Alma's Mail Order Husband (Texas Brides Book 1) (14 page)

Just then, an exceptionally shrill whistle
along with a shout echoed up from the bottom of the hill. Alma
snapped out of her reverie to see Allegra waving her hat over her
head and calling up to them. They couldn’t make out her words at
that distance.

But Amelia understood. “That’s it. That’s the
signal. Let’s go.” She spurred her horse forward and charged down
the hill.

Jude stretched out his legs to follow her,
but Alma caught him by the sleeve. “This way. Allegra’s coming from
behind, and Amelia’s going to the right. Come with me to the left,
and we’ll drive him into the box.”

“The box?” Jude asked. “What’s that?”

“There.” Alma pointed down to the bottom of
the hill, to a large rock near the gulley leading toward the river.
“That’s what we call the box.”

“What is it?” Jude asked.

“It’s a false canyon,” Alma replied. “It
looks like a canyon or a gulley running down to the river, and the
cattle go into it thinking they can get away from us. Then it
closes off, and they get trapped. That’s the way we cut cattle from
the herd. They fall for it every time.”

Jude grinned. “Sneaky. You and your sisters
really have thought of everything, haven’t you?”

Alma laughed. “When you’ve worked a ranch as
long as we have, you get to know all the little secret ways that
make it work.”

“I know that,” Jude replied. “I guess I
should have listened to you from the beginning. I was stupid to
think I could just waltz in and start telling you how to do things.
I guess I just thought a bunch of women couldn’t possibly know how
to run a cattle ranch. I didn’t know you would all be as good as
you are. I should have listened to you. I won’t make that mistake
again.”

Alma laughed again, but tears welled up in
her eyes. “Forget about it. You didn’t know, and it was a natural
reaction to being in a new place with new people. None of us will
hold it against you. Now, come on. They’ll be counting on us to cut
off his last avenue of escape.” Alma spurred her horse, and they
rocketed away together down the hill.

Halfway down, Alma veered off the trail and
broke through the scrubby bushes. Jude followed right on her heels,
matching her move for move. Near the bottom of the hill, Alma burst
back through the line of cover into the open, just in time to head
off the steer.

The big animal wheeled away when he saw the
two riders heading toward him. He jumped first to his left, only to
find Allegra behind him. Then he tried to retreat the way he came,
but found the way blocked by Amelia. He lowered his head as though
he’d like to charge, but at the last moment, he changed his mind
and ran to his right, straight into the chute the sisters intended
him to enter.

As soon as his tail disappeared into the box,
the three sisters kicked their horses forward to close the steer
into his natural pen. Jude and Alma went in first. Then came
Amelia, with Allegra bringing up the rear, smiling happily at
them.

Once inside the canyon, they slowed to a
trot, letting the steer box himself in at the end of it. They
didn’t see him beyond the twists and turns between the steep walls
of the canyon, but pretty soon, the walls opened out into a natural
enclosure.

There stood the steer, neatly boxed in on all
sides. He loped around the enclosed space, tossing his head and
snorting at the four riders lining up across the only available
line of escape. Jude, Alma, and her sisters stopped with the horses
shoulder to shoulder across the canyon as the steer sized them up
and evaluated his options.

In the end, he stopped in the middle of the
enclosure, rolling his eyes in defiance and bellowing.

“You take him, Jude,” Allegra said.

“No way!” Jude shot back. “I wouldn’t dream
of taking him, not after all your hard work getting him in here.
He’s yours.”

“Let’s do it together,” Allegra suggested.
“That way, we’ll be sure to get him without too much fuss.”

“All right,” Jude agreed. “You take the right
and I’ll take the left. We can’t miss him when he’s standing still
like that.”

Jude and Allegra each untied the lariats from
their saddles and uncoiled their long loops of rope. First Allegra,
then Jude, began slowly swinging the wide circles of rope above
their heads. The lassoes sailed through the air almost of their own
accord.

With one swift flick of her wrist, Allegra
sent her lasso flying toward the steer. He tossed his head and
leapt to one side, but too late. The great circle of rope fell
around his horns, and when he jumped sideways, Allegra pulled the
rope tight. When the steer tossed his head, he jerked the noose
tight and found himself caught fast.

