There were so many, running together. So fast, and so smoothly that they seemed to blend together in one giant phenonenom
of nature.
I lowered the binoculars and watched. "How many are there, do you think?" I asked Crane.
"A hundred or so, maybe," he guessed.
"I never knew-" I said, breathless.
"It's something to see alright," he agreed, taking the binoculars from me, and adjusting them to his eyes again.
I stood up to watch. Every color. Brown, black, white, gray, a mixture.
"Is this where they live?" I asked Crane. "I mean, are they here all the time?"
"Not all the time. But yeah, they're here a lot." He lowered the binoculars and handed them off to me. "See that one? In the front?"
"The black one?" I asked, peering thru the binoculars.
"Yeah. He's the leader."
"He's so beautiful," I said.
We sat in silence for a long time after that, watching the wild Mustangs, as they slowed from their run to a walk, and then
began to graze on the green grass.
When Crane said that we should be heading home, I stood up reluctantly, watching as the black stallion raised his head. He seemed to
be looking directly at us, watching us as we had watched him.
"Look, Crane," I said. "He's watching us."
Crane took a last look. "It seems as though he is," he agreed. He lifted the rifle, and handed the binoculars to me
to carry.
And so, we began our trek back down the rocky climb to where the Jeep was parked at.
It was windy again, driving home. I settled back, watching as the mountains floated by. It had been a long day. I
was suddenly tired.
At home again, Crane took his rifle and the camera that we'd found, and I carried in the binoculars.
Going up the front steps, I said, "Thank you for showing them to me."
"You're welcome."
"Can we go again, sometime?" I asked.
"Most likely we can."
Everybody else was already settled around the kitchen table, by the time that Crane had put away his rifle, and we got to the
kitchen.
"We'd about given up on you two," Brian said.
I went to hang up the binocular case by the back door on the hook, and then Crane and I both went to the sink,
and washed our hands.
"How was your afternoon?" Hannah asked me, looking at both Crane and I.
"I'd say it was pretty good, by that expression on her face," Adam observed.
I hadn't realized how I was glowing, seeing those Mustangs that way.
"It was good," I said. "Crane showed me something really special."
When Hannah asked what, and everybody else looked interested, or curious, I told them about
the herd of wild Mustangs.
It turned out that all of my brothers had seen them themselves at one time or another over the years, other than
Ford and Guthrie, who were both looking at the brothers accusingly.
"How come I never knew about them?" Ford asked.
"You should see all the colors," I told Guthrie. "And there's a black stallion. Crane says he's the leader."
"I'd like to see them, too," Clare spoke up.
"I'll take you up there sometime," Brian told her.
After that, the conversation was turned to the cabin, when Crane told the others about the camera he'd
found in the closet.
"Think there might be something on that film?" Adam asked, looking thoughtful.
"Maybe," Crane said. "Harlie seems to think so." He smiled at me across the table.
After that they all discussed a daybreak start the next morning to search until our twelve missing cows were
found. Packing of food was discussed, and it was decided that everybody would participate in the hunt, except for
Hannah, who would be at home with Isaac.
Later that evening, as everybody was taking turns getting a shower, and watching a Johnny Cash special on television,
the phone began to ring. Daniel came back from answering it, flopping back into his spot on the couch, and taking the
bowl of popcorn that I had in my lap.
"Hey," I objected, as he began to stuff popcorn into his mouth. "What's up with taking my popcorn?"
"Phone's for you," he said in response, turning his attention back to the television.
I had a momentary wonder if it could be Seth on the phone, but Daniel squashed that when he said, "It's Steven somebody.
I asked who it was. I wanted to make sure it wasn't that Seth kid."
"Don't eat all the popcorn," I said, and went to pick up the receiver.
"Hi, Steven," I said.
"Hey, Harlie. Anything new there at your house?"
I told him how I'd run into Seth in town, and how Crane and I had gone up to the cabin to look around.
When I got around to telling him about how we were going to be searching for cattle the next morning, he offered
to come early and help.
"If you think your family would want me to," he added.
"That's nice of you," I said. "I'll ask and call you back."
After we talked a few more minutes, and I'd hung up, I went back to my spot on the couch, which had now been taken
over by Guthrie and his long legs.
"That's my spot," I told him.
"Sit over there," Guthrie said, gesturing to the floor.
