The Pain
Ever since Allison’s parents had delivered her to Uncle Jim’s ranch two days ago, her cousin had not gotten the hint to leave her alone.  Couldn’t he tell that she didn’t want to be here?  Nobody even asked her.  Her mom just told her she was going to have a “really fun time at the ranch with Kevin.” 

    No, she didn’t want to see Kevin’s rabbit babies.  No, she didn’t want to help gather chicken eggs.  No, she didn’t care about Kevin’s arrowhead collection.  Finally, she had given in and agreed to see his fort.

“You’re really going to like this place,” enthused Kevin.  “I come here when I want to be completely alone; you know, to think.” 

Allison couldn’t help wondering why they had to hike so darned far to be alone.  Being out here on the ranch was total isolation compared to where she lived.  Her neighborhood was always busy with people.

Out here you couldn’t even see the neighbor’s house.  She didn’t have a clue which way to look.  All she could see was rolling hills just starting to turn from green to brown after the summer rains.  Sagebrush was everywhere not to mention those trees called junipers that looked like giant bushes.

“How much farther?” complained Allison.

“It’s just up here.  See?  Around those boulders.  Come on!”

As Allison struggled to the top of the rocks, she could see why Kevin liked this spot.  The beauty of the vista was startling.  From up here she could see for miles over the rolling landscape and here and there a roof above the crest of a hill.  It was almost magic the way whole houses could be completely hidden behind these hills and giant bushes. 
    As they sat side by side Allison breathed, “Wow.”

“Yeah,” agreed Kevin.

He smiled shyly, she thought.  Perhaps because he had brought out his proudest possession and was afraid to believe that she saw value in it too.

“I’m sorry I’ve been such a pain.”  Allison kept her eyes down but she was glad she had finally said something.  It had been so hard to be mean to her cousin . It wasn’t his fault she felt stuck here.

“That’s O.K.,” Kevin murmured.  A moment later he scrambled down off the rocks.     

    “Wait here.  I’ll be right back.”

Wondering what Kevin was up to, Allison silently slid down her side of the large rock.  As she made her way around the outcropping, she heard a sound that caused her stomach to drop and her heart to pound.  It was an unmistakable rattling.

 Allison froze.  As if in a dream, she cautiously turned her head in the direction of the terrifying sound, and there it was.  About two feet away, coiled, tongue flicking in and out, in and out; a rattlesnake!

“Don’t move!”  Kevin was suddenly there to her right moving in slowly behind the snake. “Snakes can’t hear, but they do feel the vibrations of walking feet on the ground.”  Kevin spoke steadily to Allison, his eyes never leaving the snake.  He continued to reassure her with his voice as he invisibly moved in.  

 “You must have surprised him sunning himself.  The problem is he feels cornered because there is no where for him to go; except past you.”  Kevin’s voice was calm and measured almost hypnotic as if he willed Allison to keep still.

“So, when I count to three I want you to turn and run as fast as you can.  He doesn’t know I’m here yet.  I’m going to stomp my feet to draw his attention.  When he turns toward me, GO!”

Allison could barely breathe.  She knew somewhere in her mind that this must be pretty dangerous for Kevin but was too frightened to protest. 

“One, two, THREE!”  Kevin burst into violent stomping in the dirt all the time backing up while Allison whirled around and frantically stumbled through the rocks to safety.

When Kevin left off stomping, he ran around the rocks to find Allison.

“Allison!  Are you O.K.?  Allison!”

“I’m over here.”  Kevin found her standing behind a juniper tree.  She was white as a ghost, and could see Kevin’s alarm in his anxious features. 

“Are you O.K.?” he asked gently.

“Yeah.  Man, I’ve never been so scared in my life.”

“Rattlesnakes are a pain.  I’ve run into them before.  Sorry I left you.  I just went to get these.”  He dug into his front pocket and pulled out two arrowheads and a piece of quartzite.

“I found these the other day and stashed them up here.  I thought you might like to see them.”

Allison paused, feeling torn between her guilt over her behavior and relief at Kevin’s kindness.

“They’re really cool.”  Allison picked up the quartzite and held it up to the sun with a shaky hand.  They grinned at each other.

“Did you say you had some baby bunnies?” asked Allison.

“Yeah, I did.”

“Can I see them?”

“Sure.” Kevin smiled.

    The two cousins walked and talked all the way, and Allison didn’t mind the distance at all.