Chapter ONE-EMMET

Six weeks later…

“I can’t believe of all the fucked up places I’ve been, I wind up in Dry Creek, where the last thing it is, is fucking dry!” I snarled as I tried again to push the fence post back into an upright position.

Rain pelted down on me, soaking the already completely saturated and muddied ground, and making more of a mess than I could even comprehend.

Each drop felt like a tiny fist beating on me, and I could barely hear myself think over the roar of the storm.

The sometimes beautiful scenery of the ranch transformed into a blurry canvas of grays and browns. The scent of damp earth mixed with the tang of metal and rotted wood from the felled fence, beneath that was animal fur and dung.

The joyful cacophony of bleating goats a second to the rolling thunder and nonstop tinkle of raindrops hitting the tin roof of their shelter.

“Goddamn it, Dolly Sue, stop head-butting me,” I growled at the big-breasted goat who kept knocking into my backside as I worked.