Beneath the Tombstone (The Tombstone Series) (15 page)

Tyler
was beginning to look downright angry when Rye spoke to him, “Come on Tyler, it
was just an innocent comment… There’s no way he could have known.”

It’s
better to get roped, dragged, and hung by your feet in a tree for a time and be
able to eventually walk away from it than to get shot; that was all Jason had
meant. He saw no possible way to get anything extra out of his statement.

Thanks
to Rye’s easygoing attitude, Tyler seemed to be calming down now. He finally
took a deep breath and nodded his head as he spoke, “Sorry, Jason. Just some
stuff from way back.” He paused for a few moments before asking, “So what do we
owe you, anyways?”

Jason’s
heart began to pound. He knew now was the time to ask, so he drew a deep breath
and dove in. “I spoke with a man named Irwin yesterday.” He paused and waited
to see if the name brought recognition to either of their faces; it did… to
both of them. “I’m looking for someone who can teach me to climb the Tombstone.
I have less than a month, and when I make the climb, I can’t use ropes or a
harness. Irwin said you’d be my best bet,” he added.

The
tall cowboy just stared blankly at Jason for several seconds before asking
pointblank, “Without ropes? Do you want to die?” Judging by the sound of his
voice, he deemed that a very high possibility.

“No
sir,” Jason responded quietly as that now familiar fear of death once again
filled his insides with dread.

“Then
what else on this earth would prompt you to do something that will likely get
you killed?” Tyler demanded.

“My
wife,” Jason replied, sadness in his voice.

“She
wants you to climb the Tombstone?” Tyler asked in surprise. “Does she love you?”

“Yes,
um, I think she still loves me,” Jason stammered. “And no, she doesn’t want me
to climb the Tombstone,” he added solemnly. “Her kidnappers do.”

That
seemed to throw Tyler and Rye for a loop because each stood there stunned for a
few seconds. “Her kidnappers?” Tyler asked, making sure he had understood
correctly.

“Yes
sir.”

“Is
that what happened to your face?”

“Yes
sir,” Jason responded again.

A
silence filled the air for a few moments before Tyler turned to Rye and asked,
“What do you think? Is that okay with you?”

“Yeah,”
the kid responded after giving it a moments study. “It’s okay with me. The
highest I usually climb is into a saddle. That’s about the extent of my ability
to give climbing lessons,” he added with a smile. “But if you want to take him
on, I’m good with that.” Jason couldn’t help but wonder why the older was
asking the younger for permission.

“Money
is not a problem,” Dr. Throckmorton injected, seeming to appear out of nowhere.
“I’ll pay you a very substantial sum for your services.”

The
doctor’s voice was again filled with power and authority… but apparently Tyler
missed the superior tone because a disgusted scowl came to his face as he cast
a glance in Tomas’ direction. “I don’t want or need your money,” he spat in a
voice laced with venom.

The
doctor jerked his head back like he’d just come face-to-face with a snake and
stood there silent for a moment, unsure of what to do next. Jason was extremely
grateful for his friend’s assistance up to this point but talking down to
someone who had just showed you the kindness of not hanging you by your feet
from a tree, as punishment for your stupidity, was not a smart thing to do.

The
irritation at the doctor was still evident in Tyler’s eyes as he directed his
attention back to Jason. “I tell you what, I think you’re crazy, but I
understand where you’re coming from and respect you for it. It’s no small thing
to die for someone that you love.”

Jason
gulped. Hopefully, that wasn’t the only option.

“Yep,
Jason’s a good man,” Tomas injected.

Jason
could see that the rancher had taken all he could bear of the doctor. With an
emotionless expression, he slowly turned to him. “Bye,” was all he said.

Dr.
Throckmorton frowned at the big cowboy’s apparent confusion. “I, I was not
going anywhere,” he stammered.

The
horseman shot him a cold glare that explained, without words, that to not go
wasn’t on the list of options, just how. Tomas seemed to finally get the drift
that his assistance was no longer needed. Embarrassed, he spun around and
headed back to the truck.

