Chapter V

Lies, Lies and More Damn Lies

Gathering my arms and knees under him, I pushed with all my strength. All those years of growing up on the farm gave me strength a girl wouldn't normally have. I heaved that two hundred pound brute off onto the floor. He landed on his back with a thud. The floor wasn't carpet it was tile. He had the wind knocked out of him as he hit pretty hard.

Before I could sit up, Ronnie Mercer jumped on me. He grabbed the top of my dress and ripped it open. "You put out for those cowboys, you can put out for us. I know that's why they gave you that All Around Cowboy award. I bet you're really an all around fuck."

There was a lamp on the end table above my head. I managed to get hold of it with my right hand while fighting Ronnie with my left. I came down, not with all my strength because I would have split his skull wide open. I tried for a little more of a sideways blow than on top his head. That big old porcelain lamp clunked when it made contact. Ronnie collapsed like a rag doll. Then the pain set in, he was crying as he held the side of his head. He was through. I pushed and he rolled off me onto the floor onto Kyle who was starting to rise up..

I jumped up as David lunged toward me screaming. "YOU LITTLE BITCH!"

Bringing the lamp up in an underhanded swing, I stepped into him and met him head on. I heard a crack as the lamp caught him under the chin. His charge was stopped dead in its' tracks. He wilted to the floor stunned. He didn't know whether to cry or whimper as he held his face. Eventually crying won out. Kyle had pushed Ronnie off and was struggling to his feet when I swung the weapon I had and connected up beside his temple. He went back down screaming and writhing in pain.

I dropped the lamp on the floor as I turned toward the door. I was sure the boys weren't going to be an immediate threat. I also knew I had better put some distance between us before they found their senses again.

I felt her coming as much as I saw her out of the corner of my eye. I spun around. Donna was at a full run with her arms spread and her claws out. I had never been in a cat fight in my life. I wasn't about to get into one now. I was turning at the same time I leaned into her. I was swinging with all my strength. My fist plowed into soft flesh around the cheek and nose. Her head snapped over to one side and she went down on her right side. She skidded across the floor, not yet understanding what happened. She laid there moaning in a stupor.

Ronda jumped at me from four feet away. I grabbed a handful of dress and rolled down backwards as I gathered my knees under her. I pulled her down on top of me and heaved with my knees as I held onto her dress. She did a complete summersault over the top of my head and crashed through the front door feet first. I still had a large portion of her dress in my hands. Ronda curled up in a little ball, crying.

Sherrie was scared to death as I got back to my feet. "I didn't have anything to do with it Jake. I didn't know what they were planning. This wasn't my idea. Don't hurt me."

It was on my mind to leave but I had second thoughts. I walked back over in front of Sherrie. Her eyes were as big as egg whites and she was crying. "Please Jake, I didn't do nothing."

I slapped her as hard as I could. It probably shook some of the marbles loose she had lying around inside that tiny little skull of hers. She dropped to her knees on the floor. She was holding her face and crying.

It was over fifteen miles back home. I started to walk it before I decided the heels I had worn weren't for walking that distance. Donna's purse was on the lamp table. I pulled her keys out of it. I was beginning to feel sick. I walked past the destruction I had caused. The kids were lying on the floor crying or moaning. Picking my way around a shattered front door and a crying Rhonda, I walked out the door Rhonda had busted open as she went through it.

Donna's Corvette started right up. I started to turn toward home and then thought better of it as I looked down at the new dress momma had bought me. It was torn clear down to my waist. There were extra jeans and shirt in the locker in the front of the horse trailer at Bill Randall's place. I'd change before I went home. The three miles to Bill's place was the longest drive I ever made in my life. The road became fuzzy the first half mile. Then things started getting darker. I turned the headlights on bright and that didn't help. I was losing the road as it disappeared and then reappeared in front of me. It seemed like hours and then days before I saw the cattle guard and Bill's driveway. That cattle guard was trying to dodge me as I aimed the Corvette toward it. It kept moving back and forth. I was lucky as I hit it before it could get completely away. Staying on Bill's driveway was impossible as it fell off to one side and then the other. The stock trailer was out in front of his house. I planned on parking beside it. It jumped in front of me before I got by it. I rammed Donna's Corvette into the back of it.

