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“Yeah,” he said to me quickly, then rose and reached his hand over the desk to shake the sheriff’s. “Thanks for your help. Let me know when he gets that and what all comes after that, if anything.”
“I’ll do it.”
When we left and got back into the truck, I was dumbfounded. “You called a lawyer?”
“Yeah. His name is Richard Chase, and he… owes me.”
I didn’t ask. The name came from Noah’s usually pleasant mouth like he tasted something close to manure. The drive back through town wasn’t as nice as the first time, as my mind couldn’t get a grip on what I’d heard.
Noah said to me, “Eli, now stop worrying over that. I’m sure he’ll be fine getting that watch back, but if not, and he keeps pushing you, you heard the sheriff.”
I thought, maybe, Harvey would be okay with the watch, but something nagged at me, telling me he wouldn’t.
“If he wants a fight, we’ll give it to him, Eli. Stop worrying about it for now. I mean it, or we can’t break that colt.”
I had forgotten about our plans. “I guess, if he feels my tension, he’ll get tense.”
“Yup.”
I sat with my eyes on the world as we moved by, but I saw nothing except the color green. Everything was a blur, as I wasn’t focused on any of it. I tried to chill out and hope for the best, knowing that I needed to do my best for Noah.
By the time we got back, it was too late to do more than eat supper, but the next morning, we got right to work.
After feeding the cattle, we got back to the house, and he led me to the wild horse. There was a separate, round corral near the big one, and that’s where the horse was led by Noah. His calming touch made me feel as if it was going to be easy, but it wasn’t.
As soon as the horse was shut in, I felt his nerves, and he ran around in circles, like he was checking for weak points so he could bust out. I’d felt that caged before, and I stood on the outside of the fence, watching, empathizing.
“Come over here to the fence,” Noah demanded with a smile. “We’re gonna get started now.”
“Can’t we wait until he’s like… tired?”
A cackle came from the man that was unexpected. “Get your ass over here.”
I did, but I wasn’t happy about it. I had visions in my head of the horse breaking through the fencing stomping me to death, but then Noah walked to him, stopping his running, and he placed a hand on the horse’s neck. The horse… bowed to him. He lowered his head like a submissive to a dominant and I stood amazed. “There, boy, good boy.”
The horse was gray, with a long black mane, and a tail that whipped around like he was a Dom in a pit with a flogger. As I watched, though, I saw the real Dom, and he had a soft and easy voice.
“We’re gonna get you ready to saddle in no time, aren’t we, boy?”
I watched Noah, seeing the hand brushing over the horse’s soft coat, the other laid on the horse’s snout, and I was in awe. Even his tail was calmer.
Noah walked with him over to where I stood on the other side of the fence, and the horse moved his head over toward me.
Noah pet his neck as the horse lowered his head again. “He’s taking to you so well.”
“I’ve had him about three months now. Got him off a man in town. He’s only two years old, still a baby, but he’s from real good stock. He had the run of a pasture all that time, barely came in contact with people at all. The former owner, he’s old now, and set to just watch his stock out on his back porch as they run on the grass. Not a bad retirement.”
“No, I can’t say it sounds bad at all.”
“There was something about him, though, this colt. He came right up to me when I went to see the old man. I had to have him. When you connect with a horse, it feels as old as time itself. Like your soul's match or something.”
I noticed that about Noah. He never spoke in terms of short term but made everything feel like it was forever. “That’s… beautiful.”
“Yeah, and I’m a poet or something,” he said, laughing quietly. “Come here now and get a pet in or two. Let’s see how you do.”
I knew I’d fuck up somehow, but I had to try. I shook out my hands, taking a couple of deep breaths, and then I tentatively placed a hand on the horse’s neck, right near Noah’s. The muscles flinched under my hand, but he didn’t move.
“Good job. Now, talk to him, and let him see you. Always be where he can see you,” Noah instructed as his hand came off the horse and he moved back.
