Jim Craig

snowy_river_man @ 2013-11-26T20:06:00

2013-11-27T01:22:00Z

As Spur once said, there's no trick to rounding up Harrison's strays if you know where to look.

Their initial breakneck pace slowed when they reached a steeper, more tangled section of forest, and Jim and Kate settled into an easy silence. It's lovely to listen to nothing more than the sounds he grew up with: the creak of leather, the plodding of hooves, the snap of twigs. He appreciates the time it gives him to think, the time it gives him to feel faintly guilty for leaving Jess the way they did. It made the most sense, but he suspects she might not see it that way.

"I'll need to leave a note," he tells Kate. "For Harrison."

He'll have come searching for his daughter. Jim is sure of it.

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snowy_river_man @ 2013-04-03T19:44:00

2013-04-03T23:53:22Z

Spur's place is a second home to Jim in many ways. It's as entangled with his history as his own homestead, and with his father dead, there is no one Jim trusts more.

Even now, knowing he's a Harrison.

Riding up the hill along the rail fence, Jim smiles as he catches sight of the ramshackle house, built between thin trees with nothing at its back but blue sky. Jessica's arms are looped loosely around his waist as they have been for hours, and Kate is close behind on her Beaut. The sun is shining, the air crisp. He finds he's looking forward to seeing Spur's face when he realizes Jessica has come for a visit.

"Spur!"

He slows his horse.

"Spur!" A brief Pause. "Spur!"

Still no answer.

"Damn," Jim mutters, coming to a stop.

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snowy_river_man @ 2012-09-23T16:51:00

2012-09-23T21:11:38Z

The mists wrap around the trees and thick underbrush, hiding the low light of morning.

Up ahead, the quiet lowing of the strays guides Jim and Kate out of the thicket where he'd had his camp. Minute by minute the light grows, revealing dark, storm-softened turf and healthy patches of grass. All the colors are lush, rich greens and browns, except for the dull gray of the sky. Up here, the air after a storm feels like you're waltzing through clouds.

Slowly, the sounds of life waking up begin to join the cattle noises. It's still early. There isn't much to see of the mountains yet, but it's hard not to feel their presence.

Jim turns back to Kate and Beaut, anxious and proud at the same time. "All right?"

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snowy_river_man @ 2012-05-21T12:28:00

2012-05-21T16:55:04Z

The mist clings to the mountains like a shroud made of spider webs after the storm. It had been a bad one. Growing up as he did, Jim knew how to weather it, dressing for warmth and building a makeshift pen in the undergrowth to keep the strays safe. They'd done well, Jim and the strays: mountain born and bred, no matter how much time they spend in the flats.

He walks the outskirts of his camp an hour before the sun rise struggles to light the damp gray morning. The mud is thick, but not impassable. He'll move the strays on today.

Later.

First he decides to make a trip to Milliways. The pleasure of being back in the mountains where things make sense is offset by a strange need to return to the bar, as if he has left something unfinished or has yet to uncover some truth that will help him do what needs to be done. He can't explain it, can only give in now while he can, while life is still quiet and calm in the aftermath of the storm. He knows everything will change when he returns the strays to Harrison. He'll have a big decision to make, and somehow he still doesn't feel equipped to make it.

So here he is, at the end of the universe, perched on a fence rail by the paddock while the sun warms his face and horses graze on sweet grass and flick their tails in the breeze. It is a pleasant scene, a perfectly ordinary scene, and Jim is utterly content to just be.

Though if he said he hadn't picked his current spot in the hopes of seeing a particularly lovely woman headed to or from the stables, he'd be a liar. And Jim Craig is honest to a fault.

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