Cowgirl Up (25 page)

Coal could feel Shadow’s muscles tensing beneath her. He was ready to run. He danced in place as the rider finished her run and she walked him to the starting line. She barely heard the announcer calling her name as her eyes focused on the course ahead of her. She looked to the left at the timer. When he nodded to her, she pressed her heels into Shadow’s sides and they blasted into the ring. She lowered her hand holding the reins and Shadow took the first turn perfectly. She glanced down and saw her boot an inch from the barrel. She held her breath until they cleared it and galloped toward the next barrel.

The wind whipped through her hair and she could feel a grin growing on her face as Shadow’s turn was just as sharp on the next barrel and they were racing to the end of the arena and the final barrel. Coal again lowered her hand and Shadow turned so tightly his hooves threw dirt into her face as he cleared the final barrel and then opened his stride as he raced to the finish. Dirt and all, she grinned wildly as they galloped to the finish.

They flew past the finish line and Coal leaned down to pat his neck. “Great run, big boy,” she said as she waited to hear their time.

“Ladies and gentlemen we now have a new leader,” the loudspeaker blared as the announcer gave their time.

“That’s going to be hard to beat,” Gene said as he raced over to them.

“I hope so,” she said with a huge grin.

“Damn, that was fast,” Melissa said in awe from her spot in the bleachers.

“Good enough to win?” Del asked.

“Oh yeah,” Melissa said. The trio of women all let out a whoop of celebration.

Coal turned at the sound and saw Melissa, Del, and Mary Leah cheering for her. She waved to them and turned back to Gene. “I’m going back to the ring to walk Shadow and keep him warm.”

Coal started back to the warm-up ring and passed Shelly talking with her brother Bubba. “Nice run,” she said with a glare.

“Thanks,” she said and kept moving.

There were six riders scheduled to compete after her so Coal took Shadow to the trough for a drink of water. Then they walked the circuit of the ring until the loudspeaker announced them as winners. She and Shadow finished a full half-second ahead of the closest competition.

“One down and one to go,” she said to Shadow.

They had drawn the tenth run of twelve for the pole bending, so they would have to wait for the course to be set up and nine riders to complete runs before they would make their run. Shadow was ready to run again so she let him canter around the ring for several minutes before she slowed him back to a walk.

When the third rider started her run, Coal rode back to where the crew was sitting on the rails to watch the next few riders. Lucas turned at their approach and grinned. “They got nothing on y’all,” he said.

Gene tossed her a bottle of water and she took a long drink and handed it back to him. “Thanks.”

“Would you look at that,” Harley said.

They all turned to see the bulls for the bull riding competition emerging from a large trailer. “Damn, they look like an ornery bunch,” Lucas said.

“Makes me glad neither of you signed up for that event,” Harley said.

“Me too,” Gene said as he turned back to the arena. “There’s no way I want to be tied to the back of one of those monsters.”

“I don’t know it looks kind of fun,” Coal said as the entire crew turned to stare at her. “Psyche,” she said and broke out laughing.

“Damn girl, I thought you were serious for a second,” Harley said, holding a hand to his chest.

“No way, man,” she answered, still laughing.

When it was time for their run, she positioned Shadow at the starting line and waited for the signal. The timer nodded to her and she and Shadow took off at a dead run until they reached the first pole. They quickly fell into rhythm, weaving tightly through each turn until they reached the end and raced for home, dirt flying from his hooves as he powerfully raced to the finish line.

Their time put them in first place, but Shelly and her mare still had to run. With only two riders left, Coal rode Shadow back to the crew to watch the remainder of the competition. The next rider came in with a slower time and Coal found herself holding her breath as Shelly came to the starting line, flashing her beauty queen routine as she the announcer called her name.

“Come on, just get it over with,” Gene groaned.

They watched as the mare performed nearly flawlessly, but once again, Shelly’s poor horsemanship held her reins back instead of giving the horse freedom to run her fastest. Her time was short of Coal’s first-place time. For the second event in a row, Shelly finished behind Coal and Shadow.

Coal’s eyes stared at the scoreboard as the lights flashed announcing their time as the winning time. “Yes,” she yelled and pumped her fist in the air just as Shelly rode past. “Nice run,” she said but Shelly ignored her compliment and rode past them.

“I’m going to unsaddle Shadow and then cool him down,” she said and turned to walk into the stables.

Gene and Lucas jumped down to walk with them as Harley and the rest of the crew waited for the women to join them from the stands.

Coal draped the reins over the top rail of Shadow’s stall and dismounted. She took her saddle from his back and handed it to Lucas to store then bent down to take off his leg braces. The air filled with loud blasts. The noise startled Shadow, who had lowered his head to watch her, and as he flinched toward the noise, his head crashed into Coal’s face, busting her lip, the metal edge of his bit slicing a gash in her chin before knocking her to the ground as he fled out of the stables. Lucas dropped the saddle and jumped into an open stall to prevent being run down by the frightened horse. Gene took off at a full run after the stampeding horse.