Then Jude let his lasso go. This time, when
the ring fell over the steer’s head and he jerked away, Allegra
backed her horse up a few steps. Her rope pulled taut, holding the
steer motionless as Jude’s noose fell into place around the
animal’s horns. Jude pulled back on his own reins to back up his
horse. His own rope jerked tight, and the steer could move no
further. Jude and Allegra tied their ropes around their saddle
horns, and their horses stood still.

Alma laughed out loud at their triumph, and
Amelia let out a loud whoop. Allegra tossed her head back with an
elated smile up to the sky. But the noise of Amelia’s shout
startled the steer. He tugged on the ropes one last time. The
strength of that desperate tug caught Jude’s horse by surprise, and
he lost his footing in the powdery soil of the canyon floor.

Sensing some weakness among his captors, the
steer tossed his head again and succeeded in pulling Jude’s horse
even further off balance. A terrible tug-of-war followed between
the steer and the horse. With every success by the steer, the horse
became more frightened and unsteady, no matter how Jude held back
on the reins or tried to calm him with his voice.

At last, with one final effort, the steer
reared onto his back legs and the horse toppled. Jude called out
one alarmed, “Whoa!” but the horse didn’t hear him. The animal let
out a terrified scream as it tried to rear back in response.

Alma watched the scene unfold with
excruciating slowness. Jude glanced wildly from one side to the
other as his horse teetered and fell with the rope still tying him
to the steer’s horns. Jude must have seen the outcome approaching
in slow motion, as well. At the last possible moment, he jumped
free from his saddle. He landed on his side and rolled on the
ground in a cloud of dust.

The horse, on the other hand, crumpled with
his legs underneath him. When he hit the ground, he let out another
ear-splitting shriek that sent shivers up Alma’s spine. The horse
thrashed helplessly, tangling himself up in the rope still hooked
around the steer’s horns. With every kick of his legs, he only
succeeded in tying himself up more firmly than before.

The steer pressed his advantage by yanking
the rope tighter on his end. The horse screamed until it was
utterly exhausted. Only after he lay still with his tongue lolling
out of the side of his mouth did the dust settle enough for Alma to
see that his hind leg was broken.

“Well, that’s the end of that horse,” Jude
remarked. “I hate to see him go, ‘cuz he’s a good horse and he
knows his business. But that leg is ruined. I can see it sticking
out from here.”

“What do you want to do?” Alma asked.

“There’s nothing to do,” Jude replied. “I’ll
have to put him down.”

“We’ll tie up the steer,” Allegra put in. “We
can leave him in here until we’re ready to take him back to the
house. Then we can take the rest of the herd down to the river for
their morning drink. We shouldn’t leave that too late. They’re used
to watering before it gets too hot.”

“We can’t leave the steer in here,” Jude
pointed out. “There’s nowhere to tie him, and I won’t be much good
to you herding the cattle without a horse. I’ll take the steer back
to the house.”

“How are you going to take him?” Amelia
asked. “Are you going to walk the whole way? That could take all
day. We’d meet you on the way when we came home this evening.”

“I’ll walk it,” Jude replied. “You three need
to take the cattle to the river. There’s no two ways about that,
and I don’t have a horse. There’s also nowhere else to tie up the
steer out on the range without him standing out in the sun all day.
He has to go back to the house now, and I’m the only one who can
take him. Now stop arguing, and get out there to your herd.”

The three sisters looked at each other.

“He’s right, you know,” Allegra told them. “I
hate to admit it, but he’s right.”

“You hate to admit it?” Jude laughed.

“Okay. I don’t hate to admit it. But you’re
right. We’ll do it your way.” Allegra turned to Alma. “Let’s
go.”

“What are you going to do about your horse?”
Alma asked.

“I’ll take care of him,” Jude replied. “He’s
mine. I owe him that much. I’ll take care of him and then I’ll walk
the steer back to the house.”

“Are you sure you can handle him on your
own?” she asked. “He might try something on you.”

“I don’t think so,” Jude replied. “I’ve seen
big brutes like this before. When they’re facing a horse and rider,
they’re demons. When they’re facing a man on foot, they turn into
pussycats. He’ll follow me.”

