Page 1 of Schooling Little Sage

Chapter One

Welp, here I am.

Standing in front of the ginormous, fancy wrought iron gates that spanned the width of the driveway that led into Rawhide Ranch. About to begin a new life in a world I knew nothing about.

Ranching.

Who was I kidding? I knew nothing about any world outside of the four walls I grew up inside and even that was minimal given my parents rarely talked to me.

I stared the gates down, as if they’d open at my mindless command and my rescuer would arrive, riding atop his trusty steed to save me. Clearly I’d read far too many of Mama’s romance novels over the years. I’d been told a million times that I had my head in the clouds and to stop dreaming. But if it wasn’t for my imagination, my days would’ve been spent sulking and wishing for a better life.

Not that I didn’t do both already.

Papa swore this was the best place for me to be. Not sure what he meant by that but here I was. Since he and Mama sold our house and decided to move to Florida, I’d gotten dropped off here along their way. Sometimes being a later-in-life oopsie wasn’t the best. My parents fed and clothed me and did all the basic stuff, but it stopped there. They weren’t mean, not always, they just kind of went through the parental motions with minimal effort and counted down the days until their responsibility came to an end.

Being in their sixties, the long, cold winter months were hard on them, and I wasn’t much help. Papa always said, boy, you’ve got enough energy to fuel a factory, but when it comes to putting a hammer to nails, you’re damn near useless. So um, yeah, hyperactivity wasn’t always my friend, nor were tools.

Pretty much nothing was.

My folks met at the Ranch when they were in their twenties. Mama had been visiting with her family while Papa worked here when it was still a working ranch. What I couldn’t understand was why it was so big if the people here no longer worked it? Either way, he said there were good folks here who’d help me find my place in life. Just didn’t get why their new plans didn’t include me. Was I that much of a burden? Why couldn’t my place in life be in Florida too?

As soon as the ground thawed, they loaded up a trailer to tow behind their truck and were off on their new adventure.

Guess this was mine…

I didn’t choose this one, they chose it for me just like everything else right down to my clothes. Even helped me fill out the online application to apply here. The questions were way over my head, but Papa said they’d send me to school while I earned my keep. Papa told me he’d been good friends with Master Derek’s grandfather before he’d passed away. It was starting to sound more and more like a boarding school.

Great…

I could always turn and run, considering I still hadn’t been let in yet. Live in the trees like Tarzan. King of my own jungle, the only problem with that was that this king didn’t know the first thing about taking care of himself, let alone navigating a giant jungle.

What was wrong with me?

“My name is Tiago, and this is Rhodes. Can we help you? Are you lost?” the nearest guard asked, jolting me from my pity party for one.

“I-I, I’m Sage Mc-McDowell. Here to see Master, um”—come on Sage, you’ve got this—“Master Derek.”

He went back inside the small building and a few seconds later the gate opened and he returned. “Let me give you a ride to the main resort building where Master Derek’s office is.”

Guess that meant I was on the list. Hopefully, it was the right one to be on.

I clutched my bag tightly, filled with everything I owned as we rode along in the cart, twisting my fidget spinner to help ground myself. It didn’t always work, but with my nerves as on edge as they were, it was my only vice.

Huge trees lined the gravel driveway. The fresh air blew through my hair as we drove along. It was nice, soothing even and helped calm me down. Being outdoors had always done that for me.

The grass between their trunks was so thick and green the urge to run shoeless through it had me wishing my silent driver would stop, just for a second. Who was I kidding? Even if he did speak to me I’d only retreat inside my shell and hide. More than once, Mama had called me a turtle. For a long time, I thought it was because of my love for the reptile. Finally, in my teens the reality of the wayward nickname hit me.

Maybe I’d have some downtime after work tonight and could come back and run barefoot through it for a bit. Would they let me? Was it against the rules? I had so much to learn about life here. I just hoped it wasn’t all spent indoors and they didn’t kick me to the curb like my parents had when they figured out I was useless too.

Papa always said I was a full-time job. Now, I’d have my first one. I had no clue where Master Derek was gonna stick me, but at this point, I’d scrub dishes just to avoid being left out on my own and prove my parents wrong. I wasn’t a waste of the air I breathed. I was just… different.

There must be someone out there who’ll love me for me. Someone who wants to take care of me. Secret dreams and all.

Twenty-one years old and finally left the nest. Not by choice, but I was out just the same. Would my parents come back for me some day when I became the man they wanted me to be? Wasn’t twenty-one supposed to be some sort of big milestone?

Likely not.

“Sage?” Tiago asked.