Girls of the Devil’s Horn Rodeo

by Elephant List

WELCOME TO
COYOTE SPRINGS, AZ
Population 812

The sign stood beside the only gas station in town, sun-faded and full of bullet holes.

A dry desert wind pushed dust across the empty highway while fluorescent lights buzzed above the Silver Moon convenience store.

Then the public phone beside the ice machine started ringing.

Inside the store, a big heavy woman looked up from behind the counter with immediate annoyance.

“Christ…”

She shoved herself off the stool and walked outside beneath the flickering neon sign.

The phone kept ringing.

She already knew who it was.

The woman pressed the receiver against her ear while warm desert wind moved dust across the parking lot.

“Evening, Mae.”

For a moment, only static and distant highway noise filled the line.

Then came the sound of a lighter clicking somewhere far away.

“Town got any lost girls this week?”

The cashier leaned against the ice machine and looked across the highway toward the nearly empty diner beside Route 66.

A dusty blue 2010 Jetta sat alone near the edge of the parking lot.

California plates.

One young woman.

Still sitting inside.

The engine had been off for almost an hour.

“She yours already?” the cashier asked.

Mae laughed quietly on the other end.

“Not yet.”

The cashier studied the girl through the windshield again.

Early twenties maybe.

Long dark curly hair tied up carelessly above tired eyes that looked older than the rest of her.

One cigarette after another disappearing between nervous fingers.

“Looks stranded,” the cashier finally said.

Another pause.

Then Mae spoke softly.

“Keep the coffee hot.”

Across the highway, Ellie slammed both hands against the steering wheel.

“No,” she snapped to herself. “I’m not gonna do it again.”

Then she finally stepped out of the blue sedan with a cigarette hanging from her lips.

Pink leather mini skirt. Faded black tank top. Worn cowboy boots. Denim jacket hanging loosely from narrow shoulders.

The desert heat still clung to the parking lot even after sunset.

She stretched stiffly beside the car before looking toward the gas station across the highway.

That was when she noticed the trailers.

Horse trailers.
Pickup trucks.
Women moving between them beneath portable floodlights.

One of them laughed loudly somewhere in the dark.

Another woman walked past carrying a saddle over one shoulder while country music played softly from an old radio near the generators.

Ellie watched for a moment longer than she meant to.

Then the sedan refused to start again.

The engine clicked twice.

Nothing.

“Piece of shit…”

She hit the steering wheel once before dropping her forehead against it.

A knock against the driver-side window startled her.

Ellie looked up immediately.

Cream leather jacket.
Sunburned throat.
Cigarette between two fingers.

Mae.

“Car trouble?” she asked calmly.

Ellie hesitated before unlocking the door.

Mae looked over the sedan while Ellie tried the ignition again.

The engine coughed once.

Died immediately.

“Alternator’s gone,” Mae said. “You’re not getting far tonight.”

Ellie leaned back in the seat with visible frustration.

“Yeah. I figured that out.”

Mae smiled faintly around the cigarette.

“We could use extra hands for a few days.”

Ellie looked toward the trailers again.

Women moved between portable floodlights and horse fencing while country music drifted softly through the warm Arizona air.

“You offering me a job?”

“Offering you gas money, food, and somewhere to sleep.”

Mae glanced toward the trailers behind the gas station.

“We leave in the morning anyway. This place is just a fuel stop.”

Mae shrugged.

“Up to you what happens after that.”

Ellie slowly guided the dying blue sedan behind the Silver Moon station while the big heavy cashier directed her with a flashlight.

“Back there,” the woman shouted.

Ellie looked past the dumpsters.

Several abandoned vehicles already sat beneath the desert dust.

A rusted pickup truck.
An old RV missing two windows.
Three dead sedans slowly sinking into the dirt.

The cashier noticed her staring.

“People leave things behind around here.”

The sedan stalled one final time before Ellie managed to park beside the others.

Silence followed.

For a moment, Ellie sat behind the wheel without moving.

Then she grabbed her backpack from the passenger seat and stepped back into the warm desert night.

