Wild Horses

Slowly the lazy summer days tore on, fading into a cooler, breezy autumn. The trees' green foliage was changing to brisk shades of oranges and yellows, hues of red peeking out at random, while the heavy deciduous trees kept their deep pine green. Squashes and pumpkins were rooting themselves in the ranch's garden, growing until they were to be picked at the end of October or early November. And still, Treva watched.

She had taken heed to the words Maria had spoken, and ventured out. Though she never went further than the veranda winding around the house. Her own mother was even growing worried that Treva was isolating herself because she didn't like Montana. Clarisse had known the move would be hard on her daughter, but she had hoped that Treva would have bonded with Zach and Brian at the least.

But Treva was just fine with watching, with not being an actual part of the living wild around her. And as long as Treva at least seemed happy, Clarisse would have to accept that.

During the times she did venture out onto the porch, Treva had to admit that the clean Montana air felt good in her lungs - almost easier to breathe than the air in Manhattan. While taking in the clean air of the outdoors, Treva would often travel around to the other side of the house, where she could see some of the large pasture beyond the barn. And it was there that she would watch the two boys who had captivated her so.

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There was just something about the feeling of the powerful horse's muscles beneath him that Zach couldn't get enough of. He had learned how to ride when he was only a boy, learning partly from his father, and the rest out of instinct. There were times where he'd ride off by himself to the farthest edges of the ranch, and he'd almost feel like he was becoming one with the horse.

Zach dug his heels into the horse's sides, pushing him to go faster in pursuit of one of the cattle that needed to be rounded up and dragged into the barn, so it could be butchered to provide the family and its guests with meat for the coming weeks. Nearing the cow, Zach swung the roped lasso above his head, gaining momentum in his swing as he once more urged his steed to run faster. Flinging out the lasso like a rock from a sling-shot, Zach caught the cow around the neck and pulled the rope tight, causing the cow to grunt as it was yanked to a stop from behind. Pulling back on the reigns, Zach got his bearings on the rope.

"Whoa, boy," he said to the horse, settling him down to a trot in order to safely move the brown-skinned cow back toward the barn-end of the pasture. Once he was closer, Zach could see Brian leaning against the wood-board fence with his forearms, a cigarette dangling loosely between his lips like always.

Once the cow was in the small pen in the barn, Zach locked it in, much to its protesting, and left it to have his father, James, kill it and do the butchering. Jogging out of the barn, Zach slowly made his way over to the section of fence Brian was leaning on, watching as the man he considered his brother took a drag.

"She didn't put up much fight at all, did she?" Brian asked, in a rhetorical manner.

"Nah, she was the easiest fighter I've had to rope in awhile," Zach answered, squinting against the light of the sun as he looked toward the house. "She's watching again," he said quietly, seeing Treva standing on the porch, the crisp breeze fluttering though her blonde hair.

Sighing, Brian turned and looked over his shoulder at the young lady that had caught his eye since that first night at dinner. Crushing his spent cigarette with the heel of his boot, he exhaled. "Damn, she is a real piece of work..." Brian said, letting out a low whistle. "Ya hear how old she is yet?"

"She's sixteen," Zach said, mumbling as he kept his eyes trained on Treva. Seeing that she'd been caught by the two boys, Treva blushed and looked away, walking around to the other side of the house again.

"Sixteen!? That's mighty young..." Brian said, turning to face Zach once Treva had moved from their line of sight.

"Not that young," Zach mumbled. He was only turning eighteen in December, and Brian had already turned just months before. The two boys weren't that old. But Zach knew Brian's inquiry was for one reason: he knew Brian was sexually attracted to Treva, and wanted to get his hands on her if she ever opened up. Zach knew of Brian's ways, knew of the few girls down in Billings he had once laid his claim to, and Zach would be damned if he got that chance again with Treva. Zach had never touched a girl in the ways Brian had, and he knew that Treva was innocent.

With or without the knowledge of Brian's intent, if he could ever get close to Treva, Zach knew that he, too, could get Treva to open up. But for an entirely different reason. He knew Treva had a shell on her exterior, blocking her from truly accepting this new wide world she had been shoved into, and he wanted to crack that shell, break it away. He wanted to get Treva to live in his world, and see Montana, his beloved home, as something to treasure. He wanted her to see the beauty of the world.