Chapter 33 ~ Ff
Mary and Sam rode in the back of the trailer with the horses, both trips, making for a very long day. 27 had survived including the Arabian, so one trip held 13 horses and the next 14. That the truck driver was taking it slow as to give them a smooth ride, Mary and Sam in the back moving among them, calming them, they were exhausted by sundown. Mary helped as Sam went through the surviving herd one more time once they were home, checking them over as they finished another meal, and began dozing off on their feet.
Satan was also exhausted, for all of his feigned energy. Mary thought it was cute he pretended to not be weary in his weakened state, though to her his fatigue was obvious. She made sure to act very impressed as he told her how he would win a fight with any of the other stallions there when she put him in his own stall that night. Mary made him promise to be good, though, so she thought it would be ok as she told him good night, and she would be back at sunrise.
As she was leaving the horse considered her over the door of the stall, and shook his head at her. Thank you for my life, broken one.
She smiled at him, closing the barn door and turning off the big lights, leaving on only the dim overnights.
+
The next morning she met him at sunrise as she promised, she gave him an apple and promised breakfast would be coming soon, and she helped Sam get the other survivors going. "They're going to need close attention until they get their weight back, Sam told her. "There's still a chance of organ failure that just hasn't presented yet." But they were lucky, all the horses quickly regained their weight on triple rations. Mary was even amused how quickly some of them became accustomed to the daily feasting, claiming to be starving once they were put back on a normal amount of daily calories. "Some of you can be such babies," Mary told them with a smile, and they managed to look embarrassed.
Satan was also taking to his new home, and was a little jealous when he saw Mary saddling up Cindy, one day.
Does she belong to you? Satan asked.
Mary thought he was talking to her, but before she could answer him Cindy did, Yes, the little one is mine. Mary was a little surprised at first to be referred to as Cindy's property, but realized it made sense, and she began to get a new perspective on the relationship between humans and horses. She also noticed that Cindy was acting aloof toward the new stallion, and wondered about that, but stayed quiet while they conversed as if she wasn't there.
The broken one helped me, I had a great hurt.
Mary knew he meant more than the dehydration and starvation. They had spent quite a bit of time in that back corral talking about the abuse they had both suffered in their lives. She made him understand that every day was new, and he was the one who decided how he was going to be every day, not some nameless men in his past who had no longer had any control over him. Satan decided that the broken one was very wise.
Cindy finally deigned to look at Satan, Mary realized for the first time that her mare had been purposely avoiding his gaze. Perhaps the little one can move us closer together, and you can tell me about it.
Mary just looked at Cindy with wide eyes. Cindy looked at her to make sure Mary was paying attention, and then looked away. Cindy had nothing more to say about it.
She talked to Junior about it, Cindy lived in the end stall and Sam's horse Libby was next to her, but the stall beside Libby was currently free and they decided to move Satan into that one, "As long as he behaves," Junior had qualified.
Mary led him down the long paddock the next day, "Now you be a good boy. Cindy is a sweet girl, don't be mean."
I am not a good boy.... but I like the gentle one. I will not fight her.
"Close enough," Mary smiled at him.
She tried leading Satan in the open stall door next to Libby, but Satan balked. He went in front of Libby's stall door, and stood firm. "Satan, that's Libby's stall. Yours is over here." But Satan would not speak, and would not be moved.... he had regained enough of his strength that Mary wasn't going to move him, anyway.
Mary looked to Cindy, regarding the stallion. She was quiet, and staring. Mary looked to Libby, watching the commotion outside of her stall door. Libby, too, was silent, regarding the stallion.
Mary clipped a lead rope to Satan's halter, flipped it over the stall handle,
"Stay here, be right back," and ran around back to the paddock with the survivors where she thought Sam might be.
"Sam, got a minute? I think Satan is trying to evict Libby."
Sam raised an eyebrow at her, but followed.
When they got back they were met with an interesting situation.... both Cindy and Libby had their noses over their stall doors, nuzzling their noses with Satan.
The human girls stopped dead in their tracks, taking that in. "Huh," Mary said.
In the end the mares decided it would be fine if Satan were in the stall between them. Sam took Mary's word for it when she passed it along, but Mary still wasn't sure she liked the way her sweet girl was looking at the stallion.
++++
Mary often asked him good questions, so Junior started teaching his daughter how the ranch ran. Mary was surprised to be getting those first few peeks behind the curtains, there was so much to it that she had never considered.... feed allocation, manpower limitations, even electricity load balancing. It never occurred to her to wonder why they never lit up ever single building at the same time, but now she knew. Junior made it look easy, he was a good leader and he had good people who wanted to do right by him. Mary began to suspect that none of it would work without both elements. Junior started letting Mary help with the prioritizing of the daily tasks, letting her fill out the Job Board with her at night, for the tasks that would need to be done the next day. Sam watched when she could, so proud of Mary.
+
Junior still released Sam and Mary early on Fridays, though... he knew how much they liked camping out at The Rocks, together. Since the new cell tower went up they could stay in contact by phone, now, but he and Martha still felt more comfortable if they took the radio as backup.
Mary was riding Satan. Cindy had suggested to her one day soon after he arrived and had regained his weight that Mary should ride the stallion. Mary asked Cindy if she would be jealous... her mare replied in confusion, If you can ride him, you must. Look at him.
+
Junior was astounded when Mary had told him she was going to ride Satan that day. He had trained many horses to the saddle, and knew even with the gentle ones it was never as simple as "I'm going to saddle him up and teach him how to ride," as she put it.
But Mary had a long talk with Satan the day before, with Cindy and Libby listening quietly. "I know you get a little jealous when I go out on Cindy. If you are jealous, it means you want to ride with me, right?"
Satan didn't have an answer, but Mary saw him stamping in place, a little nervous.
"You know I will never cause you a hurt. Tomorrow I will put a blanket and saddle on your back. It will feel so strange to you.... you will want to jump and turn and shake it off. But I am asking you to trust me. I know you are brave enough to do that. I know you are brave enough to fight anything.... so I know you can handle a little saddle, and me, on your back. Or are you afraid?"
I am not afraid of anything broken one.
"I know you're not, that's why I know you can do this even though Dad says you can't."
The whip man says I will not?
"Yes he says you will be afraid and I will not ride you tomorrow."
Then we will ride tomorrow, and then he was still.
+
The next day Sam and Junior watched... not hovering, but close enough to intervene if Mary needed help. Sam heard Mary whispering something to Satan, holding his head against her body, her lips in his ear. Junior heard Mary talking to the nervous horse. "You can do this, you good boy. You aren't afraid of anything. Just trust me.... trust me...."
Satan nickered in concern.
Mary was now tall enough to equip and mount Cindy with ease, but Satan was so much bigger she needed a small wooden step to give her an extra six inches.
