Peanut

Peanut

A Short Story

I met her the first time I hired out for day work. I just walked up to the ranch boss and told him I wanted to work. “We’ll see”, was all he said. I walked over to some of the other hands and introduced myself. Then I caught a glimpse of her out of the corner of my eye. Standing next to the fence; tossing her red hair in the breeze, the sun hit just right and made it glow like an ember. It was love at first sight.

I’d always been told to steer clear of redheads, but she was the best looking thing I’d ever seen. And those eyes! Almost black and it felt like she could look right into my soul. We got along pretty good right from the get-go and that suited me just fine. Many a time, all it took was a long look… eye to eye, nose to nose, to let me know… Everything was gonna be alright. It was like it was me and her against the world.

Make no mistake… she knew how to read me from the start. Almost like she could read my mind. She knew what I was thinking before I knowed what I was thinking. If I wanted to go someplace… she was already heading that way. Like I was just along for the ride.

She had a fondness for peanuts too. If you wanted to stay on her good side, you better have a stock of them. That’s why I called her “Peanut”. That… and because she was pretty salty… if you know what I mean.

Away from all the hustle and bustle of the ranch headquarters, we were alone and found a spot to bed down. I stroked her hair and talked about the dreams I had for the two of us. Made sure she had enough cover. The night was gonna be a cold one out on the prairie. I listened to her breathe as she nodded off to sleep. She was something special, and I was lucky to call her mine.

The wind howled and pulled at our cover but sleep soon overtook me. What woke me near dawn was the silence. No wind. No birdsong. Nothing. Just a bitter cold that soaked straight into your bones. Thank God for chaps and a good coat.

Her blanket lay empty on the ground. She’d run off in the night… not makin’ a sound.

I walked out on the prairie as the sun peeked over the horizon and blew a heavy sigh that turned into a cloud. Didn’t really care if the sun come up or not today. She took nothing with her but my heart, my trust… even my very reason for living.

I started a fire with the hopes that a strong cup of Arbuckle’s might brighten my outlook. I pulled the pot and the fryin’ pan out of my saddlebag and poured water in the pot. I slapped some salt pork on the frying pan. Once the water boiled, I dumped in the grounds… and waited. Maybe she just took a morning walk and would be headed back when she saw the smoke.

Wrapped up in my blanket, I watched the smoke drift to the south. Still had a cold biscuit left so I folded it around the salt pork and poured my coffee. Around mid-morning, my hopes started to die out with the embers of the campfire. She was gone and I had to face the facts.

I could just hunker down right here and eventually waste away to nothing… wondering if I could’ve done anything different… to make her stay. I figured I treated her right and I couldn’t shake her outta my head. I could feel the anger over the situation start to burn like a wind-whipped blaze across dry grass… until it consumes everything and everybody in its path.

Calming down, I thought of getting up and looking for her. But where? Which way do I head? The ground was hard-froze. Wasn’t no footprints anywhere.

North?

South?

East?

West?

She could’ve headed any direction. It all looked the same. Flat grassland running for miles up toward the caprock. A few gullies and washes hidden by the grass. I listened for her call… nothing.

The coffee helped clear the cobwebs and the sun knocked off the chill. Maybe I oughta get up… dust off and forget all about her. I can find another one…

But it’s hard to forget the scent of her… her eyes… how her red hair shined in the morning sun… her smooth neck and beautiful legs. She could take your breath away.

Oh, she had her moments when she was hard to get along with… ever since I first met her. Peanut let me know pretty quick that she wasn’t an easy catch. Sometimes she would throw me for a loop just for meanness or catch me napping and jar me awake with her shenanigans. When she really got riled… and you was doing somethin she didn’t think much of… she could take out a hunk! Once she hauled off and stomped my foot! Just cause she could. Yep, she had a temper to match that red hair.

Now all of that was gone… the good times and the bad. She run off in the night and took it all with her. And here I sit… halfway between heaven and hell. But doing nothing never got you anywhere. If I sit here much longer, I’ll die.

I tell you one thing though…

If somebody stole her away from me… I’ll see him hang, if I don’t shoot him first! I’ll track him down and take her back and it won’t be pretty! And if she left on her own… To hell with her! I’ll find another one! Maybe one that ain’t so testy and ornery.

So I gathered up my gear, kicked some dirt over the embers and looked around. Picking up a handful of dirt and dropping it slow… I figured what little wind there was, was coming out of the North. Believe I’ll put the wind behind me and never look back. Surely I’ll come up on somebody or someplace where I can start over. New scenery. New folks.

This is all my fault… but I bet it’s the last time I ever forget… to hobble my horse!