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“She would have come back,” Celia said as she led the way into the barn.
The cat started purring. He liked the feel of it. “I’m like the boy. Don’t want her getting too far away from her litter.”
“Mark’s playing with them. I don’t think he realizes. I haven’t done a good job of impressing it on him that he has to… he can’t just…”
Cougar squatted beside the boy and released the cat into the newspaper-lined box, to the delight of her squirming, mewling kittens.
“Oh, look how welcome Mama is,” Celia said.
Cougar watched the kittens latch on to Mama for lunch. Mark was busy making sure all seven were hooked up. He didn’t seem to realize that disaster had zoomed in so close that its sickening taste still filled Cougar’s mouth. Maybe the boy had already filed the lesson away, and it would serve him down the road. Cougar wished he could do the same—a wish he probably shared with the kid’s mom. He turned, looking for confirmation, a little eye contact with her big, magnetic brown eyes, but she wasn’t there anymore. Not the hovering kind, apparently.
But how did she know Cougar wasn’t some kind of a whack job? She’d already told him he had the two of them pretty much all to himself. He’d drop a word of caution if he were the interfering kind of a…
He heard soft mewling—the human variety—coming though an open door to a dark room. He assured himself that the boy was thoroughly occupied before he stepped close to the door.
“Celia?” Her name rolled off his tongue as though he’d been saying it for years.
She drew a hiccough-y breath. “I’m… okay.”
She’s okay. Walk away.
“Doesn’t sound like it.”
“I just don’t want him to see me,” she whispered desperately.
Cougar stepped through the door. It was a tack room, and the woman stood tucked among the bridles. Small and slim as she was, she might have been one of them.
“How close was it, really?” she asked, her voice reedy.
“Close.”
“You couldn’t see him, but you stopped?”
“That’s right.” He didn’t quite know what to do with himself now that he’d crossed his own line. He’d just met the woman, and he felt like he was looking at her naked. He took a leather headstall in hand and hung on, steadying himself for a bumpy ride. “Some people have eyes in the back of their head. I have something inside my head. It picks up where the eyes and ears leave off. Sometimes. Not… not always.”
“Whatever it is, I need some.”
He gave a dry chuckle. “It doesn’t always turn out this good.”
“It did this time. Mark’s in his own world, and I’m on the outside, trying to look in. I blink, and he gets away from me.” She drew a quavering breath. “But he’s not hurt. What am I blubbering about?”
“I’ve still got the shakes, too. We know what could have happened. Mark doesn’t, so he doesn’t need to worry too much right now. We can do that for him.”
“He does know what could have happened. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knows better than we do.” She swallowed so loudly Cougar could taste her tears. “He had a terrible accident. Lost an eye.”
“Car accident?”
“No. It happened…” She shut herself down. He had all the details he was getting right now. “This isn’t the first time I blinked.”
“Won’t be the last. You got another pair of eyes in your family?”
“Mark’s father and I are divorced.” She paused, shifting gears. “I want what you have. A mother’s instincts aren’t enough with a child like Mark.”
“Ordinarily I’d say take mine, but I’m glad I had it goin’ on today.”
“Me, too.” She took a swipe at each eye with the back of her wrist as she emerged from her little harbor. “Just Cougar?”
“It’s all I need. Pretty big name.”
“It’s a great name.” He took half a step back as she edged past him. A singular moment had passed. “You know, the winner of the training contest gets twenty thousand dollars.”
“Yeah, that’s what Sergeant Tutan said.” He followed her through the tack room door. “Mary Tutan. She’s the one who told me about the competition.”
“Oh, yes, Mary,” she said, her voice brightening. “She just got married.”
“I stopped in and met her husband before I came here. She’s…”
“… back in Texas.”
“Says she’s put in for discharge. Kinda surprised me.” Seeing the boy with the kittens made him smile. “Sergeant Tutan had lifer written all over her. She’s a damn good soldier. Uncle Sam will miss her, but she’s served well.”
She took his measure with a look. “You, too?”
“I’ve been out for two months now. Officially.” Which was like saying her son had had an accident. There was a lot more to it, but nobody wanted to go there. “Tell Sally I’ll be at Logan’s place. I’ll check back in with her.” He reached down and touched Mark’s shoulder. “You’ve got a nice family there.” The boy offered up a little calico. Cougar rubbed the top of its head with his forefinger and nodded. “They’re too young to leave their mama.”
