Sonny rolled over onto his back, and as he did so, he felt a sharp pain in his head and his wrist. A terrible pain shot through Sonny's stomach. His eyes fluttered open, but he could not make out any shapes or any images. He looked up at what he thought was the sky, and after the blurriness went away, then came the double vision, and more pain.

        He immediately shut his eyes again, hoping he was just having a bad dream, and hoping that the horrid pain in his head and stomach would just go away. But the pain did not go away, instead it got worse. Sonny tried to fight through the pain as he tried to remember what had happened. Several images flew across Sonny's mind. He saw images of a steer, and a horse, then he was on the ground and trying to cut his hand free, but what his hand was attached to he could not tell. The last thing he saw was blood. That's all he could remember. He fought hard to remember the rest, but it would not come to him. The pain returned now to Sonny's stomach, so he put his left hand on the source of the pain, and felt a warm, sticky residue. Forcing his eyes open, Sonny brought his hand to his face. The crimson red blood that Sonny saw in his flashback was the same blood that he saw now.

         Sonny forced himself to lift his head, just enough to look at where the blood was coming from, but his vision was still too blurry. Feeling around with his left hand he felt a rock just about a foot away from his head. With all of his might, Sonny moved over to the large rock, and leaned against it. He panted, gasping for breath. Now, looking down at his stomach, his vision came into focus. What he saw shocked him; his long-sleeved work shirt was torn into many pieces, and it was so covered in mud, dirt and blood, that Sonny couldn't tell what color it was. Pulling his shirt away from his stomach, Sonny could see why he was hurting so bad. There was a large cut, diagonally, down his stomach. The wound was very deep, and was still bleeding.

       Looking to his right, he saw his right wrist completely limp, and an eerie shade of white, blue, and purple mixed under his glove. Then he saw what he was trying to free his hand of earlier; there was a rope tied around his wrist.

      His wrist was bleeding and there was a deep cut where the rope had been tightly wound, but Sonny was thankful that he was wearing a glove or else the cut would've been much worse.

      "Thank you, God." Sonny prayed when he took off the remainder of the rope and began to regain feeling in his wrist again. As he looked down at his stomach, trying to figure out what to do next, something dripped off of Sonny's forehead, and he realized that his head was bleeding too. Immediately Sonny ripped off his left sleeve from his shirt and with God's help, Sonny was able to tie it around his head, from mostly the strength of his left hand, to stop the bleeding. He realized that his cowboy hat was not on his head and must've fallen off somewhere, but that was the last thing that mattered to him right now. By this time, Sonny's right wrist had almost completely regained all feeling, and he was able to take off what was left of his shirt, and tie it around his painful, and bleeding, stomach. He muffled his screams when he pulled the shirt tight around his waist.

       Knowing that there was nothing left to do besides pray, Sonny looked around, hoping, praying for any reminder as to what had happened, and where he was at. Sonny realized that he was, without a doubt, lost. Lost on his own ranch, or what he thought was his ranch, with no water, no food, and no horse. He had nothing but his own faith, and that was enough for Sonny right now.

       Sonny laid his head back on the rock, and closed his eyes. Even though he knew that he was lost, in a lot of pain, and losing a lot of blood, Sonny knew that he was going to be okay. Suddenly, a calming peace came over Sonny and he knew that God had a reason to keep him alive right now, and that it was really God who had cut the rope off his wrist and tied the shirt around Sonny's head and waist. Sonny tried to smiled, as he realized this thought, and he knew that God was going to let him live. But just as this thought came to mind, the world around Sonny went black, again.

                                                                    ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

     "Where are ya Sonny?" Jeweldean quietly whispered out into the darkness as she stood on the porch. It was well after 9:00pm, and Sonny still had not returned home from moving their cattle into a pasture closer to the barn for winter. She was certain that she had already seen all of the other ranch hands bring their horses into the barn, and head back to the bunkhouse for the night. Exhausted from their long day of work, the cowboys decided to skip supper tonight, opting for whatever food they had in the bunkhouse, hoping for a feast of a meal for breakfast the next morning. No matter what, though, Sonny would always come in for supper, but tonight, he didn't show.

        "You're always home by this time." Jeweldean said, knowing Sonny couldn't hear her. Behind her, she heard the screen door shut. She turned around and saw Cody holding infant Suzannah.

         "Ma, where's pa?" The tiny, afraid voice asked, still holding a sleeping Suzannah..

       "I don't know darlin'. I reckon he's just workin' a little later tonight. Maybe he went into town with Clint and the other ranch hands. Don't worry though. I'm sure he will be home soon." Jeweldean tried to calm her worried son, but she was also trying to reassure herself.

        "Okay. Can we pray for pa, mama?"

        "Yes, sweetie. That's a mighty fine idea." Jeweldean grabbed two year old Suzanne from Cody's arms and then took Cody's hand and lead him to the porch swing.

        "Dear God, please be with pa tonight, and bring him home to us quickly and safely. Amen." Cody spoke the little prayer.