Guthrie and I began to scuffle, me shoving his legs off the couch, and him mock-slapping at me.
We knocked into the bowl of popcorn that Daniel was eating out of, and some fell onto the floor.
"Look what you did," Guthrie accused me.
"Elephant ears," I taunted, and settled cross-legged on the floor in front of Daniel.
"How's your boyfriend?" Daniel asked me, nudging the back of my head with his knee.
"Eat your popcorn," I told him.
"Yeah, how is he?" Evan asked, joining in on the teasing.
I stared at the television pointedly, ignoring them both.
"You need to have him come around so we can look him over," Evan went on.
"You don't need to look him over," I said. "He's not my boyfriend."
They kept teasing me for a few more minutes, but I refused to rise to the bait.
Later, brushing my teeth before bed, I caught Adam as he was coming down the hall.
"Steven wants to know if we'd want his help tomorrow," I said.
Paused there in the hallway, Adam smiled a little. "He wants to help us out, huh?"
"Not you too," I said with a groan.
"What's that mean?" he asked.
"Teasing me. Like the boys. Thinking he wants to help out because he likes me," I said.
"Did I say any of that?" he asked, with another grin.
"No. I guess you didn't."
"Well, can he ride?" Adam asked me.
"Yes, sure."
"If he wants to help out, I guess it's alright. As long as his father says it's okay. Make sure he has permission."
"Okay. I'll call him in the morning," I said.
7
The next morning Brian cooked up biscuits and gravy for breakfast. I had taken time to call Steven's house and catch
him eating his own breakfast, telling him that we would be glad to have his help.
By the time I got to the kitchen, most of the gravy was gone and only a few biscuits were left.
"Good grief," I complained. "Bunch of pigs around here."
Brian, pausing in his stirring something at the stove, turned to chide me.
"There's more here on the stove, peach," he told me. "No need for bellyaching."
"I wasn't," I protested, and then subsided into silence, going to the stove, and letting him put gravy over
my biscuits.
"Fresh peaches," Hannah said, pushing a bowl of them over to me.
Our fruit trees were in the throes of heavy bearing of fruit.
I took a few of the peach slices as Hannah went on to say that we needed to get busy canning peaches and pears,
and making jelly.
"Are you willing to help me tomorrow to do some?" Hannah asked me.
Canning fruit in a hot kitchen isn't my idea of a good time, but I knew Hannah needed the help and besides, I didn't
really have the option to say no.
I nodded, and felt a little better when Evan said that he thought Nancy was off the next day, and might be willing
to come over and help.
"Kristin might, too," Guthrie volunteered.
"Tell Nancy thank you if she will," Hannah told Evan, and then turned to Guthrie. "And I'd love to have Kristin, but only
if she isn't on the work schedule at the café. I know she and her mom count on that money."
"I'll check," Guthrie said.
With the possibility of Nancy and/or Kristin joining our little group of fruit canners, I thought I wouldn't mind helping
so much.
We were all done eating, and were saddling up our horses when Steven pulled in, and parked, walking over to where
the majority of us stood. He spent the next few minutes shaking hands of various brothers. I realized it was the first
time that he'd met several of them.
"Appreciate your help today, Steve," Brian said.
"It's alright, I'm glad to help," Steven said.
"Your dad had any problems over at his place?" Adam asked him.
"We haven't seen anything out of the ordinary. Our neighbors had one of their fences flattened, though," Steven told him.
"That's what the kids said," Adam said.
As we got around, ready to go, Hannah, holding Isaac, said goodbye and went back into the house. The rest of us
all mounted, Steven on old Charley.
Gathered in a circle, all on horseback, we were put into groups of two or three, so that everybody had somebody if needed,
and at least one rifle was in each group.
Steven was paired off with Crane and Guthrie, and Adam told me to ride with Daniel and Ford. That left Adam with Evan, and Brian
with Clare.
With so many of us, every direction of our property that the cattle could possibly be in, was covered.
As far as my group of Daniel and Ford and I went, we'd ridden for two hours without seeing any of the cows. We stopped to
stretch our legs, and I shared some of the snacks I'd tucked into my saddle bag.
"Twelve head of cattle don't just fall off the earth and disappear," Daniel said, taking a drink from his canteen of water.
Ford looked serious, and worried. "Yeah."
When we were on our way again, scoping out a tree line of heavy brush, it was Ford who saw one of the cows tucked into
all of that.
