Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul—John Muir
David
“I appreciate this, but I didn’t mean for you to deliver it yourself,” David said as he grabbed the strap of a canvas duffle bag.
“I couldn’t let Connor and Andrew claim all the glory for providing supper. Though I can’t think of anything that comes close to competing with their food.” Derek chuckled as he added a bag bearing the logo of Rawhide Ranch on its front to David’s load. “Consider me DerekDash.”
David chuckled. “I’d offer you a huge tip, but I’d rather you offer me a few.”
“From the look on Tula’s face at dinner, I’m not sure you need any tips,” Derek teased as he grabbed what appeared to be a collapsed rubber raft.
David smiled as he looked back toward the firepit where the Littles were enjoying quiet activities after stuffing themselves on Chef Connor’s specialties.
He knew that somewhere in that group would be the Little who’d captured him completely.
Turning back to Derek, he said, “Yes, she’s pretty incredible, isn’t she? ”
“She is,” Derek agreed as the two walked to a recently cleared spot where they’d add the extra tent to the circle. “I’ve watched you handle Littles for years now and know how good you are with them, so I’m guessing we’re not talking about a Little issue?”
“I wish,” David muttered as he dumped the contents of the duffle bag onto the ground. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m very pleased that we’ve not had any major problems with our campers yet, but I feel confident that between us, Travis and I could handle anything that pops up in that department.”
“I see.” Derek accepted the stakes David handed him then began to walk around the tent and drop them next to the guide lines so that David could begin hammering them into the ground. “So a bigger issue?”
David chuffed. “I’d say.” Realizing he wasn’t getting anywhere beating around the bush, he added, “In fact, one of the biggest Bigs I know.” His words were accompanied by the strikes of his mallet against the stake.
“Moses.”
That single word pretty much said it all.
“Moses,” David agreed, duck-walking to the next stake. “Tula told me he was a big softy, but seriously, Derek, I can’t think of a single part of that man that could possibly be considered as squishy.”
Derek’s smiled as if he was attempting to picture his best friend as a stuffy and failing.
“I know they say, don’t ever judge a book by its cover, but when it comes to certain people, it takes a lot of courage to even open the book.
Once they do, however, they might be pleased to discover a beautiful story that leads to a happily ever after. ”
“Or learn that the sugar-coated gingerbread in that fairy tale is actually salt meant to season her dinner right before the sweet-talking witch shoves you into her oven.” If it sounded like he was pounding the last stake in with a bit of extra effort it was because he was.
“David, as long as you’re not a wolf in sheep’s clothing, I promise you’ll be fine.”
“Excuse me, sir, but are we talking about the same Moses?”
This time Derek’s laughter rang out loudly and so long that even David had to smile as he began attaching the tent lines to the stakes, not the least bit offended at Derek’s enjoyment of a good laugh at his expense.
When he’d pulled himself together, Derek said, “I’d point out the differences in the two, but when you think about it, ignore the span of a few thousand years or so and you’ll discover there are far more similarities.
Our Moses and the biblical one came from humble beginnings and yet became great leaders.
Neither see the need to use many words to relay their message.
Both find the greatest peace out in the world and not within the walls of any grand palace.
Neither man would hesitate to stand in defense of the weakest among them or lay down their lives for another.
Both demand honesty and expect people to respect others.
And when it comes to love, they do so with every fiber of their being and expect nothing less from those who want to love one of their own. ”
David sat back on his heels, finding it actually quite easy to place Moses in a chariot drawn by horses instead of astride one.
Moses Banner swam in the Bitterroot instead of the Nile, climbed the slopes of the Sapphire rather than Sinai Mountain, and walked among forests rather than sand dunes.
And while the son of a pharaoh might have worn the royal robes of Egypt, the ornamental garments of the Crow clan were no less majestic.
Derek picked up the pole that would keep the front of the tent from sagging and set it into the grommet while tossing the end of the rope to David. “On the other hand, our Moses doesn’t have a staff that can turn into a cobra so I believe you’re overthinking this.”
Catching the rope, David pulled it taut and then wrapped it around its stake. “Maybe so, and Tula said pretty much the same thing.”
Derek chuckled. “And I’d think she’d be the one to know, wouldn’t you?”
