Wooden Hawk©

Free Online Short Love Story

Written by American Author Sky Taylor

A Western Romance

 "Ya didn’t rupture yourself, did ya, Virgil?" Hank inquired, removing his weathered cowboy hat and scratching the top of his head in the process.

Old Buck had sure thrown Virgil for a loop. And if Virgil had mortally wounded himself, the bossman Hawk wasn’t going to be pleased. They were already short-handed at the ranch.

Virgil huffed and puffed like an exhausted big bad wolf as he tried to collect himself, still sprawled-out on the raw earth, his mouth fighting the small dust storm as he gazed at his cohort who was currently scratching his sparsely-covered head.  

And Hank didn’t scratch his head like a normal person, rather with his hand positioned like a hooded-cobra over his head, his fingertips working the scalp.

"Nah, nothing important damaged," he finally assured the inquisitive Hank, spitting to one side to remove as much of the dirt as possible from his mouth. Tasted foul too, like his third wife’s cooking. No doubt, that spill had been one dusty thunderclap.  

"That horse is a devil rider. Ain’t gonna be easy to break him. Has the attitude of a difficult woman."

"Yep; I agree," Virgil told him. "He’s a heifer-hag alright."

"Looks like he may break us fore it’s all over. Say….you think we can trick Johnny into breaking ‘em?"

"Nah, that’s a dumb idea," Virgil assured, rising from the ground as he accepted Hank’s gloved hand. "If Hawk found out, he’d do worse than Old Buck could to us."

Hank twisted his mouth to one side and scraped one gloved hand across his crop of short, spikey face whiskers. "Yeah, ‘spect so. That boy has the boss so snookered, it ain’t pretty. Durn greenhorn at that and a tattletale to boot. We can’t even take a short midday siesta anymore without him running to the boss."

"Hello boys."

Virgil and Hank quickly spun around at the sound of the female voice, their eyes traveling up and down her curved figure.

She was an older female, appropriately dressed for the warm weather; straw hat, checkered cotton shirt buttoned at the wrists, well-worn jeans and leather gloves.

"How’d do," Virgil offered, tipping his recently reseated and weathered cowboy hat, thinking the woman had hips that could sing. Nice and wide, just like he liked them.

"My pleasure," Hank offered, moving forward and stepping on the end of one of Virgil’s boots.

"Ouch!"

"Sorry," Hank offered, although Virgil seriously doubted the insincere-sounding apology.

"You boys having trouble breaking that monstrous piece of horse flesh?" the woman asked, pointing to Old Buck.

"Yes we are," Hank informed. "Stubborn cuss. I think I’ll be sore for at least two more weeks, possibly even until Santa comes back to town with his same old stocking full of coal."

"Have to agree," Virgil added, pulling a piece of loose straw from his shirt pocket and cramming it through his cracked lips. "Wildest horse that ever crossed the Badlands. Why he just bucked me clean over the fence!"

"You think that if I broke him, the boss would give me a job?" the lady asked, both men flying into exaggerated giggles.

Rose tensed her chapped lips, totally irritated with the two ding fobs. Shoving past them, she entered the pen, both men laughing too hard to prevent her from doing such.

"Aunt Rose! Please don’t!"

Karen gazed into the distance at her Aunt Rose as she neared the angry-looking horse, her heart in her throat.  

She’d be darn lucky if the horse didn’t kill her - much less break her stubborn neck. And they weren’t that desperate. Then again, they were.

Nothing to eat in the past three days. No one was hiring in the area, except ranchers. And ranching was in Aunt Rose’s area of expertise, Karen silently noted as her heart slipped out of her chest and into her throat, her aunt climbing onto the wild horse.  

It responded by immediately spinning into action, bucking and slinging her aunt around like sugar being spun into cotton candy, her aunt’s silver hair frayed about her face, Karen deciding that she looked like a wild woman - an electrified cowgirl.

It didn’t help that the day was exceptionally hot. After being away for three long years, Karen had forgotten just how hot Texas could be. And Texans didn’t waste time frying chicken eggs on the sidewalk – they used one from an ostrich. Nice and big, like Texas.

Karen attempted to force her gaze from her bucking aunt, failing miserably amid the process.  

Once Aunt Rose got something in her head – there was no turning back. No changing her mind.

If only they had been able to make it back to Waco before their funds ran out – but fate had not been with them.  

And Karen knew just how difficult it was for Rose to return to Waco. Three years ago, she had been among the wealthiest women in the state. In a space of twenty-four hours, she had been stripped of everything – husband, the ranch of her ancestors and every dime she’d ever made.

Karen had been living with her aunt and uncle since the age of ten and if she lived a million years, she’d never forget that painful day.

It had started when she’d exited the back door which led into the garage. It had been the quickest route to the side street where her boyfriend was waiting for her. Hawk Cantrell.

That’s when the fumes from the pickup truck’s exhaust had forced her back inside. She had screamed for her aunt, barely catching sight of someone sitting in the truck. Her uncle; she knew it was him – although she hadn’t seen his face through the fog.

He’d been acting strange and Karen had an idea of the reason why. She’d been on a date with Hawk one evening in town and they’d seen him with another woman going into the movie theater. Both she and Hawk had brushed the situation off, thinking that the man just looked like her uncle.

Karen remembered being in Hawk’s strong arms only minutes after the police arrived with the ambulance. But it had been too late for her uncle.

By the end of the day, Aunt Rose had received a call from the bank, reminding that the loan was due today. She’d been confused and by the following morning she had figured out the puzzle.

continue

 

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