Wild Horse Rescue

by Nancy M Bell

  Cattle milled in the holding pens by the chutes while a few riders circled the arena, some limbering up their ropes as they rode. Coll leaned on the rail and watched with a fascinated look on his face. “So, what’s the deal? I know you said you and Carly are a team, but what do you do?”

  Laurel rested a booted foot on the lower rail of the panel dividing the arena from the rows of stands. “This is Team Roping, so not like Tie Down or Breakaway where there’s one rider and one calf. In Team there’re two riders, a header and a heeler. It’s still a timed event, but when they release the steer, the header has to get a loop over the horns and keep it in place while the heeler lays a trap with their rope that hopefully the steer puts his hind feet in. Then the second rider pulls the loop tight and the time stops. There’s all kinds of fussy rules, but basically, that’s it.”

  “And you’re the heeler? Right?” Coll turned to look at her.

  Laurel nodded.

  “Is that harder than the other position? It sounds like it.”

  “A little I guess.” She shrugged. “I’m still having a bit of trouble getting the rope to sit right for the hind feet, but it’s coming. I just have to practice harder. Chance says it’s really not that hard if you concentrate.”

  “Chance says,” Coll echoed her words.

  “Chance says a lot.” Laurel sighed. She waved to catch someone’s attention in the ring.

  “Laurel, hey!” A tall lanky cowboy strode over to them. “Good to see you. We’ll be ready in about twenty, you can use the outdoor to warm up in if you want. The penners won’t be here for an hour or so. I think Carly’s out there already.”

  “Thanks, Clay. This is Coll, my friend from England,” she introduced him.

  “Nice to meet you.” Clay took off his glove to shake Coll’s hand.

  “You, too,” Coll responded.

  A shout from the other side of the arena broke up the conversation. “Gotta go, see you in about twenty minutes.” Clay hurried off across the sandy footing.

  “Let’s go get saddled up. Darn, I didn’t know the penners were using the outdoor today, but you can still get in some riding while we warm up and then there are the trails or flat places you can ride later if you don’t want to watch the roping for the whole time. It can get pretty boring unless you know the people.”

  They went back out into the brilliant sunlight and unloaded the two horses. Laurel flipped the pads onto Sam’s withers and smoothed them back into place. She glanced up at the clink of hooves on pavement.

  “Where’ve you been, Rowan?” Chance pushed his hat back and leaned his crossed arms on the saddle horn. “You better move your ass or we’re gonna miss our time in the arena. Carly’s already warming up.”

  “Stuff it, Chance. Clay just said we’ve got at least twenty minutes.” While she spoke, Laurel tossed the saddle onto her horse and did up the cinches and breast collar. Slipping the halter off, Sam obligingly shoved his head into the bridle, opening his mouth for the bit.”

  “Just mover your ass.” Chance wheeled his gelding and jogged back toward the outdoor ring.

  “He’s a right tosser, isn’t he?” Coll stood behind her with Jewel’s saddle.

  “Not exactly what I’d call him, but yeah.” Laurel hung the halter on the trailer.

  Coll swung the western saddle up onto the buckskin’s back and flipped the various straps around.

  “Do you want some help with that? It’s way different from an English saddle.” Laurel picked the end of the breastplate up off the pavement. “Do the cinches up first.” She indicated the main cinch and the flank cinch. “Then do the breastplate.” She watched while he fumbled with the long leather strap.”

  “Is that right?” Coll stood back.

  Laurel checked the cinch and pulled the flank cinch a bit tighter. “You don’t want to run the risk of her putting a hind foot through it if you leave it too loose.”

  Coll managed the breastplate and one ear bridle without too much trouble. Laurel swung up onto Sam who danced in his eagerness to be gone. She reined him in with gentle hands. “You okay from here? I gotta go.” She threw a look over her shoulder.

  “Sure, go on. I can figure it out from here.” Coll lay the split reins on Jewel’s neck.

  Laurel jogged off toward where the others were riding. Coll caught up to her just before she reached the in gate. She smiled at him and let him go first.

  “About time, Laurel,” Chance growled as he loped by, long legged and easy in the saddle.

