Travis's Tale Ch. 01

"Don't eat it all before I get back, I didn't have enough hands to carry the coffee." I kidded, turning to go get the coffee and mugs for the three of us. When I got back they had managed to fill three plates, dividing the food between each of us and sat expectantly, waiting for me to return before they started.

"You could've started without me." I said as I set the coffee onto the table beside the platter.

"I know, but it's not polite." Alex answered. That surprised me a bit, but I let it go. She was surprising me more and more these days and I liked it. I poured coffee and we all sat, starting to eat.

"These are really good Travis. Did Carmelita teach you how to make them?" Alex asked with a mouthful of eggs.

"Not exactly, but I did watch her a few times so I figured it wasn't that hard for me to pick it up." I answered, my own mouth just as full.

"Having a man who knows how to cook is a good thing." Courtney said, I could see her give Alex a gentle elbow to the side.

"As long as he knows how to clean up too." My sister said, the two of them were having fun at my expense but I didn't really mind.

We finished the food and had been drinking coffee for several minutes, the conversation between us light and not talking about anything serious at all. It would be another hot Texas day and I planned to spend most of it in the air conditioned house. Sometimes I wondered why these women would sit outside and sweat for hours when the house was mere feet away where they could be cool and comfortable.

I heard a familiar crack and the coffee pot shattered, the still warm liquid running off the table onto the ground. It was the same sound Alex and I had heard two nights earlier, someone with a rifle was shooting at us. Before I could say anything to the women, Courtney pulled Alex's pistol from the holster that had been hanging on the back of her chair and fired four quick shots toward several trees that were about 200 yards behind us. Her action surprised me, I didn't have any idea she had ever used a gun before but she certainly seemed proficient right here and now.

"We've got to get into the house!" I announced, I think the three of us all new that.

"You two go ahead, I'll cover you and then I'll come once you're inside.

"I can't let you do that Courtney, give me the gun and you two go." I insisted but she wouldn't let me.

"Go on, the longer you stay out here the more chance he's going to have." Her words were punctuated by another shot, this one sailing close enough to my ear I could hear the air whistling as it passed.

"Come on Alex, stay low and go for the door." I said, almost pushing her off the chair in front of me and toward the house. She did as I instructed, dropping low and zigzagging back and forth to make herself less of a target. I followed just as she did, not wanting anyone to be able to zero in on me easily. Once through the door I bolted for my room, I had left my pistol there not thinking there would be any danger here on the ranch. I could hear several more shots outside as I found the gun, it was ready to go and I needed to cover Courtney before she could make it into the house. I went to the back door and looked out, she was on her knees behind one of the chairs which didn't offer a lot of protection, but I guessed it was better than nothing. I stepped outside the door and although I couldn't see anything I aimed at those trees where Courtney had been firing, putting six quick shots into the trees near where I thought someone might be hiding. Courtney heard the shots and saw me standing there, she turned and ran toward me. As she was about half way to the house I saw a black barrel emerge from the trees and then heard Courtney yelp. My first instinct was to help her but before I decided to do that, I knew where the shot had come from and had another six rounds sailing toward the assailant. Accuracy at this distance was questionable, particularly with a pistol, but perhaps a lucky shot... I heard a shout of pain, this time a man's shout but wasn't certain how badly I hit him. I turned my attention to Courtney, she was still running toward me but holding her left arm limply as she got close. I held the door for her and as she came through I pulled it shut behind us, not sure what to expect

"Alex! Get the first aid kit!" I shouted.

Alex was already on her way, I was glad to see she wasn't panicking.

"How bad is it?" I asked Courtney, although I wasn't sure she would be able to tell me.

"He just nicked me." She said, feeling her left shoulder and seeing blood on her right hand.

"Can you take care of her Alex?" I asked, my sister had returned with the supplies.

