Elsie’s stomach tightened with dread as she turned her horse around and headed over the small rise. As she reached its peak the large ranch house that she shared with her dad and their own personal barn came into view. Elsie trotted Goat over to the barn, taking her time as she removed the saddle and brushed him down before making sure he had plenty of food.
“Goodnight, Goat.” Elsie whispered, petting the horses soft nose as he whickered softly. She was stalling, she knew that. The last thing she wanted to do was go into the house she shared with her dad. Because she knew Lorenzo was probably right. He probably was waiting for her. And the last thing she wanted to do was get into another argument with him about her future.
It’s my future, damn it, she thought angrily to herself as she kicked at a stray pile of straw, shouldn’t I be the one who gets to decide it? But she knew her father didn’t see it that way. She’d already spent hour after hour trying to convince him that Veterinary School was what she truly wanted, but he just wouldn’t listen.
Finally, after stalling for as long as she could, Elsie threw her shoulders back and turned with a sigh, walking towards the house as if she was marching off to war. In a way, she was. Mark McLaurel had an iron will, and was stubborn as hell. For all their differences, Elsie could be just as stubborn if she needed to be.
She stopped for a moment as she reached the white washed porch steps that lead up to the large wood slat home. Her father had put hundreds of thousands of dollars into renovating the old farmhouse when he’d first bought the ranch and she and her father had lived there ever since, although the six bedroom home felt too large for just the two of them sometimes. And sometimes, it seemed far too small.
As frustrated as she was, she still had to stop a moment and appreciate the beauty of the land that surrounded her. Rolling hills covered with bright green grass and dotted with trees that rustled slightly in the soft breeze. Even after all the years she’d lived their it still awed her.
The stars were just starting to wink to life all around her and Elsie forced herself to take a deep breath of the sweet evening air before turning back towards the house and walking inside. The inside of the house was just as opulent in the outside, well opulent for a renovated farmhouse, anyway, but Elsie hardly noticed.
She crept through the foyer and into the living room, sighing in relief when she didn’t run into her father. Elsie didn’t stop as she tried to walk as quietly as she could to the large wooden staircase that led up to the second floor, and her own bedroom. She made it as far as the fourth step before her daddy’s terse, rough voice stopped her.
“Elsie, don’t you think you can just sneak in here unnoticed. I need to talk to you.”
She turned around slowly with a sigh. It wasn’t we need to talk it was just I need to talk to you. As if she wasn’t even really involved, just some passive observer. Forcing herself to take another calming breath, she faced him.
“Hi, daddy.” Elsie said softly, staring at the man who had raised her single handedly. He wasn’t a particularly big man, the top of his head reaching just under six feet tall, but to her he’d always looked like a giant. His features were hard in a face that was starting to go soft with age but he wasn’t portly. His hair had more grey in it now than blonde but his blue eyes, just like her own, were still just as bright, just as piercing, just as all-knowing as always.
“Now Elsie, what did I tell you about running around outside with the animals. Look at you! You’re covered in mud and god knows what else.” He threw a hand out, emphasizing the casually said words but Elsie still felt the sting of an embarrassed blush redden her cheeks as she glanced down, taking in the ripped, dirty jeans and sweat soaked shirt from the long days work.
“But daddy, I had to go check on the herd. There’s been this infection going around–.”
“And that’s why we hire Dr. Compton. He’s a real, trained veterinarian, not some kid who doesn’t know what she’s doing.” Her father said dismissively and Elsie had to pause a moment before answering as her temper flared.
“Well, I’ll be a ‘real’ vet soon enough, won’t I?” She started to turn back around to walk up the stairs but she only made it one more step.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” Mark McLaurel said, his face growing red as Elsie looked over her shoulder, trying to keep her anger under control as she spoke.
“I already sent my applications in, daddy. We’ve talked about this before. I want to go to veterinary school. I want to learn how to take care of the animals.”
“You can hire people to do that, Elsie! And we did talk about this.” He huffed, his own voice growing even more tense, “You are going to stay on at the ranch and apprentice with me, learn the ins and outs of the business. That’s the plan.”
“No, daddy, that’s your plan. Not mine.” She shook her head, tired from the same old argument, the one they always got into. “It’s my future. I want to be a vet. Then I’ll be able to take care of the animals and you won’t have to hire stodgy old Dr. Compton.” Elsie remembered the last time she’d tried to give advice to the elderly vet and he’d nearly snapped her head off.
“Now you listen here, Elsie,” He started, shaking his finger in her direction, his blue eyes flaring at being disobeyed, “You are my only child and the only heir to the McLaurel corporation, and damn it, you will learn how to run the damn business. I’m not going to have some slick bastard come in and steal the business my father built from our family, do you understand?”
