The Cowboy Code

“So what does a stock contractor actually do?”

“I furnish rodeo stock for rodeos—steers, broncs, bulls, calves. I breed them, too—buy, sell, trade.”

“Sounds like hard work, raising all those animals.”

“I’m not afraid of hard work.” He smiled. “And that’s another component of the Cowboy Code. If we can get these boys up and working, they’ll be too tired to think of getting into trouble, and at the end of the day, they can take pride in what they’ve accomplished. I hope that learning the value of hard work will stay with them when they go back home.”

“If you can get them working.”

“Oh, I will. Starting with dinner tonight.” He tipped his hat, excused himself and added, “I’ll see you in a half hour.”

As Maggie walked to the bunkhouse, she caught the scent of horses again, heavy on the breeze.

She did some breathing exercises—she always did when she was nervous. Only a handful of people knew that she suffered from stage fright, but now she was suffering from horse fright. She’d been dreading tomorrow, but the sight of the horses reminded her: riding lessons tomorrow.

She told herself that it’d be okay. She’d seen horses before, pulling carriages around Central Park. The tourists petted, posed and took pictures with them and they were as still as statutes.

But the Silver River Ranch was totally different from New York.

Here there were real horses. Horses that she’d be riding…in a saddle…by herself. And they were tall. It was a long way to the ground if she fell.

Maggie paused to check her way. She’d forgotten how dark it could be at night in the country. There weren’t any streetlights, brightly illuminated office buildings or Broadway marquees to guide the way, and she could barely see the path in front of her. She stopped to let her eyes send a message to her brain, sorting out the shadows and shapes.

Then she made out the tall figure of Joe Watley approaching, carrying a flashlight. Relief washed over her as he called out.

“I thought this would help.” She heard a click, and he handed her a flashlight of her own. “Keep it while you’re here.”

“Thanks.”

The bunkhouse was aglow in the distance, and it looked warm and welcoming. She took another deep breath, and pushed thoughts of tomorrow aside.

“What’s for dinner?” she asked as they walked.

“Cookie’s mystery stew.”

“Shall I ask about the name, or don’t I want to know?”

“He makes it different each time. One of the cowboys called it that, and the name stuck. The meat he uses is a mystery, too.”

“Ouch.”

They both laughed, and Maggie warmed to his sense of humor. Yet being with Joe—the whole situation—made her jumpy. If they walked in together, it would be like admitting that he was spending extra time with her.

Sure enough, when they entered, they were greeted with a moment of hushed silence. Then the talking and frivolity began again in earnest.

She noticed Danny right away, along with the poke in the ribs that the big kid on his right gave him. Danny winced, and so did Maggie. She clamped her lips together and took a seat at the head of the table, next to Joe—the only two seats left.

Everyone seemed to have been waiting for her to arrive before they ate, and she vowed that she’d never be tardy again. She checked her watch—five after six. She was only five minutes late.

Joe cleared his throat. “Gentlemen and Maggie, let’s take a minute to reflect silently on the bounty of the meal and the opportunity to be in Cowboy Quest.” He bowed his head.

Emulating Joe, the cowboys removed their hats and put them over their hearts. It took a moment before the boys in the program decided what to do, but eventually they bowed their heads—everyone but Danny, the smallest kid in the program, and his newfound friend, the biggest kid in the program. They smirked.

Joe spoke quietly. “Heavenly Father, thank you for this food which we are about to eat, and may everyone around this table get what they can out of Cowboy Quest, and more. God bless us all and keep us safe. Amen.”

“Amen,” echoed most everyone around the table.

A warmth, like a plush blanket, enveloped her. She remembered sitting around her parents’ big oak table as they all bowed their heads to pray. As they ate, they’d discuss current events, school, the weather—anything and everything in between.

These days she always ate on the run—stopping at the deli next to her condo, or for Chinese take-out somewhere, or for a quick slice of pizza. Max’s delivered, so she’d arrange for Danny to have most of his meals from there.

She hired a housekeeper, a math and reading tutor and got him a membership to the gym down the street. They went to counselors. She did everything she possibly could to help Danny, but she still wished she could have given more of herself.

Now, even though there were two dozen other people at the table, she was sharing a meal with Danny for a change.

Speaking of meals, Cookie’s mystery meal was stew, and it was fabulous, loaded with carrots and potatoes.

Ronnie tapped on his coffee mug with a spoon. “Let’s all go around the table and introduce ourselves.”

After all the introductions were made, Maggie noticed that Danny and she were the only ones who came from the east coast. All the rest, including staff, were from either the west or southwest.

No surprise there.

Maggie found out that Danny’s new friend was named Brandon Avery and he was from Billings, Montana.

As she stifled a yawn, Joe stood again. “Since this was a long day of travel, everyone will help with the cleanup. The Cowboy Quest participants will hit the hay ahead of schedule tonight because tomorrow morning will come early, five-thirty, to be exact. We have stock to feed and water, stalls to muck out and then you all will be taking riding lessons after your school lessons. Let me stress once again that you’ll get out of the program what you put into it—so give it your all.”

“He’s getting free labor out of this. So, like, how many juvenile delinquents does it take to run a ranch?”

The guffaws and tittering washed over her like a tidal wave. She couldn’t believe Danny would be that rude.

“Danny, you shouldn’t—” Maggie began.

Joe held up a hand like a traffic cop, and she got his message: He was in charge.

“I’ve heard that before,” Joe said. “So I’m glad that you cleared the air, Dan. But if you really believe that I’m getting free labor out of this, well, then, I’d better fire all these cowboys, huh? After all, I won’t need them because I have the twelve of you.”

This time it was the cowboys who laughed and snickered. The boys looked somewhat awkward, as did Danny and his new friend.

Maggie checked her watch. Seven o’clock. If she went to bed at eight, she’d have over eight hours of sleep. That was definitely more than she got in a typical night.

She was exhausted. Danny looked dead on his feet, too.

There was no way that she was going to be late on her first day, even if she was scared out of her mind. No way.

“I’m going to walk Miss McIntyre to the ranch house,” Joe said. “Then I’ll be right back to help in the cleanup.”

She wondered if Joe had stressed that for the rest of the participants, or just for Danny.