Taming Little Tallulah (Littles of Rawhide Ranch #31)

Chapter 1

Chapter One

Nature always wears the colors of the spirit—Ralph Waldo Emerson

David

Purple, gray, brown, black, green, white, yellow, red, pink…

If asking a resident of Rawhide Ranch where this list of colors could be found, David was willing to bet the overwhelming response would be an enthusiastic shout of, “in a box of crayons!”.

He couldn’t wait to instill in the Littles the notion that one didn’t need to open a box to find this stunning array.

Instead, the only requirement was that they open their eyes and look to nature.

Or, more precisely, stare at a wall of granite less than six inches from the tip of their nose as he was currently doing.

He curled his fingertips onto the jutting lip of an overhang, braced the toe of his climbing shoe against a barely discernible crevice in the rockface, and with the surety of a mountain goat, pushed off and swung his body to the side, releasing his precarious hold at the very last moment to defy gravity and fly.

Landing on top of the mesa, he turned his face up to the sun with the pure exhilaration of conquering another climb.

There was a reason the title of A.B. Guthrie Jr.’s novel, The Big Sky, had become the nickname for the state of Montana, David thought as he watched a pair of falcons gliding on the airstream through an impossible expanse of unbroken sky-blue.

From his vantage point, he could see boulders that appeared dwarfed by massive trees yet he knew them to be the size of houses.

He would be teaching the campers about nature, but he had to admit, they’d already taught him a great deal as well.

The word “sprinkles” instantly jumped into his mind and he grinned.

He could easily picture a fairy-tale giant standing where he was now, opening his hand, pursing his lips, and with a single breath, sending thousands of tiny spots of colors down from the highest peaks of the Sapphire Mountains to decorate the grasses of the pastures.

In the silence, he almost felt as if he could hear his own heart beating.

It took him a moment to realize that the sound he was hearing, while rhythmic and its vibrations physical in its steady cadence, wasn’t internal.

Seeing nothing below, he turned his back to the view of the valley and scanned the vista before him.

His breath caught in his throat at the sight of a massive ebony horse streaking across the mesa, its hooves pounding against the earth in a tempo that was easily matched by the pace of the palomino horse hot on its heels.

A third horse, this one a paint, joined in the race.

The dozen hooves hitting the earth at the same time provided the notes of the music filling the air.

It wasn’t until he blinked that David took another breath.

If he didn’t know better, he’d have sworn he’d seen a mirage as the trio of magnificent animals was no longer in view.

The mesa looked to be as flat as a table, but having climbed each side of the peak, David knew that while the tower appeared almost vertical, there were indeed trails that led down into the valley.

The horses hadn’t just flown off the edge of the world, they’d simply dropped down the other side in a race of pure freedom from all restraints of humanity.

Feeling blessed for having witnessed another example of how he felt every time he shed the responsibilities of his chosen profession to renew his spirit and soul, he began to follow the fading echo of the drums beating from somewhere down below him.

It took him far longer than the galloping horses to cross the expanse of the mesa’s surface, but he wasn’t in any hurry.

He had the entire day free and he intended to take advantage of every single moment before the days became shorter.

Within a few weeks, the colors of summer would be exchanged for those of the reds and oranges found in the fall.

Soon enough the very place he was now walking with ease would be covered in a white blanket that could easily reach past his knees as the snows of winter swept in.

Every season offered its own palette of colors and activities.

Still, he was rather glad that instead of teaching about the hazards of hypothermia and frostbite, he’d be waxing prolific about the dangers of UV rays and dashing hopes of claiming a cute fuzzy caterpillar as a stuffy stand-in.

As he stood on the opposite edge of the mesa, no horses in sight, the drumming long since silenced, he thought about his discussions with his boss’s boss, Derek Hawkins.

After accepting Derek’s invitation to breakfast, David had spied his host in the cafeteria line and grabbed a tray before joining him.

As the men made their choices, it hadn’t been the sounds of Littles’ chatter that caught his attention.

