THE ROCK CREEK
ADVENTUROUS TALES, PART 1
The brooding gray clouds endangering their lives had appeared over Rock Creek a few days past. After days with no raindrops, Teaspoon had thought that maybe the skies were just being gloomy and that the violent storm that seemed so obvious at first would pass on to the next unsuspicious town.
The first spits of raindrops began to spill from the dismal skies by mid-afternoon on the third day of looking at overclouded skies. The gray overcastting had become black as midnight. Without stars to brighten the sky, the mid-day daylight appeared to have shortened and turned abruptly into nightfall.
The dirt streets of Rock Creek are bustling with the commotion of the panicked townsfolk gathering the last of their supplies and loading them onto their buckboards. Whenever there appears to be a brutal storm descending upon the small community, it is an absolute must to have six weeks of supplies stored at one's homestead. It is more of a panic attack than a precaution. Never has any family from Rock Creek endured captivity at their homesteads for longer than a few days.
Thompkins rushes out of his general store, still wearing his white apron over his clothes, with a hammer and nails grasped tightly in his hands. He grabs a plank of wood from behind a few chairs resting on the porch of his store. "There never seems to be anything good happening in this god forsaken town," he mumbled to himself. He places the board over a window and begins to hammer nails into the board.
"Do you think the storm is gonna be bad enough to board up?" A customer asked holding his basket of supplies that he had just purchased from Thompkins store.
Just as soon as the customer asks Thompkins about the store, the two men observe the bank close their doors, and instantly the banker places a closed sign in the window. Both Thompkin's and the customer's head turn when they hear the slamming of the saloon doors.
"Does that answer your question?" Thompkins replied rather gruffly. "I can't tell you the last time the saloon closed its doors in the middle of the day." He continues to hammer the boards across the windows of his general store. The panic-stricken noise of the residents of Rock Creek spins Thompkins around to gasp at the view before him.
The townsfolk are running hurriedly in every direction, causing more confusion then what is really necessary. They are trying to escape to the safety of their homes. But, in the mass of upheaval, many of the townsfolk are being trampled on, buckboards are racing down the main street of Rock Creek without a driver, and children are being separated from the security of their parent's hand. Thompkins shakes his head in amazement at the scene before him. The first claps of thunder roar across the town followed by a bolt of lightning. Thompkins has had enough. He high tails it inside his general store to find shelter, slamming the door and pulling the window blind down behind him.
Back at the horse ranch the wind has mounted up to a destructive velocity.
The loud thunder and streaks of bright lightning are turning the frightened
horses that are trapped inside the corral, into a wild pack of tormented animals!
The animals seem as if they are in shock. They are racing at full speed, circling
the inside of the corral. The animals are hugging the fence tightly, as if someone
or something were attacking them. The horses are trying to pass each other in
the circle they have formed. A few of them unconsciously gallop into the horse
in front of them, almost losing their balance and sprawling to the muddy ground.
They have become out of control to handle and dangerous to themselves and anyone
who tries to calm them!
Buck and Kid are rushing out the front door of Kid's home. The skies suddenly
open to a violent downpour. Both men are trying to toss their coats on to protect
themselves from the cruelness of Mother Nature. They desperately make their
way towards the frightened horses before they become an unknowing danger to
themselves. The tornado like wind is fighting their movements toward the corrals.
Louise watches her husband and best friend battle the harsh elements from inside the warmth of her house. A roaring roll of thunder and a flash of lightning suddenly startle her. Horror is etched upon her face as she watches the two stumble and almost slip to the ground! The vicious downpour appears like a waterfall before her eyes. Her visibility is strained. With every squint of her eyes, she sees less and less of the two men who are risking their lives to save their livelihood.
Before Buck and Kid are even a few feet from the last porch step, they are drenched from the buckets of rain pouring over them! Both men have their arms up covering their faces from the battering they are taking from the rain. The downpour is blinding them from reaching their destination!
"We've got to get to those horses before they kill themselves!" Buck tries shouting over the thunder and rain. The hard pelts of rain are beating against his face making it difficult for him to see even a foot in front of him. Even Kid, who is just a step in front of him, is nothing but a blur. He pushes a few strands of his dark hair out of his eyes. But, with the rain beating down straight at him, even that action doesn't help clear up his sight.
Both men finally make their way to the edge of the barn. Buck and Kid both stand against the barn trying to catch their labored breath. Kid wipes the rain from his eyes. Buck puts his ear to the barn wall and leans in close to listen to any disturbing noise that might be coming from inside the barn.
