Chapter 38

And immediately become just as stressed the next morning when we all start saddling up our horses. Christ, I wish my metabolism worked as fast as my anxiety. There are so many moving parts to this, I don’t even know where to begin. Luckily, Wiley takes pity on me and gets me to work saddling up what’ll be my mare. When he tells me her name is Maple Stirrup, I nearly lose my mind at the cuteness of it. She’s a sweet horse, all gentle and soft. I much prefer her to Dakota’s mustang. He has the worst temper. I watch as the black horse bites at Dakota’s hand when he goes to put the bit in and laugh as he scowls.

“Cut it out, Chuck,” Dakota growls. “Don’t be such an asshole.”

“Chuck?” I ask, tilting my head.

“Chuck Horris,” Wiley answers with a grin. “Once, a rattlesnake bit Chuck Horris’ leg. After five days of excruciating pain, the rattlesnake died. True story.”

I snort out a laugh and watch as Dakota bops Chuck on the nose before the stallion finally lets him saddle him up. He happily prances for him once he decides their game is on hold.

Despite the fact that the sun hasn’t even started rising as we get ready, there’s an excited air around us. Levi preps his side-by-side, loading it up with coolers and gear that we’ll need on the ride. Wiley, Dakota, and I prep our horses, but we’re not the only ones. During the day, there will be eight other cow wranglers on horses, helping us drive the cattle, plus the cattle dogs. I count roughly eight dogs, each of them as excited as I am, each of them ones I’ve petted every single day. This is what they’ve been trained for. For a few of the younger dogs, this is their first drive. When Dakota whistles at them, they each stand at attention and wait for instructions. They’re well-trained, and spoiled beyond compare. I’ve never seen someone so loving and firm with their dogs as I’ve seen Dakota be with them.

“Thirteen days,” Wiley says from beside me. “You ready for this, witchy woman?”

I bite my lip and meet his eyes. “As best as I can be.”

“Don’t look so worried,” Dakota says with a grin. “You’re gonna do fine.”

But how do I tell him that it’s not that I’m worried about how I’ll do. I’m still worried about The Crows and now we won’t have the gates of the ranch to protect us. We’re going to be out in the open. And though the Drift weaves through pastures, private land, and rivers, there are at least some points where we cross highways and main roads. Despite the fact that Naomi and the others will be coming out at the end of each day with trailers, supplies, and a camper for us to clean up, I still worry that this isn’t as safe as Dakota hopes, guns or not.

Before I climb into my own saddle, I hold up my hand and rush off back to my cabin. When I return with William under my arm, his harness and leash on, Dakota’s face darkens.

“Kate, what are you doin’?”

“What do you mean what am I doing?” I ask, frowning. “William is coming with us.”

“No,” he replies. “Absolutely not.”

“Absolutely yes. I’m not leaving him behind,” I argue before setting William on the front of the saddle. I pull myself up after him and get comfortable.

“Naomi can watch him,” Dakota says. “It’s too dangerous to bring your damn cat on the cattle drive!”

I glance over at Wiley. “You think it’s too dangerous?”

Wiley grimaces. “William is the best trained cat I’ve ever seen, Dakota. I think it’ll be alrig?—”

“You know damn well we don’t need to worry about a fucking cat on this drive!” Dakota snarls. “Kate, William is a good cat, but?—”

“I’m not leaving him behind,” I say, cutting him off. “He’s my responsibility so I’m not asking you to watch him or feed him or even worry about him.”

“Not all the animals are going to be okay with a fucking cat near them,” he hisses. “And at night, he’s gonna get eaten!”

I grin. “Actually, I’ve spent the last month or so getting every animal on this drive used to William’s presence. Sure, there may be a cow or two that doesn’t know, but there won’t be a panic. I’ve worked with William when Wiley takes me riding to get him used to riding on the saddle, and he won’t stray far from me. He can sleep in my tent with me or worst case, he can sleep in the camper at night if he prefers. He does enjoy the air conditioning a bit more than the heat.”

Dakota opens his mouth and closes it before looking over at Wiley. “You’ve been riding with the damn cat?”

Wiley nods. “He does well. Never seen anything like it.”

Levi only shrugs when Dakota looks at him so he turns back to me. “Goddamn it, Kate.”

I grin. “It’ll be fine. I promise. And if it’s not, I’ll send him back home with Naomi. No problems.”

“Fine,” he grumbles with a sigh. “Ridiculous bringing a whole ass cat on a cattle drive, but here we are.”