Instead, it was a sharp wail that instantly had his head snapping around to zero in on the cause for alarm.

At the sight of a Little hanging over her Big’s knee while he smacked her ass, David exhaled and felt his blood pressure returning to normal.

“Sorry,” he said when he realized he had frozen in place, his hand in the air where it had been reaching for the plate holding the omelet Chef Connor had just prepared.

“Don’t be,” Derek said as he added a bowl of fruit to his tray.

“It’s one reason why I asked you to join me for breakfast.” After they’d both transferred coffee and glasses of juice from their trays to a table and were seated, Derek continued, “With Nigel and Hazel basically on call for the next couple of months until our own baby boom is over, I wanted to speak with you about providing medical assistance to those attending our next session of summer camp.”

It hadn’t even been on David’s radar that this would be on the agenda of their meeting. “While I appreciate the food as well as your company, I’m not sure of why you’re even asking.” David swallowed a bite of bacon. “I’ve already seen more than a few of your campers coming through the clinic.”

Derek nodded. “That’s true, but this session is going to involve a bit more than the others.

The attendees won’t be setting up tents on the Ranch.

They’ll be camping in the mountains. We received a great many requests for a more extensive outdoor experience which resulted in a decision to do a trial run.

This summer’s session will be limited to only a handful of campers.

If it’s successful, then we can open it up as a river-hiking-riding-mountaineering experience to visitors next year. ”

“That’s quite a mouthful,” David noted as he took another bite of the omelet.

“That’s exactly why Sadie has renamed it as ARK–Awesome River Kamp.” He smiled. “She took artistic license with the spelling of camp.”

David chuckled. “No one who knows her would ever question your wife’s creativity.”

“It is becoming pretty legendary,” Derek admitted proudly.

“Along with creativity, we need experience. Travis, our stablemaster, will handle the riding part, but can’t run the camp alone.

I’m asking you specifically because while you’ve not only proven your PT abilities, as well as the skills required of an EMT, you offer a level of additional expertise I’m looking for.

Given the fact that you’re often seen hiking the trails, climbing up the mountain, kayaking or swimming in one of the rivers or lakes, you’re the perfect candidate to share your outdoor skills with our campers as a co-counselor. ”

While the owner of Rawhide was obviously assured of his abilities, David was a tad leery. “I admit I’m a little flattered at your confidence in me, but I’m afraid that alone isn’t going to cut it. Please tell me some sort of competency level is going to be expected of your guests before attending.”

“Meaning?”

The single word given to answer a question with one of his own, might have thrown others off their game, but David knew the man wasn’t being rude, but simply not one to pussyfoot around an issue either.

David was willing to let others take the reins in most matters, most especially this man who’d proven himself time and time again to be a man of integrity, but when it came to safety, he could be just as unmoving as both the Master of Rawhide and the mountains that ringed his incredible Ranch.

“Meaning when you put a giggle of Littles on a river, you’d best be prepared for far more than a few pranks.

Nature might be the best healer I’ve ever discovered, but it can also be a very demanding task-master to the uninitiated.

Even if they have the basic knowledge of which way to point the bow of a canoe, if they flip over in the middle of white water, even I can’t guarantee I can reach every one of them before they drown.

Meaning I’d like some sort of agreement that your campers are aware of the potential dangers before they so much as slip their foot into a hiking boot or their body into a swimsuit. ”

Derek hadn’t seemed the least bit affronted by the statement. If anything, he’d seemed pleased that his employee hadn’t simply said “let them come” without a few caveats of his own. “I couldn’t agree with you more. I’ll let you come up with whatever you’d like—”

“Derek, I’m not trying to rain on your parade, but I’m talking about more than a glorified permission slip some Big is willing to fill out for their Little.

A sprained ankle or burned fingertips from being too eager to wait for a marshmallow to cool is one thing.

A broken neck from a fall off a horse’s back or having to be pulled from the bottom of the river is quite different.

A slip of paper isn’t going to mean much to anyone if a camper winds up in the hospital or worse. ”