Everything that Glitters Ch. 02

It got cold that night, and when they started the wood stove and fireplace, they learned why there was a huge stack of firewood on the porch of each cabin: soft Colorado wood burns fast and doesn't put out heat like the oak and mesquite they were used to. It took a few trips into the 40-degree night to teach them to bring in a lot of wood so you wouldn't have to go back out very often.

They hiked to Adams Falls the next morning after breakfast, and then decided to take a busman's holiday by riding horses on some of the RMNP trails leading deeper into the park. The kids had a ball going up, but needed a nap on blankets in a nice meadow they found about five miles into the park. A second picnic basket brought them around, and they made it back to the stables just before dark.

***

Rodeos in Castle Rock, Colorado and Dodge City, Kansas took up the rest of the week and weekend, and, after securing more money and buckles at each site, they turned the big rigs south from Dodge City and headed for the Texas Hill Country. It was a nine-hour drive and it was late when they started, so they pulled off at a truck stop near Childress and slept until dawn. Four hours later, they were back at the ranches.

The horses were unloaded and properly cared for first, and they barely got everything from the trailer in the house before the phone rang. It was Gram Collins, with an invitation to lunch at her house with Grandmomma and Grampa Rhys, and the Simpsons. Casey was excited about seeing her grandparents, and said she couldn't wait to tell them all about being with her mommy!

The meal was so delicious everyone had second helpings, and then they gorged on the desserts. Casey and the Simpson girls spent thirty minutes talking about Casey's mommy and how pretty and nice she really is. Carole added a few stories for Elle exemplifying things Cassie had done with Casey and the other kids, meant to show how she had reverted to the person they all loved before she left with her dad.

Zane's mom had been watching him as the stories were told, and saw his reserve. "Zane, do you have anything to add?" she asked.

"Not really; they covered it pretty well. I was surprised by how religious she's become, but we're all busy, so my interactions with her were generally pretty superficial."

He looked at his daughter and smiled, "She does love Casey, though; there is no doubt about that! It makes my heart happy to just watch them together."

"Is she coming to see me -- us -- anytime soon?" Elle asked.

"She said she had a couple of sponsor commitments in Idaho, and then she would head for Texas. We should hear from her soon, unless she changed her mind."

With impeccable timing, his phone dinged with a text. "Still okay if I come see Casey and Goldie's baby sister? If so, I'll call mom and see if she will let me stay with her. Cassie"

"Sure," he replied, before grinning at Elle, whose landline rang almost immediately.

"Hello?" Elle asked hesitantly. "Momma, it's Cassandra. I would like to come back to Texas for a while, and stay with you, if you will have me. I know you're mad at me, but..."

"Baby, I WAS mad at you; very mad at you! But we're all here eating lunch, like we always do when the travelers return, and I'm hearing very nice things about you! Anyway, YES, you are more than welcome to come down and stay with me; in fact, that would make my year!"

"Thank you, Momma. So Zane and everyone are there?"

"Yes, Baby, enjoying Sue's delicious peach cobbler topped with David's homemade ice cream. Would you like to talk to Zane?"

"Yes, Momma, and when I come home will you and the Rhys make me a meal like that? It makes my stomach growl just to hear about it!"

"We will, Cassie, I promise! Right Sue, David: we'll make Cassandra a welcome home meal when she gets here?"

"Oh, we'll kill the fatted calf when Cassie shows up!" David replied, while Sue yelled, "Of course!" and Carole exclaimed "And I'll help!"

Everyone could hear her choke off a sob, wait a moment, and ask, "Can I talk to Casey for just a moment, if she's awake?"

Casey was so awake she was hopping up and down to get to talk to her mommy, and they talked for much more than 'just a moment'. Cassie asked what they had been doing and got the full travelogue about Estes Park, the huuugggeee Elk, the trail to the top of the world, Grand Lake and the falls and their horseback trip and how cold it was and how firewood burned like matches in Colorado! It wasn't in one breath, but Cassie never got a word in until after they had arrived at the rodeo in Dodge City, where Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson arrested bad men!

"My goodness: that was quite a vacation, Casey! It sounds like you had a lot of fun and saw some historic and entertaining things too!"

The grandparents around the table were choking back tears of their own as they overheard the wayward mother and her daughter interact. Zane, Brad, and Carole, however, were just smiling in a knowing manner; this was just more of what they had seen and heard the last week at Cheyenne. It made them feel good, but it wasn't surprising anymore.

When Casey finally ran down, she told Mommy goodbye, that she loved her, and to hurry home, then handed the phone to Daddy and said, "Mommy wants to talk to you now, Daddy."

