A Red Leaf & Ten Orchids Ch. 02

**Well, ya know, I suppose that it is just possible for two people to bump into each other, heave a couple of deep sighs between them, and fall in love.

I don't know about you, but it's sure as hell never happened to me. So if we take my version of reality as the valid one, I offer a look into the meeting of two classic "A-type" personalities in a less-than-ideal setting.

~chuckle~ So sit back and watch the fur fly. 0_o

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Jillian had been quiet for the last while. Kayla was concerned. They'd been walking for more than 45 minutes or maybe an hour, and the windmill only looked a little larger than it had from the road. The wind was almost nonexistent, and neither of them had a hat. Jilly had stopped telling her that she was thirsty. Maybe this hadn't been a good idea.

She wondered how she would get Jilly back to the car. That would be a treat. It would be baking hot inside it now, and she didn't know if it would run at all or even start. She thought she heard a car, but wasn't sure.

No, she decided. She was sure she was hearing something, but what? They stopped while she mopped Jillian's forehead, and her own.

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That was how Josh found them as he came trailing a cloud of dust.

The white Expedition roared up over the rise and skidded to a stop. It sat for a second, before the driver's door opened and a man got out and strode rapidly toward them wearing jeans and a faded denim workshirt. He looked to be about 6 feet tall, broad-shouldered and muscular with blonde short-cropped hair on top, and not much visible anywhere else. Kayla was happy to see anybody at this point. She prepared to tell the man that she'd had car trouble, but then paused.

His expression was severe. What was that on his face?

She had a thought that perhaps this might not go as well as she'd hoped. She saw the six-gun strapped to his thigh and wondered about that as well.

"Sign on the fence says 'Keep Out'," he said in a flat tone.

Joshua would have liked to come off sounding a little more friendly, but he'd pretty much hauled ass out here wondering if he could reach them before they found themselves boxed in between a couple of snakes. He couldn't understand how they'd gotten this far. Torn between just getting to them as quickly as he could, worrying over the snakes, the distinct possibility of heat prostration and whether he'd lose any parts of his truck's suspension, since he was beating it up pretty well here hadn't left him much time to think of a better way to start at the moment.

'Hello' might have worked, but he hadn't thought of it.

"We're having car trouble, and I saw the windmill," Kayla said, pointing past the Ford.

Joshua was incredulous. Who the hell would just wander through this place with a kid when there was a road there - with gravel shoulders and everything - that would lead them wherever they were going and offer them the best chance to be seen and maybe ask for help? He couldn't believe it.

"So you walked past the sign and straight on. Why not try the front gate? It's wide open."

"It's too far." Kayla said firmly.

Who is this jerk, she thought. He was starting to piss her off. Who the hell has a tattoo on their face? Jesus, a brown lightning bolt?

He shrugged, "It's only a little farther. The ground's a lot easier to walk on, there are less hills, and there most certainly are a lot less –"

Josh stopped as he noticed that the little girl looked a bit wobbly. She'd probably land on her face in the dust any time now.

He began to step forward toward the girl, and his eye caught the motion of the small bush three feet to her left. He spotted the big rattler under it and remembered that he hadn't taken off the Colt's holster in the rush to get here. He drew the old pistol and cocked the hammer as he brought it up out to the right side.

Kayla's eyes instantly widened. "What are you doing?"

"NO!" she screamed.

Josh swung the pistol out as he stooped down to the little girl. His right knee was down between her and the rattlesnake and he had his left arm under her tiny bottom as he pulled the trigger while picking her up. The Colt bucked in his hand and Jillian jumped at the sound. Josh was already pulling back the hammer again and swinging the pistol out wider as he began to turn away with the girl almost on his shoulder.

This one would have to count. His own body was well within the snake's strike range now and some of them could strike higher than the top of his boot under his pant leg.

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The Western Diamondback had lost most of her rattle the previous spring when it had gotten caught between a rock and a fence wire. She had tried for a day to pull it loose, and finally she'd been rewarded with her freedom. Today she had just watched her brood hatch; all fifteen of her babies were coiled in a ball behind her at the base of her bush when all the commotion began.

