Tag: grass-fields

He Rode Tall

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excerpt

Trying to remember everything that Tanya had taught him
about reining in the last two months, Joel quietly walked the big
buckskin into the arena and took his position just outside of the
end gate. After nodding to the judge, he began his run into the
show pen. He could not remember feeling so nervous, but he
knew that he couldn’t let that get in his way. He needed to focus
on everything that Tanya had taught him. Sure, he wasn’t on a
100,000-dollar horse and, sure, he wasn’t accompanied by his
own cheering section, but he had a good horse and had worked
hard to learn everything he could. He had put a lot of miles on the
buckskin, not only in the training arena, but also out in the
wide-open spaces, and if anyone was going to get a great performance
out of this horse, Joel knew that would be him. Besides, if
they were going to take full advantage of the quality breeding in
their horses, it would sure help to get a few nice wins on the
three-year-olds—the buckskin and the palomino had shown
them enough to earn the right to be there.
Leaving these thoughts behind, Joel ran the buckskin through
the gate and accelerated into the middle of the arena. With an
incredible blast of raw acceleration and a long run down, the
buckskin executed an awesome sliding stop that went on so far
that it looked like the horse was gliding on Teflon. Once the
buckskin came to a stop, Joel reined the horse to the left, ran him
back down the arena, and executed another excellent sliding
stop, which hurled dirt into the faces of the crowd standing at the
fence. Joel rolled the horse back to the right, quickly moving him
at a gallop past center, and then cued him to stop. This third sliding
stop was immediately followed by a quick reverse to center
with the horse backing effortlessly.
Joel and the buckskin had everyone’s attention—the buzz of
the crowd had quieted and all eyes focused on the horse and rider.
At the center of the arena, Joel waited for a few seconds to allow
the buckskin to rest and Joel to calm himself. Then, with a gentle
shift of the reins, Joel asked for the gelding to spin. With a burst of
energy, the buckskin executed four spins to the right

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Still Waters

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In the nursery, Tyne watched as Miss Pomeroy, the supervising
nurse, cleansed the baby’s tender skin with cotton soaked in mineral
oil. Then she combed the dark mass of hair into a cock’s comb on
top of the rounded head. There was little moulding of the skull because
Jeannette had had a fairly rapid labour, especially during the
last stages. Tyne had received permission to come into the nursery
while the baby was being admitted, but she was surprised when the
supervisor turned to her and told her she may diaper and dress her
little namesake.
“And then,” said Miss Pomeroy, “Daddy’s waiting at the window.
Would you like to show him his daughter?”
Tyne carried her charge to the viewing window and smiled at a
beaming Guy. His eyes were fixed firmly on his daughter, the look
on his face a mixture of amazement and pride. Finally, he looked up
and, realizing for the first time who held his child, his eyes widened
and he grinned broadly. Then he waggled his fingers at the sleeping
baby, and reluctantly turned away.
Tyne carried the infant to her waiting bassinette and laid her in it
carefully. She was pulling the cover up when a voice behind her said,
“Don’t cover it yet. I’d like to examine it before I go.”
Tyne swung around, and came face to face with Bryce Baldwin.
She felt the blood drain from her head, then return in a rush. Her
pulse raced. He gave her an appraising look, then turned his attention
to the baby. As he unwrapped the child, he spoke to Tyne without
looking at her.
“So, Miss Milligan, I understand you are now a full-fledged nurse.
Was this your last day?”
Tyne took a deep breath. “Yes, it was. Too bad Carol Ann Shaughnessy
couldn’t have had the same privilege. This should have been
her last day as well.”
Tyne saw him tense. After a moment he said, “Where is Miss
Shaughnessy? I haven’t seen her for a while.”
“Oh? You haven’t heard then?” Tyne used her sweetest tone.
Dr. Baldwin turned to look at her. His face had paled. “Heard what?”
Tyne smiled, in no hurry to answer. Doesn’t he know she aborted?
Does he still think she’s having the baby? Does he think she had to leave

