"The Rancher & Her Cowboy"

ONE: Sea

Fiction by: Amadi the Storyteller

She gripped her hands against the railing, lips quirking up into a smile as she leaned into the breeze. It was cool against her skin, hot with sweat of the current Summer month. The sharp scent of salt was prominent in the air.

Chelsea relished the odd sensation of the rocking ship below her feet. It was like a rocking chair, dipping back and forth in rhythm. Lifting one of her hands to her forehead, she tried to find the speck of land that were known as the Sunshine Islands.

But like the many hours before, she saw nothing and her impatient to touch land in her new home grew. It was hard to be patient, especially when she had been dreaming of this moment for a good three years now. Once she'd reached the ripe age of twenty-one, she made her decision to leave the shadow of the noisy city behind for the country life.

The country life of a farmer.

She didn't have much with her, just a bag of clothes and toiletries and a pocket full of dreams. Chelsea had scavenged just enough money to buy a one-way ticket to the islands and enough to purchase the offered farm. The woman knew she would be broke for sometime after until she got her work up and running.

Sighing, Chelsea turned away from the vast expense of sea to wander the deck, bag slung over her shoulder. There weren't too many people on board but it didn't bother her. From living in the wild jungle that was the city, small numbers were a nice change. It wasn't crowded and she didn't feel as if she were drowning every two-seconds from some noisy crowd.

Finding a bench to take a seat in, the woman lolled her head back and rested her bag against her jean-cladded lap. She wondered when they would be due to land.

It better be soon, Chelsea thought as she watched the sky. Not a cloud in sight, just open pastures of blue skies and the occasional bird here and there.

A sudden gust of wind and a man's shout startled her, causing Chelsea to perk her head.

"Ah! Damn it all!"

She tried to pin-point the source of the yell and found it near the deck where she had been moments before. Chelsea couldn't help but cock a brow at his odd appearance.

He sure did fit the description of the old Western cowboys with his strange get up. Chelsea watched as the man leaned over the railing, fingers grasping thin air as his hat plummeted into the waters below the rocking ship. The stranger let out a loose of cuss words and the woman got to her feet, approaching a tad to watch.

One of the sailors of the ship tried to hold him back as he seemed to try and dive off the boat after his Stetson.

"Lemme go!" He barked, glaring at the man who was currently trying to hold him back.

"I'm sorry sir but its not permitted you hang off the ship," the sailor explained, brows furrowed into a 'v' shape as he restrained the upset cowboy.

The cowboy snorted and tugged his arm free. "Fine," he finally said, seeming to relax despite his eyes anxiously looking back at the hat as it slowly and surely drifted out at sea. "I won't."

How did the sailor not see that the silver-haired man was lying was beyond Chelsea.

Once the ship hand turned away, the cowboy dived off the deck and into the ocean with a splash. Chelsea and a few others hurried to the deck to watch, wide-eyed. A few laughed at the sight as the drenched man resurfaced, his hat grasped in his gloved hand.

It was quite a sight, Chelsea bemused. The sailor returned, red-faced as he stared at the man who paddled in the ocean. It was about ten minutes later when the crew managed to pull the cowboy back to the ship.

His hat was placed securely on his dripping head, the black Stetson hiding his eyes as he accepted the towel the captain offered.

There was a bark of laughter from the captain. "Vaughn, my dear boy, you and that hat are inseperateable."

The cowboy called Vaughn only reached for his hat and offered the other man a humorless grunt. Chelsea blinked, watching from afar at the sight of the two.

Feeling all eyes on him, Vaughn offered the crowd a little glare and tugged his drenched hat over his brow, seeming embarrassed. "What are you all lookin' at?" He huffed, "Show's over!"

And with that, everyone dispatched. Chelsea however stayed a minute longer, eyes lingering on the stranger before she shook her head and left to go to her room below the ship.