Chapter XIII

“RAMON, GET THE TRUCK AND THE MEN.” Mike was pointing off toward the pasture.

I stepped up in front of Tom to see what they were looking at. Three or four hundred yards out, a man was running across the field. Behind him about two hundred yards was a bull and he was closing in fast.

I grabbed the lariat at my feet. Running across that corral, I hit the fence and rolled over the top railing. The horses Mike and the other man had rode up on were by the house. I made a wide sweep around to the side of the one on the left. I wanted her to see me coming. Yanking the reins where they were tied to the rail got them lose. That horse was backing up from me as I threw one rein up past her neck on the left and pulled back on the other so she would stop back peddling. When she stopped I was in the saddle. My heels dug into her flanks as I yelled “HEY YAH” and leaned forward to grab the other rein where it was laying across the top of her neck. She sprinted forward as I turned her one hundred eighty degrees back toward the pasture. We were flying when we passed Mike. I urged her for everything she had.

Mike shouted something like "wait" but I ignored him. I was lying down on that little mare's neck demanding she run faster, harder, as I coiled my lariat. "Come on girl."

We were quickly closing the distance between us and the man. Of course so was that bull. I dropped a loop down by my right leg. This was going to be something I had never done before. Always before I was chasing them down from behind. This one we were going straight at. I brought my hand up and took a turn over my head. I threw my loop before we ever passed the man. The bull was almost on top of the man as we raced by him. I took several turns of rope around the saddle horn with my left hand and snapped the rope with my right. If my timing was right the loop would shrink as it closed around the bull's neck.

I knew it was going to be rough. I wrapped my legs as tight as I could around the mare as I tried to pull the little mare to a stop. Whether she had begun to slow down or not didn't make much difference. That bull out weighed us two to one. With his horns only inches from Ramone, bull and horse came to opposite ends of the rope, it stretched out like piano wire. I was thrown forward when we hit the end of the rope. My chest slammed hard into the saddle horn. Underneath me I felt her coming up and over on her back as I looked over my shoulder. The bull was pulled down and sideways as his right horn dug into the ground and his face plowed dirt. His tail end was going up in the air. The mare was down on her haunches as the weight of the bull keep dragging her back. I threw my right leg out as I pushed off the saddle with both hands toward my left.

Mike had run for the other horse when I rode past him. He was still trying to get his horse under him when he looked over his shoulder toward the pasture. That was when I threw my loop. From where he was standing, he watched as Ramone went down, the bull went down and flipped head over heels, and horse and rider went over backwards.

Everything was hidden in a cloud of dust.

He was shouting. " Consuelo, get the first aid kit. Ramon, get the truck and the men. Bring a rifle. I'll kill that damn bull."

Mike was there almost immediately. He was looking through the dust cloud. "Jake, you okay? Jake, answer me. You hurt, girl? Jake, talk to me."

Lying on her back, my mare was struggling to get her feet back under her. I was still hidden from Mike by the little mare. She was on top of my leg. My left leg was caught between the ground and the mare. If she rolled the wrong way I was going to be under that horse. I had seen enough cowboys trapped under a horse. Something usually ended up broken when the horse rolled over them.

I was looking up at horse and rider. They were on the wrong side of the mare if she tried to roll away from them. "Mike, back off. You're almost on top of us."

I was pushing with my right foot trying to get the mare to roll to her left. Finally she found her equilibrium and she started struggling to her feet. I grabbed the saddle horn and stayed with her as she stood up. The dust was settling as we came up off the ground. The bull was lurching to his feet too. "Mike, rope his feet!"

"WHAT!" Mike was looking at me as if I had dropped in out of the sky.

Unwrapping my rope from the saddle horn, I passed it to Mike as I urged my mare forward. Instinctively his mare had begun to run beside us. That Brahma bull was right behind. Mike barely had my rope in his hands as I leaned over and yanked his lariat off his saddle. "Stay out of his way for a few seconds."

It wasn't necessary to tell Mike to keep his mount running. That big old Brahma bull wanted to horn something and we were the targets. I pulled my mare off to the right as I shook out a loop. That gray Brahma started to follow me but Mike had my rope fastened around his saddle horn by now. The bull stumbled as he was tugged behind Mike's mount. It didn't take the Brahma any time to forget me and focus his attention on Mike's mare. He put new effort into catching his foe as I threw a loop down under his back hooves. He stepped into the loop as I pulled the reins on my mount bringing her to a halt.

