The Cattle Drive [The Armstrong Brothers of Cedar Creek] (Siren Publishing Classic) (2 page)

The sorrow was ripped from her body as the wind washed through her. A serene calm resided over her as she closed her eyes. The music found its way into her soul, and she could appreciate the fact that she
was
still alive.

She heard the sirens off in the distance. Her moment of clarity was about to come to an end. Hitting the gas, she opened her eyes to see the lights flashing. She smiled. “Okay, Jimmie, you wanna play? Let’s go for a ride.” Laughing out loud, she turned the wheel, heading for the drive and straight for him.

Leaving the field, she hit the dirt road. In less than a second, she passed Jimmie and headed for the main road. She was almost to the road when she saw the sheriff, standing in her way. He had blocked her driveway once again. Leaning against his squad car, drinking a Coke, he smiled.

“Shit!” she screamed as she slammed on the brakes, sharply turning the wheel of the car and sliding to a stop inches in front of him.

“Hello, Rachael,” he said, smiling at her and taking a sip of his Coke.

“Hey.”

“Going somewhere?”

“Not now! Killjoy.”

“Rachael. What did Judge Clark say?”

“I can only ride Mystic,” she fumed.

“Take the car back and put it in the barn.”

“Come on, Chris, five more minutes.”

“I’m sorry, sweetheart,” he said solemnly.

“Fine!” she yelled as she started the engine and headed back down the drive. Passing Jimmie, she waved and smiled.

Jimmie pulled his car to a stop next to the sheriff. Getting out, flustered, trying to slow his racing heart that still hadn’t made it back up into his chest, he said, “That girl is going to kill herself one of these days.”

Chris looked at his deputy getting into his squad car. “She’s not trying to kill herself, Jimmie. She’s trying to forget.”

* * * *

Entering the barn, she parked the BMW. Taking a deep breath, she got out and walked around, looking at all of her little babies. From her silver Porsche Cayman, to her candy-apple-red Dodge Viper, and then to her midnight-metallic Dodge Ram, they were all out on display for her pleasure.

She loved her cars. The faster the better! The one constant joy she had left in her life was the feeling of being in each and every one of them. Each car served its purpose, whether it was the need for speed or some off-road romping. Her babies were there to remove her from her reality. Purchasing each one at poignant times, such as an anniversary or birthday, her babies were there to ease the pain.

After hanging the keys to the BMW on the hook next to the others, she turned to face her absolute nightmare. There hidden under a black tarp, in the far left corner of the barn, sat her reality. What was once her pride and joy was now a blackened, hardened shell, a semblance of what would never be once again. Made of solid metal construction, her 360-horsepower engine purred like she had never heard before. Her sleek construction rivaled many before her. Her rumble could be heard for miles as she traveled down the road. She was, in essence, a piece of art. From her smooth lines to her independent rear suspension, she was a god on the road, envied by all.

Moving closer, Rachael could feel the tightening in her chest, her veins constricting. She attempted to walk closer to her misery, making it a couple of steps when her veins went ice cold, sending a shiver of pain straight to her heart. Gasping for air, Rachael succumbed to the vicious, fateful memory before her.

* * * *

The night was bitter cold, cutting through her. Howling winds whipped the snow all around them like tornado whirlwinds as they made their way back to their vehicles. It was just another trip, nothing special. The trip was for the sale of their cattle, so regardless of the weather, all was good because they got paid. But even if the money hadn’t been as good as they expected, it was nothing new when Robert decided at that particular time to pick a damn fight.

Rachael should have known it was going to come to this.

It always did.

Nothing about this trip went right. From the moment they left Cedar Creek, it was one disaster after another, all accumulating to the worst sale in three years. How was she to know that cattle prices were going to drop as they traveled from Texas to Montana? She wasn’t a damn mind reader!

