Black Hills Angel (Black Hills Series) (26 page)

"I don't know. She really doesn't like me with Matt. How am I going to change her mind?" Andy asked, picking up her cup for a sip of tea. It steadied her as she delved back into this tense situation. Being caught in the act with Lacey's son was hardly as big of a problem as Lacey not accepting her as Matt's girlfriend. Andy couldn't fix her family situation, but she wouldn't make Matt's worse. It was too important to him.

"You will win her over when she realizes how much he loves you and how good you are for him. Just be yourself." Nora said, stretching across the other couch. Andy raised a brow in disbelief but said nothing. "You have Garrett and me in your corner. My dad even likes you too. He has a way of softening my mother up when he sets his mind to it."

"Well I hope it happens sooner rather than later. She looks at me as if I am there to destroy her precious boy. Not that I blame her exactly. I come with alot of baggage." Andy sighed, leaning her head back against the cushion of the couch. It was late into the evening, possibly after midnight and she was tired. Drew had been put to bed hours ago and Harper had finally fallen asleep after a bath and bottle.

"It's probably because you could destroy Matt if you wanted." Nora didn't bat an eye at the alarmed look Andy shot across the space. "He loves you, Andy. We are all very aware that if he loses you, he may not come out of it." Nora offered a sad smile. "No pressure."

"No pressure indeed." Andy half whispered, her heart slowing almost to a stop. It was difficult to see their relationship that way. Of course he had told her that he loved her and she loved him, but what if they couldn't make it together? What if she obliterated every dream Matt had in his own love?

"Well, hey, we need to get to sleep. It's an early start to the Buffalo Roundup at the state park." Nora said after a prolonged yawn. Andy nodded, getting up from the couch and turning towards the sunroom. The light switched off, leaving the tiny house in darkness. Inside the glass windowed sunroom, Andy could make out the trees and wide open prairie under the soft moonlight. She lay down on the bed, pulling the covers up to her chin and sighing. There was no denying the ache deeply embedded in her chest. So much rode on finding her place and standing firmly behind what she wanted. In the quiet of the night, she could admit that she wanted Matt. What wasn't certain was whether she was good enough for him. Closing her eyes, Andy tried to sleep, but it was hours later before she found the oblivion she craved.

***

Waking up before the light had even crept into the sky had Andy feeling a bit less than graceful this morning. She felt like she had been pulled limb from limb and then put back together wrong. It was weird. She sighed, looking over her daughter in the car seat. Harper was chipper and chattering on like a spring bird. The truck was relatively quiet, except for the radio. Lacey was driving with Nora in the front passenger seat and Harper and Andy in the back. Seeing Matt's mother this early in the morning and remembering the events of last night, caused Andy more than a little embarrassment.
Good thing it isn't a far trip to the Buffalo Roundup.

"We will have to hurry when we get to the parking section. It won't be long and they will have the herds moving." Lacey said in a tight tone, both hands firmly gripping the steering wheel of the Chevy truck. Nora cocked her head to the side to wink at Andy. Andy rolled her eyes and then wondered if Lacey was watching her reaction in the review mirror.
Perfect.

"How close can we get to see the buffalo?" Andy asked Nora, lightly touching the black leather case her camera was in. She hadn't taken pictures in quite some time. She hoped she didn't forget how.

"Not as close as some would like, but the animals can be unpredictable. A few years ago, a cow shifted in front of a rider and his horse. It was terrifying! Both the female buffalo and the horse went down and the rider was thrown some distance. Luckily he wasn't killed." Nora gestured emphatically with her hand and Lacey nodded in agreement.

"Why would someone join in if it is that dangerous?" Andy asked, her breath catching in her chest. Her stomach turned at the thought of Matt being in harm's way.

"There is something magical about it, I guess. The connection to nature, to history, and well, to our roots is what keeps it going. The volunteers can get hurt. It is an accepted risk." Nora's words held some reverence for the activity. The South Dakota Buffalo Roundup was an event born of passion, identity, and pride. Andy felt the
thrum
of anticipation and anxiousness at the same time.

