeno
cornbread and blueberry dump-cobbler for dessert. Sarah couldn’t
believe the incredible meals Dale was able to fix out in the middle
of nowhere. She marveled at his cooking abilities and planned to
continue learning from him --- She enjoyed cowboy cooking.

Dale was instructing her how to prepare the
black-eyed peas as they worked together in the kitchen.

“Hey, Sarah. Hang on a minute. I need to dump
this dishwater and I’ll be right back.” He grabbed the big tub and
headed out back by some rocks. Sarah was mixing her ingredients and
turned to watch him as he leaned over to pour the tub of water. All
of a sudden, she heard a rattling sound and Dale jumped back,
holding onto his hand. She dropped what she was doing and ran out
to him.

“Get back! There’s a snake over here…”

Sarah was frozen with fear for an instant.
“What should I do?”

“Go get Cooper…”

Matt had come around the corner to see if
Sarah needed any help just as she ran by. He grabbed her arm to
stop her and saw the look of fear on her face.

“What’s wrong?”

“Dale was bitten by a snake out back. I’m
going for Cooper.”

“Go... I’ll stay with him until you get
back.”

Sarah ran off and found Cooper with some of
the cowboys. After briefly explaining the situation, they all ran
back with her to see about Dale. Matt was keeping Dale calm by
making him stay seated with his hand lower than his heart. He was
talking softly to him when Cooper hurried up.

“Let’s take a look, Dale.” He looked at the
puncture mark on Dale’s hand.

“Damn thing got me when I dropped the stupid
tub and bent down to pick it up.”

“Rattler?”

“… Yeah…”

“Good work keeping him calm, Matt. That’s the
thing to do.” Cooper looked around. “Okay, I need a volunteer to
take Dale to the clinic in Wells. Who will drive him there?”

Cooper looked at Dale. “Sorry, cookie, your
days on the drive are officially over.”

“Damn, damn.” Dale immediately turned to
Sarah. “Will you take over cooking for tonight and tomorrow,
Sarah?”

When she visibly gulped, Matt stepped in.
“We’ll help her, don’t worry, Dale. Just get going.”

Aaron volunteered to drive Dale to the clinic
and he had started up the truck.

“Sarah, get what you can out for dinner and
tomorrow’s meals. Matt, give her a hand,” instructed Cooper.

Sarah and Matt walked quickly over to the
kitchen area and started stocking a cooler with food that would
keep for meals. Matt got breakfast foods together, while Sarah
found sandwich makings for lunch. For dinner tonight, they found
various breads that Dale had already made, some vegetables and
fruit.

As they pulled foods together quickly, Sarah
looked over at Matt.

“So you don’t cut the wound and suck out the
venom?”

Matt laughed. “Nope. Only in the movies…”

“You don’t do anything for him?”

“He’s got to get some anti venom serum, which
we don’t usually bring with us on horse drives. That was a freak
accident that he and the snake were together at the same time.
Probably scared the both of them.”

“So that’s why he needs to go to the
clinic?”

“Yes, he needs medical attention as soon as
possible. The best thing to do for him right now is to keep him
calm. A fast heart rate will speed up the circulation of the
venom.”

She smiled at him in the midst of their rush.
“You’re pretty calm in a crisis, aren’t you?”

He smiled back at her. “I’ve been through a
few – Maybe I’ll tell you about them sometime…”

Just then Aaron honked the horn. Frank and
Richie had gotten Dale in the truck and he was ready to go. Cooper
yelled over at Matt.

“Got enough for a few meals?”

“Yep. We’re good… Take off.”

Aaron drove the truck out of the camp area
taking all their kitchen equipment and the rest of the food with
them. Cooper turned to look at the scared, assembled guests
watching Dale go.

“It’ll be fine, folks. Aaron can get him
there in a few hours which will be plenty of time to fix Dale up.”
Then he looked over at Sarah.

“What are you going to do for dinner?” It was
interesting to Matt how quickly Sarah had become indispensible to
the horse drive, but it didn’t surprise him.

“Well, he had a great menu for us tonight,
which I can only do part of. I think we’re going to need some meat
because I can’t do the chili.” She thought a minute. “How about
fish? Can we have some people go fishing?”

