“No, and Mother’s getting impatient withhim.They like Audrey very much—jeez, she and Jesse grew uptogether, but he’s taking his sweet time.”Colt smiled at thethought of his older brother with children.That – would beinteresting…
Sam chuckled.“How about the boys?What kindof trouble have they been up to?”
Trouble seemed to follow Colt’s youngerbrothers, but he always assumed they brought most of it onthemselves.“Miles is at home right now and has a new book out.Momis pleased to see him, of course, but you know Dad is always wary.After Miles spooked his best horse when he was goofing around lasttime, Dad watches him out of the corner of his eye.”Jeanne and Samnodded and laughed.
“I hope one of his books gets made into amovie.That would be so exciting, wouldn’t it, Sam?We could go toa premiere in Hollywood or New York.”Sam gave her a sour look andturned his attention back to Colt.
“Sure.But what about Joey and Janie?Janieespecially seems to get forgotten about with all the excitementthat the twins cause.”
“Very true,” said Colt.“Joey’s home too,painting in Nevada for a while.He had a small exhibition in NewMexico a few months back.Can’t believe Mom didn’t tell you aboutthat.He’s a gifted artist.”
“And Janie…”
“Yes,” he admitted, “My youngest sibling,but certainly not least.You know she attended the University ofNevada, Reno for a year in the teacher education program, but thenshe bailed on it.”
“I know your mother was upset she didn’tcontinue.Since Lily had been a teacher, she was hoping one of herchildren would be one as well,” said Jeanne.
“She just didn’t like it that much.Nowshe’s following Sheriff Bud Moody around town in some kind of jobshadow program.I guess she wants to be a deputy sheriff.That willmean a college law enforcement program.”
“Wow,and to think she was namedafter Jane Austen, your mother’s favorite author.That’s the leastlikely profession we ever would have picked for her.”Sam looked atJeanne quizzically.
“Bud’s retiring soon and laughed when Dadcalled him about it.He recounted some story about Mother faintingin his office, when she and Dad were a new couple.When she was newin Naples?Ever hear that one?It’s a great story.”
“Yes, dear, we’ve heard that one.Evidently,Lily thought she was being stalked by someone in town and went into the Sheriff’s office to talk to Bud about it.Bud apparentlypooh-poohed the whole idea, so she jumped up, hit her head on alow-hanging shelf and knocked herself out cold.Thank God shewasn’t hurt, but your mother has a thing for physical comedy whichSandy dearly loves.”
“Let the boy eat, Jeanne dear.We don’t gethim up here nearly enough and I have grapes and horses to show him.Pack it in, son, and let’s do a tour.”
CHAPTER THREE
Donner Summit was breathtaking.There wereno other words for it, thought Amanda as she looked all around her.Elevation was over 7,000 feet, which alone was incredible.Shestood at the scenic lookout on old Donner Pass Road looking down atsparkling Donner Lake.It sat in a bowl surrounded by tall pines,juniper and mountains with a steep approach from the east and agradual approach from the west.People said the lake glimmered fromthe gold flakes and mica in it.Shimmering, cold mountain lake…
She had visited the State Park Museum andlearned more about the doomed Donner party who had tried to getover the mountains before the winter snows, but were too late.As acounselor, she could empathize with those who lost loved ones, butshe could only wonder what last hours were like for those whoperished.What extraordinary measures some took to stay alive…Amanda shuddered.Frightening thoughts…
Climbing onto a rocky shelf to get adifferent perspective, she caught sight of people on horseback andknew she had to get back up on a horse.She had been hollowed outin Sacramento.What was that expression?She was as far fromherself as a hawk from the moon.That seemed appropriate.Toomuch city life, maybe… Too much smothering from a clingy mother andtoo little attention from an ungrateful boyfriend.She took a deepbreath.Maybe she could figure a few things out up here.It was agood place to start.
Amanda took several shots of Donner Lake andits surroundings before climbing down and getting back into hercar.She had been out exploring her new environs before the new jobstarted on Monday.Being a counselor at a camp for troubled kidswould certainly bring challenges, so she found a small wooden cabinon the west end of Donner Lake.It was only about five miles fromher job, but would give her the much-needed distance to get awayfrom it too.The cabin fit her—a small, one bedroom log cabin withan A-frame roof, stone fireplace and bits and pieces of furniture.Amanda wasn’t that picky about furniture anyway.As long as theplace was clean and had a decent bed, it would be fine.The frontwindow was almost as high as the roofline and had a window seat byit.She envisioned snowy nights by the fire, reading a good book.She sighed and pulled her car up beside it.Tomorrow she would finda place to rent a horse.Amanda needed to get back in the saddleand was ready to do just that.
* * *
The first week in Sonoma, Colt helped withthe eternal grape harvest.He just had to smile remembering howmany harvests he and his family had helped with over the years.Funtimes with a big, loving family.Miles and Joey would, of course,throw the grapes they picked at each other.Dad would be trying toget them to behave.Mother, sisters Meg and Janie were all goodgrape-pickers, but Janie would get a stomach ache from eating asmany as she picked.Colt wasn’t that old at twenty-four, but herecognized the speedy passage of time with his memories.He alsorealized what a stable foundation he had with the Johnson familyand felt grateful.
The next few weeks were taken up with horsetraining.Sam had acquired a few feral mustangs, the ones that arewild on the range and asked Colt to see what he could do with them.Communicating with horses was the equestrian gift Colt had andpeople would come around to watch him work.His process didn’t varytoo much.Today Sam brought in a new mustang that was actingaggressively.It had been caught in a Bureau of Land Managementroundup in Nevada and someone in town had bought it.A few cowboysstood by the corral to watch and to protect Colt, if needed.
Colt walked into the corral and just lookedthe horse over.The horse was skittish if he got too close and ranaround the corral looking for a way out.Colt stood in the middleof the corral and let the horse run.Crouching down in a submissiveposition allowed Colt to check the horse for physical problems.Finding nothing obvious, he straightened up.
“Throw me that rope,” said Colt quietly toone of the cowboys.He coiled the rope and then threw up his armsto get the horse to stop running.Time and patience were the keys.Colt could wait any horse out.When the horse finally stopped tostare at him, Colt reached out to pat his head.If the horse rearedup or again acted aggressively, he would start all over getting thehorse used to him.Sometimes this would take a day or two—dependingon the horse.Today the horse let him get close.Colt was able toget a rope on and lead him to the gate in the corral.Another horsewas saddled for Colt, so he opened the gate, mounted the new horseand led the mustang out into the meadow out back on Sam’s ranch.Heand the mustang rode around and around.They just continued walkingand trotting in circles, as the mustang came to trust him more.When the horse began chewing, Colt knew he was getting where hewanted the horse to go.The next few days he would try to saddleand ride him.
Sam and some other men watched Colt work andmarveled at his technique.Not many cowboys could do this kind ofhorse training and Sam was beginning to get a lot of calls forColt’s expertise.Jeanne volunteered to be his manager.
After an hour or so, Colt brought themustang back into the corral and took the rope off.The mustang wasmuch calmer than before and could be led to another area with otherhorses.Colt was walking back to the house when Jeanne came up withhis cell phone.
“It’s your mother, sweetie.”
“Mom.How are you?”Colt wiped the sweat offhis forehead with his bandanna.
“We miss you.How’s the horse traininggoing?”
“I’ve only been here a few weeks, butGrandma is fielding calls for me to go around the state workingwith horses.I’m thinking about it.Is Dad there?”
