Cord’s Redemption by Jaxson Kidman

Chapter Two

The first horseCord was given by his grandfather he had named her Sugar. A cruel lesson was taught to him just a year later when the horse mis-stepped, broke its leg, and had to be put down. From that moment on Cord vowed to never name a horse again.

Since that time, he just referred to his horses by their color.

He rode brown across an open field, letting the horse run with speed.

Looking as though he was coming from the horizon, Des rode toward Cord.

Cord gave a tug on the reins and brown came to a quick halt. He sat stoic in the saddle, his back straight as an arrow. His eyes scanned the horizon.

There was a sense of freedom that bled from the trees as they reached up toward the sky.

But freedom was never had.

That was another hard lesson Cord learned about life at a young age.

When Des caught up, Cord didn’t need to say a word to his brother.

It was a simple head nod.

They both knew where to go and who to look for next.

Cord only had one thought.

Goddamn you, Tripp. You had one fucking job last night.

The two older Lynot brothers rode toward the Kaigne Creek.

That’s not where Tripp was going to be, but damn close to it.

The Kaigne had several smaller branches that sometimes dried up in summer. Or they’d freeze over in winter when water was there.

Most of the smaller spots had been dammed up more than once by the Lynot’s.

Everyone on the ranch and in the valley knew that Tripp loved to party at one of the dammed up parts. He built himself a nice little setup down there too. Places to sit. A fire pit. Always a tent or two ready to be setup in minutes.

Cord stopped his horse the same time Des did.

They both jumped down and tied the reins around two separate trees.

“I’m going to cut his dick off,” Des said.

“No, you’re not,” Cord said. “You only want to.”

“I’m not kidding.”

“If we’re being fair here, who was out causing trouble down at Ma and Annie’s bar?”

Des put a hand out and touched Cord’s chest. “That wasn’t trouble, Cord. That was making sure those assholes knew where they were. Guys like that come through and think they’re tough. Next thing you know they’re hitting on Annie. Or they’ve invited more outsiders in. Things are never good when guys like that show up.”

“You have a thing for Annie?” Cord asked, lifting an eyebrow.

“Curves and tits, brother,” Des said. “But that’s all for River.”

Cord laughed. “River wouldn’t go near Annie. He’s afraid of Ma.”

“We all are,” Des said. He pointed toward a small dip that led to the dammed up water. “Let’s go see what our brother is up to this time.”

Never one to forget who he was, where he came from, and where he currently lived, Cord made sure to gently place his hand on the gun tucked into the back of his jeans.

It wasn’t really the cowboy kind of look. More outlaw than anything else.

Keeping the weapon hidden gave Cord a little bit of an upper hand - possibly - if things were to go bad.

As Cord took the first few steps down a short hill, he dug his heels in and shook his head.

“Look at him,” Des said as he stepped up next to Cord. “I mean, there’s a part of me that can’t even get mad. Two women this time.”

Sure enough, there was Tripp Lynot, sleeping on his back, hands behind his head.

Two nude women sleeping on his chest.

Two blondes at that.

That was the Tripp Lynot special.

One woman had a tattoo running down her spine.

The other had a tattoo at the small of her back.

“Wonder what that ink looks like,” Des said. “Let’s go find out.”

Cord grabbed for Des. “We’re not sneaking up on some naked women. Grow up a little.”

“We have to wake them all up at least,” Des said. “I’ll throw some rocks. At Tripp, not the women. I bet I can hit his dick from here.”

“You know us Lynot’s are blessed like that,” Cord said.

Des chuckled.

As he reached down to grab a few rocks, Cord took a different approach.

He stuck his fingers into his mouth and whistled.

The sound echoed all around and Tripp’s eyes popped open.

He quickly sat up and turned.

His two guests also popped up.

Des groaned at the sight of their bare chests.

“Why didn’t you call me, Tripp?” Des whispered.

“You know he doesn’t share,” Cord said.

“Which is why I fight and get what I want,” Des said. He cupped his hands and called out, “Do you beautiful ladies want some breakfast? Come on out of that hole with that dirt bag and hang out with a real man!”

