TO FIND PEACE 22

all the rest of the day it rained, not a hard pelting rain but a steady drizzle the dry desert soil could almost be heard sponging up the moisture. ty went out to feed the horses and found himself slipping and slidding in the gumbo mud but two inches down it was still dry. caleche . was what folks called it. it was starting to get dark when ty returned to the house. his bedroll was gone from the porch he kicked off his boots at the door. as he stepped into the house he saw his bed roll spread out on the floor next to katys cot. it laid on top of the navaho rug katey kept there. ty felt a knot raiseing in his stomach. katey saw him standing there stareing at the bed roll. " it was getting wet. you couldnt sleep in the rain. i promise i wont bite." " i dont want to do anything that would make cleve mad. wether he is here or not." ty almost chocked on the staement. " if it worries you ill sleep in cleves bed with the door closed. just because i find someone attractive doesent mean ill jump in his bed right away." katey almost whispered. all through supper there wasnt ten words shared between them, finally ty looked over at katey" its not that i dont find you attractive, your very pretty, but i told cleve i would behave myself. i want to keep my word until he turns me loose." katey looked over at ty" ime 24 years old, i can make my own decisions. but if you promised him i wont ask you to break it.we got work to do." that night ty had a miserable time trying to sleep. the rain was drizzling outside, katey was down the hall behind a closed door and his promise to cleve wore heavily on his soul. he finally dozed off at 2 a.m. what he didnt know was katey was struggling with her soul behind that closed door. just knowing ty was there drove her crazy. she told herself she wasnt easy, but at the same time she was human. when she heard him snore she rolled in the bunk with her back to the direction ty was. but sleep didnt come easy. the next morning while she was frying bacon ty walked by and took note of the red , baggy eyes." tough night?" he asked. " i was worried about cleve." she lied.. " hump" was all ty said as he went to the bath rom to shave. out side the sun was breaking the sky line few clouds remained. ty decided they could work even tho the ground was slippery and bad to ball up on a horses feet. but the sun was bright. maybe feed some hay and by then the mud would thicken.he said as much to katey who nodded as she ate her breakfast. while feeding the cows katey remembereed the slip the state man had given her. she dug around on her dash board until she found it.. and reading it she got mad, but then stopped and thought a moment that caused her to start laughing. ty walked over to see what was so funny. she showed him the citation, then he started laughing it was dated for the day AFTER they removed the cattle from the kj. they decided they would find a brand inspecter and see what he thought about it.. they didnt want to upset cleve with it.