The Cowboy Code

by Christine Wenger

  Danny shrugged. “Everyone’s talking about you two.”

  “Let them talk. Maybe they don’t have anything better to do.”

  “You just don’t get it, do you?” His voice was raised, and Maggie looked at him sharply.

  “No, I don’t. Talk to me.”

  “Nothing. Forget it.”

  Maggie rubbed Danny’s shoulder, and to her surprise, he didn’t pull away.

  “Danny, I’m trying to figure out where we went wrong. I think I know. I neglected you when your mom died. And I’m so very sorry about that.”

  He appeared to be listening, so she continued.

  “I have no excuse other than the fact that I was hurting. My heart was breaking. I loved your mother so much. And she trusted me with raising you and that scared me. It still does. And I’m not doing a good job, Danny. I know that now.”

  “Forget it,” he muttered. “I’m okay.”

  “But you’re not okay, honey. Your not being okay is what got you arrested.”

  “But—” Danny fell silent, then added, “But why are you scared?”

  “Raising a child is a big responsibility. I might not have done everything right at the beginning, but I’m learning from my mistakes.”

  “I made mistakes, too. I shouldn’t have hung out with those kids.”

  She nodded. “Now you know never to hang around with anyone who’ll get you into trouble. Right?”

  He nodded.

  “And you’ll be careful here, too. Right?”

  Another nod.

  “Danny, you know I have to work. The theater is all I know, and it’s a big time-suck. I’d rather be home with you, but I need to support us.”

  “I know.”

  “And you need to stay out of trouble and do better in school.”

  He shrugged, but didn’t say any more, so she thought she’d lighten the conversation. She held her pole in the air. “So I guess we’ve got to pick up litter. Charge!”

  To her surprise, a smile teased the corners of Danny’s lips. “Charge,” he said under his breath, and they slowly walked the bank of the sparkling river searching for litter until they came to a bench, then they sat down.

  “Tell me, what do you like about the ranch so far? There must be something,” Maggie said. “Talk to me like we used to when your mom was alive.”

  “I like my horse. His name is Thunderbolt,” he finally said.

  “What color is he?” she asked, trying anything to get him to talk.

  “He’s like a reddish brown. He’s a quarterhorse, and Joe said that if I make enough progress on my lesson, I’d be able to trot him, then gallop.”

  Maggie hadn’t seen her nephew so visibly excited in a long time. Usually she had to check his pulse for signs of life.

  Before they left for the dreaded cattle drive, she’d probably have to learn to trot and gallop, too. Her throat sudden went dry, and she was glad that she packed some iced tea.

  “Joe said that a cowboy must be gentle with children, the elderly and animals. He said that includes taking care of my horse and brushing, watering and feeding him and not doing anything to hurt him.”

  “Taking care of an animal is a big responsibility,” she said, thrilled at Danny’s enthusiasm. Then it hit her. Danny had never had a pet or anything to be responsible for. She never could see getting a cat or a dog, since no one was usually home, for the most part. “I think that a horse has to be one of the biggest. I’m glad that you’re listening to Joe.”

  “Some of the kids aren’t listening to him. They think that the program is lame, especially Brandon.” He lowered his voice. “But I kinda like it. And I freaking can’t wait for the cattle drive.”

  “Daniel Anthony Turner, did I hear you right? You like Cowboy Quest?” She was just about to ruffle his hair when he laughed and ducked.

  “Naw. I didn’t say that.” He grinned, opening the bag that contained his picnic lunch.

  They laughed and for a moment she saw a hint of the carefree child he’d been—when Liz was healthy. That was the Danny that she’d wanted back permanently. Happy for this all-too-rare moment of closeness, Maggie pulled her nephew’s slight frame to her and wrapped her arms around him. She felt some weight dissolve from her shoulders. This talk was the first step in clearing the air with Danny, and she made a mental note to thank Joe for giving her the opportunity to spend some quality time with him.

  She’d made a lot of progress with Danny this morning, and obviously so had Joe, since Danny was quoting him.

  Was she wrong to have doubted the big, strong cowboy?

