RED, GREEN, OR MURDER - Poisoned Pen Press (UK)

6 Steven F. Havill
with a couple of saddle blankets and three pillows from Dale’s
own mobile home across the paddock.
Dale’s mother, Annie Torrance, had bustled out from the
house, her face grim and white but her nerves like tempered
steel. She directed the operation as Herb, Pat, and I lifted Dale
into the SUV. It would have been easier for Dale if he’d managed
to faint, but he was a tough kid, with a string of curses colorful
enough that they surprised even me. Annie Torrance was tougher
yet. She didn’t bat an eye.
“I have an ambulance on the way,” I said. “They’ll meet us
down on 56. Faster that way. Herb, one of you needs to ride in
back with him.”
“You bring the car,” Annie Torrance said to her husband.
“I’ll ride with Dale.”
“You can finish up here?” Herb asked Pat Gabaldon, and the
young man nodded.
In another minute, we were southbound on the washboards
and potholes of County Road 14, the wandering dirt by-way
that ran down the western side of Posadas County. Any other
time, I would be ambling along on CR 14, windows rolled
down, marveling at the country—the broad sweep of the dry
short bunch-grass prairie, rugged mesas with rims crumpling,
arroyos so deep you could effortlessly hide a herd of cattle or a
tractor trailer with license plates issued in Chihuahua.
This time, I paid attention to my driving, but for every thump
and bump that I avoided, three more pummeled the Chevy’s
stiff suspension. The cries and gasps from the back made me feel
like a card-carrying member of the Inquisition. Annie did what
she could, but a few hundred CC’s of morphine would have
been just the ticket. Behind us, Herb kept the Chrysler just far
enough back that our dust cloud had time to drift off the road.
In seven miles—an agonizing twenty minutes—we reached the
last cattle guard that crossed CR14, and I slowed the SUV to a
walk as we waddled across the steel girders. Just beyond was the
intersection with New Mexico 56, and pulling onto the pavement
of the state highway never felt so smooth.