That big old Brahma dropped to his knees when his back legs were yanked out from under him. Of course Mike had no idea what was going to happen so he and his mount never tried to slow down when I tossed my loop. What surprised me was the distance they dragged that bull before his weight stopped them. My mare had decided she didn't want any closer than necessary. She was really tugging on that lariat which was still wrapped around the bull's hind legs. With Mike's mount pulling from the front and mine pulling from the rear, that bull looked like he was on the spit over the barbecue grill.

"Where do you keep this beast?" I could see Mike's ranch hands coming with the truck from the barn and a couple of riders coming across the field from the south. Behind us Ramon was finally getting up off the ground. He didn't know whether to run some more or wait for the truck.

Mike was eyeing me. He looked around for a few seconds before he answered. "I normally keep him in the east pasture. It has a good five wire fence and he's never gone through it before."

"Is that where we are taking him?" I was waiting for directions before I let that bull find his feet. I was positive that Brahma didn't want anything else to do with us or our horses. We had roughed him up twice now. Usually they get a little smarter after the first time. Obviously this bull was a little slower than the rest.

Mike nodded. "I'll tell the men to bring a trailer down here and we'll haul him over there."

"Loosen up your rope and take it off his neck. He's had enough. We can drive him over."

Urging his mount backward, Mike loosened up his rope. As he slid out of the saddle the Brahma tried to regain his feet so he could run. With his hind legs strung out behind him it wasn't possible. Gingerly, Mike removed the lariat off the bull's neck. After he remounted I loosened up my rope and the bull finally got to his feet. My loop lay on the ground as he stepped out of it. He had more than enough of horse and man. He ran across the field toward his home pasture. He knew where he belonged. The only thing he wanted was to be was far away from us.

After picking up Ramon, the truck pulled up and stopped thirty feet away. Mike said something as he pointed at the disappearing bull. They took off after the bull.

"Think they will get there in time?" I was coiling my lariat up around the saddle horn.

"Where?" Mike was looking at me again.

"I imagine you told them to open the gate so he doesn't tear down the fence running through it. Think they can beat him to the pasture?"

He turned his mount and we headed back toward the barn. "Jake, you're better than any Gaucho I have ever seen. Where did you learn to throw like that?"

I shrugged my shoulders. "Practice. I had a few good teachers too. I rode the rodeo circuit part time. The cowboys were always doing rope tricks as they waited for their turn in some event. Sam Chapman is one of the best steer ropers I ever had the pleasure of meeting. He can rope right or left handed. If that steer has horns, you can ask him to rope only the horns. He will lay that rope out there so pretty, you'll swear that animal slipped the rope on just to please Sam. I've seen Sam rope almost every part of the animal. One time a man made a bet with Sam he couldn't rope the tail. Sam collected that bet."

I glanced at Mike. "You told me you were the best at what you did. Sam is the best at what he does. One day I want to beat Sam. I don't care about roping a calf or a bull or whatever. I want to be the best. I may never make it but I'm sure going to keep trying. Sam and I may be in the nursing home sitting in our rocking chairs but one day I'm gonna beat him."

Mike nodded. "I understand the feeling. Have you roped the tail yet?"

"A couple times but not consistently and not any witnesses. When Sam did it, he never hesitated and never blinked. He knew in his heart he wasn't going to miss. I want to be that good. I want to be that sure."

We rode back to the barn as we were talking. Mike was watching me. "Go in the house, Jake. I'm going out to catch the mare that ran off and left Ramon afoot."

"No, I need to look over my horse first. She took a beating out there. I need to see if anything is bruised or sprained. Then I need to rub her down. If you don't mind, and if you have another horse, I'll ride with you and help you catch the mare." I was already out of the saddle and pulling it off the mare as I talked.

Mike dismounted and walked over to help me look the mare over. "I don't have another horse handy. They are out in the pasture. We have the only two that are up right now."

"What about Tom? He's in the corral." As I ran my hands over the little mare, I didn't find anything wrong. She was beat up some but only a little worse for the wear and tear I put on her catching that bull.

Mike backed up and was studying me. "Miss McDonald, you manage to get a bridle and saddle on that black horse in the next thirty minutes and he's yours."

I laughed as I lead the little mare into a stall. "I'm not going to take you up on your offer Mike. It was a dumb offer since you don't know me and obviously don't know your horse. He's not THAT bad."

Picking up the saddle, bridle, and blanket, I headed for the corral where Tom was. Tom ran over to the far side of the corral when he saw me coming with my arms full. Mike might have been safe in making his offer. I was going to see.