“Maybe we’ll see you when you come back for your horse,” Celia said. “You’ll get to choose.”
“If Mark’s around, maybe he could help me with that.” He still had the boy’s attention, maybe even some awareness of what he was saying. Cougar felt some connection. Close calls could have that effect. He’d experienced enough of them to know that. “I’ll bet you know the mustangs around here pretty well. I could use your advice.”
“He’d like that,” Celia said. “Thank you. I…” She laid her hand on his arm. Against his will he turned, took her eyes up on their offer of a clear view into her heart. “Thank you.”
He couldn’t wait to get out the door. He couldn’t handle that kind of gratitude. It wasn’t about anything he’d done. It was about not doing the unthinkable. At best it was about an accident that hadn’t happened, and he needed to put some distance between his image of what might have been and the faces in the image.
At the same time he wanted to hang around, which was pretty damned surprising. And it was about as uncomfortable as a new pair of boots.
Logan Wolf Track lived in a log house just outside the town of Sinte, where he served as a tribal councilman for his Lakota people. Cougar’s mother had been Lakota, but he was enrolled with the Shoshone, his father’s people. Cougar hadn’t met Logan until he’d knocked on the Wolf Track door the previous night. Sergeant Mary Tutan Wolf Track was the person they had in common. A white woman, strangely enough.
Or maybe it wasn’t that strange. Indian country was more open these days than ever before, what with the casinos and educational programs that opened up opportunities for people on both sides of what had long been an unchallenged fence. But before these changes and beyond Indian country, there had been the military. Cougar’s people had been serving in ever-increasing numbers for generations.
Cougar had been an army police officer—an MP—and Mary had been a dog handler. She’d served as a trainer—most recently in Afghanistan—and as far as Cougar was concerned she was the best trainer in uniform. She’d paid him a visit in the hospital in Kandahar, and she’d written to him after he was transferred stateside. More recently, they’d spoken by phone. Their mutual interest in training animals had given her something cheerful to talk about, and when Mary had talked up the wild horse training competition, she had his full attention. She’d planted an idea that had pulled him out of the seclusion he’d sought after his release from a VA hospital.
Cougar was glad to see Logan’s pickup parked in his driveway. It wasn’t home—Cougar towed his house around with him these days—but Logan Wolf Track was the kind of guy who made you feel at home. Fellow Indian, fellow cowboy, husband of a fellow soldier. Logan opened the door before Cougar’s knuckles hit the wood.
“Did you get signed up?” Logan asked as he handed Cougar a welcoming cup of coffee.
“Not yet.” Cougar settled in the kitchen chair Logan offered with a gesture. “The boss was out.”
“Nobody around?” He said it like such a thing never happened.
“There was a woman. A volunteer, she said. And her kid.” Cougar took a sip of kick-ass and cut-to-the-chase coffee. He closed his eyes and drew a deep breath. “I almost ran over the kid.”
Logan let the quiet take over, leaving Cougar to take his time, sort though the images. They were jumpy, like an old silent movie, until he came to the woman. Her face was clear in his mind, and her voice poured over the images like slow dance music.
“He’s okay,” Cougar said. “Came out of nowhere, but I hit the brakes in time. Scared the hell out of me, and I think I scared the hell out of his mom. The kid…” He shook his head. “Hell, he didn’t seem to notice. Can’t talk, can’t hear and he’s half blind. I didn’t see him.” Another sip of coffee fortified him. “Damn, that was close.”
Logan put a plate of frybread on the table and took a seat across from his guest. “Your pickup sits up pretty high.”
Cougar nodded. “I gotta get rid of those monster tires. My little brother had the truck while I was gone, and he thought he was doing me a favor tricking it out like that. Coming home present, you know?”
“How do they ride?”
“Like saddling up a plow horse. Somehow I gotta tell Eddie the monster truck days are behind me.”
“That’s hard. A gift is a gift.”
“And the monster truck was a kid’s dream.” Cougar lifted his cup. “Good coffee. Tastes like Green Beans. Honor first, coffee second,” he recited, paying tribute to one of the few things he missed about being deployed in the Middle East.
Logan smiled. “You and Mary were in the same outfit?”
“No, but she worked pretty closely with us. She’s a real specialist. I’m the guy nobody invites to the party.”
“But when the party turns ugly, it’s the guy with MP on his sleeve who kicks ass in a good way.”
