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(An excerpt from my novel, Feel No Rain) ?
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?It?s wicked-looking,? she said, as the horse made its way through the stand of cholla that grew where the high desert plain rose gradually to meet the foothills.
He smiled. ?It?s meant to be??
The tall, shrubby cactus, with its clusters of needle-like quills and even more noxious hair-fine, nearly invisible barbs, was never bothered by any creature, if it had any sense.
?Self preservation? survival.? He said out loud to himself, more as an afterthought than anything else. He nudged the apricot-colored Appaloosa away from a particularly nasty branch hanging over the trail and felt Laney lean into him as they passed, just in case.
He pulled his reign-holding hand closer around her waist instinctively, protective of her? and the child she carried.
They wound their way through the cholla and prairie grass, each lost in their own thoughts and lulled into silence by the undulating gait of the pony as it plodded along the narrow, dusty track. The deep azure sky arched above them and the sun beat down warmly upon their heads and faces.
He was glad that the worst of the morning sickness was over ?for her now, though he didn?t understand why the misery she?d endured wasn?t called ?all day/all night sickness? when that?s what it really was?
The coming of spring had been as welcome to him as the return of the color to Laney?s cheeks. He?d worried for her?and the baby. She was still a little peaked, the freckles sprinkled across her nose and cheeks standing out more than usual. But her face had lit up perceptibly when he?d asked if she wanted to go for a ride.
It was turning out to be one of the nicest days they?d had so far, warm with only a slight breeze that lifted strands of her strawberry blond hair into his face. He reached up with his free hand and brushed them away.
?Sorry.? she said, smiling over her shoulder.
?Here,? he said, handing her the reigns. He took the?bandanna?from around his neck and awkwardly gathered her hair into a ponytail at the nape of her neck. She watched him from the corner of her eye and raised her eyebrows skeptically, wincing as a stray hair caught and pulled as he tied the bandanna into a tight knot.
?Sorry.? He said back to her.
?What?s the point of cactus, anyway?? She said, pulling the reigns away from him as he attempted to take them back.
?What?s the point?? he asked, grinning, leaning back on the horse?s haunches, his hands behind him.
She looked back at him, eyes narrowed, but sparkling mischievously.
?Ha, ha. You know what I meant!?
?Everything has a purpose?? he said, sitting up and reaching out to break off a strand of tall grass, the end of which he began to chew.
?Like?? She asked, her back to him now.
?Well, for instance,? he said, taking the grass out of his mouth, ?A bird brave enough to make a nest in a cholla won?t have to worry too much about anything bothering it.?
He lightly touched her cheek with the head of the grass and watched as she swatted at an imaginary fly.
?And a pack rat will gather up those little pieces of cholla that break off and pile them around his nest to keep out the coyotes.
He reached down and brushed the blade along her forearm. She responded by jerking her arm in a wide, threatening swath.
?Darn flies.? she murmured.
With the grass in his teeth now, he leaned forward and tickled the side of her neck with it.
She jumped and slapped wildly behind her, causing the horse to startle and snort disagreeably.
?Careful!? he said, laughing, pulling back in the nick of time, tossing the grass behind him and taking the reigns out of her hands. He felt better once his arm was around her once again.
He smiled as she ran her hand under the back of the neck of her shirt, searching for, but hoping not to find any creepy-crawlies.
?The Indians used to gather the fruit for food.? He said, pointing out the yellow nubs on the end of the branches. ?They?d burn off the little stickers and take out all the seeds.?
?What?s it taste like??
?I don?t know, never had one?I imagine pretty good, if you?re hungry enough.?
?Grandmother says that by the time spring came around, the people were usually running short on food. The buds of the cholla flower came on just in time. They have as much calcium in them as a glass of milk.?
?Really?? She asked, looking back at him suspiciously.
?Are you calling Grandmother a liar??
?Not your Grandmother?? she said, turning back around, a sweet smile on her lips.
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