A Second Chance, Part IV -- A New Beginning
By: Radio Rancher
(©  2007 by the author, and creator; Tickie)
Editor:  The Story Lover
 
The author retains all rights. No reproductions are allowed without the author's consent. Comments are appreciated at...
  

Chapter 3
 

As the Jeep came to a stop in the driveway of The Long Rod ranch, chaos was taking over. There were two men lying on the ground, each of them was being held there by the front hoof of a horse. The men were screaming, and cursing, and it seemed they were not very happy to be where they were. There were about twenty ranch hands standing around watching the situation. We saw that they all had smiles on their faces. Not one of them had made a move to help the men on the ground. It was about that time that I noticed that one of the men had a horse whip under his body. The horse that was holding him down was standing on the whip end of it with his other front foot as the man tried in vein to regain control of it. The officers in charge of the raid made no move to rescue the men.

Harold Wilson watched in awe, as the horses looked up at him, and the one holding the man with the whip whinnied loudly.

Colt laughed, "He says his name is Garth, Mr. Wilson, and he is so mad at that guy he is holding down, that if we hadn't showed up when we did, he says he might just have put all his weight on him, instead of just holding him down." Colt took a deep breath and calmed down a little. The horse whinnied again, and Colt translated. "He says that the "Two legs" beat his mare, June, even though she was almost ready to give birth to his child, and she ran away. I think he is really pissed." Colt walked over to Garth and softly said, "Garth, June is safe now and so is your son, Little Bit. When you are ready to move, we will take that man away, and you can go see your wife and son." Garth nickered a 'thank you' and moved his foot off of the man. I noticed he didn't move his other foot off of the whip, however. The man was fuming and started cursing again. His venom was now directed at Mr. Wilson, who didn't seem to notice.

"You are under arrest, for, among other things, cruelty to animals. This ranch is now under the control of Animal Control. Once a thorough inspection has taken place, we will inform you of the rest of our decision. Colt, can you ask the other horse to release the other man, so we can question him as well, please?"

"Mr. Wilson, the horses understand you quite well, actually. It seems that humans are the ones with the inability to understand things.

Before Colt could move, the other horse took his foot off of the other man, who had been lying face down in the dirt. The back of his shirt had a hoof mark on it. But no real injury had occurred. He slowly got up and put his hands out, expecting to be handcuffed.

"That won't be necessary, if you cooperate." Mr. Wilson said, looking into the man's dark green eyes. "I'm not sure why, but I don't think you have the hatred in you that he has." Wilson pointed to the other man, who was still muttering about his right to do what ever he wanted to the 'damned candidate for the glue factory'. "The son of a bitch is my property. And if I want to fuckin' shoot the bastard, I can. He belongs to me, God dammit."

"Sir, I strongly suggest that you stop that right now. We have laws against cruelty to animals, in this state, and there are in fact witnesses who have not only seen what you have done, but we have veterinary reports on what you did to the mare that just ran away before giving birth to a fine young stallion. There is photographic proof of the condition of that horse, when she was found lying in her own blood in the pasture of the Lazy L.

Meanwhile, Colt had walked up to the second horse, and had started rubbing his neck. The horse nickered to Colt. 'Thanks, I was getting pretty tired of holding Kendall down. I would have let him go earlier if he had just shut his mouth and stopped cussing. My name is Rex.'

The twins were still in the Doctor's truck and I walked up to it and asked them to go check the barn and see if there were any animals that needed food or water and either give it to them, or if there was none available, to come back and tell the others what was needed. They got out of the truck and headed for the barn. It was so adorable. Mr. Wilson noticed the boys heading toward the barn, and yelled, "Guys, be careful in there, and let us know what's going on in there."

They turned back and yelled, "Okay Mr. Wilson. That's just what Grandpa Charlie told us." then they headed to the barn as fast as they could go.

Colt looked after the boys and smiled. 'I knew you guys were here, I could feel it. Thanks.'

I walked over to Colt and gently kissed his cheek. He reached up and touched his cheek, and said 'Thanks Grandpa Charlie, I love you.'

It really is nice to know that they know we're still there for them.