Laughter exploded behind her. Coal looked up to see Shelly and her brother Bubba laughing as the last of a string of firecrackers ignited on the ground.

“Oh shit,” Melissa said as Shadow raced past them and she saw the look on Coal’s face. She took off at a run as Coal returned to her feet.

Coal stood and her right foot lashed out, her boot heel catching Bubba square in the mouth, breaking his four front teeth and she bounced on her feet in an offensive position. Lucas rushed to grab her from behind in a bear hug as he yelled out to Shelly.

“Get him the hell out of here, before I let her go.”

Shelly looked at the blood pouring from her brother’s mouth. “You crazy bitch,” she snarled as she rushed Coal, still held in Lucas’s grasp.

Melissa stepped between them and caught Shelly by her shoulders, spun her around and pushed her toward Bubba who had the good sense to move away. “Go,” she shouted.

Lucas saw them moving away and released his grip on Coal. She raised her hand to wipe the dirt from her face and when she looked at her hand, she saw the fresh blood smeared across her palm. When she turned back toward her friends, Del saw the feral look in Coal’s eyes. The sound of the firecrackers exploding had triggered a trauma reaction from her, and she needed to get her somewhere to settle her down and tend to her wounds.

“Where is the first-aid kit?” she asked Melissa.

“In the trailer,” Melissa answered.

“Let’s go,” Del said, and gently took Coal’s arm.

“Where’s Shadow? If he’s hurt, I’ll kick in more than his teeth,” she growled.

“He’ll be okay. Gene is chasing him down. I’ll help him and bring him to you,” Lucas said.

She nodded and allowed Del and Mary Leah to lead her from the stables.

A crowd had gathered in the stables to investigate all the commotion. They parted like the Red Sea when Coal left the stables.

“How do you feel?” Del asked as they walked.

“I’ve got a massive headache,” Coal said.

“Go get your truck,” Del said to Melissa as they reached the trailer. “We need to take her to be checked out.”

Harley was standing at the trailer. When he saw her moving toward him with her face bloodied, he reached inside for the first-aid kit.

Mary Leah rushed ahead and took the kit from Harley, pulling out gauze to hold against Coal’s chin.

“What the hell happened?” he asked.

“Those stupid Brewster brats set off fireworks and spooked Shadow.”

“Damn kids, I ought to kick their asses,” Harley growled.

“Don’t worry, Harley, she got Bubba good,” Mary Leah said.

“He’s going to need some serious dental work,” Del said as she cleaned Coal’s busted lip, while Mary Leah held pressure over the gash on her chin.

Melissa arrived with the truck and Del urged her to climb inside, but Coal balked. “I’m not going anywhere until I know Shadow is safe.”

Harley looked around and saw Gene and Lucas walking the horse toward them. “There he is,” he said, pointing behind Coal.

She turned to see her horse being led back to her by Gene and Lucas. She sighed with relief and hugged Shadow’s neck as her tears began to fall.

“See, he’s fine. Now we need to go take care of you,” Melissa said.

“Take care of my boy, Gene,” she said.

“I will, Coal, you take care of you,” he said as he too started crying.

“Good grief. You better get her out of here before we all start bawling,” Harley said and walked her to the back door of the truck. “Call me if you need anything.”

“Just take care of Shadow,” Coal repeated and climbed inside the truck.

†

Melissa located a nearby emergency room and they were surprised to find it wasn’t overflowing with patients. Mary Leah and Del led her inside while Melissa parked the truck.

“What happened here?” a nurse asked as they entered the triage area.

Mary Leah quickly explained the accident as the nurse peeled the blood-soaked gauze away from Coal’s chin.

“Do you have a headache?” she asked.

“Yes, my head is pounding.”

“Let’s get you into an exam room, so we can get you cleaned up and examined by Dr. Tully,” she said with a warm smile. She looked at the three women surrounding Coal. “I can probably sneak one of you back, but not all three.”

“Go with Coal,” Melissa said to Mary Leah.

Mary Leah nodded and helped support Coal as they were led to an exam room. The triage nurse got Coal settled on the exam table and said, “Cindy will be in to get you cleaned up in a few minutes,” and left the room.

Mary Leah sat in a chair next to Coal and held her hand while they waited.

“Knock, knock,” a voice said and then the curtain opened. The small woman took one look at Coal in her boots and chaps. “All right, a cowgirl,” she crowed with a cute smile. “You in town for the rodeo?”

“Yes, ma’am,” she said as the woman reviewed her chart.

“I can tell you one thing right off the bat,” she said.

Coal cocked her head at her comment.

“Your horse’s head is definitely harder than yours,” she said with a chuckle.

“That’s debatable,” Mary Leah teased, and all three broke out in laughter.
 

“Hey now, I resemble that remark.” Coal fell into the humor. She smiled and then grimaced as pain shot through her chin.

“Ouch, sorry about that, no more humor. My name is Cindy, by the way. I get the pleasure of cleaning your wounds before Dr. Tully comes for a visit. Any pain in your jaw?” she asked.