Satan took the blanket... then the saddle... like a champ, Mary sure to remind him how strong and brave he was, to Cindy's amusement.
Satan nearly lost his calm as Mary tightened the cinch under his chest, feeling the first constriction of the gear that was now attached to him, but Mary calmed him yet again, her hand that was not on the girth was on his foreleg, as if her 90 pound body could control his 2000 pounds with a soothing touch.
Junior knew that was impossible, but it worked.
Once he had the weight of the saddle on his back, Mary was going to give him a moment, letting him get used to the feel of it.
"I know you can barely feel that," she whispered to him, looking into his eyes.
It feels strange but there is no hurt.
"You knew there was no hurt, Cindy never has hurt when I ride her," chastising him lightly.
Satan looked away from her.
"There's one more thing, you need a bridle and a bit so you can feel when I want you to do something. This will feel strange, it will be behind your teeth, you will feel it with your tongue, but it is not a hurt. You see Cindy and Libby take a bit all the time." Mary held the bridle up to his face, and he freaked out a little when Mary put it over his eyes, but then Cindy helped, Just be still Cindy whinnied at him. That pulled Satan out of his fear. Satan still balked a little at taking the bit in his mouth, but that was because it was so unfamiliar and he wasn't sure what to do with it.
Junior tensed as Mary put her fingers in his mouth so the cold metal would not run across his tongue so strangely...
But soon Satan figured it out, and the bit was behind his teeth, he chomping at it getting used to the feel. Mary affixed the straps of the bridle, adjusted them so they fit right, and flicked the reins back onto the saddle. She stepped back, checking over her work, and said to Satan, "Now that wasn't so bad, was it?"
Satan was quiet, distractedly working the bit in his mouth.
And Mary mounting him was more of the same. Mary started just putting her weight on his back from the side, leaning over onto him. "See? You can hardly feel me, right?"
Satan had to turn and look at her, it all felt so strange, but he saw his broken one looking at him from his back, smiling. Get on, he said, and without hesitation she swung her leg over and was in the saddle.
It happened so fast Junior tensed again, just in case, and Sam gasped a little.... but they were both speechless as Mary took the reins and rubbed his neck. "That's my good boy.... your my good, nice boy." For once, Satan didn't argue. He was feeling rather pleased with himself.
Satan allowed Sam to lead him around... Satan liked Sam.... as Mary taught him the commands and the reins. By the end of the first few hours that day Satan was comfortable carrying Mary around the paddock, even taking her up to a trot and a light run.
Watching, Junior knew the horse was capable of much greater speed than Mary had ever felt, so he was glad the horse didn't open its stride. He felt so much pride for his daughter, thinking that even if she were really his own, they couldn't have possibly been more alike.
The next day Mary and Sam went on a long trail ride with Satan and Libby.... Cindy understood... and when Mary told him that they had a long, smooth stretch of trail, and to show her how fast he could run.... even Mary wasn't ready for it. She barely held on as he bolted, leaving Sam behind in the dusting looking on with her jaw open. In just about 2 minutes they were a mile away from Sam, Mary with her cheeks streaked with tears from the wind, her hands cramped from holding on so tight. She leaned forward and hugged his neck, "Oh my god that was so fast...." Satan just pranced in a tight circle, he could feel his broken one's love for him. It was a new feeling to him, and unfamiliar, but he knew he liked it. Mary wasn't sure as she was catching her breath, but she thought she might have had a small orgasm feeling his power between her thighs. They trotted back to Sam, who met them half way.
"Oh my god," Sam smiled at them both.
"Right?" Mary smiled. No more words were needed.
That night at dinner the rest of the farm hands were enthralled, listening to the girls, so obviously in love, excitedly telling them about their day with Satan.... some of them had seen Mary's speed run out in the distance. They all wondered when they talked privately when Sam and Mary would stop pretending to not be a couple.
+
So finally the two human girls and three horses arrived at the rocks and they fell into their routine, Sam setting up the camp, Mary tending to the horses and setting up the makeshift corral they had built with driftwood from the river so the horses had a little room to move and get at the desert grasses and the spring water.
Sam thought Mary had seemed quiet today on the ride, but Mary had told her she was fine, "Just thinking."
Sam gave her space, but could see Mary deep in thought about something as she did her part. Sam got the fire started, always the last thing when camp was ready. Mary looked at the fire, looked left and right doing a final check... fire going, horses settled and pulling at river grass, bedrolls laid out, food on a rope too high for coyotes to get at. She looked at her Sam, and without a word undressed. They usually took a swim first thing while the day still held some heat. Mary put her clothes over a dry branch to keep them out of the sand and ran into the cool water.... Mary liked to jump in fast and get the cold shock over with. Sam undressed and put her clothes next to Mary's, and joined her in the water slowly, getting used to it one step at a time until, waist deep, she would plunge in.
Sam swam underwater to Mary, coming up next to her. "Ok, what's up?" putting her hands on Mary's waist, under water.
Mary smiled at Sam softly, came in quick for a peck on her lips, and looked to the side. "I was wondering if we could talk about something."
Sam just raised her eyebrows patiently, of course Mary knew they could talk about anything, so she let Mary choose her words.
"You've had other relationships before..." and she trailed off.
"Yes?" Sam answered.
"Were they like this? Like you and me?" Mary asked with what almost sounded to Sam like concern.
Sam hugged Mary, not because she needed to stall or collect her thoughts, but just because she wanted to hug Mary. With her face next to the smaller girl's she answered, "I had two boyfriends before.... one when I was high school, he was sweet but he moved away Junior year. My next boyfriend I met Senior year, and he was 24 at the time. I ended up moving in with him after high school.... mostly just to get away from my father, though."
Mary pulled herself out of the hug, moving her hands to the small of Sam's back holding their hips together, but now looking into her face. "Was your father mean? Jimmy doesn't really talk about him much while we're working, but when he does he makes it sound like your dad was mean."
As much as Sam hated thinking about her past, sharing it with Mary felt easy and natural....I want Mary to understand. She liked that feeling. "He would drink and beat us... me, mom, everybody. And poor Jimmy used to actually pick a fight with him most nights so he'd leave me and mom alone. He beat Jimmy so bad sometimes...." and she looked down, she felt her eyes getting heavy. The new hug from Mary comforted her, and Sam squeezed her back. "I felt bad for leaving Jimmy there, but I was only 17.... I had to get away. So I moved in with my boyfriend."
Mary again pulled back. "And you said he wasn't great, either. But he must have been better than your dad."
"Right," Sam said, "That's pretty much it exactly. The best thing about Vinnie is that he wasn't as mean as my dad.... and at least when he got drunk he just wanted to have sex. Which was always over quick," she added, "so after he fell asleep I could do my homework. I was going to the community college." She thought Mary would smirk at Vinnie being too quick to finish, but still had the very serious look on her face.