  “Sod him,” Coll muttered beside her.

  Laurel hid a grin and touched Sam with her heel. The gelding lengthened his stride and Laurel forgot everything except loosening his muscles. Sam was fit, and it didn’t take long. Laurel shook out her rope and took a few practice swings to loosen up her shoulders. She matched the rhythm of the horse’s gait with the roll of her shoulder.

  “Show me what you can do,” Chance challenged her. “I’ve got the dummy set up for you.”

  “Sure.” Laurel coiled her rope and loped across the arena beside Chance.

  “Thank God he’s gonna pick on you for a while,” Carly remarked when they pulled up beside the dummy.

  “You wanna win or not?” Chance growled. “Go practice what we were working on.” He glanced at his watch. “We gotta clear outta here pretty quick.”

  Coll came over and sat quietly out of the way in the centre of the arena. Laurel blocked his presence from her mind and concentrated on what Chance was saying. She just wished he wouldn’t yell so much.

  After a few unsuccessful attempts at laying the trap without using the dummy, Laurel pulled Sam up and pushed her hat back to glare at her coach. “If you’d just quit screaming at me…”

  “I wish you’d just learn to scoop instead of trying to trap the hind legs it’d make my life easier.” He scowled at her. “Get off and try it with the dummy from the ground. Get your friend to hold your horse, at least he’ll be of some use.” He nodded toward Coll.

  Laurel bit her tongue and slid down, hanging the loops of the rope over the horn, she handed Coll the reins even though Sam ground tied just fine, thank you. She put a hand on his knee “Ignore him,” she whispered.

  “Is he always like that.”

  Coll leaned down while Laurel undid the latigos around her spare rope. “Pretty much.”

  Laying the trap was easier on foot, with the dummy’s feet on the ground she concentrated on laying the open loop in front of the hind legs and then pulling up at the right sharp angle to close the loop.

  The arrival of the group of penners who’d booked the outdoor ring put an end to the practice session. Laurel took Sam back from Coll and swung up. “You can stay here and watch the penners, if you want. It’s pretty interesting and more fun that what we’re gonna do. And you won’t have to listen to Chance yell.” She grinned.

  “What do they do?” He turned Jewel and walked beside her toward the gate.

  “To make it simple, it comes from when they sort cattle on the ranch. But this is a timed event and they work in teams of three. The cattle are numbered, and each team knows what their number is. They cut their cattle from the herd and move it down the arena to a pen that’s set up. Two riders usually do the cutting and herding and the third member keeps the cattle in the pen. If you take longer than ninety seconds you have to stop. The team who gets all their cattle in the pen the quickest wins. There’s a lot of other rules, but that’s basically it. I gotta go.” She loped off after Chance and Carly.

  Working with live steers was both harder and easier for Laurel. Sam helped by getting her into the right spot to throw the loop and assisted her in closing the trap by stopping without her verbally telling him to. In between runs she scanned the rail for Coll but didn’t find him. There was no time to worry about it, though. Chance seemed to be enjoying calling them down, to the point that Clay took him aside and spoke to him. Whatever he said, Chance was a bit more positive afterward.

  On at least half the runs Carly
missed with her loop and Laurel didn’t have the chance to try for the heels. Her partner was almost in tears by the time they were done. They rode out of the arena together, leaving Chance to do whatever it was he was doing behind them.

  “God, I suck! I really really suck!” Carly muttered. “I’m sorry, Laurel. He gets me so riled and nervous I can’t do anything right. I wish we could get Clay or someone to coach us.”

  “I know, he does the same thing to me. What happened to him? He never used to be so mean.” Laurel leaned over and squeezed her friend’s arm.

  “I don’t know. Dad expects a lot out of him, but that doesn’t mean he has to act like that. Can I go home with you? Maybe your dad can help us a bit. I just can’t take being yelled at and if I go home I’ll be out in the corral with Dad and Chance both yelling at me.”

  “Sure, I’ll text Mom just to be sure, but I’ve got the angle haul so there’s room for Rayna. We can run the barrels too if you want, Dad set them up in one of corrals for me.”

  “You’re a life saver, Laurel. I mean it. God, I can’t wait for him to go off university or college or whatever he’s decided on.”

