Chapter 13: Ghosts and Guests

Three days after the accident Scott still felt like he had been rode hard and put up wet. And if having every muscle in his body feeling like it had been hammered on with a baseball bat wasn't bad enough, sitting around watching things get done was driving him plumb crazy. The first day after the accident the limiting factor had been the pain. Red's shots did a good job of relieving the pain but on the second day it felt like every muscle in his body was frozen. He had never been so stiff and sore and it didn't seem to be getting any better. The problem with that was that he had a date with the love of his life and a priest. If it hadn't have been for Sebastiana and Frankie doing the chores Scott would have been worried to death. The two women seemed to thrive on the ranch work. The more they did the more they laughed. By the second day of Scott's incapacitation the women were begging Scott to let them stay on the ranch and be his new hired hands. That decision would have to be made by Angie; it was one that Scott was just not comfortable with.

Angie had watched the interplay between Scott, Frankie and Sebastiana. It was obvious that he couldn't treat them like 'one of the guys' simply because they weren't one of the guys. Scott just wasn't wired that way. The two women teased him unmercifully and Scott squirmed under their torment. Angie knew that they had an effect on his libido as she had had to relieve the pressure several times after their teasing. She might have been jealous of the two women if not for the fact that it was very plain that Scott was refusing every advance by the two. Then there was the day when Maria showed up with Sebastiana and Frankie in tow. All of the girls had made a real effort to learn English and with Maria helping them Frankie and Sebastiana had explained how they felt.

Angie had been surprised to find out that Sebastiana and Frankie were lovers. They also loved her and Scott, but that love was like that of a brother and sister. They worried that Scott took some of their teasing as flirting and through Maria they explained how they could never betray the two people that they owed their lives to. Angie had to stop their talk in order to go get Scott so he could hear what they had to say. Thirty minutes later the Miles Ranch had its first female hired hands and Scott and Angie had two women who really cared for them working with them.

News of Jack's recovery cheered up everyone at the ranch. He would need at least a month to heal. Jack wanted to spend that month at the Miles Ranch and he wanted Zara to be there with him. It only took a few calls and a hospital bed was brought to the ranch and set up in one of the guest rooms. Capt. Carson wanted to keep him a week but she surrendered after three days. Monday morning Jack and Zara were loaded on to the same helicopter that had brought them to Del Rio. Now it took them back to a place that would always be magic for the two of them. The Miles Ranch would always be the place where Jack and Zara first met.

Jake Dingle had, for some reason, decided to stay in Del Rio till Friday. He would then travel to the Miles Ranch to see Scott and Angie get married and by a strange coincidence he would be bringing a date.

As the week played out preparations for the wedding were in full swing. Scott's Dad had made panels that turned the shearing shed into a twenty five foot by forty foot screened in pavilion. With a bundle of corral lumber, a bunch of metal sawhorse brackets and some two by fours, Red and the girls, with Scott's supervision, built long tables. Scott's mother had several very large pots. On Friday they would be filled with pinto beans. Stan had sent some of his Ag students out to the Miles Ranch with the big trailer mounted barbeque. So a place to cook and a place to eat were ready.

The next big chore was one Scott had been dreading; crawling up on Dunnie so he, Angie, Sebastiana, and Frankie could go gather the livestock that they were going to kill for the barbeque. Among the sheep and goats on the Miles ranch were two meat breeds. Dorpers are a hardy sheep breed developed in South Africa and Scott's dad thought that they would be the future for mutton production in the US. They had done OK but they hadn't really taken off like the Boer goats had. Boers were to the goat industry what Dorpers were to the sheep industry and, like the Dorper, the Boer was developed in South Africa and therefore they handled the arid heat of West Texas very easily.

Scott and his three lady wranglers took off at first light to find and bring back a few head. By late afternoon they had rounded up enough that they could choose the ones they wanted to sacrifice for the wedding feast. For Scott it had been a test of sorts: first to see how badly it hurt to sit a horse and second to see how his future wife and his two new hands did handling stock.