"So... you only ever had two boyfriends.... since I was the first girl, that means you never dated after you came with Junior?"
"I really never did," Sam answered her. "Every now and then a guy would come through who was maybe cute enough to consider, but the cute ones never stayed long. There were only a couple. When Junior started sending me to school again I was always just way too busy to date, even though I got asked sometimes."
Mary looked to the side again, considering. She looked back at Sam, "So what was so special about me?"
Sam's heart broke for the uncertainty and sincerity she could hear in Mary's voice, she didn't need to ask are you serious? "Mary.... I thought I knew everything I needed to know about relationships. My home life sucked, my romantic life sucked, once Junior and Jimmy rescued me I was pretty much done with all of it. I became a veterinarian, I was here with Junior and Martha, I was content. I had gotten myself to the point where the only love I needed was from my vibrator," and she felt her cheeks redden a little at that admission, though she and Mary shared it quite often. "But I didn't know what real love was until I met you."
Mary stared at her, listening, and she gave a small smile at that last part. "Do you ever miss being with men?"
Is that what she's thinking about? "No sweetie, not at all, not in the slightest. My soul gets absolutely everything it needs from you. And Bob," and they chuckled at that... 'Bob' was what they called the vibrator. "Is that why you've been so quiet today, wondering if you were enough for me?"
Mary looked away. "Well, not really. Kind of, I guess. I've just been thinking lately..."
"Are you breaking up with me?" Sam asked with a smirk.
"Shut up," Mary smiled at her, trying to spank her under water, but the water resistance against her hand ruined it. "No... it's me.... I... I've never felt like this about someone before. I've actually been with girls before.... but... never in a real relationship. And I don't know if this is what I think it is."
"What do you think this is?" Sam asked softly, holding herself against Mary just a little harder.
Mary looked up into her eyes. "Complete happiness. Every morning I wake up, I want to come to your room and see you. I think about you all day when we're both working, sometimes it is almost distracting. I think about things I want to tell you, save it for the afternoons when we can ride." Mary considered. "Do you remember that day when the cell phone crew was out here talking to dad, setting up the dish and talking to him about the new tower?"
Sam furrowed her brow at the random subject change... "Yeah."
"There was a guy on the crew.... he was cute, I admit it. But he was checking you out when you weren't looking. I watched his eyes go up and down your body. I wanted to punch him."
Sam just looked at her.... she had no memory of a cute guy that day, checking her out or otherwise. "You were jealous?"
"Well..." Mary responded.... she had no idea if jealousy was an acceptable emotion, or not.... aspects of this were still new to her. "Yeah! I felt like.... you were mine, and he shouldn't be even thinking about it."
Sam couldn't hold in her smile. "I'm yours?"
Mary just looked at her. "Aren't you?"
"I so am," and she fell into a passionate kiss with Mary.
All of their hands were beginning to roam a little when Mary stopped it, breaking it up. "Wait.... wait..." a little out of breath. Sam saw her cheeks were flushed. "I still haven't asked what I want to ask."
"What honey?" Sam looked at her warmly.
"Is this what real love is? I can't stop thinking about you, ever. I dream about you. I want to be with you every minute of the day. My heart races when I finally see you when we're apart, I talk to Satan about you so much he gets irritated sometimes, and my heart melts when you smile at me. Also you're the best sex I've ever had. Every day I get to be with you is like a gift and I want to be with you forever."
Samantha looked at Mary, brushing some hair out of her face, framing it, wanting to remember this moment and those perfect words Mary had just said to her. Softly, she said, "Those sound like wedding vows."
"They do?" Mary asked.
Sam just nodded with a small smile, and tears in her eyes.
"Then this is normal? How I feel?" Mary asked.
Sam leaned in and kissed her softly once, twice. "I don't think it's normal at all. I think it is wonderful. Perfect."
Mary looked into Sam's eyes, her lips still parted from the kisses. "Oh. Then.... will you marry me?"
Sam laughed, and couldn't help it, cried. She held Mary so hard, "Oh my god yes.... yes, so much. I love you so much."
Mary held her back, her face against Sam's neck. "I am going to love you forever, I never want to be apart from you, not ever." She meant every word.
"I promise I will never leave you, and I will love you for the rest of my life."
They looked into their eyes, then kissed, sealing their vows to one another in the cool waters of a spring in the middle of nowhere in the desert.
Hands were again roaming so they found their bedrolls and lay by the fire, touching, caressing, loving each other. They looked into each others eyes more than usual, feeling their new marriage bond, floating in it.... each of them sometimes thinking she belongs to me forever... and that if she were dreaming, she never wanted to wake up.
They would never know but in the thousands of marriages that happened around the world that day, their simple affirmations to each other in the desert were the most passionate, the most pure.
+
They rode back the next day together on Satan, this time Sam on the back, holding Mary tightly. Neither one of them felt like they wanted to ever be apart any more.... and with that on their minds they decided to talk to Junior and Martha when they got back.
Junior was in the yard as they rode back and met them in the barn, "Hi, everything ok out there? Have fun?" He liked to ask them that every time, seeing how embarrassed they would pretend to not be, because they always were.
"Hey dad," Mary said turning away so he wouldn't see her flushed cheeks. "We were hoping to talk to you and mom after we get the horses put away."
Junior looked at his daughter, and looked to Sam, also seemingly afraid to meet his eyes. His trick with reading a horse's body language sometimes worked on people, too, if they had no guile. "Sure thing, I'll tell your mother you're home, she'll make up some sandwiches for lunch. We'll eat and talk."
"Thanks," Mary answered, loosening the cinch under Satan.
Junior had a feeling he knew what this talk was going to be about.... he made a quick stop in the big barn, pulled a thick envelope out of one of the wall cubbies near his blacksmithing pit where he sometimes fixed broken latches or hinges or horse shoes.
Mary and Sam got the horses brushed down, watered, fed, put away. Mary took Sam's hand, "Ready for this, wife?"
Sam smiled, squeezed Mary's hand. "Ready, wife."
They found Junior and Martha around back on the picnic table, sandwiches and lemonade waiting. They had been talking together but fell silent as Mary and Sam turned the corner still holding hands. Junior and his wife shared a quick glance.
Mary and Sam sat across the table from them. Mary turned to Sam, "Do you want to start?" and thought it was adorable that Sam looked terrified, focusing instead on grabbing half a ham sandwich and taking a big bite out of it. Mary squeezed her hand, and looked to her parents.
"Mom and Dad.... you know Sam and I have been together for a long time now, but last night we decided we wanted to be together forever, so we committed ourselves to each other out at the spring." She looked to each of them, Junior was just looking at her with the same kind expression he always had, but Martha began dabbing at her eyes with a napkin. She held out her hands to them, Mary and Sam both took them.
