Free Blue Bonnet by Fay Risner

to go right to bed.
    “See ya in the mornin',” Windy
said, leading Blaze away.
    Morning came too soon. Bat had
trouble getting out of bed, but after he moved around for awhile,
he limbered up some. When he stepped out on the porch, Blaze was
tied to the hitch rack in front of the house. Bat mounted and
joined the crew gathering at the barn.
    When the cowboys started off they
headed west. Bat caught up with Hunker. “Why we goin' to the west
pasture?”
    “We got some late born steers left
over from last summer we need to brand,” Hunker
answered.
    The men gathered the herd up and
penned them in a makeshift log corral. Bat eyed the steers with a
grim determination. They were larger, stronger and twice as ornery
as the small calves he'd held down the day before. Not that he was
going to back away from his turn at throwing the steers
down.
    Windy roped a steer's back legs
and dragged him out of the corral over by the fire. As the steer
danced one way then the other with his front feet, Bat made a grab
and twisted the steer's neck. The steer shook Bat off, sending him
sailing a few feet away.
    Bat got up, wiped the sweat off
his forehead with his shirt sleeve and headed back for more. Windy
nodded at Jughead then toward Bat. Not that Bat minded the help. If
he had that sucker down on the ground, he'd keep the big bruiser
there.
    Jughead dropped the iron back in
the fire. “Let me help ya, Boss.”
    The young cowboy made it look so
easy when he grabbed the steer around the neck and twisted the calf
off its feet. Jughead held him down long enough for Bat to get his
knees in place on the calf's shoulders.
    “Got him now, Boss?” Jughead
asked, picking up the red hot running iron.
    “Sure I do.” Bat grinned as he
bragged, “He won't get away from me now.”
    Jughead touched the steer's rump
with the running iron. The steer roared a protest as he buckled
back on himself, throwing Bat back with him. Bat's right leg
stretched out over the steer's rump and under the hot branding
iron.
    Bat smelled burning cloth as hot
pain seared through his lower leg. The steer bucked again. He
scrambled to get off the steer and out of the way. He wasn't fast
enough. The steer rolled over on Bat, penning his legs to the
ground. Bat let out a howl. Windy backed his horse up and pulled
the steer away from Bat.
    Next thing, Bat knew he woke up in
his house. He was stretched out on the settee in his parlor with
Hunker and Jughead leaning over him. Hunker's face looked worried
as he laid a wet compress on Bat's brand burn and pulled the cover
over him.
    Jughead felt Bat's forehead with a
shaky hand. “Boss, ya awake?”
    “Yip, but I wish I wasn't,” Bat
groaned.
    “I'd say he has a fever,” Jughead
fretted.
    “Boss, I sent Baldy for the
doctor,” Hunker said. “Ya need some tendin' to for that burn and
both yer legs are swelled up to yer knees. We need to know fer sure
ya don't have broken bones.”
    “All right,” Bat said. “That mean
I have to stay put?”
    Hunker didn't feel like smiling.
“I'm afraid ya don't have any choice.”
    Bat doze off as Hunker was
speaking to him. When he woke, the house was dark except for the
low flamed lamp on the reading table. He swore he heard Billie's
voice in the kitchen. He figured he was dreaming and dozed back
off.
    The next time, Bat woke up Doc
Martin and Billie were staring down at him. Doc was shaking him on
the shoulder.
    “What are ya two doin'
here?”
    “Baldy stopped to tell me I might
be needed out here to help you,” Billie said. “He said you got in
to a fight with a steer, and you lost.”
    “Funny,” Bat said, licking his
hot, cracked lips.
    “You've been hurt,” Doc said. He
took his gold rim glasses off, folded them and stuffed them in his
suit coat pocket. “Hunker sent for me to check you out.”
    “Well, how am I?” Bat
asked.
    “You will live,” the doc cracked.
“Your fever is going down. You need to drink some water to keep
from dehydrating. Your legs are