Cutter’s Christmas

Visit Eighty-One

The rugged, weathered-skinned cowboy is slouched in the wooden chair across the desk from the neatly dressed foreman, Gordan Brooks. Brooks is visibly upset.

Brooks grits his teeth as he spits the words at the older employee, “You aren’t getting any advance, Cutter. You’ve already got a tab of two thousand dollars. You only make eight hundred a month and it will take you quite a while to pay that back. You want another five hundred and I just can’t do it.”

Sam Cutter says, “Mister Brooks, I need the money to get my wife moved here before Christmas. It’s only a week away and I’d like to have her with me.”

“Cutter, you’ve only worked for us a couple of months and you’re not from around here. I can’t take a chance on you taking off with that money. No! I’m sorry, but that’s that. Now get back to work.”

Cutter slowly unfolds his lanky frame out of his chair and leaves the office. As he shuts the door and turns, he is startled to see Kathy Simmons, the owner’s daughter, standing next to the kitchen door a few feet away. She says, “Brooks is a little gruff sometimes, Mister Cutter. I’m Sorry… I overheard your conversation. Where is Mrs. Cutter?”

“At Carson… She’s living with her sister until I can get us a place. There’s a house for rent down the road apiece. The five hundred would cover the deposit and first month rent and transportation for Melissa.”

“What about that two thousand dollars? What was that all about?”

“Right after I got here, Melissa got sick and went to the hospital. The doctor and hospital were expensive.”

“And Brooks just advanced you the money?”

“Well, he took my old pickup in exchange and I’m going to pay him back out of my wages.”

Brooks opens the door and sees Cutter. He says, “You got business here, Cutter? If not, get to work. You haven’t put in a full day since you started here. Move it or hit the road.” He notices the owner’s daughter and says, “Morning, Miss Kathy. Is this cowboy bothering you?”

Kathy replies, “Not at all, Mister Brooks… not at all.” To Cutter she says, “Take care, Mister Cutter. See you later.”

“Yes ma’am. Good day.”

********

The wind is whistling through the pine trees and large snowflakes are beginning to fall. It is early afternoon on Christmas Eve in this mountainous area twenty miles west of the town of Drake. A horseman is riding easily on an Appaloosa along the valley floor. Cutter is traveling up to the ridgeline searching for stray calves that were separated from their mothers when he moved the herd closer to the ranch house this morning. With the bad weather moving in, it will be easier to feed the herd.

Sam is the only cowboy working today. The others have been given Christmas Eve and Christmas Day off to be with their families. Since he is the newest employee and has no family locally, Sam draws this job. When he locates this last calf, his day is done and he can get to the bunkhouse and get warm. The forecast is for bad weather moving in tonight. It will be a white Christmas this year.

Cutter’s wrinkled skin reflects the affects of summer wind and sun and the cold hard winters associated with this tough, outdoor occupation. He guides his horse onto the shoulder of the interstate highway that cuts through the Simmons ranch. Cutter has a good view down the steep rocky slopes to the valley below. This area is densely populated with thick brambles and briars that can hide even the largest calves.

He pulls the collar of his heavy coat up around his neck in an attempt of fighting off the biting wind. Cutter speaks out loud, “Lord, it’s getting cold. Help me find that pesky calf. I know we saw her head this way. And help me, Lord, to find a way to bring Melissa here. I miss her so. Thank you, Lord.”

Cutter arrives at a sharp curve in the highway. He dismounts and goes to the edge next to the guardrail. He scans the steep slope below looking for the wandering calf.

He is deep in thought, trying to figure out where that illusive critter might be. He is startled to hear the distinct voice of a girl, “Watch out, Mister Cutter!”

