It was hard to drive home without looking out the back window of the old Ford pickup at the trailer with Rusty calmly looking back. After the third time, his dad told him to calm down and relax, they would get the horse home safe. David sat back down in the seat and stared at his dad for a very long time. What would make a frugal rancher spend that money on a horse? He thought long and hard about his father’s character. He was a very kind man who was firm and fair with his only child. He expected the boy to do chores and carry his weight but wanted the stars for him too. He would have long talks with David and always told him to dream big but not forget where he comes from. He admired his father that day. Not for buying him a horse, but for the respect the others at the auction showed him. He had a reputation in Calhan, sat on the grange, and was a member of the town council. He didn’t talk a lot, but when he did, he was listened to. His dad had been a rancher all his life and knew cattle. He gardened and grew the most beautiful hay in the county. Most people in town called him “the carpenter” because his woodworking was so beautiful. He built the ranch house they live in with his own hands when the two-room house became too small for the family. His furniture was all handmade and if you had a chair or table he made, you had a work of art.
David just stared at his dad all the way home from the auction. He was the most amazing man he had ever known.
The next day was Sunday. David’s mom took him to church that morning and his dad stayed home to do the chores. David wanted to stay home and help, but his mom said his education comes from many places and that day is a beautiful day to give thanks. His friends were there and were again congratulating him on his horse. Jake offered to come over later and help him saddle the horse and start working with him. After church, they went home. Mom was making fried chicken and a cake. Normally, David would stand over her waiting for his favorite meal. He volunteered to mash potatoes and shuck corn every Sunday if it meant having fried chicken any faster. But as they turned into the driveway, he could see Rusty in the corral behind the barn. David changed his clothes and ran to see his new friend. Rusty heard him running and ran towards the fence. It seemed to take all day to get a bridle on that horse. Every time the boy walked forward, the horse would inch backwards. It almost seemed like a game and Rusty was the winner. But when his mom called to him that dinner was ready, David gave up and took the bridle to put it away. As he walked away, Rusty would get behind him and give him a little push. David caught on and soon was ignoring the horse. Keeping his back to the horse, he walked around the corral twice until Rusty nudged his arm with the bridle in it. David slipped it onto him and then climbed over the fence and ran in for dinner. Not even a funny new horse could keep him from enjoying Sunday fried chicken.
After the showdown in the corral, Rusty was fun to saddle and finally ride. It was on his terms and each day, they had to play the game, but it got easier every day.
Soon they were practicing for the rodeo. David’s dad would help him and his friends would come over. Roping calves came easy for David, he had been working cattle with his dad and the ranch hands since he was old enough to sit in the saddle by himself. Along with getting toys for Christmas, he would get a practice calf or ropes. And many times, his mother would go out to practice with him and would take pictures of her five-year-old roping the calf dummy. Rusty thought it was a big game to play and he was good at it. Sometimes he was so intuitive that David didn’t have to touch the reins or tap him with his foot. It was quite a sight to see the red-haired teen on an equally red-haired horse. The friendship between them was growing. Rodeo season was coming, everyone was getting ready. Rusty was more ready than anyone else. He seemed to be a little bored and managed to play jokes on his red-haired friend. Sometimes, he would wait till David was relaxed and stop short just to roll him off of his back. His latest thing was to stop short and back up. If David gave him a little kick, he would walk sideways. The poor boy would get off in frustration and end the day. The saddle would come off and Rusty would be brushed, watered, fed, and then let out into the corral by himself. After a while, the horse noticed that if he played pranks on David, he wouldn’t get treats. Sometimes, there were carrots or apples from the trees behind the bunkhouse or extra feed. He got extra on days he cooperated and quickly learned to do well for extra treats.
