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“Did they at least pay you for it?”
“Nope.”
“Damn.”
“Exactly.”
A sharp whistle caught our attention. Emmett made a loop signal with his arm and everyone fell into place. Emmett up front, Jonah and a ranch hand I couldn’t remember the name of to his left and right, Ethan and his dad behind them, ranch hands Pete and Drew behind them, and Cricket and me in the back. All the dogs were scattered around except for Eugie, and they were like little well-oiled machines, checking unruly cattle and keeping them in line. I was fascinated watching them work in sync with such incredible efficiency.
“Hope you feed those dogs well,” I said.
“Oh, they eat like kings,” Cricket laughed.
Suddenly, I saw Ellie ride up and join Jonah’s side.
“Your grandma is helping?” I asked in disbelief.
“She’s a tough old bird. Nothing could keep her from this. Driving is her favorite part of the ranch. Grandma strives for adventure. She always rides point right behind Pop Pop.”
“Point,” I said.
“Yeah, if this were, say, a hundred years ago and we were driving the cattle for weeks, Pop Pop’s position would be called ‘trail boss,’ Jonah and Joe would be ‘point,’ Ethan and Huck would be ‘swing,’ Pete and Drew would be ‘flank’ and you and I would be the ‘drag.’”
“Cool,” I said, interested in what she was talking about, possibly because I sat at the rear of five thousand cattle, or more possibly because it was Cricket talking and anything she said fascinated me. “How do you know all this?”
“I used to read my great-great-grandfather’s journals. He used to ride the trails as a hired hand before he settled here.”
We began the drive about an hour after sunrise, which was welcome, because it had already begun to warm us through. Halfway there, I was starting to sweat because I was working so hard to keep my section of cattle from going renegade. I would look over at Cricket and just the slightest movements on her horse would influence her cattle. I found myself studying her, learning how she anticipated their actions and trying to emulate her. About an hour into it and I thought I’d gotten the knack of it until one cow shot out of the herd like someone had smacked her. All the dogs were occupied, so it was left up to me to get her back.
I banked my horse left and chased after her but every time she would shoot right, I would overcorrect and miss her. She kept slipping out from my control, and I was starting to get frustrated. I heard Cricket come galloping behind me. I turned around to gesture for her to return to the herd, that come hell or high water, I was going to get this troublesome cow back to the group, but I was stunned silent when she pulled out her rope and started swinging it over her head. In one try, she roped the cow’s neck. She turned to return to the group and I watched her slack-jawed, my gaping mouth refusing to close. Damn.
I had never seen anything sexier than Cricket Hunt roping a cow. I whistled low. Still can’t have her.
She released the cow and we fell quietly in step with one another. The herd had slowed to a snail’s pace and things became mellow.
“Didn’t want to overstep,” she offered in apology.
“No, it’s fine,” I said, still reeling from how talented she was.
“I just-we were getting ahead of you and I didn’t want to lose you.”
I read way too much into that and my heart leapt in my throat.
“It’s seriously fine,” I said with a smile.
She smiled back.
When we reached the road, Jonah and Emmett swung open the gates at the crossing. Ellie and Jonah stationed themselves in the road to prevent any cattle from straying and the herd quickly began meandering through. It was stressful because it thinned the herd out and it felt like an impossible task to keep the entire herd together.
Cricket and I watched as a truck began to approach, going too fast. We sat up in our saddles, our gloved hands gripping the horns of our saddle with serious tension.
“Stop,” Cricket breathed under her breath, her chest rising and falling with the stress.
Ellie kept raising her hands above her head, but the fool made no move to slow down until it was almost too late.
“Slow down!” I yelled vainly, braced to jump from my horse, as if I was anywhere near them.
Cricket’s hand wrapped around her throat. She looked panicked and unsure. I grabbed her shoulder in reaction and we sat helplessly waiting. There is nothing more pitiful than feeling that out of control.