Mike let me in the gate and I dropped everything on the ground. I pulled the lariat off the saddle. Tom stood there until I swung it over my head and then he ran. I dropped the loop over his head. As he ran around the inside of the corral I walked around that snubbing post. Tom quit running after a few trips around the corral. He was an intelligent horse. He knew I was going to let him run as long as he wanted.

Slowly I walked up to him while talking to him in a monotone. "Hey, I have a horse to go catch. Since you have been doing nothing but resting up and getting fat for the past few weeks, I thought you might like the chance to go run some of it off. So how about it? You game? I'm going to need a little co-operation though. I'm not ridding bareback. You're going to have to let me drop on a bridle and saddle."

He let me ease up to him as I quietly droned on and on. Finally I was scratching around his ears and his chest. It didn't take him more than a few minutes to decide he liked that part of it. I rolled the rope into a half hitch and slipped it over his nose making a temporary bridle. Leading him back over to where I had dropped the gear I slowly slipped the bridle on him as I talked in a steady quiet voice. The blanket and saddle were next. Mike started to climb into the corral to help and I motioned for him to stay away. Tom was willing to accept me. He certainly wasn't going to accept the man who had been pulling him into the snubbing post the past few weeks.

With the saddle cinched up I put some weight on the stirrup. Tom sidled away. I was constantly talking as I scratched him some more. Again I put some weight on the stirrup. Tom had his head turned watching me.

Putting my left foot in the stirrup I grabbed the saddle horn. "It's okay Tom. I'm not that heavy. You won't mind. Let's go for that walk okay? You're going to love getting out of the corral for a little while. It's going to be some nice exercise."

I was trying to keep him interested in my voice as I droned on. I was up in the saddle. Tom took a couple of small hops as he jumped stiff legged. He wasn't really trying to buck me off. It was a reflex reaction on his part. I leaned forward and scratched around his neck. It's okay Tom, I'm not hurting you. Let's go for that walk."

Mike opened the gate. He was shaking his head as he walked back toward the barn to get his horse. "I don't believe it. I just don't believe it."

Tom reminded me a lot of Gunshy except Tom was a taller horse. I bet he was over sixteen hands high. Tom was built more for running than sprinting. Gunshy would beat him out of the chute every single time. In a mile race, I was sure Tom would outrun Gunshy. On the farm or ranch, Gunshy would be the more useful of the two. Very seldom do cowboys need a horse who can run any long distance. The days of the pony express, and out running the Indians were over.

Mike and I rode out to the west pasture. The reins were broke where Ramon had his horse tied to the post. The leather had got old and the horse was determined to leave without her rider.

Mike reined in his mount and looked around. There wasn't a horse in sight. "I'll go to the right, you follow on down the fence line. If we don't find her in a couple hours head back to the house. She could be halfway to Mexico by now."

Scratching Tom around the shoulders and neck so he wouldn't mind the load he was carrying, I nodded. "I'll meet you back at the house."

It was a little over an hour later when I heard something coming toward us crashing through the trees and brush. Tom was bouncing as he stepped nervously about. I tried to hold him still while I listened. What kind of large animals did they have in this part of the world? I wished I had paid more attention during my geography and history lessons.

"RUN YOU DEVIL!" Drifted through the woods.

I recognized Mike's voice as the threshing closed in on us. A brown animal crashed through the brush headed straight for us. As Tom bolted, he almost threw me off. I let him have his head as he ran. The brown ghost veered away from us. I recognized a horse with a saddle but no bridle. I steered Tom over to my right after the disappearing mare. Looking over my shoulder Mike came into view. He was stretched out, lying flat along his mare's neck so as not to be swept off by the brush and trees. He had his mare at a dead run, hot on the heels of the brown mare.

I turned Tom so we were now chasing Mike. I was hoping there weren't any canyons or gorges out here. We were all dead if there were. That brown horse would go over and we would follow suit before we knew what happened. We broke out of the trees. Mike was about fifty yards behind the brown horse. Tom and I were about thirty yards behind Mike. Underneath me I could feel Tom stretch out. He decided this was fun. It looked like Mike had reigned into a trot we were gaining on him so fast.

Mike looked up in astonishment as we swept past him. He could have been stopped the way we went by. Tom's muscles were rippling as he settled into a distance eating gallop. There was no doubt left in my mind Tom could outrun most everything on this earth. I was lying flat on Tom's back and not urging him to run. He was doing it because he wanted to. It was in his heart and soul. This was what Tom had been born for. His breath was coming in rhythm with his strides. He had a free heart and soul. Tom ran because he loved it.

