The Cattle Are Out!

King's hooves pounded through the grass at the side of the house and kicked up sod as Lilia and her steed jumped into the ditch to the side of the driveway. Jacob, Lilia's dad, spied the commotion from his office window and charged out the back door to see Jim and Bill race their horses down the driveway after his daughter.

Lilia opened up King's speed by riding low and close to his neck. She gave him lots of rein. She knew she had to get around the steers before they reached the highway and caused a collision with the cars and trucks on the busy stretch of road. Only three feet before the culvert that went under the road, Lilia reined King sharply left, and yelled with force, "Hyah!" She kicked King's sides, briskly jumped him out of the ditch, which startled the charging herd, and turned them towards the meadow.

Whoosh! The semi truck missed Lilia and King by inches. The driver honked his air horn, which pierced her ears. The wind from the truck's motion and close proximity blew Lilia's long blond hair straight back. She sucked in her breath at the near miss, and then gathered her wits about her again.

She circled the herd towards the meadow along the fence line, and then slowed down King's pace to a rack. Jim and Rusty cantered up to her and guided the herd to the side. Bill pointed at a Black Angus headed down into the ditch. Lilia spun King around as if his back legs stood on a dime, jumped into the ditch, and circled the stray back towards the pack while she held onto King with her knees. Bill and Big Boy cantered to take up Lilia's place at the back of the herd. The three young people surrounded the herd and drove them through the long grass and around the fence line of the meadow for a half mile, all the way back to the paddock where the gate stood mysteriously open.

Jacob leaned on the paddock gate, with a foot stuck in between the two lowest slats, and waited as he held the gate open for the approaching herd. The young people whistled and drove the bawling and bellering cattle back into their quarters. Bill slapped the last steer on the rear with his broad hand, and Jacob swung the paddock gate closed with a slam and locked it. The cattle milled around and complained after having such a free-roaming adventure.

"Hey Bill, how'd that gate get open in the first place? Have you got any clues?" Jim asked.

"Chief, maybe one of the steers has figured out the lock." Bill roared as his belly bounced with laughter. "We'll have to keep an eye on the sneaky buggers."

"Yeah, right!" Jim chuckled, dusted himself off a little, pulled the hay out of his hair, and returned to work.