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Chapter 36
"Tell me what is happening,"
pleaded Ream.
Sally watched Gus,
and saw him walk around the trailer, examine it, then stop, his head down
as if in prayer. Afraid a gunshot would startle Ream she told him what
she had seen, saying, "Gus's got his finger on the hammer of the gun."
Lightning crashed
into a nearby tree, Ream cried, "Oh my God, No!" Simultaneously, the truth
exploded to it's full stature, eclipsing their secrets. Their hands reached
out. Their souls reached out. Fumbling, trembling, each became their hands,
hunting blindly for the other. Their hearts leaped, racing to catch time.
Instantly, they were holding hands tightly, but neither of them was aware
who had reached first or why.
There was no shot.
After a prolonged moment, Sally said, "Gus has uncocked his gun."
The rain suddenly
subsided. "Come on, I can see better now, I think Biff's all right. Gus
is waving for us to come over."
As they neared, Gus
turned and said, "Biff is pinned on his side in the trailer. He's pretty
scared, maybe in shock. Lucky he was loaded in the stall closest to the
ground. It probably saved him. I gave him a tranquilizer. At the moment
he's lying still, but he could start thrashing at any moment, and if he
gets hung up in anything, he could cut himself up pretty bad. The officers
have sent for the Jaws of Life hydraulic prying device. The closest one
is in Flagstaff, and it's already on its way. We're going to pry and cut
Biff out of this mess. Right now he needs to be kept calm. Ream, that's
your job. Don't let him struggle in there."
"Sure," Ream sighed
with relief, at last able to be of some use.
"Meanwhile, we are
going to need a larger stock trailer to haul Biff home. I'll go for mine
since it's close. I'll also get more tranquilizer. He could get excited
when we start cutting. Snake ain't around. He must have took off on foot
and is hiding somewhere out there. I'll be back as quick as I can."
Gus sped toward his
truck, as Ream asked Sally to take him to the trailer.
Sally guided him to
the feed door which was now on top of the overturned trailer. Biff was
able to see and hear him. Ream talked to the horse in a comforting tone.
He didn't expect Biff to understand words, but he hoped the soothing, calm
tone in his voice would keep him from getting excited.
He decided he needed
to touch Biff to give him more reassurance. Making his way to the rear
of the trailer, he sat on the ground and place his hand on Biff's
hip.
He continued to impart
calm words. He felt the release of tension in Biffer's hip knowing he was
having a soothing effect. Sally sat down next to him and held his other
hand. Ream gripped tightly.
"Thanks," he said turning
to her. "I'm glad you're here. You're a blessing which fell out of the
sky. I'm sorry. There was never the right time or place to tell you about
me. And I was never quite ready because I didn't have myself back yet.
It's why I backed off. I'm sorry."
"I know," she
said. Her voice held the sweetest comfort and understanding. "I have been
holding back myself. I feel like only half a woman since my mastectomy."
Tears started to well
in Sally's eyes.
"Sally, I didn't
know."
"Ream, I was drawn
to you even with your blindness because I felt a kinship, knowing I'm not
whole either. That's why I asked you to dance. Remember?"
The hint of a
soft smile glistened through her tears.
Ream squeezed her hand
gently, saying, "We've been fighting the same war. You know, there have
been so many hidden things connecting us. Something in me knew this from
the first time I heard your voice."
Barely audible, a distant
sound registered like an echo from another lifetime to Ream. His inner
ear first, then his outer ear were picking up sounds off in the brush.
It was a moan, muffled, distant, but it was there, this part whimper of
a wounded animal. Ream focused, immediately he knew it was Snake. He tensed
and said quietly to Sally, "Snake's gotta be out there over my left shoulder
about 100 yards. He's hurt. Better tell the Sheriff.
Five minutes later
the Sheriff had Snake in custody and brought him to Ream to identify asking,
"Is this the man who stole your horse?"
"I don't know, I can't
see him," replied Ream, even thought he instinctively knew it was Snake.
"Is there any way you
can tell?"
"Yes, I need to touch
his face and neck."
The Sheriff held Snake
in front of Ream by the back of his shirt and hair. His hands found their
way to Snake's face. He validated it was Snake even by the smell of him.
His finger tips touched
lightly the outline of Snake's unshaven face, then the eyes and nose. Slowly
his fingers gripped around Snake's neck once again. He recognized the same
skin texture and the hair around the collar line. Remembering his
own affliction, his thumbs found their way back to Snake's eyes. Here was
his chance to repay the unforgivable, an eye for an eye.
He knew a single gouge
could never be stopped. Or even a blow to Snake's gut would even accounts.
Biff's fate still hung in the balance as the result of this rank, unshaven
drunk. There was every reason to inflict the well deserved punishment and
nothing to prevent it.
Time again could only
be measured by heart beats. Snake knew his actions were being judged by
Ream. Sally saw sweat bead on Snake's forehead as he shuddered. In
Ream, she saw steel hardened intensity.