It was impossible to remember why that stock trailer had been so important to me? I sit there in the car for a little while. When I looked down at my dress I remembered I needed a blouse. I opened the door and the ground jumped up and hit me in the face. I reached up and got hold of the doorframe on the Corvette. Pulling myself back up I started toward the trailer. There was nothing else in my mind besides getting a blouse.

The whole world was in a whirl. The horse trailer was trying to run away from me. I reached out to grab the trailer but it eluded me. The ground was in motion and rolling like ocean waves. I lost my balance again. A pair of hands caught me before I hit the ground a second time. I tried to throw a punch and knock Kyle off. "Get your damn hands off me!"

"Katrina, what's the matter with you? You drunk?"

I shook my head. "I don't drink and I don't fuck. Get your damn hands off me."

"What's the matter with you? What have you taken?"

"I beat you already. It's not fair. I beat you alr…," I was caught in a whirlpool of darkness. It pulled me into its' vortex.

Slowly a light formed at the end of the vortex. I could see a silhouette where someone was standing at the end. They were calling my name. "Katrina, it's going to be alright. Hold on Katrina and you will be okay."

"Grandma, is that you? I thought you were dead? Momma said you died two years after I was born. Wait till I tell momma you're okay."

"You will be fine Katrina."

It was getting harder and harder to make her out as the light around her dimmed. "Grandma, don't go. I want you to stay and visit. Wait a minute. I'll find momma and tell her you're here."

The light faded completely. "Grandma? Someone turned out the light. Grandma?"

"She's breathing again. We got her back. LeAnn get the truck. We'll take her to the hospital. It will be quicker than calling an ambulance."

"What's the problem with her?" The voice was shrill and it hurt my head.

"I don't know. She stopped breathing about twenty minutes ago. We did CPR on her and got her back."

"I want a blood sample now. Put her on oxygen. What's her vitals?" It was a strange voice.

"They drugged her. She'll be alright but she's gonna be out for a few more hours." The voice was distant. I was swimming through a haze.

I cried as I shook my head. "i'm okay. i'm okay. i'm okay."

My throat was so parched I couldn't swallow. I licked my lips. My tongue was so thick it didn't fit in my mouth. "water."

Someone touched my mouth with ice. "Suck on this Katrina. It will help."

It felt cool and refreshing. I fought to open my eyes and lost the battle. Things went black again.

"How you feeling?" It was LeAnn Randall's voice.

"Tell Bill I'll get that calf tomorrow night." I knew I had been run down by a calf again.

I heard laughter. "Sure you will Katrina. Give it a little time and it'll be okay."

I didn't think the twilight zone would ever end. I couldn't get awake as I fought the demons who were keeping me there. "Daddy, is Gunshy okay? I don't think I gave him any feed before I left. BILL! WE HAVE TO GO BACK! I FORGOT TO LOAD GUNSHY UP IN THE TRAILER! NO, PLEASE DON'T!"

Finally things begin to get real again as the demons receded into the dark. That night I had been run over by the calf was a lark compared to what I was feeling now. As the room came into focus I noticed I was in bed. Then I noticed I was in a hospital room. Bill, LeAnn, and Bill's foreman, Frank, and several others were there.

Two faces were noticeably absent. "Where's mom and dad?"

LeAnn picked up my hand and rubbed it. "We called them a little while ago. Things were kind of hectic for a little bit. We were trying to sort out the situation before we called them. How you feel?"

"Stupid for being here. What happened? Was there an accident?" I couldn't remember anything from the point of telling my parents I was going to a party.

