“Are you sure you can do this?” Alex held Sonny’s reins. “Are you sure you can do this?” Alex held Sonny’s reins.
“I’m sure.” Bobbie stepped into the stirrup on the wrong side of her horse to avoid using her swollen ankle. “Get on your horse. If we see any cattle, I’ll do the roping. You and Wolf get behind and push them.”
Bobbie led the way out of the meadow through a thick stand of trees. “When we see one she’ll probably run. We’ll have to move fast or we’ll lose her in the brush.” She looked back at Alex over her shoulder. “By the way, you’re gonna need to learn to duck.”
Alex grabbed a pine cone from a nearby tree and threw it at the center of Bobbie’s back.
Bobbie shook her rope out and held it close. A flash of black ran across the trail in front of them. “There goes one. Come on.”
Sonny bolted after the cow. Trees went by in a blur. The cow was wild and had no intention of letting them come anywhere near her.
They raced over one ridge and started up the next. Alex did her best to keep up. Most of the time she just held on and let the roan decide where to go. The cow made a quick left and the roan nearly lost Alex. Her feet were out of the stirrups and she barely hung on.
Bobbie waited for a clearing. She would only have one chance, and when they exploded out into a small opening she threw her loop. It caught the cow’s horns. Sonny stopped dead, and when the black cow hit the end of the rope, she flipped around facing them.
The cow was mad. She fought and pulled and tried to back up. Sonny held her fast. Then the cow made a wild dash around a tree. Bobbie let her fight with the tree until the animal was worn out. Then she calmly rode around the tree and led her captive back toward the meadow.
Wolf and Alex fell in behind. “Are we going to do this for every single one?” Alex asked, breathing heavily.
Bobbie nodded. “Unless you have a better idea.”
“At this rate, we’ll be up here a month.”
“Grandpa and I did it different when he used to come up with me.”
“Was it faster?”
“Yeah, but I don’t think you’ll like it.”
“Anything would beat this.”
“Cows generally will stick together if you get a few rounded up. If you think you can handle it, I’ll go get them and bring them back here to you. Your job will be to keep them together until we have enough to move down to the corrals …” She trailed off, waiting for Alex’s answer.
“How hard can it be?”
Bobbie smiled mischievously. She pulled Sonny to a stop, giving some slack in the rope. “Take the loop off this one and I’ll go hunt you another one.”
Alex stepped down and cautiously approached the cow. Alex jerked the rope up and off the horns. The instant the cow was free she took off like a shot.
“Don’t just stand there.” Bobbie re-coiled her rope. “Go get her. I’ll be back with another one in a few minutes. Come with me, Wolf.” She smacked Sonny on the rump with the rope and the horse loped off.
Alex scrambled to the roan and climbed on. She could still hear the black cow ahead of her—somewhere—crashing through the brush.