A couple of minutes later, Luke came running out of the barn, Yelling, "Doctor Lightfoot!!!!! Come here quick!!!!!! There's a horse lying on his side in a stall thing and he won't get up. He said he hurts to bad to get up. He was crying!"

Doctor Lightfoot hurried to the barn and into the stall.

There was a beautiful old horse lying on his side. He looked up at Doc Lightfoot and nickered softly, 'Doc, He beat me real hard yesterday, and I don't think I can move any more. My side hurts so bad; I don't know what is gonna happen. Please help me, Doc. I don't think I'm gonna make it.'

Luke knelt down and put the old horse's head in his lap. "It's gonna be okay, Buster. The Doctor will make you all well again. I know he will. He helped June have her baby, so I'm sure he can make you feel better too."

Doctor Lightfoot looked at Luke with tears in his eyes. "I love you Luke, and I promise I will do all I can to help Buster, but I just don't know yet what all that son of a bitch did to him. We may need to get him to someplace where we have room to work on him. He is pretty confined in this damned stall. Guys! Can you get in here and rip out this damned stall so we can get better access to Buster? He has been hurt really bad, and he will need some serious medical attention."

Doctor Lightfoot got his medical bag and took out a syringe and filled it with a dose of anesthetic, and gave Buster a shot. "Buster, I'm going to try to help you, but I can't have you moving about while I do that, so I am giving you something to reduce the pain, and make you sleep."

'Okay Doc, I trust you, and I really do need something to stop the pain; It really does hurt bad.' Buster whinnied. Luke kissed him on the nose, and said, Buster, I don't know how yet, but I trust Doctor Lightfoot. I know he will make you better."

Buster managed a soft nicker, saying, 'Thanks, I'm feeling better now, I'm sleepy.' He lowered his head and finally slept. Doctor Lightfoot was able to get his crane into position to lift Buster and remove him from the barn. "I am going to need to take Buster to the medical facility pretty quickly, or he might not make it." Then the Doctor called his colleague at The Veterinary Clinic that they had built together.

"Joe, I need you to get over here to the Long Rod Ranch as soon as you can. We have a terribly abused horse here, and we need to get him stabilized quickly or we might lose him. He has been badly beaten and has several badly bruised ribs and a possible fractured rib." Doctor Lightfoot paused to listen to Joe. "Okay, Joe, as soon as you finish, I need you to get here. We need to get him to the clinic quickly. I have man power here, but there are other animals that need medical help, so I don't want to leave here with Buster. He is sleeping at the moment, but he was in a lot of pain. Once you get here, I want you to transport him to the clinic and treat him... Thanks."

James and I sent healing energy to Buster, and waited for Joe to come and get him safely into the infirmary.

Joe Tanner was a lanky twenty two year old veterinary student, with a heart of gold. He's the kind of guy that would nurse a skunk back to heath without getting sprayed for his effort. He had a real way with animals. He loved all living things and they could sense it and would cooperate with him and do as he told them. His only disadvantage was that, for the most part, he couldn't understand them. He had the empathy, just not the language skills. He was, however, going to be a very good vet. He got Buster loaded and took him back for treatment.

Just then Mark came running up to the group. "Hurry, I think there is someone hurt in the barn! I heard someone crying!" He yelled, as he stopped in front of Matt. He grabbed Matt's hand and started to pull him along. Matt, Colt and Earl headed into the barn.

"There's a big lock on the door, but I heard someone in there crying." Mark said, starting to cry too.

There was a crowbar leaning against the wall, and Colt saw it. He quickly shoved the crowbar under the hasp and ripped the lock off completely. The hasp and lock hit the wall on the other side of the room with a loud crash. Colt pulled the door open and everyone rushed into the room. Lying on a rough wooden slab was a young boy. His clothes were tattered and there was dried blood on his back, rear end, and legs. It looked as if he had been beaten with that whip that Garth had been standing on.

Colt took in the scene quickly. "Before anything else happens," he shouted, "someone needs to get that whip secured. Don't anybody touch it with your bare hands, We need to keep any fingerprints that might be on it, in tact. Mr. Wilson, I hope the sheriff gets here soon. We need to make sure that no evidence is lost. This boy needs medical attention, and he needs it NOW! Matt, Get Dr. Lomer here quick!"