In my mind I renamed him Pegasus. We were quickly closing the distance on the brown horse. I loosened my lariat, spread a loop, and dropped it down by my leg. Ten feet back behind the brown horse I brought the loop up over my head to throw. Tom bolted to his left away from the lariat when I swung it up over his head. It caught me off guard. I grabbed the pommel with my left hand as I fell to the right side of the saddle. I was barely hanging on as Tom keep circling to his left away from me. Only by the slimmest of margins did I manage to hang onto the saddle. Finally I managed to pull myself back up into the saddle. My lariat was dragging along behind us. I coiled it back up as I searched for the other horse. She had veered off to our right when we went left. Mike had kept her from circling back to the woods.

I turned Tom after the other two horses and again he settled down into his distance eating gallop. Mike was watching over his shoulder. This time we didn't surprise him as we passed by. His little mare was breathing hard and she was lathered. She wasn't going to last much longer. Again I gathered up my lariat as we closed in on the brown horse. I was ready for Tom as I swung the lariat up over my head. When he tried to veer to the left I pulled him right. He broke his stride and bounced along stiff legged. I urged him after the other horse. He picked up his stride and closed the gap. I brought my rope up. He worked his way left but didn't break stride.

I'm right handed so it's easier to throw in front or toward the left. Throwing out to my right is awkward. I was still swinging my loop when I urged Tom toward his right. He wouldn't have anything to do with it as long as I was swinging that loop over his head. I coiled my lariat back up and worked him over to the right of the brown horse. Looking over my shoulder, Mike wasn't even keeping up any more. His horse was winded. She had done all she was going to do. I brought my lariat up and Tom shied over to the left of the brown horse. I threw and missed. Again I got Tom over to the right so I could throw straight or over to my left.

We had run another quarter mile when I worked Tom into the position I wanted. I brought my loop up and threw before Tom had a chance to get too far to the left of the brown horse. I had her. I pulled back trying to rein Tom in. He wanted to run. Reluctantly he slowed down.

We were waiting as Mike walked his horse up where we had stopped. He was shaking his head as a smile spread from ear to ear. "Miss McDonald, I can see why they gave you the title of All Around Cowboy. You don't give up do you?"

I was rubbing Tom's neck. He was hot but he wasn't tired. "It wasn't me. Tom is the one who never gave up. He has as much spirit as I've ever seen in a horse. We could run back to where we started and come back again and he wouldn't be ready to quit."

We were headed back toward the ranch house with the brown horse meekly in tow behind Tom. "Why don't you give Tom a real name."

Mike was waiting as he looked us over.

"He has wings on his feet. He loves to run more than anything in the whole world."

"You want me to name him Mercury?" Mike looked kind of funny at us.

"Well, not exactly. I think his name is Pegasus like the winged horse." I was watching to see how Mike would take a relative stranger asking him to rename his horse.

Mike nodded his head. "I'll give it some thought Jake. We'll see."

Back at the barn we put the horses up after taking the gear off them. Mike was glad to have his saddle off that brown horse rather than losing both horse and saddle. It would have been expensive loss losing one or the other, much less both at the same time.

I led Tom into a stall and dropped his saddle and blanket. I was brushing him down when Mike walked by the stall. "Mike, where do you keep your grain?"

His head popped into the stall as he leaned around the gate. "Why?"

"Tom needs a reward for what he did. He needs to know when he does good, he gets rewarded for it."

"I'll bring some hay." Mike's head disappeared.

I stepped into the breezeway. "Mike, I'm not telling you how to run your ranch but I sure would like some grain to go along with that hay."

Mike was ten feet away when he stopped and turned around. He looked at me for a long time before he nodded his head. "How much?"

"A double handful would be about right. I need some for the mares too. I'm not going to reward that dumb horse we had to chase down." I was waiting to see if I had asked for too much.

Slowly a smile spread across from ear to ear. "Your reward is sure costing me. Grain isn't that easy to come by out here."

He held up his hand before I could say anything. "You're right. They are worth it. I wouldn't have wanted to run Ramon's horse down on foot. I'll get your grain. You can give it to them so they will know whom to thank for it. All Around Cowboy."

Mike gave up and went into the house before I had finished brushing Tom and talking to him. I wasn't good friends with Tom but I was a friend. He had decided he liked the attention I was giving him. I made sure I didn't make any sudden moves or get close to his back feet. There is a difference between friendship and trust. Tom would accept me as a friend. He would learn to trust me if I had a couple months to work with him.