Junior turned to Sam, "When I asked you to try to mentor her, this isn't exactly what I had in mind," but he smirked, and winked at her.
Sam laughed and covered her suddenly flaming cheeks... "I know! But you know how Mary is... all of us fell in love with her. So it's your fault for bringing her here!" and they all shared a laugh.
Martha finally spoke, "We hoped you two would work, when we finally realized you were together. You're a good match," smiling at them. Sam and Mary just smiled back.
Suddenly Junior chuckled, and Mary asked him what was funny? He looked at Sam, "I think your brother won the pool, all the hands were wondering when you two would stop hiding," and then he smiled when they both just stared at him, their mouths open.
"EVERYBODY knows?" Mary asked.
"Did you actually think it was a secret?" Martha asked with a smile.
Mary looked at Sam, Sam just smiled and said, "I guess we aren't as sneaky as we thought we were," and then they both laughed.
Mary had been a little afraid to bring it up, but thought this was a good time. "ME AND SAM WANT TO START SHARING A ROOM," she blurted out, and her nervousness was so apparent that they all laughed with her.
Junior pulled the envelope that had been hidden between he and his wife, on the bench seat of the picnic table. "I have a couple things for you," he said, taking a smaller, dirty envelope out of a larger one. "Hold out your hands," he said to them, and the girls did. He opened the envelope and spilled the contents... two grayish black rings. "I've been making these for you for a while, just in case... you probably heard me pounding out in the big barn. I never made jewelry before so I had to learn some things about how to make it smooth and shiny."
The girls each took a ring, looking at it. The inside that would be against their fingers was smooth, but the outside, unadorned by jewels, seemed lumpy and had creases in the metal here and there.
"I thought a long time about what metal to use.... the usual ones didn't seem to fit either of you. Then I realized... barbed wire. Both of you had a long, hard path before you found the ranch, and each other. I used a length of barbed wire I pulled off of one of the far fences in the middle of the desert, and reforged it, and tempered it." He didn't tell them the rings should fit perfectly, the girls always left their well-worn leather gloves in the tack room and he used them as a template for their ring fingers. "I hope they don't rust," giving them a grin.
Though Sam's fingers were longer, Mary's were a little thicker, and it was easy to see which ring was rich. Sam slid Mary's ring on Mary's ring finger, Mary did the same for Sam. They looked at them... looked at their rings with their hands together, and both stood and went and hugged Junior, then Martha. "Thank you so much, dad," Mary said into his neck, holding him fiercely.
He could feel her tears on his neck as he held his daughter. "I love you, honey. I had a feeling my gals would need rings, so I made some, that's all."
Mary looked at them all, her mom and dad, her wife. "I can't believe how lucky I am."
"We're the lucky ones," Martha said to her daughter.
"You might want to sit back down," Junior said. "I have one more thing for you. A wedding gift, I guess."
Sam and Mary sat back down, Martha smirked that they were a little preoccupied, wanting to stare at their surprise weddings rings.
Junior put the larger envelope in the middle of the table between them.
"Mary," he began hesitantly. "When you were first coming here and I got legal custody of you, they put me in charge of the trust the judge in Florida set up for you."
Mary's eyes always got a little guarded when her past intruded on her like an unwelcome guest, Sam took her hand.
"This is what was left when your uncle's assets were liquidated. It all came to you. Now before you say no.... listen. I looked into this myself. None of this money was dirty... none of it came from misery or... anything else that you know your uncle did. This is all from the sale of his businesses and properties. I just want you to know that this is yours and that you can take it and do anything you want with it. Spend it or give it to charity or anything you want. I just want you to know it's clean."
Mary took the envelope, took out the papers inside, the prospectus, the investment reports. She didn't understand much of what she was looking at, so many numbers.
"I had it invested with my money man in Austin who takes care of my ranch assets. He's done well by me over the years, and he's done well by you. I wasn't supposed to give this to you until you were 18, but you're your own woman now, and I reckon 16 will do."
Mary turned to Sam with a look, do you understand this? Sam took some of the papers, and shuffled them. She glanced at the numbers for a few moments... she had taken some accounting classes in college, she had an idea what she was looking at. She looked up at Junior, "Is this serious?"
"Yep," he said simply.
"What does it say?" Mary asked.
Sam looked with wide eyes at her wife, "Wow, when I married you I didn't know you were rich."
"How much?" Mary asked.
"According to this you have a little over $14 million dollars."
Mary just looked at her, and blinked. "Is that a lot?"
Martha said to her, "Honey, it's enough to go anywhere and do whatever you want. You wouldn't need to stay here if you don't want."
Mary looked at her and suddenly laughed... but saw no one was laughing with her. She said to Martha, "Oh, you were serious, mom?" But then she laughed again. She looked at Sam, squeezed her hand, looked her in the eye, remembering all of the pain she knew was out there in the world. "I'm never going to leave here," smiling.
"This is already the best place in the world," Sam said, looking into Mary's eyes. "But wherever you go is my home, so if you think we should go on a cruise for a couple weeks every year, I'll be right there to support you in that decision." She kept her face straight as long as she could... but then they all laughed.
++++
The next morning when the rooster started crowing and they woke up in Sam's room... now their shared room... she said to Mary, "We need to take some of that money and buy a bigger bed. You're a bed hog."
Mary rolled and smiled at her. "But you love me, right?"
Sam smiled at her, brushing the hair from her face. She answered with a kiss. She started pulling away, but Mary's hand went to the back of her head and held her still.
They were a little late to breakfast.
++++
Mary and Sam were happy. They announced their marriage to Mary's friends on Skype that weekend, Nora and Lucy and Laura so happy for her, all of them reminiscing... delicately... how they never saw this coming in a million years. Mary smiled at them, noticing how careful they were being with what they said. "It's fine.... that's the past, the bad part is done, and the good part of that life is still with me. I'm incredibly fortunate," and she kissed Sam hard on screen, showing off a little. The other girls couldn't help but like Sam.... she was smart and funny and nice and had a neat Texas accent and it was apparent to all of them she absolutely adored Mary. They approved of Mary's choice. They closed their chat with initial plans to come visit, Laura said she would need a week off a month or so after she had her baby... that was her father's idea... so that became their target date to gather at The Second Chance Ranch.
The following weekend the girls loaded the horses and rode out into the desert to Sam's Rocks.
