The Last Ride (Mitch's Point of View)

by Ellie B. 

 I want to thank Emma A. for editing the story for me!! Thanks, Emma!!

 San Joaquin Valley, California 1884

 "Chad, ready to go out to the range?" Mitch Carter asked his big brother Chad.

"Yep," Chad said as he swung onto his horse Sky. 

Just then their mischievous cousin Daniel who was visiting their ranch, rode up and said, "Chad, Mitch, come quickly. Andi and Taffy fell off a fifty-foot ledge."

"What?!" Mitch and Chad exclaimed at the same time.

"Yeah, and you better hurry; Andi doesn't look too good! Melinda is with her right now." 

Just then Riley Prescott ran up. "What's wrong? I heard a yell." 

"Riley, no time to explain. Go and get the Doctor and Justin. Tell Justin to send a wire to Madera, to our mother telling her to get on the next train here as fast as she can. Now; go as fast as you can!" Chad said. 

"Yes, sir," Riley replied, then he jumped on his horse Dakota and galloped away.

"Daniel, can you lead us to them?" Mitch asked in a stern but concerned voice.

"Yes, I can," Daniel replied in a determined voice.

Then Chad started yelling out orders to the hands to hitch the wagon up and fill it with blankets on the bottom. Mitch took a moment to pray. Dear Lord, And, and Melinda need you right now, Lord, please help them. Please heal Andi, in Jesus' name I pray, Amen. Mitch immediately felt better. Then he remembered that their mother, Mrs. Carter, was in Mandera with the ladies from the missionary society. Oh no, Andi is going to ask for their mother. Just then Riley, Doctor Weaver, and Justin rode up. "What's going on here?" Justin demanded. 

"Justin… Andi and Taffy fell off a fifty ledge," Mitch explained grimly. 

"Oh no!" Justin exclaimed. “I sent the wire to Mother as soon as Riley told me to. She should be here in a few hours.”