  “Is he going to Lethbridge? Be a Pronghorn?” Laurel giggled.

  “He’s accepted there. I’m kinda hoping he’ll choose Olds or Lakeland in Vermillion. Somewhere farther away than Lethbridge or the Hat.”

  “I hear you.” Laurel grinned. She looked around but could see no sign of Coll. “I wonder where Coll’s gotten to? I didn’t see him inside, but I was too busy to really look.”

  “He might be watching the penners,” Carly suggested.

  They reached the trailer and slid down from their horses. After untacking and wiping down Sam’s sweat marks, Laurel threw a light sheet over him before picking his feet. Straightening up she looked for Coll again. “Where the heck is he?” she muttered. Waiting for Carly to finish with Rayna, she pulled out her phone and texted her mom.

  “Mom says you’re welcome to come and stay over and Dad is willing to give us some help later too,” she reported.

  “Let’s go find your hunky friend with the cool accent,” Carly checked Rayna’s tie on the trailer to be sure it was secure.

  “I do like his accent,” she agreed. “Have you told Chance you’re not going back with him?”

  “I’ll text him.” She pulled her phone out.

  The girls walked toward the outside ring, waving good-bye to friends already leaving. Carly’s phone pinged. “Chance says great. He’s going to some meeting to talk about where to build traps for those wildies they’re so pissy about. Honestly—”

  “He’s doing what?” Laurel almost shrieked. “They’re not serious about catching those horses, are they?”

  “Yeah, Dad’s always on about how they’re wrecking the range and eating the grass that his cattle need.” Carly rolled her eyes.

  “They can’t, they just can’t. Those horses aren’t hurting anything. Why do people have to be so mean?”

  “Oh look! Isn’t that your mom’s horse over there?” Carly seemed relieved to change the subject and pointed toward a six horse fifth wheel attached to a new diesel truck.

  “It is. Coll must be over there.” Laurel quickened her pace. “That’s Monica Wilson’s trailer isn’t it?”

  “I heard they got a new one and gave her the old one. Look at that truck, though. Totally jealous.”

  “So, what’s Coll doing with her?” Laurel lengthened her stride. “How did he even meet her?”

  “You did leave him alone over by the penners,” Carly reminded her.

  Laurel grunted in reply. Just as they reached the horses tied to the fifth wheel the dressing room door opened and Coll and Monica came out.

  “Thanks for showing me all that. It’s brill, Monica,” Coll was saying.

  “I love your accent,” the dark-haired girl purred, looking up at him with a suggestive smile on her lips.

  “Coll, there you are,” Laurel exclaimed. “We’ve been looking all over for you.”

  “Hey, Laurel. Sorry, Monica was just showing me some video of her penning and explaining how cattle penning is scored. It was super interesting.” Coll smiled at the girl in a way that made Laurel’s temper rise.

  “We need to get going. Carly’s coming back to the ranch with us. Our horses are ready to load.” She turned and stalked off toward her own rig.

  “See ya, Monica. C’mon, Coll,” Carly’s voice reached Laurel even as she moved away.

  She reached the trailer before the other two and had Sam loaded before they arrived with Jewel in tow. How could he just go off without letting me know where he was? He had Jewel with him, what if something happened to the mare? Laurel took a deep breath and forced herself to calm down. Coll really hadn’t done anything wrong, she did leave him on his own and he was pretty hot. No wonder Monica swooped down on him. She loaded Rayna beside Sam while Carly helped Coll untack. She hopped down off the trailer in time to help stow the equipment.

  “Are you mad at me?” Coll caught her hand on the way past.

  “Not really, I guess. I just didn’t expect to find you cozied up with Monica Wilson in her trailer. That girl has quite the reputation.” Laurel took the bridle from him and hung it up.

  “Reputation? Like in she’s easy?” Coll turned to look back at where the girl was pulling out of the parking lot.

  Laurel punched him in the arm. “Forget it, Romeo.”

  “All loaded,” Carly announced shutting the back gate of the trailer. “Everyone on board. Let’s go, I’m starving.”

  Laurel shut the tack room door and locked it. “We can stop at Burger Baron on the way home if you want.”

