The Jukebox at The Diner Volume Three: "The Funk" Part Six - Long Train Runnin'
"Long Train Runnin'" by The Doobie Brothers
Previously on The Jukebox at The Diner Volume Three…
Charlie had chosen a feed store along the train route a few hours away for a reason. In the morning, he’d helped JePo move the Airstream to the west side of the barn. The concrete curb that the Shelby had hit last year when it arrived had been jackhammered out so the work trucks could haul in the materials for the barn and pen, which by morning had its exterior and roof complete. The foreman had called in the waitlist as well, and the diner parking lot was full when Charlie left. Penny and JePo were cooking for the crew, and the power and water had been run from the refueling station, and a breaker box with a trailer plugin was ready by the time the Airstream got there.
He was about an hour out from the feed store on his way back with a truckbed full of horse feed, and a trailer full of bales of hay for the stalls. Also, one cherry tree.
As he caught the tail end of the train, the enormity of what was happening hit him, and he pulled The Doobie Brother’s 1973 “The Captain and Me” out of his CD case and cranked it after forwarding to track two.
Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho BLM Wild Horse Herd Management had sent almost 70 horses each. Montana and Wyoming had sent Mustangs from Pryor Mountain, and Idaho sent Appaloosa and a few Nez Perce.
Twenty train cars. All heading for the valley. They were going to drop them off just past the crossing. The work crews had almost finished the fencing along the road on the south side, and no one was really worried about the train tracks. The trains that passed by twice daily were probably enough of a deterrent. Charli called Samantha to ask if the vets had arrived. He figured there would be a good amount of work for them once the horses arrived. They were going to chip each of them so they could be monitored.
“I’m side by side with the train now, it’s probably 2 hours out.” -Charlie
“The vets just arrived, and the crew’s done with the barn, so they’re helping finish the fencing along the road. It’s looking good Charlie. We’ve got the Appaloosa in the pen. I’ll let Bella know to be ready to ride out in two hours.” -Samatha
“See you soon beautiful.” -Charlie
“Wait, Charlie.”
“Yes, Samantha.”
“There’s a 100-dollar bill from Joey in my front pocket.”
“The Jones Family always pays its debts.” -Charlie
Charlie got ahead of the train and was almost finished unloading the bales of hay and horse feed when they heard the train’s whistle blow.
Bella had already ridden the Appaloosa out, and everyone else climbed in the beds of Flo and Ole’ Betty and rode out to meet them.
JePo stayed behind, she’d never really been fond of horses, and she had her hands full with a few wild stallions from the construction crews, who were all out on the patio eating and drinking to their hearts desire in reward for a job well done and ahead of time.
Out in the valley, as the train slowed to a stop, Charlie and Samantha got out of Flo, walked to the front, and leaned against the hood.
"Holy shit, that’s a lot of train cars.” -Samantha, watching as the three teams of Montana, Wyoming, and Idaho BLM walked down the tracks, opening the cars and pulling out ramps for the horses to get down on.
The first horse was a light brown Mustang stallion, who didn’t need any help coming down the ramp once he saw the open valley. He ran out about 100 yards to stretch his legs and then turned and jogged back, neighing for his herd to follow his lead. This happened for each train car. Bella had kept the Appaloosa at a distance, mostly to keep a single horse from running off, but it wasn’t necessary. The trip had worn the horses out, and they were happy to graze not far from the tracks in the warmth of the late afternoon sun.
The last car, from Idaho, held a surprise. A black stallion. The only one. It stepped slowly down the ramp, saw all the horses, and kept its distance.
8 horses needed immediate attention, and the BLM teams brought them to the vets. They were too weak to run. They were slowly walked over to the pen, and many of the horses followed to see where they were being taken.
Outside the pen were watering and feed troughs, and Charlie and Samantha had kept their eye on the black stallion, mostly because it kept its distance from the other horses.
It stopped and drank a little water at one of the troughs, and sniffed the horse feed but passed, and slowly walked around the barn to the west end.
That’s where it found JePo, planting the cherry tree Charlie had gotten for her. She looked at him like he was a little nuts, but somehow, Charlie must have known, because she heard something snort behind her and turned around to find herself face-to-face with the black stallion.
“Oh, my goodness. Look at you!” JePo reached into her pocket and pulled out an apple she hadn’t eaten yet. She held it in the open palm of her hand and the horse softly took it and ate it.
She saw Charlie and Samantha behind the horse with a saddle blanket and a horse lead.
Samantha brought it over and showed JePo how to put it on.
Charlie brought over a pail of water as JePo tied the lead off on the trailer hook of the Airstream.
That’s when they heard it, the crackle of the jukebox speaker across the road.
JePo and Samantha looked at the black horse, and then the cherry tree.
“Charlie Jones did you dream this or something?” -Samantha
That Jones Family grin said it all as the needle dropped.
Just before the sun went down, Charlie, Samantha, Penny, Jessie, Joey, Bella, and JePo stood up on the deck that jutted out from the upper loft of the barn looking south and staring out into the valley.
“I think we did some good today, Charlie.” -Joey.
Down below in the pen the black horse spotted JePo and neighed at her, and she tossed down an apple, which it raised on its hind legs and caught in mid-air.
"Don’t y’all just love how all this feels perfectly normal?” -Penny