“Yes, but I also know she is leading with her heart and not her head, but I guess I could be accused of the same thing.”
“Are you?”
David gave it a moment’s thought and then answered honestly. “It might look that way, and I know it’s fast, unexpected, and I can’t even begin to explain or understand it, but I swear to you, Derek, Tula is not only the piece of my heart that’s been missing, she is the other half of my very soul.”
"Then I’d suggest you listen to your Little girl.”
“That’s all well and good, and though I believe you’re both right, I’m not sure how that helps with figuring out how in the hell I can explain all this to Moses.”
“Know this, you wouldn’t be standing here right now, much less sharing a tent with Tula, if that big scary man wanted it to be otherwise,” Derek said and as David’s mouth dropped open, laughed again.
“Relax and just be the man he knows you to be. Moses may not be as soft and squishy to you as he will always be for our Littles, but he is still a man. You can wrap him up in pretty paper and tie some fancy bow around him, but when it comes down to it, Moses puts on his pants one leg at a time same as you and I.”
David chuckled. “In other words, cowboy up.”
“You’re gonna be just fine and—”
“Ohhhh, is that my prize?”
Both men turned to see Sadie reaching for the bag that David had hooked on the peak of the tent to keep it out of the way.
“Afraid not.” David managed to snag it due to his height and holding it even higher as if expecting Sadie to possess the jumping capabilities of a kangaroo.
“But you said we get prizes!” Sadie planted her hands on her hips.
“I thought I was your prize,” Derek said, mimicking her stance with his own hands on his hips.
Whatever Sadie might have been about to say was lost when she spied the air mattress. “Ohhhh, a bouncy bed!”
Derek barely had time to catch her before she planted face first on the partially inflated mattress. “I think your bed must be in another tent,” he teased. “This one is mine.”
Sadie’s eyes went hugely wide. “But, Daddy, Master David will switch you if you don’t have a camp buddy with you and he’ll make you cut your own switch too!”
Derek’s eyes cut to David who just shrugged and said, “Consequences. Speaking of which, where is your camp buddy, little Bee?”
It seemed Moses wasn’t the only one who’d stand with his people through thick and thin because Wren popped around the corner of the tent at that very moment. “I’m here!”
Sadie’s giggle told the men she was well aware of how close she’d come to hunting down that switch.
“And since Wren has Master Travis as her tent buddy, and Tula has Master David, that only leaves you, Daddy, and since you are the best prize in the entire universe, I will volunteer to be your buddy to save your behind.”
“How very gallant of you.” Derek pressed his lips against Sadie’s neck and blew a raspberry that had her squealing.
This was what David wanted. The simple joys of life found in laughter and the love found in a touch.
“Ohhh, is that my prize?”
David groaned as Wren actually had her fingers within an inch of the bag before his arm snapped up again.
“How about you two buzz on back to the others and I’ll be there in just a minute,” David suggested.
“With my prize?” Wren asked suspiciously.
“I don’t think I’m brave enough to show my face without it.” David gave a full-body shudder that had the Little giggle.
“Mine too?” Sadie asked, obviously needing clarification.
“Of course.”
“And Tula’s?” Wren asked.
David felt he understood a bit more how a suspect must feel when being interrogated.
“I’ll probably be so laden down with prizes, it might take a trunk to deliver them all,” David said.
“Promise?”
“Cross my heart.” David made a show of drawing a giant “X” over his chest.
“I don’t know. You’re awfully big to be laden down by one bag,” Sadie reminded them all as she pointed to the bag still dangling from David’s fingers.
“How about you leave the details to Master David,” Derek suggested as he kissed his wife and set her down.
Sadie giggled and grabbed Wren’s hand, the two taking off while buzzing like crazy.
Derek returned to working the pump as David began carrying the other supplies into the tent, pausing to say, “Thanks, Derek.”
“For what? I didn’t tell you anything you didn’t already know.”
“I know that Moses would never have had a choice to make about my being here if you hadn’t made that decision first. I swear, I’ll try not to disappoint either of you.”
Derek smiled and nodded and just before they finished and turn to find the others, he added, “Now, Jayne on the other hand—”
David just groaned and Derek’s laugh was the first thing that reached the others.