A Rancher's Touch
Chapter 2
After we were all done with supper, we headed back out to the fields, everyone pilling into the wagon. I merely seated myself next to Carlson since Mike decided to sit up front with Slim, sitting up on the edge of the wagon's side. Jake was sitting down inside next to my right, while George and Lennie ran forward, jumping onto the end and letting their legs dangle down over the edge.
"Come on, get up," George said, helping Lennie on.
The guy nearly sat on him when he got on, leaving George to push him off of his leg. I couldn't help, but to laugh quietly. They really did seem like an odd pair.
T
"Hey, get a look at that over there," I heard one of the guys nearby say.
I looked over to where he was pointing, finding Lennie tossing a barley bag into the back of the wagon without any trouble.
"Wow," I breathed, blinking a few times as I watched him grab another with ease.
It didn't even look like he struggled any with the thing and it was only him. He had no help with it at all. I guess George wasn't kidding when he said that Lennie was as strong as a bull. The man could practically beat the other two at their own game at the pace he was moving at. I even saw George and Slim watching him, smiles on their faces.
"Man that guy is strong," I laughed, wiping my brow before taking a drink from my canteen.
I pulled it away from my lips a moment later, easily making my way over to George. He was up in the wagon, feeding barley into the machine. It was obvious he was working just as hard as Lennie was up there, sweat dripping from his brow as the sun beat down on his head.
"George, heads up!" I called, tossing my canteen up to him.
He caught it with ease, giving me an appreciative nod in return.
"Thanks," he said, taking a well earned drink from it.
It was hot, so I figured he'd be wanting a drink to cool off. After all, I'd do exactly the same thing for any of the others in my bunk house. The lot of them were rather nice men, so I didn't mind lending a hand in kindness.
"I'll pick it up from here Pete, you go get yourself a drink before you end up falling over," I laughed, gathering up the barley around me and placing it in piles.
The man gave me a nod in return, before making his way over to Slim, and serving himself a cup of water. Last thing that we needed was someone down on the job. Not to mention, Pete really needed the money, so I wasn't going to let something happen to him.
T
As Chris walked away, George found himself watching after her. He caught the friendly smile on her face as she left, her hair blowing up a bit in the slight breeze.
He had to admit, she seemed nice enough, but he knew that looks could be deceiving. That didn't exactly mean that she was, but he didn't know her well enough yet.
Looking down at the canteen in his hand, he had a feeling that she'd be safer than Curly's wife at least, that was for sure. At least she was a fellow rancher, so he doubted that he'd have much to worry about. Lennie wouldn't get in not trouble because of her. He knew that he'd have more trouble with Curly than anything else, so she was the least of his worries for the moment.
"She's a pretty little thing ain't she?"
"Huh?" George looked down, finding one of the other men staring off at her, his eyes large and hungry.
George merely snorted at this, watching on with a look of distaste on his face.
"I'd like me some of that, what about you?" he asked.
"She may be pretty," George nodded, glancing back at her with his hands perched on top of his pitch fork, before continuing. "But she ain't no piece of meat," he stated, tossing some more barley into the machine.
He may not have had the chance to get to know her yet, but he still had a bit of respect for her. After all, she was working on a ranch with nothing, but men all around her. Something like that took guts and he could respect that. Not to mention, it was obvious that she wasn't like any other woman around. No, Chris was different, she stood out.
T
"Alright, who did it?" I asked, walking back into the bunk house more than a bit annoyed.
"Who did what?" Slim asked, looking up from the game of cards he was currently playing.
"My shirts," I stated, narrowing my eyes at two possible suspects in the room. "I hung 'em up to dry and now they're gone."
Once again, I had to deal with their little pranks. I could understand them bugging the crap out of me from time to time because I'm a woman, but there were times where I just wasn't in the mood for it. After all, I needed something to keep warm than just my undershirt, even if they did find pleasure in seeing me in that. That wasn't my problem though, finding my shirts was. When I went to grab my jacket though, that's when my face went really red.
"Damn it, come on!" I cried, kicking at the floor board, before turning around to glare at the lot of them. "It's one thing to take my shirts, but my jacket?"
Jake and Whit had to stifle a laugh as they looked over at me, eyes glistening with laughter.
"Come on, I'm cold," I whined, feeling a shiver run down my spine a moment later.
"I don't know why you're tellin us," Whit chuckled, a grin on his face.
"You're a part of this, I know you are, you and Jake both," I growled, slowly starting to get fed up with their crap.
It was always the same no matter where I went, I was always the butt of a joke or prank. Didn't seem to matter where I was, it was always the same. No one ever felt the need to help or prevent it, they just let it happen. Yeah, sure, Slim would normally help or stop it if he knew about it. Carlson would normally let things play through though unless they went too far with something, but other than that, no one ever did a damn thing.
"Here," George said, pulling his jacket from the bed and holding out to me.
"Ah, come on man, why you gotta ruin all the fun?" Jake asked from his spot at the table.
