Chapter 5

Millions of stars filled the night sky as Yzzy looked up. The first week that she had found herself in Choteau had passed quickly, where every day was a new experience that also built up on the previous day. Experiences that were new as well as common happened, and she found herself happy to participate and learn.

Her friendship with Leona grew slowly, cautiously. And the woman stopped seeing Yzzy as a threat to her relationship with Ryan. Soon, when time allowed, after work at the ranch and main house, the two were seen in town as Yzzy was introduced to people and participated in activities.

The Reverend and Sarah Smith welcomed her at Sunday service and Yzzy found herself surrounded by curious people at the afternoon pot-luck being questioned about what life was like in ‘exotic’ California. Most of them had lived in or around Choteau all their life, and when Yzzy described what her own life was like, and the experiences she had, it was almost an alien concept to them. She might as well have told them that she lived on Mars.

“If you live in a big city, how can you ride a horse?” “The school I attended when I was younger had a program where we learned to not only ride, but how to take care of horses!”

“Are you close to your family? Do they also live in Sacramento?” Sadly, I’m pretty much an orphan, but through school and work I have many close friends.

“Do you work at a big law firm to do you practice alone?” “I work at a firm. I’m sort of a small fish in a big lake there. But it is interesting.” When a follow up question of “Can you tell us anything about a case you worked on?” came along, Yzzy knew she had to be careful due to confidentiality clauses. She did share one piece of information that made people smile. “I worked on a Family Trust and a provision was set up my the holder that funds be set aside so that all of his grandchildren could go to a local Baskin Robbins, once a month, and get a giant ice cream sundae!” Everyone thought that was sweet of him to do that.

And then the big question. “Are you dating anyone? Lots of nice, single, men here!” This often happened. It seemed that when women who were married or at least partnered with someone found a single woman, they made it a mission to set her up with someone. “I do have a special someone I spend time with, but both of us have demanding careers and don’t get to see each other as often as we want.” Francine stepped up at this point. “Okay everyone! Leave her alone! Besides, she is returning to California soon, so no flings are going to take place. Melissa, I know you are still looking to fix your brother up with anyone who has a pulse! Not going to happen!” Yzzy stage whispered to Melissa, “Sorry. I’m a lawyer. We’re heartless. No pulse!” Laughter.

It was Wednesday night. Earlier that day, Yzzy rode up into the foothills with Ryan, his brother and the two hands. They would be starting the process of bringing down about a dozen horses and almost a hundred free range cattle. The other ladies at the ranch stayed home to keep an eye on things. The mare she was given to ride was a dark reddish brown and very gentle. Perfect for someone who had some riding experience, but still needed help. They rode up, started the process of gathering the animals and hobbled the horses for the night so they could quickly get started in the morning to return home. After that, each animal wuld be sorted to either be sold or kept another year.

“You looked right at home on Punkin,” Ryan smiled, standing next to Yzzy as she looked up at the sky.

“She’s really gentle and she seems to have a sixth sense for where to go. A little pressure with my knees and she went where I wanted.”

“Dad trained all our horses that way,” he sighed and then was quiet a moment. “I think Dad would have liked you a lot. And I think you would have liked him also.”

“I’m sorry. I know you miss him.” The previous year, a fast spreading cancer had taken the man within two months of diagnosis.

“Thank God he made sure to insure himself. Mortgage Term Life policies cleared the note on the ranch and personal policies made sure mom was set for money. Cameron and I vowed we will make sure that Red Wolf stays viable.”

Speaking of Cameron, the man had brought out a small guitar so everyone could relax around the campfire as they finished a meal and would soon make ready to sleep under the stars. After a rousing rendition of ‘Green Grow, the Rushes, Oh!’ Yzzy asked for the guitar.

“It’s been a while since I played, so I’m rusty. Please don’t laugh.” She ran her fingers along the neck of the guitar, plucking a few notes. Closing her eyes, she began to sing...

“Oh give me a home, where the buffalo roam, and I’ll show you a house full of shit ... It smells really bad, it makes me feel sad, and the neighbors are having a fit! Home, home full of shit! My housekeeping staff all did quit! We got methane gas, from big, bovine ass, just pray that a match isn’t lit!”

Putting the guitar down, she smiled to herself. “I’m sorry. I don’t remember the rest.”

The four men started laughing at the silly version of the song. “Where on earth did you learn that?” one of the hands asked.

“The school I attended when I was younger. We would sometimes go camping overnight in the Redwoods. You get a bunch of teenage girls together and they are NOT all sweet and innocent. That was pretty tame for some of the stuff we sang!”