       "Amen." Jeweldean echoed. "Now how 'bout you go on inside and git all washed up and into bed, and I'll be in in a bit to tuck you in. Sound like a plan?"

     "Alright, ma." Cody yawned and walked inside.

       Jeweldean stayed outside in the cool fall night for a short while, with Suzanne in her arms, and stared out into the darkness, hoping to see something, anything to assure her that Sonny was alright. She prayed and prayed, but never once dared to take her eyes off of the door of the barn, hoping that in any second Sonny was going to come waltzing in there with Bronco right behind him.

      An hour passed, and Jeweldean was awakened by the sound of a crying toddler. Jeweldean looked around and realized that she was still outside sitting on the porch swing. Two year old Suzanne wasn't too keen about sleeping outside, so Jeweldean stood up from the porch swing, taking one last look at the door of the barn in the distance. Discouraged, Jeweldean headed back inside; she knew that if Sonny was home, he would have woken her up, but since she fell asleep outside, Jeweldean knew that Sonny still was not home.

       After tucking in Cody, although he was already asleep by the time she went into his room, and after she had put Suzannah down in the crib in her room, Jeweldean was about ready to go to sleep herself.

        Jeweldean changed into her nightgown and brushed her long, almost waist-length brown hair. Her hair had every shade of brown in it. Sonny had called her hair a "waterfall of gold." Thinking of Sonny made her worry about him even more; where was he? Why wasn't he home yet? What if something happened to him? After she was finished brushing her hair, Jeweldean checked on Suzanne in her crib, then blew out the candle by her bed and slipped under the covers.

        Jeweldean tossed and turned all night; no matter what she did she could not fall asleep. Several times during the night, she had rolled over and laid her hand on Sonny's side of the bed, almost forgetting he was gone.

         Before the sun could rise, the farm's rooster crowed, and an alarmed Jeweldean sprung up in bed, gasping. Panting for breath, Jeweldean looked around her, trying to remember what had happened. She tried to brush away the scary images of her nightmare she had had last night. As she looked around, her mind came back to reality; immediately she looked to her left, to Sonny's side of the bed. He was not in bed, and the smooth sheets said that he never came home last night, either.

       Jeweldean was unsure of how long she slept last night, but she knew she didn't get more than an hour of undisturbed sleep. She had a terrible nightmare; in it Sonny was hurt real bad, but Jeweldean was trapped behind an unknown force, unable to get to Sonny to help him.

       "It was just a dream. Just a dream. Sonny's okay. It was just a dream." Jeweldean tried to convince herself the whole time that she got dressed and made breakfast.

       Jeweldean grabbed a cast iron skillet and began to crack eggs over them when Cody came tearing down the hall.

      "Hi mama!" He said with a big bright smile. Jeweldean jumped since her mind was preoccupied with thoughts about Sonny's whereabouts. Looking around, Cody did not like what he saw, his pa was still not home.

      Jeweldean turned around to face her son. "Hi hon, you sleep well last night?" Her attention turned to her son from fretting about her husband.

      "Yeah, I did." Cody sat down at the kitchen table, and looked at his hands. "Ma. Where is pa? I'm startin' to git all worried. I didn't hear him come in last night."

       Jeweldean couldn't answer her son. She fought for encouraging words but none came to her. She walked over to Cody and bent down beside him, then grabbed his little hands.

         "Cody, I ain't sure where your pa is. He might've been off wranglin' a lost steer, and he might've just gotten caught up, and spent the night out in the woods. I'm sure everythang is alright. Just pray for him okay?" Her lips formed a forced, wavering smile.

         "Ok ma. I'll pray for 'im." Cody said, but didn't sound very reassured.

          Silently, Jeweldean said a prayer for Sonny herself, and she prayed that what she told her son was true. "Sonny will be home soon, and everything is gonna be alright." But something in Jeweldean's gut told her that something was not right. She felt completely lost even though she was standing right in her kitchen, making her young'uns and the ranch hands breakfast.

                                                                 ~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

       After breakfast, Jeweldean couldn't wait around any longer for Sonny; she had to do something. "Cody, can you please finish washing these dishes for me? I'm gonna go talk to Clint." Jeweldean said, and dried her hands on her apron as she walked outside. Determined to find her husband, Jeweldean walked straight for Clint's cabin. All five of the ranch hands live with Sonny and Jeweldean on the ranch. All of the hands, except Clint share the bunkhouse that is a ways from the barn and house. Clint was a childhood friend of Sonny, and was their first ranch hand, so Sonny and Clint had built a small cabin between the barn and the farm house, slightly closer to the house than the other cabins. Neither of the McArthur's had expected their ranch to grow the way it did, otherwise they would have built each ranch hand their own cabin.

     After crossing the yard, Jeweldean took a deep breath as she arrived at Clint's cabin; the building directly in between the barn and the farmhouse. Jeweldean knocked three times on Clint's door, stepping back to give space. After a few seconds, his door opened. 

      "Well, howdy there ma'am. Nice to see you." Clint tipped his hat and leaned against the door frame.

