Page 266 of The Texas Sterling Collection
“Yes’m,” Felix mumbled with a full mouth.
“Well, son, a chicken only has two legs, but I think you ate three already.” Mabel laughed. “You eat all you want, Felix. Young cowboys need a lot of nourishment.”
“I think Felix is taking a shine to ranch work.” Grover chuckled at Felix’s appetite. “I never saw a young man eat so much.”
“Leave him alone, Pa,” Joey said. “We rode the ranch this morning, and I told him about mending fences, driving cattle, and roping and branding. He probably got tired thinking about all that work.”
Felix swallowed his food. “This food tastes better than what my mother fixes. She cooks good food and all, but nothing like this.”
“I’m glad you like it, honey,” Mabel said. “We’ll get you fattened up before you go back home. Now have a slice of apple pie.”
“Yes’m.” Felix held his plate out.
Joey laughed out loud. “I’m gonna have to roll you out to your horse, Felix.”
Felix grinned as he lifted a forkful of apple pie to his mouth. It tasted as amazing as he expected.
Grover turned to Felix. “How did you do with Sparkle? Any problems?”
Felix shook his head, his mouth full of apple pie.
“Pa, you should have seen it. Sparkle stood still as a post while Felix saddled him.”
“Sparkle?” Grover expressed surprise.
“Yeah, and when we got back from the ride, Sparkle stood still while Felix curried him. It was amazing.”
Grover tousled Felix’s hair. “You must be a magic cowboy. Sparkle isn’t that calm with either Joey or me.”
Felix beamed at the praise. He didn’t have any magic. But it was fantastic that Sparkle liked him. He favored Sparkle, too.
After lunch, Joey led Felix to the barn. “I’ll show you how we feed and tend our horses. It’s probably the same as what you do in Blackfield, only we have more horses.”
Felix walked beside Joey. “I can curry horses and pick their hooves.”
“Yep. You did it yesterday with Maybelle and today with Sparkle. I’ve never seen Sparkle so calm with anyone. I think Sparkle has claimed you as his own personal cowboy.”
“I am pleased to have Sparkle as my Sterling horse. I’ll be here all summer, after all.”
“I’m glad, Felix. Now, let me show you about feeding our team. Come with me.”
Felix followed into the tool stall, where Joey found leather gloves for each of them. They went to the ladder, tugging the gloves on as they walked, and climbed to the loft.
“We were here yesterday, just for a quick tour.” Joey motioned to the wall. “Those hooks are used to move the bales to the edge. We shove the bales over, and they fall to the floor below. We then separate the bales and place hay in each stall.”
“Sounds easy enough.”
Joey reached for the hooks and handed them to Felix. “Why don’t you try it?”
Felix took the hooks and wrapped his fingers around the wooden handles. He went over to a bale and stood studying it. “Where do I hook it?”
“Sink the hook in each end and drag toward the middle. The hooks will catch in the binding twine holding the bale together. Then you can lift the bale and move it over to the edge.”
Felix did as Joey suggested, and soon, the bale toppled over the edge to the floor below.
“You act like you did this before, Felix.”
“No, but you telling me what to do made it easy.”