Tripp laughed.

The women looked around, trying to find their clothes.

Cord walked down the hill and was soon inches from the one woman with the tattoo down the middle of her spine.

She looked up at him with bright blue eyes and a smile that could make any honest man a little weak in the knees. She was on her knees, in front of him, her arms covering her breasts.

“Dare me to move my arms?” she purred.

Cord crouched down and stared at her.

He reached to his right and picked up a shirt.

“I think this is yours,” Cord said.

The woman took the shirt.

Cord stood and looked at the other woman. “Same for you. Get dressed.”

“Hold on a second here,” Tripp said. “How about a proper introduction? This is Emma and Ashlynn.”

“With two M’s,” Emma said, looking up at Cord again.

“And I have two N’s,” Ashlynn said.

“And they both have double D’s,” Tripp said and he let out a quick whistle.

Emma and Ashlynn giggled.

“Okay, that’s enough of that,” Cord said. “Get up and get out of here. You’re parked over there, right?”

Cord pointed and both women nodded.

He knew that because he knew where Tripp loved to go drink and find women.

Emma and Ashlynn put their shirts on and got to their feet.

Emma leaned against Cord as she wrestled her tight jeans onto her body.

Cord curled his lip.

Ashlynn stared at Cord with darker blue eyes but the same wild smile as Emma.

“Think you can walk us to my truck?” Emma whispered to Cord. “It can be dangerous. We can thank you when we get there.”

“You got here, you know how to leave,” Cord said.

Tripp put his hands out and each woman grabbed a hand.

“I’ll be in touch,” he said. “You beautiful wild cowgirls.”

Emma and Ashlynn collected the rest of their belongings and trotted off.

Tripp stood up and stretched his back. Wearing nothing but old blue jeans.

“Sometimes I swear you’re blind or dumb,” Tripp said to Cord. “You could have walked them back to their truck and they would have drained your soul from your body.”

“Where the fuck were you last night?” Cord asked, inching closer to his brother.

“Don’t start on me,” Tripp said.

“You have a job here, Tripp. You want to get your dick sucked by every half-drunk woman in the valley? Go for it. But not until we’re okay here.”

“We are okay here,” Tripp said. “You’re paranoid.”

“Did you check the line last night?” Cord asked.

Tripp’s jaw tightened and he looked away.

Cord grabbed Tripp’s face to turn his head to meet his eyes.

Tripp pushed Cord back.

Des jumped between the two. “Nah, not the day for that shit.”

“Do your fucking job, Tripp,” Cord said.

“Let me ask you something, Cord. When was the last time you got laid? Huh? All that pent up aggression in there. You can’t just jerk off, thinking about you know who all the time, right?”

Cord took a step and Des curled a tight fist around his shirt.

“Both of you relax,” Des said. “We have to keep this family together.”

“This family has been broken for years,” Tripp said. “Now you’re all paranoid over a note left one time.”

Tripp swiped his shirt off the ground.

Des looked at Cord.

Cord’s lip started to curl again.

Des shook his head.

There wasn’t much that could make Cord back down. Not even Des and his head nod.

Cord knew how to think beyond a situation.

Tripp put his shirt on and began to search the ground for his cigarettes.

As he reached for the pack, Cord stepped forward, putting his giant cowboy boot on the pack of cigarettes.

Tripp looked up at his brother. “Cord, you crush my smokes before I have one this morning and I’m going to drown you.”

“One fucking job, brother. We’re all in this right now. Doesn’t matter who loves or hates one another. If we don’t put on a happy family front, you know what’s going to happen. Right?”

“Of course I fucking know what’s going to happen. Now move your goddamn boot.”

Cord moved his boot and Tripped grabbed the cigarettes.

He lit one, took a deep drag and exhaled.

“You guys are going about it all wrong,” Tripp said. “We don’t need someone watching the property looking for a note. We need to arm our guys and tell them we’re hunting something.”

“Or someone,” Des said.

