Sam stood by the barn, shielding her eyes from the sun as the truck slowed to a stop in front of her. The driver got out and came to where she was standing, "Howdy, ya'll ready for this load today?" he asked, with a smile that matched his cowboy hat, it was huge. He was a full head shorter than Sam and his jeans looked like they were too heavy for his hips, but his smile was worth a million bucks. Sam couldn't help but feel a little brighter as she shook his hand, "To tell you the truth, I forgot all about them. The truck will make it to the pasture though, I'll get my truck and lead you there." "No hurry, I was hoping to bum a cup a coffee off ya, my name is Bubba." he told her. Sam was glad to hear that he wasn't in a hurry to make time today. "I'd be glad to have a cup myself." she smiled at him. Bubba followed Sam into the kitchen and she made the coffee, then sat at the table across from him. "You know, I wasn't expecting a girl, I mean a.. female to take these cows. Where's your dad?" he asked Sam. Sam wasn't sure how to respond to this, so she carefully chose her words, "Do you know my dad?" Bubba laughed, "Yeah honey, he and I have been doing business for many years. Jake usually takes the cows in when I come though, although the last few times, my ranch hand Ben has brought 'em down." Sam realized now who he was and felt relieved, she didn't want to tell just anyone that she was alone on the ranch. "Are you.. Mr. Lawrence?" she asked. He shook his head and said, "I sure am, sorry, I should have introduced myself better. Where is Luke today, I'm sure I got the delivery date right."
Sam took a deep breath, "In the hospital. He had a heart attack last week and I hope he will be home by tomorrow." "I'm right sorry to hear that hon. What about Jake, guess he has his hands full, huh?" Bubba said with a sympathetic smile. Sam got the coffee and as she poured it told him the whole story about Jake. It felt good to talk about it to someone she didn't even know, although Sam didn't have a clue why it did. Bubba just had a way about him, that let you know you could get stuff off your chest and he would just listen without judging you. "You mean you're taking care of things all by yourself?" Bubba suddenly realized and asked her. She laughed, "Well, yeah, I'm all there is. I have begun to realize, that with hay cutting coming up, I've got to look for someone to hire."
Bubba hit the table with his fist, "I've got the perfect person for you. A friend of mine over in Tulesville just lost his place to the bank, his whole crew is looking for work. Jericho Landon was his manager, a good man to have. Want me to send him over to talk to you?" Sam nodded vigorously, "Yes, please. " She said gratefully. The door opened and Ned stuck his head in, "Got enough for me?" Sam laughed and introduced him to Bubba, while getting him a cup and introducing him to Bubba. "Well, this day must be providence for sure!" Bubba said. "I heard you was veting around here, and I am in sore need of one right now. Doc Thompson can't work anymore and his assistant, or intern, whatever he is, just don't suit me, he's a city girl. I heard you know your stuff, doc, and don't mind getting your hands dirty." Ned laughed at Bubba's description of the young vet. He was a bit girly.
"Sam, I needed to ask you a question." Ned said. "Do you know Holly Davis?" Sam smiled, "You might know it wouldn't take you long to find the prettiest girl in town, why?" Ned tucked his head down, "I thought you might put in a good word for me. I keep asking her out, but she won't say yes." "Sure Bud, I'll drop by the store and give you a great review, she won't be able to resist you when I get through." Ned smacked at her and then hugged her before getting in his truck and leaving.
Sam headed back to the house, in need of a shower before she tried to find some supper. Just as she opened the door, a scream came from the barn. Sam turned around and listened again, it didn't sound like a lion, but close to it. Mountain lions had been known to come in close to the barns before. She ran to the barn without even getting her rifle out of the truck and threw the door open, anxious to check on the horses inside. Standing on a bucket, holding onto the gate of one of the stalls, was a young girl about six years old. A long black snake was crawling down the center of the barn aisle. Sam went to the child and picked her up, "Where in the world did you come from?" The child pointed to the loft. Sam couldn't imagine that she was telling the truth. She took her outside and stood her up. "You've been staying in the loft? All by yourself?" The child shook her head no and said, "My brother was with me. But he left." Sam looked at the child, seeing that she was filthy and thin. "How long have you been there?" she asked the child. The girl shrugged her shoulders, "Tommy said he couldn't take care of me anymore, when I woke up he was gone, and he took all the popcorn."