Zane took the cordless from her and said, "Well, I guess that will teach you not to ask what she's been doing, won't it!"

Cassie's lilting laugh could be heard by everyone at the table, as could her loud response, "You can't even imagine how much I enjoyed that, Zane! Listening to her makes my heart tumble in my chest!"

"Oh, we enjoyed it on this end too. She's a happy and enthusiastic little girl again, and I attribute that to you. Now, what did you want to talk about?"

From ecstatic to choked up in five seconds, she said, "Zane, I'm so... No, I'm not going to go there! Just let me say that no one has ever been made happier by their child than she makes me... and then ask if it's all right if I come home... to stay with Mom, of course."

"That's kind of a silly question, don't you think? Did someone tell you I wouldn't want you to come back to the ranch to be with your mother, see your daughter every day, and check out Goldie Junior? 'Cause I'm pretty sure it wasn't me."

"No, it wasn't you or anyone else; just my insecurity. I'm leaving tonight from Caldwell. Lindsey has a driver bringing her rig home right now, so she's riding with me to Albuquerque. It's about 1600 miles, but we will split driving time to New Mexico, so I should be there day after tomorrow. I'll call you when we leave tonight... if you want me to."

"You do that, and keep us updated on your progress each day. There are two ladies here who are going to be nervous as long-tailed cats in a room full of rocking chairs until you pull in. When do you expect to get away tonight?"

"I have a couple of commitments early, so it will be right after my run. Maybe 9:30-10, okay?"

"Sure, I'll be expecting your call. Take care, and drive safely."

***

Ten o'clock came and went; at 10:30, he started calling her cell, but got no answer. He kept trying without success, until he remembered he had Lindsey's number too. He called and she answered on the first ring. "Zane! Have you heard from Cassie? We have everything packed up and ready, and I'm sitting in her pickup waiting, but she still hasn't shown up!"

"No, I'm calling you because she said she'd call by ten, but she isn't answering her phone. Maybe you should backtrack and see if she got held up."

"Stay on the line with me; I'm a little bit scared because it is so dark out here and I don't know what happened to her!"

"I will, but let's not get too worried; maybe one of her sponsors needed something."

"Zane, they just turned off the arena lights!"

"I'll bet she keeps her Maglite in the console; check that, and see if her pistol is in the compartment under that."

"I found the flashlight; I have a .38 special in my purse, so I'll take it. I'm going to talk to you as I walk, just in case."

Lindsey made it about half way before she came upon a cell phone lying in the dirt. "Oh, no Zane! This is Cassie's cell; it has Casey's picture showing!"

"Look around; do you see anything like a security camera or anyone who might have seen something?"

"There's a trailer I don't recognize; should I go knock on the door and ask?"

"Yes, and put your phone on speaker."

Lindsey knocked on the door of the trailer and a woman opened it after a moment. "May I help you?"

"Yes, mam, did you see or hear anything unusual in the past hour? My friend is missing."

A man came to the door; Lindsey thought he might be one of the pickup men with the rodeo production company. "As a matter of fact, we did. A woman was walking east right over there when a dark SUV, like a real fancy Suburban, stopped and two big men jumped out. They grabbed the woman and threw her in the car; she was yelling and screaming at first, but then she got quiet.

An older man stepped out and told us not to worry, because he was her father. She had a bad drug problem, he said, and they were 'staging an intervention', he said. They were gonna take her to a rehab center and get her straightened out."

Zane spoke up on speaker, "So what did the cops say when you told them this story?"

"Oh, we didn't call the cops; this was a family matter! That girl has been in trouble before!" said the woman.

"You idiots! So if I see your husband being kidnapped, and the kidnappers tell me he is on drugs and needs help, you think I should just let them take him?"

"But this girl, she's been in trouble lots of times, her daddy said..."

"Lady, you're going to leave the door open and use the phone to call 9-1-1 to report a kidnapping. Then you two dumbasses are going to sit down and try to remember everything you can about Cassie's kidnappers. The make and color of the SUV, exactly what the men looked like, and exactly what the man who claimed to be her daddy said.

"Meanwhile, I'll be heading your way, and if I find out you left any details out, you'll get a good dose of 'rehab' yourselves! Am I clear? CALL THE FUCKIN COPS, NOW!"

"Lindsey, stay with them and learn everything you can. If you have a picture of Asshole Collins, dig it out and give it to the cops. I'll call back in an hour."

"Okay, Zane, but text me if anything happens I need to know about!"

"Cal, this is Zane; I need your help!"

The final chapter will be posted as soon as this one is published.