The Last Chance Ranch by Ruth Wind, Barbara Samuel

curled her fingers around Zach’s hand.
    The counselors passed out small canvas bags that could be slung around the shoulder. Ramón illustrated how to wear them.
    “Now you all get to climb trees, but do it carefully. If you break branches, we don’t get fruit from that branch next year. If you don’t want to eat a bunch of bruised, disgusting apples, you also have to put them carefully into your bag, and carefully into the bushel baskets. You’ll be the ones to suffer, all right?” He pointed to the baskets. “Everybody grab some baskets and let’s get this done.”
    The group headed down the dirt road toward the small orchard. About thirty trees stood in neat rows, the grass below their branches thick and green, unlike the rest of the prairie surrounding it. A narrow irrigation ditch snaked around it.
    Ramón dropped back. This morning, he wore his usual jeans and jacket, with tennis shoes instead of boots. Tanya found the change oddly sexy. “Do you think you know what to do?” he asked.
    “Sure. Lift, don’t yank, and don’t drop them, place them in the bags.”
    “If you don’t feel like getting up on a ladder, you can be in charge of seeing that the bags get emptied properly.”
    “No way. I haven’t been in a tree in a long time.” Ramón looked at Zach. “Will you look out for her for me?”
    Solemnly, Zach nodded.
    * * *
    For hours they picked apples, shinnying up and down the orchard trees. Tanya, hanging on a branch below Zach, who was far too much of a daredevil for her tastes, listened to the sounds of the boys. Chatter and laughter punctuated with the peculiarly Latin-Indian “ahhh” that was like “gotcha” in English.
    Toward noon, there was a stir at one end of the orchard—shouts and the dismayed cry of other boys trying to prevent a fight. A tumble of boys rushed by below her. Over her head, Zach cried out, “Look! Tonio and Edwin!” He started to scramble down.
    And slipped.
    Tanya saw him lose his grip. Instinctively, she reached for him, managing to catch hold of the fabric of his jean jacket. The force of his falling body yanked her loose and she tumbled off the branch behind him.
    It wasn’t far, but her position was awkward and she was afraid of landing on Zach and hurting him. With a twisting reach, she flung herself clear, but the heel of her right hand struck the ground first and took all of her weight. A sharp, stabbing pain sliced her arm. With a small cry, she rolled and got to her feet, clasping her arm to her chest.
    “Zach! Are you all right?”
    He was on his knees, coughing, and Tanya bent over him. “Are you okay? Did anything get hurt?”
    “No.” He put a hand to his chest. “Just got the wind knocked out of me.”
    She patted his back. “That was quite a fall.”
    “Scared me.”
    “Are you okay?” Her arm stung sharply and she looked down. Blood spilled from a long jagged cut in the soft flesh of her forearm.
    “You’re cut!” Zach cried.
    Tanya shrugged out of her jacket and wrapped it tightly around her arm to staunch the blood. A fine trembling stirred in her limbs, the first signs of shock. She looked for Ramón. The cut would need stitches.
    A spate of furious Spanish curse words blued the air. Tanya and Zach whirled. A burly counselor held a struggling, yelling Tonio against his chest. Blood marred the boy’s lip. Edwin stood off to one side, breathing hard. The bandanna he wore to hold his hair from his face had fallen off, and thick hair washed onto his forehead. Tanya felt chilled at the expression on his face.
    A second counselor picked Edwin’s bandanna from the grass and gave it to him. Edwin took it without a word, his flat gaze fixed on the counselor dragging Tonio away.
    Ramón materialized beside Tanya and Zach. “I saw you fall. Are you okay?”
    Finally Tanya lifted her arm and peeled back the jacket. Blood soaked the fabric. “No,” she said. “Sorry. I need some stitches.”
    Ramón winced and reached for her.