One of the first things the two new hands had to learn was how to handle a gun, specifically his dad's and uncle's old 45 long Colts. Since Frankie was the smaller of the two she got his dad's gun and holster and Sebastiana got his uncle's — after the belt was modified to fit her much smaller waist. Scott's uncle had been a big fan of eating and his fifty inch waist had showed his passion; a passion that had killed him in the end. The girls didn't have to be told why the guns were needed but Scott thought they would get a kick when they saw the other reason to carry a pistol when gathering sheep and goats.

They rode to the end of the pasture where the Dorps and Boers were kept then spread out and started working their way back to the house. As they rode into a small valley they found most of the Dorps and a good many of the Boers. The problem was that the Boers were up near the rim of the Mesa that formed the wall of the valley. Scott rode up as high as he could get with Dunnie then pulled out his pistol and fired a round into the rocks behind the Boers. Just like they knew what they were supposed to be doing they started running along the trail at the top of the mesa. Scott eased them along only having to shoot up behind them a couple of times to prod them along. When they reached the end of the trail they started down the hill and joined with the Dorps that Angie and the girls had been moving along.

With Sebastiana and Frankie on one flank, the fence that ended at the ranch house making the other flank and Scott and Angie pushing them they drove the mixed herd of sheep and goats to the corrals at the ranch house. Just as they were getting up to the corrals one of the Boers decided to make a break for it. Scott watched in awe as Frankie spurred her horse after the escaping goat while Sebastiana turned her horse to face the herd and used her mount to keep the rest from following. When he looked up at Frankie she was twirling something above her head then just as suddenly she released it. The runaway goat went crashing to the ground as Frankie rode up, stepped off her horse and finished tying the front legs of the goat. She then hefted the goat up on the neck of her horse and rode back to where they had stopped the herd, and were waiting on her. She had a smile that made Scott feel warm all over and when he looked over to Angie she was smiling as well.

The rest of the drive was uneventful and after Scott had closed the gate on the herd he had to ask what it was Frankie had used on the runaway. The day that Angie and Scott had told them they could stay and work on the ranch they had asked for some rawhide. Scott had given it to them and had not thought any more about it. He was reminded of it when he asked Frankie what she had thrown, using hand gestures mimicking what he'd see her do, and the girls showed him the bolos they had made. Scott was duly impressed. He pointed to the bolos and asked "Vaca? Cow?"

The girls laughed and said, "Yes, cow, no problem."

He had to laugh, just about everything that he asked the girls was 'Yes, no problem.' "Come on," he told them, "let's go catch a steer." He had a particular steer in mind. In fact it was one he had in the house pasture just for putting in the freezer. So the four of them set off to catch the steer before supper. Scott pointed to Angie then said to the girls, "Watch this." Turning to Angie he asked, "Head or Heel?"

Angie got a thousand megawatt smile and said, "Heel."

Scott pointed out a black bald face steer then the two of them spurred their horses into a run after the steer. It didn't take long for the steer to figure out his number was up and he took off. Scott swung an easy loop catching the short horns on the steer, then he dallied off and started turning the steer, setting him up for Angie. Angie had dropped her reins on to her horse's neck and used her knees to guide her mount into turning after the steer. She threw the loop and let it wrap around the steer's back legs. When she saw she had made the throw she jerked the slack out of the rope and dallied off, stretching the steer's legs straight out behind him and stopping him. Looking over at Sebastiana and Frankie, Scott saw the same smile he had had earlier when Frankie had caught the runaway. Turning to Angie he said, "I think we need to enter the roping in San Angelo this year." Angie's response? She just glowed! Scott thought he might have caught a glimpse of a tear but he was having a kind of hard time seeing as well.

Angie let her rope go slack and the steer shook off the loop. Scott called to her, "Throw a loop on his horns; we'll guide him back to the house." Angie roped the steer, dallied off, making sure her fingers didn't get between the rope and the saddle horn and then they started on the short trip back to the house.

