Eventually, Charlie came upon some ranch hands. Two of them. Working on a fence line. But, no sign of Scott with them. Or Johnny.
One of them, the younger one, his name was Blaine, told Charlie he hadn't seen Scott since the noon meal, but thought that he might have gone
further on north.
Charlie said thank you, and rode on. Finally, she came into new riding territory. Realizing she'd never ridden this far, even with Scott or any of
the other family members, she stopped looking along the fence lines.
Charlie cast a look up at the sun. She wasn't good at telling the time, the way that Johnny could do. But, it must be getting on
near to supper time. She'd best be getting on back to the ranch.
She had ridden for a bit, when she pulled Gurth to a stop, looking around. Nothing looked familiar. There weren't even any more fences
within sight to follow. Was this the way that she'd come?
She rode on, convincing herself that yes, this was the way she'd ridden before. Talking aloud to Gurth made her feel better.
"This is the way, isn't it, Gurth? I'm sure it is. See, that tree there? I remember it. I remember because it's branches are so
low to the ground-"
It was a short few minutes later, and Charlie stopped Gurth once again. Remembering something Johnny had told her once, about if
she ever became lost.
"Just stay put," he'd said. "Don't keep goin' round in circles. It's easier for a person to be found if they stay in one spot."
Charlie wondered if that pertained to this particular time. She paused, chewing on her lip, thinking, and looking around. She decided she
would do it. By now, the family would be gathering at the house. Scott would have likely discovered some time ago that she'd gotten home
from school, and ridden out again. He'd be out looking for her. So would Johnny. And possibly Murdoch.
If Jelly told them she'd ridden north, then surely they would find her before too terribly long. Before dark, for certain.
Charlie dismounted, leading Gurth a bit, and stood there, under a tree, out of the sun. While Gurth munched on the grass, Charlie thought
longingly of a cool drink of water. And food. It had been a long time since the lunch hour at school. Maria had probably had an after-school snack
prepared, too.
Charlie muttered an curse under her breath. One she'd heard often in Stockton, from the band of kids that had tormented the store
keepers.
"I'm sorry, boy," she said to her horse, hugging his neck. "I took you away from your afternoon rest and your oats and water, didn't it?"
Charlie paced back and forth for a bit, and then sat down for a while. The sitting didn't last long. She was too keyed up.
Enough time passed that Charlie passed from a bit worried about being lost, to full-blown nervousness. What if they didn't find her
before dark? It was going to get chilly in the night air. Not to mention having no water, and being hungry. She thought longingly of the
bit of a sandwich that she'd left, uneaten, in her lunch pail. And, now it was just sitting there by the corral, where she'd left it.
And then her thoughts turned to the consequences of this afternoon escapade. Besides the hunger and the thirst.
When they did find her, when not if, Charlie reminded herself, when they did find her, were they going to be angry?
She thought over that for a bit.
She had just assumed she would come right up onto the spot that Scott was working at on the fence line. She'd never considered
that she wouldn't find him at all. Or that she would get turned around, and lost. Still, she had broken one of the rules Scott had given
her. To never go riding off alone.
She was going to be punished, most likely. At the very least, she would be lectured. Scolded. Probably have her riding privileges
taken away.
She pressed her face into Gurth's neck.
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By the time she counted to 2,000, they would have found her. That's what Charlie told herself. And Gurth. The number two thousand
was vast. Immense. So she began counting. Slowly.
Two thousand came. And went. Still, no signs of any mounted rescuers riding her way.
Three thousand, then. She would begin again. From zero.
Upon her arrival at approximately the number 2,537, Charlie gave up, and sat down in the grass again. She held Gurth's reins in one
hand, and bent her knees up to her chin, rocking back and forth a bit.
And then she saw something. Someone. It was Johnny! She scrambled to her feet, her shoe catching on the skirt of her dress.
By that time, Johnny was nearly up on to her. He was off his horse swiftly, and Charlie went to him.
"Are you alright?" he demanded, holding onto her upper arms.
"I'm alright-I got turned around-I didn't know which way to go," Charlie began. "I did what you said-and stayed in one
place-"
"Well, let's get you home. Everybody's plenty worried about ya," Johnny said. Charlie put her foot in the stirrup, and swung
herself up onto the saddle.
Johnny, still standing there beside Gurth, began to say something else, and then, before Charlie could even tell what was happening, with
a swiftness, Johnny drew his gun, and fired a shot towards the tree.
