This story is a sequel to "Hala's Snow Day". There are 8 additional chapters planned to this story.

Hala patiently sat on the wooden steps waiting for the movers to load the last boxes. It was scarcely noon and she was tired. It was mid-July and would be quite hot in another hour or so. Last summer, she’d be wearing shorts and a skinny tank top when she got warm but now that she was married, she did her best to listen to the admonitions of Gran and Sirah. They’d both want her wearing more than she was but Hala decided that Boot cut Jeans, and a long sleeved blouse was proper enough. The Hijab wasn’t much to get used to once gran had shown her how to wind it around her head the easy way, but today it was draped easily around her neck.

She was musing about how much her life had changed in such a short time, less than two years and she had gone from independent, high powered executive woman to a ranch wife. How did she go from seeing men as toys, to a woman who wanted to spend her life with a man that she wanted to please, and to be pleased by? How did she get to the place that she was willing to give up her brash lifestyle to become a proper wife?

Frank had told her not to take the the Muslim relatives too seriously; that after all this was America, and even if she were going to convert to Islam, he was the boss and the other women could not order her around. She didn't know how to tell him, but she suspected that she HAD converted, at least in her heart, and many other ways.

Frank still seemed somewhat bemused by all his “new” Middle Eastern Muslim family, or at least the family that he did not know existed before. He was born in America; to parents who had seen the damage that the old hatreds could do, and that gave him plausible deniability in terms of his religious practices, such as they were.

So, after long talks stretching late into many nights with Hala lying on his chest, the two decided that they could be Muslims but not do the fundamentalist practices that seemed to have hurt so many; robbing the women of their rights as human beings, and burdening the men unreasonably. They decided that much of this was up to Frank to decide and he'd lived too many years on the range after he served in the military during the wars to engage in practices that he felt were silly. He could tell that this did not please some of his relatives. He'd deal with that as it came.

At first the Hijab had felt strange but she actually got used to it fairly soon. Being blonde and very fair, her Doctor had warned her for years to minimize her Sun exposure and he became quite emphatic about it now that she would be living at altitude for much of the year. Hala hadn't noticed it before but lots of the farm women wore a scarf under their hats when out just to keep the dust out.

"Mrs. Johnson, the truck is loaded, would you like to lock up for us?"

The man's voice startled Hala at first but she quickly recovered. "Yes, Jose, I'll lock up and be right behind you."

"Mrs. Johnson, Mr. Johnson gave us strict instructions that we are to follow you and watch over you."

Hala sighed. She knew better than to argue with Jose because it would get back to Frank and then they would have one of those talks. She knew full well that Frank loved her and was just making sure she was safe but it was a little smothering at times. She'd driven all over this country alone and having a protective husband made her feel strange. However, she did love the idea that he cared enough about her to be that way; making her feel secure in a way she had not experienced since she was a little girl living with her parents.

She quickly finished locking up and led the way out of the drive onto the road. The trip would take about 4 hours, or more with the truck and she just loved the transition from sage brush of Boise to forested hills and then to Alpine Grassland as she drove over the pass and dropped down to tiny Halfway. They passed the single store and a few churches before they headed back out into the country, arriving at the ranch in 20 minutes after leaving Halfway.

Gran was sitting on the porch waiting as Hala led the truck into the drive and up to the cabin. Hala laughed to herself every time she thought of it as a cabin because it was just so much larger than the place she called a home before.

Judging from the time, she knew that Gran had probably just finished Asr Prayer. Hala was still debating how observant of Islam she would be. Still, at times as she thought about the many blessings in her life she was moved to feel extremely thankful and often thanked Allah SWT in her heart.

Just as she got out of her car, she saw Frank walking up the hill from one of the barns. She just could not help herself; running to meet him while her heart beat a tattoo beneath her breasts. Jumping into the air, she knew full well that he would catch her.

"Whoa, missy, you seem happy to see Me.!"

"Oh, I am so happy husband mine." Hala grasped his neck as hard as she could and kissed him deeply. "I missed you so much; couldn't wait to get back!"

"Sweetheart, I was just down checking on a sick calf in the barn. The little fella had an abscessed umbilical hernia."

"Oh dear, that sounds awful. Will he be OK?"

"Sure, we cut it open and irrigated it. George is just keeping him in the barn for a few days so that it doesn't take so much time to tend to his wound."

"Can we go see the baby?"

"Sure honey, but he is no baby. He's going to be a year old soon."

As they made the short walk down the hill, Hala just could not get enough of her new husband. Gran smiled as she watched them walk away. Hala was a good girl and she would be a very good wife to the tall, handsome cattleman. She felt sorrow that the child would never have children, but then she thought, "Allah SWT knows her sorrows". The child was doing a better job at accepting than either she or her parents had at first. Sadly, Gran thought about Hala’s Uncle who insisted that such a child should be put to death at birth; buried alive. Eventually he caused such bad feelings that he went back to Iran, but not before he vowed to do the will of Allah SWT in regards to Hala. He had not been seen since.