Then a burst of distant
lightning broke the moment. And the memory of Gus's words, "Recognize
the moment, then give him back to himself." Lightning flittered, and
zigged across the Sedona sky in a patchwork of arcing stabbing pulses.
In a world refocused, Ream pulled Snake's face toward him and whispered
into his ear, "This is about something bigger than both of us."
Ream's hands relaxed,
and then he turned to the Sheriff and said, "Sorry I can't tell if this
is the man who stole my horse."
"Are you sure?"
"Sorry," said Ream
as he relaxed his chest and arms.
The officer loosened
the handcuffs on Snake and turned him loose as Sally took Ream back to
Biffer.
Instead of bolting
across the field, Snake hung around in bewilderment. Moments later he found
his way to Ream. Perplexed, and with a strange expression in his face as
if he were recognizing something for the first time, he leaned over asking
"Hey, why did you do that?"
"Figured the choice
should be yours."
"What do you mean?
"Regardless, they'll
figure out who you are. Things might go a little easier on you if
you came forward first. Just thought you should be allowed to choose."
"Why are you helping
me? You must be loco."
"Let's just say, Gus's
Principle."
The Sedona sky was
clearing as the sun peeked through overhead clouds. Snake nodded twice
in pondering his alternatives. He turned and went to the officer. "I gotta
tell you something," he began.
A beam of light caught
Ream's head as he turned his face skyward and took a deep breath. The Sheriff
put Snake in the back seat of his car under custody, but without the hand
cuffs.
Sally turned to Ream
and said, "Tell me again, why did you do that?"
"Selfish really.
I had the choice of punishing him or setting him straight. When I thought
about it, setting him straight gave me a bigger satisfaction. Knowing I
could, made a lot of difference."
"He deserved a kick
in the teeth, and you turned around and gave him a helping hand. You must
know something I don't?"
"Whatever I did, had
to get underneath the poison in Snake. Giving him back to himself, at just
the right moment, would do this, and had a good chance of re-sparking his
decency."
"I bet nobody ever
did that for him before, but setting him free too?"
"Had to. If Snake is
gonna change, it has to be his idea. I set it up. I mean, I let the right
thing be his choice, instead of making him come clean."
"How did you know it
would work?"
"It's Gus's Principle.
He showed it to me with horses. That gave me the edge. When Snake hung
around, he began to look to me, then I knew it had a good chance
of working. It was a golden moment, as Gus would say."
The fire truck with
the Jaws of Life was arriving. The fireman approached the trailer knowing
the delicacy of the situation. One of them knelt on one knee next to Ream
and tried to determine how they might extract Biff.
Ream explained Gus
would be returning with another trailer and a sedative and should be back
shortly. The firemen returned to the fire truck to prepare their equipment.
Before much longer,
Gus returned with several items including a rope put through a short piece
of garden hose, and another syringe containing the tranquilizer for Biff.
He had a pow-wow with the firemen and then he crawled into the trailer
to inject Biff with the sedative directly into a vein. In a few moments,
Biffer was somber, and then very lethargic.
The firemen used the
Jaws of Life to pry open the bar stall on the inside of the trailer. They
opened the bottom rear door while they cut the top door off completely,
giving even more room. All the while Ream helped keep Biff calm by talking.
When the trailer lay
almost dissembled and pried from around the horse, Gus took the end of
his rope with the soft garden hose and tied it around Biff's rear legs.
He then connected the rope to the winch on the truck. He had pulled
his truck up behind the trailer and planned to use the winch on the front
bumper to pull Biff from the trailer. No one was sure it could be done
without injuring the horse.
Gus used the winch
very slowly as Ream and the firemen guided Biff clear. It was a tense drama
and a delicate maneuver, but Gus worked the winch one inch at a time. Sally
held her breath.
Biff lay passively
on the ground , not struggling, and finally he was free from the trailer.
Ream sat down beside him knowing he would not get up right away because
of the effect of the tranquilizer. He raised his head slightly, licking
Ream's hand.
The wrecker truck had
arrived and hooked on to the overturned pickup to upright it. The firemen
neutralized the scene from any spilled gas. Biff was recovering from the
shot in the neck and sat up on his front elbow with a grumpy breath. In
a moment, he began to struggle to his feet. Ream and Gus stood clear as
he regained his feet and his spirit. He was up. Amazingly he still trusted
Gus and Ream to load him in the larger stock trailer for the ride home.
They stopped briefly
at Ream's to fill in Mrs. Mead about the events of the accident scene and
then continued to Gus's barn.
Shortly, Mrs. Mead
brought down some potato salad, beans and chicken which were enjoyed by
everyone after Biff was unloaded and put in his stall. Biff was fatigued
and immediately lay down. Gus asked Ream if he would like to spend the
night in the adjacent stall to be available in case there was any distress.
Ream agreed, and Sally
volunteered to stay also. |