It had been a hard week.... it was time to move the cattle herd to the market, so all the hands were on deck to bring them in, get them sorted, and loaded onto the trucks for the feed lot for final fattening. Junior was there negotiating his price, Sam was there arguing with the buyer's men about the quality of the beef on the hoof.... they always tried to lowball, but Sam was good at keeping them honest. Mary helped with the others on horseback with the cull, sorting out the calves and cows too small or too young this year for another six months on the range until the next cull. Junior glanced at his daughter from time to time, noticing her increasing skill with a lariat and how she and that devil horse were a good together, easily working as one. He was glad he had trusted Mary's instinct about that horse, they were a good team.
After half the herd was loaded and gone Sam went through and gave the rest boosters since they were rounded up, and finally showered and went to bed after a 30 hour day. Mary kissed her forehead as she tucked in her exhausted Sam.
So it was a late morning ride in the desert, Sam still a little sore from the previous day's exertions, when they came to the rocks with the snakes and found Charlie again guarding the trail. The old, scarred rattlesnake hissed and shook her tail at Satan, in the lead of their little desert caravan.
"Mary," Sam called from behind her, "Charlie's out, let's go around."
But Mary was silent. She had heard the snake, this time... you will not pass here, if you approach my young you will feel my kiss and know no more.
Mary felt Satan stiffen and shake his head. You will move aside for my broken one. We care not for your young, we shall pass.
Mary felt something in her blood. She knew Satan was about to scream his challenge... and Mary knew that old snake wasn't going to move. She felt her fingertips begin to tingle, in her gloves.
Sam felt it coming, too. Taking Cindy's lead rope she began to move Libby around, like they always did when Charlie was out and being ornery. "Mary, just make him go around. Please."
Then come, fool, the snake hissed at Satan. Come and feel my kiss. Many have.
Satan's challenge was magnificent, much stronger than when Mary had last heard it, the horrible day she had found him. She tightened her grip on Satan's reins, squeezed him with her knees, leaned forward in her saddle. "Yes," Mary whispered at him... and to Sam's horror she saw that red horse bolt forward, toward the rattlesnake.
"No!" Sam shouted, but everything happened suddenly and at once. The snake, already coiled, flinched back, ready to strike. In three strides Satan had closed the distance, but suddenly stopped short and leapt into the air directly over the snake. Sam watched it as if in slow motion. The horse, airborne, all four hooves off the ground at once. The snake uncoiling, striking, aiming her fangs at Satan's right foreleg. Satan watching down from the air.... he saw the snake as she completely left the ground, lunging toward him in her strike. And Mary.... astride Satan... a terrible aspect of ferocity on her face, one with her horse, riding into battle. Sam thought if Mary had a flaming sword in her hand right now it wouldn't be at all unusual.
Satan pulled that foreleg back causing the snake to miss her mark and overshoot.... as Satan came down, he felt the snake under his rear hoof. He leapt again in case of another strike he couldn't see, but Charlie knew immediately she was mortally wounded when she no longer had awareness of half her body. She did try to bite again at the terrible horse's back leg, but her muscles would not respond to move her. The horse again leapt, and came down again... and over, and over, until the snake was driven into the dust, no more.
Satan circled the scene of the battle, he and Mary making certain of their victory. Finally she leaned forward, patting his neck, "You did it, my fierce boy."
Satan's cry of victory again pierced the silence of the desert that seemed to have been holding its breath.
++++
Sam wasn't happy.
She checked Satan for bites, and when she ensured he was ok she turned to Mary, "That was foolish and unnecessary," she said angrily, mounted Libby, took Cindy's lead rope, and rode ahead toward the spring without waiting.
Suddenly, Mary realized the pain she'd caused Sam, angry with worry. Satan picked up on her regret, and both of them walked behind Cindy crestfallen looking at Sam's stiff, angry back.
They were silent until they got there, and when Sam wouldn't even look at her when they dismounted, Mary couldn't take it. She took Sam's hands and made her look at her. "I made you worry, right?" she asked, tears already forming.
Sam just raised her eyebrows, obviously....
"I'm sorry," Mary said, the first tear running down her cheek. "I didn't think about how that would scare you.... but I felt Satan getting ready to fight.... and I... felt it, too.... I can't explain it.... but then it just happened. But I am sorry, I should have thought about how it would scare you, and I'm sorry, and I won't do that again. Please forgive me?"
Sam just looked at her... Mary had just said all the right things. She smiled. "Stop crying," she said to Mary, kissing the track of her tear on her cheek. "It's ok. Just don't scare me like that again."
"So forgive me?" Mary looked up at Sam with a sad face.
"I forgive you," Sam said, and nearly got pulled off her feet as Mary jumped up and wrapped her arms around the taller Sam's neck, hugging her.
"Ok, ok!" Sam laughed. "Let's get camp set up and then we can have makeup sex!"
Mary looked at her, asking softly. "Maybe set up camp after?"
"I think that would probably be ok," Sam said in almost a whisper... and they found themselves in a kiss that started warmly, soon growing hot, leading them to take off each other's clothes. The mood was broken a little when they had to plunge into the cool water, but soon lips and tongues and bodies and fingers were writhing, giving and receiving pleasure until they cried out at the same time.
They regretted their decision to make love first... setting up camp while cold and naked was a bit distracting.
++
Across the river and a mile away a man was watching through binoculars. "Dos naked gringas," he said to his partner. "Three horses."
The other didn't believe it. "Naked?" he asked.
"Si... kissing. Lesbians."
"This far out?"
"What, you don't believe me? Look there," handing over the binoculars, keeping it steady on the rock they were hiding behind. The Coyotes who had met John that day were out here scouting a new route, the border patrol gringo's area was getting too busy, even the Texas Rangers were now nosing around.
The shorter man looked through the binoculars, saw Sam and Mary, naked, now with a fire blazing, setting up their bed rolls for the night. The sun was going down behind the men, the girls' white skin from their tan lines glowed in the evening sun from the west. "Good looking, too," the other man said.
"Si..." the taller man said, he'd been considering. "I'm tired of walking. What do you say we go get some horses, and have some fun."
"Sounds good," the shorter man said, becoming erect in his pants. He was watching Sam and Mary sitting by the fire, kissing.
The taller man tested the wind, and looked around. "We go up river a little, cross over. We are down wind, the horses won't smell us. We get there when it is dark."
Without a word they grabbed their packs and headed up stream.
++
After setting up camp Sam and Mary had a snack, sandwiches in a small cooler Martha had packed them, and they shared some apples with the horses. They made love again on their bedrolls by the fire... the girls came in a 69 while Sam was sliding her vibrator in and out of Mary. They recovered and lay side by side holding each other as they fell asleep.
They are mated, Satan said to the mares, who had been watching their humans make love.
You always say that, Cindy snorted.
++
"Texas Rangers calling the Second Chance Ranch, come in Junior, over," came the voice from the radio. Ranger Pete Rollins was not aware Junior now had a cell phone number.
