The Winter's Trail

by Sharon Breeling

  Rosie was being trained by Juaquin and everyone rushed to get through the day so they could watch her antics. She reminded David of Rusty who ate Juaquin’s hat. Sometimes the joke would be on her and sometimes it would be on Juaquin. He was getting older now and breaking horses became more of a game of patience. He liked Rosie. He would sing to her to calm her and then speak to her in Spanish. She seemed to know everything he wanted her to do. But sometimes she was the prankster and would take it out on the poor man. He already went through two straw hats because she took a bite out of them. She played hide and seek with him every afternoon and seemed to find a new place to hide every time.

  Rosie was a pretty horse and knew it too. She would do anything to get groomed so she could prance around the farmyard to show off for Ruth. Ever since she ate Ruth’s cookies, they have been the very best of friends. Ruth was ordering large bags of apples and carrots for her friend. She couldn’t ride her yet, but they would spend hours at the porch just happy to be with each other. Most people have pet dogs or cats, but Ruth had a pet horse. On rainy days, the horse would stay in and Ruth would take her coffee out on the porch to see her and even go to the barn. She never missed an opportunity to stroke the horse’s silky hair.

  As Ruth’s strength returned, David decided to go to a few competitions. This time, to compete in cutting. He started to notice that Old Dan was getting very good at cutting calves out of the herd. He really didn’t have to prompt him or even guide him. He was a natural. One day, Ruth drove the old Jeep out to where they were all working calves. She spent the morning making peanut butter cookies and ham sandwiches for everyone. They were all way too busy to go in to eat, so she packed up lunch and ice-cold tea and went out to feed all the cowboys. She had started to bake cookies in the morning and made the mistake of leaving the top half of the kitchen Dutch door open. When she walked back in the kitchen, there was Rosie finishing up a plate of cookies. Ruth could never get angry at her best friend, so she took her outside and locked the door so Rosie couldn’t get back in. David got smart and put a lock on the bottom of the door.

  Ruth drove out to the pens where the calves were being sorted and were getting a wellness check and tagged. Her pretty ponytail was waving in the air and David’s face lit up. She just started to do this. Usually, it was Juaquin who brought lunch but Ruth was feeling so well that she started to go out to the cowboys. She would hangout for a bit afterwards and try to help. Mostly, she would make David laugh but he was very happy that she tried. She retired from teaching when she was sick and seemed to take a new enjoyment in getting involved at the ranch. The other day, she mucked out the barn and brought in new hay all by herself. It smelled so good in the barn and David and the other guys were so happy to not have to do it themselves. He went in the house for dinner and caught her asleep at the kitchen table. He woke her up to eat then sent her to bed. Her strength was coming back, but he wished she wouldn’t overdo it.

  Today, she brought lunch and sat in the Jeep to watch the work. David had left Old Dan standing by the Jeep and didn’t notice he had wandered off. David had trained all of his horses to stay close to him when they weren’t tied up. He started to look for his big brown horse when he heard his wife laughing. She was pointing to a group of cattle that had not been worked yet. There was Old Dan, cutting out the calves and herding them into the pens. He had no rider. He just had on the saddle. David and Ruth watched him and were amazed. Soon, all the cowboys were watching as the big horse outmaneuvered the calves trying to hide behind their mothers and gently guided them into the pen. He was careful not to upset either the calf or the mother and his fluid motions were like a dance. Ruth reached into the glovebox, took out her old camera, and snapped a couple of pictures. She told David that she thought the horse could actually win a few competitions and asked him to take him to the cutting horse competition in town in two weeks. She would love to go to the rodeo arena again.