Cord pointed at both of his brothers. “It’s not their war to fight. They only work here.”

“They know what they’re here for, Cord,” Tripp said. “Don’t try to be fucking noble now. We’re beyond that. All that matters is keeping this shit away from us.”

Tripp pointed with his cigarette.

Cord turned his head and knew where his brother was pointing.

On the other side of the Angrila Ridge. Where mansion sized houses were built with a fake, rustic feel. Where resorts were plotted out. Where a country club stood that made them all feel like they were cowboys when in reality they were all just rich people without a clue.

And they all wanted the same thing.

A piece of the Lynot’s.

Actually, they wanted it all.

At the same time, Cord wanted something on the other side of that ridge too.

Something that was never supposed to come back to this area.

He balled up his fists tight.

“That’s right, brother,” Tripp said with his smoke-stained breath. “Fill yourself with that anger. Fight during the day, then find women like Emma and Ashlynn to help calm you at night.”

Cord threw an elbow and knocked Tripp away.

Tripp laughed.

Des asked, “So, Tripp, which one fucked harder?”

Cord didn’t stick around to listen.

There was a war to fight.

Des toreopen the door to the massive bunkhouse that was once the original barn. It was built by one of the Lynot’s more years ago than anyone wanted to count.

Cord stepped into the bunkhouse behind Des.

This was just in time to see Kemen leaning across an old table with his hands behind his back.

Mahon had a firm hold of Kemen’s hands.

“I’m not going to flinch,” Kemen said. “Come on, you pussy, hit me. Let’s go, Max. Let’s see what you’ve got.”

Cord looked to his left and Morsey hobbled toward him, holding two beers.

One for Cord, one for himself.

“What’s going on here?” Cord asked the second to oldest guy working on the ranch.

Morsey looked every single second of his seventy years of age.

He was a little shorter than Cord but under the aged, losing-the-battle-to-gravity skin, he was built with thick muscle. The kind of muscle nobody had now. Morsey had been working on a ranch from the moment he took his first steps.

“These fuckers are debating who can take a punch the easiest,” Morsey said.

“Just what we need,” Des said. “Max is going to knock Kemen right out.”

“He hits his head on the table at the right angle and that could be bad,” Cord said.

“Don’t be a pussy about it,” Morsey growled with a laugh. “In my day, you just fought. Whatever happened… shit, it happened.”

Cord walked forward just as Max wound up for a punch.

“Let’s go, cocksucker,” Kemen said. “Hit me.”

Before Cord could get close enough, Des made his move.

He walked to the table and flipped it up and over with ease.

The table smacked Kemen in the jaw and his head flew back.

“My neck is broken!” Kemen cried out. “I bit off my fucking tongue!”

“You didn’t bite off your tongue,” Cord said. “You’re still talking.”

Kemen opened his mouth and wiped away blood.

“We need the room tonight,” Des said. “That going to be a problem for any of you?”

“Not at all,” Max said. “We’ll head up to the cabin if that’s okay, Des?”

Des looked at Cord.

Everyone then looked at Cord.

Cord gave a nod. “Plenty of beer up there. Get the fuck out of here.”

“Oh, man, my fucking jaw and tongue hurt,” Kemen cried to Mahon.

Mahon threw an arm around Kemen. “Yeah? I felt the same after going down on your mother all night.”

“Fuck you, man. I never knew my mother.”

“Shit, I might be your father then,” Mahon said.

“We’re the same age, asshole.”

“Get them the fuck out of here,” Cord roared at Des.

Des grabbed a half empty whiskey bottle and broke it against the old fridge.

He pointed the jagged, bottleneck end and moved the ranch hands out of the bunkhouse like he was herding cattle.

Which in some ways he was.

Cord picked the table up and with the help of Morsey, he flipped it over.

Cord nodded to Morsey.

“I’ll see myself out,” Morsey said.

“No fucking punches tonight, Morsey,” Cord said.

Morsey chuckled and left.

A minute or so later the door opened and Des came back in along with River and Tripp.