Across the highway, the Devil’s Horn Rodeo floodlights glowed against the darkness.

Mae waited beside the trailers smoking calmly beneath the Arizona sky.

Without another word, Ellie followed her.

The closer Ellie got to the trailers, the more the rodeo stopped feeling temporary.

Women moved through the dirt pathways between generators, horse fencing, and folding tables with the kind of casual familiarity people usually only had inside small families.

Or cults.

One blonde woman sat on the hood of a pickup truck drinking beer in denim shorts while another tightened leather straps around a saddle nearby.

A brown-haired mechanic slid out from beneath one of the trailers wiping grease from her hands onto a stained white tank top.

Nobody seemed surprised to see Ellie following Mae.

That bothered her more than it should have.

“You got a name?” the blonde asked casually.

“Ellie.”

The blonde nodded once toward Mae.

“She keeping you?”

Mae ignored the question completely.

“Find her a place to sleep.”

The blonde smiled slightly around her cigarette before climbing off the truck.

“C’mon then, California.”

Ellie frowned.

“How’d you know—”

“Blue sedan. California plates. Nervous energy.”

The blonde shrugged.

“We get a lot of you out here.”

Ellie slept her first night inside a cramped trailer beside two women she barely knew.

The air smelled like leather, dust, sweat, and cigarette smoke trapped inside old fabric.

Nobody locked anything.

Nobody asked many questions either.

By sunrise, the Devil’s Horn Rodeo was already folding itself apart.

Portable fencing disappeared into trailers.

Generators shut down one by one.

Horses shifted impatiently beneath the pale Arizona sky while women moved through the camp with sleepy efficiency that suggested they had repeated this routine for years.

Ellie stood beside Mae’s truck holding a paper cup of burnt gas station coffee.

“You always move this fast?” she asked.

Mae lit another cigarette.

“Staying too long gets people attached.”

Then she walked away before Ellie could ask what that meant.

The next few towns started blending together after that.

Dusty fairgrounds.
Empty rodeo arenas.
Temporary fences hammered into dry dirt beside highways.

Ellie cleaned horse stalls.
Sold tickets.
Dragged cables through gravel parking lots beneath brutal afternoon heat.

One afternoon outside Prescott, distant police sirens somewhere beyond the fairgrounds made Ellie look up immediately before forcing herself back to work.

At night, the women drank beer beside the trailers while country music drifted softly through the darkness from old radios balanced on coolers.

Mae rarely stayed long.

But whenever she walked through camp, conversations shifted slightly around her.

Not fear.

Something stranger.

Attention.

Like everybody there was quietly waiting for her to notice them again.

The first time Ellie understood the women around Mae weren’t simply coworkers happened outside a rodeo arena near Flagstaff.

The show had ended hours earlier.

Most of the audience was already gone.

Floodlights hummed softly above the empty dirt arena while horses shifted behind temporary fencing.

Ellie carried folding chairs toward the trailers when she noticed Mae sitting alone on the tailgate of an old pickup truck smoking beneath the lights.

Long black skirt.
Boots dusty from the arena.
One knee slightly apart.

The blonde woman from Coyote Springs approached her slowly.

Mae barely looked up.

She simply rested two fingers against the blonde’s wrist before giving the slightest downward motion with her hand.

The blonde obeyed immediately.

Ellie stopped walking.

For several long seconds, the only sounds were generators humming somewhere behind the trailers and distant country music drifting across the empty grounds.

Mae leaned back against the truck calmly while the blonde disappeared beneath the shadow of her skirt.

Not rushed.

Not hidden.

Like everybody there already understood the rules except Ellie.

Mae exhaled cigarette smoke slowly into the cold Arizona night before tilting her head back for a moment with closed eyes.

Then she opened them again.

And saw Ellie watching.

Neither of them moved.

Mae only smiled faintly around the cigarette.

Which somehow felt far more dangerous than embarrassment ever could.

Later that night, Ellie sat alone near the horse trailers smoking beneath the cold Arizona sky when Mae finally approached her.

No cigarette this time.

No smile either.

She stopped beside the fence without speaking for several seconds while horses shifted softly behind them in the darkness.