Cooper laughed. “Exactly what a camping trip
needs – Fish… We’re on it for you and we’ll grill over the
campfire.” He turned to Matt. “Help her out in the kitchen, would
you, Matt?” He winked at him and left.

Matt turned to Sarah. “So what
is
for
dinner?” He almost laughed at the expression on her face
--
You’re asking me
?

“…Um…” She actually wrung her hands for a
minute.

“…Hey…” He reached out to grab her hands
before she twisted them into pretzels. “I’m here to help. What do
you need?”

Sarah took a breath, looked at him and
nodded. “Okay. I’ve almost finished the black-eyed peas and the
salad is not hard. I’ve nothing to cook the cornbread in, but we
found some breads he already prepared that we can use.” She took a
bigger breath. “We don’t have an entrée. Fish would be great.”

“Have you cooked fish before?”

“Yes… I live in Baltimore, remember?”

“Oh, yeah, I forgot…” He smiled at her. “But
have you gutted them before?”

“Actually, yes again… So there…”

“Sarah…”

She looked at him sternly. “Grab a few
fishing buddies and get me some fish – What kind do we have
here?”

“Trout…”

“Hop to it…”

It was amazing how everyone pulled together
in the crisis. Matt and Richie got every fishing rod available and
had people fishing up and down the stream. They spread out quite a
ways and enjoyed the heck out of it. People were laughing and
talking, enjoying the activity as much as the day. The nets were
passed around and soon quite a few fish were heading to the back of
the kitchen area for cleaning.

Sarah and Tess manned the kitchen with some
help from the giggling teenage girls. Sarah glanced at the one she
and Matt had rescued last night to see how she was doing.
Apparently, she was thrilled that Aaron had left and was cheerfully
helping set the picnic tables with plates, cups and utensils.

A few other women were cleaning pots and
bowls as Tess and Sarah finished with them. The guys did all the
gutting and soon skewers of fish and vegetables were grilling over
the open campfire. The aromas from both the fish and the fire made
one’s mouth water… Others made sure the campfire stayed going. It
was a real team effort…

Dinner that night was nothing short of
spectacular. Everyone had pulled their weight to make it come out
right. The grilled trout was mouthwatering with salad, black-eyed
peas, bread and fruit. Sarah wasn’t able to bring about the
blueberry cobbler, but it was the best they could do. It was still
enjoyable…

Cooper stood up for a toast near the end of
the meal.

“Whew… This has been one exciting day.” He
looked around at all the heads nodding and agreeing with him.

“Right you are, Cooper,” yelled Frank.

“I want to thank you all for pitching in and
helping with tonight’s meal. Give yourselves a round of applause…”
The guests and cowboys looked around laughing and clapping.

“… But I want to single out Sarah for her
willingness to step in and organize it all. Groups need leaders and
she did a fine job.” He raised his coffee cup up in the air. “To
Sarah…”

Everyone raised a cup or glass to toast
Sarah, who had blushed five shades of red from all the attention.
Matt, sitting beside her, beamed as he joined the toast. People now
accepted that they were probably together, or would be soon. It
seemed natural and they were a good fit. Guests smiled at him as
much as her.

After dinner and cleanup, Sarah found a bag
of marshmallows and suggested a roast over the campfire. That sent
people scurrying around looking for sticks to roast their
marshmallows with.

“Can’t do s’mores,” she said. “… Don’t have
all the ingredients.”

“Never mind,” laughed Richie, “this will do
just fine and be fun.”

After a colorful twilight of pinks and
oranges, the sun finally set leaving a black, black night. The
cowboys pulled out guitars and began singing songs that everyone
knew. Between the marshmallow roast and the sing-along, people had
a good time.

Soon a few got up to find their bedrolls or
put up their tents. It was harder to put up the tents at night than
it would have been earlier, but they shrugged, laughed and got it
done. Cooper bid everyone a good night and went to find his
bedroll. Tess looked over at Sarah, raised an eyebrow and then she
and Richie left for their tent. Sarah smiled and shook her
head.

Moonlight was reflecting off the water in the
stream. Matt was setting up his bedroll over there and beckoned
Sarah to join him. They were apart from the others when Sarah
brought over her bedroll.

