The Women in Pants_Sidesaddles No More by Stan Himes

Author:Stan Himes [Himes, Stan]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Goodreads: 35168821
Publisher: Stan Himes
Published: 2017-05-17T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 15

“You ladies are sure draggin’ after gettin’ a good night’s sleep.” Clean Through banged and clanged that nasty wooden spoon in that nasty pot for the third time. He ruffled his gray whiskers and smiled his near-toothless smile. “Look at me. I’m fresh as a dewdrop on a cactus flower on a fine spring morning.” I wanted to tell him that he likely hadn’t looked fresh in forty years, but I held back. We were dragging. It wasn’t his fault we’d stayed up cackling in the river.

Once you’ve sat in a river in your undergarments—assuming it’s by choice—that river doesn’t seem so intimidating. The memories of the previous river crossing had been washed aside by the memories of the previous day and night. Young love. Relaxing in cool water with friends. Despite the sadness Ruth had shared, the entire evening had passed without her calling Pearl a harlot a single time. Even the visible reminders of our rough adventure had been wrung from our clothes and hair. Though still far from clean, we felt renewed in the morning light. We shook off our sleepiness with the help of Clean Through’s strong coffee and the knowledge that we had spent the evening both beside and in the river without disaster. That there wasn’t a rain cloud in sight was the final piece of our confidence puzzle. Not only were we ready to move the herd across the river, we were ready to take on anyone who might dare try to stop us.

While Mary ordered us into position, Clean Through snapped the reins to get his team of mules going. I’d always heard mules were stubborn, but these two always did what Clean Through asked—probably because he kept them well fed.

Next, Katie took the remuda across. Again she rode Pitch and again the horses followed. Mary trailed the horses to encourage them to keep moving. Once they were across, she took her place at the front of the herd and we awaited the sound that had marked the beginning of our work day for quite some time.

“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Ernestine was in fine voice and the herd responded exactly as planned by trying to get far away from her. They moved forward into the water, whining and bellowing with a touch of sadness that might have been from leaving the river but might also have been because Ernestine was louder than they were.

The river that had seemed so wide when we were nervous now seemed like a creek when viewed through confident eyes. No doubt its width is somewhere in between. Mary crossed and then moved to the side to watch the herd and holler orders. At one point she shouted, “Keep ’em moving! Don’t let them drift down where it’s soft!” It reminded me of Jonas making speeches about things we already knew. Sometimes the one in charge just has to say something to feel involved in what’s going on. Then I realized that Uncle Angus was indeed drifting off and I moved to turn her back with the herd.

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