But it didn’t matter. It was her fault. Also, it was her fault for the flat tire outside Amarillo, Texas, the twins getting sick in Colorado Springs, and let’s not forget her failure to ask for directions just outside Casper, Wyoming that resulted in a two hour sightseeing delay. Oh yeah, this trip was all her fault!

But nothing mattered now. The stress of that year’s ranching was hard on all of them, but the sale was over. They had their cash in hand, and it was time to go home, but that didn’t stop Robert from saying his piece. “What the fuck was that? How the hell are we supposed to live off that little bit of crap they gave us! We can’t! If you had done your fucking job like you were supposed to three damn weeks ago, we could have been here before the fuckin’ cattle prices dropped. Now we have to scrimp and save what we got and pray like hell we don’t lose everything.
Fuck
!” Robert shouted angrily.

“It’s going to be okay,” Rachael whispered.

“Don’t! Don’t you tell me it’s going to be okay! I have three kids and a ranch to support, and all I asked from you was for some little help, but you couldn’t even do that,” he shouted, pacing back and forth. Rachael knew he wasn’t truly angry at her. She knew he knew she did her job diligently, checking the cattle prices daily to make sure they were going to get the best price. So, she just watched and listened until he got it all off his chest. It was the only thing she could do.

The words still stung. She knew they were going to, but she tried her best to let them roll off her back. She married this man for the good and the bad, and right now, it was bad, really…really bad. She could handle it, but nevertheless, his words still hurt.

She quietly turned to make sure the twins were buckled securely into their car seats and went to grab Megan when that lone tear she tried desperately to hide slid down her cheek. “Damn it, Rachael, I don’t have time for your tears,” Robert shouted as he still paced with Megan in his arms.

“Well, what the fuck do you want me to do? How was I supposed to know the prices were gonna drop? I didn’t know!” she shouted, her temper finally having had enough as she went to take Megan from him. “You need to drive the trailer back. I can’t drive it in this weather,” she told him.

“You should have known. It’s your job to know. You’re on that fucking computer enough!” he said spitefully, walking around her. “I’m taking the car. You can drive the damn truck. You need to learn, anyway, since we probably won’t be able to afford that computer you seem to love so much.” With that, she watched as Robert placed Megan in the back of the Mustang, checking again to make sure the twins, Jackson and Steven, were secured. Hopping in the front seat, he started the engine and peeled out.

“Damn it!” Rachael said, kicking the tire of the truck. Grabbing the keys out of her jacket, she walked around and made sure the trailer was secured correctly, and then, jumping in the truck, she quickly started it and headed out. It was going to be a long, quiet trip home, and she prayed that her husband would be calm before they hit the Texas state line. Not wanting to bet money on that one, she started thinking of her defense, which kinda rubbed her the wrong way. It wasn’t like she had the inside track into the federal agriculture department and knew when they were going to do shit. Hell, she was just a simple cattleman’s wife and a mother of three. She woke every morning before them, rising with the moon still out, just to make sure there was a hot breakfast on the table, clothes were washed, and the house was tended to. She did her job without complaint or regret with happiness in her heart.

Who the hell does he think he is? Complain about me doing my job! Huh! Oh, buddy, I can fix that easily. I’ve got it easy…let’s just see how you handle things when I stop doing your laundry, cooking your meals, taking care of your kids, paying your bills, making sure your farm equipment gets serviced, oh…and let’s not forget all the cleaning, scheduling, doctor’s visits, vet visits, and your late-night beer runs I do for you, asshole!

It didn’t take long to catch up with the Mustang as she followed, headed on that long stretch back to Cedar Creek. The snow was coming down in a constant sheet of white, blanketing the scene before her. With visibility almost nil, Rachael slowed to allow a safe driving distance between vehicles.

The snow always made her feel amazed. Growing up in Cedar Creek, Rachael didn’t have many opportunities to see snow, but on a few occasions, her parents would take her to her grandmother’s in Colorado. It was then that Rachael got to experience the white, fluffy snow. She loved how it would cover the whole area, wiping away all imperfections, making the scene before her fresh and new. She could only imagine what this place would look like tomorrow, and for some guilty pleasure, she wished she could stay and see it.