"I've got it covered." She answered, opening the kit and putting some gauze against Courtney's shoulder to try to stop the blood. I ran to the office, I was really pissed. I don't know why someone was shooting at us but apparently it was more than just robbery this time. I reached the gun safe and it was open in seconds, I took the .308 out and checked the clip, it was full just as I normally kept it. It probably wasn't very smart of me but I went right out the front door without looking, thinking to go round the side of the house and get a better angle on whoever might be shooting at us. I went around the corner of the house and crouched down, I had a different angle toward the trees and looked through the scope. I didn't see anything in the trees but there was movement just beyond, I lifted the scope up a bit higher and I could see two men, one helping the other as they crouched and tried to get away. Any thought of rational action left me, I took aim and fired, the one who had been helping his companion fell to the ground. My intent wasn't to kill, I just wanted to stop them and give the authorities a chance to arrest and interrogate them. He was on the ground but still moving, I wasn't sure how badly he was hit but his friend looked back to where the shot had come from and I saw him reaching for his own rifle. That wasn't going to happen, I had another shell in the chamber before he could even bring his gun to his shoulder and this one went right through the center of his chest. I wasn't fooling around, and anyone who decided he wanted a shot back at me would pay the price. He flew back five or 6 feet before landing on his back and lying still. I was watching through the scope, I could see the other man look at the one I had just shot and then look in my direction. I was pretty certain he couldn't see me but he knew I was watching. I think he was waiting for the next shot to come but it didn't.

I went back into the house to see how Courtney was. Alex had cleaned her wound and just as Courtney had said, the bullet had grazed her shoulder but hadn't done any serious damage. Alex had bandaged her up and she was sitting there starting to feel the burn. I knew it would hurt for a while, probably more so than a couple of Advil could help but that's all we had for now.

"You okay now?" Courtney asked me, she could see that although I had calmed somewhat I was still angry.

"There were two of them, I think one's dead. The other one is still out there so we need to call the sheriff. I'm going to go out and see if I can help him, I know he's bleeding.

"I'll go with you." Courtney said, getting to her feet.

"You're what? You just got shot, you stay here and sit. I'll take that first aid kit with me and see what I can do for him." I said, strapping my pistol around my waist. I wasn't going to take the rifle, a pistol would be more than enough I thought.

"You be careful Travis." Alex said as I was leaving, she didn't need to but I was glad she did. It took about three minutes to make the walk, I wondered what I was going to do when I got there. I could see the two of them lying there, one of them moving occasionally but the other totally still. I didn't need to be next to him to know that he wasn't going to be getting up.

"Who are you?" I asked as I reached the one who was still alive.

He looked at me with fear in his eyes but said nothing. I'm not sure what he was expecting but I didn't think he could miss the first aid kit I was carrying although I think his concentration was on the pistol on my hip. I knelt down beside him to look at his wounds, he had a good sized hole in his right hip. I think he was lucky I came out, probably another five or 10 minutes and he might've bled to death. I took some gauze from the first aid kit and pressed it against the wound, trying to stop the bleeding. I knew it would be a while until help arrived, we were too far out for the authorities to get here in a hurry. I could see the pain on his face as I pressed hard on the wound, I almost felt sorry for him but then I thought of him and his friend shooting at us. I wonder if he had been the one who shot at us the other night, the thought of someone trying to blow us up by shooting the gas tank in the car came flooding back.

"Why are you shooting at us?" I tried again but with the same result. He wasn't going to say anything at least not to me.

"If you're trying to kill us, I should just let you die here right now." I was trying to rile him up, but then I wasn't very good at doing things like this. I could see something in his eyes but I think he realized I wouldn't do that, I was still trying to stop the bleeding in his leg.

I had been working to stop the bleeding and I think I had pretty much succeeded, I had held the pressure against his leg for almost 5 minutes now. I was starting to wonder how long it would take the sheriff to get here when I heard something behind me. It didn't take me very long to realize it was the sound of a helicopter, it was close and next thing I knew it was landing 100 yards away. I could see it was a Texas Highway Patrol chopper, and once the rotors had stopped three men got out, I could see they were each armed and wearing body armor. They trotted over to see what I was doing, I was still holding the pressure bandage against the man's leg.

