Yellowstone: Love and Cowboys

Scottsdale Part 2

He held up a bottle, "I'd offer you some but you don't like beer. The reining competition should be coming up pretty soon, hadn't you better get ready?"

"Yeah, probably. I'm nervous tonight for some reason." Matt had vacated his seat and she sat down. "I don't feel bad about the show, but something feels off. I know how silly that sounds, but I have this nagging feeling that won't go away."

"Well, whatever it is, ignore it, don't let it destroy your concentration. You've been practicing a lot and I think you've come back from your time off. You haven't competed in a while, so it's probably just nerves. There's no reason why you can't win tonight so just relax and enjoy it."

She saddled her horse, feeling better after talking to Travis. Coronado hadn't tried to roll again, so she was able to saddle him without having to brush him again. She walked past Travis so he could give her his approval, then went to take her turn.

To some, going first was desirable so they could set the bar. She preferred to break the bar. To her it was no big deal going last, that way she could check out the competition. If she went last, people would remember her and that's what she wanted.

This time, however, she was in the middle. She knew she'd do better than the rider who went first, she just had to make sure she was better than the rider who went last.

When her turn came, she loped into the arena, fast but not too fast for the slide. She then went into her routine, remembering each element, feeling confident with her horse under her. She didn't just have a good horse, tonight she had the best.

When she trotted out of the arena, she knew she had done well. If Travis was not there to see her she tried not to be too disappointed, he was competing tonight, too.

She was going to take Coronado to his stall, but someone grabbed his rains. She looked up and saw the groom from this afternoon.

"I'll take him to his stall, miss, you go find your boyfriend." He gave her a wide smile, showing his white teeth. With his blond hair and blue eyes he looked a little like Bill.

"How'd you do?" asked Travis. He took her by the waist and put her on his lap.

"Oh, I took first. Honestly, I didn't think I would, but I remembered what you told me. It feels good to get a first after that time off. I would have been happy with second or third, but you wouldn't. Maybe next time it won't be a first, but this one is important."

"Well, baby, you keep proving that you can do what I think you can do, even when you doubt it. Why don't you go check on your horse, did Mandy take him for you?"

"No, the new groom took him." She turned around and looked at him.

"What new groom?" He moved her off his lap.

"The new one, blond hair, and blue eyes. Kind of nice looking but you wouldn't notice that," she teased.

"I didn't hire a new groom and I know most of the hands. Maybe it's someone who works for the arena. Go check on your horse." He was concerned but tried not to let her know.

"Okay," she took off for the stalls. Coronado's was near the front, so she didn't have to go looking for it. She was a little worried, too, but told herself she was being overanxious, and everything would be all right.

But it wasn't. Coronado wasn't in his stall. Her tack had been dumped in the corner; her bridle had just been dropped on top of the saddle. But of her horse, there was no sign.

She went down the aisle, maybe he'd been put in the wrong stall, but she did not see him. She went down the next aisle, looking, but did not see him.

It was getting hard to breathe, and she had to stop put her head between her knees, and wait until her breathing became normal. Then she ran back to Travis, trying to hold back her tears.

"I can't find him, he's gone. I looked through two aisles worth of stalls but he was not there. Travis, it's all my fault, I gave my horse to someone, someone..." She couldn't say anymore because she'd started crying and she couldn't stop.

He pulled his handkerchief out of his pocket. "Now stop talking like that, it wasn't your fault. You didn't know, you don't know all the people who work for me or for the arena, so you made an honest mistake. Listen, horses get stolen all the time, it's an unfortunate fact but it's true. We'll report this to the police now, he's a valuable horse. We'll talk to security and people who're competing at the show. There may be other horses who've been stolen, this way we can prevent someone else from losing a horse.",

She looked at him and nodded. He was trying to make her feel better, but it wasn't working. She blamed herself, she should have been more aware, she handed her horse to a stranger and now he was gone.

The next hours went by in a blur. She remembered talking to the police, the arena security, and some participants in the show. She couldn't remember names or faces, she just remembered telling her story over and over and she felt exhausted.

Finally, it seemed to be over. A search had been launched for her horse, but he had not been found. Two other horses were discovered to be missing, like Coronado, they were all expensive and placed well in the show.

"Okay," said Travis, "Are you ready to go? We're headed to the bar."

"You go, I'm going to go back to the hotel, I can't deal with all this."

"Oh no you don't," he replied, "I'm not going to let you go back to the hotel and cry your eyes out, not this time. There are people here who are genuinely concerned for you and want to help. You need to come with me and not hide yourself in your room, that is not going to make you feel better."

"Nothing is going to make me feel better," she wailed, "I lost the horse that you gave me, that meant a lot to me. You've helped make me a better competitor; I'm winning shows I wouldn't have won before."

"I can't promise that going out with me tonight will make things better, but it will keep you from feeling worse for a while. I promise I will do everything I can to get your horse back. Now come on, you won tonight. I know you're not in the mood to celebrate, but do it for me, Coralee."

"Okay, I'm doing this for you and because I don't want to be alone. Nothing can make it better, but I'm grateful that so many people care. I just wish..." her voice trailed off.

"I know, I know. I wish I could make this right for you right now, but I can't. Now, let's get to the bar."

Travis turned out to be right, her heart wasn't in it but going to the bar proved to be the right thing to do. Drinks appeared before her, over half of which Travis drank, and one person after another came up and told her a story about how it had happened to them or they knew someone it had happened to. Travis had been right, it was sadly more common than she had thought.

One old timer had sat next to her and explained how it would work. They may already have a buyer set up, or, since he was a bay, they would probably dye his coat black and produce false papers and sell him at auction. It was a sad fact of life that there were still horse thieves out there, but now it could be a commercial enterprise.

Finally, she had had enough. People were being kind and well-meaning but she wanted to escape and be alone.

"Travis, I'm going back to the hotel, I'm tired. Do you want to come with me, or stay here?"

She looked at him, it was his choice, she always left him a choice.

"I'll go with you, we have to get up early and hit the road." He didn't say the words 'I don't want you to be alone', he didn't have to.