Doc set down his knife and fork at last, then took his dishes to the kitchen. He knew that he'd been in worse trouble than he already was if he just left his plate and coffee mug in the sink for Serena to deal with later. He rolled up his sleeves and rinsed the dishes as quickly as he could. Once he was through, he walked up the hill to the barn. He discovered there that all the horses, except his, were saddled and had a rider atop them.
"We're headin' out to the lower forty," Serena called from Sergeant Elias's back. "Gotta make sure the beef ain't broken more fences out that way."
"You gonna wait on me?" Doc asked. "See, Kismet's feet aren't picked and she isn't saddled."
Serena shrugged. "That's your problem." She slapped Sergeant Elias's hindquarters with the slack of her reins, causing him to break into a run. Harry, Ron, and the regulators followed closely behind.
Doc gave a small sigh, then set to the task of picking Kismet's hooves.
To all the ranch workers, the morning seemed even longer than it usually did. They had to round up two heads of beef that had been making a bid for freedom, pull calves (Serena stopped counting after four), and move a large group to another grazing area. And that was just the routine stuff. John had called earlier that morning to remind Serena there were several cows to branded.
The branding operation was very well-organized; each regulator had a specific job. Charley, who was good with a lasso, chased after the animals on horseback and roped them. It was Billy's job to wrestle the calves to the ground. Dick wielded the branding iron; Chavez and Dirty Steve were the strongest of them all, so the task of restraining the squirmy critters fell to them.
By the time the last calf had been branded, the sun was high in the sky, making the open field uncomfortably hot. Serena decided it was time to rest in a small oasis that was located several miles off the beaten path. The oasis consisted of several trees, lots of open ground; a small stream ran through it.
The horses stood on the banks of the stream to drink from it while their human companions sought shelter from the heat under shade trees. Billy leaned against the tree trunk, ready for a nice afternoon siesta. He wasn't really a lazy person by nature; he just wasn't used to working cattle yet and needed lots of downtime to recover. Suddenly, leaves began to shower onto his head. Looking up for the source of them, Billy saw Serena lying on one of the tree's larger branches.
'And they call me crazy,' Billy thought.
A short distance away, Harry and Ron were sitting with Steve, Charley, and Richard.
"What do you know about Serena's family?" Harry asked. "What are they like?"
"Really couldn't tell ya," said Charley. "Never met 'em."
"Well, she must have parents," said Ron. "Has anyone ever met them?"
The men shook their heads.
"She coulda been dropped from the sky by them aliens in Roswell for all we know," said Steve.
"What we do know," said Dick. "Is that 'Rena's lived on the ranch longer 'n any of us. Only person who really knows 'bout her family is John and he ain't ever told us."
"And I know somethin' else," said Charley. "Know how 'Rena's eyes are kinda narrow, like a cat's? How her face kinda looks like a diamond? I reckon she's more than a little Injun. Y'all shoulda seen the way she shimmied up that tree a minute ago."
Billy, meanwhile, woke from his nap, stiff and bored. On a day like this, that stream looked awful inviting. He took off his shirt and boots, running toward it.
"Last one in's a tenderfoot!" Billy yelled.
Serena started and nearly fell out of the tree she'd been napping in. She watched with amusement as the boys frolicked in the water like a pack of young children. She unlaced her boots, which fell off at once and made a satisfying thud when they hit the ground. Then she unbuttoned her shirt.
"Dang! 'Rena's gettin' her freak on!" said Steve, watching the shirt land beside Serena's boots."Fellers, looks like we's a-gonna see somethin' naked!"
But he was dead wrong. When Serena climbed down from the tree, it transpired that she had a bathing suit on underneath her clothes. Steve let out a huge groan of disappointment, causing Serena to smack quite a lot of water into his face.
After their swim, everyone rode back to the ranch. Serena, too tired to cook, let the boys fend for themselves. They foraged in cabinets and found enough Tostitos, jarred salsa, and ice cream to feed a small army. After dinner, the boys went to the bunkhouse to play cards while Serena stayed inside to watch television.