“Anyways,
what I was trying to say,” Tyler spoke, a sense of frustration still in his
voice, “is that, as I mentioned, we’re shorthanded, and if you want me to teach
you how to climb, I can do that in exchange for some help around here cleaning
stalls and such. We’ll even throw in room and board.”

Jason’s
heart was still racing, but a relieved feeling was creeping into it. Had it all
really been that easy? He was in?

“When
do you want to start?” Tyler asked.

“The
sooner the better,” Jason responded.

“Well,
go home, get your stuff together, excluding any pets – we’ve got Red to help
with the cows and another dog would distract him from his work, and I just flat
out don’t like cats – but grab your things and get settled in this evening if
you want. You can start tomorrow, and I’ll show you the ropes of climbing… or,
in your case, the no ropes of climbing,” he added with a spark of humor.

He
then paused for a moment as though he had something important to say and wanted
to make sure he worded it right. “I do have one very important condition.”
Jason sat listing, hoping he could endure whatever was about to be revealed.
“When I give you something to do, even if don’t make any sense or it’s the last
thing in the world you want to do, you do it without question or you die
trying,” he paused for a moment, “or you quit.” He spat out the last word like
it disgusted him before adding, “Those are the only options.”

“Not
everybody can endure his style of teaching,” Rye spoke solemnly, “but he’s like
the old cliché; if he don’t kill you, he’ll sure make you stronger.” There was
something in the way he spoke that said he considered the first to be more of a
possibility than second.

In
all honestly, Tyler’s “one condition” didn’t seem to be asking too much,
especially considering the fact that, however brutal the form of training, it
couldn’t be any worse than the task that the training was for.

“You’ve
got a deal,” Jason responded. “I’ll be back this evening.”

The
three men shook hands, and Jason walked away filled with more hope than he’d
had in a long time. As he climbed into the truck, he gave a wide boyish grin to
Tomas who was sitting in the passenger seat with his arms folded in pouting
fashion.

“He’s
taking me on,” Jason said, and his tone was that of a kid telling someone he’d
won a free trip to Disney Land.

“Good,”
the doctor commented, like he couldn’t care less, as he stared blankly out of
the windshield.

In
the midst of his excitement, Jason had forgotten the humiliation that had been
dumped on the doctor’s head – not that he’d gotten anything he didn’t deserve.
Jason remembered something Susan would sometimes say, possibly quoting from the
Bible – something about pride going before a fall. Yep, that’s exactly what had
happened to the doctor.

As
they began their trek away from the ranch, Jason glanced over at the doctor and
with all sincerity said, “I really appreciate you coming,” in hopes that his
friend wasn’t turning his back on him. “If it wasn’t for you, none of this
would have been possible.”

Tomas
remained silent, staring straight ahead for a moment longer before he spoke
with a gentle sigh, “Well, I’m glad I got it worked out for you. I do not envy
you though. Men like those two are not easy to control. Watch yourself. I would
not trust them.” He paused and shook his head. “The big one could’ve killed
that truck driver.”

Jason
figured the trucker had gone away with a new outlook on life but just kept
those opinions to himself. He needed the doctor to remain a friend in his life
and, for that to happen, it appeared as though he would have to tread lightly
around that big ego.

“I
have one more favor to ask of you,” Jason spoke as he turned to Tomas from his
place behind the steering-wheel. “I can’t bring my dog. Would you mind keeping an
eye on her? You know, just food and water… she probably wouldn’t complain about
a little pat on the head every now and then either.”

“Sure
thing, Jason,” the doctor responded as Jason eased out of the driveway onto the
gravel road and pointed the pickup towards home. “My kids have been pestering
me about getting a dog for them, so this might be a good chance for me to get a
little practice in.”

“Thanks,”
Jason responded, grateful to have such a close friend as Tomas to keep an eye
on his now most prized possession – Dixie. “She’s friendly, but you might want
to come over to the house and meet her today while I’m still there, that way
she’ll know you’re one of the good guys.”