"The guys know what could happen and take precautions to keep from being in any harmful situation. Their horses are sound. Their gear is double checked. Their objective is clear. It does them little good to know we worry the entire time they are out there." Lacey added, her voice losing some of its sharpness. Clearly she worried about them all.
Who wouldn't?

"It will definitely be an experience to be remembered." Andy swallowed hard and smiled tremulously. Maybe if she started praying for Matt's safety, someone would hear her.

They pulled off the main road and bumped along a less traveled path where buses and other large vehicles were parked. Cars and trucks lined up in parallel lines across the prairie. A great mass of spectators were already there with their lawn chairs, blankets and cameras. Everyone was bundled up against the early morning chill. Autumn had definitely settled over the area. Winter wouldn't be far behind. Andy unlocked her seatbelt as the truck came to a stop. Nora got out to retrieve the stroller and Lacey pulled a couple of stadium blankets from the back. Both women were efficient in getting them squared away and ready to go. Andy felt minorly lacking for direction this morning.

"Emaline is up front. She is saving us a couple of spots so that you can see the roundup better." Lacey looked at Andy and then looked ahead again. Their current relationship was rather awkward.

"That's wonderful, thank you. I hope I can get some good photos." Andy offered, smiling as warmly as she could with a pit in her stomach. Nora shrugged when Andy looked in her direction. It was going to take some time. They searched the crowd for faces that the Johnson's knew. There was a great many ages represented in the group. Small children to the very old all waited for the exhilaration of the chase.

"Oh look! There is Emaline." Nora pointed to the front and towards the right. Andy gripped the lawn chair and diaper bag before following Lacey and Nora into the crowd of faces. She found herself apologizing a few times when she bumped into someone with her chair or jostled someone's arm as she passed.
Nothing like feeling out of place!
She wanted to be here, but she was deeply out of her element. Matt had said his family would be the test they'd have to pass to be together. She was starting to wonder if the test also consisted of acclimating herself to his home as well.

The air was crisp, their breath making white puffs. Andy's nose was cold and she sniffled a bit. She pulled her sweatshirt hood closer around her neck and zipped her jacket all the way up. Nora halted the stroller in line with the older ladies wrapped in blankets and sitting in their chairs. Andy pulled the fleece blanket up tighter around Harper's face, tucking her tiny fingers under the soft cloth. Taking another fleece blanket, Andy draped it off the hood to cocoon her daughter inside. What little breeze there was this morning made it all the colder.

Looking around, she took stock of their surroundings. Everyone chatted with someone and the hum of the group was exciting. Smells of coffee and hot chocolate perfumed the air around them. Andy's stomach growled since she had been too sleepy this morning to eat breakfast. It would be some time before they had lunch. Sighing, Andy tried to focus on the buffalo roundup. On the horizon the sun was making more of an entrance and some riders on their horses sat on the farther hill. The coarse prairie grass was turning from its deep green to a brown gold hue. The interspersed color made the area seem vaster. The riders on the hill could have been a view into a window of time long past. It sent chills down her spine and this time it wasn't due to the cold.

Sensing something was about to happen as the buzz around her started to rise, Andy fished her camera out of the diaper bag. A quick inspection reassured her that all was in order. She took a breath and watched the horizon carefully. The first Custer State Park vehicle presented itself and it went quickly after that. A great thundering filled the air and the excitement around her tripled it its growth. Andy's eyes widened as she saw the first of the buffalo top the hill, moving in fluid motion down to the valley. Great, heavy heads were attached to solid bodies of thick brown, shaggy hide. They were impressive! Their majesty and command over the plains nearly stopped her heart from beating. Nothing in her wildest dreams could compare to this moment.

