Free Wounded by Percival Everett Page B

house,” I said. “Why don’t we just ride on out there now?”
    David turned to Robert, his body language asking for his feeling.
    “I don’t care,” Robert said. “You decide.”
    “Okay,” David said to me.
    Unfortunately, I’d forgotten how cold it was in the back of my Jeep. Morgan and I were roasting in the front while David and Robert huddled beneath the blanket I kept stowed under the seat. The snow had fallen heavily for about twenty minutes and was now tapering off. It was just beginning to stick on the light green leaves of the sage that grew along the highway.
    “So, what do you guys call this?” David asked.
    “September,” Morgan said.
    “Warming up at all back there?” I fiddled with the heat controls, not that I could push the lever any farther to the right.
    “Not really,” David said.
    I looked at the weather and then at Morgan. “I’ll drop you off. What do you think?”
    “You probably should. I’ll try to keep Mother from running out naked in the snow.”
    “Need anything done with your animals?” I asked.
    “No, I’ve got it covered. Anyway, there’s still plenty of light left.”
    I looked at the boys in the mirror. “You guys mind if dinner becomes lunch and I drive you back before it’s too late?”
    “Makes sense,” David said.
    I dropped off Morgan and let the two men stay in the back under the blanket. Soon, we were rolling down the trail to my place.
    “It’s beautiful,” David said.
    “It’s work is what it is,” I said. I looked at it. It was especially beautiful under the dusting of snow.
    I halted the Jeep in front of the house and watched the mule come walking out of the barn toward me. “Have mercy,” I said, shaking my head.
    “What is it?” David asked.
    “The devil himself,” I said.
    “What?”
    “Nothing. Come on, let’s get you two warmed up. Gus said he’d have the heat cranked up today.” Gus must have forced Zoe out of the house for her daily business because she came trotting over to me. She sat at my feet and awaited her command. “This is Zoe,” I said. “Greet, Zoe.”
    Zoe went to the strangers and got a noseful.
    David patted her head. “She’s well trained.”
    “She’s smart,” I said. “She makes me look good.”
    Gus met us at the door. “Can you believe it,” the old man said. “Snow! I tell you weather has no respect.”
    “Gus, David and Robert.”
    “Howdy.” Gus shook Robert’s hand and then David’s. “Your hands are like ice. Where are your coats?”
    “Don’t have any,” David said.
    “Get your asses in there by the fire,” he barked. “No coats. What the Sam Hill is that all about?”
    “We’re doing lunch instead of dinner,” I said. “That all right?”
    “That’s fine. No coats.”
    “How’s our patient?”
    “She’s dragging herself around pretty good, now. I had to push Zoe outside. I’ve been giving the little girl warm milk from a rubber glove. I pierced a finger and she really goes after it.”
    “That’s great, Gus.” I made a move toward the door.
    “Where the hell are you going?”
    “I’m going out there and I’m going to tie that mule’s legs together. How the hell did he get out?”
    “He was out as soon as you left. I caught him and stuck him in a paddock, but there he is. He’s a spooky one.”
    “Well, I’m sticking that son of a bitch back in a stall and I’m going to weld the damn gate shut. If he gets out again, then he’s just going to have roam around loose. I can’t be worrying about him all the goddamn time.”
    Gus had started away in the middle of my rant and was asking David and Robert if they wanted coffee.
    “Yeah, go ahead and walk away from me while I’m talking,” I said. I liked that Gus didn’t have time for anyone’s carryings on.
    I was pleased to find myself outdoors and alone. The snowflakes were swirling, the cold front getting confused by the wall of heat offered by the Red Desert. I took this as a sign that the storm