“You stare too much,” Mae said eventually.

Ellie felt heat crawl immediately into her face.

“I wasn’t—”

“You were.”

Mae leaned both forearms against the fence beside her.

Calm.
Certain.
Completely unembarrassed.

That somehow made it worse.

Ellie looked out toward the empty rodeo grounds instead.

“You do that with everybody?”

Mae studied her quietly for a moment before answering.

“Only the ones who stay.”

After that night, Mae barely spoke to her at all.

The rodeo kept moving west through Arizona while Ellie slowly stopped counting the towns.

Small arenas.
Truck stop showers.
Dust storms rolling across empty highways at sunset.

Days blurred together beneath heat, diesel fumes, and country music drifting through trailer parks long after midnight.

Ellie started noticing Mae everywhere without meaning to.

The sound of her boots crossing gravel behind the trailers.

The low murmur of her voice somewhere beyond the floodlights.

The brief smell of cigarette smoke and leather whenever she passed nearby.

She simply noticed Mae occasionally watching from a distance whenever she hauled equipment or calmed nervous horses before shows.

Taming her.

Never smiling.

Never approaching.

That somehow made Ellie want her attention even more.

One night outside Reno, Ellie stayed awake long after everybody else disappeared into the trailers.

Cold desert wind moved through the empty rodeo grounds while distant highway lights shimmered beyond the fencing.

Somewhere nearby, horses shifted softly in the dark.

Ellie sat alone on overturned fencing beside the arena smoking cigarettes she didn’t even remember borrowing.

Waiting.

Even she knew that was pathetic.

Still, every time headlights passed near the camp, her stomach tightened slightly before relaxing again.

Not Mae.

Not yet.

When Mae finally returned nearly an hour later riding in the passenger seat of an old pickup truck beside two local ranchers, Ellie immediately hated how relieved she felt.

Mae climbed out laughing softly at something one of the men said before noticing Ellie sitting alone beneath the floodlights.

That smile disappeared instantly.

The ranchers drove away a few minutes later.

Mae walked toward her slowly across the dirt arena.

Boots crunching softly against gravel.

“You should be asleep,” Mae said calmly.

Ellie looked away toward the highway lights.

“You weren’t.”

Mae stopped directly in front of her.

For several seconds, neither of them spoke.

Then Mae reached down and pulled the cigarette gently from Ellie’s fingers before taking a slow drag from it herself.

The gesture felt strangely intimate.

More intimate than the blonde beneath the skirt somehow.

Mae handed it back.

“Come see me tomorrow night,” she said softly.

Then she walked away again before Ellie could answer.

The next night, Ellie waited until most of the rodeo finally went quiet before walking toward Mae’s trailer.

Nevada desert wind moved softly through the dark campgrounds.

Generators hummed somewhere far behind the horse fencing while distant highway lights shimmered beyond the empty arena.

Mae’s trailer sat slightly apart from the others near the edge of the grounds.

No music.

No voices.

Just warm yellow light glowing faintly behind the curtains.

Ellie suddenly realized her hands were shaking.

That annoyed her immediately.

She knocked once against the trailer door.

For several seconds, nothing happened.

Then Mae’s voice came softly from inside.

“Come in.”

Ellie stepped inside carefully.

The trailer smelled faintly like leather, whiskey, cigarette smoke, and something warmer underneath she couldn’t immediately place.

Mae sat at the small table near the window still wearing the same black skirt from the night before.

One bare foot rested against the opposite chair.

A cigarette burned slowly between two fingers while an old country song played quietly from a radio near the sink.

Mae looked up once.

Calm as ever.

Then she nodded toward the small bowl of water resting beside the trailer wall.

“Wash my feet.”

Ellie blinked once.

For a moment, she honestly thought she had misunderstood.

Mae took another slow drag from the cigarette.

“You heard me.”

The old country song continued humming softly from the radio while desert wind brushed against the trailer walls outside.

Ellie looked down at the bowl again.

Steam still rose faintly from the water.

Mae had prepared it before she arrived.