"Are these the men who were shooting at you?" One of them asked although that would have been obvious to me.

"Yes, but I don't know why."

"There's an ambulance on the way, it should be here shortly." The man offered as the other two went to check on the body. They checked him for any life signs but finding none stepped back and started to look at the rifles each of the two had dropped.

"How did you get here so quickly?" I asked.

"We were in the area, we were lucky to hear the radio call when it came in." He answered although that didn't make any sense to me. If they were only on routine patrol, why would they be wearing body armor? Maybe it was something they normally carried but I didn't think the report of a shooting would elicit that sort of response. I decided not to push the issue, there were already too many unanswered questions in my mind. I could hear a siren in the distance, it must be the ambulance the officer said would be arriving. Shortly it stopped in front of the house, I saw 3 EMTs come around the side and head in our direction. The first officer stood and waved to them, letting them know exactly where we were and soon they had arrived to check on the two men here. Just as I had suspected and the other two officers had confirmed, they agreed the one I had shot in the chest was dead. They went to the other man and did a better job of binding his wounds, also giving him something for the pain before deciding he was ready for transport. One of the officers would ride with them to the hospital, I was told he would be placed under arrest and given his rights once the pain meds had worn off and he was completely coherent. Before the ambulance left, one of the EMTs came back with a body bag and placed it over the body which continued lying there.

"Somebody will come get him but I'm not sure when." He offered before going back to the ambulance which soon drove off.

That was really weird, I wondered how long they would leave a dead body lying in the field here. The Highway Patrol wasn't any more help, once the wounded man had been taken away they asked me a few questions but soon they too were taking off and I was by myself here well, by myself and standing next to a dead body in the field.

*****

"What happened out there?" Alex asked as I returned to the house.

"There were two of them, one's dead and the other was taken away by the police. I have no idea who they were or why they were shooting at us, the one wouldn't tell me anything." I started slowly.

"What did the police say?" My sister continued her line of questions.

"Not a whole heck of a lot. They asked me what had happened but wouldn't really tell me anything when I asked them what they knew about this." There were just too many questions I couldn't find the answers to, a lot of things didn't make sense and I would have to think things over to try to find some answers.

"So what now?" Alex was still asking questions.

"I don't know, I wish I did have some more answers for you but I really don't."

About that time I heard a car in the front drive and wondered who might be here now. I took a quick look through the window and saw it was Pete with two other officers. I was ready to let them in when suddenly I realized that Alex and Courtney were sitting there topless, neither of them had done anything to cover up since the shooting had started and even now. Just another one of the things that made all of these events so surreal.

"It's Pete. I'll go out to talk to him but you ladies might want to cover up." I said before turning to go out the front door. I noticed them looking at each other and then look down at their own bare breasts just before I left, I don't think they even realized their own state of dress.

"I got a call there was a shooting out here Travis, what can you tell me?" Pete started even before I got close to him. The other two deputies had their hands on their weapons but neither had drawn the pistol yet.

"I can't say much Pete, things are just too bizarre to explain right now.

"Why don't you try." Pete said, still vigilant and looking around just in case.

"I'll tell you what I know, but right now it isn't much. We were sitting out back and someone started shooting at us. I don't know who they were but we made it into the house although one of Alex's friends got hit." I started but before I could say anything else he interrupted me.

"She was shot? Is she okay?"

"It was just a graze, Alex has her bandaged up and she says other than a burning feeling in her shoulder she's doing fine."

"Maybe we should have someone take a look at the wound for her." Pete suggested and I had to remember that the ambulance had been here only a few minutes earlier and no one had even thought of having one of them look at Courtney's wound.