"At least the horses in the barn are quiet," Buck spoke as he pulls
himself away from the barn and tries focusing on the corral that is out of his
sight, but not out of hearing range. The overwhelming sound that Buck hears
is of stampeding horses. Kid hears the unusual noise at the very same time as
Buck does. Both men dart from their protection against the barn and turn the
corner to continue towards the frightened animals. They hug their bodies close
to the barn as they walk to the corrals. Once they reach the corrals, Buck slides
underneath the corral fence. Kid tries, without much success, to open the corral
fence gate.
"Kid, you'll have to climb under!" Buck hurries back over to Kid,
and helps him climb underneath the corral.
Once Kid is inside the corral, both men try making their way to the animals with extreme caution. "I'll get the barn door!" Kid shouted at Buck above the thunder. Kid starts to walk away from Buck, and begins to slip in the mud. Buck takes a hold of Kid's forearm before he goes down. Kid lets out a gasp as he tries to secure his footing in the mud.
"Be careful! Those horses will trample you to death if you go down in this mud!"
Kid balances himself before Buck releases his strong grip on him. Kid starts out once again towards the barn door, only this time his walk is cautious and unhurried.
Another loud and prolonged clap of thunder sends the horses sprinting faster around the confinement of the corral! Buck senses the danger he is in as he sees the horses coming towards him at an uncontrollable charge. His eyes are wide open with fear as he stares blindly at the horses advancing towards him in rabid fashion. Buck turns his body and hugs himself close to the corral. The horses pass by him, kicking up a lot of mud aimed towards the back of him. He lowers his head down closer to the top rail of the fence. It seems like an eternity until the distressed animals have passed by his shuddering body. Once the horses have passed by him Buck turns himself around and tries to calmly figure a way out of this situation.
Kid manages to reach the barn doors slipping and sliding all the way. He lifts the wooden latch that holds the doors closed. With all the energy Kid can muster up, he manages to get the doors to open against the wind that has grown five times in strength since the men first came out of the house. Kid is in the middle of getting the second door open when two horses walk past him in a hurry to get inside the barn. "I'll get these two into their stalls," Kid shouted back toward Buck.
Kid walks into the barn behind the two loose animals. They have calmed down to the tame animals that they once were before the storm had hit their home. Kid glances around at the horses that are already in their stalls. There are forty some horses already in their stalls not paying any mind to the inclement weather outside their save haven. Kid takes a quick glance at his old Katy. She seems not to be unnerved by the raging storm outside her comfortable stall. Kid continues into the barn farther and begins to get the two loose horses settled in their stalls for the night. Buck is right behind him guiding a restless horse into the barn.
Kid turns towards Buck and watches his friend calm the animal before walking her to her stall. Buck slowly walks the animal while he tries brushing some of the rain from her chestnut coat. She prances back and forth as Buck leads her around the inside of the barn holding onto her harness. Buck offers her a carrot. She gracefully accepts the carrot from his hand. She calms down within a few minutes, and Buck leads her to her stall. He puts some fresh straw down on the ground for her to chew on. "Good girl," Buck remarked to the horse.
Kid watches Buck handle the horse with amazement. He wonders how Buck knows exactly what to do to tame a wild animal down. It's a gift the Kiowa has been blessed with for as long as Kid has known him.
Buck reaches Kid and they both rush back out into the blinding rain to rescue the rest of their stock. "It's a good thing we brought the horses from the grazing fields in earlier today. We could have had a real mess on our hands," Kid spoke over the restless hooves making their way towards the young men.
Kid hurriedly tries to get out of the way of the approaching horses. He dislikes being trapped in a deadly situation such as this. Where Buck manages to stay calm to get the job done as quick as possible, he acts nervous around the raging horses which slows down the process of retiring the animals into the barn.
"Watch your step!" But Buck's warning was too late for Kid. He slips, and lands flat on his back down onto the soggy ground. Buck rushes to his side before the horses are upon them again. Buck reaches out his hand for Kid to latch onto. He pulls Kid to his feet. "Are you alright?" Buck asked with concern for his friend's well being.
Kid is covered from head to boot in mud. He tries to wipe the mud off his clothes with his hands, looking a little sheepish at Buck. "Yeah. Just a little embarrassed about my stupidity."
"Let's just get to those horses," Buck spoke as he clapped his friend on the back and smiles at him for his foolishness.
The thunder continues to roar in the skies. The rain continues to beat down harshly on the two young men that are trying desperately to save their horses. A prolonged clap of thunder rages on and visibly shakes the windows of the old Pony Express station home!