"This is Pete Rollins of the Texas Rangers for Junior Donners at The Second Chance, over."
Junior heard it the first time but was in his bedroom, it was nearly midnight, and it took him a moment to get there. He beat the next hail just in time, "This is Junior at Second chance, how's it going, Pete? over."
"Junior, sorry for the lateness of the call. We are tracking two known Coyotes who are also our main suspects in the murder of Jed Thompson. We suspect they crossed the border near your ranch. You might want to put your people on alert, and if you have anyone out ranging try to let them know, over."
Junior didn't have to think about it, he knew who was out tonight. "How sure are you that they are near?" Junior almost forgot to add, "Over."
"Fairly certain. We found a stolen, abandoned vehicle on the only dirt road between you and the border. It seems like whenever we find one of these lately someone dies and those Coyotes are spotted nearby. Over."
"Pete..." Junior was feeling a cold chill down his back. "My daughters are out there tonight. Mary. And Sam. Over."
There was a pause... Pete remembered them from the Jed Thompson murder scene, taking care of the horses.
Junior suddenly realized... cell phones. His was on the charger in the kitchen. "Stand by, Pete. Calling them." He forgot to say 'over.'
+++
The coyotes stayed in the water near the shore as they approached the camp, following the glow of the camp fire. They knew as long as they could smell it they were still down wind. It was nearly midnight, the four-legged coyotes were done singing at the moon, the horses and humans were all asleep as the men slowly crept up from the water to the camp. They saw the girls under a blanket together, spooning, the one with darker hair in front, the other with long, lighter brown hair in pigtails, behind. The taller man saw the cell phone on top of the rock near them, up and out of the sand. He slowly picked it up and tossed it away into the weeds.
As soon as the phone was away it rang and woke the horses who saw the strangers in the camp, and Satan gave the alarm.
Mary and Sam were instantly awake, very confused by the two men looking down on them. Sam started reaching over to where her phone was.... to find it gone. The taller coyote kicked her in the head with his boot, flipping her over where she lay still, exposed in her nakedness. The two men took a moment to stare at her body in the firelight.
Mary looked down at Sam's still form.... she had a sudden vision of her uncle... the man known as Crazy Ed.... how he was always so free to hurt her, and hurt her friends. In the past Mary would have frozen in terror... but as she had once told Satan, she wasn't broken any more.
She stood from her bed she and Sam had been sharing, naked. The taller man was looking at Sam and saying, "Maybe we start with her first," to the other, who was nodding. Mary could see his crooked, brown teeth in the light from their fire as he grabbed his crotch over his jeans. Mary lost all capacity for thought.... and she was feeling Satan's fury, trapped in his corral as he moved back and forth wanting to fight for his broken one and the strong one, who was hurt. The corral was just a flimsy thing but it was symbolic, he had been taught to not break down the walls Mary put around him. He had become very loyal to Mary. Mary saw only two men who wished to hurt Sam... and she rushed at them, screaming, "YOU WILL NOT TOUCH HER."
++++
"Pete, Sam's phone isn't answering, and Mary forgot hers at home. Something is wrong, I can feel it... Sam wouldn't ignore a call from me. I am..." he did the quick math in his head... and it is in the dark... "I am almost an hour away by horse, that trail is impassable on wheels. Where are you? Do you have a helicopter?" And he almost forgot... "Over."
"I am approximately 25 miles from your position, and yes, we have a helicopter." There was a pause while Rollins released the transmit button on the radio and ordered his team to gear up now and get the helo spun up. "We are wheels up in three minutes, we can get to you in ten. What is their position, over."
Junior thought quickly, looking up at the map of the county on his wall above the radio. He gave his GPS coordinates to Rollins, "But I don't know the coordinates to their camp. But I can tell you it is approximately 6 miles south of me as the crow flies, along the river. They will have a fire going overnight. Over." Fires helped keep critters away.
"Roger that. Junior... we'll get them. I will contact you again in 5 minutes when we are en route. Rollins out."
Junior dropped his transmitter, his hands were shaking. He knew something was wrong. He went to wake up his wife.
++++
The taller man backhanded Mary as her crazy charge was about to reach him. All of her fury was no match for a man with 100 pounds on her, and she flew backwards when his knuckles closed her right eye. She had forgotten what it felt like to be hit so hard that she saw stars.
The men turned to her, now flat on her back, legs spread... I'm naked.... looking up at them. "Yeah we do that one next, after this one," the shorter man said, looking at Mary.
The thought of them... raping... Sam.... made Mary feel near panic for the first time. She knew what being raped felt like, and she knew it would change Sam.... Mary never wanted her Sam to know what it felt like... and she knew she would do anything to save Sam from that. She quickly began devising her next move... but Satan was distracting her, he was still running back and forth agitated, and the men were taking notice.
"Hey, we don't need three horses," the taller man lifted his rifle. "Let's do the big one, we'll still have two more after we're done with the gringas." He lifted his rifle to Satan.
Without considering Mary cried "No!" both to the man, and to Satan, jumping to her feet. "Wait!" she looked at Satan... she didn't have time to explain, only sent him the image of Charlie, the angry rattlesnake, coiled to strike. Wait... please understand... wait and be ready for my signal.... when a man screams, break out and attack the other man. Please understand. The coiled rattlesnake. She wasn't sure if he understood, she could feel he was so full of rage... but he stopped his agitated pacing, watching her, breathing hard.
The man thought the "Wait!" was intended for him, and he was looking at Mary, his rifle vaguely pointed at her mid section. She got to her feet, aware of her nudity, but now... flaunting it, just a little. She moved to the side between the man and her horse. "Don't waste time on the horse, or on her," gesturing to the still unconscious Sam. "I know you want a girl who is awake to enjoy it. Please, fuck me first. I..." and she thought back to the things her uncle used to make her say while he was raping her. "I love getting fucked... I..." this was hard, but she sold it, for Sam. "I love big cocks, and I love getting fucked by them." She decided she was where she wanted to be, and she knelt in the sand. "Please... I want you both at once. It has been so long since I had a nice hard cock. Please both of you come fuck me," and she rubbed her breasts and nipples, showing them how hot she was feeling. Just wait... when he screams.... she sent to Satan with a glance, who was near, on the other side of the flimsy corral wall.
"Please give me those nice cocks, fuck me really hard til I scream," Mary said.... and the men approached.
