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Show -43- Peppermint Monday imagine he could crush the bones in my arms without even using his full strength. "Russ is having a lot of trouble using his hands. He's upset. Ma thought you could help." I looked up into this hard, gray eyes and couldn't imagine him helping anyone. His nose was large, and bent like it had been broken. His jaw was square and patched with several days stubble. His hair was peppered with gray, shaggy and dusty from farming. He was older than most farmers that still farmed, but it was impossible to guess what his actual age was. Under his weathered, wrinkled skin, there was youthful strength. Jake was timeless. It was like he had always been here, and would never leave. The mountains were part of him, and he of them. "Lets git goin' then." Jake walked to the side of his shack where one of his stubborn mules was standing. Pa said Jake's mules were the orneriest animals he'd ever seen. I guess they'd learned it all from Jake„ Jake straddled the mule, dwarfing the animal. The mule immediately-started toward me, never faltering at Jake's command. Theihing certainly didn't look stubborn to me. When Jake rode him he looked more like a trained pony at a carnival. "Get on." The pair stopped at my side while Jake reached out a large, calloused hand to pull me up. Jake took one look at my shocked expression and started the mule to a slow walk again. Without looking back at me he croaked, "It's a long walk but it's up to ya whether ya ride ar not. It's of no difference to me." My feet ached, same as they had before, but I still had my pride. I'd die in the hills before I rode behind Jake on his mule. He knew it too. |