He hadn't expected George to be so kind and to be honest, neither had I. I mean yeah, I could tell that he was a nice guy, tolerable and moral for the most part. I hadn't expected him to be so chivalrous though, standing up where others wouldn't.
"Take it," he said, his hand still held out toward me.
"You don't have to," I told him, watching as the corner of his mouth twitched upward a bit, a faint laugh rumbling from his chest.
He didn't give me room to argue, before throwing it at me. I suppose it was a way to quiet things down, but I had a feeling that it was a bit more than that. Perhaps he was merely returning the favor that I had done for him earlier, but I couldn't be sure.
"You two had better watch yourselves," I said, pointing over at Jake and Whit.
Then, without bothering to grab anything else, I walked out with George's jacket in hand into the cool night air.
I didn't feel like standing around in there with everyone staring at me. It was unnerving, having all those eyes on me.
"Damn bastards, always playing tricks on me," I grumbled, kicking at the dirt.
I watched as it flew up in the air, the little pieces falling back down to the ground. I shivered again, looking down at George's jacket. The material was soft, even if it was well worn. The man had likely had it for the better part of five to ten years if I had to guess. I sighed once I put it on, finding it warmer and mine.
A small smile worked its way onto my face, a genuine smile.
T
"Say, why do you guys pick at her so much?" George asked, sitting up on his bunk.
His eyes traveled around the room once or twice before anyone spoke up.
"It's just fun to see her all rialed up, that's all," Jake chuckled, his eyes flitting over to the door for a moment, before looking back down at his cards.
"Don't worry about it too much George," Slim said, offering him a small smile. "She's pretty much used to it by now. She just gets annoyed from time to time," he told him, placing a card out on the pile.
"She'd better be after dealing with these two idiots for three months straight," Carlson chuckled.
He was placed by the back door as usual, just standing there and reading by the light.
"She been here that long?"
"Yep, can't imagine why though with all the crap she has to put up with," Slim commented, sitting all his cards down for a moment as he lit a cigarette.
It was silent for a moment, not a word being spoken. That was, until that heard a yell from outside.
"Damn it all!"
"Guess she found 'em," Jake snickered.
"The hell did you two put 'em?" Slim asked, standing up and walking toward the door.
George followed after him, curious to see what had happened.
"Just havin a little fun is all," Jake assured him, standing up to take a look outside.
T
"Jake! Whit! I swear to God if you don't get out here right now, I'm gonna sock both of ya!" I yelled.
Those idiots had tossed my stuff up on top of the bunk house. I mean yeah, they'd done stupid crap before, but this took the cake.
"Jake!" I screamed, hands shaking as I stood there.
I don't even know why I was yelling at him so much. It was likely Whit's idea to begin with.
"We're comin, we're comin," he laughed, walking outside.
The others followed behind him, Whit included. I swear, it looked like a couple of them were about to bust out laughing.
At this point, others had come out of their bunk houses to find out what all the racket was. I could feel my eyes well up a bit as they started laughing, seeing what the commotion was all about. It was likely that a few of them had already known about it and were just coming out to watch.
I felt my eyes narrow when I caught Jake in my sight, quickly leaning down and grabbing a rock in my hand. A moment later, it was sent flying, nearly hitting him in the head. It would have too if he hadn't gone ahead and moved.
"Come on, Christine, it was just a joke," Jake chuckled, keeping his eyes pealed for another rock.
"Don't call me Christine!" I yelled, outraged by hearing the name.
I hated it when people called me by my real name. It was a sore reminder of my past.
"If I've told you once, I've told you a hundred times, it's Chris!" I shouted.
All I heard was more laughter, my eyes flitting all over the place at the faces around me. Granted, I'd had worse, far worse. I had a couple idiots at my last job that thought it funny to steal my bra and string it up on the flag pole for all to see. That had been the worst out of any prank they'd pulled.
"Damn it!" I cried, before throwing another rock at him.
After that, I walked off toward the fields, bound and determined to get away from them all.
T
"Whit, Jake, I suggest the two of you get up there and get her stuff down," Slim said, moving to go after her.
"Aw, come on Slim, it was just a joke. Besides, it's late," Jake whined.
"Yeah, well you should have thought of that earlier when you made the decision to pull this crap," he pointed out.
They both whined, but listened nonetheless as they tried going around back.
"George, ya mind goin with me to look for her?" Slim asked, glancing over at the small man.
"Yeah, sure, why not," he shrugged, moving his way toward him.
With that, they walked off toward the fields, intent on finding her and bringing her back.
Alright everyone, there's chapter 2. I hope that everyone liked it? Please, remember to REVIEW and MESSAGE with your thoughts, opinions, ideas and feelings on this story/chapter. I really hope to get some feedback on this one. Thanks everyone and don't forget to check out my PROFILE. I've got stuff for XMEN, FINAL FANTASY, ROBINHOOD: PRINCE OF THEIVES, LABYRINTH, OUTSIDERS and MORE! Thanks everyone!