"Good, because Andi is going to ask for her. Now come on guys let's go," Mitch said in an anxious voice. "Daniel, lead the way."

~~~

"Andi, Melinda, where are you?" Mitch yelled. They had been looking for Andi and Melinda for an hour and they still couldn't find them. 

"Daniel, are you sure they were around here?" Mitch asked in a stern voice. 

"Ye-" Daniel was about to say when Mitch held his hand up.

 "Over here," they heard a faint but distinctive call. 

"Keep calling," Chad yelled.

“Over here,” Melinda kept calling.  

Mitch saw Melinda standing over a still form waving her hands and yelling, “Down here! Hurry!” 

Man sometimes, Melinda, can yell louder than Chad, Mitch thought.  

Once they had gotten to the spot where Andi and Melinda were, they jumped off their horse and ran over to Andi and Melinda. They all gasped at the sight of what lay before them: Andi lay in a pile of dirt, blood, and rock, with her back to the sky. Her head was split open with blood flowing freely, her leg and arm were twisted weirdly, and she was covered in scrapes and bruises. 

Justin bent beside Andi but didn't touch her. “We'll get you out of here in no time,” he promised.

Melinda cried out, “I didn't know what to do. She’s hurt real bad.”

Justin rose, hugged Melinda, and said, “You did just right, honey. You stayed with her and kept her quiet. There’s nothing more you could have done.” 

“How did this happen?” Chad yelled as he crouched down by Andi. Mitch knelt by Andi’s side and sent a prayer to heaven. Please God we need you to heal, Andi. Lord, please let her live!

Melinda burst into tears. 

“Chad!” Justin exploded. “That's enough.”

Chad sagged. “I’m sorry sis, I didn't mean to bite your head off. I just….” His voice dropped to a whisper. “I’m sorry.” 

Just then Doc Weaver knelt by Andi and said, “Help me turn her over, boys, so I can see what we’re up against. I’m sorry, Andrea, but this is going to hurt. We’ll try to be as gentle as possible.” Mitch saw Andi’s eyes open as she tried to focus on Doctor Weaver's eyes. 

“Where's Mother? I want Mother,” Andi moaned.

“Where is Mother?” Melinda demanded. 

“She went to Madera with the ladies from the missionary society,” Mitch said and immediately regretted it when he saw the look of anguish on Andi’s face. Why oh why did Mother have to go today of all days? “Justin sent Mother a wire in town. She should be home by the time we get there. Don’t worry Andi,” Mitch said in a comforting voice.

“Come on boys we have to turn her over to see the extent of her injuries," Doc Weaver commanded.

"Andi, this is going to hurt so be prepared," Doc Weaver said in a comforting voice. Mitch and his brothers all put their hands gently under Andi and turned her over. Andi yelled loud enough to be heard at the ranch. Then Doc Weaver gently touched Andi's shoulder and she let out another pain-filled yell.

"Hey, be careful, doc," Chad growled. 

"Don't hurt her, doc," Mitch added. Doc Weaver just ignored Mitch and Chad and continued to look Andi over.

"Andrea, tell me what hurts," Doctor Weaver asked.

"Everything," Andi said in a choked voice like she was struggling for breath. "Everything hurts."

Mitch saw Doc Weaver dig around in his bag. "I need you to take this," He said, holding up a brown bottle. "It's laudanum; it will help you with the pain." 

"No, before you give it to me please Justin," Andi pleaded in a voice that was barely audible as she grasped Justin's hand. "Please look at Taffy before he gives that to me," Andi begged. 

"Andi….." Justin began in a nervous voice looking over at Taffy. “Ok, but you are taking it right after we come back.”

Mitch walked over to Taffy with Chad and Justin. Mitch caught his breath at what he first saw. Taffy looked just as bad as Andi. She lay on a pile of boulders, shuddering. Her two front legs were split open with blood flowing. Rocks were stuck in her once beautiful mane and tail. She had deep cuts on her back and stomach. 

Mitch knew that Taffy would have to be put down. There was no way to get Taffy out of the gully without hurting her more. How is Andi going to take this? Mitch thought. 

"There is no way she is going to make it,” Chad said in a grim voice that was barely audible. “She’s just too hurt. How am I going to tell Andi? It's going to break her heart.”

Mitch turned back and looked at Andi. He could tell that the doctor had convinced Andi to take the laudanum by the way her eyelids drooped and how she was trying to keep her eyes open. Mitch and Chad walked back over to Andi. 

“Chad, you are not going to shoot Taffy right? Promise me,” Andi asked in a sleepy voice. 

Mitch knew what he needed to do. 

He said as gently as he could, “Don’t worry, Andi, Chad is not going to shoot Taffy. I promise.” Mitch saw a look of relief in Andi's eyes then her eyes fluttered shut and he knew she was asleep. 

