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But there was no time for regrets. Knowing that he alone had to stop the stampede, Shane broke into a run and swung himself up into his saddle. Taking the reins, he led his stallion from the stable, then sank his booted heels into the flanks of the horse and rode in the direction of what sounded like thunder echoing across the land.
Then he drew his horse to a sudden stop. He
looked disbelievingly at Melanie as she rode up and reined in beside him, then saw the swarm of her cowhands on horseback, jumping the fence, chasing the crazed longhorns.
"How did you know about the stampede?" Shane asked. "How did you get the cowhands to agree to come and help so quickly?"
"I'll explain later," Melanie shouted, her bay gelding pawing nervously at the ground. "Right now, let's do what we can to stop the stampede!"
"You stay behind!" Shane shouted.
"Shane, please don't tell me not to help!" she pleaded. "I want to! I know about stampedes! My father told me about some that he had experienced and how he stopped them!"
"Melanie, this isn't the time to get stubborn on me," Shane growled. He glared at her. "You stay behind. I don't want to have to worry about you. I've enough to worry about already!"
"Shane, while we're arguing, your longhorns are getting away!" Melanie shouted, exasperated.
Shane looked into the distance and saw that the cowhands were not having much luck at stopping the stampede. Having experienced crazed buffalo, even at age thirteen, he knew the art of what to do about them.
"Do as you wish!" he shouted, gesturing with a hand. "But be careful, Melanie! I love you!"
Melanie was overcome with warmth, knowing that Shane did not speak those words all that freely. But when he did speak
them, they were from the heart. They were true!
"Shane, I love you," she said, then slapped her
reins and rode alongside him toward the stampeding herd.
"We've got to get around the cattle and circle the leaders," Shane shouted. "Swing the leaders around into the tail end of the herd."
Melanie nodded, trying not to show the fear that was gripping her insides. She knew the danger in the cattle's sharp horns! She knew the danger of her horse becoming spooked, possibly throwing her! Riding at breakneck speed through the night to check the stampede was the most dangerous part of a perilous job. Melanie depended on the sure-footedness of her horse. A spill meant certain death, with both horse and rider thrown in the path of the herd.
But she had to help Shane. No matter what.
The longhorns picked up speed. It was so dark, it was hard for Shane to see them in the distance, but he could tell by the noise that they were now running straight. There was no clicking of horns. What he was hearing was a kind of buzzing noise, loud and deafening. There was no use trying to turn them in the darkness. He rode wide, herding by ear, following the noise. Soon his ears told him that they were crowding and milling together, their heads jammed together and their horns locked.
Shane and Melanie finally reached the front of the stampede and began zigzagging across the front, directing its course. Melanie looked over at Shane as he began to chant.
"Wo-up, wo-up, wo, wo-o-o, wo bop, wo-o-oo, boys. Be good, be good, wo-o-o-o, you wall-eyed
rascals!" Shane chanted, as he had so long ago when riding after buffalo.
The lead cattle suddenly tried to halt, but there was no time. The rushing mob was at their heels, propelled by its own mass, and it plunged over the hesitating leaders. Some fell. The herd piled up, animals on the bottom being trampled to death.
Now the stampede was without direction, some cattle trying to run in a circle, bunches cutting off this way and that. While Shane and Melanie rode side by side, zigzagging across the front of the stampede, still attempting to direct its course with the cattle running too fast to be circled, an old cow suddenly let out a bawlprobably for her calf. In a minute, the whole herd was stopped and every animal in it was bawling.
Breathless, Melanie stopped alongside Shane. They stared at each other, then at the longhorns. "I've never seen anything like it," Melanie said, wiping her brow with the sleeve of her blouse. "But thank God for the favor!"
The cowhands came riding up and drew rein around Melanie and Shane, awaiting further instructions.
"Let's get them rounded up and back to the farm!" Shane said, looking from man to man. "And thank you all for your help. It won't be forgotten."
The longhorns were circled around and led back inside the fence. Even without being told to, several men jumped from their horses and began repairing the damaged fence. Some took a count of the dead animals. Others checked over the ones
that had lived through the ordeal, to make sure they had no serious tears or wounds.
Melanie and Shane dismounted at the stable. As a cowhand came riding toward them, carrying something grotesque, they met his approach.
