Hay runs (part 2)

As I ate my breakfast, I started to think about her again. I tried to picture her getting ready for her day back in her house. It seemed like we were living in two different worlds, separated by mountains. I couldn't wait to see her again, to touch her, to hold her, to kiss her. A strange feeling pulsed through my veins and suddenly I couldn't wait to get on the trail out of camp. I began cleaning up my dishes and putting the contents back in the camp box. I mantied up the box and hung it high up out of reach. It was still dark, but a faint light was starting to sift through the eastern sky. I walked down to the corral and grabbed the first of the eleven halters that hung from the post. I grabbed Sherrif's first. I turned my light down to the ground as to try to not frighten the stock. I walked toward Sheriff, the only horse in the corral and dropped the lead rope to my right hand. I approached him from the left and before he could play any games, I draped the rope around his neck and caught his head. I put the halter on and led him out to the farthest tree from the corrals.

Ten more times I caught a mule and led them to their own tree, putting them into strategic place for their line in the string, and for their behavior. First came Bud, then Cindy, Ruby, Sarah didn't want to be caught, Linda, Lilly, Sparky, Charlie, Doug, Chester. I gave them all a piece of "cake" while I brushed them down. I turned off my head lamp. It was just light enough to see without falling down. Camp was quiet, except for Linda occasionally pawing the ground for attention. I looked them over with my hands and the brush feeling their soft summer hide, all the remnants of the sweat from yesterdays ride gone without a trace. Each brush stroke smoothed out the hide and pulled dust away from their hair. They all looked good, no sores, all of them had their shoes. Time to saddle.

I saddled Linda first because she was a "walker" so I snubbed her short to the tree. I pulled the cinch tight and went to Sparky, who had become a gentleman in the last few weeks. Before he was unpredictable and terrified of his saddle and pad, but with all the time on the trail he had become a good hand. Cindy was a "stomper" so you had to watch your toes. The rest were easy. Last I threw my rig onto Sheriff, the one animal that I completely trusted. I had rolled all the mantys up into "cig rolls" and only had three of them to put onto mules. Sparky, Charlie, and Linda all got one. I wanted them to ride all the way home, so I put them on the squarest mules and tied them down into the cinch ring. Linda got one, because each time she was loaded she got a little better on the trail. We were ready.

I quickly used the latrine, and did a sweep around camp. I grabbed my pommel bags and my pistol and walked down to Sheriff. I loaded my bags and began to pull cinches and assemble my string. Lilly and Sarah were going to lead, because Sarah was becoming a bitch on the trail, and had started to make a habit of pulling back and snapping her piggin. I was not going to tolerate such bad behavior today. Next came Bud, then Cindy, then Doug, Chester, Sparky, Charlie, Ruby, and last was the rookie Linda. I had to side line her into Ruby, because she still didn't quite know to stay on the trail. She had a bad habit of veering out to one side and getting warning kicks from Ruby. She was learning, it would just take more miles. After they were all set to go, I pulled Sheriff's cinch and strapped on my gun belt. I untied Sheriff, and then Sarah, tucked her lead rope into the ring on my back cinch, and quickly swung my leg over the saddle. Sheriff backed up a little in a circle as I pulled Sarah's lead rope clear of the ring. My saddle creaked a little as I settled in. Sheriff was already trying to race out of camp when I started the nearly empty string for home. I looked at my watch, 7:58. "Lets go home kids! Huuuup Mules!!!!!" The hoofbeats of the string quickly picked up in unison as we headed out of camp into the morning summer sun.