Mail Order Bride: Westward Dance Read Free Page A

heifers, ten steer, and one
bull. He and his brothers wanted to start some milk production with
the intent of selling to the people in their area and the settlers
who passed through the county. It was a good way to diversify their
ranching business.
    His keen ice-blue eyes watched the
animals’ behavior and ascertained that something was not right.
They were restless and seemed to be constantly testing the breeze.
Hank was acting anxious as well. He snorted and tossed his head,
clear signs that something sinister was about.
    He and two other drivers were bringing
the herd home and were only about a hundred miles from reaching
their ranch. The herd may not be large, but it was valuable and
they needed to protect it at all costs. Their livelihood depended
on it.
    Their best cattle dog, Jasper, was also
on the alert. He helped keep the herd together, much to the
annoyance of the bull. The dog wasn’t intimidated when the bull
rushed at him, though. He’d dealt with many a testy Texas long horn
and the Holstein didn’t faze him.
    Ray, one of the other drivers, circled
around the other side of the herd, tightening them up so there were
no stragglers. The cattle didn’t fight much, knowing that they were
safer together than not. It was another signal that danger lurked
near. The bull snorted and pawed the ground, ready to
fight.
    Marty, the third driver rode up beside
Seth. “Something’s spooking them. Duke here doesn’t want to go near
that stand of trees over there. I think we need to head off in the
other direction right quick,” he said.
    Seth watched the section of trees Marty
had noticed. Duke was Marty’s horse and seemed to have a sixth
sense about cougars and such, so Seth took Marty’s comments
seriously. He nodded. “Ok. You and Ray get them going. I’ll bring
up the rear and keep an eye out behind us. Might be a cougar or
coyotes. We can’t afford to lose a single head of cattle, but
especially that bull and the heifers. Not at the prices we had to
pay for them.”
    “Right, boss. We’ll get on it.” Marty
rode off, shouting instructions to Ray.
    He whistled commands to Jasper and the
three of them began moving the herd forward and to the right away
from the trees. Ray wanted to get them going at a good clip, so he
whistled another command to Jasper to push them harder. Jasper
began nipping at the heifers’ heels and barking. He was so fast
that it seemed like there were two dogs instead of one.
    Seth watched them for a moment and then
started to follow, taking over for Ray who moved up alongside the
herd to keep them headed to the right. He kept turning Hank around,
so he could watch the trees. Ray shouted something and Seth turned
back to the front in time to see where Ray was pointing.
    The mystery of what was in the trees
was solved. A pack of wild dogs streamed towards the herd. They
were big, all but one, a little mutt of indeterminate breed who
looked to be about fifteen pounds. The rest were everything from
collies to German shepherds and there were around twelve from what
Seth could tell.
    Wolves, coyotes, and cougars were bad
enough, but wild dogs could be just as vicious and weren’t afraid
to come out in the daytime. It made them more dangerous in that
respect. Jasper left the herd and met what seemed to be the leader.
It was a large husky mix that had at least twenty pounds on the
Border collie. That didn’t bother Jasper, however. He had speed and
surprise on his side.
    He blindsided the husky, knocking him
off his feet. Jasper took advantage of the situation and began
attacking the husky in earnest. His intent was not to merely
injure, but to kill. The husky regained his senses and began
fighting back. Seth raised his rifle and drew a bead on the husky.
He whistled a command to Jasper and the cattle dog obeyed despite
being in the midst of battle.
    Jasper began running towards Seth,
creating daylight between the husky and him. Seth aimed and shot
quickly, knowing that if the husky