Elsie stared at him for a long moment, feeling a bang of regret for even saying anything at the angry look on his face but her heart wouldn’t let her back down, neither would her stubborn pride. At least she knew where she got it from.
“I know you always regretted having a daughter instead of a son,” she said softly, but then her voice firmed as she threw her shoulders back, refusing to look away as she continued, “but I have to make my own choices, daddy. I have to make my own life. I love animals. I love treating them, taking care of them. That’s what I want to do. Not sit in some claustrophobic old office all day balancing numbers and looking at profit and loss.”
“Well, that won’t be a problem if you decide to be this foolish,” Her father shot back, “You won’t make a dime as a vet.”
“It doesn’t matter, daddy. At least I’ll be happy.” Elsie said earnestly, trying to get him to understand.
“And you won’t get a lick from me either.” He snapped as he took a step backwards, his eyes shooting blue fire, “Just wait. I give you two weeks without money from me and you’ll come running back with your tail between your legs.”
Elsie just shook her head, knowing that nothing she said would convince him. He just didn’t understand, and that was the crux of the problem. When it came to Mark McLaurel, the only thing he really cared about was the money. He’d never understand anything else. Finally, she walked up the rest of the stairs, slowly, her heart heavy.
“Just you wait, Elsie. You’ll see. You’ll come around.” He shouted from the bottom of the stairs.
“Goodnight, daddy.” She didn’t look around as she spoke, didn’t look back at all as she made her way to her bedroom and shut the door firmly behind her. She had barely finished stripping off the button down shirt when her cell phone rang. Elsie couldn’t keep the slight smile off her face as she glanced at the caller Id and walked over to the small desk in the corner, pulling out the grey chair as she answered.
“Hi Rae!” Elsie said, not noticing the mud stains she left on the chair as she took a seat, opening up the laptop and waiting for it to power up as her best friend spoke.
“Els! Thank god. I’ve been trying to reach you for hours.”
“Sorry, Rae, I was out in the fields with Lorenzo.” Elsie said, grinning at her friend’s penchant for the over dramatic. “What is it this time?”
“Mmm. Lorenzo. What’s that hunk been up to?”
“Racheal! He’s at least fifteen years older than you!” Elsie spluttered, still grinning.
“Age is just a number, Elsie. Besides, I’ve always been attracted to older men. These country boys just bore me.” Rachael sighed dramatically over the line and this time Elsie laughed out loud. She had been best friends with Rachael Donohue since the fifth grade. Elsie had been terrified of moving to a new place but Rachael had immediately taken her under her wing, showing her around the small Texas town that was her new home. And they’d been inseparable ever since.
Rachael always said she was going to get out of Mayville Texas if it killed her and Elsie never doubted her for a second. She’d always dreamed of leaving the small town behind, moving to a big city like New York or L.A. Somewhere exciting, she’d say. She was a daredevil, and a born trouble maker, which made things tough for her father who just happened to be the town’s Sherriff.
In a lot of ways, they were total opposites. Where Elsie tended to be more quiet and introverted, Rachael was the life of the party. In school, Elsie had always been the studious one. The serious one. While Rae had been sneaking off with some boys to smoke cigarettes behind the bleachers. And Rachael always had a way of making trouble for herself. Which prompted Elsie’s next question.
“Rae, what did you do?” Elsie asked, laughter still edging her voice as she typed in the computer’s password.
“Me? Why would you assume that I did something? Why would you assume it was me?”
“Because it’s always you, Rachael.” Elsie chuckled, shaking her head, “What is it this time?”
“Well, I may have snuck into the Lucky Dog last night.” Her friend started hesitantly. Hesitant is one word that never applied to Rachael and it made Elsie sit forward a little as she prompted her to go on.
“And? Rachael, you sneak into that bar all the time.”
“I know! But last night…now, I don’t quite remember all the details, but I’m pretty sure I may have started a bar fight.”
“What makes you think that?”
“Well, I’ve got one hell of a shiner. And this morning old Joe at the bar called my daddy and served him a bill for three thousand dollars for damages.”
“What? Jesus, Rachael!”
“I know! They’ll never let me back in there. Now where am I supposed to get drunk in this lousy town.”
“You start a bar fight and that’s what you get out of it? What other bar are you going to sneak into?” Elsie shook her head, her voice turning lecturing but she couldn’t help it, “Rae, you’re nineteen years old. Here’s a thought. Maybe…don’t sneak in to bars when you’re underage. You could get a lot worse than a fine.”
