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“They did.”
“What even? I just checked the fence two days ago.”
He shrugged. “You know where they always be getting in. You seen the damage they did to it the last time.”
“Yeah, yeah.” Eli closed her eyes. “I’ll be out in a minute to get them. Just let me grab a jacket. How many this time?”
“Just three.”
“Well, that’s something, I guess.”
Eli stepped behind the door to grab her heavy jacket and changed out of her tennis shoes into her muck boots before she headed out the door to join Bill. She didn’t bother locking it as she scratched her head and moved toward her truck.
“Hey, Bill, you know anything about toilets?”
“Why?”
“I need help lifting one. Or two. Just two. I can do the rest.”
He grinned at her as he leaned against the door of his nice new truck. “Renovating?”
“A bit. Getting rid of the leaky toilet my dad installed when I was two.”
Laughing, Bill slapped the side of his truck before he opened the door. “I’ll help you with the toilet if you fix me some dinner.”
“Deal!”
He jumped into his truck just as Eli hopped into hers. It was going to take her probably at least thirty minutes to round up the three cows, assuming they cooperated. If they didn’t cooperate, it could be the longest afternoon of her life and she wouldn’t make any progress on the toilet.
She headed down to the fence line where they always seemed to get out and parked her truck in the middle of the field. Eli slammed the door shut and glared at the cattle lowing around in the pasture on the right side of the land before she shifted her glare to the ones who were on her neighbor’s land, eating the wheat that was beginning to sprout.
“Bailey, Cassie, Donovan, get over here! Now!” she shouted, to no avail, because they were cattle and didn’t give a crap about what she said to them.
She trudged through the mud to the fence line and put her hands on her hips as she shouted at them again. She knew Bill would join up with her if it took her longer than an hour to get a handle on her own cattle, but the ridiculousness of the situation weighed on her. These three always got through the fence, no matter how many times she repaired it. She was going to have to completely rebuild that section and perhaps add in a few extra things to make it less enticing to jump.
Eli planted her hands on the wood and shouted. “Get your butts back over here!”
They didn’t move as they enjoyed the fresh greens of the winter wheat just poking its head through the soil.
“Bugger.” She lifted her body over the fence and let out a groan as she landed on both feet on the other side. Looking over her shoulder at her own truck and land, Eli moved swiftly and with a determined step. She was done waiting for them to come back on their own.
“Bailey, get your butt back here, right now!”
The cow glanced in her direction and went back to eating. Eli shook her head as she charged forward and clapped her hands. That got Bailey’s attention. She shoved at the cow and pushed her toward the fence line. Donovan wasn’t too far off, and as soon as Bailey started moving, he moved. She had the two of them over the fence in no time, but Cassie was going to be another issue.
She was the stubborn one of the three for sure. Eli gritted her teeth as she was determined to get her cattle over the fence and then repair it so it would at least keep them contained for the week until she could figure out a more permanent solution.
“Hey!” she shouted loudly at Cassie. “Cas! Get your butt home. Now!”
Bill pulled up on the other side of Cassie and stayed in his truck as he watched Eli work. She moved from side to side as she coaxed Cassie toward the fence. With loud clapping, she finally convinced Cassie to jump it and go into her field. Sighing, Eli headed for Bill’s truck as he rolled down the window to speak with her.
“Sorry, Bill.”
“I know you’ve tried to fix it, Eli, but you need to find a more permanent solution.”
She groaned. “I know. It’s now top of the list before the toilet.”
He chuckled. “I’ll help you do it after morning chores.”
