ENTANGLED 1

leo blaqke was leaning against the wooden loading chute at the 07 ranch. in his hand he held a copenhagen snuff tin. he fumbled with it , rolling it around and rubbing the faded label. he hadent used snuff in years, but he kept the tin as a reminder . when ever stress threatened him he brought out the tin from his shirt pocket. he was stareing down the dirt road that was the mile and half entrence to the 07 from the hiway down below. as of yet no dust showed it self. he was anxious for the arrival of his daughter. she was moveing home from san francisco. on one hand he was eager to seee her, on the other she would be another mouth to feed. it had been a dry couple of years and the ranch hadnt been produceing. it had been a struggle keeping himslf and mollie fed plus he had sent money to san francisco to cassie at times to help hr along as she tried to break into the journalisum feild. she had been able to secure short stints as a reporter for a local television station but couldnt get set in on a perment basis. as he watched down the road for the dust trail his mind wandered back in time as it did periodicly to south east asia. his second tour of duty and the ambush of his patrol in triple canopy jungle. the 9 man team had been held down in a fire fight with a unseen enemy. finly leo and three others had fought their way to the edge of the clearing to find 15 enemy soldiers scattered about , but others still fired from the jungle as they retreated. lep turned back to their former position. he found his best friend don henly stretched out with his m16 in front of him. he looked up at leo " i aint gonna make it leo, when you get back home, go see mollie and mom and dad. tell them they were my last thoughts. dont let cassie forget me." donnie coughed up a glot of bood and lay his head down next to the stock of the rifle. this came back to leo in his thoughts. over the years it had never been forgotten. when leo had finally returned home he found donnies father jake was a consumptive on his last legs. his wife may was a hopeless alchaolic. donnies widow mollie was doing all she could to hold the ranch together and care for donnies daughter cassie. leo had throwen his duffle bag in the corner of the bunk house and rolled up his sleeves. he wasnt a cowboy but he did know how to work and he wasnt afraid to.thathad all been 22 years ago. ma and pa henly had passed on within the first year and it just seemed natural for him and mollie to fall in love and get married. cassie was always aware her real dad was a war hero. but she still called leo daddy. at times like this whle he was rmenising leo always felt a twinge of guilt. his best friend growing up was in south east asia, and he was here with his family and inheritance. down the road a small swirl of dust was raising. he looked at the snuff tin, at times like this he longed for the tobacco. over at the house mollie was comming out the door toward him he marveled at her she still held a firm figgure and was a strong woman despite all the stress they had lived through. leo remembered a son he and mollie had together. brad, where ws he now? leo felt a pain at the thought . after school brad had taken to the drug culture. and dropped from sight. he and mollie rarely mentioned him. into the yard rolled a yellow camen ghia volks wagen. cassie waveing out the window before she stopped or the dust settled. mollie came to leo and he wrapped his arms around her waist as the walked forward to greet the young woman.