The three finished up the Boot Barn right before the event started. Shorty brought Renee, Horatio, and Echo in through the contestant's entrance and took them to his seats he had reserved for himself. Tonight he was asked to be a bullfighter. They needed a bullfighter since one of the Touring Pro Division fighters had come down sick.
"Here, you guys sit here. They need me to bullfight tonight." Shorty nods to his friend.
He left the two others to watch what was happening on the other side of the chutes.
Before the opening ceremonies, Renee turns to her brother to tell him a story about Shorty. Echo was already settled down on the floor.
Renee wanted to tell James about some key stories to her life.
"In high school, I was a safety rider for my high school rodeo team. Shorty was a bullfighter. I was also the supplier of the bulls we used in the high school rodeo circuit in our area. Well, I raised the bulls, so I recognized when one of the bulls began to bellow out. I knew it was the one bull you never wanted to hear. He hated everybody but me."
"You needed to clip his gate closed since he knew how to open the gates if you didn't. I guess a new student forgot to do that before they left for the day. It was just Shorty and me at the rodeo grounds. Sierra and I were on the other side of the Arena and around the corner. I had just left Shorty in the Arena. I knew his back was turned to the bullpens since he was putting the barrels away."
"I needed to get to Shorty before the bull got there. I was not quick enough. Getting around the corner in time to see the bull just pounding on him."
"I threw my lariat around the bull and dragged him back to his pen. Getting back to Shorty, I found him not conscious. As the crow flies, we were five miles from the hospital. I knew that due to the remote location and the windy roads, it would take an ambulance about forty minutes to get there."
"I also knew that it would only take me fifteen minutes to get him to the hospital if Shorty and I rode double on Sierra. I took that ride every day. On one side of the high school rodeo grounds, is the small craft airport. On the other side of the airport is the farm. The hospital is about three miles past the farm on a diagonal line. The quickest route there was the deer trail I took when I was boar hunting or trail riding."
"Putting Shorty over the front of my saddle, I remounted and rode to the hospital faster than I have ever ridden before."
"Shorty was in a coma for a few days. The bull we pulled from the circuit since he did attack Shorty on purpose."
"That is how I saved Shorty Gorham's life."
Renee went on and told James about the time at Shorty had saved her life when they were in the third grade.
"When Shorty and I were in the third grade, our school had optional PE for our grade. The school didn't do your normal PE sports. Swimming, Diving, Firearm safety, Baseball, Wrestling, Karate, Football, Volleyball, and Surfing were the sports offered. They also had a high school rodeo team."
"My mom had me doing a lot of those sports outside of school. We had just finished the Wrestling and Karate months, and we just started the swimming month."
"The teacher left us all in the pool area when she took a sick kid to the nurse. While the teacher was out, the new kid in school pushed me into the pool. He jumped in after me only to grabbed me and hold me down. He was mad at me since I had beat him up in wrestling and karate the past two months. He couldn't stand being beat by a girl."
"Well, I eventually stopped moving when I passed out. The bully let me go and got out of the pool. Shorty jumped in and pulled me out. Placing me on the ground, he started CPR. His mom had taught it to him for emergencies."
"The teacher came back to see Shorty doing CPR on me. She demanded to know who did it. No one said anything until I coughed up the water. Then and only then did the other students ID the bully."
"They were more afraid of what I would do to them for not telling than they were of him for saying."
"Thinking about it, I was the reason that bullying was not a problem at my school while I was there. Every year there was a new bully. Every year the former bullies would not say anything. They just waited for the new one to make their move. I was obviously the easy target from their perspective."
"The former bullies knew better than mess with me. I always held my ground. I never backed down. The new one would take a swing at me or someone else. I would kick their ass, so to speak."
"After that one incident, the bully would stop bullying, and peace would return. If the bully initially went after another kid, not me, then the kid that the bully went after and the bully would end up being friends. If the bully went after me, then we would end up being friends. More often than not, the bully went after me since I was so much smaller than everyone else. That is how I got my nickname of Smidge. I only let Shorty call me that, though."
A couple of days went by without incident. Renee, Horatio, and Echo would meet Shorty for breakfast before they went to the Western Gift Expo.
Every day they would spend a couple of hours at the Expo either hanging out at the Marine booth or doing police dog demos.
The day after Renee did the pull-ups, she went to the Marines' booth and challenged them to a push-up contest. She knew perfectly well that she could work them under the table. Renee could do eight hundred without batting an eye. A thousand push-ups was doable, but it was hard for her.
When the Marine that was counting was up to a hundred push-ups, the other contestants had given up. Renee just kept going. Again a crowd had formed. Again Flint approached her brother to talk to him. Everyone was watching her riders and fans alike. All of the viewers were counting out loud with her. Renee stopped at five hundred. She was not even out of breath. After all the crowd dispersed, Renee turned to talk to the Marines.
"How many can you do anyway. We both know that you could have kept going?" A younger Marine asked Renee.
"I can easily do eight hundred. The max that I can do would be a thousand, but that is hard for me to do," Renee answered the young Marine.
After the push-ups, Shorty approached Renee to ask her a question.
"We have some practice bulls. Do you want to ride one? We both know that you are a good bull rider. In fact, you are the only female bull rider that I know about."
"Well, I don't know about that. I haven't done it in twenty years. I will do the mechanical bull first, and if I ride that successfully then I will do a real one."
