I Will Put My Trust in You

 By Johannah G. (ages 14-17)

Spring roundup is here and the Carter brothers, along with Andi and their father are all going.

But when things start to go wrong, how will the Carter children, especially Chad, react?

   

Saturday, March 14, 1874

Early morning – Chad’s POV

                 “Hey, wait for me!”

         Chad Carter turned to see his little sister Andi racing from the house towards Father. “This is a bad idea,” he mumbled to himself.

         A roundup was no place for a five year old girl. Especially when that five year old girl was as reckless as Andi. But Father had wanted her to go with them, so there wasn’t much Chad could do about it.

         “Come along Andi,” Father’s voice broke into Chad’s musings.

         Andi hurried across the yard and into Father’s arms. He picked her up and flung her into the saddle of his horse, Caesar, and jumped on behind her. “Well boys, lets get started.”              Chad pulled himself up into the saddle and nudged his horse Sky into a trot. He spotted Melinda emerging from the chicken coop and waved.

         Melinda waved back and hurried towards the house.

         Father had asked if Melinda wanted to go too, but she said no. She said all the dust and grime would ruin her hair. Only two years ago, Melinda was riding and racing with the best of them, but now all she was concerned with was pretty dresses and doing her hair.

         He turned his attention back to the line of horses ahead of him. Behind Father, Justin and Mitch, along with ranch foreman Sid McCoy, talked and laughed about the upcoming few days. Chad couldn’t wait to start rounding up some cattle.  It was all he’d thought about for the past few days.

He couldn’t help worrying about Andi however. What if something happens to her? What if she suddenly goes missing, like Kate?

         “Hey, Chad!” Mitch called, swiveling in his saddle to face his brother.

         “What?”

         “Get your head out of the clouds big brother,” he grinned. “Aren’t you excited!”

         Chad dug his heels into Sky’s flank, urging his horse to go faster. “Yeah, sure I’m excited. Its just...” he trailed off. He let his gaze wander till it landed on Andi.

         Mitch slowed his horse with a slight tug on the reins and pulled up beside Chad. “Andi will be fine, Chad,” he kept his voice low. “Would you quit worrying and have some fun?”

         Chad swallowed hard, “Sorry.”

         “Chad, I can tell something is bothering you, what is it?” Mitch looked concerned.

         He forced a grin, “nothing’s bothering me.”

         “Is it Kate?”

         Chad cringed, “How’d you guess?”

         “The look on your face says it all, big brother,” Mitch placed his hand on Chad’s shoulder. “Don’t worry about Andi, she’s in good hands. She won’t end up like Kate. Besides, its only for one day.”

         He smiled. “You’re right, little brother.  I guess I was just getting concerned over nothing.”            “Come on boys, hurry up!”

         Father’s voice sliced through the air, ending the boys conversation.

         “Coming Father.” Chad relaxed, Mitch was right. After all, what could possibly go wrong?

  

On the trail – Andi’s POV

 

         “How much farther Father?” Andi Carter asked. They’d been on the trail for hours and she hurt all over.

         “Not much farther, honey.” His arm tightened around her waist and he gently kissed the top of her head. “You want to go back?”

         “No!” She shook her head, “I just hurt a little bit.”

         Father chuckled, “I’m sure you do. Don’t worry, we’ll be there soon.”

         Andi sighed, her shoulders slumped. She swiveled her head around to look at her brothers. Justin caught her eye, smiled and winked. Andi grinned back. Chad and Mitch were deep in conversation about something. Probably arguing again.

         “Andi, look.”  

         She whirled around, and gasped. A huge clearing stood in front of them, filled with cattle. “Father,” she squealed. “Look at all those cattle!”

         Father laughed, deep and hearty. “Yes, my dear.”

         “Can I have one, Father?”

         “If you can lasso one, little sister, you can have one.” Chad teased, pulling his horse up beside them. “Although I don’t know why you would want a calf.”

         “Chad, you know I can lasso a calf.” She grinned mischievously, “maybe even better than you, big brother. And I don’t want one to keep, just one to practice lassoing with for a while.”

              Chad’s eyes widened.

              Father chuckled, “she got you there son.”

              He threw up his hands in surrender, “alright Andi, you win. Come on, lets have some dinner.”

         Everyone dismounted and Sid McCoy started handing out sandwiches. Elizabeth Carter always made sure the men going along on the roundup had plenty to eat for the day.

         Everybody sat down to take a break and eat. Andi grew more and more impatient. She plopped down on the ground next to Justin. “When do I get to lasso a calf?”

         Justin wrapped an arm around his sister, “When we finish eating we’ll start rounding up the cattle.”

              “I wish Riley could’ve come with us. He wanted to come so bad.”

