Saddlebags (8 page)

Carole found herself trotting beside Mr. Atwood.
“Hey, look over there,” she cried, pointing off to the southwest. “A stray.” Carole started heading off in the stray steer’s direction.

“Need some help?” called Mr. Atwood.

“Sure.” Carole was in a lope by this time. Mr. Atwood rode beside her, and soon they had caught up to the steer, who seemed lost in thought, munching on a patch of greenish-brown scrub grass. Carole circled around the animal, and Mr. Atwood stayed behind him.

He stopped grazing and looked up.

“Hey, you,” called Carole to the steer, “don’t you know where the party is?” With the horses moving behind him, the steer got the message and started trotting off to join the rest.

“So that’s how a roundup is done,” cried Mr. Atwood.

“If you’re lucky,” Carole answered with a smile.

They rode on, keeping their eyes open.

On the other side of the herd, Mr. Lake told Walter, “I just spotted an animal that might need your help.”

Sure enough, off to the left and just ahead of the herd was a steer who had gotten his horns caught in a bramble bush. The beast was trapped, head down, mooing loudly.

They trotted over to the animal’s side. Walter dismounted
and gave his reins to Mr. Lake. “Hold these, and try to keep my horse between you and that steer, just in case he gets any wild and crazy notions in his head.”

But as soon as Walter walked up, patted the animal on its shoulders, and spoke to it quietly, the steer seemed to calm down. Then Walter took out his jackknife and quickly cut the bramble bush away.

The steer looked around and trotted off to join the herd.

“That was simple,” said Walter as he remounted his horse.

“You make it look simple,” said Mr. Lake with a smile of admiration, and they followed the steer back toward the herd.

Mrs. Lake and Colonel Hanson had slowed to a walk and let their horses lag toward the back of the herd.

Farther in back of them, bringing up the rear, rode Stevie and Stewball. She could hear snippets of their conversation—“loves secrets.”

Hmm, she thought. What could they possibly be talking about? Then she heard her own name. They were talking about her! She rode a little closer, straining to hear better.

Colonel Hanson laughed. “Of course I know how well she keeps secrets. Remember when I decided to buy Carole a horse? Not only did Stevie and Lisa help me find Starlight, they kept the whole thing a secret all before Christmas, while I had Judy the vet make sure Starlight was the right choice!”

Stevie beamed to herself. She did love secrets, and Colonel Hanson’s big Christmas present to Carole had been one of her all-time favorites.

“But that was a good secret,” Mrs. Lake said.

Uh-oh. Stevie rode a bit closer.

Mrs. Lake chuckled. “Once she hid Michael’s pet iguana in her room for a month! Michael was a mess!”

So was my room, Stevie thought to herself. But it hadn’t been a month, it was much more like a week. She restrained herself from going over and setting her mother straight. She couldn’t—she wanted to hear more.

Mrs. Lake went on. “But then there
was
the time she got all our kids to pitch in and make me the most incredible scrapbook for my birthday. They must have worked on it for months without a peep. What a lovely surprise!”

Her mother was exaggerating again, Stevie thought. It
hadn’t taken months. But for the record, Stevie would leave that one alone anyway.

“Did you ever hear the one about some craziness she got into out here at a rodeo?” the colonel asked.

“No,” her mother said.

“Well, maybe you’re not supposed to hear that one.…”

They were having so much fun swapping stories about her antics, they never noticed Stevie riding closer and closer.

This is lots more fun than listening to my dad sing, Stevie thought as she rode along.

The only distraction came from Stevie’s stomach, which had started reminding her that it was lunchtime. Up ahead, at the top of a small hill, she saw Parson’s Rock slicing the sky. Then she noticed Walter pull out from in front of the herd and start heading up to the rock. Stevie rode around the herd to find her friends. She was glad they’d be stopping soon for lunch. It had been the scene of one of her favorite moments on her first trip to the Bar None, her surprise birthday party. And what’s more, she was mighty hungry.

T
HE GROUP RODE
up to the base of the rock and tethered their horses. While they stretched and rested, Carole and Kate passed out peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and lemonade.

Stevie wolfed down her sandwich and stood up. “Hey,” she said to her friends, “let’s go up to the top of the rock.”

“You take your time down here,” Carole said to the parents, “we’ll be back in a bit.”

“Nooooo problem,” said her father, munching on his sandwich and sitting with his back against the rock.

The four girls clambered up to the top of the rock, which was flat and had enough room for them to sit in a circle.

“Perfect time and place for a club meeting,” said Kate.

“So what do you think?” answered Carole. “How’s it going so far?”

“You mean for us, or for the Saddlebags?” Lisa asked.

“Both.”

“Well, I’m having fun,” Lisa said. “Mostly because I’ve managed to stay far, far away from my mom.”

“Why? What’s up with your mom?” Carole asked.

“She’s getting on my nerves. She’s treating John like he’s some kind of servant, and it’s really embarrassing.”

“Talk about embarrassing,” Stevie answered. “My mom and Carole’s dad spent the entire morning telling stories about
me
.”

“How do you know?” Carole asked.

“They were right in front of me.” She grinned. “I didn’t want to listen, but I couldn’t help myself.”

“Listen, you guys,” said Kate. “I think the ride’s going very well so far. Every single Saddlebag has done some good work on this drive.”