Traffic was moving cautiously, everyone slowing down to almost a crawl. Rachael flipped the windshield wipers on high, just to see the blinking hazard lights in front of her, when she gasped.

As if in slow motion, the snow parted, and her view became crystal clear, and it was not a beautiful scene but a nightmare.

Four vehicles ahead of her, she watched as a little Honda Civic lost its traction and began to fishtail, spiraling out of control. In that second, a semi carrying a barrel tank of gasoline slammed on its brakes, trying hard to avoid hitting the little car, and it finally came to a stop in the middle of the interstate. But nothing could have prepared her for what she saw next. It was that little red Mustang, with that beautiful little girl, her blonde pigtails swaying as she bobbed her head, smiling, that transfixed her. She watched as in one horrific second, that little girl who was full of life and had yet to live, evaporated in a large explosion, destroying everything she’d ever held dear.

The Mustang had collided with the gas tank of the semitruck, exploding on impact. Nobody heard her screams, for she wasn’t even sure she was screaming out loud, but her mind was shattered with them.

Her whole life and future had just evaporated in mere seconds. They were gone, nothing to save. The ball of fire blackened the white snow, sending pools of black smoke toward the heavens. Within the next instant, the tanker exploded, rocking the truck. Snapping her out of the horror, she quickly turned the wheel of the truck, hard, trying to avoid crashing into the ball of fire. When her back tires lost traction and began to skid, she turned hard in the opposite direction, causing her truck to flip several times, sending her flying. She had just been ejected from her vehicle.

Rachael was airborne. Her lifeless body was hurled into the night, coming to a hard sliding stop on the side on the embankment. The snow, once again white, was falling softly on her face as she tried to open her eyes. A gentle, caring voice talked to her. She felt his warm hand engulf hers, telling her not to move. But when she opened her eyes, it wasn’t her husband she saw, just the most mesmerizing pair of ice-blue eyes she had ever seen. “Robert?”

“No, sweetheart, don’t move. Help is coming,” he said gently.

Those eyes held her to this earth. “Was it all a dream?” she whispered.

“No, baby. It was not a dream. You were in an accident,” he told her truthfully. The moment those words left his mouth, Rachael knew they were all dead. They were not coming back, and she wanted to die, too. Closing her eyes, she let the world around her disappear as she welcomed death.

“Stay with me, sweetheart! You’re going to be okay. Everything is going to be all right,” he shouted.

* * * *

Falling to her knees, gasping for breath, she could not stop the flood of emotions that overwhelmed her. Her breathing increased, and the pain in her heart intensified, causing such a pain that no human being should ever feel. Her heart was breaking, and there was nothing she could do to stop it.

She survived, and they didn’t.

She knew that, and she accepted that, but damn it, she did have to agree with it? According to her, she should have also died that day. She wanted to, but she didn’t. Whether it was the stranger, the paramedics, or her strong will, she didn’t know. She lived.

Her life had been destroyed two years ago, but she still wore the scars of that day, managing to get better physically, but mentally, she was dead on the inside. After spending two months in the hospital, her parents brought her back to Cedar Creek, where she was told the real healing would begin, like she gave a shit about healing. Remembering those first few days when she walked around in a fog. She heard people talk, but didn’t understand them. She refused all forms of touch, and after a week of people coming in and out of her house, she locked all the doors, ripped the phone out of the wall, and spent the next month in bed, figuring the faster her body gave out the better, because there was nothing on this planet that held her to it.

That month spent in isolation she barely recalled. She knew she slept, but what she ate she couldn’t remember. Still today, she had no clue what got her out of that room, but since then she had one mission…to never again fail the ranch. It was Robert’s dream, and that was what motivated her. Everything else didn’t matter, but the ranch did.