The Rancher's Daughter (5 page)

             
She didn’t know how long they had lain there like that.  He snored softly for a while.  She finally noticed the sky begin to darken and she knew it would be dark soon and they would be out here with no light.  They needed to go back.  As much as she hated to, she woke Heath and they caught gray and headed back.  The rodeo events for the day had just finished up and people were getting in their cars leaving or heading to their campers.  They dismounted at the barn and groomed the gray before stalling him and feeding him.  One of the ranch hands had already fed the rest of the horses.  She wondered over to Legends stall and he stuck his nose out to nuzzle her hand.  She rubbed his nose and placed a kiss on him before following Heath out of the barn. 

             
He held her hand as they walked to the house and headed for the kitchen.  Hilary had cooked supper and was setting the table when they walked in, she looked up and smiled when she found them hand in hand.  “About time.” She said, referring to them getting back together.  Then she saw the ring on Josey’s left hand. She stopped in her tracks and squealed. She ran over to them hugging them and kissing them on the cheeks.  “I’m so happy for you both, oh congratulations.  I have to get J.W and Sam, oh my goodness!”  She ran from the kitchen, shouting.  They heard the dinner bell, clinging loudly. Heath pulled Josey in his arms, and kissed her forehead.  

             
“Well now, I have to say I’m not exactly surprised, after the beating you gave that fellow today.”  Sam said.  “Only ever saw one man get that mad before and he’s sitting in this room.”  Sam was referring to J.W beating a former ranch hand that put his hands on Hilary years ago.  Heath had been there, afterwards.  It was amazing the man survived.  J.W would have killed him with his bare hands if he hadn’t been pulled
off
him. 

             
“Well I think congratulations are in order.” J.W.
said,
“Hilary break out the whiskey, this calls for a drink.  Pour us all a shot of that Southern Comfort would you, Babe?” Hilary laughed at her husband and got up to get the shot glasses and whiskey.  She poured everyone a glass and passed it out.  J.W and Sam each had something they wanted to say before anyone could drink.  When they finished, Hilary said, “Drink up!” They all tossed the whiskey down their throats and a round of coughs went around the table followed by laughter, and whacks on the back. 

             
After all the hands left, Sam, J.W, Hilary, Heath and Josey and her three overprotective uncles, all gathered in the living room.  They discussed the activities of the day and they attempted to get a figure on how much they made on the rodeo so far.  Tomorrow would be the last day of the event and everything was looking good.  After everyone was through discussing business, Hilary turned the TV on and J.W, Sam, Willy, Reid, and Justin joined in a round of poker.  Josey and Heath excused themselves and stepped out on the porch to swing in the moonlight.  They just sat there in the old porch swing in each other’s arms relaxing and looking at the stars.  Neither of them said anything.  There was no need to. 

             
Hilary joined them after a bit.  “Hope I’m not bothering y’all, but I couldn’t take the racket of that game anymore.  I have a headache from all the bickering.” She laughed.  Josey knew what she meant.  When those men got to playing cards, it was constant friendly arguing about who was cheating who. She laughed with her, once the picture settled into her head.  “Nice night, isn’t it?” Hilary said making conversation. “Yep,” Heath responded nodding his head.  “There ain’t nothing like sitting in a porch swing holding your woman and enjoying good company on a cool night like this.  He smiled down at Josey.

             
The coyotes yipped and howled.  The cattle bellowed and the horses stomped and snorted.  Hilary’s blue heeler came out of hiding.  His old bones barely moved these days.  He tried to jump up in her lap but his old bones wouldn’t let him spring the way he once had so she lifted him up and let him lay his head in her lap.  “I wonder where Sadie has gotten off to.” Hilary said, of the female heeler she had bought a few years ago when she realized her old dog was about to see his last days. 

