Homecoming (Sequel)

III. Ghost of Rodeoʼs Past

The weather became less agreeable after I returned the cow to her bovine friends and we continued to travel further down into Wyoming, the entire journey from the south border of Big Horn County to Washakie County was one massive blur of heat and heat waves. The dust was pelted from the ground by the fifty cows we pushed forward along the trail with the occasional 'heyʼ or whistle and as it stuck to our faces, everything else did too. My hair was stuck to the back of my neck and I had ripped the buttons of my newly-cut-off blouse open furiously, anything to reduce the heat. The males in my company werenʼt doing much better. Joe had decided to take off the top half half of his wardrobe entirely, leaving him to muster cattle whilst showing his muscly pecks. I caught my uncle huffing wildly, as if he had just run a long sprint, and Nate, whilst being quite, he had sweat dripping along the sharp contours of his cheeks and jaw.

Though, according to Uncle Niallʼs outstanding navigational skills, we werenʼt far off from water. Which was a god-sent, since all of our water bottles had been standing on their last legs for a few hours. We had been on strict- ration-plan since 3 oʼclock this afternoon. If the heat wasnʼt about to kill me, dehydration would. Not to mention, the cattle would be dropping dead like a twentieth-century rendition of the Plagues of Egypt.

"Guys, I think weʼre ganninʼ be greeted by Saint Peter real soon," Uncle Niall mused. He gestured ahead of him with a nod of his head, towards a sight that had everyoneʼs tongues hanging out of their mouths. Up ahead, there was a small creek, streaming wildly with the small amount of water it was still allowed to carry in this drought.

"Hallelujah!" Joe exclaimed loudly, resulting in giving the cows near him and Willow a right case of the creeps.

"Howay man," I chuckled. "Youʼre ganninʼ scare off Hades himself if ya keep shoutinʼ like that."

He childishly poked his tongue out at me and I reciprocated, to my uncleʼs amusement. I saw his lips form in a lazy smile while he shook his head, urging Rocket behind the cows to drive up the rear end. We drove the fifty hormonal animals onward over the stock route, towards the creek that, in our minds, was an oasis. In the light of the setting sun, it looked like a gift from the gods.

"Okay, lads, hold them back for a second," Uncle Niall obeyed when we reached the water bedding. "Di, Joe, to the front. Nate, circle around the back."

Joe and I trotted to the front of the herd to stop the cows from thundering into the water, and Nate, as a beacon of authority, kept them from turning back to where we had come from. Uncle Niall dismounted his trusty palomino and kneeled down alongside the edge of the creek. His doe eyes, that were almost identical to my mamʼs, observed the calmly cobbling water. Years of experience raced through the wires of his brain to assess the quality of the water. With this drought, water could easily be contaminated, just by the changing quality of the soil.

"Well, the water isnʼt blue and I cannae spot any obvious algae, so I guess itʼs alreet to drink."  He stood up and swiftly lifted himself back on top of Rocket. "Letʼs pour these lasses somethinʼ to drink, shall we?"

Joe and I switched onto automatic pilot and steered our horses back to the rear end of the herd. Uncle Niall yelled directions above the hooves thundering onto the dry soil, but it was redundant. Mustering cattle was like breathing for us, it came naturally. Once one cow caught sight of this rare aqua and started slurping loudly, soon enough, all fifty of them had their heads down into the U-bedding of the creek. I trotted towards towards my uncle on the left end of the long line.

"Are we ganninʼ set up camp here, Zio?"

"Wey-aye," he breathed softly. "I divvinʼ think ridinʼ further in this heat will do them and wuh any good. At least now we have some water, and we all need to recharge and drink before one collapses with sun stroke."