Ellie stayed on her knees beside the bowl while warm water dripped slowly from Mae’s bare feet onto the trailer floor.

Mae watched her silently through cigarette smoke.

“Dry them.”

Ellie obeyed immediately this time.

The towel moved slowly across Mae’s skin.

Mae’s bare feet were pale against the dark floor.

She shifted her weight slightly, lifting her leg, placing her foot in Ellie’s lap.

“Massage them.”

Ellie’s hands moved. She pressed her thumbs into the arch, working the tension. Mae’s skin was warm, slightly calloused. She moved her fingers along the heel, the instep.

Mae let out a low breath. “Good.”

Ellie kept working. Her palms slid over the top of Mae’s foot, down to the toes. She lifted the foot gently and pressed her lips to the top.

Mae’s toes curled.

Ellie kissed the arch. Then the ankle. She worked her mouth slowly, kissing, licking along the bone.

Mae’s other foot came up to rest on Ellie’s shoulder.

Ellie turned her head, kissing that ankle too.

“More,” Mae said softly.

Ellie licked between her toes. Sucked each one lightly. Mae’s breathing deepened.

Then Mae pulled her foot back.

She stood.

Her bare feet pressed against the floor. She looked down at Ellie still kneeling in front of her.

Mae’s hands found the hem of her black skirt. She rolled it up slowly. The fabric gathered at her waist.

She wasn’t wearing underwear.

Her pussy was shaved clean. The dark slit visible under the yellow light.

Ellie’s mouth went dry.

Mae’s voice came low, steady.

“Lick my clit first.”

Ellie leaned forward. Her hands rested on Mae’s thighs. She parted her lips and found the small nub with her tongue.

Mae inhaled sharply.

Ellie licked again. Slow, firm circles.

Mae’s fingers tangled in Ellie’s hair.

“Harder.”

Ellie pressed harder with her tongue, lapping at the clit in broad strokes.

Mae’s hips shifted forward.

“Now softer. Slow circles.”

Ellie slowed. Dragged her tongue around the sensitive tip.

Mae moaned above her.

“Faster.”

Ellie obeyed. Her tongue moved quick and wet against the clit.

Mae’s grip tightened in her hair.

“Don’t stop.”

Ellie kept going. Her jaw ached but she didn’t stop. Mae’s body began to tremble. Her thighs tensed around Ellie’s head.

Then Mae cried out.

Her hips bucked against Ellie’s mouth. She held Ellie’s face there, grinding through the orgasm.

Then she released.

Mae stood breathing hard, sweat glistening on her thighs.

“Stand up.”

Ellie rose.

“Undress. Keep your boots on.”

Ellie pulled off her shirt. Her jeans. Her underwear. The cold air hit her skin. Only the dusty leather boots remained.

Mae studied her.

She was still fully dressed. Skirt rolled down now, covering her pussy again. Her blouse still buttoned. Cigarette tucked behind her ear.

She reached behind the table and pulled out a length of rodeo rope.

Nylon. Soft but strong. About six feet.

She held it up so Ellie could see.

“This is a tie-down hitch,” Mae said slowly. “Used for securing loads. Single loop. Then a half hitch. Then a second half hitch.”

She demonstrated with her hands, looping the rope around itself.

Smoke curled from a cigarette she lit between her words.

Ellie watched.

Mae stepped closer. She raised the rope and rubbed it across Ellie’s shoulder. The nylon slid over her skin.

Down her arm. Across her chest. Over one nipple.

Ellie shivered.

Mae dragged the rope lower. Across her belly. Down between her legs.

She pressed the rope against Ellie’s pussy lips, rubbing slow against the clit.

Ellie gasped.

Mae kept rubbing. The rough nylon dragged against sensitive flesh.

“Lay down on the bed.”

Ellie moved backward toward the narrow bed against the wall. She lay on her back.

Mae followed.

She took Ellie’s left wrist, looped the rope around it, tied a quick knot, then wrapped the other end around the metal bed frame.

Then her right wrist.

Ellie was stretched out, arms above her head.

Mae climbed onto the bed.

She lowered her head between Ellie’s legs.

