Mattie Read online

  MATTIE

  Jeanie Johnson

  This is a work of fiction. All characters are out of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to anyone living or dead is a mere coincidence.

  Story By

  Jeanie Johnson

   Copyright 2017

  All Rights Reserved

  OTHER BOOKS BY THIS AUTHOR

  Native American books

  Across The River

  Apache Pride

  Beyond The Heart

  Cherokee Courage

  Gentle Savage

  Gedi Puniku (Cat Eyes)

  Kiowa White Moon

  Kiowa Wind Walker

  No Price Too High

  Paiute Passion

  Savage Land

  Shadow Hawk

  Son of Silver Fox (sequel to Gentle Savage)

  Within The Heart (Sequel to Beyond the Heart)

  Historical or Regency/Victorian Romance Books

  A Bride for Windridge Hall

  Defiant Heart

  Highroad

  Indentured

  The Deception

  Wild Irish Rose

  Winslow’s Web

  Contemporary Western Romance Books

  Georgie Girl

  Grasping at Straws

  Passion’s Pride

  Single-handed Heart

  Historical Western Romance Books

  Elusive Innocents

  Spit and Grit

  20th Century Historical Romance Books

  Italy Vacation

  Moments of Misconception

  Radcliff Hall

  Taxi Dancer

  Action and Adventure Mystery Romance Books

  Ghost Island

  Futuristic Action and Adventure Romance Books

  Chosen

  Pony Up

  Surviving

  The Division

  The Dominion

  The Mechanism

  Time travel/Reincarnation Romance Books

  Egyptian Key

  Seekers

  Seekers Two

  Seekers Three

  The Locked Room

  Non Fiction Books

  Dream Symbols Made Easy (how to analyze dreams)

  A Collection of short stories (some true)

  Chief Washakie (short history of Shoshoni Chief)

  Peaches (inspirational)

  The Prune Pickers (my childhood)

  Whimper (true story of racial conflicts)

  Children’s Picture Book

  Dandy The Horse

  CHAPTER ONE

  Mattie sat on Apache’s back on the rise of a grass covered hill, looking down over the spread of a horse ranch below. The wildflowers were running riot between the stems of the long grass swaying about them, pushed by every little encouragement of a breeze or light wind. The wind came in gusts sometimes, blowing Mattie’s close-cropped curls about her ears, and the feel of such short hair was foreign to her.

  She looked more like a cherub than the young boy she was trying to appear as. She wondered if she could actually pull it off, but it was the need to survive that pushed her to do what she was about to try.

  The ace bands squashing her breasts hard against her body felt uncomfortable, and that was the thing she hated most about this deception, but there was just no other way. She heard they were looking for hands that could handle horses and she could certainly do that. If she could prove herself, maybe the ranch would higher her.

  This country was new to her. She had ridden Apache all the way from Idaho to the midst of Montana. The only way she even knew about this position was because she read the poster on the general store bulletin board in the little town she had ridden through. Mattie asked directions to the Double D Ranch, and now she stood gazing down at it.

  Mattie was big boned and tall for a seventeen-year-old girl, which was one aspect that would help her pass as a boy. She had a low sounding voice, and she lowered it even more when she talked until it became natural to her. Her eyes were dark, the same as her hair. Someone said she had Indian in her somewhere, but she never saw a curly haired Indian, she thought amusingly to herself. Her skin was tanned from being out in the weather most of her life, and she was strong because she had been around horses all her life. Bucking hay, and roping horses, then pulling them against snubbing posts or just wrestling with them to get them to come to toe, was second nature to her. She should have been born a boy, she thought, begrudgingly. Then she wouldn’t have to be here. Then her dad would have treated her a lot different, she thought. Or maybe he would have treated her worse and instead of approaching her sexually, he would have been beating her instead. She never could figure her dad out.

  Mattie couldn’t stop herself from thinking about it, as her eyes narrowed and her blood sizzled. The landscape before her seemed to be minor, compared to her thoughts.

  “Come on Mattie,” the slur of her father’s drunk voice filled her ears, even though he was hundreds of miles away at the moment. “you know I lost your mama. I don’t have anyone to love, not the way a man needs to love a woman. You need experience anyway if you ever plan to please a man. Let me show you.”

  Even now she could feel his hot hand pushing down under her nightgown and undoing the buttons, as he pinned her against the bed. She had been asleep and was awoken by him sitting on the side of the bed, and then leaning over to kiss her cheek. Before she knew it, he had stretched out beside her and was kissing her mouth like no father should be kissing his daughter. That was when she tried to push him away, but he was rock solid. Being a horse wrangler himself, she was no match for him. Now she tried to block the words out, but she couldn’t block out the wild fury that was racing through her at the time, knowing that she was helpless against her own father, as he brought his slobbery mouth against her breast.

  Mattie had pushed against his face, so he grabbed her hands with his tight fist.

  “Baby, just let me show you how good it can feel,” he begged. “Give me a chance to show you first, before you get all angry at me. You know I love you. I would never hurt you.”

