[PHASE 1] Untouchable

"I can't stand Nevada." The grizzled man grumbled out, taking a final long drag of his cigarette before putting it out in the ashtray in his dash. 

"Oh yeah? Why's that?" The man in the passenger seat was far younger than Joseph, a devilish smirk on his face that the older man swore was permanent- likely from not listening to his mother telling him that his face would get stuck like that but that had been his own opinion. 

"Nothin' good comes out of Nevada. State of sinners." Joseph grumbled out with his baritone voice. 

The younger man couldn't help but laugh at him, shaking his head with disbelief. 

"See? That's what's wrong with you boy." The older man said with a huff of laughter. 

"There ain't nothin' wrong with me old man." Mack said with an eyeroll. 

"I'd say there's plenty wrong with you, but I ain't got the time to make a list just yet." The old man chuckled off, scratching at his whiskers as he turned into the rescue. 

"Maybe after this we can go gambling." Mack suggested. 

Joseph shook his head, "we ain't gonna have the time for that." He had a feeling that it was going to be an all day event picking up a horse and even with an early start in the morning, they wouldn't be making it back to Utah until late.

Joseph pulled the old farm truck and horse trailer up to the building and put it in park, giving Mack's shoulder a quick backhand before climbing out and shutting the door with a heavy 'thunk'. Mack was at his heels with a halter and rope draped over his shoulder as Joseph walked up to the office where a sweet woman with a sunny disposition greeted them both. 

“Hello! Welcome to Sagebrush Sanctuary, you’ll be able to select from these two horses to work with. Make yourselves comfortable and come find me when you’ve made your decision. You can take your time.” The woman said with a smile as she offered Joseph two clip boards. 

“Thank you ma’am.” Joseph said with a polite nod, tipping the front of his hat to her 

“ID- 11048: Kept for breeding thanks to their flashy colouring, no one thought to check for temperament. This horse is as ill mannered as they come, and will flash teeth or hoof to get their way. After their most recent display of force, this horse was let out to pasture indefinitely, and hasn't been handled in a long time.”

“ID-11097: This horse had a harrowing encounter with a snake in their past. Now, they spook at and attack hoses, ropes, or anything resembling the reptiles.”

“Seems a bit unfortunate to bring a horse with the fear of snakes to a place like Nevada.” Mack pointed out over Joseph’s arm.
The older man shook his head with a grumble, “God wasted a perfectly good asshole puttin’ teeth in your mouth.”

Mack rolled his eyes at the insult, but couldn’t help but chuckle at it.Where this old man came up with this stuff…

Joseph heaved a sigh as he stood up and got the paperwork sorted with the decision he had made, the flashy coat with behavioral problems. He’d dare compare the problem horse with his smaller colleague. 

Now, the hardest part was going to be getting the horse in the trailer, Joseph already had an idea it would take a minute and was getting the feeling that it’d prove to take twice as long with the way Mack trailed after him and mumbled some nonsense or another that the older man simply didn’t understand. He figured he wouldn’t understand him even if he hadn’t been mumbling. 

Joseph leaned against the fence, spotting out the stallion quickly with his brazen coat and sucking his teeth at the way the bald horse raised his head and tail on sight of them- sniffing in their direction with uncertainty. Mack climbed up on the fence and took a seat, letting out a long whistle and a chuckle.

“Weren’t kiddin’ when they said flashy, huh? Guess not everything that comes out of Nevada is so bad?” The younger man teased as he looked down at Joseph.

The grizzled man shook his head, “Ain’t seen how he acts yet.” 

“Maybe he ain’t so bad.” Mack laughed out as he saw the stallion already showing of it was willing to buck and kick their direction despite the distance between them. 

“I’m going to bring the truck closer.” Joseph said, “why don’t you try to make friends with him?” the older man chuckled out as he gave Mack another firm back pat that nearly knocked him into the fence with the stallion that showed off at their presence. 

Mack slipped, landing in the fence before quickly climbing back onto it with a burst of laughter. “I can’t stand you old man!” He called after him, getting a dismissive arm gesture over the man’s shoulders. He returned a rude gesture with a raised hand back before dusting off his vest with a huff and looking back out to the stallion in the pen. 

“No… no I get it.” Mack said to himself with a headshake. “Nothin’ but a player stuck in a cage now.” He huffed out, but his thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of the truck and trailer backing up to the gate. 

Mack climbed back down as Joseph got out of the truck, ready to try to catch the stallion but the old man thought he had a better idea and took the halter and rope from him. 