Matt grabbed his cell phone and pushed the proper speed dial number for Doctor Lomer.

There were two rings, then the phone was answered. "Doctor Lomer here. Can I help you?" Doctor Lomer, this is Matt Andersen from The Lazy L Ranch. We are over at The Long Rod Ranch, and we have a medical emergency here. A young boy has been beaten real bad and needs medical help. Can you get over here quick?"

"Sure, Matt, I am free at the moment, and I will get my medical kit and get right over there. Call 911 and get an ambulance. " Matt had put the call on speaker phone so everyone could hear it. "I'll do that as soon as we are through here. Doc." he pushed the end button and dialed 911, gave them the information needed to get the ambulance to the ranch, then put the phone in his pocket again and looked around. He walked over to Earl and quietly said, "Earl, would you please go see what Doctor Lightfoot is doing, and ask him to come in here if he can, so he can have a look at this young man?" he spoke as quietly as possible, so he wouldn't disturb the boy on the "bed".

Mark had already gone over to the boy and was talking softly to him.

"Hi, I'm Mark and we came here to help the horses and stuff. We didn't know there would be people hurt too. Nobody told us that. Don't worry; My dads and the Doctor will help you. They are real nice. Dad Matt and Dad Colt adopted me and Luke. Now they are our real dads I bet they adopt you too. Don't move, or you'll hurt yourself. The Doctor will be here in just a minute."

I was so proud of Mark. He was just the one to calm down the boy, and let him know that no one would ever hurt him again. The love that was pouring out of him was enormous.

Earl came in with Doctor Lightfoot. The sheriff had taken the jerk that owned the Long Rod into custody.

The guy was still screaming obscenities and yelling at the top of his lungs, from the back of the patrol car. There was a recording being made of his tirade, with the equipment in the front seat. The Sheriff had reminded the idiot that anything he said could and would be used against him in a court of law and that he had the right to remain silent. He didn't seem to care to remain silent, as he continued to blatantly admit what he had done and why he had done it. He was not ashamed of himself in the least.

James and I felt his hatred increase with every minute that passed. He was being consumed by his own hate and loathing. I had never seen anyone as spiteful and mean as this man. Even the low down scum's that fathered Matt or Colt weren't as virulent as this poor excuse for a father was.

"That damned horse was not going to keep me from beating up that fucking nag of a mare that refused to let me ride her. I don't give a damn if she is going to have a colt. She will do what I tell her, or I will kill her. Who does that fag son of mine think he is anyway, telling me not to hurt his fucking horse? I showed him, didn't I. I hope the little wretch bleeds to death. They won't find him before he dies anyway! It ain't his horse! It never was his horse! It is mine! Everything on this fucking place is mine, and I will do what I damned well want with it! My daddy gave me this ranch before he died, to do what I wanted with it, so you can just let me go now, before I sue every one of you into bankruptcy! It wasn't my fault he had that heart attack. He couldn't reach his medicine. So what! It wasn't my job to bring it to him. My football game was still on, anyway there was no way I was going to get up while the game was on, at least till the commercial came on. I had to see who won, didn't I?" Finally, the sheriff had heard more than enough; he simply walked into the barn, letting the idiot continue to scream his confession.

"Colt, Call Andy and let him know we need him over here, and have him bring whatever paper work is necessary to get this boy out of that thing's custody and into ours." Matt said, and turned to the sheriff.

Colt grabbed his Cell and made the call.

"Sheriff!" Matt called, "I think you have another reason to charge that maniac with, besides cruelty to animals, I think this boy here is more important than that. He has several severe abrasions and he has bled badly. The only reason he is still alive is that Mark heard him crying. He had been locked in the room here, and left for dead. Colt broke the lock and we started helping him." Matt informed him.

"Hello, I'm John Archer, and I'm the sheriff. I'd like to speak to the boy if I may."

"He's in here Sheriff Archer." Matt motioned Sheriff Archer to come with him. Doctor Lomer had arrived and was bandaging the wounds and trying to make the boy more comfortable.