  His mouth went back down to her breast, as his free hand pushed her nightgown up, and groped under her panties. She squeezed her legs shut, as she tried to squirm away from his touch.

  “Don’t wriggle like that,” he insisted. “It will feel good, if you just let it happen, I promise you, it will.”

  “I don’t want to feel good,” she hissed.

  “That’s cause you don’t know how it feels,” he informed her. “Just lay still,” he almost growled as he tried to pry her legs apart.

  The shock of it, caused Mattie to jolt up in bed, pulling back and pushing him away. A feeling of disgust, and of amazement that her own father would try such a thing, tore through her. As she scooted back away from him, he laughed.

  “This could be good,” he mumbled. “Just let me show you what it’s doing to me,” he whispered, and he took her hand and made her touch him. “That’s how a man feels when a woman turns him on.”

  She jerked her hand away.

  “Get out of my bedroom,” she hissed at him.

  “Now, now,” he tried to coax. “If you just gave me the chance, I could make you feel good. There are several ways it can be done…”

  “Leave!” she yelled, then. Bringing her knees to her chest, as her back hugged the wall that her bed was up against, she glared at him.

  “But baby…”

  “I mean it. I will call the police if you don’t take your body out of my room.”

  “Now don’t get testy, Mattie. I said I wasn’t going to hurt you. I’ll leave if you insist. Maybe next time you will be more willing. I’ll just give it some time. You know I love you.”

  “There’s not going to be a next time, daddy. Go to bed, you are drunk
,” she said in disgust and pushed against him, and he slowly staggered to his feet.

  “Okay, okay, I’m going.”

  He walked haphazardly across the room and then went through the door.

  Mattie jumped up and slammed it shut behind him. She turned on her light and started making plans. She would not stay in that house one more day. Not after this. Ever since she was thirteen it had alarmed her that he made her climb up in his lap, while he brushed his hand inappropriately against her. Only this had never happened before and she vowed it would not happen again because she would not be around to let it happen. It didn’t matter if she had one more year to finish in school. She would not stay another day under the same roof of a man who thought nothing of making sexual advances towards his own daughter.

  That was why she was sitting on Apache atop the hill, looking down at the Double D Ranch below. If they thought she was a boy, she would not have that problem again, she decided.

  She nudged Apache with her heels and the Appaloosa moved with surefootedness down the side of the hill, as Mattie leaned back in the saddle and swayed easily with the rocking movement of her horse. She felt at ease on the horse’s back, but her heart was beating in her throat at her nervousness about passing herself off as a boy, for one thing, and then actually getting a job at the ranch, for the other. She was so filthy from her long ride, with grim all over her face and hands, that they may just turn her away on principle, she thought with a weary smile, but at least she would give it a try. All they could say is no, and then she would just try someplace else and learn from her mistakes as she went along.

  The ranch was sprawled out like most typical horse ranches. The main building rising up above the other outbuildings except for the stables and barn. Depending on the kind of horses raised made a difference in how a place was laid out, but this looked like a cow-horse type of ranch. Probably Quarter horses raised and trained for roping or barrel racing. That was the stuff she was more familiar with. The big Thoroughbreds used for racing was not what she knew anything about, except for them being horses. And she knew horses and could ride both western and English. She just preferred western riding.

  The ranch was fenced off and divided up into small paddocks, large pastures, training rings, and it looked like they had an indoor arena so the horses could be worked year round. The main road leading into the ranch yard was gated off with two large gates. The overhead board, connecting the two fence posts holding the gates, sported the name of the ranch, tooled into the wood and painted white against the natural wood background.

  Mattie approached the gate and sat gazing up at the big bold name, trying to build up her courage. As she sat there, she heard a truck approaching and turned to look. The dark blue Chevy truck pulled up beside her and stopped at the gate. A tall, well-proportioned man in a black hat, a blue flannel checkered shirt, and worn jeans got out of the new-looking Chevy truck. He left the motor running as he went to the gate preparing to open it. He smiled up at her.

  “Nice looking horse you got there kid. What brings you to the Double D?”

  “I heard there was work,” Mattie said, in as low a voice as she could muster.

  “You look kind of young to be looking for work on a horse ranch,” he told her.

  “How old do you have to be to work with horses?” she asked.

  “I mean, shouldn’t you be in school?”

  “Nope. I dropped out. My folks died. I was too old to adopt. I need to support myself somehow. And all I know is horses.”

  “Is that so?” the man drawled.

  Mattie looked down into his eyes. The sparkle of blue caught her off guard. She smiled. His hair was curly too, like hers, but more of a light brown than a dark brown. He was nice looking, she thought and then checked herself. At least he had a kind sort of voice, which made her want to trust him.

  “Do you work here?” she ventured.

  “Well, sort of. My father owns the place,” he informed her. “I’m Matthew Douglas,” he offered her his hand.

  Mattie started to laugh.

  “What’s so funny,” he said, pulling his hand back.