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Water in the Wilderness

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She sat down on the sofa and stretched her legs out in front of her. Actually, it did feel good to rest. She had been a little tired and weary in the last few weeks, but she knew it was only because her body was going through hormonal changes. Dr. Rosthern had pronounced her perfectly healthy.
Stifling a yawn, she glanced at her husband. “What did your mom say when you told her we won’t be with them for Christmas dinner? Was she very disappointed?”
Morley looked up. “She said she understands, and she figured we’d be going to your folks this year. And Mom and Dad won’t be alone all day. Aunt Peg and her two daughters will be there for dinner.”
“And we’ll go over in the evening after you’ve done the milking?”
“Of course we will, hon. I told Mom that, and she’s okay with it.”
Tyne yawned again, then getting to her feet, she went to stand behind Morley and wrapped her arms around his shoulders. “And you, my dear husband, will be taking me Christmas shopping in Medicine Hat tomorrow, won’t you?”
He tipped his head back to look at her. “Whatever happened to shopping from Eaton’s catalogue like my mom used to do?”
Tyne wrinkled her nose. “In case you haven’t noticed, we’re past the middle of the twentieth century. Besides that, I love the excitement of Christmas shopping in the city, the store windows all decorated, and Santa ringing his bell beside the Salvation Army kettle on the sidewalk.”
His eyes were full of laughter. “I hope you’re not disappointed then. We’re going to Medicine Hat, not Calgary.”
“Same thing – you’ll see.” Tyne bent her head to kiss him lightly on the forehead. “Now I must get my beauty sleep if I’m going to be at my shopping best tomorrow. Don’t be long, dear. Let’s finish the tree tomorrow night.”
Morley smiled as his eyes followed her progress up the stairs.
The town of Medicine Hat almost lived up to Tyne’s expectations. The windows were decorated, carols were playing in the stores as well as on the sidewalks, and a fresh fall of snow during the night had left

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He Rode Tall

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Excerpt

“Well,” Tanya said, “you certainly have as nice a string of horses
as I have ever seen. You have a dozen good horses here that are
better than all the horses I have ridden in my entire life. What are
you going to do with them?”
“What do you mean?” Joel asked.
“Well, the word around the rodeo grounds is that, with you
running the Circle H, it isn’t going to be as easy as it has in the
past for a cowboy or horse trainer to pick up a CircleHhorse. You
know, a lot of those cowboys came to depend on your dad for
quality horses at a cheap price. I used to hear them say that they
were only afraid of one thing—that your dad would leave the
ranch one day and discover what other people were selling their
horses for. I heard that there are a couple of trainers that aren’t
too pleased with you, Joel.”
“Well, news certainly does travel fast in these hills, doesn’t it?”
“So what are you going to do?” Tanya pressed.
“I am not sure. After the success of selling the old blonde mare,
I started to figure out that I have some pretty sought-after stock
here. I am just trying to figure out what would work best. Do you
know Cindy at the auction yard? We had lunch a week or so ago
and she was saying that she might be able to interest her boss,
Roy, in doing a special sale right out here at the ranch. I don’t
know about that, but, with these horses coming along the way
they are and the end of summer around the corner, I guess I
better figure out what would work best. What would you do if
these were your horses?”
“The first thing I would do is pinch myself to make sure that I
am not dreaming. Just about any horse is beautiful to me, but
these are special animals. And if everything I hear about their
breeding is true, this may be the finest band of horses in this part
of the country. Is it true? Are the mares all daughters or granddaughters
of Doc Bar? Is your stud an own son of Topsail Cody?
That would be really incredible!”
“Incredible it is. Yes, that is exactly what we have. There is
only the one old mare that is left that is a daughter of Doc Bar

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Water in the Wilderness

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“But where would they go, otherwise?” Millie said. “There doesn’t appear to be much choice, does there? Corky, as nice a guy as he is when he’s sober, certainly isn’t a fit parent.”
When Tyne didn’t answer, Millie pulled herself erect and stared at her. “You’re not thinking you should … that you could …? Tyne?”
Tyne looked down and began to move her coffee mug in circles on the table. “Yes, Aunt Millie, we have talked about fostering the children. Would that be so bad?”
Millie reached to cover Tyne’s hand, stopping its circular motion. Tyne looked up.
“Goodness no, child, it isn’t wrong to want to do that. In fact, it would be really kind of you and Morley to take the children in. But are you ready for that? Have you thought of the commitment it would take to raise two young ones? And you’re just starting out in your marriage.”
“I know … I know what you mean, Auntie. It would be a big decision, but we’ve grown to love Rachael and Bobby. Neither one of us can stand the thought of them being neglected like Ruby’s kids are.” And she went on to tell her aunt some of the ways the children had endeared themselves during the time they had lived on the farm.
When they got up from the table to start the dinner, they were both laughing through their tears. Tyne carried their mugs to the sink, saying as she went, “It may be a moot point, anyway. We can’t make any plans until we know Corky’s wishes. But he’s a reasonable kind of guy when he’s sober; the trick will be in catching him when he is sober, and talking to him.”
Millie put an arm around Tyne’s shoulders. “Leave it in God’s hands, dear, and seek his will. Remember, all things work together for good to those who love him.”
Tyne smiled and covered her aunt’s hand with her own. “Yes, Auntie, I know that even though it’s a hard lesson to learn sometimes.” She turned and kissed Millie’s smooth cheek. “Thanks for being here for me like always. I love you.”
As they set to work to prepare the noon meal, Tyne’s heart felt lighter than it had for days.

