Disclaimer: The characters and situations of the TV
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30 Minute Roundup
Tiger by Nicolegesq
When the two hands who’d been
sent into town returned that afternoon, even from a distance Nick noticed their
agitation. Striding across to the wagon,
he barked at them as they jumped down, “What’s going on?”
“Circus is in town, Nick!”
“Circus?” he questioned, his
hands on his hips, his head cocked to one side.
“And is that why you two are so late?”
“Well, kinda. The whole town has gone haywire. Seems some fool decided to get a closer look
at the animals and let several of them out,” Davey
answered.
“Animals, what
kind of animals?”
“I don’t know everything, but I
heard a tiger had gotten loose.”
“A tiger! Loose in the valley?” Suddenly, the rancher’s mind began whirling
as he envisioned the havoc a tiger could cause if it got into the herds. “And it was still loose when you left town?”
“Sure was, boss. And from what I heard, it was heading this
way when last spotted.”
Nick pulled his hat off,
slapping it against his leg. “That’s ALL
we need,” he spat out through gritted teeth.
“With all we’ve got to do . . . HEATH!!”
Quickly, the area came to life,
rifles distributed around as groups were dispatched to different parts of the
ranch to stand guard for wild beasts that might begin preying on the
cattle. It had been a long day, and it
looked like it might be a long night and Nick wandered over to Heath, leaning
one outstretched hand against the tree that Heath was leaning against with his
whole body. “No sign of anything.”
“Nope.”
Nick grimaced, wiping his eyes
with his gloved hand before he shifted to lean against the tree next to
Heath. “Who’d think having a circus in
town would cause us all these problems?”
Heath shrugged lightly. “Shame that it did. I mighta liked to
go see it.”
Nick chuckled. “Don’t you think you’re a little old for the
circus?”
“Don’t rightly know. Never been to one before.”
Quickly Nick’s head leaned
forward, the sharp pang of guilt hitting him.
It didn’t happen nearly as often as when Heath first came but every now
and then, Nick would be caught unaware when Heath would reveal some small bit
of information, some little thing he’d never done, or always done, a reflection
on the life he’d led apart from the rest of the family. But it was this sort of thing, the fact that
Heath had never been to the circus that would hit his brother the hardest. The things about his childhood that he’d
taken for granted, the little luxuries that Leah would never have been able to
afford that he and Jarrod and Audra had enjoyed and had helped make their
childhoods so rich with good memories.
Swallowing hard, Nick leaned his head back against the tree. “Lots of fancy costumes, sometimes there are
some pretty good trick riders with horses.
Ya’ know, Mother and Audra, the ladies like
that kind of thing. We should go, after
this is all done. You’d like it Heath.”
Heath nodded a half smile, one
side of his mouth pulled up more than the other, knowing what was going on in
his big brother’s head, knowing he was fighting the urge to say “I’m sorry for
the old man, Boy. Sorry you never got to
do what we did, let me make it up to you.”
But Nick never said that, never pointed out what really happened, just
went ahead and made sure that if there was something Heath missed, he got the
chance to do it. “Sounds like fun,
Nick. We should do that when we get off
watch. I bet Mother and Audra would like
it, like you said.”
The two men sat together during
the night, leaned up against the tree, Nick nursing a hot cup of coffee. Heath had settled in, pulling his hat down
over his eyes, letting his breaths come easy when he felt it. Nick tapping on his hat. The first time, Heath reached up and pulled
his brim down more securely before crossing his arms across his chest again,
eager to get comfortable once more. The
second time, Heath didn’t move, just glanced over, barely opening his
eyes. “Cut it out, Nick.”
“What’s that?”
“Leave my hat alone, Nick.”
“What? I didn’t do anything to your hat.”
The two settled back down and
there it was again. Thwap.
“Nick, I don’t want to hafta’ tell you again.”
“I’m not touching it!”
“What d’ya mean
you’re not touching it?! Quit flicking my hat, will ya?!”
The two men looked at each other
hard. “It wasn’t me.”
“Well, if it wasn’t you?” The two men looked into the night and both
startled when they saw the pair of chocolate eyes staring back at them.
The soft eyes watching the two
men, long, hairy fingers reached out and gingerly touched the tan brim. “Oo oo ooo,” came
the quiet voice.
Both men moved carefully,
sitting back in awe when the chimpanzee climbed into Heath’s lap, reaching up
to pat his face softly with the spidery hand.
“It’s a monkey!” Nick exclaimed.
“I can see that.” Heath stood, holding the small hairy ape as
it clung to him like a small child and he walked towards the fire to get a
better look at it. “Nick . . . I think
we can call off the men.”
“Why?”
“Look at the shirt.” Heath smiled as he pushed back the small
jacket the chimp wore.
Nick looked closely in the fire’s light at the name on the shirt. “Tiger! This . . . this is the tiger?” He turned and yelled into the night. “DAVEY!!!!”