              “Well, I think Cook needed Riley’s help today, maybe he can come next year.”

         “Okay,” Andi jumped up and wandered over to where Mitch was brushing his horse, Chase. “Can I help?”

         “Sure.” Mitch handed her a brush and together they gave Chase a nice rubdown. “Thanks sis. You excited?”

              “Yeah,” Andi handed the brush back to Mitch. “It just seems like everything is taking forever.”

         “I know, But we’ll have plenty of time to round up the cattle, and then we’ll have some fun afterwards.”

         I hope they hurry up.  What if all the cattle leave before I get a chance to lasso one? She voiced her fears to Mitch, who laughed.

              “The cattle aren’t going anywhere Andi, don’t worry, okay?”

              “Okay Mitch.”

   

Roundup – Chad’s POV

 

          “Boy, Andi sure is restless today.” Chad commented, flinging his saddle onto Sky’s back. He watched his sister go from Justin to Mitch and then back to Justin again.

         “She’s just excited, it is her first roundup after all.” Father laid his hand on his son’s shoulder. “Andi will be fine Chad, don’t worry.”

         Am I that obvious? “Sorry Father.” He jumped into the saddle again, “I’ll try.” Chad dug his heels into Sky’s side and started off at a gallop. Both horse and rider were eager to begin the day.

         Two hours later though, all of Chad’s enthusiasm drained away. And I thought running the ranch by myself for a few days was hard. Rounding up, and then corralling all the cattle took forever. He glanced at Father, who was helping Andi rope a calf from atop Caesar’s back.

         Andi twirled a lasso over her head with expert skill. After a while she let it loose. Chad watched as it landed perfectly over the head of one of the smallest calves. She squealed her delight and pulled the rope tight.

         “Good job little sis,” he called.

Andi turned towards him and waved. Her face was full of pure delight.

         “At least someone’s having fun,” he muttered sullenly. Quickly dismounting, he tied Sky to one of the posts and walked over to the large corral, which was full of cattle. The enormous beasts were restless and angry at having their babies taken from them. Better be careful, don’t want to cause a stampede.

         “What are you thinking about, son?” Father asked coming up behind him on Caesar.

         “Just thinking about the work.” Chad grinned guiltily. “I didn’t remember it being so hard last year.”

         Father laid his hand on Chad’s shoulder. “That’s because you had a lot more responsibility. You pulled your own weight this year, and I’m proud of you.”

         Chad turned his attention to Andi and Mitch, who were walking towards them. “Thanks Father.” He shifted uncomfortably at his father’s praise.

         “Andi, you can sit over there on the fence and watch for now.” Mitch was saying as he and Andi came up to them.

         Andi’s brow furrowed and her mouth formed into a pout. “But why?”

         “Because,” Chad took a step towards Andi. “Its to dangerous for you to be in there right now.”

         She crossed her arms and glared at him. “Who put you in charge?”

         “I did.”

         “Chad, you are so mean, and bossy too!”

         Father stepped in between the two and held out his hands. “Enough! Andi, apologize to your brother, and Chad,” he sighed. “Leave your sister alone.”

              “Yes sir.” Chad crossed his arms.

              “Andi.” Father looked pointedly at her.

              “Sorry Chad,” she glanced away from him.

         Chad glanced at Mitch, who shoved his hands in his pockets and pretended to examine the cattle. “Come on Mitch, lets check the cattle.” Without waiting to see if he followed, Chad walked over to the gate and pushed it open. Slowly, so as not to scare the cattle, he started to make his way through the herd.

              Crack!

              A gunshot echoed through the air. Chad jumped. The cattle began to stir nervously.

              Bang!

         The second shot sliced through the air, seconds after the first. In fright, the cattle started stampeding toward Chad.

         Chad turned and raced toward the gate. Glancing up, he spotted Mitch ahead of him, a safe distance away from the fence. Mitch yelled something Chad couldn’t hear. His legs burned as he finally made it out the gate.

         Cattle rushed past, sending up clouds of dust.

         “Father!”

         The urgency of the call made Chad turn back around. He gasped in horror at what he saw. No, no, no. “Father!” He heard Mitch behind him repeating the call.

         Father sat atop Caesar in the middle of the stampeding herd. Suddenly Caesar reared, catching Father off guard. He fell to the ground in a cloud of dust.

         “No!” Chad felt his heart pounding in his chest. God, please no.

 

Stampede – Mitch’s POV

 

          When the dust finally cleared, Mitch raced toward the fallen body, right behind Chad. God no, please don’t take him. Please!  He collapsed on the ground beside Chad. “How is he?” His voice quivered slightly.

