BUT FORTHE KINDNESS OF STRANGERS

"Oh my God! I can't believe I'm not hurt! That deer ran out right in front of my car. It could have killed me!" Amanda said, her voice shaking. She looked around in a daze. "I never thought I'd thank a fence for being my door stop. I could have driven right into that huge tree, but running into the fence was lucky. I'm not hurt much, I don't think." She stopped and did a quick assessment of herself. As she did so, she felt a little trickle on her forehead. Still shaking, she ran her fingers gently up around her hairline and her hand came away with blood on it. "Ouch," she said out loud. "That sure hurts." She quickly leaned over and looked into the rearview mirror, and saw that she had blood running slowly down the side of her face. Her head was throbbing too. "Oh boy, I must have hit my head when I ran into the fence." She reached over and grabbed a tissue out the glove compartment and pressed it gently against her forehead. "Ow, that really smarts," she said. A sudden bout of dizziness hit her and she leaned her head back against the seat.

Amanda closed her eyes for a minute, and then opening them, she looked around. She had come to a stop off the road when she hit the fence. She was in a desolate area in Montana, where the countryside stretched for miles. There were mountains on either side of her, set far back off the road on the other side of beautiful fields of yellow wildflowers. There were no houses or driveways, no mailboxes on the side of the road, just this long expanse of highway that seemed to stretch into forever, and flowers everywhere in the fields as far as she could see,

She reached for her phone and turning it on, she saw right away, the lack of bars across the screen. "Wonderful, no reception." She could hear a hissing sound and looking out the front window, she saw steam coming out from under the hood. She leaned forward and tried to start the motor. Nothing. "Oh great, now what am I going to do? she whined out loud. "I haven't seen a car in hours going either way."

She grabbed the door handle, and though she was still feeling a bit dizzy, she stepped out into the tall grass growing there on the side of the road. Steadying herself against the car, she slowly walked around to the front and lifted the hood. She saw immediately, the hole in the radiator and the steam escaping out the hole. . "That's just what I need," she thought.

Another bout of dizziness hit her and and she staggered backward, tripping on a log behind her. She tried to right herself, but the ground just seemed to come up at her and she fell right onto the log, scraping her shoulder as she went down. She hit the log hard, and grabbed her arm, crying out in pain.

Amanda laid there for a few minutes, trying to regain her senses. She opened her eyes and saw that the leaves on the trees were blurry and the tree seemed to be leaning sideways, almost upside down. She started to get up, but pain shot through her arm, She cried out. grabbing her arm, and suddenly fell back, passing out against the log.

Sometime later. her eyes slowly opened, and she fluttered her eyelashes trying to steady her sight. After a minute or two, things came into focus again. Both her arm and her head were throbbing, and when she tried, she was unable to move her arm. It just hung limply down by her side. She moaned, rubbing it gently. She slowly sat up, steadying herself against the log. She looked up and saw that the sun, which had been high in the sky, was beginning its descent into evening.

"God, how long have I been out? It's beginning to get dark. What am I going to do? I'm out stranded on this God forsaken road in the middle of nowhere, my car is not even going to start, the phones dead, and I'm in no shape to walk anywhere, not to mention where would I walk to? All I see is road. There's not a house in sight. I could walk for hours and find nothing."

She sat back against the log and said. "Well Amanda, you've got to do something. You can't just sit here." Looking around, she decided that walking was her best bet. Sitting here doing nothing certainly wasn't going to help. Steadying herself against the log, she slowly stood up. She carefully made her way to the car door and eased herself into the seat.

"You can do this girl. Just get your purse, and head on down the road." She rubbed her arm again and looking in the mirror, saw that a large lump had formed on her forehead at the hairline. The bleeding was slowing down though, and was just a trickle now. She sat back again and looked out the window at the field of flowers before her.