First the two large animals with the strange rhythm she felt in the ground, and now another one. This was too much. She would protect her young until nightfall. After that they were on their own, but until then, she would defend them. Her tongue flicked out and in, getting the scent. Her tail quivered silently with excitement against the bush as she turned her head in the direction of the closest of them. The heat sensors in front of her eyes would have helped in the dark, but in daylight, they weren't that useful, especially at this temperature. She coiled back, measuring the distance between them, and then –

The ground shook as a bullet struck a foot away to her left. She recoiled, and struck out tentatively at a new foe there that she couldn't see. This was getting uncomfortable. If she were alone she'd have already withdrawn by now. Finding nothing, she turned her head back quickly to look straight at a hollow piece of metal just as the second bullet struck her a foot behind her head before carrying on through her coiled body twice more, and through three of her young. Her head was sideways as she opened her mouth and flexed out her fangs to bite the air slowly. A drop of venom grew and hung from one fang as her eyes lost focus.

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"JILLY!" Kayla screamed.

Full of adrenaline, Joshua's body was just humming now. It left him no smoothness at all and he heard his own words sounding like someone else's. In spite of it all, he could hear a second rattle. "There's another snake..."

Kayla was nowhere near ready to listen. "Are you insane? Give her to me!"

Jillian wailed softly into Josh's shirt. He turned his head toward hers and said softly, "I'm sorry that I scared you... Are you ok?"

He felt her nod and sniffle before she turned to stare at his face for a moment. It made no sense to Kayla in the middle of this madness, but Jilly made up her own mind right then and put her arms around his neck.

To Kayla he just offered Jillian, "Here, you take her, but don't put her down, alright?" Jillian didn't want to be handed over and fussed a little.

Kayla wanted to kill him. "What the hell is the matter with you?"

Josh stared right at her eyes and said "That was a rattlesnake. There's another one behind you."

"So what if there's a rattlesnake? You could have just told me. What the hell did you have to shoot it for? You scared us both out of our minds," she railed.

As he holstered the pistol, Josh was right back at incredulous. "Well your little girl here was already inside that one's strike range, and your ass is inside the strike range of the one right behind you, except that one's rattle is still working. You'd probably be able to hear it if you'd just shut up for a second."

Kayla inhaled sharply and listened. Sure enough, the buzz was unmistakable.

"Lookit..." said Jillian, pointing to the side. Out from under the body of their mother, a dozen baby rattlesnakes slowly fanned out in an arc. They knew that they were alone now. Kayla turned to stare at them.

Josh spoke evenly, "They hatch ready to go. They've already got developed fangs and working venom glands, and they'll bite just to try them out."

"Come on," he said calmly, "let's get a little space between us and them."

Kayla remembered the snake behind her. Turning, she could see it now. She froze.

Wanting to get her away before this got much worse, he closed the last step between himself and Kayla and took hold of her arm. He pulled her forcefully towards him, and started toward the truck.

"What...Let me GO!"

"In a second," he said, "You didn't look like you were able to tear yourself away, and I'll be damned if I'm going to hang around while you get your ass bitten out of stubbornness." Josh explained pointedly. He could see that she wasn't really listening to him, so he just went on. "Sucking snake venom out of your butt cheek is a pleasant thought, but I'd probably get distracted and swallow."

He noticed by her glare that he'd been wrong.

She was listening to him.

They were beside the Expedition in a few steps. "Get in the passenger side. I'll hand her up to you, or you can both sit together in the back seat, I don't care. Please, let's just go." Josh said.

"Where? Where are you taking us?" Kayla was on the verge of a combination of emotions, and even she didn't know which would surface first.

Josh exhaled the tension out heavily. "To the house, or haven't you had enough of playing hopscotch with these things yet?" He was panting.

"Lady, get in. The truck's cool by now, so she'll be out of the heat." he said, indicating Jillian with his eyes. "I promise you can yell at me in there if you want to."

He got them up and into the back seat. He stopped as he came around the back of the vehicle and drew the Colt to extract the remaining rounds as quickly as he could. He dropped them in his breast pocket.

Though it had worked out, he was annoyed with himself for driving with the loaded pistol in the holster. He didn't like the possibility of blowing off his kneecap, and putting a hole in the engine if they hit a bump the wrong way. He slid the old pistol into its holster and mildly cursed his luck. The woman looked like a walking dream to him, but ...

He sighed to himself. If he'd had a chance to meet somebody like that in a sane place like a club where nobody was distracted by the heat of the sun or a landscape littered with pit vipers, ...