              Chad pressed his ear to Father’s chest. After a few seconds his head slowly came back up.

         Mitch caught his brother’s grief-stricken gaze, and his heart lurched. “No, it can’t be.” Staring Chad straight in the eyes he asked. “He will be okay, right?”

         His brother stared at him blankly for a moment. Finally he shook his head slowly and looked away.

         He buried his head in his hands and groaned. Why God? Why did you let this happen?

         “What happened?”

      Mitch looked up to see Justin and Sid running towards them. Justin’s face was filled with panic.

      He stood up, “Its Father.”

         Justin’s eyes widened as he dropped onto the ground beside the body. “No, no, no,” Justin mumbled under his breath. “How did this happen?”

         “I don’t know,” Mitch shrugged his shoulders helplessly.

         “A gunshot,” Chad stood up shakily beside his brother. “Someone fired a gun and stampeded our cattle on purpose.” His voice quivered with anger and Mitch could tell he was barely containing his rage.

         “Is he alright?” Sid sounded concerned.

         Justin stood up, shaking his head. “Sid, go get me some blankets and some rope. Mitch, go find Caesar, and Chad,” He turned to his brother, “calm down.”

         Chad said nothing, but merely nodded and turned away. Mitch and Sid headed towards the horses. “I’ll go see if any of the men have blankets,” Sid said sorrowfully.

         “Alright.” Mitch silently mounted Chase. He gave his horse a kick and off they went.

          They found Caesar about a half mile off, sweaty and tired. Mitch grabbed his halter and tied the lead rope around his saddle horn. “Come on boy, we’d better be getting back.”

All the way back to the corral his thoughts raced inside his head. Why would someone want to scare our cattle? Why was Father even in the corral?

Suddenly Mitch jolted with an awful realization. Where is Andi?

  

Father’s gone? – Andi’s POV

 

         Andi had watched in horror as Father was thrown from his horse and into the middle of the stampeding herd of cattle. She had listened as Justin told Sid, Mitch and Chad the truth.

          Father’s dead? The question echoed in her head as she watched her brothers and Sid wrap Father in blankets. Then they lifted him into Caesar’s saddle and wound a rope around him to keep him from falling off.

         Tears streamed down her face. How could Father be dead? Only a few minutes ago he had helped her rope a calf. She clutched the fence post next to her until her knuckles turned white.

         “Andi?”

         Andi turned and came face to face with Mitch. “Mitch,” she ventured after a few seconds. “Is Father alright? Is he…” Her voice trailed off, she couldn’t bring herself to finish her question. She peered into her brother’s face. The look in his eyes answered her question. “Oh Mitch,” she started to cry.

         Mitch gently lifted her off the fence and pulled her into his arms.

         Andi wrapped her arms around his neck, laid her head on his chest, and sobbed.

         “Shh, little sister, everything is going to be alright. You’ll see.” He carried her over to Chase, and put her down in the saddle. Then he hopped on behind her.

         “Time to go, Mitch,” Justin’s soft voice made Andi look up. Justin sat atop his horse, Thunder, a pained expression on his face. “We’re leaving most of the hands here to take care of the cattle, once they’re rounded up again.” He glanced at his sister.

         She reached out her arms to him, “Justin.”

         Justin reached over and pulled her into his arms. He gently stroked her hair and tried to comfort her. “Don’t worry honey, everything will be alright.” He turned to Mitch, “Ride on ahead and try to prepare Mother.”

         Mitch nodded solemnly and took off in the direction of the ranch.

         Justin pushed her gently away and held her at arms length. Reaching out, he wiped the tears from her face and brushed away a stray lock of hair. “Lets head home.”

         She nodded and wrapped her arms around Justin’s waist. “Lets go home,” she whispered.

 

 He would’ve done it better – Chad’s POV

 

         Chad grabbed Caesar’s lead rope and quickly wrapped it around his saddle horn. He nudged Sky into a walk, looking back every few seconds to make sure Father’s body was stable.

         Justin rode ahead of him with Andi on his lap. He looked around for Mitch, where is he? “Hey Justin, where’s Mitch?”

Without looking back his brother replied, “I sent him on ahead to warn Mother.” Suddenly Andi’s face came into view, streaked with tears.

         Chad forced a small smile for his baby sister. Andi didn’t smile back, instead she turned back around and buried her face in Justin’s shoulder.

         He sighed. Father had lavished a lot of love on that youngest Carter. Especially after what happened to Kate. Oh Kate, I wish you were here to see Andi, she’s so much like you in so many ways. Father misses you an awful lot and… Chad’s thoughts trailed off, he sighed again. Even if Kate did come back, Father wouldn’t be here.

         It took longer than usual to get back to the ranch. By the time they got home it was almost dark.