"They are so beautiful," she said aloud. As she looked into the distance towards the mountains, she saw a speck of movement in the middle of the meadow. "What's that out there," she said to herself. She blinked a couple of times, thinking it was just her blurry vision that was causing her to see something. She looked again and sure enough, there was something moving out there.

"Am I seeing things, or is that something coming towards me out there?" She looked again, and this time, rubbed her eyes to make sure. "That is something way out there. God, I hope it's not a bear! What am I going to do if it's a bear? Wait, that's not a bear. It looks like a man on a horse. It is." She cupped her hand over her eyes and watched as the speck got bigger. "He's got a cowboy hat on too. Oh, thank goodness. I'm saved, I hope."

She watched as the man drew nearer. Finally, he stopped the horse in the field close to where she had "parked" her car.

He was quiet for a minute, and just sat on the horse staring at her. Then, he tipped his hat and said softly, "Howdy Ma'am. You look like you may be in a spot of trouble here." He saw the blood on her forehead and said, "Are you okay? You're bleeding there, you know."

Amanda looked at the stranger, sizing him up. She didn't know if he was friendly or not. "I'm okay, I think. I swerved to miss a deer and hit the fence there. Bumped my head," She thought to herself, "He doesn't seem like he's dangerous."

He said louder this time, "You look like you hurt your arm too."

Amanda nodded. "Yea, banged it up when I tripped and hit that log over there. Do you by any chance know anything about cars?"

"I know just enough to know that one ain't going any place, but other than that, horses are my thing."

"Well, my phone is dead, and apparently so's my car." Just at that moment, another wave of dizziness washed over her. She swayed and sat back against the seat, squeezing her eyes shut and moaned as a sharp pain went up her arm.

"Ma'am," he said getting off his horse. "You look like you could use some help. Here, let me take a look." He reached into the car, and brushed back the hair off her forehead so he could see better. "Yep, you've got a good sized gash here. It's gonna need a few stitches, You've got quite a lump there too. But at least, the bleeding has slowed. Have you anything, a napkin, or tissue or something we can hold against this?"

"There's a tissue in the glove compartment," she said weakly. The cowboy reached across Amanda, grabbed a tissue., and put it gently against the lump. As he did his arm brushed against hers, and she winced.

"Here, let me take a look at that arm." He carefully ran his hand along her arm, and after a minute said, "Well, it's not broke, but it's going to be sore."

"Gee thanks, Doc," she said and smiled.

"Well, one thing's for sure, your car's not going anywhere and it's getting dark. We need to get you out of here. It's gonna get cold as the sun sets. My farm's not far from here. How are you feeling? Do you think you're strong enough to ride?"

"Ride?" Amanda said. "You mean on the horse? I've never been on a horse before."

"It's easy. All you gotta do is grab my arm with your good arm, and I'll swing you up behind me. Then, you just hang on to me, and I'll do the rest. I'll take you to my ranch and we'll call the doc to come out and take a look at you. Do you think you can do that?"

Amanda looked at the cowboy and said, "I don't even know your name and you're offering me all this help. Why?"

"Well.my daddy always taught me to help out pretty ladies in distress; He always taught me and my brother that in this world, you get what you give. So I try to live by that. You're a pretty lady, you need help, and I can give it to you. Why would I not? It's the least I can do."

She sat silent for a moment and said, "you're sure not from a big city if you can say that." She looked at this stranger and said softly,

"Have you got a name? 'Hey you' doesn't fit you."

"Name's Jacob, Ma'am. Jacob Billings, at your service." He tipped his hat and smiled. "And what do they call you?"

"Amanda Gray," she said and she smiled back. "Yes, I think I can ride. Are you sure you don't mind?"

"Not a bit Amanda, not a bit. And I know my Daddy will be happy to help too. We have a spare room at the ranch you can sleep in tonight, and tomorrow morning, my brother James, can take a look at your car. We'll have you fixed up and back on the road in no time at all.," said Jacob.

"Thank you so much," she said and thought to herself, "But for the kindness of strangers."