Bill stepped up and took my other hand. "I'd say there was an accident. Do you remember Kyle Adams, David Mercer, Ronnie Talsman?"

"Yeah, they're kids in my graduating class. Were they in an accident?" I was looking inside my mind for a filler for that big blank. Nothing was there.

"Well, I guess you could say they were in an accident. They and their girlfriends are in jail right now. Do you remember them giving you a drink?" Bill was watching me for a reaction.

"No." I had no recollection of what Bill was talking about. The last thing I remembered was the graduation ceremony at the high school.

He studied my eyes and took my hand. "You barely made it over to my place. At first we thought you had been drinking. When you passed out it scared all of us. We brought you into the hospital. Dr. Brown checked you over and said you had a smell of whiskey on you but nothing in you. It didn’t even show up on the blood test. What did show up was a drug. I knew you would never do it on your own unless someone forced you. Your torn dress and Donna's Corvette was pointing toward a problem. I called Larry Gunther, the country sheriff."

Bill was waiting to see if any of this registered on me. It didn't. He shook his head. "It seems Larry had an all points bulletin out on you Cat. The other kids had called in to complain about you beating them up and stealing Donna Snyder's car. Well, in the couple hours you have been out, Larry was busy. He went out to the house where they drugged you and accessed the situation. Larry said it wasn't right. They were all downstairs in emergency so they weren't hard to find. He separated the kids and took a statement from all of them, one at a time. Their stories didn't hold together."

"Word spreads pretty quick in this little community and several of the other kids started dropping by to see what was going on. Larry found some of them saying they overheard Donna inviting you to a class party. After that, Larry charged them with destruction of property and took them down to the pokey. He got a warrant and searched their cars. They had drugs and alcohol in them. Donna’s Corvette had a drug known to be a date rape drug under the seat. There aren’t any real labs for testing those kind of things here but Doc Anders said all your symptoms were constant with you being drugged with what Larry found in Donna’s car."

Bill smiled. "They are waiting on their parents to come down and bail them out. I don't think anyone came out of this a winner Cat, but you sure come close. Those six kids look like a herd of buffalo ran over them."

It was only a story to me because I had no recollection of anything Bill was talking about. I only knew that if that was what Bill was telling me then that was the way it happened. I glanced around the room. "Thanks everyone. I don't know what I would do without you."

Mom and dad arrived about ten minutes later. Everyone was talking at once and I lost out on most of it because as soon as I stopped struggling to stay awake I would fall asleep. I'd wake up and it would be the same thing all over again. The next morning, Dr. Brown discharged me from the hospital.

I was getting dressed in the jeans and shirt mom brought me. Mom was picking up my things when she held up the new dress she had bought me the day before. She looked at it for the longest time before she would look in my direction. "I don't think I can mend it, Katrina. It looks to me like it's ruined."

"I'm sorry, momma, I didn't do it on purpose. I should have stayed with you guys. I'll pay you back out of my savings." I noticed tears were forming in her eyes as she looked at the dress.

She shook her head. "No, it's not your fault. You shouldn't have to pay for something when it couldn't be helped. I'm glad nothing else was lost."

I knew what she was talking about. "It would have been over my dead body."

She dropped the dress as she pulled me into her breast. "Oh, Katrina, I love you so much. I'm so thankful you got away when you did. I should have checked on that party they said they were having. It was my fault, honey."

Putting my arms around her neck I hugged her back. "No momma. I'm big enough to check on those things myself. I should have asked a few more questions and talked to a few more kids about the party. I would have figured it out when none of the other kids didn't know anything about a party. I should have asked a few more questions is all."

My problem with the whole conversation was, I really had no idea what I was talking about. I didn't remember being invited to any party. I certainly didn't remember a party. I had a torn dress and everyone's explanation about what happened that night.

The day after I left the hospital, Gunshy and I were in the front yard working on the stock trailer. Dad was in the tool shed working on a planter when the county sheriff, Larry Gunther, and Bill Randall came driving up. Bill and Larry sat talking in the car for a few minutes before they got out.