"I think she's okay, but maybe we should get her in to have someone look at her. Anyway, after we had all made it into the house safely I got my deer rifle and went out the front and around the side. I saw two men leaving, apparently one of them had been hit when I was covering Courtney with my pistol. He was limping away with his friend helping him and I didn't want them to get away, so I winged the other one in the leg to stop them from trying to escape. He decided he didn't like that, when his friend pointed a rifle at me I took him out." I relayed the information to Pete, he was listening intently as I spoke.

"So where are they now?"

"One of them is at the hospital I assume, the state police got here in minutes by chopper and they've already gone. They didn't tell me much, it was really weird. The other one is in a body bag a couple hundred yards behind the house. They told me somebody would come by to pick up the body but nothing more." Pete's eyebrow rose as I told him and then he turned and spoke to one of the other officers, instructing him to go out and check the body.

"How did the state police get here so quickly?" Pete asked me.

"I don't know, they came in a chopper and the one in charge told me they were on routine patrol and it was lucky they were as close as they were when they got the radio call. Funny thing though, they were wearing body armor and carrying their own rifles when they got out of the chopper."

"That doesn't sound like standard operating procedure to me." Pete agreed with some of the things I had been thinking earlier.

The officer came back, reporting to Pete that there was a body in the body bag, just lying there in the field where it had been left. One of them went to the car and called into headquarters, inquiring whether someone would come get it and reported back to Pete that the coroner's wagon had already been dispatched.

"I have a lot of questions but I'm not sure where to start." He told me and I had to agree with his thoughts.

"You and me both Pete, you and me both. Let me know if you find out what's going on, I'm totally confused." I added the last, knowing he would tell me whatever he could. They stayed for several more minutes until the coroner arrived, he and his assistant went to the field and retrieved the body on a gurney, putting it inside the van and driving off quickly, neither saying much to the police before leaving.

*****

I went back inside and found that the women had heeded my words, both were now dressed.

"I think we need to take Courtney to the clinic and get her checked out." I suggested as the two women sat waiting.

"That isn't necessary Travis." Courtney insisted although I could see she was fighting hard not to show any pain.

"It may not be necessary but I think it's prudent. Besides, they can probably give you something stronger than aspirin and make you more comfortable."

"Come on Cort, Travis is right." Alex cut off her friend who was again going to tell me she didn't need to have anyone look at her shoulder. With both of us insisting she needed to go, she decided it wasn't worth the effort to continue trying to dissuade us. Fortunately the clinic wasn't far, it was a lot closer than driving to the city where Alex and I had seen Lewis several days earlier. The Dr. there checked her over and confirmed that Alex had done a good job of treating her wound, but he insisted on cleaning it out and re-bandaging it before letting us go. He gave Courtney a script for some prescription painkillers which Alex insisted on filling even though Courtney tried to tell her she didn't need them.

*****

We were sitting back home, it had been a long day so far. With all the excitement none of us had given any thought to hunger but shortly after leaving the clinic we decided to stop at the café rather than try to find something else here in the house. With our hunger sated and hopefully no more excitement this evening, we sat and pondered the events of the day.

"Where did you learn to shoot like that Courtney?" I asked, she was sitting opposite me in a chair with her eyes half closed. She agreed that the painkillers the Dr. gave her would be the best thing for her and had taken one several hours earlier so I assumed she was feeling its effect.

"Like what?" She said, I got the feeling she was trying to dodge the question.

"You shouldn't answer a question with a question Courtney. You know what I mean, you grabbed that gun without a second thought and knew exactly where the shots had come from. You can't tell me you picked that up just watching TV." My thoughts were starting to come together more clearly now, I had taken the time to go over everything in my mind.

"He's right Courtney, what aren't you telling us?" Alex asked before Courtney could form an answer.

"You won't believe it was just an instinctive reaction?" She tried weekly, but she knew neither of us was going to accept that.

"You've been shot at before!" As I relived the event of this morning, I started to go over it second by second and now realized her actions were not those of someone who had never been exposed to firearms. Not only that, being on the wrong side of the gun seemed a pretty logical conclusion to me.