Chapter Six:

  The next morning, not long after sun-up, the thirty-some members of the McClintock family, their riders, and their impressive dinos prepared to set out for the long trip home. Grandpa Rudy Padilla made a simple breakfast of sausage biscuits and set the massive camp coffee maker to "rocket fuel" to help shake the stiffness from everyone's bones.

  Jase McClintock found himself up and moving before most of the camp was even awake. He wasn’t surprised to find his father, Marsh, and the trail boss, John, already congregating at the back of the chuck wagon, nursing coffees and chatting with Grandpa Rudy.

  John nodded to him, and Marsh said, “Good morning, Rancheroo. You're up bright and early.”

  “Yes sir, didn’t sleep much, but I’m ready to head out.” Grandpa Rudy handed him a biscuit and a cup, which Jase took gratefully.

  “Oh, well that's too bad,” Marsh said with a perfectly timed pause. “It wasn’t your ear smarting, was it?” The three older men shared a knowing, shared grin.

  Jase rolled his eyes. “Mateo tell you about that?”

  “Paul, actually. He filled us in on your little reunion while we all gathered at the campfire last night.” Marsh settled his gaze on his son. “Must have been quite the shock to the system, running into her after all this time. I remember when you all were little, you and her would bump heads all the time.”

  “Like a couple of bull dinos in rut,” Grandpa Rudy added instantly. Both John and Marsh nodded in agreement.

  “Until you both reached your teens, and she turned into an attractive young lady, and we all had peace for about ten whole minutes,” Marsh continued, his tone mock-serious. “We hoped that young people would do as young people do, and peace would reign in the valley. But instead, you bumped heads even more, except now you didn’t know if you wanted to pummel each other or tip-toe through the tulips together.”

  Jase made an indignant face. “C’mon, Pa, we weren’t that bad.”

  “Not that bad?” Marsh asked, mocking genuine shock. “You two had such a blow-up at the Spring Jamboree one year, your scrape ended up destroying all the pies! We had to assign a safe word and a rescue plan for the dessert table for every get-together from then on.” John and Rudy laughed out loud.

  “That only happened once, and she started that food fight!” Jase protested, throwing his hands up. “She said she didn’t want to dance, so I asked someone else, then she got mad and she went off. Poor Caroline never saw that pie coming, she was covered in Bramble berry from head to toe. Then she hit me in the face so hard with the next pie that I saw stars. How am I supposed to know all these ‘unwritten rules’? Seems to me someone ought to write them down.”

  The group of older men laughed. Rudy patted his grandson on his back in a comforting gesture.

  “I’d like to tell you it gets easier,” Grandpa Rudy said, his eyes twinkling. “But I don’t wanna give you false hope.”

  “Hope for what?” came the clear voice of Calli McClintock from around the front of the wagon as she walked to join the group. All four men immediately straightened. She walked up to the coffee, pouring herself a cup, her gaze expectant. Rudy pulled a fresh biscuit from the oven, placed a sausage patty inside, and handed it to his daughter with a smile. She then walked over to Jase and reached up to gently inspect his ear. Satisfied he wasn't actually injured she affectionately stroked his arm and asked,” Are you okay son?”

  Jase responded quietly,” Yes Ma, I’m alright.”

  She gestured for the tall man to lean forward and gave him a motherly kiss on the cheek before she turned and gave a pointed look towards the three older men.

  “Now Cal, we're just giving the young Jase here some advice on his recent personal situation,” Marsh explained.

  “Oh really? I didn’t hear anything that sounded like actual advice,” Calli said dryly. She walked over to Marsh and sat next to him on the bench, leaning into him. “Sounded to me like three old busybodies stirring the pot.” She elbowed Marsh playfully.

  “Now, Calli, we were just building up to it,” Rudy defended. “You have to approach wisdom slowly when sharing it with a young man like Jase, much like riding a green-broke dino. You go too fast, and they’ll buck and ride off on you.”

  “Hmm. Is that what went wrong with you?” she said, turning to look at her husband.

  Marsh scoffed in mock outrage, while the other men roared with laughter.

  Calli relaxed her demeanor and smiled as she looked back at her son, “You’re a smart boy, Jase, with a good, kind heart. Just follow your instincts, and you’ll be alright,” Calli said warmly. She took a serious tone as she stood. She pointed to the other side of the camp, “While we’re on the subject of Ciara, she and her father asked if they could borrow some mounts for the ride home as opposed to riding in one of the wagons. I’m not worried about Paul of course, but I don’t know how long it's been since Ciara rode. Can you go help them pick from the Cavvy, please? Make sure she gets a gentle mount, and not a man-killer.”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Jase said, grateful for the task, and jogged off toward the string lines.

