The next day, Cerise drove her family to the airport. She walked them to the departure gate. Cerise looked up at the board, and the flight to South Africa was leaving in five minutes.
"On time, as usual." Cerise smiled.
She loved her Audi; it was fast, safe and reliable, until the starter motor got hit by a stone, now it wouldn't start sometimes. But they were here now, that's all that mattered.
"You just watch your driving." Cerise's mom said.
"Ah, come on, she's got an Audi, safest thing on the road." Her dad said.
"Not with Cerise's foot on the pedal." Amber laughed.
They all giggled as the time ticked closer to leave. Cerise hugged her parents goodbye and turned to Amber.
"Miss you," Amber whispered into Cerise's ear.
"You too." Cerise replied.
She watched as the plane took off and disappeared into the clouds and said goodbye to them as they flew home. She drove home and went straight to her phone. She dialled the number that had been running through her mind all night and day.
"Please say yes." She said as she heard the phone ringing on the other side.
"Hello." A man picked up.
"Hi, I'm looking for Billy Black?" she replied.
"This is his son, Jacob, who's speaking?" he said.
"My name is Cerise, he's expecting my call."
"Okay, just hold on." He said, and put he phone down, after a few seconds, Billy Black picked up.
"Billy Black here."
"Hi, Mr. Black, this is Cerise from Thunder Ranch."
"Oh, hi, how're you today? Parents get off okay?" he asked.
She had called him earlier that week, to make sure he had enough time to address his local council.
"Great thanks, so have you spoken to the tribe yet?" she asked.
"Yes, they all agree if it's a small herd." He said, emphasizing small.
"It is, only 30 bison, 25 females, 4 young males and one bull."
"That's great, are they chipped and tagged?" Billy asked.
He clearly had done some research on American bison.
"No, not yet but I'm working on it." She said, feeling stupid for not doing it earlier. That was probably going to come back to bite her.
"Have you got someone to transport them?" he asked.
"Yes, I'll bring them myself, but first I would like to see a few houses in the area and the reservation of course. I'm thinking of buying a home there."
"Great, when can we expect you?" he asked.
"How's tomorrow?" she said.
"Wow, that's soon." He said.
"I need to find a place to stay, and I like what I see on the internet." She explained.
"There is one house, but it's kind of pricy." He said to her.
"That's okay; I'm going to be coming into some money soon." She said, referring to the sale of the ranch.
"That's great, see you then?" she asked. She didn't want to pitch up there, only to have the only person she knew there, not able to help her.
"Yeah, see you tomorrow. Just follow the directions to the reservation and I'll meet you at the gate.
"I'll be in the cream truck with my son." He added.
"Okay, bye." She said, relieved.
"Bye." He said, and put down the phone and gave a sigh of relief. Her bison had a home, if she liked the reservation.
"Yes." She exclaimed. "Now I have to pack." She said, going into her room.
