Chapter 28

The next morning I woke feeling great after the extended rest. I was a little slower about getting up and that had benefits of its own. The coffee was already made and Taachachi sent a cup to me as soon as I found my eating rock. I sipped it and waited for food to make an appearance. When it did I vacuumed it up and then had another mug of coffee.

Our surround pen was empty now and we'd need another hazing party. By my count there were twenty-eight horses still untrained. That didn't count this year's twelve foals that were just recently weaned, mostly by our interference, and sixteen yearlings. Everything this time was just like the last time, except for my part and Biltee's.

He was taking care of springing the trap by controlling the gate while I was riding Buck and hoping I could help instead of hinder the progress. Which it would be was still to be determined.

Everything went fine while we were still getting into position. That was about the end of the good times. These were the last twenty-eight out of seventy. They were also the most fractious. The foals and yearlings were an added bit of confusion but mostly it was the horses we were after that gave us trouble.

Three big mares and one nice sized stallion broke through the line almost at once. They knew what was coming and made their break while there was still a large spread between the hazers. I already knew they were going to be sad to find out we weren't giving up easily.

The foals and yearlings were allowed to pass without molestation. We could get them up for their turn easily after all the adults had been dealt with.

The first pass caught all but five adults since two more had slipped through after the initial three got behind the line. Saytha, Teechi, Teecha, and Caysha moved the captives over to the far side of the pen and Biltee opened the gate again. He stood by out of the way with a few dozen small rocks to discourage any leakers that wanted to change their mind about staying in the nice pen.

Buck and I intended to round up the holdouts. He didn't really understand what was going on at first but caught on quickly. This was a little more understandable to me, since herding his band had been his whole job before we caught him. He wasn't so polite with them either after he discovered what I wanted.

We came on the younger stallion first and when he tried to give Buck trouble he found out who was still boss. Buck tired of his shit pretty quickly and bit hell out of the young one's ass. That got him moving and Buck steered him to the gate using his body and knocking the younger one in the direction he wanted him to go. It was a little painful for my leg a time or two when Buck crashed into him but it was very effective.

The next three mares gave a little trouble but Buck's teeth did yeoman's service on them too. The last one wouldn't even let Buck get close, so I uncoiled my lariat and roped her. Yes, it was a lucky throw, but it settled around her neck and I dallied and urged Buck inside the pen. She tried to hold back but there was no chance of her out pulling Buck.

With the deed done I unsaddled Buck, hobbled him, and let him graze. It was me and Biltee and the rope now, and another rude awakening for the new recruits. We caught twelve, one at a time of course, and left them haltered, tied to the snubbing posts, and pawing the ground. They'd be ready for a little leading by tomorrow morning but right now there were other things on my mind. I caught the big lead mare for her introduction to the saddle, and later, my ass spread across her back.

When we broke for lunch Taachachi made me glad we had, and she also had a little news. The women had finished twenty pairs of hobbles in their spare time and she said they were able to go even faster now that they'd had some practice.

I acted like a starving man at lunch even though I'd had plenty of breakfast. After I was done I walked over to check on Cowta and the new Mama wolf's new cage. When I saw the original Mama lounging under her tree and not even thinking about gnawing on her tether I wondered if the new cage would even be necessary.

It was plain it wasn't during the day because there were always some children with her, petting mostly but tying to get her to play too. What the hell? I untied her leash from the tree, told the children to back off, and started training her to lead properly too. I didn't think I could ever teach her to heel since I'd never been able to teach any dog that, but I could at least get her to work like a horse.

Damned if it wasn't easier than I'd thought. She had a few false starts but they didn't continue. Before long she was getting up, whoaing, geeing, and hawing with the best of them. It gave me confidence in my nascent dog training skills. After tying her up again it was back to face Glenda, the newly named lead mare.

It was almost back to Glenda, but naming her in my mind was as far as I got. As I walked near the place women were plaiting hobbles to beat the band I happened to look down and see a scrap of discarded rawhide thong laying beside a good sized pebble.

Sling. I could show them how to make slings. Ammunition was easy to come by and the sling was an easily portable medium range weapon. I nearly spoke up to the women who were so busy but held my piece until I could find Taachachi.

"I need some guidance from you Taachachi. I just remembered an excellent weapon that is easily made and easy to learn to use. It can be carried in a pocket or even tied around your waist," I said.

"But what is a pocket," he asked, and I showed her on my jeans.

There were a few dozen more questions, mostly about the pocket but some about the sling. When I got over to her that it would be made out of rawhide or leather she called Keeshee from her hobble cobbling and asked her to join us.

When I explained it to Keeshee I left out the part about pockets. She thought she had a handle on it but asked if I could trace out a picture in the dirt. I did better than that. I found a long scrap of thong and a small patch of rawhide, put them together and told her it would be best if they were cut from one piece of rawhide. She cut one out for me in fifteen minutes and I was searching for rocks and then getting away from everyone else.

It took an hour or maybe longer to be able to send the rock in the general direction I intended. I'd seen plenty of slings and read about them in several books. I'd never even had one in my hand before. I kept at it but quit an hour before suppertime. I'd just made enough progress to hit a tree with a rock, as long as it was a big tree. It didn't matter since I thought this was the best thing for me to be doing right now.

I had several more firearms but the ammunition wasn't unlimited even though it was plentiful now. A sling's ammunition was lying around on the ground everywhere and they were not subject to going off unintentionally. I would get twelve more horses started in the morning but I'd be right back to sling practice as soon as I had.

Before I could eat I had to go check on Glenda and then pack my tack back to the camp. It would probably be safe where it was but it was one of two saddles I had and the other one wasn't fit to ride any more. The only thing it would be good for was a pattern when we started making our own.