Home to Texas by Kaki Warner

Author:Kaki Warner [Warner, Kaki]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Penguin Publishing Group
Published: 2021-06-29T00:00:00+00:00

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Forty-five minutes later, they were back in the car. As they put Abilene and the last of the hill country behind them, the land flattened on high plains. Caliche outcrops covered with scrub cedar gave way to rolling hills with gnarly-branched oaks, pecans, and farmland. Which, in turn, gave way to wind farms, oil pump jacks—some still nodding, others rusted in place—and finally to endless vistas of prairie grass dotted with grazing cattle. And wind. Steady, constant wind pushing against the car. Reminded Richard of Afghanistan. Farm entrances soon became ranch gates with cattle guards. There were fewer dead deer by the road and more possums, skunks, and armadillos.

When they sped past a big black lump on the grassy shoulder, vultures exploded into the air. “What the hell was that?” Richard asked, twisting to stare back at it. “You don’t have bears, do you?”

“Worse. Texas is overrun with feral hogs. They do hundreds of millions in damages every year. We’re even starting to get them at the ranch.”

“What do you do about them?”

“Try to fence them out. Trap them if we can, or shoot them if we have to. They’re pretty wily. Do you hunt?” Another thing she didn’t know about him. In so many ways, Richard was a mystery to her. She didn’t even know if he had hobbies.

“Only lawbreakers,” he answered. “But I like to fish.”

Boring. But for Richard, she might give it another try.

In the distance, windmills churned in the steady wind, dribbling water into huge round metal tanks or shallow man-made ponds. Wide-open spaces grew even wider and the cottony clouds hanging overhead stretched down to the curve of the earth.

KD had never been to Washington state, but she’d heard it rained all the time, and in addition to mountains and tall fir and spruce trees, it had lots rivers, lakes, and waterfalls. This flat, treeless landscape must seem like another world to Richard.

“So what do you think?” She gestured to the prairie beyond the window.

“Where did the trees go?”

“Where the water is. What else?”

“It’s flat. And windy. And a little boring. Except for the variety of road kill.”

“It certainly can be. It’s the people in Texas that make it a great place, not the topography. But if it makes you feel any better, we have lots of trees on the ranch because Rough Creek runs through the middle of it. And we have outstanding people, too. What about Washington state?”

“The opposite. Outstanding topography, people okay.”

“Probably cranky because there’s not enough sun.”

“On the west side there isn’t. But east of the mountains it’s a lot like this. Hot, dry, rattlers, although winters can be snowy and dip below zero. There’s more farming than grazing there, too. Orchards, wheat, hay, vegetables, dairy farms. And since they legalized it, marijuana farms, too.”

She gave him a look. “Are you a hemp head?” As soon as the words were out, she wanted them back. She’d forgotten that his brother was an addict.

He shook his head. “I hate that stuff.

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