He gives me no other trouble and William happily sits in front of me on Maple’s saddle, as excited for this adventure as I am.

“How many ranches are a part of this again?” I ask as the sun starts to rise higher in the sky, looking out over the herd before us. We’ll be herding about three thousand cattle which is why we have so many of us on horses and so many dogs. Other ranchers will join in along the way, adding to the large herd, but I can’t remember just how many of them there are.

“Eleven,” Dakota answers. “We’re the furthest so it’ll be an hour or so before the first one joins up with us.”

“We’re also the largest,” Wiley points out. “But there are a few who get close as well as a handful of smaller ones.”

I take a deep breath and nod. “Okay. So we’ll follow the Green River for most of the trip, right? That doesn’t sound too bad.”

“Not too bad at all,” Wiley laughs. “But thirteen days’ll have you wishing you never answered that help wanted ad.”

“I doubt that,” I reply. I don’t think there’s much of anything that can make me regret taking this job. I’ve learned so much, and I’ve never felt like I’ve had a family so much as I do here. Plus, I got to meet Levi, Wiley, and Dakota. That more than makes up for any hardship. Even if I’m worried about The Crows. Even if I’m still thinking leaving may be a viable option.

“So, thirteen days,” I muse. “What exactly do we do to pass the time as we ride?” I ask.

“Sing like a canary,” Wiley exclaims.

“Don’t,” Levi growls. “Unless you can sing. I have no desire to hear the sounds of a dying cat again.”

“Again?” I ask.

Levi meets my eyes. “Wiley can’t sing.”

“Hey!” Wiley grunts. “I’ll have you know that chicks dig my singing voice!”

“Only the drunk ones,” Levi mumbles, but I catch his words and laugh.

“I’m definitely not a singer, so I’ll spare your ears,” I laugh, grinning at their antics.

“Levi’s a singer, though. I bet if you ask nicely, he’ll sing real pretty—” Wiley’s voice cuts off abruptly when Levi throws his gloves at him and smacks him right in the face. “Hey man! This is what the ladies love! Watch it!”

My giggles are what has Dakota turning his horse to our group with a stern expression. “You kids ready? We ain’t got time for horseplay.” His eyes fall to where William sits proudly before me. “Or cats.”

“Aye, aye, captain!” Wiley says, giving a mocking salute that still looks proper somehow. It’s a reminder again that Wiley once served in the military, even if he doesn’t talk about it. I’ve asked a few times now, but he just dismisses the conversation and changes the subject. I don’t think I’ll get much more information from him if I push. Whatever happened during his time, he doesn’t want to talk about it, so I let things be.

“Here we go!” Dakota shouts and directs his horse forward as Naomi and Wyatt pull open the gates at the end of the pasture.

Three thousand head of cattle in one large pasture is a sight to see. This right here is a picture someone needs. The cowboys all on their mounts, the cattle all pressed together, the dogs crouched into position, waiting for their signal. Never have I wished I still had my phone than I do right now.

“Levi, can I have you phone for a second?” I ask.

He looks at me strangely, but hands it over after unlocking it without question. I snap a few pictures before passing it back to him. At his look of confusion, I clarify. “I needed to remember,” I murmur. “And I don’t have a phone right now.”

He studies me before nodding and passing it back to me again. “Take as many as you’d like.”

I smile brightly in thanks before tucking it into my breast pocket and waiting for Dakota’s signal. When he whistles and the dogs start leaping at the cattle to get them going and everyone starts whooping and hollering, the cattle start to move. Slowly at first, before they start picking up and heading out the open gates. We surround them on the sides and in the back, herding them in the direction we want to go. It’s a slow process at first, but once we start picking up some speed, things move at a slightly faster pace. I join in with my whistles and hollers, grinning from ear to ear.

This is it. This is the cowboy shit I signed up for.

“You stay in the back with me, Wiley, and Levi,” Dakota tells me as the cattle start heading in the direction we need them to. “Everyone else will focus on the sides.”

I nod, my mare, Maple, prancing along, equally as excited as I am. The cattle dogs pace along the sides, bumping any cow that tries to get out of line.

“I hear you loud and clear,” I say, smiling. “So, do we just ride silently the whole time?”

Dakota laughs. “No. We can talk. Or we can listen to music as long as we still pay attention. It’s all fine.”