She remembered the bitter battle that the surgeon had with Hala’s parents. He wanted to take her female organs out and try to make something of the mess that was left. Years later, another Doctor told Hala that she had Clitoromegaly, and she was complete physically, but her ovaries were not functional. In the old days, such issues were seen as a curse from the shaitun, but Hala’s parents, both educated knew that she would grow into a lovely girl.

"Oh, Frank, he is just so cute!" In her excitement, Hala made to climb over the fence to pet him. Frank caught her on top of the fence; "Careful now girly, he ain't one of yer house kitties. This guy can knock you down or worse.

She ignored Frank's admonishment and sprang into the pen. In fascination, she crept over to the calf to pet him. Frank had apparently decided to let her take the risk; teach her to listen.

"How are you doing little fella?" She asked. "Oh, Frank he's sucking my fingers!" Hala had no idea whatsoever that when he did not get milk from her fingers, he was likely to bite down a little.

"Owie", she squealed in pain. The Calf, not getting what it wanted energetically butted her on the side, knocking her back.

The look on Hala's face was priceless, and Frank began to laugh. She'd backed up within reach and Frank picked her up just in time to avoid another youthful onslaught from the hungry Calf.

He put her down on the correct side of the fence, and she turned to him; molding herself to his side. "He's so cute, but he almost beat me up!" Hala tried not to show it but he could see her lower lip quivering, and her eyes were briming.

"It'll be OK, little woman".

Later that night, as they lay in bed in post coital bliss, "I should have listened to you".

"Ah, you're none the worse fer wear".

"Thank you".

"Gotta protect my property". He'd expected to wind her up, but she just snuggled on his shoulder. In the coming years, he’d learn to read his wife’s non-verbal communication, at least somewhat, as well as men can do. "Yes, you better". A tremor went through her body from head to toe; revealing Hala’s feelings so well. Frank would come to know that movement as total commitment on her part.

The next morning, Hala rose with Frank, and as they had breakfast Hala had questions about taking a role at the ranch. She tried to help Rose in the kitchen but was quickly run out of there by the beloved Hispanic woman who had cooked for many years there. After a morning of heated dispute with both Rose and Frank, Hala went back to her bedroom in retreat. Hala had thought to be the wife that took care of Frank, but Rose made her feel like an interloper.

Frank was off on Ranch business, so Hala decided to go into town to do some shopping for a distraction. There isn’t much in Halfway, one store that is combination grocery, feed store, and hardware store. The drive was short and in the noonday Sun it began to relax her. The surrounding hills have snow in the winter and the trees on them were beautiful. She had seen the forest covered mountains with snow on top on the way in. It was altogether quite scenic, and Hala knew that she would love being there.

Hala expected calls from her partner, and had decided to step away from the Architectural business and let Alice run it, eventually completely with Hala taking a percentage of the Profits. Alice did not have the money for an outright buy out, so the arrangement suited them both.

The little store was great and she browsed through the hardware, and saddle tack sections before moving on to see if there was Tahini sauce. A while later she left there with no Tahini, but had new Jeans and cowboy Boots instead. The drive home was leisurely and coming around a bend a horse sized animal and her calf were standing in the road. Frank had told her about Elk but she had no idea that she would see one so soon and that they would be so large. The Cow Elk stood there looking at her for a moment and then moved off the road with her Calf.

Frank wasn’t around when she got home so she sauntered into the house to drop off her purchases in the bedroom. The Jeans were a little loose, so she moved out to the laundry to wash them, hoping they would shrink just a little.

On the way down the hall toward her bedroom, Rose called out to her. Hala’s pulse quickened but she went to seek Rose out. “Mrs. Johnson, I wish to apologize to you for being disrespectful. I will leave now so that you can get on with your life with Mr. Johnson.”

“Oh no, Rose, please do not leave! I didn’t come out here to cause you pain and to take your job. Is there not a way that we can learn to work together?” The two women talked all morning, moving into the kitchen to make coffee as they did. They finally agreed to get to know each other and try to work things out. Hala confessed that she had not cooked much since she was a child and that her American, semi Middle Eastern cooking was very different from the cooking Rose did in Honduras before she came to America.

The next morning at breakfast Hala and Rose started learning to work together and would eventually do so very well. Gran even got into the act, teaching them both some Middle Eastern cooking like Kabsah and Swarma.

Frank taught Hala to ride and in several weeks she felt quite sure of herself, falling into the habit of riding for an hour after breakfast dishes were done and the house tidied. Rather than trying to completely change Rose, Hala simply became an easy help mate; knowing that if she ever had children at the ranch, she would need the help and Rose was easy enough to get along with. It didn't take long to see that Rose and Jose had a thing going, but they were not married.