“Think you got him old man?” Mack asked.

“Ain’t a horse I haven’t been able to get.” The man grumbled at him. 

Unhandled didn’t mean shy, with this stallion, it especially didn’t mean so. He was kept by himself for a reason, Joseph could bet the stallion had been a problem in getting any other horses out of the pasture as well with the way he paraded around, bobbing his head with arrogance and snorting.  

“Well, don’t be scared, go on and show me how its done.” Mack tested and received a scowl from the old man. 

“Make yourself useful and stay out of the way.” Joseph snapped at him. 

The man made himself useful in another way by grabbing rope to form a lasso and standing by. 

The older man eased forward, the stallion facing him to challenge him and closed the gap between them. The man was skilled, he showed that in the way he moved, the way he braced his feet with an empty raised hand and the halter in the other. The large stallion kept his head raised, his nostrils flaring as he snorted at Joseph. 

The man, he managed to get the halter on the stallion but it must have been by some dumb luck or maybe even a slight of hand because when he went to take the rope and start leading with a soft ‘shhh’ and a gentle pet of the stallion’s neck, the stallion let out an ear-piercing roar. Dirt kicked up as the stallion reared back and twisted so gracefully that Mack would have compared him to a ballerina had it not been for the way the stallion recollected his feet to kick a sharp hoof at the older man who quickly had started stepping back before falling on his arse. 

“Goddamit!” Mack hissed out with venom in his voice as he started darting to him. 

The hooves had been narrowly missed by the old man who crawled to his retreat, saved by the distraction the younger man caused. The teeth had been narrowly missed by the younger man before the stallion twisted again in a showy escape. 

Mack threw the lasso, watching as it draped over the stallion’s head and tightening quickly as he tried to make his daring escape. The younger man braced his feet, throwing the loose rope around his back and feeling it catch around the back of his legs. 

A string of curses left the young rodeo hand’s lips as the rope tightened and the horse managed to drag him a pace forward before coming to a stop so that he could throw a temper tantrum in the form of bucking and rearing. 

“ ‘Less you got a broken leg, grab that damn lead!” Mack barked out to the old man in a rare display of discipline and leadership. 

The man didn’t have time to argue as he found his feet, his knees aching and screaming at him to stop but he still darted over and scarcely managed to catch the lead in the stallion’s fit. It wasn’t the most elegant way to catch the stallion, but with both of their hands on ropes, it made the decision of who to go after a little more difficult. 

The task of getting the stallion into the trailer left both men gasping for breath, sweat soaked in their shirts and salt lines at the creases of their collars and hats. The door shut with a metal thunk, the latch closed just in time to keep the stallion from kicking it back open. The stallion inside had worked up just as much of a sweat, snorting heavily and loudly announcing his displeasure of the predicament.

“Ain’t nothin’ good come out of Nevada.” Joseph hissed out through heavy breaths.

“I don’t know. That volunteer seemed kinda nice.” Mack chuckled out through his panting. “I’d say you’re starting to lose your touch, old man.” 

“You keep that up and I’m makin’ you ride back there with him.” Joseph grumbled out.
“He might be a better conversation piece.” Mack said with a huff of attitude. “When are you gonna admit you’re gettin’ old and let me help without you nearly getting trampled first?”

“I wouldn’t admit it if I was on my death bed boy.” The man growled out. 

Mack shook his head and stood up straight, dusting himself off and ripping off his hat with an air of attitude to dust off as well. 

“Now quit your huffin’ and puffin’ and let's get on the road. The sooner we get home, the better.” 

Mack’s lips twitched, his nose wrinkling as he walked past the man, stopping at the front of the trailer to catch a sharp blue eye that stared down at him through the rails. Apathetic, with a hint of foul utter hatred. He licked his chapped lips for a moment as he found himself in a staring contest with the stallion before the horse one by screeching and snapping his head towards him- making the young man step back a pace as a curse spilled from his lips. 

“Are you comin’ boy?” The grizzled man called out. 

“Yeah, I’m comin’.” Mack muttered out as he straightened his vest, returned his hat to his head and climbed into the passenger seat of the truck as Joseph cranked the key and started the long journey home. 

For once, Mack didn’t do a whole lot of talking. Propping his foot on the dash and leaning back in the seat with his hat as he watched the trailer through the rearview mirror. There was a fire behind those icy blue eyes that made him almost uncomfortable. Dealing with that horse was going to be no easier than dancing with the devil and keeping your soul.