Then he heard Chad yell behind him, "What are you thinking, Mitch? You can't promise her that! You know she has to be put down." Chad's last words were in a broken voice.

"I know we have to put her down, Chad. All I did was promise her you wouldn't put her down. I know that you could never do it. You gave her to Andi." Mitch said in a quiet tone. 

Mitch slowly took his gun from his holster, then said, "Chad, please go and help Doc get Andi in the wagon. I will take care of Taffy." Chad crouched down and kissed Taffy's forehead before slowly walking over to help Daniel and Doc Weaver get Andi into the wagon. Melinda came over to kiss Taffy's head, then went to sit in the wagon with Andi’s head cradled in her lap. 

Justin did the same to Taffy and put his hand on Mitch's shoulder and said, "I'm proud of you, Mitch, for taking the load off Chad's shoulders." 

Mitch just nodded. He bent down and put his hand on Taffy's head and whispered, "Well, Taffy, I want to thank you for being such a good companion to Andi. And I hope you end up in heaven as it says in Psalm 36:6 Your righteousness is like the mountains of God; your judgments are like the great deep; man and beast you save, O Lord." Mitch quoted the Bible verse from his heart. He had clung to that same Bible verse for years when his beloved pets died, and he believed it with all his heart. 

Mitch could feel tears brimming in his eyes. But he knew what he had to do. Mitch sent a silent prayer to heaven. Dear, Lord, I need your help to deal with this. Lord, it is breaking my heart to do this. Please help me, Amen.

                               ***** 

On the way back to the ranch Mitch's heart was still pounding from when he had to put Taffy down. It was the hardest thing he ever had to do. But he knew that it was the right thing to put Taffy down. She did not deserve to suffer as she would've.

Just then they rode into the ranch. Their mother rushed out of the ranch house and made her way to the back of the wagon. She cried out when she saw what Andi looked like. Mother asked in a broken voice, "What happened?"

"She fell off a cliff, Mother," Melinda explained in a voice near to tears.

"Let's get her in the house boys." Doc Weaver said. Mitch let Justin and Chad carry Andi into the house. Then he dismounted.

Diego, their ranch hand, walked up. " Senòr, is there anything I can do?" he asked. 

"Yes, there is. We had to put Taffy… down. So I need a couple of guys up there to bury her. And I would appreciate it if you would put Chase away."

"Sì, Senòr." Diego took Chase and made his way to the barn.  

Mitch let out a weary sigh and headed toward the ranch house.

                           * * * * * * 

Lord, please help her be ok, Mitch prayed silently. It had been 1 hour since the doctor and Mother went up there, and the family downstairs was starting to feel antsy. Just then they heard footsteps and Doc Weaver appeared at the doorway. "Your sister is pretty banged up. I don't know if she'll make it or not. All we can do is pray," Doc Weaver said in an exhausted and worried voice.

"We have been praying for her, Doctor. Thank you so much for everything," Melinda said, then got up and poured some coffee, and handed it to the doc. 

Peter, Melinda's fiance, rose, cleared his throat, and said, "Well, I have to go. Father will be expecting me. Goodbye." 

Melinda stood up to walk Peter out.

Mitch went up to his room to try and get some sleep.

****

Mitch heard a whinny and looked up. There in front of him, Taffy stood staring at him. "Taffy?" Mitch whispered in amazement. 

Then Mitch heard a shot. Taffy was covered in blood. 

"NOOOOO!" Mitch yelled…

****

Mitch jerked awake and sat up. He was covered in sweat and breathing heavily. Mitch put his head in his hands and prayed. Dear Lord, please help me. 

Mitch got up, opened his door, and made his way down the hall to Andi's room. He quietly opened the door to Andi's room and walked in. He saw his mother sleeping in the chair on one side of the bed, so he made his way to the other side of the bed and sat in the chair there. 

He took Andi's hand and held it. Dear, Lord, Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven. Lord, Andi has her whole life ahead of her. She is just about to graduate. Please let her live, Lord, so she can grow up, get married, and have babies. In Jesus' name, Amen.                           

                                  ****** 

I wonder why Andi was by the ledge in the first place, Mitch thought. 

It had been 4 days since the accident. He was sitting in a chair by Andi's bed watching her. He had offered to stay with Andi tonight so their mother could get some sleep. 

