Chapter 7

“Boss, you can’t let that little woman into the ring with that horse, he’ll kill her.”

Melody couldn’t believe what she was hearing. The ranch foreman was standing there, blocking the gate to the training ring. Even from where she stood she could feel the anger rolling off of him and the horse in the ring was reacting to it.

“I thought I made it plain to you that you and the boys were supposed to ride out and check the fence line this afternoon.”

The man looked at Mr. Ryder and nodded. “The boys are riding the fence, but I couldn’t let you put that girl in danger. You need to put that horse down, he’s untrainable. If she gets in that ring, he’s gonna stomp her into the ground.”

Melody felt a flash of anger roll through her and tamped down on it quickly. She stepped up to the man blocking her way to do her job. She held out her hand. “Melody Hughes, Mister...?”

He looked down at her hand before looking her over like she wasn’t dressed. The way his eyes lingered over her sent a feeling of cold, clammy disgust; she tamped it down too. “Brent Cole, ma’am, and a pretty little thing like you shouldn’t be so eager to get herself scared up.”

Of course, his name was Brent. “Mr. Cole, I need you to leave the vicinity of the training ring. You’re not in control of your feelings and it’s riling up my horse. The only person here putting me in danger is you.”

His eyes hardened. “Listen here, missy, I’m the foreman on this ranch. If I say you aren’t getting in that ring, then you ain’t getting in that ring.”

She smiled up at him. “See, I think you’ve got things backward, cowboy.” She poked her finger into his chest with each of her next words. “I. Don’t. Work. For. You. From what I was told, my position here is to teach you and your cowboys how to run a ranch like they did in the 1800s. So technically you work for me. So why don’t you do what your boss told you to and get away from my training ring.”

The man turned red like he was about to explode. “Now listen here!”

It surprised Melody when Tallis reached out and grabbed the man by the shoulder. “Nope, you heard Miss Hughes, get on your horse and go check on your men. Or you can go pack your things and get off my ranch. You may be the foreman here, but I’m the owner and I have the final say. So do the job I pay you for or pack up and get off my ranch.”

The man wrenched his arm away from Tallis and cursed as he walked off. “You couldn’t run this place without me. When that pretty little filly is crushed by the loco horse, just remember I warned ya.”

The older Mister Ryder looked at his son. “Told you he’s gonna be trouble.”

“I know. What am I supposed to do? Unless you have a seasoned hand, you want to send me as foreman, I’m gonna have to keep him till I can find a replacement.”

Melody waited till she heard the sounds of hoofbeats leaving the homestead yard. She motioned for the four of them to take a seat on the benches the spectators had used earlier. “Let’s give the horse time to calm down a little. Please keep your emotions under control.”

“No problem, Melody. I for one can’t wait to see you show these big strong rancher men how it’s really done.”

Sara Ryder smiled at her dad and brother before grinning at Melody. “Well, it won’t impress them much today. It will take a while to get that big fella to get comfortable and trust me. But once we’re over that hill then training him won’t be that hard.”

The older Ryder just looked at her. “And how do you propose to win him over?”

“By showing him he has nothing to fear from me and that I’m not afraid of him. I’m going to charm him and make him want to learn for me.”

“You’re gonna make my devil horse fall in love with you?”

‘She smiled. “I guess you could say that. Just do me a favor: no matter what, don’t hurt that horse, and don’t interfere.”

“Even if he’s killing you?”

“That won’t happen; unless you see me on the ground bleeding and unconscious, don’t interfere, understood?” She looked at each of the three people sitting on the bench with her. When they all nodded, she stood, reached into her saddlebag, and pulled a small wooden rod out. She stuck it in the waistband of her britches and grinned as she walked over to the fence by the gate.

She hummed wordlessly and tunelessly, very softly, as she leaned up against the fence. As she got close, the big roan stallion snorted and pawed at the ground, pacing around on the far side of the ring. She just stood there watching and humming until he seemed to calm down and turn to watch her. His ears perked up as she continued to croon.