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Water in the Wilderness

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Auntie Tyne had brushed her long blonde hair and pulled it into a cute pony tail before they set off for the Harrisons’ house. Rachael had felt like a princess. She hadn’t wanted to take her skirt and blouse and sweater off, so had kept them on for the rest of the day, and at bedtime she’d looked for a place to hang them. Her cousins had peeled off their own clothes and dropped them into a heap on the floor.
When Rachael couldn’t find a spare wire hanger in the small clothes cupboard, she had laid her new garments carefully over the back of the one chair in the room. But Lyssa had immediately swept them off onto the floor, and as much as Rachael wanted to pick them up, she resisted when she saw the ‘I dare you’ look on the nine-year-old’s face.
Rachael’s stomach growled. In the stillness it sounded to her ears like the rumble of the freight trains that passed through Emblem several times throughout the day and night. It growled a second time, and Rachael clutched her abdomen with both hands in an effort to keep it quiet. She didn’t want to wake Lyssa and Lark – they would start pushing her again. She wished she could have slept on a cot like Bobby was allowed to do in the boys’ bedroom. But the girls’ had a bigger bed, so she had been told to sleep with them.
Her stomach would not stop grumbling, and now the hunger pangs made her wince. Rachael was no stranger to hunger. Sometimes, at home, Mommy had not had money to buy enough food for them. It wasn’t their mom’s fault, though. Rachael had seen her go without a meal so that she and Bobby could eat what little there was.
At the farm she and Bobby were never hungry. There had been lots of food on the table, and Auntie Tyne and Uncle Morley had made sure to fill up both her plate and Bobby’s at every meal. The food was good, too, always with generous helpings of the vegetables that Uncle Morley brought in fresh from his garden every day. Just thinking about it made her hunger pangs worse. She’d better think of something else.
But Rachael could not keep her mind off her empty stomach, and she thought about the big breakfast Auntie Tyne had cooked for them before they left for the Harrisons’ house that morning.

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He Rode Tall

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He’s probably just starting out, Joel thought. He guessed that
the doctor was a city person who was using the small community
to get started in the profession, with the intentions of moving to a
bigger city when he had more experience and had paid off some of
his debts from school.
After a brief explanation of the accident he had in the pasture
with the big buckskin, the doctor told him to take off his boot, his
sock, and roll up the leg of his Wranglers. As he leaned forward to
get a closer look, the young doctor asked, “Related to Edward
Hooper?”
“Yes I am. He was my father.”
“Thought so,” the doctor replied as he continued to poke and
prod at the ankle. Joel wasn’t sure if the young doctor was really
examining him or just buying time to think of what to say next.
“Well, Mr. Hooper, it looks like your ankle is on the way to a full
recovery. From what I can tell, nothing is broken. A few more
days and you should be back in the saddle again. How’s the
pain?”
Joel was surprised to hear himself replying, “Not bad.” In fact,
his ankle was hurting like hell.
The doctor, having treated his share of cowboys in his short
career since graduating from medical school, quickly translated
“not bad” to mean “it is hurting like heck, but I’ll be darned if I
admit it to you,” and offered Joel a sample box of Tylenol 3s, “just
in case it hurts you might want to take a few of these.”
With that, the doctor turned to the door, “Have a good day,
Mr. Hooper.”
“Thank you, Doctor. How did you know my father?”
“Mr. Hooper, you might not be aware of it, but not only have
you just been attended to by a doctor but also by the Montana
State Team Roping Champion. Two years in a row now since
coming back home from medical school in Seattle. When I was a
kid here, I did pretty fair at the high school rodeos as well. I roped
off a horse your dad sold me. Even back when I was a kid, my
father always said that there was only one place to go …

