Chapter Twenty-One
Winter giggled as the small burro ate the hay pellets from the palm of her hand.
She couldn’t believe how tame the animals were.
They hadn’t even been fazed by twenty motorcycles roaring into town and they’d ended up having to wait almost fifteen minutes for them to move out of the road so they could park their bikes.
Since then, she and Bishop had wandered all over town, looking at the old place, picking up a couple of t-shirts, seeing what seemed to be the town tortoises, and checking out what looked to her much like a version of Tombstone, without the shootouts, press, and movies made about the town.
She liked it. It was nice and quiet, and while she wouldn’t like to live like this, a few hours without cell service were nice.
“We need to start heading back.” Bishop leaned close. “You want to grab a soda or something? I think Wrench has water in the back of the truck, if you’d prefer that.”
“Water is fine, but I need to find somewhere to pee before we get back on the road.”
“All right, let’s find you somewhere. If we can’t find anywhere, I’m sure we’ll have a chance to pull off and you can wander off into the bushes.”
She wrinkled her nose in distaste at the idea. She could do it, but she really preferred somewhere with walls between her and the twenty-plus men riding with them, she also liked having somewhere to wash her hands afterward.
Winter was in luck. They found a bathroom on the way to where they’d parked, and while they weren’t the first ones back, they were far from the last ones either. Bishop reached over the side of the truck, opened the ice chest, and pulled out a water bottle.
“Anyone else want one?” he asked after handing over the first one.
A chorus of “no, thanks” and “not right nows” answered him, so he pulled a second bottle before closing the lid and hitting it with the side of his fist to make sure it was closed.
Then he led her to the rear of the pickup and lifted her onto the tailgate beside where Wrench already sat as they waited for the others to join them.
The men who’d arrived were talking about the ride home, she didn’t pay much attention and instead enjoyed the breeze on her face and watched the people come and go through town.
Before long, everyone had gathered and they were ready to mount up and ride out. Winter had heard a few people talking as they’d wandered around town. Mostly she’d heard enough that she was looking forward to the ride.
They mounted up and hit the road, easing through town single file to make sure they didn’t hit any of the burros that wandered from tourist to tourist waiting to be fed.
Winter couldn’t resist reaching out and touching one as they rode past. The small horse-like creatures were so used to people that neither the loud roar of the bike, nor the random hand brushing across his nose even fazed him.
As they left town, they were able to speed up some.
Enough that there was a nice breeze against her face, but not enough that it would have been blinding without her glasses.
The old road could have used some repair, but she suspected that any crew brought in would want to reroute the road to make it straighter and faster.
That would have ruined the charm. She loved the twists and turns and that they had to go slower because of them.
It gave her plenty of time to look around and see the countryside.
She watched for animals, pointing out a couple of hawks, a couple of cattle, and one lone horse to Bishop as they rode past. When they reached the Sitgreaves Summit, they all pulled off into a wide spot with an amazing view.
“Fifteen minutes!” Styx called as the last of the engines shut off.
She dismounted then wandered around stretching her legs a bit while she had the chance.
She took a couple of pictures then turned and looked around.
There was a single layer of bricks laid out where there was once some kind of building.
She wandered around for a few minutes, then they all got back on the bikes and headed out again.
She figured they wouldn’t stop again until they got back to the clubhouse but was surprised when they pulled off at a gas station in Kingman.
They pulled up in front of the pump and Bishop turned off the bike.
“Want anything inside?”
“I need to pee, but I don’t need anything. You want me to grab anything for you?” she asked as she climbed off.
“I’m good, thanks.” He caught her hand and tugged her close. He leaned over and kissed the top of her head then released her. “Let me know if you need anything. We’ll head back to the compound after this.” Winter nodded and headed inside.