He smirked to himself ruefully. Well then, he thought, he'd have at least a fair shot at watching somebody else likely walk away with her on his arm before old Josh could spit out 'hello'.

It didn't matter, he thought. One look at her face now and he was just happy that she didn't have a weapon. The really odd thing that was driving him a little nuts was that he kind of liked the idea.

Climbing in, he tore through the plastic film on the flat of water bottles on the passenger side floor, and handed them back one each apologizing for the warmth of them. Jillian looked at him, and then at the bottle.

"Oh," Josh said, taking the bottle back and twisting off the sealed cap before handing it to her again. "Are you alright – "

He turned to Kayla. "What's her name?"

"Her name is Jillian." Kayla replied coldly.

"Hi Jillian, my name is Josh." Jillian nodded and took several swallows from her water bottle. Her green eyes remained locked on his face. He winked. Turning to Kayla, he frowned for a second. "You're not going to tell me your name, are you?"

She shrugged, "It doesn't really matter. As soon as I can get my phone out of my pocket, I'll call the sheriff and after that, I'll always be known to you as 'Complaintant,' won't I?"

"Well," he said, "You go on and knock yourself out then. I'll just wait here. You let me know when you're done and we'll drive to the house. With any luck, the sheriff will meet us soon after we get there. I think I'd like that very much."

"Why?" she demanded.

He laughed for a second. "I haven't done anything wrong but try to save your backside. I'm kind of hoping that you'll become their problem. What are you doing here, anyway?"

Kayla glared at him.

"Look," he said, "I came out here because I saw two people wandering around and I was worried, that's all. You don't want to talk to me, that's fine. I didn't know it was the snakes out here who are in danger. You go on and make your call. I'll even meet the deputy's car at the end of the driveway."

He looked at her for a moment. Kayla looked back.

"Well? Why aren't you dialing?"

"I don't know the number of the Sheriff's office here," she answered.

He rolled his eyes, "9-1-1."

They looked at each other some more. Kayla took a drink from her water bottle.

"You don't have a cellphone, do you?" he asked.

"I must have left it in my car," she shrugged, deciding to play nice for the moment. She hoped that he wouldn't force this by letting her use his. She'd had to cancel her phone last month.

"My folks used to bring my sister and I out here to visit with my aunt and uncle when we were kids. I haven't been here for years, well I was back last year for a couple of days, but –"

She looked at him, "What are you doing driving around with a loaded gun?"

"I was shooting tin cans when I spotted you guys out here. I didn't think to leave it behind." Josh said.

"Why were you shooting tin cans?" Kayla asked.

He wondered how to explain it. "Because there are entirely too many of them wandering around loose. Somebody's got to do it. Besides, I enjoy the frustration when I miss. Same reason I bang my head against a brick wall sometimes, it feels so good when I stop." Josh explained, "Besides, it worked out ok for you."

"I think you're nuts." Kayla decided. "You're pretty reckless and irresponsible doing that."

He managed not to look too astounded. "You know, I was just thinking the very same thing, seeing as how you thought it would be fine to trespass on signed land, and drag a little kid across a 2 mile snake-filled frying pan on a sunny summer afternoon. You didn't remember about the rattlesnakes and wandering around out here?"

"My uncle wouldn't let us go walking off alone, I remember – why are there so many?" Kayla asked.

"There isn't one under every bush or anything," Josh said, "but there are more this year for some reason. I guess there's more of whatever they like to eat."

"I am going to call the sheriff, you know." she stated.

"That's fine with me." Josh said flatly. He grabbed a water bottle for himself, and wiped the sweat from his forehead with an equally sweaty forearm.

"Where's the label?" Josh asked as he looked out over the hood.

"What did you say?" Kayla's eyebrows almost met over her eyes.

Josh turned toward her again. "I said, where's the damn label? The one that's supposed to be on your forehead that says 'Does not play well with others'."

Kayla wasn't going to let that one by without a response. She was about to fire off a broadside of her own when Josh glanced past her in the mirror and forcefully said, "Down."

There was a muffled thump behind them. Jillian put down her empty water bottle, folded her legs and turned around on her knees, climbing up to peer into the dim tinted cavern at the back of the vehicle.

"What?" Kayla demanded.

He smirked at that.

