Yellowstone: Love and Cowboys

The Road to Salvation

She went with Travis the next day to survey the damage to the road. A deep gouge cut the road in half, and she wondered if that was a natural path for the water flow.

"Travis?" he looked up at her, "When it's bad does the road always split in the same place?"

"Pretty much, probably, why?" He went over to see what she was looking at.

"Would it help to place a culvert there? You know, put in a pipe to channel the water flow. Has anybody ever tried it?" God, I hope I sound like I know what I'm talking about, she thought.

"Well, I haven't seen the remains of a pipe, maybe no one tried it. It makes sense, if the water has someplace to go then maybe the road won't wash out there. Tell you what, we're going to have to do a temporary fix, then when I have the chance, I'll find a pipe and we'll put in a culvert. The next time we have a storm, and we will have another storm, we'll see if the fix worked."

"All I want right now is for it to be fixed enough so Katie can leave." There were tears in her eyes that would appear when she talked about her sister. She hated it, it made her feel weak.

He put his arm around her shoulders, "Don't give her power over you, Coralee. Once she's out of here she'll be out of your hair. It's too bad, you and she were so close, I hate to see this happen to you."

"I feel betrayed by my best friend," she said, "Never in a million years did I think she'd turn on me like this. She's the one who thought I should marry you."

"I don't know sweetheart, maybe she's angry because I took you away from her."

"Then why was she so insistent that I should marry you?" She looked at him, her eyes pleading for an answer.

"I don't know, but as soon as the road is finished, she's gone, and you won't have to worry about her anymore."

The next day the hands began the task of rebuilding the road. Like Humpty Dumpty, she thought, only this time all the king's men were succeeding. One of Travis's neighbors appeared and asked if he wanted a length of pipe that he had lying around.

This made Coralee smile. This wasn't coming from her, this was serendipity. What was true on this ranch was true for her father's farm and Uncle John's ranch, neighbors helped each other out. It was a universal truth that gave her faith in mankind.

It took almost a week. The need to complete the road became more urgent when the plentiful food stores were starting to run low. Once the repairs were completed, Elena would go into town with one or two of the wranglers and re-stock the pantries.

"Do you want to help Elena out with the groceries?" Travis asked her.

She responded with an emphatic "No!"

"What's wrong with Elena, why don't you like her?" he asked.

"I don't like her because she doesn't like me," she said, but he looked at her, puzzled. "It's a female thing, Travis, you wouldn't understand."

"You're right, I don't understand 'female things', women will always be a mystery to me."

"Good, I don't want to talk about Elena, but there's something else. I need a truck or an SUV that can haul a small trailer. I have the money that Uncle John gave me, and I have my prize money, I can afford something used, I don't need anything new. I need something to get around in so I can leave the ranch without depending on someone for a ride."

"You don't need to get something used, I can get you a nice new Ram, or GMC."

"New isn't necessary," she said, "Dad always bought used, and it worked just fine. We can have it checked out before I buy it."