Ninety Degrees Out

“You have to listen to me,” Meg begged.

“I will,” Erik reassured her. “I’m the law out here. As I told you.” He watched as Dr. Mike helped Meg up onto the X-ray table.

“I’m going to take a few pictures now. The rest of you, out. This will only take a couple of minutes and we’ll make sure you don’t have any broken bones.”

Erik waited outside. The walls around the medical imaging machines were thin, but he recognized the material. Light weight, it went up inside temporary tents and shelters in front line bases everywhere. It even worked on the Arctic ocean ice flows. The military used it in a multitude of different ways.

He listened as Jake and Catherine’s father moved efficiently between controls and table shuffling film into place under Meg. What on earth had happened to the woman?

The door opened, and Dr. Mike waved him in.

“No broken bones. Deep bruising, and we’ve got a couple of deep lacerations we need to stitch up. Give her a hand and bring her back into the surgery.”

Erik saw Meg struggling to slide over to the edge of the table, and said, “Wait a sec.”

He scooped her up. She buried her face into his shoulder and her body quaked. “It’s going to be okay. What ever happened, it wasn’t your fault.” He practically crooned the words like he was talking to a child.

“It was my own stupid fault for going with them in the first place. Rico’s a killer, and I just let him get away with it,” Meg confessed.

“Ssshhh,” he soothed. “We’ll get to it in a minute. Let’s get your cuts cleaned up and let the Doc do his thing. There’s my mother. She’s going to help.”

Erik laid her down on the gurney. Meg grasped his hand, her grip strong. “Don’t go. I have to tell you what Rico is planning. He destroyed the police station. He blew it sky high. He’s mad. Not even Grange can keep him from his plans. In fact, he probably shot him. He punched Paulie. And now he’s sleeping with Angel. That one feeds his madness.”

Erik sat on the rolling stool his mother kept in the clinic. He felt it hit the back of his legs as he listened to Meg’s story. “That explains why I haven’t heard from Sarge. When did they blow the station?”

“This is going to sting. I’m putting a little numbing agent in beside the big cut on your leg. It’s stopped bleeding, but I need to clean it and disinfect. When did it happen?” Dr. Mike told her.

Meg took a deep breath and squeezed Erik’s hand hard as the injection went in. “It has to be two or three days. They’re going to take the ranch. They’re going to attack here. The house, the one with the broken window, they want it back. He’s out of control.”

“Why did you run?” Erik asked.

Meg touched her throat, and Dr. Mike looked up from where he was swabbing a raw cut up the side of her left calf.

“This isn’t a bad bleeder, but I’m going to have to leave it open. There’s indication of infection in here and I’m treating it with medicated wet antibiotic gauze stuffing. It sounds gross, but it works. We’ll wrap it and the one on your arm. You’ll be staying in the infirmary.”

“What if he finds me, he tried to kill me, but he passed out. He’s drinking like a fish. He used to be a good guy. Just a biker waiting for summer and the endless sun. Something went screwy in his head when the flip happened.”

Erik could feel the pulse in her wrist thudding faster as she spoke.

“Thanks for the warning. We’ll have to send someone up to warn Sara and Aaron. Jett and Catherine too,” Erik looked over at his mother as she handed dressing pads to Mike.

“Meg look at me,” Anya said quietly. “Erik has to go. If what you’re telling us true, and Rico and his gang are heading to the ranch, we need to get things in motion to protect people. The house with the broken window? The owner’s daughter has come back. She’s living there now. Rico won’t get an easy welcome.”

“How did you get out here?” Erik asked.

“Grange and his brother pushed me into the creek. I just floated away in it. I let it carry me down. I know I was in and out of it. I pulled myself out a couple of times to sleep on the shore. Let them think I’m dead. Safer that way. Go, warn everyone. I was lucky it was the right creek to bring me down to you.” Meg squeezed his hand and let it go. “Just find me when you’re done. I feel safe when you’re here.”

“Mom, I’ll be back. I promise Meg, we’ll get Rico and his gang before they know what hits them. Forewarned is fore armed.” He turned striding out of the room.