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He Rode Tall

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brush not ten feet beside him. In an instant, he realized that,
with the wind blowing away from them, the deer didn’t hear or
smell the horse and rider headed their direction. No sooner had
the deer fled in a scurry of dirt and brush than the buckskin
jumped, nearly out of his skin. One moment Joel was sitting solidly
on the back of the buckskin and the next they were both ten
feet to the right, with Joel experiencing a launch akin to take-off
on a NASA space mission.
With a power that he could hardly imagine possible, the young
horse had rocketed forward, leaving Joel behind. In actual fact, it
would have been better if he did get left behind, but Joel’s left boot
stuck in the stirrup. And with the force of the jump, his boot had
slipped through the stirrup. Now he was being dragged at breakneck
speed across the rock-strewn hillside. His foot was supposed
to slip out of the boot and free him from danger but what
was supposed to happen just didn’t.
Spooked by the deer, the buckskin gelding blasted up and out
of the coulee, racing to the barn. Joel knew that this couldn’t last
for long. There were just too many boulders between there and
the barn, and the odds that he would hit at least one were pretty
good unless he did something in a hurry as he bounced along on
his back, dragged by the horse and only inches from the pounding
hooves. In a flash, Joel imagined his exposed cranium hitting a
granite boulder at twenty-five miles per hour. With one cry he
asked, pleaded, begged, and commanded the horse to stop with a
desperate “Whoa!”
As a boy, his dad had told Joel that anyone could stop a horse,
sooner or later, by pulling back on the reins, but his dad showed
him an unusual technique—dropping the reins to the horse’s
neck and asking it to whoa. Right here, right now, he was glad
that he had worked so hard with the gelding on exactly this
maneuver. But practicing in the round pen and the arena was one
thing; Joel was about to discover how effective his training would
be in the wide-open space of the pasture.

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He Rode Tall

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But Joel had a feeling that even that would be considered a
steal, and if he had agreed, those two would be in a bar before the
end of the day sucking back beer and chirping about how they
took the dude out at Circle H for a ride.
Since he had the briefcase open, Joel thought that now was as
good a time as any to take a closer look at the parentage of his
livestock. After separating out the remaining older mares, he lay
all of their registration papers from the American Quarter Horse
Association in front of him on the kitchen table. Although he
didn’t know it, he was looking at the living history of some of the
greatest breeding ever.
Just like the old mare that he had just sold, the other matriarch
of the remuda was also a daughter of the legendary Doc Bar out of
a Peppy San mare called Peppy Jane. Her own name was Doc’s
Peppy Jane, confirming the identity of the other older mare.
If that kind of breeding was so valuable in a twenty-one-year-old
mare then the daughters had to be equally valuable. Especially if
they were young enough to still be putting colts on the ground.
And as he scanned the papers, that is exactly what he saw. Absolutely
every one of the other ten mares in the remuda were daughters
of either of the original Doc Bar mares that his dad had
brought up from Denver. With only ten mares besides the other
own daughter of Doc Bar, Joel’s guess would be that his dad had
chosen to keep just the absolute best fillies to include in the
broodmare band.
After clearing the table of the registration papers for the
broodmares, he turned his attention to finding the papers for the
three-year-olds that he and Harry were currently training. After a
little more rummaging through the briefcase, Joel found the
papers for each of the dozen three-year-olds. The first one he
spotted was the filly out of the old blonde mare, and sure enough,
it was the pretty palomino he had just finished the morning with;
Joel had a feeling about the way she was handling herself. He had
convinced himself that when he had a chance to look at the
papers that he would discover that the last three-year-old …

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Water in the Wilderness

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them the benefit of the doubt. They’re Ruby’s niece and nephew and her children’s cousins, so maybe she does love them, and wants to give them a home.”
For a few minutes they lay silently in the stillness of the house. A faint breeze riffled the curtains at the window, and Tyne felt its cool fingers on her shoulder. The tensions and sadness of the day had been made more oppressive by the heat, and she welcomed the respite of the night.
“We hardly knew the children until two weeks ago,” Morley mused, “which makes me realize we should be more involved with people in the community.”
“But you have been involved, Morley,” Tyne protested. “Look how much you did to get a new hospital in Emblem. And you’re on the Board of Directors.”
“But that doesn’t mean I know what’s going on in families and what their needs are.” He took a deep breath. “I don’t know the answer, Tyne. I just know that, as good Christians and good citizens, we should be more open to the needs of people around us.”
Tyne snuggled her head against his chest. “You’re a good man, Morley Cresswell.” She smiled into the darkness. “You know what? I’ve come to love those kids. Is it possible to become so fond of them in such a short time, or is it a passing phase, like a person becomes infatuated with a member of the opposite sex?”
Morley chuckled. “Ah no, I know what you mean, hon. It’s nothing like infatuation. I’ve fallen in love with them, too.”
“You know,” Tyne said, “I have to confess I was scared to death of them coming here. I didn’t know how to handle kids, and I wasn’t sure I would even like them very much.”
“You’ve done a good job with them, Tyne.”
“Thanks for saying that, honey. But when Rachael yelled at me the other day, saying I’m not her mommy, it really hurt. I wondered where I’d gone wrong.”
Morley’s arm tightened around her. “She’s hurting, and she’s angry. It wasn’t anything you did or didn’t do.”
“I know,” Tyne whispered. “I’m too sensitive.”

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