Her tongue found Ellie’s clit immediately. Warm and wet.

Ellie groaned. Her hands pulled against the rope.

Mae licked slowly at first. Then faster. She sucked the clit into her mouth.

Ellie’s hips bucked.

Mae pulled back.

She sat up and unbuttoned her blouse. Tossed it aside. Rolled the black skirt off her hips.

She leaned over to the nightstand. Opened the drawer. Pulled out a small pink vibrator.

She sat back between Ellie’s legs.

She pressed the vibrator against Ellie’s clit.

The buzzing filled the small trailer.

Ellie cried out.

Mae pushed one finger inside Ellie’s pussy.

She moved it in rhythm with the vibrator.

Ellie’s body arched. Her breath came in short gasps.

She was close.

Almost there.

Then Mae stopped.

Mae pulled her fingers out. Turned off the vibrator.

Ellie lay trembling.

Mae leaned over and untied the rope from the bed frame. Freed Ellie’s wrists.

Ellie sat up immediately.

She grabbed Mae’s face and kissed her.

Hard.

Mae kissed back, teeth clashing. Their tongues slid together.

Ellie’s hand found Mae’s pussy. Wet and hot.

She pushed two fingers inside.

Mae moaned into her mouth.

Ellie fingered her fast. Mae’s hips rolled against her hand.

Mae’s own hand slipped between Ellie’s legs. Her fingers pushed inside.

They sat facing each other, fingers moving together.

Then Mae pushed Ellie back onto the bed.

She moved on top, one leg over Ellie’s, their pussies pressing together.

Scissoring.

Mae rolled her hips.

Ellie matched the rhythm.

Their clits ground against each other, slick and warm.

The pressure built.

Ellie’s thighs trembled.

Mae’s breath came in ragged gasps.

“Fuck,” Mae whispered.

Ellie grabbed her ass, pulling her closer.

The trailer filled with breath, movement, and the slow friction between them.

Ellie came first. Her body shaking, her pussy clenching against Mae’s.

Mae followed a second later, crying out, pressing hard against Ellie.

They lay still.

Breathing.

Minutes passed.

Mae rolled onto her side. Ellie turned to face her.

Their legs tangled together.

Mae’s voice was low, almost a whisper.

“Good girls don’t survive out here.”

She paused.

Then smiled slightly.

“You probably will.”

Ellie let out a slow breath.

They lay in the narrow bed, legs wrapped around each other, skin sticky with sweat and cum.

After a few minutes, Mae shifted.

“Shower.”

She stood and offered her hand.

Ellie took it.

They walked to the small bathroom, steam already rising as Mae turned the water on.

They stepped in together.

Water ran over their bodies. Mae pressed her forehead against Ellie’s.

Neither spoke.

Just the water.

Just the heat.

Just them.

Steam still drifted from the open bathroom door while Ellie pulled one of Mae’s loose T-shirts over damp bare skin beside the fogged mirror.

Mae lay stretched across the bed smoking lazily beneath the dim yellow light, black skirt hanging half off the mattress while the old country radio still played softly near the sink.

Outside, desert wind rattled gently against the trailer walls.

“I’m making sandwiches,” Ellie said quietly while walking barefoot toward the tiny kitchen counter.

Mae smiled faintly around the cigarette.

“Thoughtful.”

Ellie opened one of the drawers.

The phone suddenly started ringing beside the bed.

Mae frowned slightly before reaching for it.

“Why are you calling me this late?”

The familiar voice of the big heavy cashier crackled urgently through the line.

“Mae… you know that last girl you picked up here?”

Mae sat up slightly.

“What about her?”

“Cops just came through asking questions. They found her car behind the station.”

Static crackled loudly for a second.

Then:

“She’s wanted, Mae.”

Silence.

The cashier lowered her voice.

“They say she killed five people outside Tucson.”

For the first time in a very long while, Mae said nothing.

Slowly, she lowered the phone away from her ear.

Then looked toward the kitchen.

Ellie stood beside the counter beneath the dim trailer light holding a long kitchen knife loosely in one hand.

Completely calm.

“Who is it?”

The End.