Ranch Hands

by Bonnie Bryant

  “I’ll be safe,” she assured him. “And Eli and Kate will be safer. They need me, too. So, while I’m gone, I want the twelve of you to play a game and make up a story.” She quickly explained the rules. “Okay here goes: A long time ago, there was a mean old hermit who lived under a boulder on a hillside overlooking a valley in the Rockies. He hated everybody. He especially hated children. And then …”

  She looked at Larry to take over. He began right away. “One day a little girl was skipping and hopping across the valley …”

  Stevie knew the kids would be just fine. It was time for her to get to Kate and Eli. As the story progressed to the point at which the hermit sneaked an ugly toad in the basket the little girl was carrying, Stevie scrambled back down the rock and onto the valley floor where things were not so calm.

  At first it was hard to see how Stevie could do anything to help. Then just the thing she needed arrived by her side: a horse.

  Without a saddle and bridle, she might have some trouble controlling the animal, but the roan gelding was standing still near her, clearly relieved to have stopped running. Stevie thought that, like the children, he was really just waiting for somebody in authority to tell him what to do. Stevie grabbed a handful of his mane and jumped upward onto his high back. It took two tries, but she was soon aboard, and the horse’s ears flicked alertly. He waited for instructions.

  Stevie didn’t make him wait very long. She got him into a lope—what Western riders called cantering—and took him across the valley floor to where Eli and Kate, with the help of Mel, were trying to subdue the herd.

  “Kids okay?” Eli asked when he saw Stevie. Both he and Kate were mounted bareback, without bridles, the same as Stevie. Three great minds with a single thought, she realized. They had to be on horseback, no matter what.

  “Fine,” she said. “What about the cattle?”

  “See for yourself.”

  Stevie looked. The cattle were still running, but more slowly.

  “They just get tired,” Eli said. “They slow down.”

  “So it’s over?” she asked.

  “Not yet,” said Eli. “The same thing that started them in the first place could start them all over again. And the only thing worse than panicked cattle running wild is tired, panicked cattle. They make even less sense.”

  “The same thing won’t start them again,” Stevie assured him. “It was me, singing.”

  Eli shook his head. Stevie felt the full weight of his disappointment at her. It was hard to think that his disapproval could make her feel any worse than she already did, but it had that effect. She felt awful. Then Eli spoke.

  “I don’t think so, Stevie. I’ve heard you sing and though it won’t get you into the Metropolitan Opera, it’s not all that scary. These creatures heard a coyote howl. You just didn’t hear it because you were singing.”

  “You think so?”

  He didn’t have time to answer the question, though. Because precisely at that moment, the herd began running again. This time, though, instead of running away from the campsite, they turned and ran straight toward it!

  “Let’s get out of here!” Kate said, realizing that the entire herd was aimed right at them and there was no stopping them. The three of them dashed out of the way, knowing they couldn’t do anything right then, except save themselves.

  Mel wasn’t so convinced of that fact, however, and she definitely didn’t like the idea that all those cattle were disobeying her at once. She barked wildly and growled. She even snapped at the passing legs. Then, while Eli, Kate, and Stevie watched in horror, Mel completely disappeared in the sea of racing cattle, and then they could no longer hear her barking.

  “Mel!” Eli cried out. Eli loved that dog and couldn’t stand the idea that something might happen to her.

  Kate covered her eyes. Stevie felt the tears rise. “No!” she cried. It couldn’t be true!

  The herd moved across the valley, like a thundering blanket, with the animals’ backs making a solid throbbing brown mass. As they neared the campsite, they veered to the left, saving most of what was there, except for one tent that got mangled by a thousand legs running over it. Then the herd was completely past the three riders and completely past the campsite and there was still no sign of Mel.

  And as suddenly as it had started running, the herd stopped, drawing to a halt. The animals looked around at one another in apparent surprise. The horses separated themselves from the cattle, milling around the edge of the herd of cattle. A few of the steers glanced at the grassy earth beneath their feet and took a bite. Others sniffed the air, curiously, and turned toward the creek. They sauntered over to the fresh water and took a drink.

