James wanted to go beyond the south gate. Daniel did not.
James was sure there was a river beyond the south gate and he wanted to go there. He remembered going there with his father once. He had been to the ranch many times before but he didn't live on the ranch and he had never explored it on his own. James lived in the city where navigation is measured by blocks and street names and features of buildings. He dismounted and opened the gate.
Daniel lived on the ranch and knew some parts of it very well but not this part. His father ran the ranch and his father said not to go past the south gate.
"We can't go there," said Daniel, "Father said not to. He'll tan my hide."
"Your father beats you?" James asked, leading his pony through the open gate.
"Yep." Daniel was only partly lying. He stayed in his saddle, his pony standing still and grazing under him.
"How will he know if we don't tell him?" James reasoned. Daniel had a feeling his father would find out anyway.
"We've already been gone almost an hour. We need to go!" Daniel shouted. James was now back on his mount and riding into the thick of trees beyond the open gate.
"We'll be back in time!" James called back and then he was out of Daniel's view.
Daniel wished his father were there. He thought about going to find him but he was no longer sure where his father was and didn't know how long it would take to find him.
So Daniel rode his pony through the open gate and closed it without dismounting. For a moment, he thought he would keep it open as a clue in case they got lost and people came looking for them. But gates are closed for a reason, he knew, so he closed it, latched it, and rode into the woods after his cousin.
He rode fast till he caught up with James who was scanning the landscape around him. "I know there's trail around here somewhere," he said.
Daniel pointed southwest and they changed their course to head for the trail.
"Whatcha lookin' for anyway?" asked Daniel.
"River. Big ol' river," said James.
"Well, there's a river, all right," Daniel explained, "but you gotta go back to the main trail and ride west about three mile to get to it." Daniel knew this trail didn't lead anywhere, just east and west about a mile.
They could hear the river from the trail but the sound was faint so the river was still some distance off. James rode off the trail and through the woods toward the sound of the river and Daniel followed him.
About a hundred yards from the trail, there was a ridge. The boys dismounted and, sure enough, there was a river. But it was at the bottom of about fifty feet of steep but slightly terraced wall of rock. The boys lay on their stomachs and looked. Most of the wall was sheer drop-off but some it looked tantalizingly navigable.
This wasn't the same place James remembered going with his father but it would do. He plotted out the least vertical path down to the river and started his trek down to the riverbed. Daniel stayed flat on his belly and watched.
James made it neatly about 10 feet down when some rock gave way and he slid another few feet before he stopped and stabilized himself.
"Ow!" he said, shaking his right hand. He had scraped the palm of his hand on some rocks and it stung.
He successfully scrambled down to a flat outcropping of boulder that formed a sturdy ledge still a good distance above the riverbed. He looked up and encouraged Daniel to come down with him. Daniel however had gone as far as he was going to go and remained where he was.
James jumped a few feet down to another nearby rock ledge, smaller than the one he left, and looked around. Both outcroppings offered nothing but sheer vertical passage to the riverbed. He had miscalculated. Furthermore, looking up, he found the way he came down looked a lot less likely as a way back up. With growing panic, he thought he might be stuck.
"Come on, James!" Daniel yelled down to him, "Let's go back!"
James was not about to let his younger cousin see him scared so he started to climb. He didn't get far: the rocks turned to loose rubble under his hands and feet and he made himself jump back down to the first ledge below him.
He composed himself and searched the wall above him for a safer, more stable, path up. He got pretty far on his second attempt but then the rocks gave way again. This time he felt himself falling through space and not against the wall. It felt like time was passing very slowly.
He gained control by sliding his foot onto a boulder a few feet above the second rock outcropping and made his body slide close against it till he reached the stable ledge.
He was shaking; he was also bleeding quite a bit. He had cut his left shin on some sharp rock and his pant leg was quickly soaking through with dark red blood.
He looked at his leg and it kept bleeding. He looked up at Daniel and asked, "What should I do?"
Daniel, still laying on his belly, called down to him and directed him to tear off a strip of his shirt and wrap it tightly around the wound.
"I can't do that! I'll get in trouble!" James said, his panic showing.
Idiot, thought Daniel. "Too late for that!" he replied, matter-of-factly. He was already trying to figure out what he was going to tell his father.
James pulled his shirt out from under his belt and tore a strip vertically from the cloth and sat down to wrap the fabric around his calf, just below his knee. Afterwards, he simply sat a moment, to catch his breath, to try and calm down, when Daniel pitched a rock toward him that landed a few feet away. Damn cousin was trying to kill him now for getting into this mess.
"Whatcha do that for?" yelled James, looking up at Daniel.
"Rattler," said Daniel, nonchalantly.
James jumped to his feet. "Rattlesnake?!" he cried.
"They're a lot more scared of you than you are of them but ya gotta let 'em know you're there," Daniel explained. "So stomp your feet and kick some rocks around," and James proceeded to do just that.
Daniel had an idea. He lifted himself up off the ground and called down to his cousin, "I'll be right back!" He untied his pony and led him back through the woods where he tied him to a tree next to the trail. Then he walked back to the ridge and laid back down on his belly again, calling to James that he was back.
James was still kicking rocks around to warn all the snakes away. He looked up at Daniel. "Maybe if you throw a rope down," he called up to him.
"Don't have one," Daniel answered. He scanned the ravine up and down, searching for some navigable path James could take to get either down to the riverbed or back up to the ridge, but he didn't see one.