Page 9 of My Cowboy Freedom
Chapter 4
Sky
After I dropped off my things, Rock and Maisy took me to the horse barn, where he introduced me to Tad Bowler. Bowler was filling in at the barn temporarily because of an unexpected workplace shake-up. Lucky for me, the hands that quit left a nice big empty space for me to fill.
I could hear ’Nando’s warning as if he were there with me.Do not fuck this up, Gorrión.
“You can look for a pair of barn boots in the back there.” Bowler pointed toward a bin with some gear in it. “We’ve got some old ones you can use until you get your own.”
“Thanks.” I rummaged around until I found a pair that fit and also some work gloves I thought might come in handy. “What do you need me to do?”
“You follow me to see what’s what. Then we’ll bring the horses back in.”
I followed him along from stall to stall, cleaning water buckets and putting out the precise feed for each of the horses. It was easy. The instructions were all written down.
“I don’t mind telling you I’d much rather be pushing cattle than doing this barn shit again,” said Tad. “We had a couple guys quit.”
“I heard.”
“What’d you hear?”
Nothing good comes from gossip. “Only that you’re short-handed.”
“Yeah, well. We had these guys come from New Mexico, Lucho and Tripp. They were good guys, but they backed the wrong horse in a fight between the boss and his daughter so they packed up and left.”
“None of my business. I’m just here to work.”
“Good attitude. They were fags anyway. Boss don’t like that.”
“That a fact?” The blank mask that helped me survive prison was going to come in handy here too.
“Hell yeah. They were acouple.” He said the word with a sneer. “Didn’t even look at no one but each other. If they’d have come on to me I’d have had to shown ’em what’s what.”
“Good thing that never happened.”
He didn’t have anything to worry about from me. Not my type.
“Anyway, they didn’t last.”
“None of my business,” I repeated my favorite words. “I’m here to work. What’s next?”
“Know how to groom and pick a hoof?”
“Sure.”
“Grab the blower and clear the aisle. After that’s done, I’ll start bringing in the horses and you can get to know them.”
I figured out how to use the blower, which was loud but kind of fun. Tad came back leading two horses, a black gelding named Ogre and a chestnut mare he called Goldie. He took the mare while I put the gelding in cross ties.
I’d spent most of my childhood around horses. I didn’t realize until just then how desperately I’d missed them. I stroked Ogre’s withers and tangled my fingers in his mane, getting him used to the sight and scent of me while I talked in a low and soothing voice. He let me pick his hooves like the well-trained, gentle boy he was. Once I got him into his stall he buried his nose in his bucket, tail swishing back and forth, ticking off time.
I took a second to draw the musty, animal smell of him deep into my lungs.
Tad came back in while I was woolgathering. “What’s the matter? You sick or something?”
I jumped guiltily. “Nothing like that. It’s just nice being around horses again. Sorry.”
“Horses are the best creatures on Earth.” He grinned at the beast. “Not counting women, of course. Come with me, and I’ll introduce you to the rest.”
