Page 100 of The Only Seconds that Matter
“I’m hoping she can get on her feet with assistance, but she’s gonna have to try.”Victor swung off Blitz and approached the heifer, who struggled with fear upon his approach but settled upon realizing it was hopeless.Her snout was covered with frothy saliva from all her exertion, and she was panting heavily.Otherwise she didn’t look injured, though she had to be cold when covered in wet muck in these frosty temperatures.
Victor stepped gingerly forward, hearing the ground squelch and bend underfoot.She was down in a ditch, so to get to her he had to sit on his butt and crabwalk over the ledge until he could reach her head.Johnny threw his lariat over to Victor, who then secured it around her neck, jerking it a few times to make sure it was a good fit.He ordered Johnny to ride closer so that the angle was easier for her; he didn’t want to strangle her or throw her off balance.Then he slid deeper into the mud so that he could grab her tail.After signaling to Johnny to start pulling, Victor slapped her flanks with his free hand, pulling on her tail hard enough to motivate her but not hard enough to hurt.She heaved up, legs churning, hoisting herself onto her front feet before the ground gave way beneath her and she stumbled.Victor ordered Johnny to give her slack for a second to let her catch her breath.After taking a moment, he waved Johnny on again.
“Come on now, hup!”Victor shouted, slapping her flanks a few times.With a low grunt of effort, the heifer finally managed to get her front legs underneath her, and with the lariat tugging her forward and stabilizing her, she was able to follow her momentum up and out of the ditch, one of her hooves catching Victor’s thigh in the process.He let out a hiss of pain and dropped back into the mud, even as the cow leapt onto firmer land and trotted off as far as the lariat would allow.
“Pinche vaca,” Victor hissed, sucking in a few deep breaths to cope with the pain until it faded.There’d be a big bruise there tomorrow.In the meantime, he wore more mud than clothing at this point, and his hands were frozen through.
“You need me to rope you, too?”Johnny joked, looping up his lariat.He must have extricated it from the cow.
“I wouldn’t mind a hand,” Victor admitted, and a second later Johnny’s lariat landed around his shoulders and tightened, pinning Victor’s arms to his chest.“Oh, very funny.”
“I can pull you out by your neck if you want.”
Giving Johnny a dark look, Victor pulled the lariat from around his shoulders and gripped it with both hands, using it for balance as Johnny reeled him out of the mud pit.After dropping the lariat rope, Victor went to his patiently waiting horse and climbed aboard, wondering how much time his hands had left before they froze off.
The cow they’d just rescued was now making a run for it up the hill, the exact opposite direction of her herd.With a sigh, Victor chased her down, whipping Blitz in front of her trajectory until they nearly collided.She turned on her heel and decided downhill was best, so Johnny and Victor trotted after her until they came to the road and the herd, which the straggler peacefully joined without upset.
“Damn, what happened toyou?”Jade asked Victor around a smile.“You fall off?”
“No, I had to rescue a cow from a ditch.”
“You look like a bog monster.”
“I feel like a bog monster.”
Jade snickered, then reached out to knock a clump of dirt off of Victor’s collar.“There.Much better.”
“He’s gettin’ a taste of that real cowboy life,” Johnny joked.Victor didn’t think he’d stopped smirking since he got the cow out of the pit.
“How’d I do?”Victor asked.
“Hell, if you wanna be my coworker, the feedlot’s takin’ applications.”
“I’ll pass.Let’s get these cows back in the fence.”
From that point, their job was relatively simple.They chased the cows down the road back to Frank’s place, occasionally darting into a field to catch any wayward cows who wanted to make a break for it.Because the cattle were mostly heifers and an occasional steer, none of them put up much of a fight when pushed.It was a bit harder to get them back through the fence, but the dogs again lent their assistance, and the horses all worked well together.At last the cattle were back where they belonged, and they met Frank at the driveway where he hadn’t moved since greeting them.
“Cows are back in,” Jade told him as they trotted up.
“What happened to you, boy?”Frank asked Victor.“You fall off?”
Johnny pinched his lips together to hold back a laugh.Victor sighed.
“No, one of your heifers was in a ditch.I had to fish her out.”
“Well, I really appreciate the effort.”Frank looked past Victor to the other two.“Who are your friends here?This your girlfriend?”he asked, gesturing to Jade.
“Jade’s my assistant trainer.”
“And this one?”
“Name’s Johnny, sir,” Johnny replied.“I’m not his girlfriend either.”
“Well, you wrangled up these cows real good.I’m grateful for the help.I’d do it myself but the missus said I ain’t allowed to ride the horses anymore, not since my last fall a few years ago that put me in the hospital.I should get outta the cattle altogether, but it’s in my blood.You know how it is.I’ll die ‘fore I give up my way of life.Anyway, y’all have a good day now.”Just as they all turned to ride off, Frank said, “Oh, and Victor?”
Victor stopped his horse and turned around to look at him.“Yes?”
“You need help findin’ yourself a missus you let me know.My wife knows the whole damn town, she could set you up with a nice girl real quick.”