  “Is it over?” Kate asked Eli, astonished at the abruptness of the halt.

  “Almost,” he said. His eyes never left the herd. There was one question that hadn’t been answered: Mel.

  Then they heard it—the sound they had each been praying to hear. It was Mel’s bark. She dashed out from between the legs of the cattle, turned, lowered her front legs as if preparing to pounce in case anybody gave her one more ounce of trouble and barked. The cattle stared at her blankly. They looked as if they were wondering what the dog was making a fuss about. They were standing still, after all. Wasn’t that what she wanted?

  Then, secure in the knowledge that her job was done, Mel turned and trotted easily to where Eli sat bareback on his horse. She looked up at him for approval and then lay down, too tired to go another step.

  Eli slid off the back of his horse and gathered the brave dog in his arms. Without a word, he carried her to his tent. She needed a rest and she would get it.

  The rest of the day was in sharp contrast to the morning. Eli took his rifle and went in search of the animal that had frightened the cattle so badly. He never found it and in spite of all the trouble the predator had apparently caused, Stevie was relieved that Eli hadn’t had to shoot anything. Kate put herself in charge of cleaning up the campsite and setting up the tent that had been knocked down. When that was done, she rounded up the rest of the horses and put them back in the corral from which they’d exited so abruptly that morning.

  Stevie went to the rock to fetch the campers. By the time she got there, each of them had contributed to the story and the tale had taken a rather odd twist that seemed to have the hermit living in Santa Claus’s house while taking a correspondence course on how to fix cellular telephones. Stevie didn’t want to know how he’d gotten there, but she felt a great deal of pride in the fact that they were still playing the game she’d started them on a few hours earlier.

  Together the twelve campers and Stevie reversed their ascent onto the boulder, each child helping another get down. Together, the twelve of them, and their counselor, returned to the campsite, now somewhat reassembled. It was afternoon by then and the only thing that made sense was to stay at the campsite for another night before taking the final leg of their journey with the herd. Their destination was on the other side of the row of hills at the far end of the valley. They’d get there by evening tomorrow. For now, they all needed rest. That was as true of the people as it was of the animals.

  Stevie suggested to the kids that they might want to go take a cooling swim in the creek. They all went into their tents to find their bathing suits. Stevie and Kate put theirs on, too. Before they joined the kids for a swim, however, they stepped into Eli’s tent. They wanted to check on Mel.

  The dog lay on her side, her eyes closed, breathing evenly. Her face twitched.

  “Is she in pain?” Stevie asked Eli who was sitting nearby watching every move.

  “I don’t think so,” Eli said. “I checked her over pretty carefully and I don’t think she got hurt at all, though I can’t imagine how that could be. She’s just dreaming. You know how it is. When something really exciting happens, you tend to dream about it. I think she’s dreaming about barking at running cattle. It’s her kind of dream, you know.”

  “I know,” Stevie said. She reached out a
nd patted the sleeping dog ever so gently. It seemed like a very small gesture of thanks to a dog who had single-pawedly quelled a stampede.

  “You all go swimming now,” Eli said. “Then we’ll have something to eat and a good night’s sleep. We’ve earned it. We’ll finish the drive tomorrow. I’m going to stay here with Mel a few minutes more. Go on ahead.”

  The swim in the creek felt wonderful. The dinner they made tasted delicious, and Stevie thought that nothing had ever felt better than being in her own sleeping bag, looking up at the brightly sparkling stars and sleeping. Her last thought before she went to sleep was to wonder if her face would twitch the way Mel’s had while she slept. Barking at stampeding cattle might just be her kind of dream that night, too!

