How to Rope a McCoy (Hell Yeah!) Read Free Page B

to the bathrooms, Cato was fighting
someone she couldn’t see. He held her down. She couldn’t move and if he was
saying anything to her, she couldn’t hear. Cato knew she needed to scream for
help, but years of being forbidden to speak had taken their toll.
    Her
mother had been wrong, Cato was being attacked—why, she didn’t know. All she’d
done was go to the bathroom, leaving her things sitting at one of the cubicles
by the window. Keeping her head down, she’d made her way through the tables and
by the check-out desk, making eye-contact with no one. She wasn’t aware anyone
had noticed her at all. So when a cruel hand jerked her backward and someone
began choking her, forcing her to the ground, Cato was shocked and scared to
death.
    What
was happening? She struggled, she tried to crawl away. But her captor had his
knee pressed into her back, holding her down. A hard jerk tore Cato’s dress
from top to bottom. “Oh, God,” Cato prayed silently. She was about to be raped.
A renewed determination to escape drove her to arch her back, attempting to
dislodge her assailant. But a hard blow to the side of her head made Cato see
sparks.
    Suddenly
the weight on her back was gone. Cato scrambled forward, desperate to find a
way to escape her attacker. When she reached the wall a few feet away, Cato
turned around, making herself as small as possible.
    Someone
had come to her rescue! Two men struggled. A younger, angry looking man held
another man aloft. The man being held in the air was thin and sallow looking
with a few teeth missing in the front. The only problem was, she didn’t know
which one had attacked her and who her savior was. Trying to calm down, she
considered running, but her dress was falling off and she couldn’t bear to be
seen half-naked.
    As
she huddled against the wall, focusing on the unbelievable scenario in front of
her, Cato could see the younger man was speaking. Watching his lips, she
realized this handsome, strong man was her champion.
    “Why
are you disrespecting women? Only weak pathetic men attack those weaker than
themselves. Is this the only way you can get a woman, attack one?”
    If
the other man responded, Cato couldn’t hear it.
    Everything
was happening so fast, she felt like she was watching it all from a distance.
Her hero wore a cowboy hat and boots. The hat was lying to one side next to a
stack of books. The top book had slid off and lay near to her. She saw it was Heart
of Texas by Laurence Culhane . As if in a daze,
Cato resolved to one day read the book.
    Movement
from her left drew her attention. Several people ran in, the librarian, a
policeman and her mother. Cato’s time must have been up and Edith had come
looking for her. “What have you done?” she screamed. Cato explained the best
she could. Her mother tried to pull her up, but Cato resisted, not wanting
anyone else to see her in this condition.
    In
the confusion, Cato lost sight of the boy who’d been brave enough to stand up
for her. Someone finally brought her a coat and she allowed herself to be
helped from the floor. They led her to a room where she was questioned, or
rather her mother was questioned. She wasn’t allowed to speak and most of what
she told her mother wasn’t what was relayed to the police. Cato tried to find
out about the man who saved her, but her mother dismissed her questions and by
the time she could get up and look for herself, he was gone.
    Cato
never learned who he was, but she never forgot him.
    It
was funny, but the incident didn’t affect her like everyone thought it would.
Cato still asked to go to the library when she had papers to do. After all, it
was an unusual occurrence. Since her bout with meningitis and the loss of her
hearing, Edith had insisted Cato be homeschooled, which just made matters
worse. It was so obvious her mother hated spending time with her. This made
everything harder and made both of them miserable. So, Cato was hungry for any
type of social interaction.