First stop, radio shack. He had calls to make. Where the hell was Sarge?

>>>>>>>>>>

“Here they come!” Arimina’s squeal of excitement had the riders swinging into their saddles.

In the distance up the valley from the newly finished corral, they could see a cloud of dust rising. A radio squawked.

“Get the riders up. We’ve got about thirty horses, mostly mares and foals. The stallion is in there too.” Jake’s voice reflected the rhythm of his horse’s gait.

As if the were a single unit, fifteen men spurred their mounts into a gallop, racing out in a fan to take up positions on either side of the long meadow. Ready to push any of the wild equines back into line until they couldn’t escape capture.

Alicia took Arimina back to the barn behind the huge corral.

“We can watch from back here,” she told her daughter.

“Look at Mr. Chay!” she squealed.

Alicia’s heart almost stopped as she watched him lean down from his saddle flapping a red towel in face of a roan mare with a palomino foal. The mare neighed swerving away from him and thundered into the enclosure. She reared as she found her bath blocked by a chest high fence, swerving to race around the rough circle of wood and barbed wire.

Arimina yanked Alicia’s arm and pointed. Jake had a lasso out, and his quick cast caught a magnificent pinto around the neck, and he wrapped his rope around the pommel of his saddle.

“Close the gate. I have the stallion. I’m going to walk him until he calms down.” The roped horse whirled, bucking, kicking and Jakes mount feinted out of the way.

Alicia shook her head. “I swear he’s glued in his saddle.”

“I want to be able to ride like that,” Arimina said. “Jake says if I practice, I will.”

“He’s right baby. Let’s let the men work on these horses. We’ve got kittens to feed.”

“We’re not going to be late, are we?” Arimina asked.

“We’ll be there in time.” Alicia said as they started toward the log cabin.

“I hope so.” The quiver in Ari’s voice had Alicia reaching for her hand.

“The one that died, was sick, sweetie. There wasn’t anything we could do for him.” She tightened her grip and gave in to her daughter’s tug.

They ran the last hundred yards, and Arimina led them into the living room. A cardboard box in the corner beside the fireplace was rocking back and for the as they approached.

“Be careful, Ari. Their eyes are open now. I’ll be right there with the bottles.”

“Missy is trying to climb out, and Lexie is still sleeping.” Ari called after her.

“Don’t let them scratch you.” Alicia warned Ari again. Hurrying to the fridge, she filled two two ounce baby bottles.

Thank God for the microwave.

Uki came in from the kitchen garden, dumping her armload of vegetables into the sink. “I’ll heat those, you go supervise.”

“Thanks. You’ve been a treasure dealing with those kittens.”

Alicia hit the start button and fled into the living room.

“Mom, come on, you have to see.” Ari had a squirming kitten on her lap where she sat on the raised hearth of the fireplace.

“Show me.”

The kitten turned around again and opened her eyes. One green and on yellow. Dasan would have a legend to tell to explain the importance of such a special occurrence.

“That’s Lexie, right?” Alicia asked.

“Gee, mom, you know it is. Missy’s eyes are both yellow.” Ari confirmed. She sounded disgusted.

“Well before they eat, let’s weigh them. I’ll get the scale, you put her in the bag. It won’t be much longer before she doesn’t fit anymore.”

“Okay, Mom.” Ari reached down behind the kitten’s box and pulled up the tote bag stored there. Struggling with the cub, she managed to get her inside as Alicia held up the scale with the hook on the end. It was actually a piece from Dasan’s fishing tackle, but it worked since hers were still back at Chay’s house.

“Two pounds,” Alicia read. “Can you remember until we put it into the computer?”

“Yup, that’s almost two more ounces since yesterday.”

“Watch out, Missy is going to tip their box over.”

“Here, you hold the bag with Lexie,” Ari jumped up and pushed the rocking box back upright. “This is fun, Mom.”

What am I going to do when these kittens get bigger? How are we going to train them to hunt and get them back into the wild? We don’t have the facilities or the people to do it?