Chapter Twelve
One day they had me gather a bunch of sticks and branches from the scrub brush around the area. I wondered what she had in mind. I was a hundred or so yards behind the barn when I heard that distinct sound. That rattle, a little like a child’s toy in over-drive, put chills up my spine.
I knew what it was immediately. There was no doubt about it. Terror engulfed me, panic struck. I knew that possible death was just a footstep away. I didn’t dare move any part of me except my eyeballs. As I looked to my right, there was a big rattler coiled up about four feet away in the shade of a yucca tree. Slowly I backed away, and my heart slowly settled back into my chest. It was my first real, close-up encounter with a diamondback. Believe me; it scared the hell out of me.
As I tho
