Title: Midnight Ramblings
By: Corbin
Rating: G
Notes: Actually this piece is sorta a few scenes that capture the feelings of the trail boss and the ramrod. Really this fic has no point, but neither does boredom, so I give you this.
It had almost been a solid week since the ramrod had actually attempted to come into camp and sleep. There wasn't any reason that he hadn't been sleeping other than the fact that they seemed to be short handed. The only reason he had bothered coming into camp on this night was because he was on the verge of collapsing from exhaustion. Rowdy couldn't hold out any longer; as his horse walked quietly toward the hitch line, the ramrod's eyes were slipping shut. Fortunately for Rowdy his horse halted itself when they reached the hitch line instead of walking right through it. The lack of movement jarred Rowdy into alertness; he glanced about in the darkness feeling momentarily disoriented.
As Rowdy moved to dismount he nearly fell from the saddle, he corrected himself and almost completed a successful dismount. The young man's boot caught in the stirrup, he struggled with the saddle for a moment and then fell roughly into the dirt beneath him. The ramrod lie in the dirt on his back for a moment. Rowdy's horse chuffed, almost as though the animal wanted to know what was wrong with its master. With a frustrated jerk Rowdy freed his foot from the stirrup and forced himself to stand.
The young ramrod leaned heavily against his horse as he tried to allow his swimming head a moment to settle. The horse turned its head and softly nudged the ramrod with its muzzle. Rowdy didn't look up as the horse gently lipped at his shoulder, the horse tugged softly on the ramrod's shirt. The young man lifted his head and gave the horse a little grin before he playfully pushed the horse's face away.
"Okay," Rowdy reached for the reins to his horse to secure the animal to the line, "I'm going already. Stop pestering me."
The ramrod gave the horse a scratch on the forehead as he moved to remove his saddle and bedroll from the horse's back. Rowdy pushed the stirrup onto the seat of the saddle and jerked the main cinch loose. Moments later the saddle was off of the horse and resting heavily in Rowdy's arms.
Rowdy stumbled almost drunkenly toward a clear space in camp. As soon as he was out of kicking range from the horses, he dropped his saddle in the dirt and collapsed in a heap on the ground. He hadn't even had time to unroll his bedroll before his body gave out on him.
About ten minutes later Favor was heading toward the remuda to fetch his horse and ride nighthawk. The trail boss was startled when he nearly tripped over the sleeping ramrod. A little smile crept over Favor's face as he realized that Rowdy was sleeping directly on dirt instead of on his bedroll. Favor unfastened Rowdy's bedroll from the saddle and unrolled it next to the sleeping young man. In a smooth motion Favor opened the bedroll and turned Rowdy over into it. Seconds later the bedroll was closed and secure, Rowdy never stirred. The trail boss stood up and gave the sleeping young man a final questioning glance before he once again headed for the remuda.
"Never enough time in the day, not enough time at night. All the time in the world is never enough to get everything done," The trail boss whispered to his horse as he unhitched his mount from the line of horses.
Why was he talking to his horse? It wasn't like the animal actually understood a word he had said. Favor wasn't expecting a response, and if he had gotten one he would have taken it as a part of his imagination running wild in the night. But he had to talk to someone, even if the horse was rather quiet. After all, the trail was a rather lonesome place to spend the night, even for a trail boss.