The steer must have had an idea what was in store for him as he fought all the way back to the house. When they finally got him there they put him in a corral by himself. There he would wait till Friday when he and the goats and sheep they had picked out would be slaughtered for the big day.

It had been a long hard day at a pretty fast pace and when Scott finally did slow down he hurt, and bad. He and Angie grabbed a couple of towels and headed to the solar showers. The solar showers were something that Scott had put together when he spotted an oilfield chemical salesman with a trailer load of black plastic barrels that would each held fifty five gallons of water. Scott was able to talk the man out of ten of the barrels. When Scott explained to Stan what he wanted to do Stan volunteered his Ag students help in building an overhead rack that would hold the barrels so that gravity would supply the water pressure. In the end six of the barrels were mounted on a frame made out of two and a half inch pipe. The six barrels held over 300 gallons of hot water — when it was sunny, of course. And when wasn't it sunny in West Texas?

Scott and Angie had just turned the water on when Sebastiana and Frankie came to join them. Sebastiana smiled timidly at Angie and said, "Is okay?"

Angie was watching Scott closely when she replied, "Yes, come on." She motioned the girls into the shower. It was not like it was crowded or anything. There were three shower heads for the eight foot square shower area.

Scott's erection, brought on by Angie as soon as they were in the shower, eased under the force of his embarrassment, but when Sebastiana and Frankie brought their naked bodies into sight it returned with a vengeance.

It looked like Scott was going to have a hard time overcoming his shyness then Angie got that funny little look on her face and the corner of her mouth got that little wrinkle in it. Scott had seen it before over the last two weeks and he quickly played those times over in his mind.

It hit him like a ton of bricks, but before he could open his mouth to say anything Angie called the girls over. "Come on," she said, "let's clean him up good."

Frankie squealed with delight, grabbed the big luffa and soaped it up; Sebastiana took the shampoo and started on Scott's hair. They stayed till the last drop of water ran out of the six barrels. There was nothing really sexual about it but at the same time the four of them found that they were forming a bond. Where that would lead, no one knew or cared.

Thursday finally came around, bringing with it some of the wedding guests. Sara and Josh, Angie's best friend and her boyfriend, were taking Friday as a Road Scholar day. were also bringing down Mrs. Logan, the neighbor lady that had befriended Angie, and Sandra Smith, her daughter. It seemed like there were a million things left to do, Angie just hoped that they would all be done.

Scott, Sebastiana, and Frankie had left right after breakfast with instructions not to look for them. All they would tell Angie was that is was a surprise and she would find out Saturday.

Jack Rimes was enjoying being out of the hospital. For one thing the food was better. Jack and Zara spent most of their waking hours talking, and what they had found out was that they were very much in love. Thursday morning Jack ventured out of the bed for the first time. Zara helped him walk to the front porch where the two of them sat enjoying the warm spring morning. They were talking to Tina when Jack caught the reflection of a windshield on the hill above the house. Jack smiled at Tina and said, "Tina, run tell Angie that someone is coming." Tina left at her normal speed, which meant she was returning only a minute or so later.

Angie walked out on the porch, "Jack, did you see someone?"

"Sunlight reflecting off a windshield, there on the second hill on the road coming in, who were you expecting?" Jack asked.

"Well," Angie started, "Sara and Josh, with Mrs. Logan and her daughter, but they weren't going to leave Lubbock till seven AM, that can't be them."

Jack figured it was someone who was supposed to be coming down that road but just to be safe he sent Zara after his pistol and binoculars. Angie stepped back into the house and moved her Ruger mini 14 to stand right by the door.

It was several minutes later that they saw a vehicle top the hill to descend into the valley. Jack was watching through the binoculars and recognized the bright yellow Landcruiser. "It's Jake!"

"Jake Dingle?" Angie exclaimed, "I thought you said he was staying in Del Rio till Friday.

Jack shrugged his shoulders, a move he immediately regretted as the pain from the broken ribs almost made him pass out. Beads of sweat broke out on his forehead and his breath got very short.