  “My name’s Matt. Only I have been called Mattie most of my life,” which was really short for Matilda she grinned to herself, and then continued. “Sort of sissy, but what can you do?”

  “Hello, Matt. Seeing as how we have the same name, there might be a chance for you to get on here if you really know your horses.”

  “Oh, I know my horses all right. I raised this stud I’m riding from a colt. Its mother died and I had to hand feed him.”

  “How about unbroken horses? We sometimes get mustangs in and have to work the spunk out of them. They can be pretty mean.”

  “I’m not afraid of horses, mister. I was raised on them. I prefer to gentle them though, takes more time, but in the end, you got a better working horse.”

  “Call me Matthew, and I will call you Matt if Mattie makes you feel less of a man.”

  Mattie couldn’t hold the smile back.

  “What you smiling at?” he asked.

  “I guess I’m not quite a man, yet,” she chuckled. “You can call me Mattie if you want. I’m used to it by now.”

  Matthew chuckled.

  “Okay, Mattie, come meet my father, and if he likes what he sees, and you prove your stuff, we have an extra bed in the bunkhouse.”

  Mattie stiffened. She hadn’t thought about that. She would have to be sleeping around a whole bunkhouse full of men. This may create problems, she thought.

  “Why you all of a sudden looking scared. You seemed pretty sure of yourself a couple of minutes ago,” he questioned, eyeing her closely.

  “Nothin’. I’m not scared.”

  She stuck out her chin.

  “How many are in the bunkhouse?” she asked.

  “Four, right now, and with you, it will make five. I have a room in the house,” he grinned.

  “I figured as much,” she said.

  “Come on through, then,” he told her as he pulled the gate open and then he got in his truck and drove it through behind her.

  “Mind getting that gate?” he called.

  Mattie rode to the gate and grabbed the top rail, pulling it closed and latching it as she leaned from the saddle.

  Matthew looked over his shoulder at her. He shook his head. That kid had too much of a rounded ass for a boy, he thought. Either that, or he was suddenly becoming attracted to young boys. That was a funny thought, he chided himself. He must be woman starved, he admitted. But for now, he wanted to see what the kid knew about horses and what his father would say about Mattie.

  When they reached the house, Matthew jumped down from the truck and Mattie swung down from the saddle. Matthew was watching her from behind. The kid moved nice and smooth, he grinned to himself. He seemed comfortable in the saddle and Matthew wondered where he came from? He knew most of the people in this area, but he had never seen this kid before. However, didn’t he say his folks had died? He probably didn’t come from any place close by.

  “Come on in,” Matthew said, putting his hand on Mattie’s shoulder and giving her a nudge towards the door. “I’ll get my dad.”

  Mattie was propelled in front of him and his hand on her shoulder had a warming sensation that she didn’t expect.

  “Make yourself comfortable,” he said, leading her into a room that was filled with overstuffed leather couches and chairs. There was a lived-in sort of feel to it that Mattie liked. She found an overstuffed chair and sat down, as she looked around the room.

  Everything was natural wood, mostly knotty pine. The coffee table was heavy wood, rough cut and serviceable, with a lot of horse magazines and books scattered out on it. The lamps had cowhide shades on them, made of old branding irons used for the trunk of the lamp.

  All sorts of western paintings hung on the wall depicting scenes of branding cattle or riding broncs, roping steers, and cowboys herding cattle. She was caught up looking at the paintings when Matthew reappeared
in the room with an older man.

  “This is my dad, Daniel Douglas,” he said, “thus the name Double D Ranch,” he grinned.

  Mattie stood up.

  “Nice to meet you,” she said, holding out her hand. Daniel took it in his strong one and looked deeply into her eyes. He had the same striking blue eyes as his son, but they were a little lighter with age. He was still a good-looking man, though, Mattie thought. An older version of his son, she decided.

  “So you need some work, my son tells me,” Daniel stated, motioning her to take a seat again and sitting across from her. Matthew sat on the arm of the chair she was sitting in and looked down at her as she talked to his father.

  “I’m good with horses,” she said.

  “Can you show us?”

  “What do you want me to do?”

  “We got a spooky little filly, that has never been bridled. Think you could handle her?”

  “I could give it a try,” Mattie said.

  “Okay, then, follow us,” he said, standing up and motioning her along with Matthew, as he headed for the front door. “Matthew, go herd that filly into the round pen,” he said.

  “I could do it,” Mattie said. “My horse is all saddled and ready,” she nodded to Apache.

  “Got your own horse, huh?” he asked.

  “I rode him all the way from Idaho out here,” she told him.

  “You rode your horse all that way?”

  “No car,” was all she said.

  “Well then, climb on up, and Matthew will show you the filly.

  Mattie mounted Apache and followed Matthew into a pasture full of horses.

  “She’s that paint over there,” he said, pointing to the red paint eyeing them and tossing her head.

  “Thanks,” she said, “I’ll cut her out and you open the gate to the round pen,” she told him.