Saturday morning
"You ready yet, Jack?"
"Hold yer horses, will ya'?"
"Well, hurry up, the rodeo starts at 9:00! That's in an hour and a half!"
"Shut up, Morgan!"
"We're gonna be late!"
After the mayhem had settled down, and everyone was dressed, fed, and had their stuff loaded into Jade's truck, Morgan, Jack, and Will walked over to the barn. Will grabbed a halter off of a rack, and Morgan got two. Jack scooped up some feed and dumped into a bucket, then hauled it off to where Jade was hooking up her three-horse trailer. He put it in the truck-bed. As he was doing that, Morgan and Will had haltered Pepper, Bo, and another mare named Jet that Morgan had bought the day before. Will walked Pepper up to the trailer, led him in, tied him, and shut the divider. Morgan did the same with Jet, and then Bo. Finally, when all the horses were loaded, and Jade had conducted her routine light check ("Gimme a left...gimme a right...brakes...K, let's scram!) they were in the truck and on their way to the rodeo.
"Whew," said Will. "Do you have to do all of this every time you go to a rodeo?" Jade and Morgan nodded.
"Yep, and that's about every weekend! You get used to it the more you go," said Jade. Will whistled and shook his head. Meanwhile, Jack was busy trying to figure out how to work Jade's headphones.
"I wonder," he mumbled, "what happens if you do this." He pressed the PLAY button, and the "Pirates of the Caribbean" soundtrack began to play. "Hmmm," Jack said. "Seems like I should know this song...sounds kinda familiar; aye, Will?" He let Will listen for a second.
"Mm, hmm," Will said. "You know, it kind of reminds you of a chase, doesn't it? That du-du-du dun, du-du-du dun, du-du-du dun-dun-dun dun, that sounds almost like a battle." Jade and Morgan looked at each other, smiling at how close to the truth the pirates were. They continued discussing music until they arrived at the rodeo grounds. There was a teenage boy at the gate collecting gate fees. Jade rolled down her window.
"Heeey, Jade! Been a while, ain't it? How's the rest of the crew doing?" the boy asked.
"Fine, Bud, just fine. How's all the guys up here doing?"
"Awww, not too bad. We got us some new bulls. There's one big black one that nobody's ridden yet...we're all kinda skeered, to tell you the truth. He keeps coming at everyone with those big horns...even Slick got tossed off. Didn't make it 'til the four second mark." Jade whistled appreciatively.
"Sounds like one heck of a demon. Maybe I should try him," she mused. Bud looked doubtful, but didn't say anything. Jade could tell he didn't think she could ride him. That didn't bother her a bit; she just smiled and gave him the money for the fee, then drove off to find a parking spot.
"OK, Morgan; you, Will, and Jack unload and tack up the horses while I go up and enter us in some events." Morgan smiled.
"Enter the guys in the fourth through sixth grade barrel racing!" she teased. Jade snorted. "What?" Morgan asked. "That's about their skill level." Jade shook her head and went off towards the announcer's stand. She was halfway there when she looked over at a big stock trailer. She squinted to see it. It was unloading goats, sheep, calves, steers, and bulls. She turned in her tracks and strolled to the holding pens. She skipped over the other livestock and finally stopped in front of the large bullpen. A big black bull was mixed in among the Hereford, Angus, and Brahman. He had long horns and was charging the fence every time someone came up too close. Jade gazed at him and smiled. She ambled up to some bull riders sitting in the bed of a nearby truck. They looked up and tipped their hats.
"How ya' doing, Miss Bull-Riding-Show-Us-All-Up Jade? Been riding any bulls lately?" a tall blond haired boy asked, grinning. She snickered and replied in a joking manner,
"Nope, haven't been riding any bulls, and apparently I'm doing a lot better than you, Slick! Heard old 'Blackie' over there made a fool of you by the end of four seconds!" She nodded towards the black bull. Slick's grin disappeared, then was quickly replaced by a scowl while his friend hastily turned his snort of laughter into a cough. Jade winked.
"That bull ain't right...he's hopped up on extra energy sweet-feed or something!" Slick said, shaking his head. His friend smirked and replied,
"No, man...you've just got a briar up your pants because you got bucked off for the first time this season!"
"Shut up, Tex!" said Slick quickly. "You don't have to go advertising the fact, do you?" Jade and Tex both laughed. Slick recovered quickly and retorted, "Well, I bet neither one of you could do any better!" he challenged. Jade stopped laughing and her eyes twinkled mischievously. She was silent for a moment, then asked innocently,
"Would you care to make a slight wager on that?" Slick and Tex's eyes both widened.
"Yer not serious?" asked Tex. Jade nodded. The bull riders looked dubious. Jade decided it was time to play dirty.
"Whassamadderwitchchooguys? The way you're acting, you'd think you didn't want to take the wager." She stopped right there to watch them squirm a little, then continued in a slow drawl, "Oh, I know what's the matter with y'all! You just don't want to lose to a girl in front of all your friends!" Tex and Slick looked up furiously at these words. Jade smiled...she'd said the magic words.
"What are you talking about, 'Lose to a girl?'" Slick half shouted. "You couldn't beat us if you tried!"
"So, you'll take the bet?" Jade asked. Slick and Tex jumped out of the truck; Tex grabbed his wallet and after rummaging in it, pulled out a crisp twenty-dollar bill and waved it in her face.
"You see that Jade? I won that in the roping competition in Galveston last month! I haven't even broken it for change yet! It's yours if you ride that bull, and I'll even pay your entry fee!"
"And if I buck off?" Tex and Slick put their heads together for a moment, then Slick said,
"If you buck off, I don't pay your entry fee, I keep my twenty bucks, and you have to clean mine and Tex's dirty tack after the rodeo!" Jade considered for a moment, then said,
"Deal, partner!" She spit in her palm, then held it out. Slick spit in his too, and they shook hands. They tipped their hats, then Jade turned her back on them and continued on to the announcer's stand, smiling from ear to ear.