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Authors: James Buchanan
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had the camera been anywhere near. "And I'm curious." I was beyond curious actually. "'Cause her husband, he was acting like he was all distraught and such..."
"But he was only acting like he was fucked up by it."
"You know, the English language is perfectly fine without the use of profanity." I glared at Kabe. I ain't prissy, but I don't need to hear certain words to know someone's serious.
I stewed a might, then let it go. Some things are worth staying angry for ... most ain't. "So, he just don't sit right with either of us." I kicked the dust around for a while, trying not to seem like I was pushing. "Whatcha got on tap for tomorrow?"
Ropes wound about Kabe's feet. "Not much, dude." Slowly, he pulled the length through his fingers, eyeballing the strands for obvious wear, feeling the sheath for internal bunching before letting it coil naturally on the step where he 67
Hard Fall
by James Buchanan
sat. "Sorta feel like a fifth wheel around here on this ranch stuff. It ain't chasing the big one off the point." He snorted like that meant something ... I didn't have a clue, but I figured it must be important to him. "Most of the stuff that I know how to do, it just doesn't mean much here."
My mind shifted into double-time thinking of excuses I could feed him so he'd stay. "Hey, everyone starts somewhere." That time on the cliff made me want to get to know him more ... in a lot of ways. Ninety percent of them my church wouldn't approve of. And I can't say that he didn't tear me six ways over a barrel. Bad news, hot body and a personality that switched from hot to cold quicker than the weather in the mountains.
"I could start by learning to ride a horse." He laughed. For the first time I think I heard real laughter out of him. Not thinly laced sarcasm or spite, but real amusement echoed in warm, deep tones that I could grow to like ... a lot.
If he could hunt me, I could stalk him back, although I tend to be more on the subtle end of the scale. Years of hiding drilled it into my soul. "You know, search and rescue actually is pretty big here. Tourons do stupid stuff, get stranded all the time." Touron ... cross a tourist with a moron and wind up with a search and rescue operation. "T and George'll teach you how to deal with the stock if you want to stick around long enough. And if T don't mind, we do canyon practice here once a month. It's all volunteer, but we can use more guys who can get down a wall." Give him a reason to stick around, something exciting to get his blood up and hook him on the taste of the mountains. "Brian Head is great skiing 68
Hard Fall
by James Buchanan
come winter. Snowbound mountain rescue can be more extreme than the sport that got the tourons in a jam. Virgin River in Zion has white water, pull people out of there a few times a year." Oh man, I sounded like a Utah Tourism commercial; visit scenic backcountry, get in a jam and let me pull you out.
"Not like I have much better." He wrapped the tail end of his rope around the middle of the rest before giving me a wry smile. "I promised my grams I'd be here through my probation. She's worried. It was stupid what I did."
Pushing my Stetson back off my forehead, I played it straight with him. "Look, I ain't gonna yank you." No use pretending I didn't do the background check. Lies like that just got all tangled up 'round your tongue and tripped you up when you least expected it. "I went over your record, know what you went up for. Stupid was climbing the dam." I kicked the dust at my feet then added, "Criminal was possession."
"That was stupid, too."
This I didn't want to probe into; might just ruin the whole fantasy I was building in the back of my head. But it was up and I needed to deal with it. "Accident huh?" I threw out the excuses I'd heard over and over while working the prison.
"Didn't know what you had? Somebody else's backpack?"
Managed, however, to keep my voice from sliding into snide.
He stared at the rope in his hand for a
"But he was only acting like he was fucked up by it."
"You know, the English language is perfectly fine without the use of profanity." I glared at Kabe. I ain't prissy, but I don't need to hear certain words to know someone's serious.
I stewed a might, then let it go. Some things are worth staying angry for ... most ain't. "So, he just don't sit right with either of us." I kicked the dust around for a while, trying not to seem like I was pushing. "Whatcha got on tap for tomorrow?"
Ropes wound about Kabe's feet. "Not much, dude." Slowly, he pulled the length through his fingers, eyeballing the strands for obvious wear, feeling the sheath for internal bunching before letting it coil naturally on the step where he 67
Hard Fall
by James Buchanan
sat. "Sorta feel like a fifth wheel around here on this ranch stuff. It ain't chasing the big one off the point." He snorted like that meant something ... I didn't have a clue, but I figured it must be important to him. "Most of the stuff that I know how to do, it just doesn't mean much here."
My mind shifted into double-time thinking of excuses I could feed him so he'd stay. "Hey, everyone starts somewhere." That time on the cliff made me want to get to know him more ... in a lot of ways. Ninety percent of them my church wouldn't approve of. And I can't say that he didn't tear me six ways over a barrel. Bad news, hot body and a personality that switched from hot to cold quicker than the weather in the mountains.
"I could start by learning to ride a horse." He laughed. For the first time I think I heard real laughter out of him. Not thinly laced sarcasm or spite, but real amusement echoed in warm, deep tones that I could grow to like ... a lot.
If he could hunt me, I could stalk him back, although I tend to be more on the subtle end of the scale. Years of hiding drilled it into my soul. "You know, search and rescue actually is pretty big here. Tourons do stupid stuff, get stranded all the time." Touron ... cross a tourist with a moron and wind up with a search and rescue operation. "T and George'll teach you how to deal with the stock if you want to stick around long enough. And if T don't mind, we do canyon practice here once a month. It's all volunteer, but we can use more guys who can get down a wall." Give him a reason to stick around, something exciting to get his blood up and hook him on the taste of the mountains. "Brian Head is great skiing 68
Hard Fall
by James Buchanan
come winter. Snowbound mountain rescue can be more extreme than the sport that got the tourons in a jam. Virgin River in Zion has white water, pull people out of there a few times a year." Oh man, I sounded like a Utah Tourism commercial; visit scenic backcountry, get in a jam and let me pull you out.
"Not like I have much better." He wrapped the tail end of his rope around the middle of the rest before giving me a wry smile. "I promised my grams I'd be here through my probation. She's worried. It was stupid what I did."
Pushing my Stetson back off my forehead, I played it straight with him. "Look, I ain't gonna yank you." No use pretending I didn't do the background check. Lies like that just got all tangled up 'round your tongue and tripped you up when you least expected it. "I went over your record, know what you went up for. Stupid was climbing the dam." I kicked the dust at my feet then added, "Criminal was possession."
"That was stupid, too."
This I didn't want to probe into; might just ruin the whole fantasy I was building in the back of my head. But it was up and I needed to deal with it. "Accident huh?" I threw out the excuses I'd heard over and over while working the prison.
"Didn't know what you had? Somebody else's backpack?"
Managed, however, to keep my voice from sliding into snide.
He stared at the rope in his hand for a
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