Larry walked over to where I was putting the bearing back in the wheel. "Hello Katrina. How you feeling?"

Picking up a rag off the ground, I wiped the grease off my hands as dad walked out of the shed and up to where we were. I stood up. "I'm okay."

Larry glanced at dad, over at Bill, and then back at me. "What do you remember about the night the other kids drugged you?"

"Nothing except what Bill and the others have told me. I don't remember anything between the graduation and the hospital." I was wondering what this was leading into.

He glanced over at Bill again. "Well, I've got some bad news. The other kids and their parents have banded together and hired a lawyer. They are going to sue you for attacking them, beating them up, and destroying the house and the car. They say it was all your idea. Their story is, you invited them out there to a party and then started taking drugs and drinking. You tried to get them to do the same and when they wouldn't, you became violent. You started breaking things and throwing things at them. Said you stole Donna's Corvette and wrecked it."

I was stunned and didn't know what to say. How could they be blaming me for something I had no recollection about?

"Is any of it true?" Larry was looking at me for an answer.

"I don't know. I can't remember that night. I don't think it's true. I never drank alcohol in my whole life. I'm sure I haven't ever taken any drugs. I can't remember." As hard as I tried there was no memory of that time.

He sighed. "I can tell you it's going to get damn ugly with that lawyer they hired. There are six of them telling the same story now and only you with no memory of it. I have their original stories and tapes of the place but a good lawyer will twist the whole thing around until you seem to be the guilty one. Especially since you have no memory of what happened. It is six of them against you. Because you don’t remember any of it, the tapes may not be admissible."

"Are you going to arrest me?" My heart was beating so loud I knew everyone could hear. My knees were knocking so bad I couldn't stand it. All I wanted in the whole world was to be held by my daddy and have him tell me he would protect me.

Larry shook his head. "No, I know who the guilty party is. It isn't you Katrina. I arrested the other kids that first night but it isn't going to make any difference. They filed a lawsuit in civil court. I don't care if you are Snow White. In civil court anyone can file a lawsuit for any reason."

My nerves were beginning to calm down just a fraction. "What do I need to do? I don't have any memory of that night."

He pulled an envelope out of his back pocket. "I have a summons for you to appear in court."

As I reached for it Larry pulled it back. "Just a minute. Bill and I talked it over. I'm going to go for a walk."

Sticking the envelope back into his pocket, Larry walked out toward the pasture as Bill glanced over at dad and then me. "Cat, right now you are your own worst problem. They get you in court they will eat you alive because you don't remember that night."

He pointed toward Larry who was disappearing behind the barn. "Larry is ready to swear he couldn't deliver the summons to you today. Technically he hasn't as he had to put it in your hand for it to be delivered. He is going to give you an opportunity to leave the country until your lawyer can get this situation under control."

"I don't have a lawyer." I was furiously thinking of who I knew as a lawyer. I couldn't think of anyone. I didn't think my parents knew anyone either.

Bill nodded. "Yes you do. Brenda and Elliot Kendell out of Wisconsin are going to take your case. They are the best lawyers for this situation. Brenda was a judge herself at one time. She isn't intimidated by them and she knows all the angles. She eats judges and lawyers for breakfast every morning. Elliot is the best research lawyer in the business. He can find that obscure law or judgment no one else ever thought of. Between the two of them they will win your case. It has to be on their terms."

"I can't afford any high priced lawyers, Bill. I don't have that kind of money and mom and dad sure don't. I'll…,"

"It's taken care of Cat. A lot of the boys in the rodeo think you're number one. They passed the hat and said you can repay them when you are able. I talked to Kevin, the man who I mentioned a few months back. He ships horses all over the world. You pack your bags and go pick up one of his horses in Atlanta tonight. You'll get your instructions when you get there."