Just then Andi woke up screaming and flailing. "Andi, Andi stop. You are going to hurt yourself. Plus I don't want Mother to kick me out of nurse duty," Mitch said, giving Andi a teasing grin. 

Andi looked up at him with eyes wide with fright and grasped his hand. "It's ok, Andi, I'm here," Mitch said in a comforting voice. Mitch saw Andi relax and close her eyes slowly. It broke Mitch's heart to see his little sister this way. 

Lord, please heal her…

                             **Two weeks later**

Mitch was sitting at the breakfast table when his mother walked in. "Mother, is something wrong?" Mitch asked anxiously, seeing tears in his mother's eyes. 

"No, Mitchell, nothing is wrong. Your sister just ate her whole breakfast!" Mother replied. 

"That's great Mother!" Mitch exclaimed, getting up and giving her a big hug.

"I need you to go pick up your aunt and uncle at the train station this afternoon," Mother said.

 "Sure thing!" Mitch replied.

                           *****

 Mitch gave a sigh of relief as the ranch house came into view. Aunt Lydia had been going on and on about their house in New York and about how excited she was to see her son, Daniel. 

"Well, this is it," Mitch said aloud. 

"Quite lovely!" Aunt Lydia exclaimed. 

"Yes, you are quite right, my dear," Uncle Benjamin broke in. 

Just then out strolled Daniel. He held out his hands. "Mother, Father, welcome." 

"Daniel, my dear boy!" Lydia exclaimed.

"Yes, Mother, it's me." Mitch noticed that Daniel’s cheeks flushed at his mother’s tender words.

Mitch gave the buggy over to the ranch hand and made his way into the ranch house. 

"Mother, we're home!" Mitch shouted as he opened up the door. 

"Thank you for fetching them from the station, dear," Mother said while making her way to the front door. Mitch made his way up the stairs to Andi's room and knocked on the door. 

"Come in," came the answer from inside. 

Mitch opened the door and said, "Howdy, little sis!"

"Howdy, yourself Mitch!" Andi replied in a cheerful voice. "When do you think Mother will let me out here so I can go see Taffy? I am tired of sitting in here waiting to get up. I know that Taffy is probably worse off than me, so I want to help her get better."

Mitch's heart sank; he was afraid Andi would ask that. Visions of Taffy laying on the ground in front of him made him shudder. "Andi, you know Mother will not let you yet. You are covered in bandages from head to foot!" Mitch replied.

"Fine, tell me how bad she is. Mother will not tell me. She gets a sad look on her face every time I ask her. But I know she is in the barn because you promised you would not shoot her." 

 "Andi…I gotta go." With that, Mitch rushed out of the room. Mitch ran down the stairs and into the barn. "Mitch, where are you going?" Chad asked from behind him. 

"I'm just going out," Mitch said in an irritated voice and started saddling his horse Flash. 

Once he got on the range he dropped off Chase and bent his head. "Dear God, this is ripping my heart apart! I can't take this. Andi thinks that Taffy is just sitting in the barn waiting for her. Will she ever forgive me? Please, Lord, help me…”

                         *****

 Mitch saw Justin bring Andi into the dining room in her wheelchair. Andi was wearing a nervous, but slightly cheerful smile. "Hello, my dear," Lydia said from the end of the table. "It almost broke my heart to hear what happened to you." 

Mitch saw Andi take a deep breath and glance at Daniel. Is that fear in her eyes? Mitch thought with a frown on his face.

"Well, let's eat, shall we?" Benjamin said from the other end of the table.

Halfway through the meal, Andi cleared her throat and said, "Mother, since I am well enough, may I go and see Taffy?"

Mitch froze his fork halfway between his mouth and plate. Oh no.

"No, Andrea,” Mother answered. “You may not. You have to get better before you do anything."

 "I have waited for long enough, Mother. Why can I not go see her?! That is the only thing that has kept me going when the days got too rough! I want to see her."

 "That is enough Andrea," Mother said in a stern voice.

 "Why will you not tell me what is wrong with her?! Mitch, Chad, Justin, tell me!" Andi said in a voice that even surprised Mitch. 

Mitch could see the amusement in Daniel's eyes and felt like punching him.

Andi pushed away from the table in her wheelchair and shouted, "I am going out to see Taffy!"

"That's going to b-" Daniel started saying but stopped when his father commanded, "Be quiet for once boy."

"What is wrong with you all! Tell me. I can handle it," Andi shouted.

"Andrea, you cannot go out to the barn to see Taffy because she is not there," Mother said in a quiet voice. 

 "Y-you don't mean–?" 

 "Yes, I am afraid I do, sweetheart. There was no way the boys were going to be able to get Taffy out of the ravine in her condition."

