Here's chapter 8! I still don't have a beta so any feedback helps. Hope y'all enjoy!

/

"Mornin'." Rip says as me and Dad walk up next to him. He hands Dad a coffee mug "What does the day bring us?"

"No tellin', Rip, but I know... I know this is the best it'll be." Dad says before he takes a drink from his cup and looks out onto the horizon.

"Well, I guess it's all kind of downhill from here, huh?" Rip replies.

"Let's go to work," I say from my spot next to Dad.

"Yes, ma'am," Rip says before turning to get the Cowboys ready to go.

"You can't get mornings like these in Texas," Dad says to me, eyes still looking towards the mountains.

I chuckle "I'll see you out there Daddy," I say before leaving to saddle Sundance.

\

After gathering up all of the cows from the rez, we started pushing them back towards the house where they can be sorted and sent back to their respectable ranches. Over the radio, Dad tells Rip about the stragglers in the trees. I ride over to Rip just as he was relaying the information to Jimmy. "We got stragglers in the trees. I want you to come with me."

Jimmy looks at Rip "Uh…"

"I ain't asking your fucking permission, Jimmy, I'm telling you. Now let's go. Keep up, let's go." Rip demands as he turns his horse.

"I'll come too," I say from behind Jimmy.

"I thought you said running the horses makes the cattle nervous?" Jimmy asks.

"What do you think that chopper's doing?" I say.

"Let's go, keep up. Come on." Rip says before taking off.

I follow closely behind Rip as we watch Jimmy cut his horse to the left and fall off.

"Go catch your horse. Get up!" Rip yells as he trots by Jimmy. "Clara! Help shit-for-brains with his horse."

I ride over to Jimmy's horse and steer him towards Jimmy. After Jimmy fails to catch him I take my rope out and gently catch the horse. "Get a hold of the reins before you take the rope off," I say to Jimmy as he finally limps over to the horse.

"Okay." He replies as he grabs the horse's reins and slowly takes the rope off.

"At least you're starting to walk like a cowboy." I joke.

"I don't think I'm cut out for this." He says.

I start to gather my rope back up "Nobody is, Jimmy. It's gotta be cut into you. Where's your hat?"

He looks over to where he fell off but says nothing as he turns back to me.

"Well, find it. Don't come back without it. They'll never let you live it down" I say as I took my rope back onto my saddle and take off to rejoin the others.

\

"Mr. Dutton. Mr. Dutton! Let's get that bald-faced bastard." Rip shouts to Dad.

"Hey, Lloyd. Lloyd! Let's start moving these red-tag heifers into the trailers!" I yell from my spot next to Rip on the fence. The stallion Kayce gave Dad starts to buck under him. Clearly in pain, Dad mutters something about having to make phone calls to the others and heads to put his horse up. I jump down and follow behind him without saying anything until we were in the privacy of the barn. "I told you this morning that you really shouldn't be riding," I say with a stern face.

"I'm fine Clara." He says as he crossties the stallion.

"No you're not Daddy, you had two feet of your colon cut out last week and your incisions are still healing. You don't need to be on a horse that's gonna buck. Hell, you shouldn't be on one at all" I whisper yell.

"If I recall right, the day after you got home from getting your appendix out you were back on Sundance. It's what we Duttons do." He says as he begins to loosen the straps on his saddle.

I let out a frustrated huff "Yeah but I was 16 and I didn't have…"

"Hey John, Miss Clara," Emmett says, stopping me from finishing my sentence.

"What'd we say, Emmett?" Dad says as he takes his saddle off the horse and sets it on the ground.

The older man stops and looks at me and Dad "That stallion was giving you a hell of a time, but you didn't give an inch."

"I never do," Dad says as he hands me the saddle pad to put up.

Emmet finishes his walk over to me and Dad "How you feelin', John?"

"Hungry and tired," Dad replies as I start to brush the still unnamed horse.

"I mean long term. ' Cause... we need a Commissioner that got clear eyes. It's... it's a big fight ahead of us, John."

My eyes went wide. Dad looks over to me then back to Emmett "Who told you?"

"Mickey said you got cancer." The older man answers.

"Had, Emmett. They cut it out." Dad grits.