Then slowly, she lifted the latch and slipped just inside the ring, closing the gate behind her. All the time humming as she leaned back against the fence. Again the horse snorted and paced, somewhat agitated, but she just stood there watching him. After a few more minutes, he stopped pacing and faced her again. She took three slow steps away from the fence toward the horse and he reared on his hind legs and came crashing down, racing right for her. She stopped walking and calmly pulled the rod out of her waistband.

When the horse was an arm’s length away from her, she swung the rod as hard as she could, coming in contact with his nose. To everyone’s surprise but hers, the big stallion turned and raced away from her. He shook his head a few times and then turned back to look at her again. “Now then big fella, you see if you threaten me it hurts you, don’t you? But if you don’t threaten me, nothing bad will happen to you.” The stallion’s ears came forward, and he snorted as he shook his head again.

Once again Melody started humming and took a few more steps into the center of the ring. The horse made like he was going to charge her again. When she stopped walking, he would veer off and circle away from her. They kept that dance up until she was standing in the middle of the ring.

Then she held her empty hand out toward him and whistled one sharp, loud blast. His head came up and his ears came forward, but he stood there looking at her. After a few minutes, she lowered her hand and hummed again. Then she did it again; raising her hand, she whistled one shrill call again. The horse took a couple of steps toward her and then stopped.

She stood there with her arm out for a minute and then lowered it and started humming again. The horse stood there for a few minutes and then turned his head away as if her presence didn’t bother him. She held out her hand again and whistled. His head came around and he took a few more steps toward her. She just stood there with her hand out and slowly the animal continued to walk up to her. When he was close enough, she carefully reached out and rubbed his head. “Now see, that wasn’t so scary, was it?”

She smiled when she heard the older Mister Ryder from the bench. “Well, I’ll be!”

Melody slowly turned and walked away from the stallion, who just stood where she’d left him. She got to the fence and reached into her saddlebag again and pulled out a couple of sugar cubes. Then she turned back to the horse and whistled that shrill blast again. Without a moment’s hesitation, the horse walked right over to her and she held her hand out, letting him lip the sugar off her hand. “That’s a good start.”

She rubbed the horse’s head and even got to rub his neck and front shoulder flank. The big stallion even leaned into her a bit. She laughed. “You’re just a big softy, aren’t ya? Had them all fooled.”

She patted him a couple more times and turned and left the ring. “That’s a good start. I’ll come back out and work with him tomorrow. Can someone go open the training stall so we can put him up for the night? I’ll call him in once it’s open.”

Sara stood. “I’ll go open the stall he’s been in. Then we’ll all go wait for you up in the house.”

Melody shook her head. “No, you go open the stall and then come back here and sit. I want to see if he’ll come when I whistle if he has to pass other people. If he doesn’t, then you all can leave.”

Tallis looked at her and she felt her knees grow weak at the look he gave her. “That was amazing, Miss Hughes. I don’t think I’ve ever seen anyone make so much progress that quickly.”

She smiled and shrugged, “I wouldn’t know, it has always worked for me. I rarely have to strike the horse. As angry as your foreman got him, I knew he would need to realize that anger caused pain. He’s a smart horse. I’m thinking I can have a saddle on him in a week and have him taking a rider by two. Then we’ll work on desensitizing him after that. He’ll be ready for ranch work in a month.”

“Well, even if you can’t teach us anything else, this alone will make us famous. Being able to break an unbreakable horse will be an amazing thing to do.”

Melody looked at him. “There isn’t anything as an untrainable horse if you don’t break them. Learn to understand them and make them want to understand and work with you. Then you’ll have a well-trained horse every time”

Sara came back and sat on the benches. “Stalls all open.”

Melody smiled. “Let’s see how much your devil horse trusts me.”

She opened the gate and left it open and walked into the stable. After a few minutes, she whistled that shrill blast and Diablo’s head went up and he started trotting toward the sound. He didn’t even pay any attention to the three people sitting on the benches. He passed them and went right into the stable, looking for the woman who called him.

When she walked out of the stable, Tallis Ryder was waiting for her alone. She had the impression he’d been standing in the shadow outside the stable, watching her rub down the big stallion, waiting for her to come out. “Well Melody, can I call you Melody?”