"You really want it don't you, you gringa slut," the taller man said. "I like that." He stood before Mary, rifle in hand... and he couldn't unzip his pants with one hand. Mary helped, felt his jeans were wet... she realized they must have swam across the river. Mary felt him growing harder, he wasn't long, wasn't small. She stroked his hardness in his jeans, unbuttoned and unzipped, pulled them down. Reached in... no underwear... and felt a cock for the first time since her uncle's. She felt like she should be more horrified by that, but she glanced down at Sam, she thought he saw a trickle of blood coming from her ear. It made her heart hurt. Mary began stroking the hard, uncircumcised cock that was now pointing at her face. She turned to the other man, "You too, I want you both. Please." The shorter man liked what he saw, he dropped his shotgun on Mary and Sam's blanket and walked over, already undoing his pants so immediately Mary had his hardening cock in her other hand. The two men had sex together all the time, whether it was taking turns on a teenage girl paying for passage across the border, or fucking a horse while the other held it still, or even sometimes sucking off and swallowing each other when it had been a few days.... but they never talked about that, so to them that really didn't count as being gay, and thus 'wrong.' But they had no problem getting hard in front of the other, there was no taboo there, for them.
Mary stroked them, making sure they knew how hot it was making her, with her words... "Oh god these are so big, I can't wait for both of you to be inside me... which of you wants to fuck me first?" she asked, bending over slightly and shaking her hips.
The taller man answered, "You fuck her, get her ready for me." Secretly, he liked being second to the smaller man, he liked sliding his bare cock into an already semen-filled pussy.
Mary, looking up, saw the shorter man grin and walk behind her. Be ready, she sent to Satan. She heard Satan nicker somewhere behind her.
Mary was thankful they had recently crossed the river.... the smelly cock of the taller man in front of her face still smelled bad... he must have been disgusting before the river bath. She took him in her mouth, her first cock in so long... but it felt familiar, and she knew what to do. She had done this to John and Master and Whatever and Serenity and her uncle so, so many times... Mary knew what to do. She sucked his cock into her mouth as far back as she could... and an old memory, relaxed her throat... she was glad he wasn't long enough to go very far in, just long enough to swallow. She had her eyes closed tight but she heard the man moaning from above her as she felt the other man grab her bare hips.
++++
"Junior, Rollins, do you copy? Over."
"Junior here, are you on your way? over."
"We are... ETA five minutes... we can see your river ahead, the moon is reflecting on it, it's bright."
Junior responded, "We turned on all the lights in the yards, do you see my position? Over."
Pete Rollins looked to the left, where he understood the ranch much be. "I think so, you look like a glow just over the horizon, over."
Junior reiterated. "Six miles south of here. They always have a camp fire."
There was a pause, "Roger, fire spotted, stand by, over." It was the only pinpoint of light in miles and miles of black desert.
Junior realized Rollins forgot to stop squeezing the transmit button, all of a sudden he could hear Rollin's order to the pilot and his team. "Circle in low, get that spotlight on." Junior heard the pilot's response, just barely, "Roger that, one half click, 100 feet off the deck, closing. Stand by."
"Come in over the water, if everything is fine we don't want to kick up dust and sand on them."
"Roger. 100 yards. Five seconds."
Junior's knuckles were white as he held the microphone in his hand, Martha sitting next to him covering her mouth, horrified.
"We are approaching the camp, stand by, over," Rollins said to him.
Junior continued listening. Another voice spoke, Junior hadn't heard this one. "Four targets spotted... two females, two males. Two are down...."
Martha cried out, Junior took her hand... those men are there.... god no....
"Oh my god," he heard Rollins exclaim... "That girl is covered in blood."
Martha screamed, and cried out as Junior held her.
++++
When the screaming starts, Satan, Mary tried her best to send... but so much was going on... sucking a cock... about to get fucked... and Sam hadn't moved yet...
She felt the man behind her, felt him getting into position. Felt his cock against her ass, then the lips of her pussy, rubbing, getting ready.... she knew she was already stretched from Sam's vibrator, earlier, he was going to slide right in. She felt his grip on her hips get tighter. Mary knew it was coming.
Mary bit down as hard as she could. She knew this would be hard, but she told herself keep biting... never let go... keep biting... harder.... grind.... at first the man above her was silent in the shock of it... and then she heard his harsh, high-pitched intake of breath.... and when the blood exploded into her mouth, then he finally began to scream, instinctively dropping his rifle and beating at Mary's head with his fists as she held on like a bulldog, biting down as hard as she could... her jaws ached... biting. She felt her teeth come together, but still felt unrended flesh between them. She ground down harder.
The screaming had started.
Satan had understood.
The man who was about to rape Mary from behind simply was no longer there. Mary had moved herself close to the fence of the corral while telling the men how much she loved cock. With Satan now quiet, they stopped paying attention to the large angry horse and started watching and listening to the good looking, naked teenage girl begging to be fucked. With the shorter man preoccupied with Mary's amazing ass, when the taller man screamed, Satan kicked out with both of his back legs, each of them striking home. The shorter man's left upper arm was immediately shattered, and 5 ribs on his left side punctured deep into his lung, and that was just from Satan's hooves. He broke his back when he struck the boulders lining the camp, 18 feet away.
The taller man was hitting her so hard, in a frenzy. She couldn't seem to bite through the last of his penis, now deflating as the blood drained into her mouth, down her chin, down her body, so much blood... the head no longer sliding down into her throat. His fists were hurting her... beating the top of her head as often as her face, so with a final heave she locked her jaw and tore her face away from the man's body, ripping the last connecting sinews of his cock away from him eliciting a fresh high-pitched scream. Mary fell back, and with one eye swollen shut and a mouth full of flesh she watched the man and his screams fall to his knees on the sand holding himself where his manhood used to be, the front of his jeans becoming soaked with blood. She realized she was also covered in his blood.
Mary thought she heard a helicopter.
+++
From the air Rollins saw the bloody girl spit something out on the man who had just fallen over.
"Junior, they're here... I don't know what's going on... stand by."
Then Junior heard, "Get us down, Smith get on night vision check perimeter for more tangos. Hamilton, with me. Burris, grab that medkit. Everyone else on the perimeter. Let's move, people."
They landed the helicopter up the ravine, the Texas Rangers Rapid Response Team moving swiftly as a unit. Rollins was the first to run into the camp, weapon drawn, trying to take in what he was seeing. The woman covered with blood was now sitting on the ground near the fire, holding the other woman's head in her lap... her eyes appeared to be closed. There was a man nearby laying on his side holding his groin, there was an astounding amount of blood on his clothes. He almost missed the second man, 20 feet to the right laying flat on some boulders, his arms and legs at funny angles.
"Burris, check these women first," and the medic, who was beside him also trying to make sense of the scene, rushed over and knelt beside them.
"Sweetheart... please... open your eyes," Mary was saying softly to Sam, who was too still. "Please," and she couldn't stop her tears from falling onto Sam's face.
But just like in faerie tales, Mary's tears worked... Sam's eyes fluttered open.... "Mary... what happened... and why do I see two of you..."
Mary laughed in relief, "You got kicked in the head, dummy," she smiled.
