Free Dude Ranch by Bonnie Bryant Page A

truth, I really liked that one!” She began laughing and the girls were only too pleased to laugh with her—at themselves.
    Kate arrived then with the shovel. Their thoughts returned to their sad mission. They took turns digging a grave in the cool earth. It didn’t take long and as they worked, the girls found consolation in the idea that Tomahawk’s resting place
was
a beautiful one.
    When the grave was finished, Christine and Stevie placed the dog in it. Then they looked awkwardly at each other, wondering if they should say a prayer. Stevieanswered the question for them. She spoke to the dog.
    “Tomahawk,” she began. “We’re going to leave you here in this beautiful place. If you can hear us, wherever you are now, you’ll know that Christine thanks you for your wonderful life, and I thank you for saving me with your death. If there’s a god of dogs, he’ll take care of you. Amen.”
    The girls echoed Stevie’s “Amen,” and then quickly filled in the grave. When they were done, only a soft mound of earth marked Tomahawk’s resting place. But where he lay in death didn’t seem to matter anywhere near as much as what he had done in life.
    Solemnly, the girls turned and led their horses away from Tomahawk’s grave.
    “Time to catch up with the wranglers,” Kate said. “They’ll be moving along any minute now.” She turned to their new friend. “Christine,” she said, “we’ll be back at The Bar None tomorrow. Would you like to come over to visit?”
    Christine smiled. “I’ve got a better idea,” she said. “I’ll answer your questions about my morning ride. I’ll come for you at four-thirty the next morning. Be ready to ride. Bareback.”
    With that, Christine turned to Arrow and boosted herself up onto his back. Taking his reins in one hand,she turned from her new friends and the horse took off at a lope.
    The Saddle Club turned to their own horses. It was time to get on with the roundup.
    “Git along little dogie!” Lisa began to sing, off-key.
    “I think I like the one about ‘Yippie ki yi yay’ better,” Stevie remarked as they began their return to the herd.
    “I think I like it better when you can’t hear her over the moos of the cattle,” Carole said.
    The girls laughed together.

T HE GIRLS WERE very busy for the rest of the roundup. Before they got to the next creek crossing, they had to cover a vast open section of the range. The herd began to spread out and wander. Also, since there had been a number of strays remaining in this section, the herd tended to wander toward the strays, instead of the other way around.
    Eli directed all the riders to surround the herd while he and Jeff rounded up strays, bringing them into the main herd. But while they were waiting, the herd seemed to sense the nearness of the creek ahead and there was no containing it. The cattle headed straight for the water and then spread out along the banks of the creek so they could all get drinks.
    The girls circled back and forth along the edge ofthe herd just as they’d seen Eli and Jeff doing. It was very different riding from anything they’d ever done before. Not only did they have to be careful what they were doing as riders, controlling their horses, but they also had to keep eagle eyes on the herd as it meandered this way and that.
    Stevie was breathing hard with fatigue and excitement as she and Stewball trotted after a cow and her calf who were wandering downstream. Stewball seemed to know what to do with very little prompting from Stevie. She let him take charge—and when the cow decided to dodge him, Stewball
really
took charge. He leapt to the left, blocking the cow’s escape. The cow stopped short, and gave Stewball a look. Stevie couldn’t see Stewball’s face, but from the way the cow then sheepishly returned to the herd, she figured it must have been something!
    “Good boy,” she said, patting him affectionately on the neck.
    Finally, the herd was assembled at the edge of the