  CAROLE PATTED HER back pocket, wanting to be sure the letter was still there. It had arrived the day before, covered all over with funny-looking stamps and postmarks. It was from Lisa and she was in Italy. Carole had wanted nothing more than to tear it open and read it right then, but she thought it was only fair to wait until Kate and Stevie got back from the cattle drive. It was addressed to The Saddle Club and reading it out loud would be a sort of Saddle Club meeting for the three of them when Stevie and Kate arrived.

  Things had been quiet at the ranch, once Arthur was alone in his field and the other horses were in theirs. Linc, Ellis, and Jack had been relatively cooperative since their “rustling” experience. Carole had taken advantage of their new mode of behavior to teach them everything she could about riding. At first, they’d been more than a little reluctant to learn anything about what they thought of as “sissy” riding, but when Carole showed them what she could do with a horse and an English saddle, they’d changed their minds a little. They weren’t ready to sign up for dressage lessons, but they began to have a little respect for the finer points of equitation and jumping. One of them, Ellis, even acknowledged that Pony Club might be almost as much fun as his 4-H Club. Carole took that as high praise and didn’t push her luck. “Could be,” she said.

  Now the days of emptiness at High Meadow were over. The cattle drive was complete, although a day longer than expected, for some reason Carole didn’t know, and her friends would be returning.

  Carole was pulling weeds from around the carrots when she saw Kate, Stevie, and Eli approach, accompanied by twelve campers. Mel was at the head of the group, leading the way. Everyone there was dusty, dirty, and looked very tired.

  “Where’s the nearest shower?” Stevie asked.

  “This way, but I’m first,” said Kate, pointing at their bunkhouse.

  Normally Carole would have reminded her friends that, actually, it was the horses who came first, but in this case, she considered it wise to make an exception. Clearly the cowpokes needed a break. She rounded up Linc, Ellis, and Jack to help take care of the horses and told everybody else to go clean up and get a little rest. Jeannie announced that dinner would be ready in an hour. Carole told her friends there would be a Saddle Club meeting after that.

  “I’ll do anything you tell me,” Stevie said, “as long as it starts with a shower.”

  Carole had the feeling that there was a good long story to the cattle drive, and she was eager to hear it. And she had some things to tell Stevie and Kate about, too. First, though, she and the three campers took care of the horses, took off their tack, gave them a brushing and some fresh water, and set them loose in the field with the rest of the horses. They seemed to enjoy their reunion as well.

  Then Carole returned to the kitchen to help Jeannie finish dinner preparations. It was another couple of hours before the Saddle Club girls had any time together. By then all the stories had been told and everybody was ready for bed.

  The girls retreated to their bunkhouse.

  “I’ve got a surprise,” Carole said mysteriously.

  “Something good?” Stevie asked. “I hope so, because I can’t take another dose of bad news now.”

  “Really good,” Carole said. She reached in her back pocket and pulled out Lisa’s letter. “It’s another letter from Lisa!”

  “What’s the news?” Stevie asked eagerly.

  “I don’t know. I haven’t read it yet,” Carole said as she carefully opened the envelope.

  “Only you,” Stevie said. She would have read the letter right away herself.

  Carole unfolded the several sheets, held them to the dim light in the cabin, and began reading.

  Dear Carole, Kate, and Stevie, and Eli, and Jeannie, too,

  I’m getting to like traveling in Europe. In fact, it seems that the more I get to like it, the less my parents get to like it. That’s pretty strange. Of course, that doesn’t mean I don’t wish I were with you guys. I do. I really do! Especially since you guys already know what you’re doing. I’m learning something new every day.

  “Shows how much she knows!” Stevie joked.

  “Even more, it shows how little we know,” said Kate.

  Carole continued reading.

  I’m writing to you from Italy now.

  Today we drove through the area known as Tuscany. It’s just beautiful here. Very hilly (though nothing compared to the Rockies, but you know what I mean). There are little towns tucked in the hillsides with old old houses that have orange tile roofs. It’s something.