  David decided to ride back with Ruth. Lunch was great and even though they were busy with calves, he wanted to spend some time with his pretty wife. He didn’t care for the Jeep much, so he rode Old Dan next to her. They stopped on the way at the top of the hill with the cottonwood tree. They sat on the bench and enjoyed the view of the Pikes Peak. It was early in the summer and the air smelled like prairie grass and wild flowers. It had a sweet and lazy smell. It started out as a sunny day but as they sat and looked west, they could see the dark rainclouds forming in the mountains. In about an hour, they would get rain. Colorado summer rains didn’t last long. They were short and hardly made the ground wet. Ruth loved the smell of the ranch after these rains. She would sit on the porch for hours afterwards and just sniff the smell right out of the air. The dirt road would get just enough rain to create that just-washed smell and it was one of her favorite times. David had a funny surprise for her that day. When they stood up to go, he reached up onto a branch of the old cottonwood and pulled down a swing. He had found a piece of wood his father had started to carve for a tabletop and decided to try to finish it. It was a scene of Pikes Peak and was perfect for the swing. He varnished the wood, drilled holes for the ropes, and hung it on the tree, hoping for a good time to show his wife. Ruth was delighted and sat down. It was the right height and David started to push her. She had the giggles at first like a schoolgirl but soon started to enjoy the rhythmic swinging. The sound of not-so-far-away thunder snapped them both out of the relaxing swinging and they left. Ruth drove the Jeep as fast as she could towards the barn and David had Old Dan at a full gallop. It was quite a sight, the cowboy racing the Jeep home. They both got to the barn as the first drops hit. It was a wonderful day for both of them and that day, Ruth knew that she would never leave this beautiful ranch again.

  Saturday was the competition. Old Dan was more than ready. He was beautiful in the arena. David hardly had to touch him to guide him. Ruth was standing by the fence with Juaquin. She had just bought David a new Stetson to wear today and he looked handsome and at ease on his horse. They didn’t win first prize but fourth wasn’t bad for the first one. On the way home, they all talked about the summer and going to competitions. Old Dan had carrots and apples when he got home and when the day was done and dinner was over, everyone went to the porch to enjoy the sunset. Old Dan came over with Rosie. None of the other horses had the run of the ranch but these two horses were family. David missed rodeo and Old Dan gave him a way to compete and all of his friends turned out to watch. It was a good time. There were more cutting horse events on the rest of the summer and everyone had a lot of fun. Sometimes, as David was driving home with his wife asleep next to him and Juaquin in the back with the horse trailer behind him, he let his mind wander. The night sky was always beautiful in Colorado and for a little while, he forgot about the war he fought. He forgot about losing his parents tragically and even losing his wife for a while. He had Ironwood, Ruth, his special horses, and his friend. He would turn on the radio, put in an old Chris LeDoux tape, and sing along. Ruth would rouse a little and smile before she would rest her head on her husband’s shoulder then go back to sleep as they rode home in the night.

  Spring came and there was a record number of calves born each week. A mountain lion was seen several times poking around and was even in the canyon, so the calves and mothers were moved to pens closer to the barn where someone could keep a close eye on them. A few ranchers lost calves to the mountain lion, so extra caution was taken.

  The weather was warming up finally and fencing had to be done. The storms and tumbleweeds were hard on the fences that year. David, Juaquin, and two other hands were out fencing. The younger ones were up on the mesa and would be there for at least a day and a half. Juaquin was working closer to the cattle and the roads and David took the short stretch to the south. He wanted to be at home that night. Fencing made him a little too tired and a hot shower and hot meal always made him feel better. When he reached the south fence, he saw a lot of problems. The tumbleweeds broke a lot of barbed wire, sometimes leaving thre
e or four whole sections open. Juaquin had already been there with rolls of wire, fence poles, and post driver.

  The old wire had to be gathered up and taken in too. A horse or cow could get tangled in wire they couldn’t see, so he left empty spools too. He and the other hands would come gather it all up in the Jeep but David loved going out on the horse. He always said it’s not ranching if it’s not on horseback. Juaquin didn’t always feel that way. He liked bumping around in the old Jeep.

  That morning, David packed up his horse and headed out, but first made sure he had his 30-30 rifle and some bullets. It was an old model 94 Winchester he got from his father, who told him more than once to take it with him. Rattlesnakes and mountain lions were bad news on a ranch as big as Ironwood. David heard about the lion and would take him out if he caught him near any of his cattle. As he rode towards the south pasture, he noticed there were some bare patches in the grass. Something was laying down in the grass and the spots were too small for a cow or even a calf. David stopped at one of the spots and got off his horse. He kicked the grass aside and caught his breath when he saw under the grass a clear mountain lion print. The predator was on his ranch.