Charlie flinched, startled, looking around. "What-" she began to ask.
And then she saw just what it was. A snake was laying there, where Johnny had shot him. Right there. Only a short distance to the tree where she'd
been sitting all this time.
It was a long snake. Maybe five foot. And Charlie could see the end of the tail, and what was there.
"Is it-?" she began to ask, in horror.
"Yeah. A rattler," Johnny verified, reholstering his gun.
Charlie caught at her breath, sucking it inward. "I was sitting there-" she began.
"There's lots of snakes about," Johnny said. Looking at her ashen face, he paused, standing beside Gurth, and looking up at her.
He rested a hand on her knee, but said nothing. Just waiting, it seemed, for her to gain control.
"It could have bitten me!" Charlie burst out. She met Johnny's blue eyes with her own brown ones. "It's scary!"
He rubbed her leg with his hand, still not saying anything.
"Aren't you gonna yell at me?" Charlie asked. "For being so dumb, and riding out here alone?"
It wasn't that she wanted him to yell. She just wondered when he would.
"I'm not gonna yell at ya. I figure the best thing is get ya home. Teresa's about to have apoplexy, worryin' over ya." He went to his
own horse, took off the canteen of water that was hung over the saddle horn, and brought it back, offering it up to Charlie.
She took it, gratefully, and drank. A long, delicious drink of the cold water.
"Gurth needs a drink," Charlie said, wiping at the corner of her mouth.
"I reckon he does," Johnny said, and poured water in to his palm, presenting it to Gurth. Then he capped the canteen, and
gave Charlie's leg a final pat, and went to mount Barranca.
They began to ride together then, side by side. Charlie tried to slow her ragged breathing, but just thinking about that snake caused her
heart to pound.
When they'd ridden for a bit, in quiet, Johnny stopped, pulled his gun out, and fired into the air.
"Is that so they'll know you found me?" Charlie asked, feeling shamed.
"Yeah."
They rode on, and Charlie spoke up quietly. "Is Scott angry?"
"I figure he'll have somethin' to say to ya, alright," Johnny said.
Charlie felt her stomach drop a bit. Looking to his left, at her face, Johnny took pity on her.
"Mostly, he's worried," Johnny amended.
The rest of the ride to the ranch was accomplished in primarily silence. Johnny didn't seem inclined to make conversation,
and Charlie was consumed with her own thoughts, and worries.
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By the time they finally reached the part of the ranch where the barns, corrals, and the house were within eyesight, Charlie
felt like a piece of wilted lettuce. Tired, still thirsty, hungry, and nervous.
Jelly was still beside the barn, when Charlie slid down off of Gurth.
"Went off and got yourself into a scrape, didn't ya?" Jelly accused Charlie.
Not caring if it was rude or not rude, Charlie didn't answer. She was just too tired.
Teresa came bursting from the house. "Are you alright?" she asked Charlie. "What were you thinking? We've been worried about you!"
"I'm okay," was all Charlie could manage.
"Let her breathe a minute," Johnny told Teresa.
"I'll untack your horse for ya," Johnny told Charlie, taking the reins from her.
"Thank you," Charlie said, dully.
Teresa herded Charlie into the house, and swept her past the silent, disapproving Maria. Maria put a piece of cornbread in Charlie's hand,
as Teresa urged her upstairs.
Taken into the washroom, the claw foot bathtub had the bottom half full of steaming water.
"Go on and get into the tub," Teresa told her. "I'll bring some more water."
There was no arguing with Teresa at this point. She was a force to be reckoned with. When Teresa went back out, Charlie stripped off her shoes,
dress, petticoats and stockings, and underthings. She got into the bathtub, and began washing, as Teresa reappeared, carrying more water
in one of the large pans.
Teresa promptly doused Charlie's head with the warm water, and proceeded to shampoo the long auburn curls. When she'd done that, and rinsed
Charlie's hair, she began picking up the clothes strewn across the floor.
"You tore your dress," Teresa said, pointing out the tears in the fabric.
"I guess I walked thru some brambles," Charlie said.
"Well, I brought you some clean clothes," Teresa said, gesturing to the denim jeans and soft blouse laying to the side.
"Thank you," Charlie said, looking up at the dark-haired girl standing beside the bathtub.
Teresa's expression softened. "Don't look so worried," she said.
"I can't help it," Charlie said.
"You know Scott-he's one of the calmest people there is," Teresa said.
"I know," Charlie said.