As I waited on my ride out of Brazil I worked with Tom. I was in his stall before sunup every day. The first day I washed him down and brushed his coat before breakfast. Tom was warming up to the attention I was giving him. What I was doing to Tom was a big change from being corralled, pulled into a snubbing post, and having a bridle and saddle thrown on him.

Mike called me into breakfast as the sun was breaking the horizon. I checked on Albert after I walked into the house and washed up. He was looking pretty good for someone who had a bullet pass through his shoulder. "How you feeling Albert?"

He smiled and laugh lines appeared around his eyes. "Mike told me you rode Tom yesterday."

"He's a beautiful horse. He sure does like to run." I leaned over to inspect Albert's bandage. I lifted the corner to check for infection. It looked nice and red without any yellow puss forming or red streaks leading from it.

"Am I going to live, doctor?" He was looking down at the bandage.

"I don't know. Lean forward and let me look at the one on your back." As he leaned forward I lifted the corner and looked at the one on the back of his shoulder.

"A little infection there Albert. You need another shot of Mike's elixir and the scab pulled off. It has an infection under it." I laid the bandage back down so Albert could settle back in bed.

"Is it going to hurt?" He looked at me waiting for an answer.

"Of course it's going to hurt. What would make you think it wouldn't?" I needed to find Mike. The sooner we did this the better it would be for Albert. Bacteria multiply at a prodigious rate.

I yelled down the hall. "Mike, bring your antibiotic and some fresh sterile bandages."

Mike showed up with a handful of medicine and bandages in seconds. "What's the problem?"

"Albert is picking up an infection on his shoulder where he's laying on it and not letting air get to it. Give him a shot of combiotic. We will irrigate the wound after we open it up again." I took the bandages out of Mike's hand.

"Roll over Albert. The shot needs to go in the hip so it will stay in the muscle tissue and dissipate over time."

"Mike, ten cc's in Albert's hip with that stuff. If we don't kill him giving him this animal antibiotic then he will live to be as strong as an ox." I was easing Albert over on his side for the shot.

Mike stepped up after putting the combiotic in the syringe. He leaned down to shoot Albert in the hip. I stopped him before the needle went in. "Swab it with alcohol first. We don't want to drop more germs in him then he has already."

Mike handed the syringe to me. "You do it then."

I swabbed Albert's hip, slapped it with my fingertips, and stuck him. I put a piece of tape on the prick. "Over on your stomach Albert."

Obediently he rolled over on his stomach. I poured some water on the gauze he had on the shoulder wound to loosen it up from the scab. That way it didn't pull nearly as bad as I teased it off.

I was pointing out the yellow spots to Mike. "This is the infection. If it's red it's his body fighting the infection. Yellow means it has bad bacteria in it. Think in terms of yellow puss. Usually it wouldn't mean a whole lot but with this wound all the way through his shoulder it has a door straight into his body."

Mike was looking as I pulled off pieces of scab. "You learn all this on the farm did you, Jake?"

"Mostly. I learned a lot on the rodeo circuit too. Cowboys are usually broken up or chewed up. They normally don't come in one piece or whole. I wouldn't do ninety percent of the things they do. Most of them are in debt up to their eyeballs hoping the next ride will get them into the money. It's like gambling or anything else. It's a disease of the mind. Only a few make enough money to pay expenses. The others keep looking at the big winners and believing they are going to be the next one to hit the jackpot."

I had the wound opened up again. "Give me some of that combiotic, Mike. I'll wash this down with the antibiotic and cover it with a clean dressing."

I knew I had to be hurting Albert as I worked on his wound. Since he wasn't saying anything I didn't realize how much until I was finished and told him he could roll back over. His whole face was covered in beads of sweat. I wasn't surprised. "Why didn't you say something?"

Pain was in his eyes as he licked his lips. "Wasn't bad."

I remembered Mike telling me how he and Albert were trained to kill. Could you also train someone to accept pain or was that what made a killer so special? They accepted pain and kept going? I didn't ask. "It should go ahead and heal alright. That antibiotic will keep it from picking up a second infection. It will scab over before the bacteria can build up again. We won't have to do this a second time."

"Thanks McDonald. I ever need a doctor or nurse again, you'll be at the top of the list." He managed a smile.

"Stay out of the way of bullets and you won't be needing one." I sponged off his forehead with a cool wet washcloth.