As the weather got warmer, David liked to go for a little run on Rusty. And Rusty really liked to run. One day, they were out for a good gallop and went down towards the small canyon on the ranch. It was long, narrow, and looked like the badlands. The colors were beautiful inside the canyon. David didn’t spend much time in there, his dad said the colored rock was like chalk that would crumble and was dangerous. That day was a sunny day that he and Rusty ended up at the mouth of the canyon. David tied the horse to a bush and went in on foot. He wouldn’t want to hurt his horse, but he wanted to snoop around the little canyon. As he was walking in and out of the colorful spires and caves, a little wind came up and David did not hear the rattlesnake that was sunning himself around the corner. When the boy saw the snake, it was too late. He jumped back in fear and the rock beneath him crumbled. He fell between the rock wall and the rattler. He didn’t have room to stand as the rock formation jutted out over his head, and he had no choice but to scoot on his backside further in the crevasse to get away from the snake. But this time, the snake was agitated and was coiled and rattling loud. David was stuck. Just when he thought he would have to take a bite in order to escape, he heard horse’s hooves on the rock. Around the corner came Rusty, raised up on his hind legs with a terrible angry look on his face. He snorted and stomped right on the snake’s head. He kept raising up and stomping until David stood up. Then he finally stopped and backed up so to let the trapped boy out. David led him out of the canyon and rode him home. He called out to his father as soon as he saw him coming out of the barn. When they got there, David was too upset to tell his dad what had happened. His father was alarmed and took the boys hat off, dipped it into the stock tank and poured the cold water on his head and face. David calmed down and told his father what happened. Together, they went over every square inch on Rusty and didn’t find any sign of a bite. The next day, David’s dad rode to the canyon and brought home the rattle. That was all that was left of that snake. He showed David how to dry it out and wanted him to keep it. It would always remind the boy of Rusty’s loyalty, and he never forgot the horse saved his life.
Chapter 3
It was Memorial Day weekend and the first rodeo at the fairgrounds was going to be today. David went very early that Saturday morning with both his parents. Rusty and his dad’s horse were in the trailer behind the old Ford. The saddles and tack were stowed in the bed of the truck and the three of them were squished in the seat of the cab. David had grown so much that summer that his broad muscular shoulders made no room for his mom between them. She didn’t mind. Soon, he would be driving the old truck and she wouldn’t have this closeness with him again. He smelled good today. Fresh soap and Old Spice like his dad. It would be a different smell when they got home. David’s mom would take her binoculars to the grandstands and sit at the very top like she always did. His dad would saddle his horse and take him out to the arena and ride him around to warm up. His rodeo days were over when he got married, but he worked the events as the pickup man. He would herd livestock out of the arena and offer a short ride to the bronc rider who managed to stay on the full eight seconds.
David and his dad saddled their horses and seemed to talk to everyone in town. The first events would be starting in about an hour, and his mother opened the thermos of hot coffee and broke out the bacon and egg sandwiches she made that morning. They were tightly wrapped in foil and warm towel and were still hot when they chowed down. The bread was homemade and toasted. They each had a couple of sandwiches and coffee and were ready to go to the arena. They liked to get there early so they could warm the horses up in the arena. Everyone who knew about Rusty was very anxious to see him perform. It was all everyone in th
e stands could talk about. The calf roping was early that morning and everyone in town watched David and Rusty. When it was his turn, the grandstands got strangely quiet. The gate opened and it was as if Rusty was flying. His red mane and tail flew in the air and he kept pace with the calf. There was nowhere for the calf to go and the roping was done in what seemed like record time. David roped the calf, dallied off the rope on his saddle horn, and jumped off his horse. Now, without a rider, it was up to Rusty to keep the rope tense. He slowly backed up to take up the slack and keep the rope taut. David grabbed the calf and threw him to the ground in one easy motion. Out came the pigging string and three feet were tied together. He jumped in the air and threw up his hands to show he was done. The whole time, Rusty held the rope taut. The clocked stopped at 9.2 seconds.
At first, there was a loud roar from the grandstands and then more silence. The score was posted and another loud cheer. David had won first place. He took off his hat, rubbed his horse’s nose, and the two of them left the arena. The applause was deafening. Rusty held his head very high. He was a natural.