“You’re right,” Carole acknowledged. “Lisa, your dad was really getting the hang of things today. He even helped me rescue a stray.” She shook her head and her expression darkened. “But my dad? He spent the whole morning chit-chatting at the back of the herd. Come on! I almost wish something would come up that would teach him a lesson or two. About real riding, and what goes into it.”

Lisa nodded. “I know what you mean.”

“Everybody mount up!” Walter’s call came from the bottom of the rock.

The four girls stood up and looked over the edge of the rock. Everyone was getting ready to go. They hurried down the craggy rock to their horses.

Carole kept her thoughts to herself as she swung her
leg over and sat comfortably in Berry’s saddle. Whatever happens happens, she thought. Why should I need my father to understand so much about riding anyway? After all—it comes down to how I feel about riding, and that part’s just fine. In just a couple of hours, this beautiful ride will be over, and we’ll be back at the Bar None.

She gave Parson’s Rock a farewell glance and trotted over to catch up with the cattle.

B
Y THE EARLY AFTERNOON
, the group had reached the arroyo they had come over yesterday. Only now, on the way back with the hundreds of cattle, Carole thought the descent into the streambed seemed much steeper. She watched as Walter led the first few steers down the side of the gully to drink at the narrow stream. The animals directly behind his horse made it down the bank okay, but the others got distracted and started to spread out on the high ground, looking for places to go down the hill.

Carole immediately saw the problem. The safest place
for the cattle to go down the hill was very narrow. Walter and John were guiding the cattle, but they had to funnel them practically one at a time into the narrow spot to take a drink.

As the other animals wandered off and tried to make their own way down to the water, some of them slipped on the steep embankment. This could lead to trouble, Carole realized.

“This is a job for Stewball!” she called to Stevie. “You two need to go down there and convince those cows not to spend the whole day drinking. I’ll stay here with Berry and guide these cattle down the bank one at a time.”

“Gotcha!” Stevie called back to her friend, and she and Kate headed to the front of the line of cattle, which was much farther upstream by now.

Stewball was a champion cutting horse. He could easily get cattle to go where he wanted, no matter what the situation was. Stevie knew this about Stewball, and she had the technique to take advantage of his skills.

When they got to the front of the line of cattle, Stevie and Stewball nudged, cajoled, and led the thirsty animals over to where Walter and John were trying to herd them up the bank.

One by one, and sometimes two by two, Carole let the
cattle go down. Lisa backed her up, making sure none of the cows wandered away.

Once they reached the stream, the animals stopped to drink for a long time. The youngest of them couldn’t decide whether to drink from the stream or from their mothers, so they stood at their mothers’ sides, alternately nursing and drinking the cool clear stream water.

It was a slow process. All The Saddle Club members stayed intensely focused on the job at hand.

“These ornery beasts are sure taking their time,” said Colonel Hanson. He had been riding back and forth on the near bank.

Carole overheard her father. They’re not being ornery, she thought with irritation. They’re just thirsty.

But all of the Saddlebags were getting restless. Carole heard them continue to complain.

“What’s going on down there?” Mr. Lake asked his wife and Mrs. Atwood, who had been sitting on their horses and chatting.

“The cows are having their coffee break,” Mrs. Lake replied, “and it’s taking forever.”

“Sure is,” Colonel Hanson agreed as he rode back up to the group, followed by Mr. Atwood. “You know, Rich and I were thinking, maybe us Saddlebags could do a
little exploring up the banks here, while the experts get these cows squared away.”

“Sounds like a good idea,” said Mrs. Lake. “Let’s clear it with the boss.”

“Okey-doke,” said her husband, and he rode down the steep bank. “How’s it going?” he called to Walter.

“Fine.” Walter looked up. “Slow but sure.”

“Okay if us oldsters go exploring along the arroyo?”

“Yup,” Walter answered. “Just don’t go too far. Fifteen minutes up and fifteen back ought to bring you back by the time we’ve got all these critters on the other side.”

“Okay,” answered Mr. Lake. “See you in a few.”

Walter kept on with his work.

Mr. Lake rode up to the rest of the grown-ups. “Walter says we’ve got a half hour till they’re done watering the beasts,” he said. “So I say we follow Mitch’s plan and explore the wild expanse!”

Carole didn’t say anything. But inside she wasn’t so sure about “Mitch’s plan.” What if the parents didn’t get back in time and Walter and John had to wait for them? Would the herd wait? Maybe the wranglers would have to go on ahead, and Carole and the girls would get stuck waiting for the parents.

They’re not being very considerate, she thought. But
she was too busy with her job herding the cattle to stop and argue with her father.

The Saddlebags trotted off upstream alongside the bank of the arroyo.

A
T THE BOTTOM
of the arroyo Stevie and Kate had succeeded in moving dozens of cattle up toward Walter. But there were still quite a few to go. As the cows continued to descend, a calf got separated from his mother and scampered back up the first bank to try to find her.

“Oh, no, you don’t,” called Stevie as she and Stewball quickly got in front of the little thing and turned him around. “Back to Mama. She’s down here anyway.”

Sure enough, the mother looked up from her drink and started mooing fiercely for her baby to come back. That made Stevie and Stewball’s job much easier.

“There you go,” said Stevie as she reunited mother and baby.

A few minutes later there were only a few more cows waiting to come down. “Looks like we’re almost done,” Stevie called to Carole and Lisa.

“Finally,” answered Carole. “I could use a drink myself.” She pulled a small canteen off the back of her saddle and took a swig.