Bill pulled an envelope out of his pocket and took out a sheet of paper. "This is your application for a passport. Fill it out on the flight down to Atlanta. Hand it to the driver who picks you up at the airport. Wear your western jacket and cowboy hat. That is how your driver will know you."

To say I was stunned was an understatement. "I'm leaving home tonight?"

He shook his head and held out some tickets. "No, you're leaving home in an hour. You have to drive over to Elmwood to catch the commuter flight to Carson City and then to Atlanta."

"I can't!" I turned to look at daddy who was as stunned as me.

"Cat, if you stay and they get you in court, your parents will probably end up losing everything. I know what happened the other night and it isn't right. Their lawyer will eat you alive and it will go against you. When they get a judgment against you it will include your mom and dad. Is that what you want? You want them to lose the farm?"

"It's not fair. I don't remember." A tear trickled down my cheek as I looked from dad to Bill.

"No, it's not fair but it's the way the system works. Brenda and Elliot will handle this. You have to give them a chance to get on top of it. If you stay, Larry will be back later this evening to hand you the summons he has in his pocket. That is out of his hands. He's giving you the chance to let your lawyers take care of this. They can't do it if you end up in court in a couple days. Judge Garrison isn't going to give you an extension. He likes to settle things on the spot. If they can't serve the summons on you it will have to be delayed whether Judge Garrison likes it or not. Give us a chance to help you Cat." Bill thrust the papers in my direction.

"An hour? I have to pack in an hour? Where am I going to deliver the horse?" I was having a hard time concentrating on what I needed to do. This was so sudden.

Bill shook his head. "I don't know Cat, and I don't want to know. Kevin said you needed a passport so I figured it was out of the country. That was more than I needed to know. Pack your suitcase for an extended trip. He said he was going to keep you busy if you were half as good with horses as what he had heard."

Tears were running down both cheeks as I realize I was going to have to leave everything I loved behind. I turned toward daddy. "Daddy…?"

He took me in his arms and held me close and tight like he used to when I was little. "It's okay, to cry Jake. We can handle things on this end. Gunshy and I will take care of the chores. Katherine will take care of all of us like she used to do before you came along."

Bill glanced at his watch. "You don't have much time, Cat. Get your bags and go."

He whistled and Larry came back around the barn. Larry never looked at me as he and Bill got into the car and left. I figured he didn't want to know what was said. I was sure of one thing. He would be back to serve that summons he had in his pocket.

Daddy walked with me back into the house. He told me to go pack as he was going to explain it to momma. I dragged out the old blue suitcase that had been with me for the past three years as Bill and I hit the rodeo circuit every summer. It was sure beat up but it was sturdy and had a lot of miles left in it. I had jeans, shirts, and panties packed when momma came into the room holding a bag.

"Here Katrina, you will start needing these."

I looked in the bag and there were some bras. "I don't need them momma."

She put them in the corner of my suitcase. "Yes you do. You're starting to fill out, Katrina. It took you a lot longer than most girls but it's beginning to happen. I can see it when you walk out to the barn or when you climb up on the tractor. Most girls have already changed into young ladies by the time they get into high school. I believe you put it off because of all the farm work and rodeoing you were doing."

Momma was wrong. I knew she was wrong. I didn't need any bras. I dropped the last of my clothes in the suitcase and closed it. "Thanks momma. I have to go tell Gunshy I'll be gone for a few days."

Picking up one of momma's apples off the kitchen table, I stepped out the front door and whistled. I could hear him coming at a full gallop from around the backside of the house. I held out the apple in my right hand, Gunshy slid up to me, stopped, reached out and picked the apple out of my hand.

Rubbing his ears and scratching under his neck, I gave him a hug. "Let's go down to the barn and get some feed. I have something I want to tell you."

I gave him a couple extra scoops of dairy feed in his feeder as I explained I was going away for a few days. Every time I started out of the barn he would follow me instead of eating his feed. It was the only time Gunshy didn't have his nose pushed down into the bottom of the feeder after I dropped some dairy feed in it. He knew this wasn't one of my usual trips. I hugged his neck and cried. I didn't want to leave him either.

