AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Of course not. I told them how tired you were, and they said to tell you that they’d see you in the morning at breakfast.” He put his arm around her shoulders as she snuggled against his chest and kissed the top of her head. “I love you, sweetheart.”
“I love you too, honey. I can’t wait to ride a horse tomorrow.” She smiled. “And I’ll finally get to see my cowboy in action.”
He chuckled. “That you will.”
***
Cal glanced at Vic, who rode quietly beside him. He’d put her on his old horse, Sandy, and she was looking all around her as she rode, a bemused smile on her face.
“Dad’ll cut out the cow that we need to doctor, and then I’ll rope her. You stay and watch from here for now.”
“You got it,” she said, never taking her eyes off his father.
He smiled. She’d been so excited about getting out here this morning that she’d hardly been able to eat her breakfast.
He’d just put out feed from the sack he’d carried on the back of his saddle, and the cattle had their heads down eating. His dad, riding his buckskin gelding, slowly worked his way into the herd.
Cal gradually moved closer. The cow, realizing that she was John’s target, became skittish, picking up her pace.
Cal moved in, swinging his loop just as she reached the edge of the herd. He cast right as she spotted him, his loop catching her around the neck. He quickly wrapped his rope around the saddle horn and dragged her a few paces from the herd, which had begun to back away.
“Good throw,” his dad said and threw his loop, catching her hind legs.
Cal continued to pull her forward. They stretched the ropes between them until the cow went down and lay on her side.
John dismounted as his gelding continued to keep pressure on the rope. Taking a spray can of medication and a syringe from his saddle bags, he approached the downed cow.
Cal waved to Vic. “You can come on over now, honey.”
When she was beside him, he said, “See that cut above her hock? There on her hind leg? Dad’s going to spray it with a disinfectant that will also keep the flies away and give her a dose of a strong antibiotic. That should do the trick.”
“Your horses are amazing. They know what to do even without you telling them.”
Her excited voice made him smile. “These two are old hands at stuff like this. A good roping horse is worth his weight in gold, honey.”
“I can see that.” She reached down and patted Sandy’s neck. “This guy’s a real sweetheart. I love riding him. And this is such beautiful country. It’s so wild, and I feel free from everything familiar here.”
“I love it. I really do,” he said as he watched his father give the shot. The wound was already purple with the antiseptic spray.
John called the gelding, who walked forward a couple of steps so that he could remove the rope from the cow’s hind legs. Then Cal moved forward as the cow scrambled to her feet, and John took the rope from her neck. She trotted off, shaking her head.
Cal coiled his rope and tied it to his saddle again. “Let’s head back, honey. Normally, we’d have brought the horses in the truck and trailer to save time, but I knew you’d enjoy the ride.”
She smiled. “This has been a wonderful morning. I’ve loved every minute of it. Thank you, honey.”
He reached out and took her hand.
His father put his gelding to a lope and moved ahead.
Cal was sure he was doing that to give them privacy. “We can ride every day, if you like, Vic. We’re here to relax and enjoy ourselves. I’m sure Dad’ll have a few things that he might want my help with. Todd and Chris work with him, too, of course, but whenever I’m here, Dad likes to involve me in the ranch work.”
“I’ll love watching you work. This is all fascinating to me.”
“I forgot to tell you, Mom said that Todd and Chris and their families are coming over for dinner tonight.”
“That’s great! I can’t wait to meet them. And didn’t you say that Todd has two children?”
“He sure does. A five-year-old and a two-year-old. Boy and a girl. They’re really good kids,” he said.