         Mother and Melinda hurried out of the house to meet them. Both of them had been crying.

         Chad flinched.  It broke his heart to see Mother in pain. Andi ran into Mother’s arms. He listened while Justin explained what happened to Mother. Adding his own comments when he thought necessary. When he spotted Mitch coming from the barn he hurried over. “How’d Mother take it?”

         Mitch shrugged, “you know Mother, she never really says what she feels. I know she’s hurting, I just wish she would let us help.” He glanced toward the small group huddled by the house. “How’s Andi doing?”

         “She’ll heal with time.” Chad hesitated, “It will take a while though. She’s so much like Kate, Mitch, she even looks like her.” He shoved his hands in his pockets. It’ll just take time.

 

 Monday, March 16, 1874

 

I will trust in you

         “Chad, they’re out of the corral again!”

         Chad groaned and turned back to the corral. The sight that met his eyes was the last sight he wanted to see. “Not again.” The new horses he’d been trying to break for ages had gotten out of the corral. Again.

         Father would have done it better. The words came unbidden into his mind. He tried to block them out but they persisted. Your not good enough to take over this ranch, Father would have done it better. Trying to shake off the feeling of helplessness, he hurried over to the corral. “How’d it happen this time, Sid?”

         Sid McCoy hurried over to where Chad stood. “Wyatt was just trying to quiet them down and give ‘em some food. He must have left the gate open when he went back out again.”

          “Wyatt! Get over here, now!” Chad bellowed.

         The ranch hand came across the yard and stood before Chad, red faced and panting. “Yeah boss?”

         Chad planted his hands on his hips and glared at Wyatt. “You forgot to close the gate. The horses got out. Again!”

              Wyatt flinched. “Sorry,” he mumbled.

              “Get back to work boy.” Sid pointed towards the barn. “Now.”

              Wyatt scrambled away from the pair and disappeared into the barn.

         “Now, as for you,” Sid turned to Chad. “Wyatt is not to blame for this accident, and it was an accident.” Sid wagged his finger in Chad’s face. “Leave the boy alone, he’s new here.”

         Chad turned away, stinging from being scolded by the foreman. He was seething with barely contained rage. You’re only angry because you know he’s right. “Oh alright. I just...” his voice trailed off.

         Sid placed a wrinkled hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry, it wasn’t my place to scold you. I just think of you as my son and sometimes, I can’t contain myself.”

         “It’s fine,” Chad shook the hand off his shoulder and stalked away. Sid’s right you know. Father wouldn’t have lost his temper with Wyatt, Father would’ve done it better.

         “Hey Chad, Mother needs you in the house. She called a family meeting.”

         “Coming Mitch.” Chad changed course and headed towards the house. He stomped up the front steps. Going into the sitting room, he found the rest of his family already there. Sighing, he plopped down into a nearby chair, turning all his attention on Mother.

         Mother folded her hands in her lap and looked around at all her children. “I know you are all hurting, and some of you don’t feel ready for the responsibility that’s been abruptly handed to you.”

         Chad flinched. How does she know exactly how I feel?

         “Your Father made these for you, and told me to give them to you if anything happened to him. I think now is the time.” She stood up and walked around the room, handing an envelope to each child. As she handed Chad his, she gently placed her hand on his shoulder and squeezed it.

         He carefully tore open the envelope and unfolded the paper inside.

 

Chad,

If you are reading this letter, it means that I have now gone to be with the LORD. I have always encouraged my children to follow their dreams and to do what they love. Justin will someday be a lawyer, I have great faith in him. Melinda will be a fine young lady and make a good wife for someone someday. Mitch has expressed an interest in going to college. I am not sure what our little Andi will become, that is up to her.  As for you, my strong, courageous son. I’ve always had a dream, that one of my sons will love this ranch so much, that he would want to spend the rest of his life working it. That dream came true the day you were born. The responsibility probably seems overwhelming.  I understand, because I felt the exact same way when I started this ranch. If you are feeling inadequate, don’t.  You were made to run this ranch.  It’s in your blood just as it was in mine. You’ve always been able to do whatever you set your mind to. I believe in you, no matter what, I believe in you. Keep that in your mind at all times, and you will do great things.

 Your loving and proud father, – James Carter

 

         Chad silently folded the letter and wiped a tear from his eye. He reached over and grabbed the family Bible from a side table and flipped it open. His eye landed on a verse in the book of Isaiah. “Behold, God is my Salvation; I will trust, and will not be afraid; for the Lord God is my strength and my song, and He has become my salvation.”

         A feeling of peace ran over him like a flood. God, I am trusting you with my life. Lead me onto the path you want me to take. Let not my will, but Yours be done.