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On the edge of the upper pasture, there was a permanent camp set up. It consisted of four small cabins for sleeping. A mess cabin to prepare and eat their meals, and an outhouse. There was a well, with a hand pump in the kitchen area, and a propane stove to cook on. They brought enough food along for their two nights and three days. There was a similar camp at the lower pasture. The cabins were on the rough side, with bunk beds and little else. But it beat sleeping outside on the ground or hauling up tents and sleeping bags.
Next to the cabins was a corral, and a hay shed. When they arrived, they unsaddled the horses and put them in the corral. Two of the men fed the horses while the other twoprepared a dinner meal. It wasn’t quite four o’clock, but they’d been riding all day and only had sandwiches for lunch, eaten while they rode. They were all hungry and tired from a day in the saddle.
Jake, Sawyer, and J.T. shared one of the cabins, and since it wasn’t late when they went to it after dinner, they decided to play some cards.
Jake smiled. “How about some rummy?”
Sawyer shook his head. “No man. You always win.”
“I’ll take it easy on you.”
“Let me win? That’s even worse. Deal the damn cards.”
After two hours of playing, Jake came out on top. They’d be up early in the morning, so it was time to go to bed. Jake needed to make a trip to the outhouse before he settled in for the night. He put on his coat and went outside.
With the cloud cover, there were no stars or moonlight. It was dark. He’d brought a flashlight, but he opted to use a tree instead of going all the way to the outhouse. On his way back to the cabin, the rain started. He went inside, glad to be in the warm cabin. Each cabin was outfitted with a propane heater, and he went to stand by it for a moment.
“Well, the rain is here.”
J.T. sighed. “Well, shit. That’s going to make for a long day tomorrow.”
“A long, wet day.”
Sawyer laid down on the top bunk and opened his book. “I really hate cows, Dad.”
“I know you do, son. But I’m glad you came along.”
“Hmm. I almost wish I was back in Missoula.”
J.T. thumped the bottom of the bunk. “And miss all this fun?”
“I have a feeling thefunhasn’t started yet.”
It poured all night and if he hadn’t been so tired, the sound of it on the metal roof would’ve kept Jake awake. He slept and dreamt about fireworks over a body of water. When he woke up, the little bit of light in the cabin was gray, which meant the sun was coming up somewhere above the cloud cover. The rain was still falling on the metal roof. It wasn’t as heavy as it was during the night. But it was hard enough to make the day miserable.
Before getting out of his warm bunk, he tried to remember his dream. It was so vivid, it had to be a real memory of a long past Fourth of July celebration. But he couldn’t place it. He couldn’t recall ever watching a fireworks show over a lake or whatever it was.
J.T. stirred and sat up. “Damn rain kept me awake all night. That and Sawyer’s snoring.”
“I don’t snore.”
“I beg to differ.”
Sawyer sat and hung his legs over the side of the bed, then jumped to the floor. “Maybe it was Dad.”
Jake shook his head. “I don’t snore. Never have. It was definitely one of you.” He got out of bed and went to stand by the heater. “We could call it and come back after Thanksgiving. But another week or so, and this could be snow falling.”
J.T. joined him at the heater. “Let’s get it over with. It’s just a little rain.”
Sawyer was at the window, peering out. “No. It’s a hell of a lot of rain.”
Chapter twenty-nine
"Shut up, Billy Buck."
The rain continued throughout the day, making driving the cows more of a chore than it usually was. But what made it worse for Jake was the words echoing in his head. “It was a rainy day. A cloudy, wet, and miserable day.” He assumed it was from a song or a book he’d read years ago. He tried to shake it as he left the herd and went after a couple of cows that strayed away from the group. And then he remembered the next sentence. “But Billy Buck didn’t mind. Billy Buck loved the rain.Rainy days were days of adventure.”He sighed. Damn Billy Buck. He’dread the story at least a hundred times to Sage and Sawyer. “I don’t know about you, Billy Buck, but I’m not loving the rain. And I’d settle for a little less adventure.”
He got in front of the three cows and got them headed back in the right direction. The clouds were low and he could barely see beyond the front of the herd. He could make out J.T.and Sawyer. They usually rode together and he could see Sawyer's hair lying against his shoulders as it came out from under the ball cap he was wearing. Even as a child, Sawyer refused to wear a cowboy hat. J.T., on the other hand, wanted to sleep in his. Sage went through phases. She’d only wear one now when they were working cows. He was glad she wasn’t on this trip, though. He was also glad Jacob didn’t make it. He’d always been a healthy man before the stroke, at least. But spending ten hours on a horse in the pouring rain, with the temperature barely above forty, might’ve been a little too much for him.