  It was one o’clock and time for Maggie’s lesson. Joe waved as she walked up the hill toward him, smiling.

  Either she was looking forward to her lesson, or things went well with Danny. He hoped for both.

  She was a little breathless when she finally reached him.

  “Have a good time picking up litter?”

  “The best.” Her eyes sparkled. “I had a good talk with Danny. Finally.”

  Thank goodness. “That was the plan. I’ll arrange something like that again.”

  “That’d be great, Joe. Danny seems like he’s really enjoying the program so far. He’s even quoting you.”

  “No kidding?”

  “No kidding,” she said. “You’re reaching him.”

  “Oh, I think you are, too.” Maggie deserved the credit more than he did. She was the one who put her emotions on the line. “Now, how about your lesson? Are you ready to ride Lady by yourself? I thought we’d take the horses to the high pasture.”

  “I’m as ready as I’ll ever be.”

  As he got his own horse, Checkmate, ready, he watched Maggie bridle and saddle Lady. He could see her biting her lip, thinking about every move she was making. Lady was patient, even helping her along, taking the bit perfectly.

  “Ready to mount up?”

  He held the reins for her. After a few hops, she was in the saddle. He handed her the reins, and she looked at them as if he was handing her a tarantula. “Maggie?”

  “I can do this.”

  “You certainly can.”

  “I’m not even breathing hard.”

  “I don’t think you’re breathing at all.” He raised an eyebrow. “Are you?”

  “No.”

  He bit back a grin. “Relax. We’ll have a good time. Okay?”

  She finally took the reins. “Okay.”

  Her whole face glowed when she smiled, her eyes shone like twin emeralds and her perfect lips showcased white teeth. He liked the way her blond hair swirled around her face in the breeze.

  Sure, she was beautiful. But most of all he admired her courage in getting on a horse in spite of her fears. And it took a lot of courage to corner Danny about the rift that had come between them for a long time.

  “When you’re ready, Maggie. Lift the reins, squeeze her sides gently with your knees and just say ‘walk.’ She’ll know what you want. And if you want her to stop, just say ‘whoa.’ The Cowboy Quest horses are voice trained.”

  “That’s easy enough.” She nodded. “Walk.”

  Lady did as instructed, and Maggie looked surprised. Joe followed on Checkmate. When the pathway opened up, he moved next to her.

  “Relax your shoulders, Maggie. I just want you to get comfortable sitting on Lady.”

  Joe could tell that Checkmate wanted to run. The horse was too frisky and needed exercise. They’d had too much rain last week, which pushed the exercise schedule back. Because Checkmate was a runner, Joe and the other seasoned cowboys were the only ones who were allowed to ride him. He wasn’t qualified as a Cowboy Quest horse yet, but maybe later he’d take the horse out for a long gallop through the upper meadow.

  “Remember to keep your heels down, Maggie. You’re doing great.”

  They made small talk—the weather (unusually warm for spring), the scenery (fabulous), her talk with Danny (long overdue), and the cattle drive in two days (she was dreading it).

  “The c
attle drive will be fun, too,” he said. In fact, he couldn’t wait to get started. At least his time would be spread out among all the participants and he wouldn’t have to spend as much time with Maggie. He was with her too much—and he was enjoying her too much.

  She was a beautiful distraction, but she was still a distraction, and he needed to concentrate on Cowboy Quest. He had to be on the lookout for trouble so he could squelch it before it happened.

  He pulled on the horse’s reins to hold him in check. He was high spirited today.

  “Do you think that I’ll be a good enough rider for the cattle drive?” Maggie asked.

  “You’ll be fine. So will the others. You can walk Lady all the way through it and follow alongside Cookie’s chuck wagon. It’s a real roundup, you know. We’re moving the cattle from the winter pasture to the summer pasture.”

  “How long will it take?”

  “We’ll be five days and four nights on the trail, depending on the weather. To tell you the truth, my crew and I could do it in an overnight, but we extend it for Cowboy Quest. Some of the participants have never camped before. Can you believe that?”