  Marsh pulled Calli close to himself, his voice dropping to a serious tone. “What do you think about that whole deal, Cal? He got sent for quite the spin last time when she left.”

  “I know,” Calli said, looking concerned. “There's not much we can do in situations like this other than be there to catch him if he falls again.”

  Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

  Marsh responded with a simple grunt.

  Calli took hold of his hand, “don’t worry, we raised him well, and they’re both a lot more grown now and more capable of making good decisions.”

  Marsh nodded in agreement.

  “Just in case though,” Calli added, a mischievous spark returning to her eyes, “we should still keep the pie table separated from the dance floor at any future parties. It would be foolish to risk good pie.”

  They all laughed.

  Jase gathered Split and Mateo with Mambo and rode to the other side of camp where the spare mounts were kept. He could hear Ciara before he saw her. Jase had always been impressed by her ability to speak in what sounded like a normal tone but to have the volume of someone yelling. He quickly noticed the exasperated ranch hand, Jerry, who looked at him with a pleading expression.

  Mateo pulled up beside Jase, surveying the scene. “Yep, I'm out. Good luck, brother.”

  “Wait, what! What happened to ‘Dino Riders stick together’?” Jase said, pleadingly.

  “Hermano, if that was a Spinosaurus attacking an orphanage in the middle of a lake of fire surrounded by flesh-ripping tracker vines, I wouldn't hesitate to follow you in. But she scares me.” Mambo snorted in agreement. “‘Tic, tic,’ come on Mambo, let’s get to safety before this goes off.” Mateo said with a smirk.

  “Coward!” Jase called, as Mateo and Mambo trotted off. Mambo huffed and flicked his tail, as Mateo made a rude gesture.

  Jase sighed, steeled himself, and rode up. “Good morning, what seems to be the problem here?”

  Ciara turned to him, hands on her hips. “Good morning,” she said matter-of-factly. “I’ve been trying to explain to Mr. Lawson here that I need a ‘proper’ mount for the ride, and he seems determined to saddle me with some old nag like I'm a child or an old maid. Jase,tell him that I am an experienced raptor rider and can handle any of the mounts he has here!”

  Jerry just looked at Jase, clearly ready to be done with the situation. Jase gave him a sympathetic smile and gestured with his head for the man to go. “Thank you, Jerry, I’ll take it from here.” The thankful man quickly turned and walked away, but not before making the sign of the cross toward Jase.

  Jase looked back to Ciara, who squinted her eyes and stuck her tongue out at the retreating ranch hand. He had to smile at the ridiculous exchange. “Alright, Ciara, let’s just step back and start over again. ‘Good morning,’ how was your night?”

  She paused, and visibly calmed herself. “Good morning. It was good. Those portable cots Mateo developed are more comfortable than most of the beds I’ve slept in.”

  “I know right, And they practically fold down to nothing. Something he calls ‘flat space molecular compression’, he's been adapting it to all of the equipment, making it so we can stow all kinds of stuff in hardly any space at all. So, what’s the issue with your mount? You would know we wouldn’t have a bad mount amongst us.”

  “Yes, I know that.” She said, exasperated, “ He wants to stick me with an Anky! Do I look like a girl who would ride a walking brick?”

  “Now, Ciara, Ankylosaurs are fine mounts. They’re strong, dependable, and usually can out-walk most other dinos. And they’re speedy enough for the pace we're making this trail ride.” Jase looked around and then leaned in and spoke quietly. “I need you to be honest right now, Ciara. How long has it been since you rode anything, especially for a long ride?”

  She crossed her arms and looked at the ground. A dejected look on her face. “It's been a while, but it's not like you forget how to ride!”

  “I know,” Jase said reassuringly. “No one here is questioning your skills. I remember how you used to win all those long-distance riding competitions, you even beat me a few times.”

  Ciara smiled, a warm, genuine smile. “More than a few times is what I remember.”

  Jase returned the smile,“Listen, Ciara, these dino punchers need their spare raptors fresh for any trouble that pops up along the way, and you know full well that any type of raptor doesn’t always just take to a new rider. If you insist on riding and not sitting in a wagon, I have to insist that you take the Anky. It’ll give you the most gentle possible ride outside of a wagon and give you time to ‘break in’ back into long rides. When we get back to the valley, I’ll help you find your own raptor, something up to your skill level. Okay?”

