Chapter 21
By the Chronicler
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11:15 am Eastern, 8:15am Pacific
(24hrs and 15min. left)
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Rawhide leaned back against April, the mustang loaned to them by Mr. Tanner, his arms crossed over his chest. The horse nudged his shoulder, demanding another treat. The big cowboy pushed the nose away. April snorted her displeasure, and, in protest, side stepped just enough that Rawhide stumbled back.
Rawhide snorted back, grabbing her halter and pulling her head around so they could be eye to eye.
But, before he could say anything to the horse, Buckaroo spoke up "Was this on the map?" He waved a hand at the frozen creak that had stopped their trek.
They had stuck to the road where ever possible. The snow storm and made it impassible in several parts forcing them off track to find a way around. But this last time, trying to go around a small mountain size mudslide, they ran into yet another obsticle: a creek. It was only about fifteen feet across, but there was no way of telling how deep for the surface was a mishapen muddy frozen crust. And there was no way of telling how thick the ice was.
"Nope, not on the map." Reno answered from where he sat on the snowmobile he and Perfect Tommy had shared.
Perfect Tommy tossed a rock out to skid across the ice. "Who cares if it's on some stupid map? It's here!"
"The question is is it safe to cross." Tommy Boy put out.
"One way to find out."
"Perfect Tommy...." Rawhide took a step after him, as Buckaroo leaped at him from the other side, but both were too late.
"Yahoo!" Perfect Tommy hooted as he skidded across the ice. Half way across, he spun about and skidded to a halt. Grinning, he waved his arms about, indicating the delegate ice he was standing on. "See? Safe as can be!"
Buckaroo threw his hands up in the air, turned away, and stomped a safe distance away so as not to throttle the boy and choke him right then and there.
"Damn fool kid!" Rawhide snapped. "And just what would you have done if it hadn't been safe? Huh?"
"Well, he really would be cool then." Reno answered from where he still sat, unmoved by his friend's perilous experiment.
Rawhide glared at him.
Tommy Boy stepped up to the edge of the creak, cradling her wounded arm. "We'd have a reason for a tasteless Donner Party comment." she pointed out.
Rawhide glared at her.
Perfect Tommy dropped his hands to his side. "Ah, come on." he complained. "Go and remind me that I'm hungry."
Everyone glared at him.
"Guys." P.T. stomped his foot on the ice. "Look! It's safe! No worries. Let's get moving. Get this pumper to where it needs to go so we can get back to making music. Come on. Get a wi..."
A crawling creak sounded under his foot.
Perfect Tommy looked down.
A spider web of cracks raced across the ice under his feet.
At once, all amusement and anger was gone from the group. Even reno came to his feet and hurried to the edge of the creek.
"Perfect Tommy, don't move." buckaroo ordered.
The youngest Cavalier froze in place. But the thin ice under his feet had other plans as it began to pull apart. "Uh.... Ol' Bucky... about your advise..."
"Agreed." his boss hurriedly said. "Ignore it, go for the shore behind you! And move!"
Perfect Tommy spun about and leaped just as the ice where his shoe touched disintegrate. His leading foot touched down, cracking the ice closer to shore, but he was already pushing off and landing hard on his knees on the rocky shore before it completely gave way.
Released by the breaking up of its icy top, the freezing water rushed passed, breaking up what was left and caring it away.
Breathing hard, Perfect Tommy climbed to his feet and turned back to face his friends.
They were, once again, glaring at him.
He shrugged sheepishly. "Um.... Tommy Boy... to answer your question... nope, not safe to cross."
Rawhide exploded. "You stupid, foolish, moronic, imbicilic, asinine, senseless, idiotic, irresponsible, irrational, cockeyed, crackbrained..." ** "What?" Perfect Tommy interrupted. "You swallow a thesaurus or something?"
Buckaroo rubbed his eyes. "Perfect Tommy, we all know you are not stupid. Try thinking next time. I promise, it won't hurt."
"As much." Rawhide growled. "Did it accure to you that if we were distracted with saving your butt, we'd be too late to get that..." he threw a finger back at the medical ice chest on Reno's snowmobile, "to where it needs to be?"
Perfect Tommy dropped his eyes, excepting the reprimand.
Tommy Boy set a hand on Rawhide's arm, calming him. "What we need to do now, is figure a SAFE way across for the rest of us." she pointed out.
Hoping for redemption, Perfect Tommy popped up with "Maybe I can find something over here we can use like a bridge... or something."
Rewarding him, Buckaroo nodded. "Good idea. You look over there, we'll look over here. But don't go too far. Stay with in sight."
Perfect Tommy saluted, spun about. "What the..."
The butt of a shot gun slammed alongside his head dropping him, unconscious, to the ground.
"Sh..." Tommy Boy started to reach for her weapon, her fellow Cavaliers a breath behind, but all four froze when the shot gun was spun about and aimed at Perfect Tommy's head.
"You all just sit right quiet now." warned the young woman who held the weapon. "You sure as hell better have a good reason to be on my property, or this here pretty boy is gonna be one sorry city boy!"
April snorted and nudged rawhide once again for a treat.
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11:45 am Eastern, 8:45am Pacific
(23hrs and 45min. left)
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