Sam was beyond surprised and didn't know what to do. One thing was for sure, the child needed a bath and some food. "Come on, we'll find you something to eat, how does that sound?" The child nodded, still afraid. Sam took her by the hand and they went to the house. She drew a bath and told the girl to wash her hair. It was full of hay and Sam couldn't quite tell what color it was. While the child was in the bath, she went to her own room and got a tee shirt and an old pair of shorts. When she went back to check on her, she was just sitting in the tub with tears running down her dirty cheeks. Sam's heart just melted and she knelt beside the tub, "What's wrong honey? Can I help you?" She laid the child back in the water and shampooed her hair three times, putting her special conditioner on it too, leaving it smelling like a field of flowers. After the bath was done and Sam had blown her hair dry and tied a knot in the shorts, so they wouldn't fall off, she led her to the kitchen and sat her in the chair. She looked so tiny and forlorn sitting in the chair with her head down, Sam couldn't help but want to cheer the child up.
"Now, let's see what we can find in here." Sam said, peering into the fridge. "How about some fried chicken? There's plenty of that here." She brought out the chicken and the jelly. Spreading a thick slice of bread with the jelly and placing it on a plate in front of her, Sam stood back. "Oh, how about some milk? Oops, we're out of milk, but we do have orange juice, would you like some of that?" The child nodded and stuffed the jelly bread into her mouth with both hands, she was literally starving. Sam wished that she had gone to the store, but she would find enough to feed her for now, with what they had on hand. She looked over at the child while she made another bread and jelly sandwich. "My name is Sam, what's yours?" After a moment she swallowed and said, "Lily." Sam sat down with a plate of chicken for herself, "Lily, where are your folks?" The child put her hands over her face and cried into them. Sam was unsure what to do, she wasn't at all used to children, but went over to her and told her it would be alright. She picked her up and sat her in her lap, rocking her back and fourth.
The phone rang and Sam dreaded talking to her mom, she wasn't ready to tell her about Lily yet, although she didn't really know why. "Hi Mom! How are you two tonight?" she asked. She quickly hung up the phone and cut on the television for Lily, hoping she would settle down and feel more comfortable. Sam sat across from her in her dad's recliner and pretended to look through the paper. Lily kept a watchful eye on her and didn't seem to be sleepy at all. Sam realized that Lily didn't really know what was going to happen to her, Sam didn't either, but she had feelings stirring within her for this little girl. Feelings she had never thought of having before.
Still sitting with the paper on her lap, Sam wondered for the first time in life if she had the stuff to be a mom. realizing that feelings for this child had stirred something in her. Her life so far had been concentrated on the ranch, doing a man's work, leaving little time for a life outside of the ranch. Occasionally she would have dinner with an old friend, but then it would be months again, before she left the ranch for anything that didn't require a truck to haul feed or lumber back home. Sam reached up to brush a hair from her eyes and realized she needed a haircut, something she rarely did either. Glancing over at Lily, her heart melted again, seeing the frailness of the child. She must not have had much to eat lately at all, and Sam wanted to take care of that too.
Sam tucked Lily into her own bed and cut the light off. It was too late to call her mother at the hospital, and she didn't know what to tell her anyway yet. She also wanted to keep Lily to herself for some unknown reason for awhile. It seemed now, that she had been very wrong about who was in the barn, and she had to figure out what to do with the child. She looked down at Dog, lying beside her chair and knew where he had come from. The children had let him go, so he could find food for himself and the dog, smart boy that he was, had found her father. Now, the child had found her....she looked at the doorway to the kitchen. Lily stood there staring at her, "I was scared.." she said.
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