"We're not young men, John. Maybe a younger man should step in." Emmett suggests

Dad pulls Emmett away from the horse "Well, name the man. You know him, Emmett? No, I don't either. So you're stuck with me."

"So you're saying he got it all?" Emmett says.

"Yeah, he got it all." Dad grumbles.

"Then we don't have to talk about this again."

"To anyone. You understand?" Dad says with a stern tone.

I look towards the barn doors and see Kayce standing there.

"You make sure Mickey understands it too." He tells the older man as he walks towards my brother.

"How you doin'?" Kayce says to Dad. I set the brush down and walk up to join them.

Dad sighs "Don't know, yet. This day keeps punching. You?"

"Wife wanted me out of the house. I've run out of ideas of how to entertain this one." He gestures to Tate, who was watching the cowboys from the fence. "Thought you might have a few."

"I might," Dad says while looking at the boy.

"How's the stallion treating you?" Kayce asks

"It's a gift that keeps on giving," Dad says before walking away.

Kayce turns to me "How are you doing?"

I take my hat off and wipe my forehead "I've been better" I put my hat back on. "You're not one to just bring Tate by willingly, so what are you doing here?"

Kayce sighs "Robert's wife Samantha killed herself yesterday. So her mom is coming to get their kids and Monica didn't want Tate to see his cousins leave"

I let out a heavy sigh. "Does she know?" I ask Kayce after a few seconds of silence.

"No. But Clara–"

"Jamie is up at the lodge working on something. You should go bother him for a bit." I interrupt.

"I think I will," Kayce says.

I start to walk back to the cowboys but I stop and face my brother "I hope you start to come around more Kayce. I've really missed you."

"I've missed you too."

I nod my head and turn to make my way back to the others.

\

"All right, here we go. We got Walsh Ranch, yellow ear tags. And Bar-3 ranch, we got blue tags and brandin'. Then the Parker Ranch, we got number brands. Let's go." Rip shouts from atop his horse.

"Well, look who decided to show up. You have a nice ride, Jimmy?" Fred gibed. I look over to see Jimmy riding up with a calf across his lap.

"Open the gate, Fred," Lloyd says from atop his horse next to me.

Jimmy slowly rides through the now open gate and stops next to Rip. "Wonder which one's his mama?"

Rip looks over to a bellering cow and then back to Jimmy "Gee, I fucking wonder, Jimmy. Put it in the pen. Fred, get on your horse."

Rip and Lloyd ride away while I stay by Jimmy "That's as cowboy as it gets, right there, Jimmy." I tell him before I head over to rejoin the other wranglers.

/

After all of the cows were sorted and the horses were put up, I quietly made my way out of the barn.

"Hey Clara, you joining us for dinner?"

I stop and turn to see Ryan jogging up behind me. "As long as Fred sits far away from me. I can't take any more creepy looks from him today. Listen Ryan about last night…"

"Were y'all talking about Fred" Colby interrupts as he comes to join us.

I nodded, somewhat thankful for the interruption "Not only is he an ass but he's creepy too"

"Did he say anything to you?" Ryan questions

"Nothing too bad. I told him off and moved on. I was gonna talk to Rip about it later" I told the men "We should head to supper" I start walking towards the bunkhouse, in between Ryan and Colby, when I feel someone fall into me. Ryan grabs my arm to keep me from falling and we turn to see Jimmy on the ground and Fred behind him grinning.

"You're a fucking dipshit, Fred," Ryan says before letting go of my arm so we can finish our walk.

"You feeling saucy, boy?" We hear rustling behind and turn around to see Jimmy run at and repeatedly hit Fred in the face. With one good right hook from Fred, Jimmy was back on the ground. "Stay the fսck down," Fred says

Me and Colby reach down to help Jimmy back up. Jimmy starts to walk back over to Fred "No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no." Ryan says as we stand and watch Fred hit him in the stomach so hard he pukes. Fred picks Jimmy up and hits him once more in the face.

"Don't do this, man," Ryan says trying to be the voice of reason to the larger man.

"I'm gonna make it sting this time," Fred says as he stretches his hand.

Jimmy tries to stand but he falls into me and Colby. "Okay, all right. We're done here." I say to Jimmy before he finds his footing and walks back over to the burly man only to be met with yet another punch to the face.