The boy took his horse to the trailer and removed the saddle, gave him a quick brush and some of his mother’s prize carrots that he snuck inside his jacket. A big crowd had gathered to see the horse that won and pet him, so he tied him up and returned to help his dad and watch the bull riding. David loved the bull riding. He stood at the rail with his friends with one foot on the bottom rail and waved his hat at the riders who went eight seconds. Eight seconds was a lifetime when you are on a bull. A couple of his friends were allowed to ride, but he had promised his mom. All he could do was watch and try to understand all of the twists and turns and study the big muscular creatures. Today, there were only two that stayed on for the full eight seconds. David liked to imagine himself on the bull. Not now, but someday.
After all of the events, he fed and watered the horses and helped his dad to put them in the trailer for the ride home. Then it was a bath and dress up in his favorite white shirt, string tie with the turquoise slide his dad made from a stone he found on the ranch after a summer rain. He put on his black Justin boots and his best Wrangler jeans. He sat down for dinner with his mom and dad, they were dressed up too. Cold fried chicken and potato salad was dinner tonight. They were all going to the dance at the grange. David’s friends pulled up outside and honked, and he grabbed a chicken leg and ran out the door. With a casual wave, he rode off in his friend’s old Chevy sedan.
There was an old cowboy band at the grange that night. David and his high school buddies were standing around the punch bowl and tipping their hats to the high school girls on the other side of the room. No one was brave enough to ask the girls to dance, but it was fun to just hang around and talk about the day. He got a lot of congratulations, but the boys spent a lot of time talking about Satan. The best ride on that bull so far was 6.5 seconds and a lot of cowboys got banged up. The band was playing now and “Walking After Midnight” by Patsy Cline started to play. The teen boys hushed up as David’s dad and mom started to do a pretty two-step across the floor. His mom had a nice skirt that twirled and everyone noticed how smooth and in touch with each other’s moves they were. They only looked at each other with a smile as they danced. A couple of times around the floor and more couples started to join them. Soon the floor was full of dancers, but no one danced like his mom and dad. It made David smile. He was shy but did manage to stumble to the other side of the room to ask a girl to dance. He was very grateful his mom pushed the big kitchen table aside and spent hours teaching the boy to dance. He felt awkward but managed to get around the dance floor with the girl. He liked this girl; she was in most of his classes and had red hair too.
When the dance was done, he went back to his buddies. The talk was still about his rodeo performance with Rusty and that bull Satan. The rider that day didn’t make it more than 3 feet out of the chute before he was tossed off. Luckily, he jumped that day and made it to the fence and over before the bull caught up with him. There was a lot of joking and daring. Someday, one of them would get to ride Satan, but not David, and not that day nor any time soon. He promised. The boys ducked out of the dance early and piled into their cars. Cruising town here wasn’t discouraged. After all, the main road through town was less than ten blocks long. Soon, they would tire and head home.
The rest of the summer was filled with ranching, rodeo, and dances. David got his driver’s license. His mom took him out in the old Ford pickup and spent three hours with white knuckles, teaching him the clutch and how to shift. When it looked like he finally caught on, she drove home and handed him the keys. She told him to drive all over the ranch but not to go past the gate. He went to the corral and took Rusty out, threw some carrots in the back, and drove off with the horse chasing him. It made his mom laugh. That boy didn’t go far without the faithful red horse. She hoped he would always feel this way.