“Where’s the fun in that?” Rachael shot back casually, and Elsie could only shake her head again. “Besides, my daddy said he’d take care of it.”
“Well, he is the Sherriff of Mayville, Rae, it’s kind of his job to take care of it. What did he say to you anyways?” Elsie asked.
“Same old, same old. ‘I’m the sheriff of this town, and as sheriff I demand respect. People won’t respect me if my hooligan daughter is running around town, sneaking into bars underage, and staring fights.”
“He called you a Hooligan?” Elsie laughed, and Rachael let out a little chuckle too, but a moment later grew serious.
“He kept asking me why I couldn’t be more like Hannah.” She said after a long pause.
“Oh, Rachael. You’re never going to be like your sister–.”
“I know that!” Rae cut in, “I know that, she knows that. Everyone knows that but him. She’s super smart, polite, never does anything wrong. Perfect! And I’m…well, I’m definitely not perfect, am I?” Elsie winced at the bitter cynicism in her friend’s voice.
“Well, I think you’re perfect just the way you are.”
“You have to say that, El, you’re my best friend.”
“That’s right, and as your best friend I’m ordering you to stay out of trouble. At least for one night, alright?” Elsie pleaded.
“Oh, don’t worry about me. I’m under lock down here. Next thing you know I’ll be locked up in a jail cell at the sheriff’s office.”
“Please. You know you can talk your dad around on anything.”
“I hope you’re right.” Rachael sighed, “Well, I gotta go. I’m not even supposed to make any calls. I just needed to talk to another real live human being besides my robot of a sister.”
“Goodnight, Rae. Be nice to Hannah.”
“You know I love her, it just…it’s hard, you know? Always being the screw up. Always being compared to her.”
“I know. You got this, though. You are amazing, Rae. That’s why you’re my best friend.”
“You’re pretty amazing yourself. Bye!”
Before Elsie could get anything else out, Rachael had already hung up the phone. She tried to put her friend’s problems out of her head. Knowing Rachael, she would wriggle her way out of it and be back in her dad’s good graces before sundown tomorrow. She had a way of charming people into forgetting what sort of trouble she’d gotten into.
With a sigh, she pulled up the program that mapped where all the trackers were for the cattle, still thinking about the three that had gone missing earlier in the day and a frown wrinkled her otherwise smooth forehead when she finally located them. There they sat, in a cluster at the southern most point of the grazing fields. And they weren’t moving.
Elsie watched the flashing dots for a long while, waiting for any sign of movement but after a half hour she knew something was wrong. Maybe they were sick. Maybe they’d gotten into some plant that they shouldn’t have while out grazing and needed help. She glanced down at her watch. Anything was better than being cooped up in her bedroom just waiting for her daddy to go to sleep so she could avoid him.
She hastily threw on the button down shirt, the same dirt stained one that she’d worn all day but it didn’t bother her. Out of habit she grabbed the straw hat that she always wore when she was out in the field, taking the time to tuck her long, golden blonde hair up inside it so it wouldn’t get in her way. A moment later, she was sneaking out the back door, her father enclosed in his office, oblivious.
It took fifteen minutes to have Goat saddled once more and then she was trotting out over the rolling grassy acres of the ranch towards the spot where she’d last seen the trackers. Elsie had a feeling that they would still be there and just hoped that she’d have whatever she needed to help them in the pack slung over her shoulder. It held some antibiotics, and some natural ointments or painkillers that she’d discovered over the years. She just hoped she’d get there in time to save them.
There was a moment of doubt as she drew near the spot, and Elsie wondered if she shouldn’t have just given in and called grumpy old Dr. Compton, but then she stopped herself. She cared more about the animals than that old grouch. She knew each one by name, had been there for nearly all of their births.
Minutes later she pulled Goat to a stop on the top of the rise where the GPS had shown the cows to be, but as she scanned the empty area a feeling of unease settled over her. There were no cows. There wasn’t anything at all.
A coyote’s sharp howl broke through the darkness settling around her and Elsie flinched, jerking on the reins in startled reaction. Goat turned instantly, following her unconscious command, whickering his displeasure at the sharp tug. She patted him on the neck and had just opened her mouth to apologize to the offended horse but suddenly, something big came barreling towards her and all she could get out was a strangled shriek of panic.
Elsie pulled hard on the reins once more and Goat, in his typical disagreeable way, whinnied loudly before lurching his two front hooves into the air. She lost her grip on the reins as Goat bucked wildly. Her world tilted and the last thing she saw before flying off Goat’s back was a broad shouldered, tattoo covered man with piercing dark eyes rushing towards her on the back of a massive horse.