“Guess I’m sleeping in my clothes tonight,”
she laughed.

“It’s only for one more day. Can you hang in
there?” asked Matt.

“Sure…”

“So you let Richie take your place in the
tent tonight?”

“Yup… Seemed like the thing to do.”

Sarah lay down on her side and propped her
head up with an elbow resting on the ground. She took a deep breath
and watched Matt. He was spreading out his bedroll by her, not too
close, but close enough to see her face well.
What a handsome
guy… all that black hair… dark eyes…
She sighed without
realizing it. He turned to her.

“… You okay?”

She laughed at that. “Yes, I’m fine. Just a
little tired.”

“I’m not surprised with the effort you made
today.”

“Don’t make too much of it…”

“You did good, cowgirl…”

That got her grinning. “You did pretty well
yourself, cowboy. You kept Dale calm, which was important.”

“Yeah…He’ll be fine.” He gazed at her blonde
hair, falling around her face -- Her ponytail long forgotten….
What a pretty girl, blue eyes that looked right through
him…

“Oh…”

“What?”

“… It’s nothing…”

“It must be something. Tell me…”

“Okay. My toothbrush is in the tent and
there’s no way I’m going back to ask for it.”

Matt laughed. “Want to use mine?”

She scrunched up her nose. “Eeewww…
Cooties…”

“That’s what Richie said you had when we
danced together the first night you were here.”

“Cooties? How did I have cooties?”

“We were dancing pretty far away from each
other…” She laughed.

“I get it…”

“…So? Do you want to use my toothbrush?”

“Have you used it tonight yet?”

“No… You can use it first.”

He reached into his saddlebag and took out
the toothbrush and a bottle of water.

“Sorry. I used all my toothpaste last
night.”

She smiled and took the brush and water.
Leaning over into the grass, Sarah brushed her teeth.

“I think this is a real first for me,”
grinned Matt.

She rolled her eyes. “I’m sure it’s such a
thrill.” She spit out the water and rinsed with a sip from the
water bottle.

Then it was Matt’s turn. He was brushing away
and she started laughing.

“What?” He rinsed and spit.

“This just reminded me of something a lady
said on the airplane flying to Nevada. We’d been talking about
Western movies and she remarked that she liked Robert Redford so
much, she’d watch him brush his teeth.”

“So I remind you of Robert Redford?” He set
down the water bottle.

“Oh, Heavens, no… You’re the spitting image
of…” She stopped and closed her mouth. She’d spoken before
thinking.

“… Finish it. I’m the spitting image of…”

Sarah kept her mouth closed and shook her
head. “This is mildly embarrassing.”

“Let me guess… A movie star, right?”

“Yes…”

“Johnny Depp?”

“Not even close…”

“… Ah…Kevin Costner?”

“She shook her head.

“…Robert Downey?”

“Nope.”

“I’m out of ideas.” He shrugged his
shoulders.

“You’ve got to reach way back for this guy.
I’ll give you a hint – 1958, ‘
Big Country’…

“I think I missed that one.”

Suddenly, Sarah’s face radiated a glow that
took Matt’s breath away. She had the biggest smile ever on her face
and he couldn’t wait to hear this.

“Want me to tell you?”

“Yes…”

“He’s my all-time favorite movie star and
such a handsome guy – Gregory Peck.” She stopped, blushed deeply
and looked down at the ground.

He laughed at her. “Sarah, you just gave
yourself away. I think I’ve got your number now.”

She lay on her side pretending to look aloof.
“Oh, really…”

Matt lay back and his hands cradled his head.
“Look at the stars tonight. Have you ever seen anything more
beautiful?”

Yes, you, she thought
as she gazed at
his handsome profile. His eyes were as dark as the night and took
in everything around him, especially her.

“What do you want from me?” she
whispered.

He turned his head to look into her eyes.
Was she scared? Nervous? Excited?
He couldn’t tell. Matt got
up to pull one end of the bedroll over her for a cover. Sarah
watched his every move… When he was satisfied that she was warm
enough, he lay back on his bedroll and covered up as well. She
thought he’d forgotten the question.