Chapter 6

We got an early start, and Diablo was as happy to be going as I was. When he saw me with the saddle, he snorted, and I heard;

"It's about time! I'm tired of standing around doing nothing."

He was coming through loud and clear. Once I got over the shock, I promised to ride him more often. The girls looked at me like I was nuts, until I told them what Goldie and Dancer (Ann's horse), said. They were in complete agreement with Diablo. Denise didn't bat an eye, but Ann was still trying to wrap her mind around the idea.

"I still have trouble believing you can talk to animals", she said. I've never heard of anybody who could do that."

"I can't talk to every animal", I reminded her, "just some kinds. Horses and dogs, especially. Birds aren't into deep thinking. I have trouble understanding them. Other than what's happening at the moment, that's about all I get. All they care about is food and mating, except for their young. They're very protective about them."

On the way to the cabin. Ann was talking about using my talent to raise horses. Suddenly, she stopped us.

"Look", she whispered, "do you See those elk? I don't know about y'all, but I don't feel like eating out of cans for the next week or so. Do you think you can hit one from here, Paul?"

I knew that she could do it with no problem but, for some reason, it felt like she was testing me. I understood her concern, and it didn't bother me. I got down from Diablo, and into a kneeling position. The shot was only a hundred yards or so, and not difficult. It was a clean kill, and the cow only took two steps before it fell. Ann was grinning from ear to ear, when I turned around.

"Just like dad would do it, I figured as much." She explained, for Denise's benefit. "The cow Paul took was about half lame, and past her prime. Elk don't last long in that shape out here. She would have been coyote food in less than a week, I figure. By taking that one instead of that big bull, he just helped thin the herd. That's how it should be done. A greenhorn looks for trophies. A man hunting for meat does it just like Paul did. I can't wait to tell dad. He'll be really happy."

I just shrugged my shoulders. "It's just common sense", I told her. "Like I said before, killing for food is one thing, killing for fun is something I won't do. Speaking of which, I hope you know how to clean that thing. I don't have a clue, and I doubt Denise does, either."

Ann knew what to do, but suggested we take it to the creek, since we were almost there. That way, we could get cleaned up easier. We rolled it onto a tarp, and tied it to my saddle horn with a rope. Diablo handled the extra burden with ease. He did gripe about dragging it some.

My new knife came in handy, and the messy job was soon done. The girls stored the meat, while I got a shovel and buried the 'leftovers', to discourage scavengers.

Ann showed us how to use the CB radio, as she checked in with the parents. After that, she mixed some things in a big bowl. She said it was a marinade, and put three big elk steaks in it to soak. I guess the girls were feeling domestic, because they chased me out of the cabin. Since it would be quite a while until dinner, I decided to see if I could mow some hay. The rotary mower made quick work of the field, and I manage to put a pretty good dent in it before it was time to eat. I was glad that it went so easy. The hay would need to cure for a few days before it was baled.

In the mean time, the tedder would need to be run over what was cut every so often. Dad said that it fluffed the hay up some, to get it to dry faster. It had to dry before it was baled. Dad had shown me how to test it to see if it was ready to bale. I was supposed to hold a clump, with my hands on the ends, and yank. If it broke, it was ready. If it didn't, it wasn't dry enough.

I almost ate too much to do anything else afterwards. The girls could really cook! I had never had elk steak before, but I was definitely going to have it again. It didn't seem like there was any fat on it at all, but it was tender and tasty. They had even made me some coffee, which I appreciated. I thanked them with a kiss, and got back to work.

We were at the cabin for two weeks, and I worked during every bit of daylight. The girls did a lot more than 'keep house'. Our diet consisted of more than elk and canned goods. It was mostly small game, though. That elk still took up a lot of room in the freezer. They occasionally spelled me on the tractor while I took a break or checked the condition of the hay, too. There was something a little strange about this place. It seemed that no matter how hard I worked, I never got the least bit sore. I felt just as good at night as I did in the morning.

The evenings were the best part. I slept between 'my two beauties' every night. Sometimes, we didn't even fool around. We talked a lot, though. They teased me quite a bit, too. I heard so much about 'our belated birthday present', that I almost quit wondering about it.

Two and a half weeks after we started, it was done. I still had all of my appendages, even the fingers. That pleased mom and dad (and us), immensely. It was three very tired teens that rode up to the house at sundown Thursday. We were all looking forward to a hot shower, and a soft bed. We hadn't had either for far too long.

We would have to wait another day, though. The folks told us that while we were gone, a pipe in the wall upstairs had burst. They had to do a bunch of work to fix it, and it wouldn't be done until tomorrow. Fortunately, there was a spare room downstairs. The bathroom on the first floor was operational, too. After making use of the shower, we managed to make it through dinner without falling asleep. It hadn't been easy, but we stumbled all the way to bed before collapsing.

Mom and dad informed us at breakfast that we had the next three days off. We were not to lift a finger around the place, and that was an order!

They showed us what had been done upstairs, then. My room had been across from Ann's, and there was a bathroom between her room, and Denise's. All three rooms were pretty big, before. Nothing was the same as when we had left.

The whole thing had been remodeled. They knocked out the walls between Ann's room, and mine. There was now a walk-in closet in the bedroom that went the length of the wall, three dressers, and a king-sized bed. The bathroom that used to be Denise and Ann's was much bigger. The shower was huge, and a vanity with three sinks had been installed.

"Since your mother informed me that you were only using one room anyway", dad said, "I figured it should be bigger. Happy birthday."

We were all speechless, and it took a while before we could even thank them. We hugged them until we could talk. They left us alone for a while, so we could check everything out. The first thing we did was try out the new shower. I didn't know things like it existed. There were nozzles everywhere, and it was big enough for a party!

I made the mistake of saying that out loud, and was politely informed that it had better be a 'party of three'. I could live with that. As I told them;

"A man's gotta know his limitations!"

Once we were 'squeaky clean', we went back downstairs to thank everyone again. We were just heading out for a ride, when more good news was passed along.

"As Ann knows", dad said, "the agricultural driving age in South Dakota is fourteen. I talked to Jimmy, he's the sheriff, and he said that he didn't have a problem with Paul driving to and from school. That's providing he does it responsibly, by the way. If he can do that, mom tells me it'll free up a couple of hours that she could sure make use of. We can take you in to take the test as soon as you're ready."

We were all in 'surprise overload'. Mom, dad, and grandpa, walked to the barn with us, and showed us another one. There was a new Ford F-250 king-cab parked inside.

"This is a farm truck", mom warned us, "and it's registered that way. You can use it here, along with to and from school. You can't drive it on the road for anything else, unless an adult is with you."

I was fine with that. I would rather ride Diablo, anyway. The girls wanted to help me study immediately, but I had other ideas. I had been on the ranch over a month, but the only cow I had seen was in the barn. Dad said he wanted to check on them too, so he rode with us. We were met first by two of the strangest dogs I've ever seen. I was almost sorry, when I got off of Diablo. The darn things slobbered all over me. Dad said they were Australian Heelers, and helped keep predators away from the herd. They were neat dogs, even if they could've used a breath mint, or three.

We went to the herd that was supposed to be moved, soon. We met Pete and Ollie, the two hands that took care of them. They seemed like nice guys, and when we told them there was a freezer full of elk, rabbit, and turkey, they were pretty happy about it. They were real happy that we had the cabin ready for them. We even had a bunch of wood cut for them. I kind of got carried away with that. There wasn't much work to do while the hay was drying, so I cut wood.