  She put her hand over her heart and faked a heart attack. “No! Some people have never camped before? What’s wrong with them? Aliens? Or do they just prefer four-star hotels and indoor toilets like I do instead of sleeping on the ground and carrying a shovel?”

  He turned around in the saddle, ready to dazzle her with a witty retort when Checkmate whinnied and pawed the ground.

  Maggie let out a blood-curdling scream. “Snake!”

  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a snake curled up and ready to strike. He yanked his knife from the leather sheath at his side, and threw it.

  As he leaned over to see if he’d hit his mark, his sudden motion unsettled Checkmate, who bucked, side-stepped, then reared.

  Off balance, Joe flew through the air and landed flat on his back. Checkmate took off at a dead run.

  Maggie screamed again as Lady took off at a gallop, chasing Checkmate!

  Chapter Seven

  Joe dragged himself up from the ground. Being tossed was a rookie mistake. He’d never been caught off guard or off balance like that before.

  Damn snake.

  He scrambled to his feet and saw Checkmate and Lady galloping away, with Maggie hanging on for dear life.

  He whistled. Short, long, short. The two horses immediately slowed down, then stopped completely. Another whistle brought them walking back to him.

  He brushed himself off and picked up his hat, grabbed his knife and returned it to the case on his hip. Then he hurried to meet the horses—and Maggie—so they wouldn’t have to encounter what was left of the snake.

  “Whoa,” he said as he approached them. The horses immediately stopped. He looked up at Maggie. “Are you okay?”

  Her eyes were shiny, her cheeks were pink—with fear or excitement? He couldn’t tell.

  “I—I’m okay. Just a little rattled, pardon the pun.” She shuddered. “What the hell happened?”

  He shook his head. “I’m really sorry, Maggie. Even the best-trained horse can’t be taught to stay calm with a snake present.”

  “Did you get the snake?”

  Joe nodded. “Yeah, he’s history. But I’m pretty embarrassed. I haven’t been tossed by a horse in years.”

  I was too busy looking at you to pay attention to anything else.

  “Don’t be embarrassed on my account.” She put her index finger over her lip. “I won’t tell a soul.”

  The twinkle in her eyes told him that it would be all over the ranch in less than an hour.

  “Yeah, sure.” He chuckled. “Shall we go back?”

  “Don’t go back on my account. My confidence level just skyrocketed. I stayed on!”

  He swung onto Checkmate’s back. “You sure did. That was pretty outstanding riding for a city slicker.”

  If she could ride like that, she could handle anything that might come her way.

  Maggie couldn’t stop grinning at Joe’s compliment. Her ride hadn’t been pretty by anyone’s standards, and she’d been petrified that she’d be thrown, but she’d managed to stick with Lady.

  She had never been so glad to hear a whistle in her life.

  “I forgot to say ‘whoa,’” she admitted now. “But I heard you whistle.”

  “As a safety measure, I also trained them to stop on a certain whistle command. Then two short whistles will get them back to you. All the Cowboy Quest horses go through vigorous training and testing.” He petted Checkmate’s neck. “This guy here is a little too frisky yet, but he’ll come along in time.”

  “So what’s on the schedule later this afternoon?” she asked. “I think I just had my galloping lesson.”

  “Roping.”

  She felt a warm rush of confidence. She could do that. No problem.

  “Bring it on.”

  He gestured to the gathering of the others by the corral, where the roping lesson was about to begin.

  Joe waved his hand to one of the cowboys. “Would you mind taking care of our horses so we can join the others?”

  “No problem, boss.”

  Joe gave him a slap on the back in gratitude, and motioned for her to walk ahead of him. Maggie waited for the usual snickers from the participants and eye-rolling from Danny, but they were mesmerized, watching as Ronnie twirled a rope overhead, brought it down to foot level, then stepped over it. Back and forth Ronnie stepped, moving the rope in figure eights.

  “That looks as easy as pie,” Maggie whispered to Joe. At least she thought she whispered. As the group laughed at her statement, Ronnie handed her the rope.

