Ranch Hand

Thunder and Lightning

The cowboys were traversing the far pastures, and Harry was mulling over the remark Johnny had made at the rodeo. Still. It had been on his mind ever since. Harry found himself wondering if Johnny had blundered when he'd said Louis was jealous of Harry talking with or paying attention to the others at the rodeo. Or had it just been an honest mistake? That was completely possible. Harry was dying to know.

Everyone was discussing the plans to start painting next week, but Harry couldn't stop thinking about the conversation and how Johnny had referred to him directly, and then had quickly corrected himself.

In the distance, the skies looked ominous, and distant thunder could be heard. Niall sat up straight in his saddle, honing in on the clouds.

"Looks like a storm's comin,'" he remarked.

"Yeah, I've been keepin' me eye on it, and it looks like it might be a bad one. It's gonna hit soon. Why don't you guys all go back to the ranch? I want to take one last look around this area for that cow that's ready to calve." Louis was obstinate about this kind of thing, and he wasn't ready to give up yet, even though they'd been looking for the cow for some time already.

Johnny knew how willful Louis could be, so he didn't argue.

"Alright, we'll go. But you shouldn't stay out here alone. One of us needs to stay with you."

Harry startled himself by speaking up without even being aware he was going to. The words just scrambled out of his mouth without any prior notice.

"I'll stay with him. I need to learn these things anyway." Now, why had he said that? It was completely true that he needed more experience, but he really needed to stop these verbal slip-ups, he thought to himself. It wasn't his place, anyway. He was stepping out of line.

Harry thought he saw a slight grin on Johnny's face. Or maybe not. Was his mind playing tricks on him?

Louis looked a little put out. "Johnny, you have more experience," he said rather sternly.

"Yeah, and I'm gettin' long in the tooth too. These youngin's are stronger and have more grit. Let Harry stay. Come on, guys," and he waved Nick, Niall and Leo toward the ranch. He made sure they moved out quickly too, so that Louis had no chance to object.

Harry and Louis just stared stupidly at each other. No way was Louis going to gallop after Johnny and the others, because within seconds all that could be seen was the cloud of dust they'd kicked up. Damn that Johnny!

"Well shit," Louis mumbled.

"Would you rather one of the others stayed?" Now Harry was regretting opening his big mouth.

"Nah, nah. I'm jus' wantin' to find that fuckin' cow before the storm hits, and we don't have much time." Well, that made Harry feel a little bit better, even though he was pretty sure Louis was upset partly because he was the one left behind to help. Well, he'd do whatever it took to be as useful as possible.

Louis was quaking in his saddle. Now why had Johnny gone and done that? Whisked the others away, making the decision on his own that Harry would stay, without even consulting Louis about it?

It pissed him off. Johnny might be the foreman, but Louis was the owner of the ranch. And besides, that kind of behavior was not typical for Johnny.

Anyway, no time to twiddle his thumbs and solve mysteries. They needed to locate the cow so she could be brought in. Louis would normally leave her out here, but this cow had had a difficult birth last time, and now the weather was threatening to soak the calf, and if it were to get badly chilled, it might be lost.