  We stopped in a small town to get some lunch and fill up our tank with gas. It’s a good thing we don’t do that much—gas is over $6 a gallon, if I’ve done my math correctly. Mom and Dad kept looking at the menu and couldn’t make any sense of it. Naturally, I had my phrase book handy. They told me what they wanted and I ordered it for them. They seemed pretty grateful. The waiter was really impressed. Honestly, so was I. I’m actually getting good at it—thumbing through the phrase book, I mean, not speaking Italian!

  That’s not what I really wanted to tell you about though. The really fantastic thing happened later.

  After lunch Dad went and found a telephone. He wanted to call the hotel to make sure our reservation was okay. Mom went with him. They took the phrase book with them. While they were away from the table, I got into a conversation with a woman at the table next to us. I was wearing my Saddle Club pin and she noticed it. She spoke a little English; I spoke a little Italian. We made out okay.

  What I realized as we started talking was that she was actually wearing riding clothes! It took two or three times around the vocabulary list for me to realize that she was asking me if my parents and I were attending the horse show in the next town. Can you believe it? There was actually a horse show going on and I didn’t know it until she told me.

  Well, of course, I just had to go. Mom had been talking about some ancient ruin, but what’s an ancient ruin compared to a horse show? I didn’t think I’d have too much trouble convincing Dad, because he’d had it up to here with ancient ruins. I was all ready to do my convincing talk when the looks on their faces told me there was trouble.

  It turned out that the hotel at which we had a reservation was totally booked because of the horse show. My parents had gone all through the phrase book, looking for a way to threaten to sue. The best they could do was to get a promise from the hotel that, if we showed up there, they’d see what they could do to find us a place to stay.

  Since it was my idea to get to the horse show anyway, I thought that was fine. We paid our bill and drove on over to the hotel. My parents were very upset. I guess I can’t blame them, but I was pretty sure something would work out. It’s always seemed to me that when there were horses around, everything else worked out. Know what I mean?

  Kate grunted. Stevie laughed. Carole went on reading.

  So, while they went to try to sweet talk the hotel into finding a place for us to stay, I walked on over to the horse show. It was practically across the street.

  I bought a ticket, got a program that I hardly understood, and just walked around. Everything was outdoors. There were about four rings with events going on all at the same time. I watched a dressage exhibition in the main ring and watched a pre
liminary jumping event in a smaller ring. It was really fun. I missed you guys, though, because there wasn’t anybody for me to talk to. Even if my parents had been there (and they were still at the hotel then), they wouldn’t have understood what they were watching. Mom judges horses by their looks and their pedigrees, rather than by their performance, and Dad tends to want to know how much money they’re going to win and who is betting on them—that is if he’s not preoccupied with where he’s going to eat his next meal.

  ANYWAY—this is the really interesting, nearly unbelievable, but absolutely true part. I wandered over to the area where the junior competitors were having their events. They were doing hunter jumping and they were pretty good. There was one boy who was far and away better than any of the rest of them. I was really impressed. He went through the first round with flying colors and then when he brought his horse out for the conformation judging, I couldn’t believe my eyes.

  Enrico. It was actually Enrico. Remember him?

  “Enrico? You mean like one of the Italian boys?” Stevie asked.

  “I guess so,” said Carole.

  “Incredible!” said Stevie. Enrico was one of the four Italian boys who had come to Pine Hollow. Stevie remembered how Lisa had said she might run into them and how she and Carole had laughed at the idea. Now, it seemed it had actually come true. It amazed Stevie and Carole. Out of all the millions of people in Italy, their friend Lisa had just happened to run into one of the four Italian citizens she actually knew!

  I didn’t want to upset him during the judging, but as soon as he brought his horse over to the side of the ring, I started yelling and waving. I only made a slight idiot of myself before he saw me. He told me to wait right there—until the ribbons were handed out. Of course, he got a blue. Then he came over and gave me this most gigantic hug. He asked me what I was doing there and how you guys are and what was going on and everything. I couldn’t answer all his questions at once, but the minute I told him about the hotel, he got this wonderful look on his face.