“Yeah! Music!” Wiley says, before gesturing for Levi to turn on the Bluetooth speaker on the back of the side-by-side. The moment he does, Wiley pops out his phone and connects to it. “We need our anthem.”

Levi groans, but he doesn’t turn the speaker back off as music jingles loudly. Wiley starts dipping his shoulders as the familiar sounds of Shania Twain start filtering through the air. He looks over at me with a flamboyant body roll before he takes off his hat and holds it up in the air.

“Let’s go, girls!” he shouts, and surprisingly, everyone else answers back. “We’re going out tonight and feeling alright, gonna let it all hang out?—”

I can’t help it. I start singing along, laughing as every single man shouts, “Man, I feel like a woman!” at the top of their lungs.

The sun starts shining after a while, but it’s not nearly as bright as the family around me makes me feel. This feels good, like home, like warmth.

I know this is a huge undertaking. I can’t imagine the stress Naomi must have organizing everything. Each night, after we travel about five miles, we’ll camp for the night. Naomi will organize dinner to be brought out for everyone. She’ll make sure the horses and the dogs are loaded up and taken back to the ranch to rest and be fed and washed down. The camper and trailers have to be pulled out to where we’re at. We have to set up camp each night. It’s all a huge ordeal, but things still seem to be organized well and run smoothly. Though, I suppose if this has been happening all the way back to the eighteen hundreds, they’ve got the process down already. This cattle drive is one of the longest running drives in the U.S. It’s considered historical by this point, and every year, Steele Mountain helps keep the tradition alive.

When the second ranch joins us, their cattle numbers barely make ours look any larger. The man that rides up to tell Dakota “hello” looks exhausted, great dark circles around his eyes. There are far more cowboys with him than I’d think necessary for what looks like a couple hundred cows. It isn’t until Dakota leans over his horse and hugs him that I realize there’s something I must not know.

“What a sendoff, huh?” the man says sadly. “You think they’ve got horses in Heaven?”

“If they don’t, I don’t want it,” Dakota replies back with his own sad smile. “Let me know if you need anything during the drive, Frank.”

“Will do, Dakota. Thank you for the offer to watch over my family. I’ll owe you a favor in the next life.” The man tips his hat to me and rides off to join his other cowboys.

“What was that about?” I ask, frowning after him. He sits stiffly on the horse, his shoulders tense. Though it’s the wrong position for riding, I can tell he’s no stranger to it. It’s as if he can’t help it.

“That’s old Frank,” Wiley murmurs. “He’s got brain cancer.”

“Terminal,” Dakota adds. “They gave him a few months at most. This’ll be his last cattle drive.”

“What?” I gasp, looking after him again. I watch as an older woman and two teenage boys ride up on their horses, their smiles bright even if their eyes are just as sad as Frank’s. Happy to give him this, but sad at what it means. I blink at the sight of Frank’s family surrounding him as we continue herding the cattle. I notice Dakota encourages our cowboys to help keep a watch on Frank’s small group. Frank focuses on his children and wife, encouraging them to drive the cattle, and I realize he’s passing on his legacy despite a few of his kids not being quite old enough yet. The oldest looks to be barely a teenager, the youngest barely six. I never thought I would find so much love out here in the Wyoming mountains, but here I am, teary-eyed over a stranger. It’s like out here in the country, they feel things a little deeper.

We don’t cross any highways or rivers on the first day thankfully, and though we only go for five miles, it takes all day to herd such a large group. William happily rides on the saddle with me, only hopping off every so often to take care of his business. After the first hour, I unsnap his leash and allow him to follow along with us as he pleases. He alternates between following through the bushes, batting at any rabbits he finds, and riding on the saddle with me. When evening comes and the trailers arrive, I’m grateful. I know my thighs will probably ache tomorrow, and more so after this drive, but it’s a good ache. One that shows just how much work I’m doing. It doesn’t surprise me when William enters the camper and stays, refusing to come back out. He’ll come out in the morning. He may love adventure, but he loves air conditioning more.

I happily accept the plate of food Naomi brings me, and when Wiley shows me the little tent they have for me so I’ll have some privacy if I need it, I’m even more happy. Sleep comes fast, but my dreams? Those are filled with three particular sexy cowboys and the lingering looks they shoot my way throughout the day.

When one of the cattle dogs, a young pup named Jethro that refused to leave the cows for the night joins me in my tent, I don’t care. I cuddle him close and fall fast asleep, ready for tomorrow.

The Crows are a distant threat I don’t have to think about.