Zara scolded him, not that the ribs hadn't already extracted a steep penalty. Tina showed up with a syringe full of medicine which Jack gladly accepted. They watched as Jake's car came through the valley to the house.

Jake pulled up to the house and got out. Angie was off the porch and out the front gate in a flash. "Jake!" she squealed, "I'm so glad you're here."

Jake grabbed Angie by the waist and lifted her up above his head, "I wouldn't miss this for nothing, little bit." He brought Angie back down to the ground but gave her a kiss on the cheek. "Come here I want you to meet someone."

Angie looked at the woman getting out of the other side of Jake's vehicle. "Dr. Carson, it's good to have you back," Angie called out. Angie walked over to the doctor and gave her a hug. "Rumor has it that you and that gorilla over there," Angie turned and pointed at Jake, "have fallen for each other." Angie grinned as Jake's face turned bright red.

Angie turned to Amy Carson, "You will be staying till the wedding won't you?"

Jake spoke up, "I have my camping gear in here if you don't have enough room."

"Nonsense," Angie giggled, "I'm not going to let you sleep in the house, but I'm sure not going to let you sleep in the yard. Come on, there's a spare bedroom in the Yellow house." Angie started down the walk to the Yellow House then stopped and turned back to Jake and Amy, "Were you two going to want separate rooms?"

Jake was still blushing and apparently was having a hard time finding his tongue so Amy spoke up for him, laughing, "No, one bed is fine, we can share," then winking at Angie she continued, "I have already found out he is too cheap to get a motel."

Jack had been sitting on the porch with a huge smile on his face, straining to keep from laughing, but the effect on Jake from the comment Amy made had everyone laughing. Well, everyone but Jake and he looked like he wanted to get back in his car and leave ... Instead he grabbed the bags and walked along behind Angie and Amy looking a lot like a whipped puppy.

Lunch was running late and as it worked out that was a good thing. Sara and Josh showed up a little after one PM. Angie ushered them into the dining room table and told Tina to call Scott and the girls in to lunch.

Tina couldn't hold the iron bar that the adults used to ring the triangle that hung from the summer kitchen porch, in fact she couldn't even reach it. But she enjoyed ringing the bell so much that a small step ladder had been set up for her to climb and a hammer hung in place of the iron bar. Tina climbed the ladder and gave the triangle a good working over.

Down at the hay barn Sebastiana, Frankie and Scott heard the dinner bell and went to work getting the black polish off their hands so they wouldn't give away their secret. For the last week the three of them had taken every spare minute to clean and polish the hand made carriage and its harness that one of his forefathers had brought from England. Every year the Miles men had always carefully maintained all of the horse drawn vehicles. This year the carriage was getting special treatment but then it was going to have a special task come Saturday.

The polish took time to get off so the three of them had to run to keep from being late for lunch. Scott was surprised to see Jake and the Air Force doctor sitting at the table. Jake on the other hand saw something he didn't like in how Scott and the two women he came in with were acting. He looked to Angie and saw no concern. If Scott was doing Angie wrong, Jake felt compelled to straighten him out. His feelings weren't helped when Angie asked what Scott and the girls had been doing and he wouldn't tell her. What Jake didn't know was that this had become a game that Angie had been playing with Scott and the girls. She'd ask and they would refuse to answer, but it was all in fun; Jake wasn't having fun.

Lunch was lively. Scott was introduced to Mrs. Logan and her daughter Sandra. After lunch Scott, Sebastiana, and Frankie were heading back to the hay barn to finish up on the carriage when Jake stopped them and demanded to know what was going on.

Angie and Jack had both seen Jake storm out and had followed; Angie going straight to Scott's side. Scott started to explain when Angie reached up and touched his lips. "Jake, you are way out of line here." Angie was not smiling, "I know you think you are protecting me but you're not, you're meddling. They are putting together a surprise for my wedding and I trust Scott, Sebastiana, and Frankie without question." Angie gave Jake a withering look, one that Jake found very uncomfortable. "Now," Angie said, "apologize to Scott and go with him and see what the surprise is but don't you dare tell a soul."