 Andi glared at each one of her brothers and her gaze finally landed on Mitch. "Mitch, you promised me that you wouldn't shoot her."

"I said that Chad would not shoot her. I knew he couldn't do it. He trained her from a filly." Mitch thought he might die then and there. 

Andi stared at her brothers and said, "I am never going to speak to any of you ever again! You gave up on Taffy! Why didn't you just give up on me too!" Tears rushed to her eyes.

Mitch could feel the hurt spreading through him. 

"Andrea, I think you need to go upstairs to your bedroom," Mother said in a stern voice. 

"I agree, Mother," Justin said and made his way toward where Andi was sitting. 

"I won't go!" Andi yelled.

"You can go gracefully like the 16-year-old lady you are or you can go like a 6-year-old. It's your choice," Justin said as he scooped up Andi. 

"Wait!" Andi yelled. "Aunt Lydia and Uncle Benjamin, you should be ashamed of your pig of a son." 

Aunt Lydia gasped and her face turned white. 

"He is the one who has been stealing from town. I caught him up in the loft a few weeks ago and he threatened that if I told, he would set our barn on fire! And, what’s more, he is the one who killed Taffy. We were looking for him because he had disappeared, and when I looked over the edge of the cliff, he jumped out and startled Taffy!"  

Mitch was filled with rage. How dare he do such a thing to Andi? Mitch leapt up, grabbed Daniel by the shirt collar, and landed a punch that knocked his cousin unconscious.

                            *****

 Mitch woke up and sat in the darkness watching the sun come up. It had been a month and a half since Andi found out about Taffy. 

Mitch was going crazy over Andi not talking to him. He and Andi had always had a special relationship and right now it was broken. Andi made it perfectly clear that she did not want a relationship with any of her brothers. Mitch felt like his whole world was falling apart and that there was nothing he could do about it. Well, I better get up or Chad will make sure I do, Mitch thought. 

   "Mitch, Chad, I would like permission to try and get Andi on a horse and to take her on a ride today," Riley said.

Mitch and Chad looked at each other for a moment. Maybe it will help her forgive us, Mitch thought hopefully. 

"Yes, you may take her on a ride but you have to get her home before 3 o'clock. We are having a birthday party for her. Understand?" Chad said. 

"Yes, sir," Riley replied.

 Suddenly, Sid, the ranch’s foreman, tapped on Chad’s shoulder.

"Taffy's old stall needs to be used. If Andi is not going to use it then a different horse needs to move in," Sid told Chad and Mitch. 

"You will leave Taffy's stall alone! Is that clear?" Chad said in a stern voice. 

Just then, Mitch saw Andi walk by. He gave Andi the most apologetic look he could and turned to Sid. "Sid, we will deal with this. You just hurt my sister's feelings, and they are already fragile! Do you understand?" Mitch said. 

Sid lowered his head and said, "I’m sorry, Mitch."

                 —------—

 "Mother, where shall I put the cake?" Mitch asked, balancing the three-tiered cake. 

"On the table next to the punch, dear," Mother responded. 

Chad stormed into the room. "Has anyone seen Riley or Andi? I told them to be back before three and it is now three twenty!" Chad boomed in an irritated voice. 

Mitch could see that Chad was mad, but he could also see that he was worried. Mitch started to get concerned too. 

What if Andi had fallen and hurt herself? What if they got lost? What if- Mitch couldn't think of the what-ifs. 

Just then Mitch and Chad heard hoofbeats outside and immediately ran out the door. "Where in tarnation have you been?" Chad shouted at Riley. 

"I told yo-" Chad was saying but got interrupted by Andi. "Chad, don't get mad at him," she said in a quiet voice. Chad looked at Andi in surprise. 

"Are you speaking to me?" he asked in shock. 

"Yes, Chad, I am. I realized how selfish I was to block you guys out. You did the right thing, Mitch, in putting Taffy down." 

Mitch stood back tears brimming in his eyes. He could not believe it. Andi was finally talking to them! 

Chad pulled Andi off Shasta and gave her a big hug. Then Andi looked at Mitch with tears in her eyes and limped over to him. "Mitch, I am so sorry for being so selfish. Will you please forgive me?"

"Yes, Andi, I forgive you, and I am sorry too." With that Andi and Mitch hugged each other and made their way inside.

  

"Love is patient, love is kind, it does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud, it does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no records of wrongs."

                                               -1 Corinthians 13:4-5