“That’s what we’re all about. I’ve kicked a lot of ass.” He helped himself to a piece of frybread. “You’ve been over there?”
“Gulf War.” Logan claimed a piece of frybread and tore it in half. “I was a kid when I went over there. Came back desperate to find some kind of normal. I found myself a hot woman and married up. She cooled off real fast. Took off and left me with her two boys. Who became my two boys.” He took a bite out of the chewy deep-fried bread. “Did Mary tell you we’re gonna have a baby?”
“Already?”
“Hell, yeah. You know what else? Normal’s the name of a town somewhere. Who needs Normal when you’ve got Sinte, South Dakota? Or… Wyoming, right? Where in Wyoming? You probably—”
“I probably didn’t say. Right now it’s wherever I park my outfit.” He nodded toward the front door. “Room to haul two horses and sleep two people.”
“What else does a guy need?” Logan asked with a grin.
“Not much.” Cougar gazed out the patio door and past the deck toward Logan’s corrals and pole barn. It wasn’t a fancy setup, but it was trim and orderly. “My brother and I have some land west of Fort Washakie. We own a quarter section, and we leased some grazing land, but he gave up the lease while I was gone.” He lifted a shoulder. “Can’t blame him. I was gone.”
“Were you running cattle?”
“I had horses. Eddie had to sell them.” But that wasn’t what he wanted to think about right now. He turned back to his new friend. “You know the people over at the Double D pretty well?”
“I know Sally. She and Mary have been friends a long time. Hell of a woman, that Sally Night Horse. She has multiple sclerosis, but she doesn’t let it slow her down much.” Logan offered a knowing look. “She has a lot of volunteers coming in to help. What’s the name of the woman you met?”
“Celia Banyon. The boy’s name is Mark.”
“Oh, sure. Celia’s a teacher.” Logan smiled. “Pretty little thing.”
“Pretty enough.” Logan’s smile was slightly irritating, but Cougar caught himself half smiling, too.
“Careful,” Logan said. “You crack your face, you’re gonna feel it.”
Cougar laughed. “Ouch. Damn, that smarts.”
“It looks good on you. Like you said, no harm done. Shake it off, cowboy.” Logan warmed up Cougar’s coffee with a refill. “What kind of horse are you looking for?”
“A war pony. One that can go all day without complaining.”
“You do know it’s a contest.”
“Mary said you can train the horse for anything you want.”
“You have to turn out a useful horse. Not much call for war ponies these days.”
“That’s what I’m calling for. A war pony prospect.” Cougar leaned back in his chair and stretched his legs under the table. “I did some endurance racing before I enlisted. Mustangs and Arabs are the best mounts for endurance, far as I’m concerned.”
“That’s how you’d prove your horse?”
“If they’re pretty open on what you can train the horse for, I don’t see why not. Endurance is a good sport. Good for the horse, great for the rider. From what I’ve read, it’s even more popular than it was back when I tried it out. You think I can get approved to train a war pony?”
“I think you’d round out Sally’s contestant collection pretty nicely.” Logan grinned. “Especially now that I’m out of it.”
“She needs an Indian replacement?”
“Indian cowboy.” Logan chuckled. “Talk about your dying breeds, huh? Cowboys are scarce enough, but us Indian cowboys…”
“Why’d you take yourself out?”
“The horses will be auctioned off after the thing is over, and my wife and I…” He smiled, clearly pleased with the words. “We decided Adobe was worth more to us than winning the competition, so we adopted him and took him out of the running.”
“Sweet. The horse is out of the running. The owner’s off the market.”
“Both owners.”
“Sergeant Tutan deserves the best.” Cougar glanced out the patio door again, taking in Logan’s setup. “You’ve got a round pen out there. How do you like it?”
“When you get your horse, you come try it out. I wouldn’t be without one.”
“They weren’t expecting me at the Double D,” Cougar admitted. “I told them I was coming, but I didn’t exactly say when. Sunrise this morning, I didn’t think about it too much. Felt like a good time to take a drive.”
“And now you’re here,” Logan said. “So take your time. Stay here tonight, and I’ll head over there with you tomorrow. I never miss a chance to go looking at horses.”
“I just need a place to park.”
“Plenty of parking space, but there’s also a spare room.” Logan indicated the hallway with a jerk of his chin. “It’s yours if you want it.”
Cougar wanted peace and privacy. He needed to build a new life, and he would start with what he loved most.
Horses.
