Chapter 2: Rodeo Lessons

Guest: Things will. Thx for your review

When Hannah got home, she found a note from her dad on the front door.

"Dear, Hannah still out in the fields. Please remember to do your chores. See you tonight." she read.

Hannah just sighed, and got ready to do her chores. On the ranch, Hannah was in charge of feeding some of the animals, sweeping the porch, and making sure the security cameras were running okay.

After putting her backpack in her room, she got started on her chores.

Outside, she took some bags of oats and went to the horse and cattle stalls. She filled the trough, and the cattle and horses began eating.

"Eat up, guys." Hannah told them.

As they ate, Hannah went back to the barn, got a broom and started sweeping the porch.

"All this dust and dirt." she complained.

"At least it's not windy out here."

After sweeping all of it into a dustpan, she dumped it in the trash can. And then finally, she checked out the security cameras. Since the ranch was big and spacious Steven had security cameras put up to keep an eye out for wild animals and intruders.

Luckily, there was no sign of any of that on the screens. And the cameras were working fine. Then Hannah went back inside.

As she was finishing up her homework, her laptop suddenly started ringing. It was a video call, and that put a smile on Hannah's face. It was a call from her mom. She quickly hurried over to her desk, and clicked the accept button.

Just like that, a screen appeared with Valerie on it.

"Hi, Mom." Hannah greeted happily.

"Hello, Hannah. How are you, sweetie?" Valerie asked.

"I'm fine, Mom. How are things in South America?"

"They're fine dear. Nice and warm and we're helping lots of people."

"That's great."

"How's school going?"

"It's all right. And the ranch is doing fine. Dad's still out right now."

"How is your father doing?"

"He's fine. His usual stoic self."

"Don't think about it too much, Hannah. That's just how your father is."

"Okay. The rodeo's coming soon."

"Ah the rodeo. I remember them well. The horses, the food, the events."

"Yeah, I wish you could be here for it. I miss you." Valerie smiled softly.

"I miss you too, Hannah. But we'll see each other soon."

"Right."

Just then, Hannah heard the sound of the front door opened downstairs.

"Hannah, I'm home." Steven called.

"Hi, Dad. Mom's on video call."

"I see, your father's home."

Hannah picked up her laptop, and carried it downstairs. When Steven saw his wife on the screen, he cracked a small rare smile.

"Darling." he said, taking the laptop.

"Hello, Steven."

Hannah left her parents to talk, and went to finish the last of her homework.

At dinner, things were a little lighter. A call from Valerie had a way of doing that.

"So, Dad the rodeo's coming soon." Hannah mentioned.

"Yes, it is. I'll be ready as a judge." Steven replied.

"And you know...I was wondering..."

And just like that Steven returned to his usual stoic self.

"Don't even think about it, Hannah. You're not participating."

"But Dad..."

"That's final, young lady."

Then Hannah just went back to eating. Hannah would've loved to be in the rodeo, and compete in the different events. But Steven would never allow her to compete, saying it was too dangerous.

The next day, the principal made the announcement that rodeo lessons were going to start soon, and that if they were interested in competing in the town rodeo to sign up with Mr. Gobber. In her classes Hannah noticed that her classmates were all seemed excited about the rodeo.

In the hallway, as Hannah was getting her things out of her locker when she overheard Seth and his friends talking about it.

"This is going to be awesome. I'm going kill the bull riding." Seth bragged.

"Well I'm going to be the best rodeo clown ever." Tristan told him.

"Hey, I'm going to be a rodeo clown too." Reagan piped up.

"What are you gonna do, Frederick?" Austin asked.

"Actually, I'm just gonna be an organizer. But I'll be signing up for the lessons anyway."

Suddenly, she saw the group heading her way and tried to act like she hadn't been listening to them.

"Hey Hannah. Are you to be taking rodeo lessons?" Seth asked in a sneer.

"No, I'm not, Seth." Hannah answered simply.

"Oh that's right, because you're too much of klutz to be a cowgirl."

"You could be a rodeo clown. But even that would probably be a little cringe-y." teased Reagan.

"You got that right, sis." Tristan agreed.

And with that, they all left laughing except for Austin and Frederick. Hannah just sighed, and went back to her business.

At home, while Hannah was doing her chores, Steven was making some phone calls regarding the rodeo.

"Yes, that'll be fine. I'll call you if there are any changes." Steven said into his phone.

Then he hung up, and made another call.

"Hello, Gobber."

"Steven, nice to hear from you."

"Have anyone sign up for rodeo lessons yet?"

"Yep, got some kids at school all signed up. And I was wondering..."

"No, no I know where you're going and it's not happening."

"Come on, Steven."

"Look Gobber, I'm not going to have what happened to her happen to Hannah."

"Just because she got hurt doesn't necessarily mean Hannah will."

"If something can happen once, it can happen again."

Little did Steven know, Hannah was on the stairs and overheard the conversation. She knew exactly what they were talking about. Years ago, when Steven and Valerie were young they participated in the rodeo together.

Steven was a bull rider and cowboy and Valerie was a cowgirl. She was very talented, and could do many tricks. But one day, Valerie's horse reared up after getting startled by a snake, and she ended up falling and getting injured.

It wasn't too bad, but she had a concussion and a broken leg. As a result, Valerie had to retire from being a cowgirl and switched to nursing. Steven had been so worried about her, that he didn't want anything like that to happen again.

That was why he didn't want Hannah to compete. While she understood that, that didn't mean history would repeat itself. Up in her room Hannah kept thinking about the rodeo. She could just sign up behind her dad's back, but there was no way she'd be able to face her dad's anger and disappointment at disobeying him.

She looked out her window at their ranch and the surrounding land. She opened it up, and felt the nice air. Just then, she heard a whinny. At first she thought it was one of their horses, but it wasn't coming from the stables.

It seemed to be coming from somewhere off in the distance. "Huh, I wonder where that horse is?" Hannah thought to herself.

That's chapter 2, plz review