Brenda Mott - Cowgirl, Say Yes

Her mother’s blue car grew closer, headed for the railroad crossing. Macy could see her behind the wheel, though her face wasn’t clear. What she saw in detail was her mother’s hands, knuckles white as she gripped the steering wheel. She was focused on nothing more than getting home. She seemed unaware of the train.

The car picked up speed. The same car Macy rode in with her mother when they went to the grocery store to pick out cereal and cookies and the big red apples Macy loved. The car she liked so much because it had a huge back seat where she could bounce…up…down…up…while her mother piled bags of groceries all around her until she felt safe and concealed, where she pretended to be a soldier hiding in the jungle of paper and plastic. And the seat belt—when her mother said, “Buckle up, cupcake”—that was really the safety strap that belted her into her fighter jet.

But she wasn’t in the car now, and this wasn’t a game. Macy saw her mother pull up to the railroad crossing and gradually slow. Yes! Macy tried to shout. That’s it. Stop. Just stop, Mommy, please.

She could make out her mom’s long, blond hair, scooped up in a ponytail, just like her own. And then, behind the blue car, a pickup truck came to a halt. Clem McMurty climbed from the truck, his face scrunched and mean-looking. He clenched a buggy whip in one big fist, and he began to snap it in the air as he walked toward her mother’s car. “Go!” he shouted. “Just go.”

No! The word caught in Macy’s throat.

Fearfully, her mother looked over her shoulder at Clem, then back at the railroad tracks. The warning lights began to flash above, bells clanging, hurting Macy’s ears. The black-and-white striped barrier trembled, prepared to lower.

And Mommy stepped on the gas. Sped onto the tracks.

The train whistle blared. The engine was no longer in the distance. It was there. Right there. Bearing down.

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