Bobbie crawled out of her bedroll the next morning to see Alex already saddling the horses. Bobbie crawled out of her bedroll the next morning to see Alex already saddling the horses.
“Too bad we lost Diablo,” Alex said.
Bobbie shrugged. “There’s always next year.”
“Maybe we should stay up here a few more days and look for him.”
“Naw. We better get these cows on home. Grandpa will start to get worried if we stay up here too long. And besides, we probably need to let somebody know about them.” Bobbie pointed to a big pine tree. On either side was a Bledsoe, still dressed in his long underwear and tied securely to the trunk.
Jesse strained against the ropes. “You can’t leave us here, Walker. There are bears up here.”
“Don’t worry,” Alex yelled, “one sniff of you and they’ll run the other way.” She leaned close to Bobbie. “What are you really going to do with those two?”
“I figured we’d start the cows down the trail a ways and then I’d come back and untie them later.”
Alex looked over at the boys. “Sure you don’t want to go ahead and hang them?”
“It’s tempting, but I guess I’ll pass.”
Alex pulled the barbed-wire gate open and the cows started filtering out. She stepped up onto her horse and began working to keep them bunched.
Bobbie watched her as she cut left to keep one of the calves from turning back. “Say, Alex, I was just wondering …”
Alex trotted closer. “What was that? I didn’t hear you.”
“I said I was just wondering about something.”
“What?”
Bobbie cleared her throat and her mouth started twitching. “I was just thinking that if you weren’t doing anything next spring …”
Alex’s face broke into a grin.