  “Awesome!” Carly climbed up into the cab, settling herself in the narrow back seat. “You can have shotgun, Coll. I’m gonna stretch my legs out in the back here.” She buckled the seat belt and then wriggled around ’til she could put her feet up on the bench seat. “Your dad’s got so much stuff back here there’s no other place to put my feet.”

  Coll got in the front and shut the door while Laurel finished her walk around the trailer and got in on the driver’s side. “Let’s go. A big old greasy cheeseburger and onion rings sounds like heaven right now.”

  Laurel pulled up in front of Burger Baron and put her four-way flashers on. She handed Carly some bills and stayed with the truck while Carly ran in and got their food. Ordinarily, she would have just gone through the drive thru, but there was no way the truck and trailer could manage that. Carly was back with the grease stained paper bag and three cans of pop before the horses could begin to shift around and complain at the delay in getting home for feed and a good roll.

  Laurel put the truck in gear when she’d finished wolfing down the burger and her share of the big box of onion rings. The day wasn’t over yet. There were still chores to do at home and practice with Dad after supper. She sighed, and she really should run the barrels at least once and do the pole pattern too. Maybe Dad would run Carly and Rayna home later, he probably would actually, if it meant Laurel would be driving in the dark. Sam’s bath could wait until morning. And if it rained as it often did this time of year, she could skip that and save some time in the morning.

  Chapter Four

  Saturday morning was clear and bright. After a quick breakfast Coll helped Laurel clean her tack and load the trailer again. He lugged the heavy container of water and stowed it where she showed him and filled the hay nets. Mom was loaning him Jewel for the day again, so he could really get a feel of being part of a rodeo. She promised she’d take lots of pictures, so he could post them on Facebook for Emily and Sarie and so Ash and Gort could see him wearing boots and a western hat sitting on a horse at a real rodeo.

  Coll was a bit nervous about the whole thing, confessing to Laurel he was afraid he’d get in somebody’s way. Laurel assured him there were plenty of places he could sit and watch without being a bother. Jewel was used to being around rodeo and the livestock.

  “Are there going to be bulls?” Col
l’s eyes widened.

  Laurel shook her head. “Not at Little Britches. Steers for the steer riding, and some cattle, but no bulls.” She thought he looked relieved at her answer.

  He disappeared in order to get Jewel and bring her to be loaded in the trailer.

  She gave Sam’s tail a last whisk of the brush and tossed it into her grooming kit in the trailer. The big chestnut gleamed from nose to tail, even his hooves shone with their recent oiling.

  “Ready, Princess?” Colt Rowan came out of the barn slapping his gloves against his thigh.

  “Ready. I’ll load him last though. Jewel should go on first.” Laurel pulled the loose end of the quick release knot on the lead shank.

  Colt glanced over his shoulder toward the machine shed. “Coll should be along with her any minute.”

  On cue, Coll and the buckskin mare appeared around the side of the building. “Coming,” he called. “I had trouble with the gate, but I got it okay.”

  “You load up, Laurel.” Colt strode off to check the pasture gate for himself. “That damned stud was over at Cullen’s again yesterday trying to run off some of his mares.”

  Laurel looked after him and frowned. It seemed like Coal was getting the blame for a lot of things from Mr. Cullen, but he never seemed to bother with Rowan’s stock. I wonder how much is just Chance’s dad stirring up trouble because he wants those horses gone?

  Pushing the worry to the back of her mind, Laurel waited for Coll to load the mare and then threw the shank over Sam’s withers and let him hop on the trailer by himself. She followed him and secured the divider. Dad’s horse was already in the first stall. He’d be acting as pick up man for the bareback and saddle broncs along with something in the steer wrestling, Laurel wasn’t sure exactly what.

  She shut the back gate of the trailer and checked the latches, then checked the other doors on the trailer. She climbed into the back of the cab with Coll as her dad came back around the machine shed and got in. He pulled the rig around to the front of the house and stopped. Anna came out the door almost before the truck rolled to a stop. She put the cooler she carried into the bed of the pickup and then got in beside her husband, handing him a go mug of coffee as she did.