He turns and throws his arms over his face as a large mountain lion leaps out of nowhere toward him. Cutter staggers back and his legs hit the guardrail. He tumbles backward down the steep slope through the brambles and brush. He falls head over heels as he bumps and skids halfway to the bottom. His fall is stopped by a soft collision with a large cedar tree. Cutter jumps to his feet and frantically looks around trying to find the lion. He is perplexed when he can’t find the vicious wild animal. It seemed to him that the lion’s leaping attack should have resulted in his fall down the mountain with Sam. After thinking about the events, he realizes that the lion didn’t actually hit him, but Sam just reacted and fell over the guardrail.

Cutter looks up toward the top of the ridge where he had been standing. He is surprised to see a young girl, maybe eight or nine years old, standing next to the guardrail looking down at him. She is dressed in a white dress and next to her is the mountain lion who snarls at Sam.

The brown haired girl points to her left, Cutter’s right. Cutter looks to where she is pointing and notices a suitcase barely visible beneath some dense bramble bushes. This suitcase couldn’t be seen from the highway above and Cutter wonders how the girl knew where it was. He looks up again to where she was standing, but the girl and lion are gone. He pulls the suitcase from its hiding place.

Cutter takes his handkerchief and ties the handle of the suitcase to his belt. It is very heavy and Sam struggles as he climbs slowly back to the top. He is exhausted as he pulls himself over the guardrail and sits on the ground trying to catch his breath and get his strength back. His horse is standing patiently waiting for Sam. Cutter remarks, “Mel, did you see a girl and lion? I guess not… you would of took off if you saw that lion. I must be cracking up… seeing things, you know.”

He looks down the road and sees a pickup truck heading his way. It pulls over to the shoulder of the road and a tall, young man wearing a parka gets out. Cutter recognizes the young man as Bill Warner, the deputy sheriff of the county. Warner goes to the same church as Cutter over at the crossroads to the west.

Warner asks, “What ya doing, Cutter? You fall off your horse or something?” He chuckles at his joke.

“No, funny man… I… kind of fell down the ravine and had to climb out.” Sam pauses a moment and then asks, “You probably think I’m crazy, but did you know of or maybe you have a report about a mountain lion and… and… a little brown-haired girl about eight or nine? Maybe you know of them around about… you know, girl and her pet lion.”

“Cutter, did you hit your head when you fell? I know you’re no drinking man… But a girl and a pet mountain lion? You want me to drive you to a doctor?”

“I don’t need no doctor. I know what I saw and I saw a lion and he jumped at me and I fell over the side. And I saw this young girl too.” Cutter gets to his feet and continues, “I’ve got to find a missing calf then I’m going back to the ranch, take a hot bath and go to bed. I’m bushed.”

Warner says, “That’s what I wanted to tell you… I found your calf down the road a bit and she’s in the back of my pickup. Tie your horse on the back and I’ll give you a ride back to the ranch. You can pay me with a cup of coffee.” He notices the suitcase and asks, “What’s that there, Cutter? You taking a trip?”

“Naw… I think it belongs to… that little girl.” He notices the grin on Warner’s face. “I know I saw a girl… anyway, she pointed to where this suitcase was…kind of hidden like… down the mountain side.

Warner exclaims, “Wait a minute! Man, I remember something about a suitcase!”

“What are you raving about, Bill?”

“It was last year about this time… There was this bank robbery in Drake and the crooks made a break for it up this highway. We were trying to catch them, but they had a fast car. They came to this turn and collided head on with another car. Both vehicles went over the side, rolled down the mountain hit the bottom and burst into flames. All were killed. It was a terrible wreck… Besides the two robbers being killed there was also a mother and daughter in the other car. It was a sad time around here. The Lamberts were loved and well known and very active in our church. The pastor did a great job at the funeral.”

Cutter interrupts, “Wait a minute… Lambert… Lambert… Didn’t the pastor say something about keeping Lambert… Barry Lambert on the prayer list and something about taking up a collection for him?”

“Yes… Barry’s had a hard year… must seem like twenty years to him. He lost his wife and little girl and he took it real, real hard… I probably would of too if it had happened to me. Now he’s about to lose his farm too.”

“Why’s that?”

