Peppermint Winter

Chapter 13

"Lexi, Lexi get up," I wake to someone tapping my shoulder.

"Just a few more minutes..." I reply groggily without opening my eyes.

"Hey, you're the one who wanted to train Pepper for showing in the first place. If you changed your mind than okay."

I'm suddenly wide awake, and I hop out of bed in my silky pj pants and a tank top.

"I haven't changed my mind." I push him out of my room and close the door on his back, not allowing him to respond.

I glance at my alarm clock, 5:04 AM. I groan, "it's so early,"

I slip on a pair of jeans and a cute T shirt, then put on my cowgirl boots.

When I open my door, Kayden is gone.

I walk downstairs and put on a coat before going outside.

The chilly air bites my cheeks, and the ground is covered in a deep layer of snow. The sun hasn't come up yet, but it's light enough I can see the whole property.

I trudge to the barn, and inside I find Kayden talking to Dart.

"Hey, so do you like Dart?"

"Yeah, he's got good conformation. He's a Missouri Fox Trotter, right?"

"Well of course." I state as if it were obvious.

"We better start working with Pepper. She's never been in a competition and first we need to get her used to noise."

"Weeeeell you're right about one thing, and wrong about the other. Pepper HAS been in a competition before, but yes we do need to get her used to noise."

"Wait, what?" He asks, confused.

I tell him the story, and then we walk to Pepper's stall.

I clip a lead to her halter and take her into the main isle of the barn, tying her up to a post.

We do a full grooming, and then tack her up western and I mount up.

I ride into our sheltered arena, and Kayden closes the gate.

"Okay, this morning I made a little course for her to get her used loud noises," Kayden explains.

"What time did you get up?"

"About 4," he replies.

I gape, "we're not going to get up this early Every morning are we?"

He chuckles, "you didn't get up early at all. And yes, if you want Pepper to be trained in time for the competition."

I sigh, listening to him explain the pattern of the pattern of the course.

Pepper does fine on the first part, but when Kayden plays a recording of a crowd cheering, she spooks just like she did in the barrel racing competition.

"Whoa Pepper," I say, patting her neck and trying to calm her.

"I just don't understand it. She did fine dragging noisy tin cans around, it's like she has this intense fear of crowds though." Kayden says, shaking his head.

"Maybe she does. We need to keep working on this."

---four days later---

"Ready?" I ask, turning to look at Kayden from atop Pepper.

He nods, and I motion for Tanner to pull the bar out from the gait. We don't have a chute with boxes on the sides like a real roping arena would have, so we're just using a corral and Tanner helped us build a holding stall for the calf. We are borrowing the calf from one of our neighbors.

Tanner slides the large bolt from the bracket, releasing the calf. It shoots out of the holding stall, and I swing my rope in a circular motion, before tossing it towards the calf.

The rope lands on the calf's back, before falling to the ground.

I groan, "Kayden, are you sure I can't just be the heeler? I can't seem to get it over his head."

"You wanted to do this in the first place, and besides, it's not like roping his legs will be any easier than his head."

"Fine, we'll try again." I pull Pepper back into place as Tanner comes out with a rope to catch the calf.

Once everything is set, Tanner pulls the bar out and the steer bolts again.

Kayden maneuvers the calf in my direction, and I swing the rope again.

This time, the rope lands over the steer'a horns, and I pull my lasso tight before wrapping it around the saddle horn.

I'm just so happy I actually roped him I almost forget what I'm supposed to do. I come back to reality and pull the calf to the left, giving Kayden the opportunity he needs.

Kayden masterfully tosses his rope around the calf's back legs, successfully roping both.

He does a dally and I turn Pepper towards him and the steer, backing her up so the calf I immobilized.

Tanner waves his make-shift flag and jogs up to the calf, releasing it.

"We did it! We actually did it!" I shout excitedly.

"We sure did. now we just need to get our time down. Tanner, do you think you could grab a stopwatch and clock us next time?" Kayden casually asks, Turning to my older brother. I think Tanner likes Kayden, or at least approves of him. They Seem to be getting along well.

"Yeah, I have one on my phone," he replies, digging through his pockets.

"You did good, Lexi, you just need to keep the steer in position. Let's try this again."

I am slightly disappointed that he doesn't seem happier with me. I though we did great. Whatever his reason though, we do need to improve. I know that the competition is going to be tough. And hey, maybe this is just his competitive side, and when it comes to roping, he's a bit of a perfectionist.

Tanner puts the calf in the holding stall, and We get into position.

"Here we go," I mumble, gripping the reins tighter.

Authors note
Hey guys :) sorry for the lame ending, and sorry for such a long chapter! It's another 1000 word chapter!!! Yeah I really need to start making my chapters all the same length... oh well. :) hope ur enjoying the book! And not worry, I have surprises hidden all throughout this book. ;) and btw, plz comment! If u have any ideas or want anything in particular to happen in this book, LET ME KNOW! :) thanks for reading