"I wasn't speaking to you, though who knows, it might work. I said,... Down."

Another thump. Jillian began to giggle.

"Alright. Who WERE you speaking to then?" Kayla sighed as though she were playing a game with a very young child. Jillian kept giggling.

"Behind you." Josh said quietly. Kayla turned around slowly. For the first time, she noticed the heavy wire mesh behind the rear seats.

Josh grinned, "Ok then...Up. The lady wants to meet you."

There was a shifting of weight behind her, and then Kayla heard breathing that sounded like a bellows. Slowly, a massive dark head came into view. Jillian squealed and laughed, her little fingers were holding on to the mesh. The brown head had a stubby snout in a mostly black face. There were large brown eyes that looked into Kayla's own.

"AAHH! What the hell is that?"

Jillian was still laughing and wiggling her fingers through the screen. The eyes considered the little fingers for a moment and a large pink tongue began to lick them. Jillian shrieked with joy. "It tickles!"

"Not what," Josh corrected, "That's my friend, Daisy." Josh put the Ford into gear and drove very slowly in the direction of the house.

"My aunt mentioned that she had a puppy named Daisy, but she said that her Daisy was such a delicate little thing." Kayla said.

"Well, Daisy is only 10 months old, and she WAS a delicate little thing once... for about 90 minutes." Josh smiled, "Must be a coincidence. Where does your aunt live?"

"Somewhere close, I think. I was sure that was her windmill that I saw." Kayla said as she watched Jillian talking to Daisy and laughing as Daisy dropped back into a crouch and then jumped up again playfully. "She won't hurt Jilly, will she?"

Josh smiled. "Well technically she could hurt her. I think I just have to make sure that Daisy doesn't sit on her, and everything ought to work out. Besides, she's already tasted Jillian and figured out that she's not food."

Kayla wasn't so certain of that.

"What is Daisy, anyway?" Kayla asked, "I mean what breed is she?"

"Well, she's half St. Bernard. I know that because I found her mother's body last week, months after Daisy showed up on the porch. She'd been dead for too long to figure out the cause of death, or if there had been any other puppies." Josh said.

"And..." Kayla waited.

Josh looked over. "And what?"

"What was her father?" Kayla persisted.

Josh looked serious. "Oh, I don't know... a buffalo, maybe. Look at her."

Kayla laughed, and they drove on quietly for a bit.

"Look, I'm sorry for freaking out back there," Kayla began. "I'm supposed to be visiting my aunt, and so far things haven't gone well. My car overheated and...well, I wasn't expecting someone like you."

Josh smirked to himself. He wondered if there had ever been one time when he was what someone had expected. He almost laughed for a second. "I'd almost like to hear you try to explain that."

"Come on," she said, "I'm not having a really good day here. My car's fried. I thought that the windmill was closer than it obviously is. Then you show up, and you weren't exactly friendly-looking. You pick up my niece and start shooting that thing off. Just exactly how am I supposed to react in your little world?"

He shook his head. "Alright, forget it. I'm sorry that I acted like such an asshole. I'm just glad that I saw you walking out here. Let's just get to the house and figure out where you're headed, and I'll do what I can to help you on your way, ok?"

"Thank you." Kayla tried to smile a little. She looked at Joshua and as upset as she'd been, she still found a way to manage a thought that maybe Aunt Rose might know who this neighbor was and that with a bit of luck, she could maybe talk to him without snakes or six-guns. Her next thought was a little hope that he didn't live too far away. Before she could wonder where that thought had even come from, it was replaced by another one where she thought that he might not clean up too badly.

She wanted to, but Kayla managed not to shake her head as she dumped the thoughts and wondered what was wrong with her. She was still pissed off at just his Wild West entrance - never mind everything else. She decided to at least try not to be murderous.

"Not many snake charmers pack a cannon... you're pretty good at that..."

"I usually suck at it, but not at that distance. I didn't want to shoot her; I was kind of hoping that she would leave if I put a shot into the dirt close by. Looks like her babies had just hatched. That's why she didn't back down. They're not protective for very long, but I guess we caught her at a bad time. I was just praying I'd hit the thing when she turned back. I was afraid she might. I grabbed Jillian to get her out of there and turned away as I fired. I just had to be ready for the snake to turn back. They can get aggressive if they can't get away."