             
She heard a whimper and looked around for the sound.  Another whine came from behind a table in the corner.  They all turned and saw Sadie
lying
in the corner.  To their surprise, there was a brand new litter of pups,
lying
with her.  “Well now, you old rascal, you’ve been busy haven’t you?” Heath said to the old dog on Hilary’s lap.  Josey got up and wandered over to the dog Hilary had gifted her a few years back.  She moved the table out of the way and eased down by the dog.  She patted her head and got a good look at each of the pups.  “Six,” she counted.  She picked up a little male and cradled it in her arms. She rubbed her fingers down its back.  “He looks just like you, old boy.” She said.  She knew without a doubt, Hilary would keep this one. 

             
She lay the puppy back down, got up and pulled Heath up off the swing.  “You want to go for a walk?” she asked them both.  Hilary shook her head no and smiled.  She knew the two of them really just wanted some time alone.  She sat with her very best friend in the world, cradling his head in her lap.  “Well old Buddy, we finally got him to come home.  I sure hope everything works out for them.” She whispered her words to the dog.  She talked to him often when she felt she needed someone to talk to and J.W was nowhere to, be found. Otherwise, she would talk to him.  The old dog had just turned fourteen in dog years that was nearly 100.  He was a good old dog.  He saved J.Ws life once and hers, more times, than she could count.  That dog had been through hell and back.  She would grieve when he passed. Never had she before grieved for any other animal.  He was surely her best friend.

             
The sound of the men arguing, broke the silence on the porch.  She turned to the sound of the screen door banging shut.  J.W stood staring down at her.  He lit a cigarette and took a seat in the swing.  His eyes wandered around until he found what he was looking for.  He watched as Heath and Josey, walked side by side, talking.  There words he could not hear, from the distance. 

Hilary,
moved the old dog off her lap and
sat down in the swing beside him
.  He moved his arm to rest behind her and kissed the top of her head when she leaned toward him.  It came natural to them.  They knew the way the other would move before they moved.  It had always been that way between them.  She matched him, move for mo
ve.  Every day he loved her more
.  He prayed, that Josey and Heath would find that kind of love in each other.  He loved Heath like a son, always had. He always hoped the two of them would be together someday.  Well, he had, after he got used to the fact that his little girl was all grown up.

             
The night was quiet except for the sound of the swing creaking as they rocked and the men in the house arguing over their game.  J.W rocked the swing back and forth and Hilary folded her legs up under her in the swing.  They watched Heath and
Josey
, take their walk around the ranch. 

             
The night light cast shadows around the ground.  The cattle mooed in the distance.  A horse neighed in the barn and the dog pricked her ears forward and lifted her head. 
This was what life was all about. 
             
 

             
Jared Lott showed up bright and early the next morning.  He was there before the rodeo events even had a chance to be under way.  “What can I do for you Sheriff?” J.W propped on a cane this morning.  The cool air had settled into his bones, making them ache.  He stared at the new sheriff in town, paying no mind to the deputy behind him.  The sheriff stepped around in front of the cruiser “I’m looking f
or a Heath Jenkins.  I got
word this morning that he jumped a man out here yesterday.  I have reason to believe he was wearing a set of brass knuckles.”

             
J.W.
grunted,
“Is that so, Sheriff?  Well I hate to tell you, but you’ve been misinformed about some of what you just said.  He jumped a
man that
parts true.  But I can promise you there weren’t any brass knuckles involved.” The sheriff nodded. “Well I still need to see him Mr. Chisholm.” J.W. opened the door and said.  “Suit yourself Sheriff he’s sitting down to breakfast.”  The sheriff and his deputy walked past J.W and waited inside the door for him to lead the way. 

             
“Heath Jenkins, you’re under arrest for the beating of Kyle Hutto, yesterday afternoon.”  The deputy read Heath his rights and put him in handcuffs.  Everyone watched in shock as they led Heath out of the house and put him into the backseat of the cruiser.  J.W, Sam and Josey immediately followed in the ranch pickup. 

