Page 2 of The Only Seconds that Matter
“You from these parts?”
“No, I moved here last year when I inherited my aunt’s boarding facility.You heard of Creekside Stables?”Victor replied.
“Is that the really nice place up on Route 217?”
“That’s it.”
“Damn.That’s a nice property!How many horses you got there?”
“Twenty-five.”
“Big place!You a trainer then?”
The conversation devolved into small talk.Johnny seemed to like to chat, which Victor was not expecting.Most of the men around here were the strong silent types, and when they did talk, they only wanted to talk about hunting or rant about some political thing that had Victor looking for the exits.It’s why he mostly kept to himself.He dealt with clients to the degree that he had to so that he could pay the bills, but he didn’t get close to many.
After Victor was done summarizing his life story to Johnny’s approval, Johnny finally said he’d be interested in taking a look at her, if Victor could deliver her.
“I rent some barn space from the feedlot where I work,” Johnny explained.“So just come through the main entrance and drive around to the back.You’ll find me there at any time from six to eight, I’m usually with the horses.”
Victor agreed, and after a bit of additional small talk, Johnny finally hung up.Victor was happy that he might find someone perfect to work with the mare and maybe make a few hundred bucks in the process if he played his cards right.
* * *
Millers Feedlot was a place you smelled before you saw it.At least ten acres were fenced off with metal corrals and inside was nothing but dirt and beef cattle being fattened up before they were shipped to slaughter.There was no way Victor could have missed the place, even with the confusing array of different driveways.Still, he wasn’t sure about Johnny’s directions, so he stopped the truck when he spotted two men on horseback headed up the road toward him.After rolling his window down, he leaned his head out.
“Hey there,” he said, which drew their attention.The guy with a paunchy gut and a large handlebar mustache nudged his horse closer to Victor so he could hear him.“Do you know where I can find Johnny Stearns?”
“All the way back,” the man replied, pointing further down the driveway.“Till you can’t go no more.”
“Thank you.”
“Don’t let ‘im talk your ear off,” the man said with a smirk, then continued forward with his fellow rider.
Victor rolled his window back up to block off the smell of cow manure and carefully navigated the rutted gravel driveway to its conclusion.To his right was an open-air barn with a long line of stalls connected to small outdoor paddocks.Victor pulled into the grass and jumped out of the truck, wondering how he might track down a man when there didn’t seem to be anyone else around.
The barn was mostly empty, most likely because its residents were being used for work that day.But there was one chestnut with a graying face and slightly swollen knees that seemed interested in saying hello, so Victor approached and offered her a hand to sniff.Surely they weren’t using a horse this old for cow work?
“You the guy with the horse?”came a familiar Okie twang from behind him, and Victor turned.Standing several strides away with his arms akimbo was a very tall and lean man with a face shrouded in the shadow cast by his cowboy hat.Victor put his height around six-three, maybe six-four, most of it in his legs, each of which was hugged tightly by a dirty pair of jeans.
“Yes, I’m the guy with the horse,” Victor replied.
The man tilted his head so that the sun caught his friendly smile before he thrust his hand out to shake.“Name’s Johnny.”
“Victor,” Victor said with a vigorous shake of the hand.
“Victor.Anyone call you Vic?”
“Not really.”
“Huh.Alright.”Johnny reached up to tip his hat back, revealing more of his face.He had the haggard look of a man who’d lived a hard life outside, his skin reddened by sun and laugh lines etched deep around his mouth.He hadn’t shaved in a few days, so he was looking pretty scruffy; he didn’t come across as someone for whom personal grooming was held in high regard.A long scar ran across his jawline, only noticeable in the harsh light of the sun.His nose was also crooked, probably gifted to him by an ornery horse at some point.His most noticeable feature was the deep blue of his eyes, which was evident even from where Victor stood.
All in all, he wasn’t what Victor would considerhandsome, but he definitely lookedinteresting, and that was something in this part of the country, where every man in a cowboy hat blended together with all the rest.
“Nice set-up you got,” Johnny said, gesturing to the truck and trailer.“You do a lotta travelin’?”
“I do clinics throughout the state, sometimes in Texas.”
“So why you need my expertise?”Johnny asked with a hint of a smirk.