Behind them came their father.

Rich Lynot.

Dressed in a nice, fancy looking flannel.

The kind some douchebag corporate rancher looking guy would wear.

Behind him was Owen.

Rich’s protector.

Then came the patriarch of it all.

Leroy Lynot.

An old man with the eyes of a rattlesnake and slight grin of a pissed off lion.

All of his sons and grandsons had at least one of his features.

For Cord, it was the jawline. Complete with a little bit of scruff.

Leroy leaned against the fridge.

The last person to enter the bunkhouse was Mat Cassidy.

Hired by Leroy for protection.

Even on the ranch that he owned, Leroy still felt the need for protection. Just like his son - Rich Lynot - did.

The tension boiled without a person speaking a word.

Cord knew he had to choose his words carefully. Throwing Tripp to the wolves for not walking the property line the prior night would only kick up enough dust to start a bigger fight than the one that had been lingering for years now.

“Well, we’re here,” Leroy said in his aged, rough voice.

“That we are,” Rich said. He took out a fresh, fat cigar and rolled it between his fingers. “What is this?”

“Something is happening around here,” Cord said. “We all need to stick together and keep our eyes open. All of us.”

Cord glanced at Tripp.

Tripp’s lip curled.

“I’m not sure why this involves me,” Rich said. “I’m living the good life. Nice house. Beautiful wife. Plenty of land. It’s all good on my part of the ranch.”

“Because of what you fucking did, Son,” Leroy said.

“Made the best of an opportunity?” Rich asked his father.

“We’re not going to do this,” Cord said.

“You’re right,” Rich said. “We know where the trouble comes from. Only one person can’t let go of the past around here.”

“I’ll come over there and wipe that money-loving grin off your face,” Leroy said.

Without hesitation both Owen and Mat moved closer, ready to defend Cord’s father and grandfather.

“You know, this is complete bullshit,” River said.

“We fight back,” Tripp said.

“We do our job,” Cord said.

“We look to where our biggest problems are,” Leroy said. “On the other side of the ridge.”

Rich laughed. “You think they would do something like this? At least my fights are face to face. Through contracts and lawyers. There’s purpose. Something to look at.” Rich looked around the bunkhouse. “Gentlemen. My sons. Have a good night.”

Rich nodded to Owen, who then hurried to open the door and they were gone.

“Pop, we have to work this out,” Cord said.

“Some men fight wars with words,” Leroy said. “Some use their fists. Some use weapons. It’s never going to be one sided and easy. No matter what.”

Leroy opened the fridge and helped himself to a beer.

He and Mat then left.

“That went well,” Des said. “No punches were thrown.”

Cord looked at Tripp.

“I’ll go for a walk,” Tripp said. “I have a text to send anyway. Need to keep my streak going.”

“Another woman, huh?” River asked.

Tripp grabbed River’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, little brother. Someday you’ll lose your virginity.”

“Fuck you, Tripp,” River said. “I’ve had more women than you could ever dream of.”

“Now that is complete bullshit,” Tripp said.

“Are we going to talk about whose had more pussy or are we going to keep what’s ours safe?” Cord asked.

“We do both,” Des said. “Booze, sex and violence. That’s what flows through our blood. That’s what makes us all Lynot’s.”

Des pushed from the table.

Cord watched as his brothers waited for a signal.

Cord smacked his knuckles to the table, ending the meeting.

Tripp grabbed River’s shoulder again as they walked toward the door. “You really think you’ve fucked more women than me?”

“Throw me a number,” River said. “If you even know how to use numbers.”

“My numbers are simple, brother. Two is for tits. One is for a slit.”

“Come on, keep moving,” Des said. “I’m in the mood for a fight and I don’t want to fight my own brothers.”

The bunkhouse door slammed shut and Cord took a deep breath.

His heart was heavy and achy.

For a lot of reasons.

He grabbed the edge of the table and flipped it over.

He stepped onto the table as he walked to the door.

His destiny was still the same.

Protect what’s yours - at all costs.