Daddy was honking the pickup horn. It was time to go. I walked Gunshy back to the stall and dropped the latch. It wouldn't hold him long as he had figured out a long time ago how to work all the latches. I ran out to the pickup and climbed in front with mom and dad. Dad had thrown my suitcase in back. Two miles down the road I turned to look back at the farm. A mile back was Gunshy running for all he was worth. It was the first time he hadn't stopped at the edge of our property.

"Daddy, Gunshy isn't staying on the farm. We have to go back."

Dad glanced into the rearview mirror. "He'll be alright, Jake. He knows where home is. He'll go back when he gets tired."

"No daddy. He won't go back. He knows it's not right. Stop and let him ride in the back of the pickup. Please, daddy. Stop. He won't go back home. Let him ride to the airport with us. Please, daddy. I'll drop a halter on him so he will have to ride back in the truck but please let him go with us."

Dad let up on the gas as he looked at momma. " Katherine?"

She was looking at dad for an answer. "I guess?"

Dad braked to a stop. I hopped out and dropped the tailgate on the pickup. Gunshy was there in less than the time it took for me to move my suitcase over to the side. I hopped up in back and motioned for Gunshy to climb in. "Come on Gun. You can't run all the way."

It didn't take a second for him to hop up in the back with me. I could hear dad talking to momma as we started off down the road again. "I never saw anything like it. She treats that horse like a dog and he does everything she asks."

"No, she treats him like a brother. They understand each other better than we'll ever know." Mom turned around in the seat to take a look at Gunshy and me ridding along in the back of the pickup with the wind blowing in our faces.

Dad pulled up in the parking lot there at Elmwood like he was somebody. Everyone was staring at us. A horse in the back end of a pickup without any sideboards was a novelty even in cowboy country.

I hopped out of the pickup and Gunshy dropped out beside me after I let the tailgate down. It didn't make any difference, he was going to get out one way or another. I didn't want him to hurt himself going over the side. "You wait here. I'm going to go get a ticket and I'll be right back."

There was only one desk inside that terminal. As I walked up to it the man behind the counter looked up. "Can I help you?"

"I need a ticket to Atlanta." I handed over the instruction sheet Bill hand handed to me in the yard.

The man looked at it for a second and turned around. "Carol, this…,"

He turned to study me for a second as he looked down at the instructions. "…, lady needs a ticket to Atlanta."

I looked over the desk at the instructions Bill had written. There at the top of the page was Katrina McDonald. I guess with my old cowboy hat and jeans I still looked like I normally did. The man behind the desk was checking to see if he had read the name right.

The lady handed me a ticket and took over twelve hundred dollars out of my hand. "Here you go."

I almost choked. I had never bought a twelve hundred dollar anything in my whole life. Much less a ticket for a few hours flight. I tried to assure myself it wasn't a total loss. "I can win it back in calf roping if nothing else."

Carol and the man looked at me. I shrugged my shoulders. "I'm a calf roper. Bill Randall and I took state championship in head and heel for the past three years."

The man squinted as he gave me a harder look. "Bill Randall? Bill ropes with Jake McDon…, No, no, unuh, ain't no way. You aren't Jake McDonald?"

My smile gave me away. He shook his head as he looked out the window at Gunshy standing outside the door. "Well, I'll be damned. You're a girl! Carol, look at that. Jake McDonald is a girl. She's the best roper this country has ever seen."

Turning in his chair he pointed out the door. "And that's the smartest horse I've ever seen. I was there three years ago when that horse ran over and knocked that calf down after you were on the ground. He is the one they call Gunshy isn't he?"

"Yep, that's him. He makes me look pretty good too. All I have to do is stay on top and he gets me in position to throw the rope." It was funny I had run into someone who was a big rodeo fan and knew us.