Walking up to the mechanical bull, Renee jumped on. Looking at her brother, she could see his uneasiness. Quickly dismounting, Renee walks over to her brother to reassure him.
"It's fine, H. I was on my high school rodeo team. I was the only female bull rider and safety rider in our region. I was really good, and it's like riding a bike. I got this. Just hold Echo."
Going back to the mechanical bull, Renee remounts and gets into position. Just like old times, Renee nods to Shorty, and he flips the switch.
Renee was shockingly good. Since women's center of balance is their hips, you would think that more women would do it. However, most women do not have the upper body strength needed to stay on the bull.
Renee did have the upper body strength. She maintained her balance even on the highest level.
By the end of her ride, she did have a crowd of bull riders watching her. Renee rode for more than five minutes. Eventually, Shorty stopped the bull, and Renee simply jumped off to a roar from the crowd.
When Renee got off the bull, some of the riders told her that she had just done a ninety point ride at least. They then asked her if she was going to ride one of the practice bulls for fun.
Looking at her old friend and then her brother. Renee nods to Shorty then goes to talk to her brother.
"H, I am going to ride one of the practice bulls. Everyone rides the practice bulls. I have done it a thousand times before. I am very good at it, as you have just seen. In high school, I did bronc riding, bull riding, and safety riding for my school's rodeo team. I have yet to be bucked off by either a bull or a bronc."
Horatio was apprehensive, but he relented, giving his sister a silent nod of approval.
Renee then followed the riders out to the practice arena. She climbed into the chutes like old times. It took her a little longer than the guys to strap in. After all, she was a little rusty.
After a few minutes, Renee nods to the arena guys who swing the door open. Her ride was the stuff that dreams are made of. She rode perfectly. When the buzzer went off, the bull stopped bucking. Slowly and calmly, the bull walked over to the gate. It was almost as if the bull didn't know Renee was still up there.
Shorty just walked up to the bull and pulled the flank strap off and helped Renee dismount the bull.
A couple of days went by without incident. Renee, Horatio, and Echo would meet Shorty for breakfast before they went to the Western Gift Expo.
Every day they would spend a couple of hours at the Expo either hanging out at the Marine booth or doing police dog demos.
The day after Renee did the pull-ups, she went to the Marines' booth and challenged them to a push-up contest. She knew perfectly well that she could work them under the table. Renee could do eight hundred without batting an eye. A thousand push-ups was doable, but it was hard for her.
When the Marine that was counting was up to a hundred push-ups, the other contestants had given up. Renee just kept going. Again a crowd had formed. Again Flint approached her brother to talk to him. Everyone was watching her riders and fans alike. All of the viewers were counting out loud with her. Renee stopped at five hundred. She was not even out of breath. After all the crowd dispersed, Renee turned to talk to the Marines.
"How many can you do anyway. We both know that you could have kept going?" A younger Marine asked Renee.
"I can easily do eight hundred. The max that I can do would be a thousand, but that is hard for me to do," Renee answered the young Marine.
After the push-ups, Shorty approached Renee to ask her a question.
"We have some practice bulls. Do you want to ride one? We both know that you are a good bull rider. In fact, you are the only female bull rider that I know about."
"Well, I don't know about that. I haven't done it in twenty years. I will do the mechanical bull first, and if I ride that successfully then I will do a real one."
Walking up to the mechanical bull, Renee jumped on. Looking at her brother, she could see his uneasiness. Quickly dismounting, Renee walks over to her brother to reassure him.
"It's fine, H. I was on my high school rodeo team. I was the only female bull rider and safety rider in our region. I was really good, and it's like riding a bike. I got this. Just hold Echo."
Going back to the mechanical bull, Renee remounts and gets into position. Just like old times, Renee nods to Shorty, and he flips the switch.
Renee was shockingly good. Since women's center of balance is their hips, you would think that more women would do it. However, most women do not have the upper body strength needed to stay on the bull.
Renee did have the upper body strength. She maintained her balance even on the highest level.
By the end of her ride, she did have a crowd of bull riders watching her. Renee rode for more than five minutes. Eventually, Shorty stopped the bull, and Renee simply jumped off to a roar from the crowd.
When Renee got off the bull, some of the riders told her that she had just done a ninety point ride at least. They then asked her if she was going to ride one of the practice bulls for fun.
Looking at her old friend and then her brother. Renee nods to Shorty then goes to talk to her brother.
"H, I am going to ride one of the practice bulls. Everyone rides the practice bulls. I have done it a thousand times before. I am very good at it, as you have just seen. In high school, I did bronc riding, bull riding, and safety riding for my school's rodeo team. I have yet to be bucked off by either a bull or a bronc."
Horatio was apprehensive, but he relented, giving his sister a silent nod of approval.
Renee then followed the riders out to the practice arena. She climbed into the chutes like old times. It took her a little longer than the guys to strap in. After all, she was a little rusty.
After a few minutes, Renee nods to the arena guys who swing the door open. Her ride was the stuff that dreams are made of. She rode perfectly. When the buzzer went off, the bull stopped bucking. Slowly and calmly, the bull walked over to the gate. It was almost as if the bull didn't know Renee was still up there.
Shorty just walked up to the bull and pulled the flank strap off and helped Renee dismount the bull.