     "You too Clint," Jeweldean started. She seemed at a loss for words. "Have...did....do you know where Sonny is? He never came home yesterday after y'all rounded up the cattle."

       Clint's face went white. Taking off his hat, he ran his fingers through his hair. He seemed to be pondering Jeweldean's question. "Well ma'am, he said he was goin' off to wrangle a steer that got away from the herd. I..." Clint's voice trailed off and he placed his hat back on his head. He crossed his arms over his chest. "He said he had something else to do in town but...I never saw him come back, though, now that you mention it. I wonder..." Clint looked down.

       "What Clint? Please, anything you know you gotta tell me, see I had this dream last night. In it Sonny got hurt real bad; I'm worried 'bout him, Clint." Jeweldean pleaded.

         "Shoot, well, I reckon the steer could've somehow gotten separated from Stephen's herd. Maybe Sonny took the steer back to Stephen." Clint said.

         Jeweldean nodded. "Great. Thanks Clint." She started walking towards the barn when Clint came beside her.

       "Where are you goin'?" Clint asked.

        Jeweldean didn't slow her fast pace. "To find Sonny."

         Clint jumped in front of Jeweldean like a cougar on the prowl for his next meal. Jeweldean stopped and put her hands on her hips, but she didn't look at Clint. Putting both of his hands out in front of him, Clint spoke. "Whoa there. Now think this through. This is a real bad idea. You..."

          "What? I'm what?" Jeweldean asked Clint, her temper rising. Every minute they stood there fussing was another minute they could be out looking for Sonny. 

        Jeweldean is normally a very calm woman who almost never gets mad, nor does she ever cry. But when she does get mad, it never lasts long, and she doesn't ever really yell; it's mostly anger she tries to keep to herself. She had discovered when she was about six months pregnant with Cody that she got upset a whole lot quicker when she's pregnant. And she would have mood swings when she would break down and cry, or just get plain angry for no reason. The same thing was happening now.

Clint looked Jeweldean in the eye. "Well, for starters, you have yer third young'un on the way, you have two more inside who are both under five. And if Sonny comes home while yer out, then you'll be out lookin' for him and he'll be lookin' for you. I'm not gonna let you go."

         "I rode when I was nine months pregnant with Cody. This ain't gonna stop me." Jeweldean said and lightly patted her stomach. When she began to walk away, Clint grabbed both of her arms, turning Sonny's feisty wife back around.

       "Please, Jeweldean. Be reasonable. It's not safe for you to go."

       "Clint, I'm goin', and you ain't gonna stop me." She tried to fight against Clint's grip.

      Clint looked down, and sighed, his grip only loosening slightly. "If you are that determined to find Sonny right now, then I'll go. I care too much about you to see you get hurt. Please."

       Jeweldean looked down, and without looking at Clint she said, "Fine. But please just..." She now looked up into Clint's face. "Please be careful. I can't risk you bein' lost too."

      Clint let go of Jeweldean's arm, and smiled. "Thanks ma'am, I will." Clint turned on his heels and began walking towards the barn.

       "Clint, why don't you come inside and eat some leftover breakfast before you go?" The mother in Jeweldean asked.

     "I already ate ma'am. I'm going to ride to Stephen's ranch first, then I will go into town and see if Sonny's there. If he ain't I'll ride around the property, and see if I can find anything that tells me where your husband is. I'll be back late tonight, so don't wait up for me." Clint said and walked into the barn before Jeweldean could respond.

       Stephen's ranch was a long ride away, even if you galloped the whole way there. Clint would have to ride at a slow gait in order to look for Sonny thoroughly in the woods. Jeweldean just stood there and watched as Clint rode away. She said a quick prayer for Clint and Sonny, then walked back inside her house.

          "Who was that?" Little Cody asked.

       "That was Clint, Cody. I'm gonna go get Suzanne, then I need your help out in the barn, okay?"

        Jeweldean felt terrible for having to make Cody work in the barn, but she desperately needed his help. Besides, Cody is his daddy's little boy and Sonny had taught Cody a lot of things about barn work. When Cody was just a baby, Sonny would take him for short trail rides; it was the only way Cody could fall asleep at night. Sonny said that his parents said that was the only way that he could fall asleep, too, when he was a baby.

      As Jeweldean did some of the harder work in the barn, Cody did the easy things, such as throwing two flakes of hay into each stall. Luckily, there were a couple ranch hands who decided to have a later breakfast in order to help get the chores done. There were many things that Sonny usually did that no one else did, but since Sonny never came home last night, those things didn't get done when they were supposed to, so Jeweldean did most of them now.

       After a couple hours, the work was done. Cody and one of the ranch hands, whose name was Carver, were playing with some lariats, so Jeweldean went back inside the house with Suzanne.

        Jeweldean fed Suzanne, and read to her some, then put her down for a nap. She kept thinking about Sonny, no matter what she did to distract her mind; she prayed and prayed that Clint would find him, but Sonny is a very smart man, and if he was lost and alive he would've been home by now.