Hala’s talk with her mother, back in the Mid-West was unsettling, and joyful at the same time. So now Hala had things to consider that she’d never thought of. It seemed as though the Gynecological work a colleague was doing showed promise for women with various reproductive issues and the news gave Hala a lot to think about. It seemed that her mother’s colleague felt he could grow a complete set of female, or male sexual organs. Her not having ovaries made being a mother impossible unless they adopted, and she already knew that Frank was open to the idea of adoption.

Hala’s ride this morning took her up into rocky, sparsely treed mountains and on the way home she got turned around. After feeling increasingly lost, she just gave the horse his head, hoping that it would be as Frank said, that the horse, knowing where the grain bucket was would bring her home. She came out in a huge meadow that she knew laid up the hill in back of the ranch, and as she rode down in the direction of the cabin, she rounded a bend; surprising a man that was looking at the cabin with binoculars. The noise from her horse alerted him to her presence and as soon as he saw her and the horse, the man dodged into his car and sped off. What was he doing? His skin was brown and she knew that he’d never been around before. The rest of her ride home was uneventful and she forgot about it until dinner that night.

Gran, Frank and many of the rest of the ranch hands were there because Frank used that time to share information back and forth. It was amazing what Gran picked up from her rocker on the porch.

“Oh, I was riding up in back of the ranch this morning and got a little lost, so came back the horse’s way. As we rode out into that big meadow up there, we surprised a man with binoculars looking down toward the ranch. When he saw me, he left in a giant hurry too!”

Frank and Jose were very interested and much to Hala’s surprise, Gran said that she had seen a car up there a few times recently. When Hala mentioned that he was very dark, Gran, gasped and said, “Faraz!” but said nothing more. The meal was nearly finished, so Hala and Rose began to clear up. On one of her trips, she heard Frank giving Jose stern instructions and he said, “Yes, Mr. Johnson”.

“Mrs. Johnson is more important than the stock”, Frank said emphatically.

Hala came out of the kitchen to see why her name was mentioned, and met Frank. Jose and the rest of the hands there had left. “Hala, I know it would do no good to stop you from riding, so I want you to only go out with one of the hands with you until we figure out who that man was”. Hala looked up into Frank’s face and the stern look of it told her that there would be no discussion of this subject. “Yes darling”.

“I mean it Hala, no fooling around.”

“Yes, sir”. He’d been so emphatic that it was irritating and she just could not resist a little rebellion. “Or should I say, yes my Master”. Instead of the firm commanding look she expected, Hala was surprised to see a pleading look on his face that took all her anger and rebellion away.

On her rides, accompanied by Jose or one of the hands, they did not encounter the stranger again and that bothered Hala. What was he up to? It was getting on to mid-August and the meadows and woods were getting very dry. That day as she rode, the hand with her stayed back and just followed her, not making conversation like most of the other hands. And, Hala didn’t feel like he was much of a guard.

One night she had wakened after midnight to sounds of Gran talking to someone on the phone and she was not being subtle. She was speaking Farsi, a language that she recognized but could no longer speak with any facility. The last thing that Gran said, “So Faroz is in America” was the best that Hala could translate. Frank slept through it and the next morning Gran slept late, and Frank had left early to tend to a problem down towards the Snake River.

On her ride that morning, Hala kept checking behind her because this silent range hand was falling further behind. At the crest of a small rise, she thought that she could see the same or a similar car, in the distance, parked on a side road, and then the hand suddenly rode out of a thicket near it. That made Hala very suspicious. She would talk to frank about it at dinner. Now that ranch hand who had been staying away from her was suddenly riding right up to her very fast with a lasso out. Hala didn’t understand but she suddenly knew that she was the focus of that stranger’s attention and perhaps the ranch hand was helping him.

Her horse got nervous at the rapid approach of the hand, so on intuition, Hala turned the horse and started for the ranch as fast as the horse wanted to go! She’d never ridden this fast but she knew that she knew she needed to hang on for sure. They dropped into a little gully with a small creek running through it, and her horse jumped it, nearly throwing Hala. In back of her, she heard a splash and then swearing. She couldn’t look back for fear of falling off but it sounded like her follower had fallen off his horse and into the creek. She tried to slow her mount down a little but he was heading for the barn and he knew it.

As she crossed the pasture leading up to the Barn, she could see that car coming up the drive. Hala dove off the horse, and ran for the house, running into Rose at the door, but she did not see Gran. “Where is Gran?”

“She’s out in the Barn looking at a new calf”, Rose said. Hala didn’t think to tell rose that a man was chasing her because she was more worried about Gran. She was half way across the barn yard when the car got there and the stranger sprang out to chase Hala. Running into the barn, Hala yelled for Gran. The old woman was leaning across the fence of a stall watching the new calf. Just at that moment the man caught Hala.

