New Ranch Hand: book 2 of the triple R series

Chapter:4

I was out fixing fence. I had my tank top in my back pocket and I had on a Nike sports bra. When I got close to the creek I cooled off and got back to work.

Least I can't get into trouble out here. The bushes rustled. I stood up from the fence to see what it was. A cow came out of the brush. She kept going along until she was on the other side of the creek.

I went back to the hole in the fence. When I was done with it I saw she was calving. I got a little closer to see. It was a bull calf. I pulled my walkie talkie. "What was the head count this morning?" I whispered. I turned the sound down.
"Five hundred. Why?" Zach answered.
"Momma cow and bull calf right in front of me." I told him. I took a picture knowing that he'd know which cow it was.
"Hurry and get back to work Buck said he's coming out to check the work."

I put my shirt on and moved to the next hole. Least I won't get in trouble that way. I heard the ATV coming before I saw it. I finished the hole then stood up. The ATV came into view.

Buck got off and I went to meet him. I looked over where the cow was previously and she was gone with her calf. "Lose something?" I turned back to my boss. "Nope." I told him.

"Get back to work then. See you tonight." He got back on and took off. That shirt he had on was too tight. It showed his entire torso. I licked my lips.

This may be a fun job. I finished the rest of the fence quickly and went back up. I was hot and sweaty, I had found some blackberry bushes and had grape juice and some surejell to make jelly.

I got a shower because fixing fence was all I was supposed to do. I washed jars and boiled the water with them in it. Had to have hot jars. I started to jelly after laying out an old towel.

Once it was done I put it in jars and sealed it. I left it on the counter and went to check on my horse.

Bucky's POV
I walked out of the office and saw the flatbed was parked. She's already done? I saddled my horse and decided to go out to make sure we still have five hundred.

It's not calving season yet I don't think. My brother called me as I got to the herd. "Hey Ali saw a cow and calf earlier. They were over by the creek close to the fence. We may have cows that are calving early this year so we may have over five hundred by now."

Now I was going to pay close attention to the herd for calves. I recounted. "Five hundred and ten." Including going through and finding calves. Ten calves, nine heifer calves and one bull calf.

"Dang it girl was right the other day." I rode around the fence line. No holes at all. Least she's doing her job completely before quitting for the day. I rode over to her house. Her dog started barking.

I got off Copper and tied him to the fence. I pet her dog and he allowed me to. She came out in jean shorts and a tee shirt in boots.

Ali's POV
I walked over to where Buck was. Rusty was up on the fence wanting to be petted. "What time did you finish?" He asked. "About two thirty." I told him.

"So what did you do after you finished?" "Made jelly and I do plan on giving it to my boss." "What kind of jelly?" "Grape, blackberry and peach." "You had me at grape." He smirked.

Never knew he could. "So where exactly did you find the blackberries?" He asked. "Pasture." I told him. "Show me then because I don't believe you."

I walked over to the gate and went through it. Dusty was by the gate. I grabbed my hackamore and put it on him. Then got on him. "Are you coming?" I asked him. He looked at me weirdly.

"Come on it's a shortcut." I said pulling Dusty from the fence. He quickly untied his horse and mounted. I grabbed two buckets hanging and trotted over to a hidden gate.

I opened it up and walked Dusty through without getting off. I looked back and saw Buck following. He closed the gate behind him and trotted to catch up.

I trotted away from him with a smile playing on my lips. Dusty went into a canter. I giggled looking back. He was catching up. I got Dusty into a gallop easily.

I zig zagged through trees and saw the bushes. I jumped Dusty over brush and slowed him down. Buck came up next to me. I got off my horse and tied the reins to the head of the hackamore.

Dusty and Copper grazed while me and Buck picked blackberries. I put one in my mouth and sucked the juice out of it. Then I spit the seed out. This is going to be sweet jelly.

The ones at the top were the sweetest. Dusty came closer. I got up on his back. He shook his head and went back to grazing. I got onto my knees and reached them.

I almost had a full bucket. "How much do you have?" I asked Buck. "Almost half a bucket." "Switch me." He came around and got my bucket. It was just a standard three gallon bucket. "That's a lot of blackberries."

"Wanna help wash and flash freeze?" I asked. I got up on my feet on Dusty's back. "Careful Ali. I've fallen into a thorn bush doing that." I took his warning seriously and got back on my knees.