Tomas
gave a half-hearted laugh as he said, “You bet, I can do that.” He turned to
Jason and smiled as he added, “And if you need anything else, just let me know.
As far as I’m concerned, we’re in this together.” He then frowned and wrinkled
up his nose a bit. “My, you stink! Did you step in cow excrement?” he asked in
disgust.

“Nope,”
Jason replied and shook his head, “one of them actually
excremented
on me.”

Finding
a bit of humor in the horrified expression that spread across the doctor’s
face, Jason smiled a little as he pushed down on the accelerator. Soon they
began kicking up dust along gravel road as the homeward bound truck began
plunging its way through the potholes and over the rub-boards.

After
being dropped off at his car, the doctor followed Jason home to meet Dixie. She
was delighted to see her human but didn’t appear to be very fond of the
visitor. Jason gave Dixie’s temporary care-giver instructions on when and what
to feed her. The doctor left shortly thereafter in his little red car. Jason
stroked Dixie’s long, soft golden fur for a short time then went into the
house, tossed a few things into a duffel bag out of the pile of clothes that
Misty had been folding on the day of her kidnapping, grabbed their wedding
picture off the wall to take along and headed out.

The
shadows stretched long as Jason drove down the long driveway leading up to the
ranch. Lights were on in the two stall barns and most of the stalls had a horse
in them. He came to a stop, having spotted Tyler and Rye doing something down
on the other end of one of the barns. He stepped out of his truck and began
making his way over in their direction. When he got close, it became apparent
that they were shoveling something from the stalls and dumping it into a
wheel-barrel. When he got even closer, he realized that the “something” was
horse manure.

“Well,
look who came back to see us,” Tyler spoke to Rye, acknowledging Jason’s
presence.

“Yep,”
the kid spoke as he looked up at Jason. “I was beginning to wonder. I tell you
one thing though,” he went on, “you’re a beautiful sight. I hate cleaning
stalls. And doing it after working horses all day makes it just down-right
disdainful.”

“So
this is what I’ll be doing?” Jason asked willingly.

“Yes
sir,” Tyler answered.

“Have
y’all
got another one of those scoop things?”

“Yeah,”
Tyler replied, “but you won’t need it tonight. Go ahead and get settled in. You
can start poop scooping soon enough.” He smiled to himself. “Yeah, we’ll make
you into a first class poop scooper before this is over with.”

“I’m
on the last stall,” Rye said. “You can help him get settled in if you want.”

“You
don’t have to offer twice,” Tyler responded eagerly as he shut the stall gate
behind him on his way out. Without a word he headed away from the barns and
other structures, out into the fallen darkness, motioning for Jason to follow.
The tall horseman reached into his pocket and pulled out a little light as he
spoke, “We never did get the electricity hooked up out here.
They’s
gonna
charge us my arm and
Rye’s leg just to run a couple of wires. Just ridiculous,” he huffed.

Wow.
How primitive was this abode to be? The flashlight light up the structure
answering the question in Jason’s mind. Very primitive. But, then again, Jason
didn’t see himself as being in a position to negotiate for better accommodations.
It was amazing what one could come to accept when left with no other options.

The
old hinges creaked as the door was opened slowly, and due to the silence, the
sound seemed to be magnified tremendously. Dust mites hung in the air on the
inside of the little cabin and were illuminated into glowing specks of sun as
the light picked them up.

Tyler
placed the flashlight between his shoulder and his cheek, freeing up both
hands. An old kerosene lantern hung on the wall. The cowboy plucked a match from
a matchbox close by and soon had the room light with a dim glow.

“Try
to not burn the place down if you can,” Tyler spoke solemnly as he extended the
lantern up and attached it to a thick piece of wire hanging from the ceiling.

Jason
looked around the room. An old bed with a worn-out, stained mattress atop a
box-spring frame rested in the far corner. Unable to resist, Jason walked over
and pushed down on the mattress. Yep, bed squeaked. Great – how was he supposed
to sleep on a noisy bed? He turned around and surveyed the rest of the room.
There was a sink, a wood stove, and a small table.