"You shouldn't have done it, though," Teresa went on. Unable, Charlie guessed, to resist her own private scold.
"I know," Charlie said, again.
"Well, get out of there, and get dressed. Maria's had supper keeping warm in the oven for a while now."
"Maybe I'll soak a while longer," Charlie said. "You and the rest of the family can go on and eat without me. I'll eat later-"
"You know that's not going to happen," Teresa said, promptly dismissing Charlie's attempt at prolonging the inevitable.
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Once she'd redressed, Charlie went out of the washroom, peeking out into the hallway. The hallway was empty, and Charlie headed
to her own bedroom, intent on brushing out her wet hair, and avoiding, for a few more minutes, the scolding that was surely coming her way.
Startled, she came to a sudden halt in the open doorway of her bedroom. Scott was there, sitting on the window seat, leaning forward a bit, his
hands folded, and his elbows resting on his knees. Waiting.
"Hi," Charlie said, and to herself her voice seemed faint, very unlike its normal self.
"Hi," Scott replied.
Charlie stood there, uncertain at the moment of her reception. His eyes were steady on her.
"I messed up, huh?" Charlie said, hoping to see his expression soften. Just a bit, even.
Neither responding to the negative, or the positive of that statement, Scott sat up a bit straighter. "Come and sit down," he said.
Charlie went to sit beside him on the window seat.
"You know that you've broken a rule," Scott began.
"I didn't think of it that way-at first," Charlie said. "I was looking for you, and Jelly said that you were up that way, maybe."
"And that's a valid reason, you think, to ride off without letting anyone know?" Scott countered.
"I did," Charlie protested. "I told Jelly to tell Teresa or Murdoch, or whoever, that I'd gone looking for you."
"Jelly is not your messenger," Scott said, his tone stern. "Is he?"
Charlie shook her head, watching him tremulously. "No."
"And 'telling' Jelly, as you put it, that's not having permission, either. Is it?"
Charlie was still for a moment, her eyes searching his face, beseechingly.
"Charlie," Scott prompted.
"No," Charlie said, again, with a deep sigh.
She met Scott's eyes again, and said, "I just wanted to talk to you."
"Alright. I understand that. But, could it have waited until I came back to the house? Something we could have talked about
tonight?"
"I guess so," Charlie admitted. "Yes."
"Is it something that happened at school today?"
Charlie nodded in response.
"Does it need to be discussed right now? Or can it wait until after supper?" he asked.
"After supper would be alright."
"Okay." Scott paused, studying her again.
"I'm very sorry for worrying everyone," Charlie said.
She was being genuine in her apology. Scott could tell that she was.
"Johnny told me about the snake," Scott went on.
At the thought of that, once again, the slimy snake being that close to where she'd been sitting, Charlie felt all shivery again. Tears filled her
eyes. Later, she would attribute the tears to the fact that she was tired, and hungry, and nervous over her 'misadventure', and near escape
from the snake. Not, she told herself, because she was a sniveling baby.
Scott wrapped his arm around her shoulders and pulled her closer, rubbing his hand up and down her arm in comforting circles.
"Pretty frightening, huh?" he asked.
"Yes," Charlie said, sniffling.
"Do you think you see the point to this particular rule now?" he asked.
Charlie nodded. "Yes. I won't do it anymore, Scott."
"Well, after supper, I want you to get some paper, and write something up. Things that could have happened to you today. More than the snake."
"How many words?" Charlie asked, knowing she was getting off lightly.
"I don't know. A few paragraphs," he said. "When it's finished, I'll read over it, while you do the rest of your homework. Then, later, we'll talk
about what it was that happened at school. Alright?"
Charlie nodded, and Scott gave her another hug. "Riding to and from school only, for the next week. No riding here on the ranch."
Expecting that, as well, Charlie nodded again, and sighed.
Scott gave her wrist a light tug, and pulled Charlie to her feet, positioning her directly in front of him. Charlie, who'd thought that any scolding, or
handing down of a punishment, was completed, felt her stomach flutter in nerves. This was the position that Scott always used when he
was preparing to give her an intense talking-to.
"This rule is for your safety," he began. "And my peace of mind," he added, with momentary humor. "So, after today's escapade, there is no
disobeying of it. If it happens again, it's a spanking for you. A serious one. Not just a couple wallops. Understood?"
Charlie gave another nod of her head, eyeing him tremulously.
"Alright. Let's go down and eat." He stood up, and took her hand in his own.
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