“Barry’s been… despondent, I think they call it, and not doing much work at the farm. He didn’t have any insurance on the girls and had to borrow money for the funerals… you know how much those things cost. He’s in debt about $10,000 dollars and the creditor is going to take the farm and sell it at auction.”

“Who’s the creditor?”

“Your boss, Ted Simmons… actually, it’s the foreman, Brooks, that is pushing this. Mister Simmons is hardly here with other business taking up much of his time and he leaves the ranch running to Brooks and his daughter… mostly Brooks. Brooks is not a patient man. He gave Barry ten more days to come up with the money or he’s taking the farm. Actually, I’ll have to be the one and I’m not looking forward to it.”

“What’s all this got to do with this suitcase?”

“The witnesses said the robbers put the bank money in a suitcase. It never was found after the wreck. It was assumed that the money was burned up and gone. The insurance company put out a reward just in case, but no one came forward.”

“You think this is the one?”

“Got to be… It probably fell out of the car on the way down and landed in the brush. Put it up here on the hood and let’s see.”

After Warner opens the suitcase he exclaims, “Wow! I ain’t never seen so much money in one place before. Ain’t it pretty?”

“I never considered money as being pretty. What do we do now?”

“I’ll take it into Drake and get the banker out of his Christmas Eve celebration and give him his money. Come on, Cutter. I’ll drop you off at the ranch on the way. Let’s go, man!”

As they are racing down the road, Cutter asks, “How old was Lambert’s daughter?”

“She was ten… I know what you’re thinking, Cutter. Yes, she had brown hair. I know you. You think Jeannie came back from heaven to show you where this suitcase was hidden? Man, that’s crazy… you’re crazy. You didn’t see no lion or girl. Think about it, Cutter. You’re entitled to that reward. I think it’s $25,000 and that’s a lot of money. You’re a rich man, Cutter.”

“It don’t belong to me, Warner. I wouldn’t have found that suitcase without that little girl. I know she wants that money to go to her father.”

“Cutter, you need that money too. Don’t forget your wife...don’t forget Melissa. And don’t forget you’ve got debts too.”

********

When they arrive at the Simmons’ ranch house, Kathy is standing on the front porch. Before she can say anything, Warner yells to her, “Try talking some sense into this crazy man, Kathy. I’ve got to get to town with this suitcase. Cutter found the First National Bank heist money.” Cutter gets out of the pickup and Warner speeds down the road toward town.

Kathy asks, “What’s all that about, Cutter? Why are you crazy?”

“That’s Warner’s opinion. He thinks I should take some reward for finding that stolen money.”

“And you don’t?”

“I think it belongs to Lambert. His wife and daughter kind of stopped those crooks… in a manner of speaking. Therefore, it belongs to him… not me. I just followed directions to where it was hidden. Besides it sounds like he needs it to pay you off.”

“What do you mean… pay me off?”

“This ranch holds a mortgage on Lambert’s farm. I believe Brooks gave Lambert until the first of the year to come up with ten thousand dollars.”

“I didn’t know… But believe me I’ll take care of Mister Brooks. Cutter, there is a surprise for you in the living room. I’ll be right back. I need to talk to our foreman. It sounds like we need to ask Mister Brooks to move on.”

Cutter walks into the living room. He exclaims, “Melissa!”

Cutter and his wife embrace and kiss. Melissa says, “It’s been too long, Cowboy.”

“How did this happen? I didn’t get the money to send for you.”

“Miss Kathy did it… She sent the money for me to get here and you know what?” She continues when Cutter shakes his head, “She bought a house for us down the way… paid the whole thing and said we can pay her back over time. We’ve got a home, Sam.”

Cutter says, “This is the best Christmas ever… God is so good.”

********

In the space between here and there, Jesus is kneeling and Jeannie is behind him with her arms around his neck. They watch as Cutter and Melissa are talking. Jeannie asks, “How did you know Mister Cutter wouldn’t keep the reward money, Jesus?”

We have been friends for a long, long time. I knew what my friend would do.”