The Oregon trail

Judgment day

Alex's P.O.V

I breathed in deeply trying to calm my frantic nerves. Red shifted restlessly beneath me as I tried to get a grip on myself. My nerves were not only affecting me, but him as well.

The grass was still damp with moisture, the dew glinting in the sunlight as the sun rise in the horizon. The rough juke rope was a familiar feeling in my hand as I waited for my moment. The fibres rubbing against my worn hands. I'd grown up roping beef, I knew how to do it. So did Red who was buzzing at the prospect of a chase.

He grumbled impatiently, snorting in anticipation. "Any second now boy," I murmured giving him a scratch. His muscles were tensed ready to spring into action at any given moment, "Easy," I whispered, "Not yet,".

I could feel the eyes of The Virginian, Trampus, and all the other ranch hands burning holes in the back of my head. Even the men on the other side of the prairie seemed to be scrutinising my every move. It was nerve racking at the very least.

This was my one and only chance to prove to them that I was good enough to be apart of their elite team of cow punchers. I soon found out through Steve, one of the men I had met in town, in the barn, that they didn't just employ anyone, everyone had to go through a trial and if you didn't make it... Tough bickies.

Steve was one of the youngest people working at Shiloh, barely a day over 20. The older workers made sure he knew it too, every day he tried to prove himself, it wasn't until he broke in a wild bronco did he finally earn their respect. He was just a few years older than me, so I couldn't begin to imagine how I'd be treated if I managed to get employed. Being the rookie and all always came with a lot of stick.

"See that Jersey calf?" The Virginian pointed out, I followed his gaze. It couldn't have been more than a month old. He couldn't be serious, even Kane could rope him. It was that small it wasn't funny.

"Yea," I replied, this was going to be a lot easier than I thought, especially if the trial was catching that little calf. Arrogance was practically radiating off me. This was going to be a piece of cake.

"I want you to rope that big Hereford bull behind it,".

In my haste to get this over and done with I'd some how managed to miss the biggest bull grazing on the plane. He was obviously one of their stud sires, he had a great bone structure easily weighing in at 1300 pounds. I must have pulled a face as Trampus and the rest of the Cowboys laughed at me.

I chewed my bottom lip in thought, I'd wrangled bigger beasts then him. Red was proof of that. I clicked my tongue and Red began trotting down the hill towards the pasture. My pride was getting the better of me, no one laughs at Alex Sherwood.

Keeping the end of the rope lose in my hand holding the reigns, I tightened my grip on the coils hanging by my side. This was just another bull, just like the ones at home. Red snorted softly as if saying 'Only bigger,' .

'I know bud,'.

Slowly we made our way down into the herd of grazing cattle. "Woah," I hummed to soothe any restless mothers. To them humans were another threat to their calves. It was important to make yourself seem as non-threatening as possible, which was a little hard considering I towered over them on Red's back. He was a big horse so it was essential that I used a soft voice with them, kept my shoulders back, and didn't make any sudden movements that could be seen as an attack.