Page 59 of Redemption

I shook my head. “Nope,” I replied, popping thep.I began saddling Sunshine and I could feel Jack watching me. I could practically feel him vibrating with the need to talk to me, but he showed some sense and didn’t.

We rode back down towards the house and worked together to herd the cattle, Jack continually anticipating my moves and needs which annoyed me. How were we so in sync? I even tried a few guff moves to throw him off but he knew what I was doing. Eventually we got them back down to the south pasture and yet again the gate was still closed.

Jack rode on and opened it. Once the cattle were all inside safely, I rode off to do the perimeter check again and of course, found the corner fence trampled.

“What the hell?” I murmured.

“I fixed that, admittedly not the most amazing work but it was sturdy, I swear. I tried rocking it and it wasn’t giving,” Jack assured me.

Sympathy tried to unfurl inside me atthe worried expression pinching his face, like I was gonna lay into him over it, but I tamped it down.

I jumped off Sunshine and inspected the area, including the dirt and hoof prints. Jack continued talking while I inspected the mud. Wait a minute, was that…

“Son of a bitch!” I shouted, silencing Jack. I spun around, glancing towards the tree line. “Where are you, you bastard?” I called, eyes peeled as I looked for any movement.

“Uh, what’s happening?” Jack asked, looking at me like I was crazy.

“You see this?” I demanded, pointing furiously at the hoof prints in the mud.

“Um, no?”

“This is a cow hoof, see, it’s almost teardrop in shape.”

He just continued to look at me like I was crazy.

“This here, that’s not a cow hoof.”

“It’s not? But they look the same?” Jack asked, tilting his head and squinting at the mud.

“Similar but it’s more angled. It’s the hoof print of a bison,” I said, then spun towards the tree line. “A pesky bison who likes to cause trouble. A bison called Bert!” I shouted. At that moment, like he had been summoned, Bert the Bison emerged from the tree line, munching on some grass like he didn’t give a shit about all the destruction he’d caused. Because he didn’t. He craved chaos, the big shit.

I stomped over to him, ready to give him a piece of my mind, when strong arms banded around my waist.

“What the hell are you doing? Are you crazy?” Jack shouted, pulling me away from Bert whose smug gaze followed me.

“What areyoudoing?” I shouted back. “Put medown!”

“No, you’re going after a wild bison, what’s wrong with you?”

“Bert’s not wild, he’s an asshole!”

“Really, the random bison is an asshole?” Jack looked at me doubtfully.

“Yes, he is! He does stuff like this all the time, he’s a menace!”

Jack looked over to where Bert was munching on some grass, kicking his hooves on the ground like a naughty child. “I’m so confused right now.”

“Years ago, Bert appeared. He got separated from his herd or they kicked him out or whatever, and ever since he hangs around the town, causing drama and mischief to entertain himself, because he’s bored,” I huffed. “And an asshole!”

“Bert the Bison is an asshole,” Jack replied, and I could see him smothering a grin which only made me madder.

“Don’t laugh at me!”

“I’m not, I’m just…it’s interesting is all.”

Bert had crept a little closer and was now within throttling distance. Like Jack knew what I was going to do, he moved and placed himself between me and Bert.

He bent down and put both hands on my shoulders, peering into my face. “We’ll fix the fence and make it Bert proof, how about that?”

---