“Don’t
drink the water,” Tyler instructed. “It’s rain water that catches in a cistern
out back. There
ain’t
much left and it’s stagnant.
Turnin
’ green.” Sounded just lovely.

Well,
that was pretty much all of the room. It was then that it dawned on Jason…
there was only the one room… period. “Um, where’s the bathroom?” he asked,
concerned.

Tyler
walked over to the front door and signaled for Jason to follow. As he shone his
light into the woods, he said, “There’s a whole forest out there to pee on.”

Jason
gave the tall cowboy a blank stare, hoping he was joking. Was he really
expected to take care of nature’s call, you know, in nature?

“What
about number two?” Jason asked as his bewildered fear mounted.

“Oh
yeah,” Tyler spoke like he had forgotten about that little necessity.

Jason
followed him out on the porch where he was shown a shovel. “What am I supposed
to do with that?” he asked, his wide eyes filled with disbelief.

Tyler
looked at him like he was looking at some child that had not yet been
potty
trained. “You dig a hole,” he explained as he took
the shovel and made a digging motion in the air.

“And
then I, um…” Jason’s voice trailed off, unable to finish the question.

“Yeah,
you um,” the tall cowboy chuckled, “then you cover it back up.”

“Do I
have to use leaves?” Jason asked in all seriousness. Honestly, after this
shock, it wouldn’t have surprised him.

“Mostly
just pine and aspen trees around here,” Tyler commented dryly. “They work
better than nothing, but I’d cut off a piece of my shirt first.” He paused for
a moment before adding, “
Naw
, you won’t have to use
leaves. There’s a couple rolls of the stuff you need in one of them cabinets.”

Jason
gave a silent sigh of relief. It seemed that there was a silver lining behind
the cloud. “Is there a river close by I can take a bath in?” he asked, hoping
that wasn’t going to be his bathing solution but, at this point, nothing would
surprise him.

“No,”
Tyler laughed. “You can come down to the house if you get to needing a shower.
That’s what José always did.”

“José?”
Jason asked.

“Yeah,”
Tyler responded. “He’s supposed to be coming back in a month or two so be sure
to keep the place clean and in good shape.”

Jason
looked around. Surely the horseman was joking. You couldn’t maintain something
that didn’t exist, so there was no possible way to “keep” the shack clean or in
good shape because it was neither.

“Well,
I’ll leave you to your settling in. If there’s anything you need,” Tyler said
in a friendly tone before growling, “get it yourself or do without.” Jason
flinched a little at the abrupt delivery of the words. “Just kidding,” the
horseman added with a chuckle. “Let me know if you need anything.”

Tyler
left the flashlight and with that he was gone, leaving Jason alone on the dimly
lit porch. He stood there alone for a few minutes, trying to come to grasps
with the reality of how much his little world had changed in such a short
amount of time. Finally, he pulled himself from his thoughts, retrieved the
flashlight and began making his way back down towards his pickup. He had
spotted a lightly used trail leading up close to the shack and had high hopes
of driving up it, saving himself from as much walking as possible.

His
idea worked. He got the truck within several yards of the shed and soon had all
of his stuff inside, new sheets on the bed and a small fire going in the stove.
Now that he thought about it, this was probably the first time he’d ever used
the fire starting technique he’d learned at summer camp as a kid. He sat a can
of beans he’d brought from home on the stovetop to warm and had them for supper
a short time later. Soon, he found himself being draw towards the bed. He fell
asleep a moment after he lay down, once he’d pulled the covers up to his chin.

“Time
to start the day,” a voice opened the door and called in.

Jason
opened his eyes and sat up. He couldn’t have been asleep for more than a few
minutes. The door slammed back closed and Jason grabbed his phone to check the
time. Five a.m. is what it read. He had been asleep for a good seven or eight
hours. It sure didn’t feel like it. He sighed as he lay back down. The
sleepless nights that he had encountered over the past few days had taken their
toll on him. Another few minutes, and he would be set to face the day.

A
noise from inside the shack drew Jason back out of his slumber. Snatching up
his phone, he looked at it. Five thirty! His heart began to race. Not a good
way to start off the first day!