Fourth of July rodeo came. The family drove in and parked. They were next to a new Chevy pickup that was the nicest colors; turquoise and white. It had lots of chrome and a big V8 engine. All the guys stood around it and admired it. David only made some money from the rodeos and he managed to spend it on evenings cruising town with his friends. That day, David won first place in his event. He won a little cash and a beautiful pair of nickel silver spurs. He wore them on his work boots and they made a nice sound when he walked. They reminded him how much he loved to rodeo. When the day was done, he took Rusty over to the trailer to go home. His friends had special plans for that night. As he got closer to the trailer, he noticed it was hooked up to the new Chevy. When he wandered around to the front, he saw his dad and asked him what was going on. His dad showed him his shiny new keys and said that was his new truck. He ordered it from the dealership all the way in Denver and they delivered it to the fairgrounds. Then he reached into his pocket and took out the old Ford keys. He handed them to David and said the rules are on the front seat. The old Ford was all his. It was a pea green and had rust on the rear fenders. It had a dent in the right front fender where it was hit by a bull. He refused to go into the pens and took it out on the truck. The rear bumper had seen too many days of hauling horse trailers but it would see more. David loved that truck. He went home, cleaned up, called all of his friends, and with a chicken leg in his mouth and one in his hand, ran out to the truck to go get his friends. They would be so surprised.
The rest of the summer was spent on rodeo, helping his dad, and spending time with his high school buddies. One evening, just before school started again, David and his friends were cruising the tiny town. They would drive from the cemetery at one end to the auction grounds at the other; it was starting to get old. One of his friends said, “Let’s go to Curley’s.” Curley’s was the old brick building by the co-op. It was a bar and served up a good hamburger once in a while. It was packed on rodeo weekends, but other times was a quiet place the locals went to for a cold one and to dance to the music on the Wurlitzer jukebox in the corner. The underage boys were allowed in as long as they bought a pitcher of Pepsi and a burger. They couldn’t stay past eleven and Curley watched them like a hawk to make sure they didn’t drink. Curley was the owner and his buddy Chet was the one-armed bartender.
The boys walked in and sat at the table closest to the bar. None of them had been in here before. If they ate burgers in town, it was at the sale barn and sometimes had a hotdog at the gas station. The town was very small. There were really no restaurants because mostly everyone lived at the ranches and cooked at home. That night, the boys had rodeo money and decided to eat at Curley’s. After their eyes adjusted to the dim lights, they could see the bar and dance floor. There were tables in a circle so the two-step could be done in the middle. The bar was old varnished wood with a brass bar along the bottom so cowboy boots could rest on it. There was about a dozen bar stools and Chet stood behind the bar, wiping it with a damp bar towel. There was a large mirror on the wall behind him that reflected the light that got to it through the bottles of li
quor on shelves in front. The beer taps dispensed Miller, Coors, and Budweiser. The boys ordered a pitcher of Pepsi and four glasses. They all ordered a burger with cheese and sat looking around nervously. There were two couples dancing to an old Hank Williams song and three guys were sitting at the bar nursing a cold beer. No one seemed to care that the boys were in there, but they all knew the boys’ names and their parents.
Curley was a gruff man in his sixties. He wore a dirty apron and sat at the end of the bar, drinking strong coffee out of a mug that must have been white at one time but was now coffee-stained. Curley had written “Hands off, Curley’s cup” in bright yellow paint on the cup, and no matter how many times it was washed, you could still see it. Chet served the boys the soda and stood and chatted with them for a bit. He was a handsome man at one time. Dark, thick hair and a signature pencil-thin mustache. But now he had a scar above his left eye and was missing an arm. He had a deep voice and everyone liked to hear him talk. He was in the navy in San Diego and had gotten drunk one too many times. One night, he drove onto the base drunk and had an accident. He woke up a week later missing his arm. His girlfriend left him and the navy made him leave. His story about how he met Curley changed every time he told it, but they had been friends since he left the navy. He was already in his forties that time and was the bartender. He could do a lot with just one arm. He washed dishes and bar glasses, and even swept up at the end of the night. He held the broom under what remained of his severed arm and pushed it with his good hand. He was as good as any man with two arms. Neither man would tell anyone why they ended up in this tiny town. Everyone thought they arrived on the Rock Island line and never left. The burgers were ready and David and his friends were amazed that with a little shuffling, Chet could carry all four to the table and set them all down in the right place.
The Winter's Trail Page 2