"Hey," he said, pointing.
We rode over, and found the cow so tangled in brush and fence wire that she could barely move.
Ford and Daniel began to push and pull the brush aside, and as soon as I was able, I squeezed in, trying to get
closer to the cow. She was one of our younger cows, ear-tagged, but not named. She began to lurch back and
forth as I came closer, her eyes wild.
"Aw, it's alright," I said, trying to make my voice soothing.
In answer, the cow became even more excited, startling me by her sudden movements until I fell backward on
my rear end.
"You alright?" Daniel asked me, still jerking brush from his path.
"Yeah," I said, just sitting there a minute.
Ford held out a hand to me, helping me to my feet.
The cow was still eyeing all three of us, breathing hard.
"Step on back here, squirt," Daniel told me, motioning me back.
When I was back a good ways, the three of us stood watching the cow, who had now stopped thrashing around,
but was breathing so heavily that she sounded like an airplane about to take off.
"She's caught in wire," Ford said, gesturing to where there was barb wire wrapped around a front leg of the cow.
"Yeah. Go grab the wire cutters out of my saddle bag, will ya, squirt?" Daniel told me.
I ran to fetch the wire cutters and came back, handing them to him.
Daniel began to step closer to the cow, but got no further than I had before the cow began to thrash around
again, even though Daniel tried the same soothing tone with her.
He stepped back quickly.
"Want me to try?" Ford offered.
"No, she's just gonna tear herself up worse if we keep comin' at her," Daniel said.
After a moment's thought he said, "Let's clear some more brush on the other side of her head. Maybe we can rope
her, and then one of us hold her steady while the other one gets that wire cut."
Ford nodded in agreement, and they began to clear out brush again. When they would toss it from the area, I drug it out of the
way, making a pile of it.
After that, I went to fetch Ford's rope, hanging over the saddle horn, and Ford tried three times before he was successful,
getting the rope around the cow's neck, and then pulling the rope taut so that she was easier to hold and control. Daniel headed
quickly to her, and snipped the wire from around her front leg.
"Did you get it?" Ford asked, sounding breathless from trying to hold the cow steady, his face sweaty.
"Not yet. Keep holding her," Daniel said.
Ford tightened his hold on the rope, and I moved to try and stand in front of him, to help hold it.
"Get behind me," he said.
"I'm alright," I insisted.
The cow, sensing that Ford's hold had loosened, began to thrash again.
"Listen up, squirt," Daniel said, raising his voice to me.
I muttered and moved behind Ford, clutching the end of the rope and bracing my feet.
Daniel went in close once more, snipping the jagged wire, and then stepped back.
Ford kept his hold on the rope, though he slacked up, and the cow settled down.
"Got it?" Ford asked.
"Yeah. She's pretty gashed up," Daniel said.
"She'll probably lead home alright," Ford said. He held the rope and I went to get his horse, leading her over.
Daniel held the rope while Ford mounted, and then handed the rope back again.
By the time Daniel and I had mounted, Ford was pulling the cow along behind his horse. The cow seemed exhausted,
and after a few minutes, was pretty cooperative.
We were nearing another part of our timber area that I hadn't been in for awhile. I had a sudden idea.
"You know that spot in there?" I asked, pointing. "Where the trees sort of clear out and there's that little meadow? Maybe
some of the cows are in there."
"Good idea," Daniel agreed, and we rode that way, slowly picking our way thru the trees, in single file, Daniel first, then me, and
then Ford following, with the cow.
And sure enough, in the grassy meadow, there were two more cows, munching happily on the grass.
Also there, though quite a distance away, was a sorrel mare. She looked in our direction, and stood quietly,
her head up.
"Wow," Ford said, as we paused.
"She's a beauty," Daniel said.
"I wonder if there's more of the herd around here," I said, getting excited. "They're coming from the valley where Crane took me, onto our property!"
"She might be the only one," Daniel said.
"They like being together, though," I argued.
"Well, we've got other fish to fry," Daniel said, dismissing the subject of the mare. "Can you manage to hang onto the rope, squirt? Or do you
want to help me roundup these two?"
"I'll help round up," I said, and Ford waited there, while Daniel and I moved in, and brought the two other cows, until
we were all headed the same direction, towards home.
I turned to get one more look at the wild mare, but she was gone.
7