“You call out to us if you need help,” Alma
told him. “We’ll hear you and come lend you a hand.”

“I’ll be fine,” Jude assured them. “Now stop
stalling and get out there. Your herd comes first. I can handle
myself in here. I’ll see you back at the house or somewhere in
between later in the day. Now go!”

The three sisters glanced at each other one
last time. Then Amelia and Allegra turned their horses around and
galloped out of the canyon to their waiting cattle.

Alma hesitated. “I don’t like leaving you
alone like this. You could get hurt and there would be no one to
help you. That steer could turn vicious and trample you to
death.”

“Well, then,” Jude replied. “I reckon you
could get yourself another mail-order husband.”

“I don’t want another one,” Alma shot back.
“I want you.”

Jude raised his eyes from his stricken horse
and smiled at her. “Don’t worry about me. I’ll be okay. Now get out
of here. You’re a cattle puncher, and you have a job to do. I have
a job to do, too, so leave me to it. I’ll call you if I need
help.”

Alma fixed him with her eyes one more time,
and then she tugged on her reins to turn her horse back toward the
plain. She called out to her horse and cantered after her
sisters.

At the entrance of the canyon, she saw her
sisters fanning out across the plain, driving the cattle toward the
gulley leading to the river. She fell into her usual place, racing
alongside the lumbering cattle and waving her hat over her head to
keep them moving.

The thunder of a thousand hooves reverberated
off the hills and heights around the range land, and the herd shot
into the gulley. Alma reined in her horse, letting the cattle
stream past her. One beast followed the one in front of it, and the
last swishing tails vanished into the gulley. Amelia and Allegra
pulled up next to her.

In the sudden silence, a gun shot rang out
across the landscape. Alma spun around in her saddle, although
there was nothing to see. But the next minute, a small figure
emerged from the canyon, leading a steer on a rope.

Allegra laughed. “I guess he knows his
business. That steer is following him like a puppy.”

“We should have known to trust him,” Amelia
remarked. “We shouldn’t have doubted him.”

“Come on up to the top of the hill, you
girls,” Alma told them. “You stay up there and guard the cattle.
I’m going to walk back with him.”

“You just can’t leave him alone, can you?”
Allegra teased.

Alma didn’t take the bait. “If you had a
husband, you would know how it is. I’m worried about him taking
that steer all the way home by himself. The steer might be a puppy
dog now, but all he has to do is try to get away, and he could
crush Jude like a bug. You both know this yourselves.”

“All right,” Amelia agreed. “We don’t need
you here. We can guard the herd ourselves.”

“Just be careful,” Allegra added. “I don’t
know about you, but those things Papa told us about Jude have got
me thinking.”

“Don’t tell me you believe Papa’s
accusations,” Alma shot back. “You know Papa’s not in his right
mind half the time. He got that idea about Jude from somewhere, but
there’s no basis for it. You know how Papa is.”

“You have to admit, Alma,” Amelia put in.
“Papa wouldn’t go after Jude like this if he doesn’t have some
reason to believe it. He won’t tell us what it is, but he must have
his reasons.”

“He could have imagined the whole thing, for
all we know,” Alma reminded them. “Jude told me himself he was too
young to be in the war. He wasn’t even born when Papa fought the
Battle of Little Crooked Ridge. All Jude has to do is tell Papa
that, and we can put this whole misunderstanding behind us.”

“Then why doesn’t he tell him?” Amelia asked.
“Does he have some reason to keep it to himself?”

Alma’s eyes flew open. “I can’t believe I’m
hearing this! I thought you two were starting to come around to
liking Jude. Now you’re backing up Papa.”

“It isn’t anything to do with liking Jude,”
Allegra replied. “I could like him ‘til the cows come home. But you
have to admit that Papa is right. We have only Jude’s word for
where he comes from and what he’s done. He could have made up any
old thing to put in his letters to you.”

“I don’t believe this!” Alma cried. “And here
I was telling Jude he could count on you two for support. I should
have known you would stand with Papa against us.”

“We aren’t standing with anyone against
anyone,” Amelia told her. “We’re just pointing out that Papa has a
point. You have to admit that.”