Prologue

 

For thirty years, nestled within the roots of the Jasmine, the arrowhead lay silently discarded and almost forgotten. Life passed, as it does, and the white flowers blossoming every year were the only reminder of what went before as their delicate scent pervaded the air with persistent regularity.

She breathed a sigh of relief when his coming of age came and went without incident, aware that the Adams curse still lurked deep in the bowels of the earth. The past six months however, found her thinking of how the past might affect his future.

 

***

 

The heavy rains earlier that year soaked into the soil, dislodging the hardened earth. Renewed life, seeking the light, pushed the arrowhead from its grave until it lay exposed waiting for whatever lay just around the corner, over the hill...

 

 

Chapter 1

A Cowboy's Tale

 

The hot dry air made it difficult to breathe, and even with a kerchief over his nose, he choked on the dust blown up from the arid escarpment. Slapping his Stetson on the horse’s hide, Evan Jnr bent his head down against the wind, which dancing to the devil's tune, obliterated the landscape, making it impossible to see the hundred steers waging their own battle against the elements.

 

The weather pattern was unpredictable at best, so when the dust storm came from out of nowhere, it was not so much as a surprise but more of a hindrance as they fought against it for the better part of the afternoon on the final part of the journey from the station towards the homestead. The decision to bring in new stock after a losing a large part of the existing herd earlier in the summer was down to JD. Drought was the cause, over watering and death was the effect. A good half of the stock suffered with one thing or another and this prompted JD to change from Longhorn to Corriente cattle, which his neighbors on the old Johnson farm raised successfully and with less problems over the years.

 

Evan, turning his head towards the faint sound carrying on the wind, saw Tommy gesticulating wildly. Winding his way through the skittish cattle, Evan pulled up beside the young man and yanked down his kerchief.

 

“What’s the problem?” Evan shouted.

 

“We’ve missed the entrance by a hundred yards, need to turn them.” Tommy yelled in return. Evan pulled the kerchief back over his nose and nodded. This was going to be a long afternoon.

 

***

 

Even though the wind abated slightly on the ride home, the dust devils still whirled around the yard. Maya stood at the door as Evan ran across the yard towards the house, she ushered him inside and latched the swing door against the storm.

 

“Don’t move young Evan!” She snapped as a plume of dust followed him into the kitchen. “Clothes off.”

 

“What, in front of you?” Evan looked shocked.

 

“You don’t think I have seen you nekkid before? Let me tell you Evan Junior, I was wiping your ass from the minute you were born and then some... If you think you are going to bring that mess in here after I cleaned this morning, you can forget it and get that look off your face. Clothes... NOW!”

“Geez woman, you get more like Aunt Char every day.”

 

Maya’s glare as she slowly folded her arms gave Evan no doubt as to her intentions if he did not comply. Grumbling, he stripped down to his boxers and walked away from the pile in the middle of the floor.

 

“Uh, think you forgot something boy.” Maya pointed towards the clothes.

 

“What?”

 

“Laundry room? Remember that place where dirty clothes go in and come out clean, pressed, and ready for you to wear?”

 

Evan decided against replying with his first thought, picked up the clothes and amidst another puff of dust, traipsed through the door to the part of the house that he rarely frequented.

 

***

 

The long corridor, which joined the newly built section to the old house, was yet unpainted, and smelled of drying plaster. The doors were still stacked one against each other against the end wall, and Evan wondered what possessed JD to waste money on yet another addition to the ever-growing ranch house when the back rooms and cellar had served their purpose very well over the years.

 

Ben and Jeannie moved into the new wing, built shortly after Evan turned two. JD and Maya converted part of the old house when Jodie married Dylan, and although the newlyweds did not spend much time there in the early years due to their long working hours, once the twins came along, it became the hub of the ranch. This new building extended the kitchen, giving a larger stock room for freezers and row upon row of preserves, which kept Maya occupied during the summer months. It also housed a new larger laundry room and a new office for the latest business venture – Creek Dude Ranch.

 

Log cabins now sat within the tree line on the hill overlooking the sprawling ranch nestling in the valley below. Unobtrusively, they blended into the background, surrounded by pine, which bordered the west side of the creek, and were already paying for themselves.

 

Running Dude Ranch vacations for most of the year, Creek Ranch offered a real ranching experience. The vacationers were encouraged to help with roping, cattle drives, and branding. The general day-to-day work entailed in caring for the Kiger Mustang herd seemed the most popular, and although the ranch now boasted over a hundred working hands, the extra help was always welcome.

 

***

 

“Oooooooh you got no clothes on.” Cheyenne taunted as she ran past Evan in the hall, shortly followed by Dylan Jnr brandishing a toy gun.

 

“Can’t you two find somewhere else to play? Every time I turn around, you are under my feet.” Evan grumbled.

 

He made a grab for Dylan, but the boy evaded his grasp, turned around, and aimed the gun at Evan’s chest.

 

“Hey mister, don’t mess wid Billy tha Kid” Dylan lapsed into his version of a gunslingers drawl.

 

Cheyenne ran past, smacked her brother on the back shouting, “Can’t catch me Billy.” Ducking to avoid Evans arms, she ran shrieking back into the house with Dylan in hot pursuit.

 

Evan shook his head and returned to the kitchen.

 

“Could you go and put some clothes on please? Supper will be ready shortly.” Maya turned to Evan and looked him up and down.