  The ride to the first repair was uneventful. David would cut and roll up any old wire on the ground so his horse wouldn’t get tangled up in it. Juaquin would come pick it all up later. David was lucky that Old Dan could be left standing away from the wire and wouldn’t move until he was told to. When it was all clear, he would go stand next to David until the repair was finished and they would go to the next section. The first two repairs were simple and took no time at all. The third repair took out four sections. David was feeling a little uneasy about it then. He had a quick lunch and rested in the shade of an old cottonwood tree. He then took his dad’s old Winchester out of the scabbard on his saddle and made sure it was loaded. He walked to the first section and leaned the rifle against the fencepost and started to cut away the wires and rolled them up. He decided to do the same at all four sections before going back to replace them. The posts were in good shape so the cleanup didn’t take much time. When he got to the last section, he stopped for a minute. The hairs on the back of his neck stood up. He had a terrible feeling that someone was watching him. He looked at Old Dan who seemed relaxed. David finished the cleanup and was about to start replacing wire when he had that feeling again. This time, he looked at Old Dan. The big horse was rocking back and forth and then putting his nose in the air as if to smell something. David heard a low growl and then saw the mountain lion. He was very big coming out of the grass. He jumped up and down and yelled at the cat to try to scare him. The lion would stop for a split second and then start slowly advancing on the rancher. David would back up towards a fencepost and then stop to yell at the cat again. Old Dan was very agitated but David told him to stay where he was at. He didn’t want his horse to be attacked especially with the heavy saddle that would slow him down.

  He got closer to the fencepost and reached for his rifle, but then his blood ran cold.

  He saw it leaning five fenceposts away. He had forgotten to move it as he moved along the fence line.

  As he turned to run towards the rifle, the big cat was on him and knocked him to the ground. David had wire cutters in his hand and gloves on and was trying to knock the lion off. He could smell the hot rancid breath of the lion and he noticed how powerful and solidly muscular it was. He could see scars on the legs of the lion and even noticed how big and strong its paws were. He could see the sharp claws and he was afraid. He fought to keep the cat away from his neck and face.

  David got up and started to move and the cat struck again, this time, tearing his jeans and into his skin with his claws. He was on the ground on his back kicking at the cat. He had his torn arms over his face to protect himself from the attack and finally landed a mighty kick that sent the lion several feet away. He could see the cat about halfway between him and Old Dan. The big horse wasted no time jumping towards the cat and with his teeth and jaws, he clamped down on the scruff of the lion’s neck and flicked him like a rag doll a good three feet to land in a ball at David’s feet. He had blood in his eyes that had dripped off the huge gashes in his forearms and couldn’t clear his vision fast enough. He was afraid the cat would strike out at him when Old Dan reared up and came down full force on the lion’s middle with both hooves, followed by several more until the lion was still. The horse was bigger than most and stronger too. His hooves were sharp and large and were like sledgehammers coming down again and again on the big cat. David tried to stand, but his left leg wouldn’t support him. Old Dan came over and stood between David and the now dead cat as if to protect him. David noticed a large bleeding gash in Old Dan’s right front leg and even though it was bleeding and was hard for him to stand on, the horse stayed with him.

  He started to crawl towards the rifle with the horse so close to him. At one point, David stopped and took off his shirt. He spoke to Old Dan and, after a lot of coaxing, got the horse to come close to him. He was barely able to reach up and wrap his shirt around the horse’s wound and tie it tight. The crawl to the fencepost with the rifle seemed to take forever. Several times, he had to just sit and wait for the pain in his own leg to subside. The horse waited and continued to stand between him and the dead cat. David was afraid there was another, perhaps a mate around, and kept looking over his own shoulder.

  He finally got to the post with the gun. He wanted to shoot the lion to make sure he was dead but was afraid the shot would maybe attract the mate.

  He leaned up against the fence and spoke softly to the lame horse. He knew Old Dan couldn’t take himself home without help and would never be able to carry David. He would try if he could. He sat and promised Old Dan they would get home.

  Carefully, David lifted the rifle and fired three rounds into the air in rapid succession. He waited a minute and shot three more.

  He was now out of ammunition and he felt that he and Old Dan would surely die if help didn’t arrive soon. He knew that Juaquin was out and headed his way to get the wire from the repairs. He hoped he would hear the shots…three shots in succession which was his signal for help.