It
was then that he saw Tyler heading from the other side of the room towards the
door… and he was carrying some of Jason’s things! “What are you doing?” Jason
yelled out as he bounced from the spring loaded bed, causing it to call out its
protest loudly.

Dressed
in a tee-shirt and shorts, Jason chased the cowboy out the door. With a clunk
and a clang, Jason’s things were being carelessly thrown into the bed of his
truck, which he’d left parked near the shack overnight.

“What,
what are you doing? Jason yelled again.

“
Loadin
’ your things,” Tyler said calmly as he walked back
past Jason and into the house without looking at him.

Jason
chased him back in and was about to log another protest when the cowboy began
to kindly explain, “You just go back to bed. I’ll load your things and when you
think you’ve gotten enough sleep, go home.”

“Go
home?” Jason was confused. “Why?” he asked, and the desperation of his
situation was evident in his voice.

“Yesterday
I said you either do as I say or go home,” Tyler spoke firmly as he turned
around to face Jason. “Thirty minutes ago, I told you to get up, and you
didn’t… so now you go home.”

“I’m
up. I’m up,” Jason shouted desperately as Tyler went back to his task of moving
him out.

“Jason,”
Tyler said, and his tone hinted he was doing his best to be patient, “I’m sorry
for what happened to you. I really am. But this training is going to take an
undying sense of dedication, and I don’t smell that on you. If you can’t accomplish
a task as simple as getting out of bed when I tell you to, there is no way you
can handle the things to come.”

“Hey
man, I’m sorry,” Jason pleaded as he stopped in the door and watched helplessly
as the cowboy chunked more of his things into the bed of his truck. “I really
am. What I did was stupid, and I won’t let it happen again… I promise.”

Tyler
paused from his mission and propped his arms over the edge of Jason’s truck
bed. With his back turned, he stood there for a moment, seemingly deep in thought.
Finally, he turned back slowly. “Okay, I’ll give you one more chance,” he spoke
slowly. “That’s something I very rarely do, but others have done it for me, so
here it is. Don’t waste it.”

“I
won’t, sir,” Jason spoke rapidly and with all sincerity. “What do you want me
to do now?”

Tyler
pointed to all the stuff in the bed of Jason’s truck as he spoke, “Get all your
stuff inside.” He paused for a moment then gruffly added, “I thought I told you
to do that last night.”

What
in the world? Jason had just watched the horseman completely destroy half of
his property in the process of moving it from the shed to the back of his
truck. And to make things worse, the horseman knew he’d done it and he knew
that Jason knew he’d done it, yet he still acted like the mess was due to
Jason’s negligence.

“I
had it all…” Jason started to say but realized that it might not be in his best
interest as Tyler turned back around with an I-dare-you look in his eyes.

“I
mean, I
will
have it all inside in just a bit,” Jason corrected.

“Meet
me down at the saddle shed in five minutes,” Tyler ordered then disappeared
into the pre-dawn darkness.

Jason
ran in with a load of his things and looked at his phone beside the bed then,
with no more carefulness than what had been used to load his stuff, Jason
unloaded it all, threw it back into the shack, jumped into his clothes, flung
his coat on and raced down the hill to the horse barns. He spotted Tyler up
ahead under one of the barn lights, saddling a horse. Jason pulled out his
phone to check the time. Four minutes. Yes! He made it.

“Slow
down,” a voice from the darkness ordered.

Jason
skidded to a halt and said, “I just didn’t want to be any later than I already
am.”

“Well,
you’ll be doing a lot of running over the next few weeks, so save your legs,
plus, if you run up and spook one of them colts he’s saddling, you may wind up
hanging from a tree by your feet.”

“He
does that a lot, huh?” Jason asked.

“Nope,”
Rye responded quietly, the distant light picking up his features as he
approached “that’s the first time I’ve ever seen that stunt, but don’t worry…
he’s got lots more.”

As
they made their way over to Tyler, Rye handed Jason a burrito wrapped in foil.
“Breakfast,” he spoke. “You’d better eat it quick.”