"Think you proved your point, Fred," Ryan states.

"Yeah, I think he's got it," Colby adds.

"I told him to fսckin' stay down," Fred says while pointing to Jimmy on the ground. He gets back up and rams Fred in the stomach only to be picked up and slammed on the ground.

"Fred! Fսck!" Ryan yells. Some of the other wranglers walk over as Lloyd helps me pick Jimmy up.

Rip picks up Fred from behind and slams him on the ground. He picks the red-haired man back up and starts throwing him against the fence and the barn. "What's the rule about fighting, Fred? You wanna fight somebody, you come fight me! I'll fight you all goddamn day!" Rip yells at Fred while his boot presses into the man's neck.

"I'm the one that started it! It wasn't him, it was me!" Jimmy horsely yells

Rip comes over and grabs Jimmy from me and Lloyd. He pulls the top of Jimmy's shirt down to show the still healing brand on the younger man's chest and drags him over to Fred "You see this? You know what this means? This means 'don't fսcking touch,' Fred! Don't fսcking touch." Rip makes his way back over to me, Ryan, and Colby "Now you guys can go get the supper that you didn't earn. Get out of here. You too Clara."

Ryan and Colby leave but I don't move "No"

Rip opens his mouth to say something but was interrupted by Fred "I didn't start it, he said it."

A whip cracks and Rip walks away. I walk over to Jimmy and help him stand up straight. "You okay Jimmy?"

"I–I think so" He replies.

Rip walks over and grabs Jimmy by the shoulder "These guys, they just work here, Jimmy. You'll see a thousand of them come and go. But not us. We die here. This is your family. We're your family. All right." Rip walks back over to Fred "Jimmy's no longer cleaning the stalls, Fred. That's your job."

"No. No, I ain't cleaning no goddamn stall." Fred argues

Rip takes a deep breath "Lloyd? Give this man his week's wages, and get this piece of shit off the ranch."

"Get to the fսckin' bunkhouse," Lloyd says as he and Fred walk away.

Rip returns to where me and Jimmy are "They come and go, Jimmy. But not us."

Jimmy looks towards the bunkhouse "I gotta wash up."

Rip shakes his head "Mm-mm. No, no. You go have your supper, and you make them look at you. Now go on."

I turn to watch the younger man walk away and see Kayce walking over with an anxious look on his face.

"What do you want?" Rip asks

"I need a horse. They ain't back yet." Kayce says as we all follow him into the barn.

\

After forty-five minutes of riding, we finally meet up with Dad and Tate. Tate had a big gash on his cheek but otherwise looked fine.

"Cleaned it best I could, but he needs stitches," Dad says

"What happened?" Kayce says as he rides around the pair

"I fell in the river, and Grandpa saved me," Tate says

Kayce's eyes went wide. "Why was he near a river? Come on, buddy." Kayce grabs Tate from Dad and rides off without another word.

"I had to get rid of a wrangler today," Rip says to Dad.

Dad wipes his face. "Yeah? Which one?"

"Fred."

"What'd he do?"

"Ah, he worked over Jimmy."

Dad shifted in his saddle. "Well, good riddance. I always took him for a bully."

"Yeah, that and a loudmouth too."

"Don't forget creepy" I add

Rip looks at me then back over at Dad "You know, I could drop him at the bus station, but he's been here a while. He's seen a lot. Train station's where I'd leave him."

"Well, you run the bunkhouse, Rip. Do what's best for the ranch. Replace him with someone who wears a brand."

"You got a cowboy in mind?"

"Do it like my daddy did it: get somebody from the prison."

"All right. Just, uh... Uh, anyone?"

"Brand isn't something you earn, it's something you live up to. Think you deserved it when I gave it to you? Look at you now."

Rip somewhat smiles "Well I'll have both of your suppers waiting," He says rides off leaving just me and Dad.

"Is Tate okay?" I ask

Dad gently kicks his horse and points him towards home "He's fine."

"Are you okay?" I ask Dad, riding along next to him

Dad sighs "I almost lost him."

"Well, it's hard to measure 'almost,' because 'almost' doesn't matter."

"Yeah, well, isn't that wise. Who told you that?"

"You did, Dad." I smile

Dad laughs "You know you're probably the only one of my children that actually listen to me"