  He smiled at her as if they shared a secret.

  Joe took the rope out of her hands. “Ronnie…uh…I don’t think that Maggie—”

  Maggie took the rope back. “Hang on.” She stepped forward to give herself some more room. “I may be a city slicker, but I’ll give it a try.”

  She tried to remember what she’d learned from Baxter Bello, a trick rope expert who was hired to teach her when she starred in Annie Get Your Gun. He’d called it the Texas Skip.

  She’d played Annie Oakley six years ago, and she was certainly rusty in the roping department, but she wanted to impress Joe. She got a feel for the rope, letting out a little at a time from the knot, as she slowly began to spin it. Baxter’s voice rang in her ear, “Go slow. Don’t rush. It’s all in the wrist.”

  She concentrated, knowing that if she could pull off a couple of jumps, the kids and cowboys would be dazzled. Glancing at the astonishment on their faces, she saw they were already impressed that she’d gotten this far.

  Now!

  She jumped over the loop, again and again. When a loud whoop went up from the crowd, she lost her focus and the rope wrapped around her body.

  She got a round of applause from everyone, and she took a bow. Catching Danny’s eye, she saw a glimmer of admiration, and pride shot through her. Even his new friend Brandon looked impressed.

  But Joe looked the most surprised, and heat pooled in her belly as he looked her over.

  She spotted Ronnie, grinning from ear to ear.

  “How did you know?” she asked him.

  “I saw you in Annie Get Your Gun. Your trick roping was great, so I got a video and taught myself.”

  Maggie handed the rope back to him. “What brought you to New York City?”

  “A wedding.” Ronnie looked around at the group. “My mother wanted to see you in Annie so I took her.”

  Joe clapped his hands once. “For the rest of us who can’t do Maggie and Ronnie’s trick, we are going to stick with the basics. Break down into teams of three, please.”

  They kicked up some dust, shuffling around until they stood in groups of one cowboy, two participants and one plastic cow head stuck into a hay bale per team.

  Danny quickly fell into step with Brandon with Quint as their staff member. She couldn’t understand why Danny gravitated to Brandon, espe
cially since he admitted that Brandon didn’t like Cowboy Quest. Danny seemed to like it a little more than before. Even if Danny liked Cowboy Quest a lot, he would still act apathetic to his pals.

  She and Joe were with Rick, one of the more sullen boys. He was a shorter, muscular boy with tattoos all over his body, including some homemade ones on his neck.

  “I’m sure you’ve all seen old Westerns,” Joe said, twirling a rope over his head. “The rope is used to keep the cattle moving, and to get strays out of ditches and the like. They aren’t too smart, so they get in all kinds of jams. You have each been given one rope. It’s yours while you are here. Take care of your rope and don’t lose it. It should be tied to your saddle when you’re riding. When you’re not riding, practice with it.”

  Maggie did as Joe instructed and let her rope soar at the horns on the plastic cow. Perfect shot! Roping was a piece of cake. Rick was struggling, so Joe spent more time with him. They roped from different angles and distances from the cow head, but she always hit her mark.

  As she waited for Rick, she couldn’t help but overhear Quint with Danny and Brandon. “C’mon, boys, you’re not even trying. Now pay attention and stop talking like a couple of old hens.”

  She was just about to say something to Danny when she remembered how Joe had asked her nicely to butt out, that the cowboy staff would take care of discipline.

  Danny halfheartedly roped the cow head, and he didn’t do badly, hitting the mark more often than not. She could tell he cared, that he wanted to do well, but he wouldn’t show it. It appeared to her that Brandon was acting like he couldn’t care less, and Danny was simply going along with him.

  “That’s it for today,” Joe said. “Tomorrow you’ll all get a chance to try roping a calf or two on horseback. Therefore, I suggest that you practice tonight after your homework.”

  Just then the dinner bell rang. Maggie walked to the bunkhouse with the rest of the group, trying specifically to stay away from Joe so the other boys wouldn’t tease Danny.

  “He likes you—a lot,” Danny had said earlier. “Everyone knows it.”