“I have you spawn of the shaitun”, he shouted.

“Faraz, you leave her alone, she is no such thing”.

Faraz took out a huge knife and Hala managed to wrest herself free of the mad man. She ran over to Gran, who by now had a pitch fork in her hands. “Gran, give me that pitch fork”.

“Get your own weapon child, Faraz and I have business to attend to”, Eighty-year-old Gran brandishing the pitchfork like a warrior.

All Hala could find was a long handled scythe, so she started swinging it like a kitchen mop. Hala, being no fighter at all was no match for Faraz. He quickly moved around Gran’s pitchfork and knocked her to the ground. As she lay there dazed, he said to the old woman in Farsi, “Stay where you are old woman, or I will cut your throat too”. He grabbed Hala’s Scythe and jerked it from her hands. “Now I will send you to hell spawn of shaitun”.

Faraz was about to murder Hala, when a rifle shot rang out, striking Faraz in the shoulder. Rose was advancing across the barnyard. The rifle had jammed and she almost had it cleared when Faraz ran out, got in his car and sped off.

Rose ran first to Gran to get her up and then to Hala, who by now was sobbing and out of control. “Hold her Gran, I have to call Frank and the others”. Rose ran to the house, and as soon as she left the ranch hand that had been trying to help Faraz kidnap Hala ran in the door with a haunted look on his face. “The man said he only wanted to talk to you Hala, not to kill you”. I am sorry.

Gran looked at him with fire in her eyes. “You better be gone before Frank gets back”. He got on his horse and rode off into the woods, his only hope would be to drop into Snake River country, hopefully fording it, or finding one of the bridges at Brownlee or Oxbow, and get lost in Idaho somewhere. In this country, the River was fast and turbulent, so it was anyone’s guess as to his chances of surviving if he did not find a bridge.

About an hour later, a Truck could be heard careening up the gravel road to the ranch. The truck hadn’t even stopped when Frank was out of it and then came running into the barn. Gran and Hala were both sat in the straw next to the hay pile. Gran looked grim and angry, while Hala’s eyes were red and swollen. Hala was still not very composed and looked really fragile. Frank looked worn and angry.

He quickly stooped down and picked up Hala, and then Rose and he helped Gran to her feet also. One look at Frank and Hala sank into his chest. “I am so sorry darling, and I promise that I will do whatever you want me to do without argument in the future.”

“This was not your fault child. We all thought that Faraz would not return to cause trouble”, Gran said.

Rose looked at everyone and said, “Let’s all go into the house and decide what to do.”

Just about the time that they were ascending the steps to the house, two Police cars came rocketing up the road with lights going but no sirens. Within minutes a STOL cub and two small Helicopters were sitting in the pasture. Rose, Hala and Gran were in the kitchen making coffee and sandwiches while the men sat round the table discussing plans.

They asked a now much more composed Hala to explain what happened, then Rose related how she had not liked that ranch hand from the beginning. Later Gran explained just to the Police, that Hala had been born with some irregularities in her sexual organs and while they did what they could, Hala could not bear children. Faraz was never OK with that and had wanted Hala buried alive. In the ensuing conflict, Faraz was thrown out of the house, and eventually returned to Iran, and everyone thought that he would stay there.

Hala’s parents raised her in the normal way for a female, but she knew that she would not have children. So, this call from her mother about the possibility of organ implants for her was exciting.

Thoroughly briefed, the police, ranch hands and several volunteers set out to search for Faraz, and the ranch hand if they could find him. There were several hours before darkness, so there was a fair chance of finding the wounded criminal. As it happened, the ranch hand’s horse had been struck by a car while crossing the road, killing the horse and seriously injuring the man. When the ambulance got there, police were immediately called, and they found out that the original intent according to Faraz was to simply talk to Hala. Faraz was camped North of Halfway in a county campground, and when the police got there, Faraz was near death, dying on the way to the Hospital in Boise.

John, the injured hand, lived and got well, serving prison for several years as an accessory to kidnapping, with extenuating circumstances.

By the time everything was settled down, it was mid-October, so Hala and Frank could make a visit to Milwaukee, Wisconsin to consult with her mother and other Doctors. After several days of consultation, they took some tissue from Hala to begin growing the organs that Hala was missing. In mid-December, in the middle of a snow storm, the couple got into a taxi at the airport to go to the Hospital to have what the Doctors said would be a small surgical procedure.

Gran lived to see three of Hala’s children born, among them Dan. Rose and Jose were married.

This concludes the story of Frank and Hala. Next we move into 4 or more chapters of " The Sheik's Daughter", approximately 40 years after this tale ended.

By now, Dan and his two brothers and triplet sisters are grown, and Dan has been in several Middle Eastern wars.