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gave Ash a pat. He seemed to be anticipating the ride and was excited to get going. When I rope a runaway cattle, I secure the rope to the horn. It s like having a wench. She shook her head. A what? A tow truck has a wench to pull the car out of a ditch. I can use the horn in the same fashion. I made sure she was holding the reins correctly and had her walk Ash forward. She laughed when I showed her how to back him up. Now we ll turn him right. Don t tug on the reins or jerk them, gently. There you go. Now just nudge with your left leg. Good. This is all you, Briar baby. She blushed really pretty when I called her Briar baby. I m driving a horse! Riding, but yeah, you are. I grinned. Wait, what about that metal thing? What? In his mouth, when I see horses normally they have a metal thing attached to the reins. She leaned to the side to pet him and look at his mouth. I grabbed her waist. Didn t want her falling off. That would be the bit. Doesn t he need it? Nah, the bridle I use is bitless. I said. How would you feel if you had to spend the day with a piece of metal in your mouth? Not happy, that s for sure. And that s how he feels, I helped her get him to a steady trot and we made our way out of the yard. The landscape, the mountains and the vastness of the pastures distracted her. I took the reins, allowing her to watch the scenery. A dirt path led from the house down a hill and into the east pasture. We stopped by to see the cows and she got down with me to pet one. An older girl wearing a red collar wandered over to get some attention. Briar petted the cow on the head and smiled. She s so sweet. Yeah, Betsy likes attention. I gave the cow a pat. I thought you were in the beef business. Oh, we are. Betsy is a special case. She got sick and Millie got attached taking care of her, which is rare for my aunt. I shrugged. Jerry didn t see the harm having a mascot of sorts, and I like having her around. We left Betsy and I took Briar down by the creek. A hawk circled overhead, looking for it s next meal. She was enthralled in everything I showed her. She appreciated the land and was amazed by the beauty of it, and that made me fall for her even harder. She d taken the reins again, more confident, and was doing great with minimal help from me. We came upon a few of the hands that worked for the ranch. They were fixing a piece of the fence, which was part of their job. Though it shouldn t take three men to do it. How s it going? I asked, knowing that it was hard for men twice my age to take orders from me. Two had already been fired for bad attitudes. I couldn t help that I d inherited all of this. Now, on my eighteenth birthday, it was all officially, legally mine. Rick was with the men. So far he hadn t done anything wrong. He was a good worker. I just hoped we didn t have trouble with him. He rubbed Jerry the wrong way. With the way he was looking at me, I got a feeling it was only time till someone had words with the man. Briar shifted in the saddle to shake hands. The men smiled and said hello, except for Rick. City girls don t last long out here. Rick leaned back against the fence, crossing his arms. Briar turned to catch my gaze, concerned. He didn t have the decency to address her like she was actually with us. I took the reins. Who s monitoring the herd? Tom and Harvey, one of the men said. I nodded and eyed Rick. Go help them. At first Rick didn t move. I raised my eyebrows and waited. Jerry told me to help with the fence. He finally said. Two men are perfectly capable of doing this job. In fact, one could do it, but it ll get done faster with two. I lowered my voice. I need you to monitor the cattle. They re our priority here, not a downed hunk of wood and wire. Sure thing& Boss. He shoved away from the fence and got on an ATV, kicking up dirt as he sped toward the pasture. Briar relaxed and leaned back against my chest. I relaxed the further he drove away. There was something off about that guy, and I sure as shit didn t trust him. David, Frank& I said to the men left working on the fence. Keep an eye on him. He does anything questionable you bring it to Jerry, Grant, or me. Pass that on to the other hands as well. They nodded and went back to work. I pointed Ash in the direction of the creek and we road along the bank for a while, enjoying the sound of water trickling over the rocks, and the distant hoot of an owl named Frances. After a few minutes Briar spoke with a question in her voice. Rick doesn t like you, or me. Yeah, I know. Why? I d never met him before. Good question. You want to fire him, now that wasn t a question. Very perceptive. You re not hard to read. She laughed, taking the reins. Where to? I pointed at the rise of hill, There, we ll be able to see a good chunk of the surrounding property. We rode Ash for a while longer and then I took off his saddle and left him to wander one of the fields and graze. I finally got Briar in a tractor, which she seemed a bit intimidated to drive, though I gave her plenty of chances. We drove it down to where Grant was working and dropped off supplies that had been delivered earlier in the day. Mostly feed for the horses. We stopped off to see how Sprite and his mother we doing, and Briar managed to plant a kiss on his little head before we left them. Late afternoon we found Ash and I grabbed a cooler, couple fishing poles and bait from the shed and rode him down to the lake. He waded around in the water [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |
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