The Cowboy's Family Christmas

Only it wasn’t into the cattle to help Leanne cut some out. It was in the other direction. Away from the cows.

Toward the gate leading out of the pen.

As he came closer, Reuben easily saw the angry set of the young man’s jaw, the determined way he urged his horse toward the large metal gate separating the cows from one of the pastures. He dismounted and unlatched the gate, ignoring Leanne’s cries and George’s fury. His movements were rushed and jerky, the chain clanking against the gate. It was as if he couldn’t contain himself any longer.

He had Reuben’s complete sympathy. Reuben knew what it was like to be on the receiving end of George’s demands. Never feeling like the job you were doing was good enough. Always getting pushed to do more. He wondered how long this young man had worked for his father.

“Devin. Where are you going?” Leanne called out, the concern in her voice evident from here.

“Get back here, Devin,” George yelled. “Get back here or you’re fired.”

“You can’t fire me,” Devin shouted back, his voice filled with rage as he shoved open the gate, “because I quit.”

Then Devin led his horse through the open gate.

But he hadn’t looked behind him. Reuben could easily see what the young man, in his fury, had missed.

A group of cows and calves had followed Devin and his horse and were right behind him as he turned to close the gate.

Too late he noticed the animals and struggled to shut the gate on them. But by then the cows were already pushing past him to freedom. Devin jumped back, pulling his horse back, the cows now streaming out of the gate.

From what Reuben remembered, if the cows got away, they would run toward the open fields behind the ranch and from there up into the foothill pastures, which were spread out over hundreds and hundreds of acres. If they got too far out, it would take days to round them up again. Maybe even longer once the cows had gotten their taste of freedom.

“Devin, close that gate,” George yelled, leaning over the fence, his face purple. “Close the gate, you useless twerp.”

But Devin had given up and was leading his horse away from the herd flowing through the gate.

Reuben grabbed hold of a fence post and clambered over in his hurry to catch the gate and stop the rest of the cows from getting out. But it was hard to halt the press of all those large bodies and too dangerous.

“What did you do?” he called out to Devin, who was ignoring the herd racing past him as he walked along the fence.

“I quit.” Devin muttered as Reuben tried to get by him. “George is a maniac boss.”

“Is that your own horse?” Reuben asked as the cows, increasing in number, now thundered past them.

“No. Belongs to the ranch.”

That’s all he needed to know. Reuben yanked the reins out of Devin’s hand, did a quick assessment of the young man’s height. They were about the same. The stirrups should be okay.

Then he vaulted into the saddle, turned the horse around, nudged him in the flanks and galloped off to head off the cows before they got too far away.

It was a race and Reuben had to be careful not to get too close to the cows and get them running even faster. He heard Leanne’s shout and tossed a quick glance over his shoulder to see her following on horseback behind him, making a wide loop around the herd like he had.

All he could hear now was the thundering of the cows’ hooves, the steady rhythm of the horse’s, its hard breathing and Leanne shouting something indecipherable.

* * *

She needed to catch up to Reuben. Leanne gripped the reins of her horse, urging it on, fighting to stay in the saddle of the racing horse.

She shoved down a beat of panic as she galloped alongside the now running herd going faster than she thought possible.

She didn’t have time to plan. All she could concentrate on was getting the herd turned around before they got too far ahead. Could they do it with two horses? She’d never handled a charging herd before.

Please, Lord, help me keep my seat. Help me not fall off.

Her prayer was automatic. She didn’t want to disgrace herself in front of either Reuben, who seemed to be one with the horse he rode, or George, who had seemed on the verge of having a heart attack when the cows had surged through the open gate.

She was so angry with Devin, but right now she couldn’t spare him much thought.

Slowly the gap between their horses lessened and, to her surprise and relief, Reuben managed to get his horse in front of the lead cows. He waved his hat at the herd as he pulled his horse’s speed in.

Please don’t split, she silently pleaded as she came behind Reuben, trying to gauge the correct distance between her and Reuben and the cows. Too close and she would spook the herd. Too far back and some of the cows might go right between them and they’d have two bunches to worry about.

Thankfully they stayed together, calves bawling, cows bellowing and dust rising up from the milling hooves.

Reuben made it to the front of the herd and slowly, slowly their forward momentum decreased. Reuben waved his hat again, yelling to get the cows turned. But the animals behind didn’t know what was happening and kept running through, ramming into the cows in the front. This spooked them again and Leanne hurried to join Reuben at the front to hold the herd back.

But finally the animals seemed to sense they weren’t going to carry on and the herd slowed its pace, Reuben and Leanne keeping up.

“Don’t get too close,” Reuben called out. “Stay far enough away that they can see you but not get scared again.”

Leanne nodded, pulling her horse back.

Reuben waved his arm at the cows again and they stopped. “Get beside me but stay about ten feet away,” he shouted to Leanne. “Turn your horse toward the cows and keep it facing them.”

Leanne simply did what she was told. Reuben had herded far more cows than she had and knew what he was doing.

So she turned her horse around, her heart pounding in her chest with a mixture of fear and anticipation as she faced down the herd in front of her. The cows had their heads up as if looking for a way out. What would happen now depended on the decision of the lead cows.

“Get along, you creatures,” Reuben yelled, waving his hat at them again. Leanne had left her rope behind and her hat had tumbled off somewhere in the pasture so she waved her hands, praying it would help.

Then, together, they managed to get the front cows turned back toward the corrals and, thankfully, the others reluctantly followed suit.

The herd pushed and bawled as they made their way back, expressing their disappointment and confusion.

“You keep pressure on the herd, I’ll make sure they stay bunched,” Reuben called out.

Again all Leanne could do was nod.

A few calves made a break from the herd, heading for the upper pastures but Reuben quickly got them back, his horse easily stopping and turning them around.

Thankfully his horse was a seasoned cutting horse and Reuben knew what he was doing.

The cattle had their heads down now, plodding along the way cows should be moving. Leanne sneezed on the dust raised by the herd walking over the fields that were once green. She shivered as the worst of the drama was over.

Reuben was still working the one side of the herd as the animals headed back to the corrals. She knew they would face another challenge when they came to the gate, but hopefully the bale of hay she’d put inside the pen to lure them in the first place would draw them back again. The pasture they were riding on now was brown and chewed down so there was nothing to entice them here, though a few cows slowed to check it out.

As they got closer to the yard, she saw the gate was still open. George was on the other side of the fence, holding it with a rope to make sure it didn’t swing shut. He also knew what to do.