Sam blinked trying to clear her vision... she remembered... men.... "Are you bleeding?" The medic took notice of this, he wasn't sure where to start, here.
"It isn't my blood," Mary answered with steel in her voice. She looked at the medic, "I'm fine, but she got kicked in the head. Please help her."
"Yes maam," Burris answered, immediately shining a light in Sam's eyes, noticing that one of her pupils was dilated.
Rollins knelt next to them as well... "First things first, please talk to your father," Rollins said to Mary, handing him a radio.
Mary took it, found the transmit button. "Dad?"
At the ranch, Junior and Martha both cried out, "Mary? Are you ok? Is Sam ok?" Radio etiquette was completely forgotten, but that was fine.
"Dad I am ok," Mary responded. "Is Sam ok?" she asked the medic, who was feeling Sam's skull.
"She is conscious and responsive, that's good, but she has a blown pupil and she may have a fractured skull... that's not so good, but my guess is you are going to be ok," he said directly to his patient.
"Sam's hurt Dad, but they think she will be ok."
"Mary what happened?" Junior's voice came over the radio, which was a question that Pete Rollins of the Texas Rangers was very interested in hearing, himself.
"There were bad men, and they hurt Sam. I hurt them back," Mary said steadily. Mary finished, "I need to go for a minute, dad. Here's that guy who was at the horses that day." Mary handed the radio back to Rollins, who took it without a word. "Sweetie," she said to Sam softly. "I need to go rinse off, I feel gross."
"You look gross," Sam smiled at her. "When you come back you're going to have to explain this to me."
The medic was glad to hear the woman coherent enough to be funny, he was slightly more worried than he'd let on... he felt a fracture.
Mary gently extracted herself from being Sam's pillow and walked calmly to the water, still naked, unashamed. She didn't look at the man writhing on the ground as she went by, no one else had yet noticed his chewed-off penis in the sand next to him. She walked calmly into the spring water where so many important events in her life had happened... where she'd learned to swim, where she'd first began falling in love with Sam, where she and Sam had promised their lives to each other. She washed the blood off of her body, she went under and let the clear water fill her mouth, rinsing the taste of blood from it. Under water, she screamed as hard as she could.
She stayed under until her lungs were burning. She felt Sam needed her... and she hadn't yet spoken to Satan, who helped save Sam. She emerged to find Rollins at the water's edge with his jacket off.
For his part, Rollins thought Mary slowly emerging naked from the water in the firelight was the most beautiful, erotic thing he had ever seen, but he mentally chastised himself for that thought and remained professional.
She looked at him as she approached, and accepted his jacket when he offered, covering her body. "Are you ok? I was about to call the coast guard."
"I'm ok."
"So that was his blood," he asked her, gesturing to the man on the ground still weakly moaning.
"He was raping me and I bit his cock off," Mary responded calmly. Rollins stopped walking along side of her, she had said it coldly, completely without emotion, and it chilled him. She hadn't hesitated or stopped walking at all. He watched her walk to the big horse who had been watching them since they arrived.
Mary took Satan's head against her body, she let the jacket fall open so there was nothing between them, holding his face between her breasts. She held him, hugging him. "Thank you my sweet boy... "
I fought... I won...I did right? he asked in the uncertain way that horses asked questions.
"You did so good.... you saved me, you saved Sam."
You will not be hurt. The strong one will not be hurt.
"I will never ever doubt that my sweet boy. I love you."
Satan nickered softly against her skin.
"Sam and I may have to go... these men will be here, they are good. They fight the bad men, too. They will make sure no other bad men come. My father may come to get you and Cindy and Libby to take you home.... please be nice, for me."
I will be your nice boy, because you are my broken one, Satan answered.
Mary reminded him that she still loved him, kissing him between his eyes.
As she walked away Mary heard Cindy say to him, You were quite magnificent. Mary didn't need to look to know how puffed-up that made her Satan feel.
"Burris," Rollins called to his medic, "When you have her stable and ready to move, let's get her and Mary on the helicopter. Draw blood from that one, quickly, I'll take it with me. I'll go with them to the hospital, you stay behind and see if there's anything you can do for these rapists." He turned to the rest of his people, still watching the perimeter, as ordered. "The rest of you continue securing the scene. And apparently there's a severed penis around here somewhere." He hoped Mary hadn't swallowed it... the blood she ingested might already be a problem. The hospital in Waco was a 30 minute flight, Rollins on the radio to Junior promising the girls were alive, and he was getting them to the hospital ASAP to be checked out. Junior approved, and Rollins said he would be back in approximately an hour to pick him and Martha up.
After an exciting flight through the dark night, blankets draped around them, Mary stayed with Sam at the hospital, both of them now wearing borrowed medical scrubs because Mary had forgotten to grab their clothes in the chaos in leaving Sam's Rocks. When she was told she couldn't follow Sam for her MRI, a simple withering look from Mary was enough to convince them to maybe bend the rules just a little bit. Tonight Mary was staying with her Sam.
Sam indeed had a fractured skull, but there was no bleeding in her brain and that was where the real danger was. She had a small gauze pad on her scalp where the skin had been broken, but she was otherwise still awake in bed, holding Mary's hand sitting next to the bed beside her when Junior and Martha came in. Mary could tell her mom had been crying, and Junior stood aside automatically so his wife could go to her daughters. It was enough for him, for now, to see them both alive and relatively fine.
They were all together when a doctor came in and addressed Mary, "Just to let you know, the blood we tested was negative for all blood-born diseases and pathogens. We'll test yours in the morning, but I think you're going to be ok. But just in case, I'm sending the nurse in with some penicillin to cover anything else we hadn't checked for."
"Thank you, doctor," Mary said, noticing that everyone else in the room was looking at her... none of them yet understood why Mary's blood had to be checked.
She felt Sam squeeze her hand, Well? Mary took a deep breath, collecting her thoughts... she was going to have to be delicate in front of her parents....
++++
Both men survived their wounds, though they would never be the same after encountering Mary. The shorter man never walked again, his spine having been severed mid-chest by Satan's hooves. He also needed a respirator in the prison infirmary on his bad days. The taller man's penis was found where he had been laying, but had been covered in blood and sand and could not be reattached. Mary left his balls so he had his desire, but she had taken his penis ensuring he would never be able to satisfy it. In prison he gave in to the inevitable and accepted his destiny as the community bitch of D-Block... he'd always sort of liked other men's cum, anyway.
Copyright 2017: "Marissa Banks." Rights reserved. Not for reuse without express written consent of the author. All content is purely fictional; any similarities to actual persons or events is pure coincidence. Reader must be of legal age in the judicial area he/she resides. Reproductions of the fiction contained herein or linked from here may not be used in whole or in part without express permission from the author.