Page 6 of Rough Stock
A young cowboy he’d never met stood to his left and by Snowman’s head, patting the horse gently over his right eye so he couldn’t see the chute. “Good luck, cowboy,” he said to Jensen. Rope in his teeth, Jensen worked to get Snowman right where he was supposed to be, but the horse was so excited andhigh-strung that he fought every attempt to control him. When he was still for a split second, Jensen gave the worker a nod.
The calf burst from the chute, and Snowman leaped forward, Jensen instinctively leaning out over his neck as he spun the lasso. When it fell, it wrapped neatly around the calf’s horns, and Snowman, with Jensen’s direction, moved forward and let the calf draw the rope taut.
In a split second, another lasso cut through the air and the calf’s rear legs were lifted off the ground. Cheering erupted in the stands, and Jensen took a good look.
She’d done it. Shyanna had lassoed those two rear legs in perfect form. But when the judges called out the time, Jensen’s jaw dropped. They’d nailed it and come in a good three-quarters of a second below the second-place competitors to that point. He couldn’t believe it. As they shook their lassos loose and released the calf, Jensen coiled his rope and Shyanna rode up beside him. “Nice work, Strader,” she said, then rode away. He gave Snowman a quick kick in the sides to catch up to her.
Before she could get out of the staging area, Jensen called out, “Shyanna?”
She spun the bay mare and stared at him. “Yeah?”
“Nice job.”
“Thanks. Like I said, you too. Later.” With that, she reined the mare away and took off.
That was weird, Jensen thought. He turned Snowman and headed toward the barn, only to have two cowboys step out in front of him. The big Appaloosa reared up, but Jensen settled him down with a hand on his neck. “Hey, guys, might want to watch where you’re going.”
“No, it’s you who needs to watch himself, Strader,” one of them barked.
“Do I know you?” Jensen asked, studying them. Neither of the men looked familiar.
“You will. We’ll be your worst nightmare if you keep messing with that bitch,” the other threatened.
“I’m notmessingwith anybitch. I’m working with a fellow rodeo rider, and you’d do well to keep your opinions to yourselves,” he said as one of them approached. The man grabbed Snowman’s reins just behind his bit and Jensen was off the horse and advancing on the guy in seconds. “Don’t fucking touch my horse,” he growled, stepping up to the guy.
In a split second, he ducked as the man swung and, missing Jensen, hit Snowman in the jaw. There was no question what would happen next?Jensen lashed out with a jab that dropped the guy in the dust and left the second one ready to lunge. “Do it and I’ll lay you out too.”
“You talk big for a little boy,” the older guy spat.
“Little boy? I’ll be forty on my birthday, and I’m eight to ten inches taller than you and outweigh you by fifty pounds. You think you can take me, bring it on, small fry,” Jensen snarled, ready to finish the fight.
“There’ll be more of us, you can bet on that,” the man said, helping his buddy up. “Next time you won’t be so lucky.”
“Not luck, asshole. Strength and agility. Next time you want to attack somebody, might want to make it somebody closer to your own age and size. And who I ride with is none of your god damn business, you hear me? You hit my horse again, any horse, and there won’t be enough of you left to say grace over at your funeral. Get the hell out of my way.” Jensen mounted and, with a flourish of his reins, he powered Snowman past the two men and headed straight to the barn.
When he’d gotten the horse unsaddled, bridle off, and a halter on, he felt Snowman’s jaw. It didn’t seem to be injured, but he decided he’d get the rodeo vet to look at it anyway. He walked his four-legged work partner a bit, gave him a treat, and led him to his stall. Then he took Cobra out, walked him a while,and led him back in. With a flake of hay apiece delivered to their bins, he wandered back to the arena to see where he was in the lineup for his regular events.
He’d almost made it to the list outside the announcer’s booth when he heard voices in one of the ancillary hallways. “You let him hit you?” a familiar-sounding voice asked.
“Guy’s got a helluva swing,” another voice said, and he recognized it?the man he’d hit on his way out of the arena.
“I can’t believe that dumb sumbitch rode with her. And I can’t believe they did that well,” another voice said. By god, Jensen was proud!
“She’s a threat. You guys have to neutralize that threat. If she wins anything this weekend, it’ll just encourage more skirts to come in and out of here, and pretty soon, rodeo will be giving manicures and pink pickup trucks as prizes. We can’t have that,” the familiar voice in the group said.
“And what are you going to be doing while we’re all supposed to be ganging up on a girl?” the fighter’s voice asked.
“Oh, we’re working behind the scenes to make sure she doesn’t get a chance to bring all those ruffles and lace into this sport.”
“Meaning we’re the ones getting our hands dirty,” his other attacker said.
“You’re our front lines of defense,” that voice he should’ve been able to identify reinforced. “We’re depending on you.”
Jensen had heard all he needed to hear. After checking the list?he was three from the bottom?he went in search of one of the ring stewards. He found one of the guys he knew best, HarveyKing, and told him about the whole incident.
And he left madder than when he’d found King, who basically told him if a woman wanted in the sport, that was the kind of treatment she could expect. That answer was unacceptable to Jensen?totally unacceptable?but he wasn’t sure what he wassupposed to do about it. They were limited in which associations they could join until they’d really proven themselves. Their association was mid-level, not one of the big names, but no little local social club either. Scores from their dates showed up on the TV sports channels, and he’d heard a rumor that they’d be televised the following year. For someone of his skill level, it was the perfect place to be. He stayed on top and when the time came, he could make the move and hit the big time.
And yet he was worried. He fully intended to keep his word to Shyanna, but how would it affect his career? In that moment, he decided that honor came above glory, and as for what it did to his own career, he really didn’t care. He was far more concerned with how failing to do what was right would affect his soul.