"Try to be as gentle as possible." Dr. Lomer said, softly, "He is in a lot of pain at the moment. I have given him some pain medication, which should help him feel better, as soon as it finds its way through his bloodstream. The Ambulance is on its way. He still needs serious medical attention. I think he must have a Guardian Angel watching over him. If Mark and Colt had been a half hour later finding and getting to him, I am sure that he would have bled to death. As it is, I'm afraid his chances of survival are edgy at best." Doctor Lomer shook his head sadly, "I have given him some plasma, and without knowing his blood type, we can't do any more than that. Once the Ambulance gets here, and we can do a proper blood test on him, we can get some whole blood into him. Until then, we just have to make do with plasma."

Just as Doctor Lomer finished telling Sheriff Archer, what was going on, an Ambulance pulled to a screeching halt, and several paramedics scrambled into the barn.

"Over here, guys!" Shouted Colt, motioning them into the small room where the boy was being treated. They got the gurney into the room and transferred the young boy onto the thing and fastened him down to prevent him from falling off as they took him to the Ambulance. The maniac that was being held in the back of the squad car started screaming again and no one paid the slightest attention to him. It must have been pretty uncomfortable in that car for him. The engine had been turned off and he was in there with no heat at all. He was dressed in only his shirt and pants, and his shirt had been torn pretty badly by the horse that had been holding him down. The man was still bleeding from several bad scratches that he had received. Oddly enough, no one seemed to care about him or even notice that he was there. Everyone's attention was completely drawn to the small boy who was being transferred to the ambulance. A quick blood test was taken, and it was determined that he had one of the very rare blood types. I bet you can guess what that was.

"We only know about two people that have that particular blood type," Dr Lomer pointed out. Colt and Matt both volunteered to donate as much as they were allowed to, at that time. Both Colt and Matt, when they finished drinking the cup of orange juice the paramedic had given them, after each gave a pint of their blood, said they would donate more at the hospital as soon as they arrived, no matter what.

"Doctor Lightfoot, Can you take charge here while we get the boy to the hospital? I don't know how long it will take to get him stabilized, but we can't just leave this place unmanned. If you and Earl can take care of things here, we will be back as soon as we can." Sheriff Archer smiled. "Thanks Doctor. You are a lifesaver, and I mean that literally."

As the ambulance pulled into the entrance of the emergency room, the triage team hustled the young boy inside and into a treatment room. He was transferred to a hospital bed and machines were connected to him. He began to look around, and saw that he was no longer in a barn. As Doctor Lomer was explaining to the physician in charge what had happened to the boy, the sounds of the monitoring machines began to change and the room began to fade from the boy's consciousness. As he sank back to the bed, his world became a black empty nothingness.

He barely heard Colt's voice as Colt gently spoke to him, "Please don't leave us, Son? You have people that will love and care for you now. You can't give up. I promise that no one will hurt you ever again."

James and I got over to the boy and sent him as much love and energy as he could accept. It didn't look very good in terms of his chances of survival. We had done as much as we could; the rest was up to him. He had to want to survive.

Colt screamed. "Doctor!!!!! He's not breathing!!!!!! Do something!!!!!!!"

To Be Continued...

Author's notes:

Oh dear, I'm kind of worried. I hope that Charlie and James are looking out for that little boy. I also hope the boy can somehow find the courage to want to live. Don't worry, we will find out his name next time, even if it is just to place it on his tombstone.

Darryl AKA The Radio Rancher.

Note from Tickie

God I love the plot, as it thickens, what a horrible man could do such a thing to the boy or the animals. I love where you're taking this story. Keep up the great work. I'm sure our fans love it as much as I do.

Editor's Notes:

Dear RR just because you are my editor doesn't mean that I am not going to hang you up by your toes for this cliffhanger!

It looks like Matt and Colt may be expanding their family again. Who is going to take over the Long Rod Ranch? I guess we will just have to wait for the answer to that question and also the boy's names.

It does seem that Charlie is keeping his eye on his family. RR and Tickie just keep this story rolling along wonderfully.

TSL AKA The Story Lover

Posted: 06/01/07