             
“What are they going to do with him Dad? Josey asked.  “I don’t know sweetheart but we are going to find out.  I just hope that this Hutto man drops the charges.  That’s all we can hope for right now.”  J.W said.  Sam was shaking his head.  “I just don’t get it.  What’s the world coming to when a man can put his hands on a woman, then have someone arrested for protecting her?  This is crazy.  There were witnesses everywhere.”

             
J.W picked up his cell phone. “Who are you calling?” Josey asked.  “I’m calling an old friend of mine to see if I can find out what we’re dealing with.  James can tell me what to expect.  He may not be the sheriff anymore but he knows the law.”  The phone rang three times.  “Hello!” the voice on the other end of the line answered.  James listened as J.W greeted him and then told him what was going on.  He told him what he could and then asked him to meet him at the
Sheriff’s
department.

             
James arrived about a half second before the acting sheriff and the deputy who arrested Heath.  J.W, Sam and Josey arrived shortly after.  “What are you doing here, James?” Sheriff Lott asked.  He thought it a little odd to see the man who had been the former sheriff. The old
man hadn’t set foot in here since retiring. “I’m here for a friend.” He nodded toward Heath and then looked at the sheriff once more. “Now I was there when this so called beating took place, that boy wasn’t doing nothing but protecting Josey. I seen it with my own two eyes as did about 200 other folks.  I’m telling you right now, I was here a long time and I have a lot of friends in
high-ranking
places.  All
it’s
going to
take is one phone call.  Are you willing to lose your job over this sheriff?” The sheriff looked at the former sheriff, his jaw tightened and he grimaced. He knew the old sheriff could follow through with his threat.  It made him mad that the old man threatened his job. 

             
Stepping behind
Heath,
he unlocked the handcuffs on his wrists, “Watch yourself and I better not have to come back out to that ranch anytime soon.” He almost growled the words out.

             
J.W walked forward and shook the old sheriffs’ hand.  “Thanks, James, it just ain’t the same since you retired.”  The two men shook hands and smiled at each other.  Josey came forward and invited the old sheriff back to the ranch for supper. He accepted and followed them out the door.

             
The sheriff watched as they left, he now had a false report on his hands. “Wait a minute,” he said.  I need y’all to fill out these first.” He laid out a piece of paper for each of them. “I need y’all to write down in your own words exactly what happened. It looks like I have a false report on my hands, and I will need the proof.” Sheriff Lott may not have liked the way the old sheriff came into his department and threatened his job, but he could plainly see that the old man was telling the truth.  That meant he had a false report on his hands and would need the proof to arrest the old weasel who filed that false report.  “I’ll also need the names of anybody else who was a witness.  I’m going to need their reports too.” The old sheriff smiled with pride, “yes sir, I can give you a pretty good list of names right now and have them here in no time.”  The old sheriff named off names and phone numbers, he called a few people himself.  One name on the list stuck out and would have a lot of credibility.  It was Judge John Wilkins. 

             
“I told you all it would take was one call.” The old sheriff called his long time friend Judge John Wilkins, “Hey old buddy, its James. Listen I need you to come down here to the Sheriffs’ department and give your account of that fight we witnessed, yesterday.  Seems there’s been a false report made.” The old Judge rattled something off in James ear and James shook his head saying, “right, right, yeah, ok good buddy see you when you get here.”  He hung up the phone and asked, “Do you mind if we take a seat? My old legs can’t take much more of this standing. You know I took a bullet in this one here.” Sheriff Lott nodded. “Go ahead, you know where to go.”

             
They had no sooner sit down when Judge Wilkins came barreling through the front door followed by several other people who had been witnesses of the fight. A while later Sheriff Lott came forward and said, “You folks are free to go, oh and Heath I almost forgot. Here’s your
pocketknife
and wallet that I took
off
you back at the ranch. I’m
very
sorry about the mix up. Just stay in town, in case I need you.”