 

“Take my clothes off, put my clothes on. Gimme a break woman. Ok... Ok... I’m gone.”

 

Upstairs Evan turned the on the faucet, admiring himself in the mirror while waiting for the hot water to come through. He was proud of his physique, toughened with the years of hard work, he inherited his strong jaw line from his father, and the near black hair seemed to be a family trait. His dark brown eyes peeped out from long black eyelashes and made him very popular with the women folk, that and his corny chat up lines gave him an advantage over the fairer sex, and they just could not resist his winning ways.

 

That said, and as much as the twins drove him up the wall, he found his thoughts turning to children of his own, however, that meant him finding a wife. That was not on the agenda; he still had a few years of life in him yet before someone roped and tied him.

 

Brushing aside his thoughts, Evan quickly showered and went down to the kitchen, where the entire family sat around the large table for supper. Rushing through his food, Evan leapt from the table when a car horn sounded outside.

 

“Bye y’all, see you in the morning.”

 

“You’ve got to be up early tomorrow, don’t drink too much.”

 

Maya’s words were lost on the breeze as the kitchen door slammed shut.

 

“That boy needs to learn to grow up sometime. At thirty, you would think he might think of finding a nice little wife.” Maya tutted.

 

“You are joshin’ this is an Adams we are talking about.” Ben guffawed.

 

As Evan leapt down the porch steps, something glinting in the earth caught his eye. Stopping suddenly, he backtracked and extricated an earth-encrusted piece of metal from between the Jasmine roots. Brushing it off, he realized it was an old arrowhead. Pleased with his find, he put it into his shirt pocket and ran to the truck where Mikey, Pete and Joey Culpepper - from the neighboring ranch - were hanging out the windows and shouting at him to hurry.

 

There was only a year between him and Mikey and having grown up together, they were best friends. Mikey sang in a local band so they spent many hours in some dance hall or another and along with their love of the rodeo, wherever one was, it was guaranteed the other would not be far away. Like their respective fathers, Ben and Mike, the boys went to school together and caused trouble together. As youngsters, they had a bad reputation however, age matured them somewhat, and now the worst that happened was the odd night in jail after a drunken brawl. A rowdy half hour later, they pulled into the parking lot behind the Saddle Up Bar, piled into the hot pulsing room and ordered some beers. The bar heaved with bodies. Friday night was the time for a little hell raising, even though they all had work the following morning. The jukebox blared in the corner, and the early evening dancers kicked up their heels on the dance floor.

 

Leaning against the bar, Evan surveyed the crowd. Most he knew, an odd new face here and there but nothing outstanding as he scanned the room until his eyes alighted on the blond girl peeking through the partly open door. Something about her made him look twice, and then suddenly, she was gone. He slammed his beer down on the bar and forced his way through the throng, flung open the door and looking around wildly, spied her walking across the road.

 

 “Hey, stop!” Evan ran over and caught up with her on the other side. “Uh... Hi.” He stuttered. “You’re not from round here.”

 

“You noticed huh?” She beamed back at him.

 

 “Whatcha doin’? Want a drink?”

 

“Just going back to the hotel, too noisy in there for me.” She tossed her long blonde hair back from her face and sighed. “Not here long, should have stayed in the hotel and got some sleep I guess.”

 

“Let me buy you a drink Darlin’.” Evan held out his arm, flashed a smile, and forced himself to breathe as her eyes made his heart miss a beat.

 

She hesitated, and then smiled. “Ok Cowboy, lead the way.”

 

Her perfume permeating the air began the tremor, which started in his boots and streaked through his body. By the time they reached the hotel, he was shaking so much he could barely hold open the door.

 

“Ma’am.” He gestured her through the door and shut it behind her. Bending over Evan took a few deep breaths. ‘What is the matter with you man? Get a grip.’ He muttered under his breath.

 

Standing up, he took another deep breath, pulled open the door and walked over to where she stood looking a little bemused. “What’s up Cowboy?”

 

“Oh... Nothin’, needin’ a drink.”

 

***

 

The following morning he awoke alone. Abruptly sitting up he looked around, but the room was empty apart from his clothes, still scattered on the floor.

The night was a little vague. Evan could remember going into the bar, sitting down and losing himself in her alluring blue eyes. He had no idea how they ended up in her room, nor how their clothes ended up on the floor. He did recollect the perfume wafting from her soft sun kissed skin and the feel of her honey soft breasts as they strained against his hands. He remembered her soft belly undulating beneath butterfly kisses and her womanly scent drawing him towards the pheromones exuding from between her legs. The touch of her long slender fingers over his body and her sweet lips engulfing his raging erection flashed through his mind along with the first gasp as he entered her fiery depths and the explosive cry as they came together for the first time. As sleep overtook his sated body in the early hours of dawn, he cradled her in his arms and for a brief moment, realized that he did not even know her name.

 

“Geez thanks lady.” He mumbled while struggling into his clothes and picked up the arrowhead, which fell out of his shirt pocket.

 

He felt used and angrily stormed from the hotel into the bright light. Looking at the cell phone, he swore under his breath. It was nine o’clock, and he was in deep trouble.

 

***

 

The note stayed at the back of the pigeon hole behind reception for four days until the receptionist noticed it when she pulled the key out for the new occupant. Scribbled hastily, the name and telephone number meant nothing to her, and since the last time the room was used was four days ago, she decided that it was of no consequence and threw it in the trash.