  It was only about fifteen minutes until he heard the Jeep. He knew it was Juaquin. David let his eyes close for a little bit to rest. When he opened his eyes, his old friend was holding his head and offering him a drink of water. Juaquin would have asked what happened, but he saw what was left of the lion. He had a rifle in his hand and was looking for another. He had to figure out a way to get David into the Jeep and find a way to protect Old Dan until he could get back with a trailer. Old Dan was hurt and couldn’t take another step. After wrapping up David’s leg and arm with gauze from a first aid kit he carried in the Jeep, he gently lifted his friend up and leaned him up on the fencepost. He wrapped David’s arm around his shoulders and helped him onto the seat. He then checked on the injured horse and gave him water. There wasn’t much he could do but get to the house and back as fast as he could. He had a tear in his eye as he consoled the horse and promised him he would be back. Then he carefully drove as fast as he could back to the ranch house. The other hands were just getting in when Juaquin tore into the yard with the horn blazing. There was a mad scramble to carefully lift their boss out of the Jeep and take him inside. Ruth ran outside when she heard the horn blaring and saw her husband barely conscious. Juaquin told her to get the doctor and ambulance and to call the vet. Luckily, he lived on the next ranch and could be there fast. As soon as he knew his best friend was safe, Juaquin ran to the pickup. He had moved a couple of calves that morning and had not taken the horse trailer off the truck. Normally, David would have scolded him for not taking it off but for once, he was glad he didn’t. Time was not on his side and he needed to get back to Old Dan. As he drove up to the fencing site, he didn’t know what to expect. When he got there, he was so happy to see that the horse was still standing there. He embraced Old Dan and gently removed his saddle and threw it in the back of the truck. Old Dan cou
ldn’t put much weight on his leg and was hesitant to get into the trailer. Juaquin held the face of the horse and slowly and gingerly led him in. Then he drove just as carefully to take the horse home as he did with David. The place was lit up when he arrived and all hands pitched in to help the horse out of the trailer. The vet was working on Old Dan before anyone could get out of his stall. It was a nasty cut on his leg and would take the whole night before they would know if they could save Old Dan.

  Juaquin ran to the house to see David. The doctor and paramedics were working on stitching up his forearm and left leg. Luckily, the major blood vessels were missed but there was muscle damage. David was laying on his father’s handmade kitchen table. He refused to go to the hospital until he knew how his horse was. Ruth was bringing in clean towels and boiling water to wash his wounds. She ran to hug Juaquin for saving her husband’s life. She had been so brave and had not cried until her hero walked into the room. He would never know how much he meant to her and her family. When he was stitched up and in pajamas, Juaquin and the doctor put David to bed. He struggled a bit because he wanted to see Old Dan. Ruth promised him if he would rest, she would go to the barn and would wake him with any news. She and Juaquin walked to the barn where they would watch over the favored horse until morning.

  It was three days before David was able to walk with crutches. Right after breakfast, he had Ruth help him to the Jeep. She and Juaquin took turns with Old Dan. The vet was there constantly with the big horse. David wanted to see Old Dan but the doctor and Ruth made him stay in bed and rest. It seemed she was constantly feeding him and finally, after much begging, she agreed to take him to the barn. The doors were wide open and a couple of the hands were cleaning out the stalls and they stepped aside as Ruth drove the Jeep inside right up to Old Dan’s stall. She couldn’t park too close because Rosie was standing just outside. Ruth explained that Rosie rarely left Old Dan. She just stood there and worried. She got out of the Jeep and fed carrots to Rosie and helped David out. Juaquin was in the stall with Old Dan. He was in a harness to help him to stand and gently move without putting weight on his injured leg. His head was down and he barely moved. Then he heard David say, “Hi, old buddy.” The horse’s ears perked right up and with great effort, he lifted his massive head. David went to hug his old friend. He didn’t want to hurt him and was very careful. This horse saved his life and he wanted him to know how grateful he was. As David stroked his horse’s velvety face, he told Ruth and Juaquin what had happened. Juaquin had gone out to get the wire and finish the fence early that morning and was going to bring back the lion. But it was no longer there. All that was left was a large bloodstain in the grass. The grass was stomped down by Old Dan’s hooves and there were no drag marks. Juaquin didn’t go alone so one of the hands stood watch with a rifle while the little bit of work that was left got finished. Juaquin didn’t think they would see another big cat on the ranch again.