The herd stretched the length of the horizon, flowing as one great body of beasts. Occasionally she could pick out a half grown calf surging at its mother's side and trying not to be lost in the chaos. It might be carefully managed chaos, but it was chaos nonetheless! Trucks flanked the horses, creating another barrier the wild beasts wouldn't dare outrun. Dozens of horses with their riders didn't get in the way of the massive herd, but guided them down into the valley where panels funneled into a corral for the auction. Those of the visitors who were not standing, stood as the American flag and South Dakota state flag were paraded by on prancing horses. Andy smiled, snapping pictures in quick sequence. Even the horses seemed to be filled with pride of their office.

"Look!" Nora's voice was close to her ear as Andy creased her brow, trying to focus on where Nora was pointing. In the back of the herd, four horsemen trailed the last of the shaggy beasts when one mammoth buffalo took exception to their presence and cut nearly a right angle into the horse's chest. There was a collective cry from the crowd of watchers as the horse reared onto its hind legs, battling the directions from the cowboy on its back. Andy's heart leapt into her throat and she felt powerless to do anything but watch.
God please don't let that be Matt!
It was all she could think. It became a chant in her brain as she watched the other horsemen chase the irritated beast back into the heard and a state pickup stop to assist the fallen cowboy. The quiet of the crowd was deafening. Never was there so much silence felt as in that moment between seeing the accident and knowing the fate of the man and his horse. The rest of the historic display lost its appeal.

Nora borrowed a pair of binoculars from a man behind them. Profusely thankful, Matt's sister scanned the horizon and pursed her lips. Andy wondered if she would go insane before something was said. Her fingernails dug into her palms as her eyes shifted between the scene out on the prairie and Nora.

"Good news! It isn't Matt or Garrett." Nora smiled at Andy and then her mother.

"Then who was it?" Lacey all but snapped at her daughter. She was clearly on pins and needles as well. In this, Andy and Lacey were the same and worried about their men out there.

"I'm not sure." Nora replied as she held the binoculars up against her eyes again and shrugged. "We will find out soon, I'm sure. They've already got the herd contained."

Andy looked towards the corrals where the buffalo were circling and turning back into themselves. She took a deep breath, trying to slow the slamming of her heart against her ribs. Each deep breath prompted another one and so on. Before she knew it, she had been staring off into space for several minutes as her inner turmoil settled.

"I told you they would be fine." Nora whispered into Andy's ear. Andy jerked back to the present and grimaced. "It's a calculated risk they take." Nora's voice of reason wasn't entirely comforting. Someone could have been maimed or even killed in an accident like that. It was a lot to stomach in a short amount of time.
One false move, one stroke of fate and it could all be over.

"I don't know if I will ever get used to it." Andy mumbled, focusing her camera on anything other than herself. It would be better to sift through these emotions later. Defining them at this moment would only be a distraction and it would prompt more questions from Nora.

"Well there is always next year." Nora grinned, nudging Andy with her shoulder. "Hey look! See. Matt's just fine." She pointed out towards the corrals and Andy did see. Matt was holding his cowboy hat in the air for them. He looked magnificent on the big sorrel horse. Feeling the constriction around her heart ease a bit, Andy marveled at how quickly Matt disappeared into the dozens of riders again. Cowboy hat on, he looked no different from those he rode beside.

Raising her camera again, Andy snapped more photos of the cowboys, their mounts, the shaggy, temperamental buffalo, and the auction process. The Buffalo Roundup had been started to thin out the ever increasing herds of wild buffalo on the South Dakota State Parks. Proud of the pure bloodlines, the animals were sold at auction to breeding outfits all over the United States. The herd had not been bred with cattle as was the trend. These snorting, stomping beasts were the veritable replicas of their ancestors who were plentiful on the Black Hills area. They were a great source of food and pride for the Native American tribes. Andy could see how proud these people were of them still. There was a permanent majesty that flowed about them. The morning sunshine caressed each shaggy hide and it wasn't altogether too farfetched to note the power the animal exuded.

"Do you mind if I get a bit closer? I want to see if I can get some zoomed in shots of the buffalo." Andy asked Nora, who was bobbing up and down trying to get warm. Andy grinned.