He walked around the desk and held out his hand. "I'm your pilot into Carson City. I'd like to go out and say hi to Gunshy if that's alright."

"Don't get too close to him. He doesn't like people."

The man looked at me like he thought I was lying. "You're kidding?"

I crossed my heart. "Nope, honest truth. He doesn't like people. There are only three people that can touch him and not get stomped. Bill Randall is one, my mom and dad are the other two."

The man was headed out the door. "This I gotta see."

As he walked out the door, Gunshy backed up. The man slowly walked toward him with his hand out. "Hi there old man. How you doing? How about if you let me pet you?"

Gunshy kept backing as the man approached him. Finally Gun had enough. He stood up on his back legs, pawed the air and whinnied. It was a warning to the man he wasn't backing up any further. Luckily the man had enough sense to realize he had gone far enough.

He turned and looked at me. "What a magnificent horse. I'm glad he can't fit into the cockpit of my plane. He would probably take my job away from me."

Everyone around us laughed. The man glanced in my direction. "We leave in ten minutes. I'll carry your suitcase on. When you see that second engine turn over you better be on board because that plane is leaving."

"I'll be there." I walked out to Gunshy. Scratching behind his ears and under his neck I cried as I told him goodbye. I gave mom and dad a hug and cried some more. I hated this. Why should I be the one who had to leave when I didn't do anything wrong?

Too soon it was time to go as I saw the pilot get on the plane and one of those engines turn over. I motioned Gunshy up into the pickup bed. He jumped in knowing I was leaving him. It broke my heart. I was crying as I pointed toward the floor of the pickup bed. "Stay Gun. Daddy is going to drive you back home. You go back and take care of mom and dad and the rest of the place okay? I'm depending on you to watch over things while I'm gone. I'll be back as soon as I can. I love you with all my heart. Please be good while I'm gone."

Dad pulled me in as I turned to walk back into the terminal. "Jake, you didn't put the halter on Gunshy."

Mom pulled on his arm as she wrapped another arm around me. "He'll stay John. Katrina told him to."

I couldn't bear to look at any of them as I walked back through the office and out to the field where the airplane was waiting. As I climbed the steps up into the plane I heard him whinny. Tears trickled down my cheeks as I buckled in. I wiped my nose and eyes on my jacket sleeve. Looking out the window as we picked up off the ground I couldn't see the pickup or Gunshy as they were behind the building.

Crying, I pressed my nose to the glass as the plane banked to the left. We circled the airport once as mom, dad, and Gun watched from down below. The plane leveled out as we headed up toward the clouds.

The lady called Carol walked back and handed me a handful of tissue. "I don't know if it's the first time or what but you'll be back Katrina. Everything will be okay."

Screwing up my mouth I tried to thank her but it didn't work. I couldn't say anything between tears. She walked back up to the copilot's seat and sit down again. That little commuter plane only had room for twenty passengers. It didn't make a lot of difference. There were only nine others on that flight besides me and the two pilots.

The flight into Carson City took a little over thirty minutes. Carol asked me to wait until the others had left. She walked with me into the terminal and guided me up to the ticket counter. She handed the lady behind the counter a ticket. "Jan, this young lady is Katrina McDonald. She is Montana's number one roper. I want you to see to it personally that she gets to Atlanta safely. All the cowboys would take offense if anything happened to Montana's number one roper."

Jan looked at the ticket. "I'll take care of her Carol."

She motioned for me to follow. "This way Katrina."

I turned toward Carol before I followed the lady named Jan. I held out my hand. "Thanks, Carol. If you see mom and dad and that old horse, tell them I'm okay."

"I will. Jan will show you which plane you are going to get on." Carol reached out and shook my hand.

I followed Jan for what seemed like miles before she pointed me toward a tunnel. "Get on that plane and don't get off until the pilot tells you you're in Atlanta."

That suitcase of mine was about to stretch my arm off. "I will, thanks for showing me the way."

She was gone.