Chapter 24

Barbara and her kids were at the house when we got back and all their things were already inside. My mouth watered from the smell of the lunch we'd missed, and while the restaurant food had been adequate, I knew it wouldn't have compared to the meal I'd missed here. As if she could read my mind Sally spoke up.

"Juanita, I made Frank eat in town and I know he'll hold it against me if you don't give him something he likes better for lunch."

"Sit Frank. I bring real food soon," Juanita said, from the kitchen where she was making delightful food preparation noises.

I sat, and Sally did too.

"You don't think the Judge will do anything rash do you? Something that will cause him trouble later?" she asked.

"I don't know him well, but from the little contact I've had I'd say there's not a chance in hell. No one can really bother him about it anyway. I'm sure the Indian agent bribed someone in Washington to get the position he had, and most people are sick of what they're doing in Washington now anyway.

"General Grant is making a horrible President, and it won't be long before the voters run all the current band of thieves out. The Judge is never coming up for re-election because he wasn't elected in the first place. He was appointed for life. Any sane person that thinks he has the slightest chance of causing the Judge grief knows better than to try."

"What about Squiggly? Barbara is worried he'll come back to get her some day."

"I seriously doubt he'll ever leave prison alive. Even if he does all his bluster will be beaten out of him before that and he'll probably be scared to show his face in this part of the country again. Besides, a divorce would be cheap and certainly understandable in this case. Everyone would understand she couldn't remain married to such a vile criminal.

"People don't like to think about their homes catching fire, and after the trial we won't be the only ones who don't want him around, especially when it comes out there were so many women and children sleeping in the house he wanted to burn to the ground."

"You don't think they'll go easy on him because he was drunk?"

"They'll go even harder on him. There won't be any drunks on the jury. It'll be mostly hard working men who'll shudder when they think of their house on fire with their families in it. Nobody who has ever seen a home burn with people in it will give Squiggly's plight a second thought. I'm only hoping he'll get prison time. They may very well decide to hang him."

"Oh. Maybe I should feel sorry for him then," she said.

"If you catch yourself doing it try putting your arm in the stove's firebox while it's going good and then imagine how it would feel all over. I'm sure the idiot didn't think about a bit of that while he was on the way to kill us all. That's the very reason he needs to be locked up, if not hanged. And he didn't just start thinking about getting even with me after he got drunk. He already wanted revenge and the whiskey just gave him the courage to try getting some."

"I understand, but I still think it's a shame."

"It is a shame. It's also a shame I didn't let the dogs just tear him to pieces, but there's a chance the next fool who wants to burn somebody out will hear about him and decide the fire he wanted to start wasn't such a good idea after all. It isn't much of a chance, but at least there is one.

"It's hard enough for people to learn from their own mistakes, much less learning from someone else's. Just look at you."

"Me?"

"Yes you. You should have known better than to take up with a scallywag like me after you saw Helen's mistake, but you jumped in with your legs spread all the same."

"I'm going to make you pay for that, tonight," she said, and left trying to make me think she was in a huff.

After Juanita filled me up I thought I might have time to get started with Frank. Blossum had already given me the cavesson and plaited line for use on him. I walked to the barn we'd commandeered for my use and Jim was fooling around inside it cleaning something up. The place already looked a lot better and all the stalls I'd ordered were finished and had occupants.

Jim watched me closely while I went into the stall with Frank, put the cavesson on, and attached the longe line, then he followed us outside. I found a good spot of nothing but grass and enough room for Frank to run around in a circle.

I settled myself in the center of my imaginary circle and told Frank to get. He took off walking and since I had the line connected to his head he was circling me shortly. I urged him to go faster and he started to trot, and we were on our way.

The actual process of longeing a horse seems simple once you see it done, and it is. What makes it useful is what you train them to do while longeing. I only intended to see that he had the three basic gaits down and that he switched leads properly when he turned around.

Most people don't even understand what a horse's lead is. It's simply which foot they're leading with as they gallop. After all, one has to go before the other. When they start to turn or curve while galloping they need to be leading with the inner legs. Horses that do it easily in either direction are not as common as you might think. They have to be trained to do it and a longe line is the easiest way to get started.

Luckily Frank took the correct lead every time. It's always nice when a horse knows how to do it right from the get go. Still, I made him take a walk, trot, and run around on the line and then had him turn around and do it the other way. After he was doing well I called Jim to me and explained what I was doing. It took Jim a little concentration to talk and listen while we were constantly turning in a circle to keep the rope from wrapping up around us.

It was easy though since Frank was being so cooperative. We put Frank back in his stall after a while and took Bob next. I should have known right away that Bob and probably Red too would have their leads settled in correctly. Hell, surely I'd have noticed before if they didn't since it's easy to tell when you're riding them and I'd had plenty of ass time on the both.

We gave them some time playing horsy go round though and Remus came walking up as we finished with Red and we putting him a way.

"What y'all up to Frank?" he asked, when he got close.

"I was just making sure Frank was going to be handy both ways when I start riding him."

"Do you think you can fix one that ain't?" he asked.

"I can try, and it's sure a pain in the ass when they ain't."

"Ain't it. We've got two pretty good geldings that can't work to the right worth a shit. I'll admit I don't know what to do about it. Usually when ones that way you can break 'em of it by just keeping them in the other lead when you get 'em to do it, but these to just don't never," Remus said.

"Well, send 'em to the barn there when you can and I'll let Jim work on 'em. I guess I'm gonna need a couple more stalls in there," I said, and Remus took off to somewhere.

"How's I gonna do that Frank? I see what you talkin' bout, but I don't know how to make horses that don't want to do that."

"Not really much to makin' 'em do it right on the ground with a longe line. Just make 'em circle the way they don't want to, and if they won't switch leads right just make 'em go faster until they have to. They'll change sooner or later. You might even need a long handled whip or something with a little popper on it. Once they get moving they'll go faster if you snap the popper behind 'em."

Jim and I no sooner put Red away than Remus had sent one of the hands up with George, a big bay gelding.

"George just won't change leads at all. He's got ways to do his work without it but they're clumsy as hell," he said.

"Ok, he ain't got nothing wrong with his feet does he?"

"Naw. We looked them over a dozen times and they seem all right. He was like that when Jack bought him though and ain't no telling who or what got him so bad with his leads," the hand said, and he left too once we too George off his hands.

Jim put the cavesson on George and started him in a slow lope the way he wanted to go. I couldn't see a damned thing wrong with his gait. When we started him in the other direction he did change lead but he kept trying to pull around and change back to the other direction.

If I'd thought he was just injured and it hurt for him to go that way I wouldn't fuck with him. I'd put him down and go on to the next one, but I didn't think he was. For some reason he was just used to the one lead now and he wasn't comfortable with the other. Horses can be hardheaded about nothing sometimes.

"We're probably going to have to build a round pen to practice in for him. He will change leads but he just keeps pulling away to change back. I've seen some of them act this silly before, but not very damned often. They've let him get away with it for so long now it'll be hard to make him do right."

"You right. I can see it ain't hurtin' him to do it like we wants him too, he's just stubborn about it. I thinks a pen would make it easier, but I don't think I gots to have one. I'll just keep making him do it right until he gives up. Ain't no horse or mule as stubborn as me. I never even thought of making them run around like this, but now that I has seed it I likes it. Can this be my job?" Jim asked.