The other Dutton

No Good Horses

I put the flowers carefully into my saddle bags. A thing I rember about my mom was that she loved wild flowers. So that's what she would get. Today was the day that my mom had passed away. The sun had just barely risen as I rode towards the cemetery.

As I rode back the sun was completely up. Telling me that I had been there for about two hours. As I rode in the yard I noticed two things with in seconds of each other. The first thing being the governors SUV in the drive way. The second thing was Beth sitting in the water trough drinking with Jamie by her. I let out a breath and rode over to them.

"It's thursday." Jamie told Beth. He forgot. Go figure. Beth looked over at me as I stoped Star by the trough. We were faced towards the house.

"Carly what day is it?" Beth asked.

"It's the day our mother died." Beth nodded then looked back towards the house.

"I bet he rembers." We both watched as Jamie walked away.

"Is that the good stuff?" I asked as I pointed to the bottle in her hands. She nodded and handed me a bottle. I took a couple sips. I pulled a face at it while handing it back. I would rather just stick to my beer and whiskey. 

The front door opened and out came the governer. On all the days he had to do it today. As she walked away she wouldn't meet our eyes. To have both Dutton sisters glare at you was bad. But today it was almost deadly. We watched as she drove off.

"Beth why don't you go inside." I suggested.

"Why?" I froze for a second. Say something brain. I pleaded.

"Because I need you to find me some more western shirts." I said after a second. I really didn't need anymore but it would distract  her. She nodded and got up. I quickly shit my eyes. "Nothing to fancy." I called out. When I heard the door close I opened my eyes.

I got off Star and we started towards the barn. "Why couldn't I have one normal sibling?" I asked Star. She just snorted at me. I went and unsaddled her. Then brushed her out. I looked up to see Rip come in.

"How are you doing?" He asked as he hugged me.

"Living the dream." I tried to smile but it fell short.

"Do you want to and kick some people's ass at roping with me?" I turned in his grip. And let out a real smile.

"I would love too." I saddle Sprite up. This was a great chance to work with him. I was the header as Rip was the heeler. We made a great team considering we had the fastest time.

"Ha. Beat that! You guys just got your asses handed to you by a girl!" I said as high five Lloyd.

"We can do better!" Ryan called.

"By all means go for it." I challenged with a smirk. Him and Colby went into the box. I let out a laugh when they didn't even get a rope around the calf. Both boys just flipped me off. I could tell they weren't mad by the little smile they had.

"Ready to do it again baby?" I nodded.

I was in the barn braiding Stars hair. Rip and I had kick ass in roping. Rip was up at the house fixing dinner. I wanted to spend a little more time down here. I watched as Beth and Jamie came stomping in. With those two together it was never good. But each of em had a fire in there eyes. That was a big ooo no. I went by the stall door to listen in better and to see what was going down.

"If you bring out a fucking goat I'm fucking leaving." Beth began with.

"Oh my God your such a fucking child."

"Well I'm a child running for an office no one thinks you can do."

"All I do everyday is fight for this family. What have you ever done?"

"Oh you're a fighter Jamie. You just don't win them." Damn shots fired! But on some level she was right.

"The hell I don't!"

"If you were winning, I wouldn't be here. He only calls me when you lose."

"What did I ever lose?! This is the largest ranch in Montana. It's 200,000 acres larger than it was when I became cheif counsel."

"Argue with him Jamie. Cause I don't care. I don't give a shit about this place. If dad died tomorrow  I would sell my share to 4 seasons and I would swim laps in the pool they built with out a ounce of remorse. Or I would give it to Carly." I felt so touch that she would give me her share. But I couldn't stay fixed on it because she wasn't done. "Everything I do is for him and everything you do is for you. The only reason I'm here is because he doesn't trust you!"

"Your so toxic! I can barely rember what you were like before you killed her." Silence filled the barn. That was a low hit. I watched as Beth pounched him. Witch he deserved. She keeped hitting him while telling him to be a man. He reeled back and punched her square in the eye.

"How's that for a man."

Beth laughed as she got up. "A man would have walked away." She said then walked away. I let myself out of the stall.

"You know I used to think you were really smart but I've reliazed that kind of stupid." He glared at me but I just shugged my shoulder then left.