  She sighed and nodded her head meeting his eyes. “Alright, I’ll ride the brick, but only because you asked nicely.”

  Jase looked around puzzled. “Where’s your Pa? He wanted a mount too, didn't he?”

  Ciara gestured to the west side of the camp. “Oh, you know him. He happily took the first thing he was offered. They gave him a Triceratops, and he rode off that way looking for your father.”

  Jase smiled inwardly, and thought to himself, “I like Paul.”

  Across camp, in the med trailer, Lin McClintock was double-checking to make sure everything was secured. The little girl, Sarah, had become like her shadow. Her arm was still in a sling, but she was physically much improved. While still almost entirely silent, her timid behavior had lessened, replaced by a quiet, consuming curiosity about everything Lin was doing.

  Lin wondered how much Sarah actually still remembered after the investigator altered her memory. She kept debating the morality of the cyborg's action: was it kinder to cut the trauma out like an infection, or would it cause trouble with long-term healing if she couldn’t fully remember what had happened? Lin pushed the thoughts aside. The plan for today was simple: ride all day, get some good distance between them and the rail station, then at the next stop, they would do a deep neurological scan to identify what Ian 17 had actually done to her brain.

  Lin turned to the girl. “Are you ready to get going? We’ll make sure Buddy has his breakfast, and we’ll hit the road, okay?”

  Sarah simply nodded in response. Lin patted the girl's shoulder and escorted her out. Buddy was enthusiastically eating a large pile of bushy leaves and twigs. He looked up and immediately swung his large head over in greeting to the pair. Lin affectionately stroked the top of his large head, and Sarah mimicked her actions. Buddy gave the girl a gentle nudge and she gave the dino a tiny smile before continuing to stroke his face.

  “Good morning, Buddy. Are you ready to head for home today?” said Lin.

  The Bronto gave a quick trumpet in agreement and returned to his feeding. Marsh rode up to the group on Cookie. As he dismounted, Cookie snorted in greeting to Buddy, who trumpeted in return.

  “Good morning, Rancheroos!” Marsh said warmly. “Are you all ready to hit the trail?”

  “Morning, Pa. We're set, ready when you are.”

  “And how's Miss Sarah this morning?” he said in a kind, quiet voice. As he approved the two.

  “We’re having a good day so far,” Lin said, meeting her father’s eyes while subtly shaking her head, wordlessly communicating that the girl was as okay as she could be.

  Sarah stayed slightly behind Lin; she was very shy around men still, especially loud ones like Marsh. Except for John, the trail boss, she seemed to be comfortable around him. Even running to greet him when he came periodically to check in on her. Presumptively because he had been one of the ranch hands that had rescued her. Marsh walked over with his hands behind his back and took a knee in front of the pair. “Hello, Sarah. If you remember, my name is Mr. McClintock,” he gestured with a nod toward Cookie, “and this is Cookie.” The large, heavily scarred T-Rex grunted and bowed his head.

  “Now, since you're going to ride with the Thundersaur brand, you're going to need two things. First is a proper hat.” Marsh produced a small, tan, rider-style hat with a purple ribbon tied in a bow. “This is from John, Mr. Pehl. He wanted to give this to you himself, but he's a bit preoccupied at the moment.”

  Lin took the hat and placed it on the girl's head. Sarah gave a tiny smile, then shied back behind Lin.

  “The other thing you need is a dino of your own,” Marsh said as he pulled a stuffed brontosaurus from behind his back. The cute little toy was slightly bigger than the girl’s head, green with yellow spots.

  Sarah’s eyes brightened momentarily, and then she looked at Lin.

  “It’s okay, go ahead,” Lin encouraged.

  She slowly approached and reverently took the stuffed dino. She hugged the toy and squeezed it. She then looked at Marsh, who was still kneeling, and slowly approached him. She reached her hand out and touched his face, tracing the long scar along the right side that ran from his jaw to above his eye. She gave him a tiny smile, then turned and ran back behind Lin, hugging her new toy.

  Marsh stood and cleared his throat. “Alright then, Lin, you two load up and be ready to go. Your Ma is going to join up with you soon and ride with you. Just beep me on the comms if you need anything.” He tipped his hat to the little girl, who inexplicably returned the gesture. He grinned and walked back to Cookie, then promptly rode away.

  Lin turned to the little girl and gestured to the bench on the trailer. “Come on Rancheroo, let's mount up!”