The Trio of Riders

"And we are off!"

Tylee steps one foot and then the other onto the concrete floor of the tack room. She smiles as a coo comes from Ben who is in the baby carrier strapped to her chest. "What do you think, bud? You ready to saddle Momma's horse?"

A throat clears behind her making her turn and look up into the eyes of her husband. "Who said you are saddling your own horse, my Fawn?"

Readily she grins. "I did, Teddy Bear. I have done it before and just because it is five-thirty in the morning and I have a baby strapped to me does not change a thing."

With an eyebrow raised and his hands on her hips he holds back his smirk. "It doesn't, does it? We will have to see about that." He wraps his arms around her, being sure that he isn't squashing Ben in the middle of them. Slowly he descends his lips onto hers in a soft gentle kiss. "Please let me saddle your horse," he mumbles his lips still millimeters from hers.

Only after a quick kiss on his lips does she sigh. With a mischievous glimmer in her eye she looks down at Ben and smiles. "What do you think, should we let Daddy saddle Black Foot?"

The two month old lifts his hand up and makes a light coo. The sound makes both Tylee and Dan smile proudly and the horses near by perk their ears up.

"See, Ben agrees with me, you shouldn't be doing such things by yourself, yet." Dan moves around his wife and son so that he can wrap his arms around from behind them. These moments are the ones that get him through the sleepless nights and dirty diapers.

Narrowing her eyes at her son playfully she grins and touches his nose. "You are supposed to be on Momma's side, little man. I guess you are right, though, we don't want to hurt Daddy's ego," she says with a giggle and a glance over her shoulder.

As he walks off to catch their horses he calls over his shoulder, "My ego is perfectly fine thank you!"

Tylee laughs and enters the tack room to be sure that all her gear is in tip top shape and ready to ride. Spring and fall works are her favorite times of year and the first day she is itching to get started. Ever since she started helping her Papaw with the works the first day would result in her being up well before the time everyone else planned to rise, and she double checked everything that would be used in the week to use up the extra time.

Dan brings their two horses around and steps into the tack room. Just as he does Tylee steps out with a Dandy brush in hand. He smiles at her and places a quick kiss on her forehead. When she is done with both horses he allows her to position her saddle blanket how she wants it before he comes out with the saddle.

Just as he pulls the cinched tight the sound of a couple pickups pulling up can be heard. He places a kiss on Tylee's lips and the top of Ben's head before ushering them outside. Tylee nods to the men as they exit their cabs before she starts towards the house.

Once inside she feeds Ben and let's him drift off to sleep before slipping him into his crib. She leaves a note in the kitchen for her mother-in-law saying when he had last been fed, saying where the bottles and milk are and when he would be hungry. Although she feels a little like a mother hen she won't trade it for a thing.

As she places her hat back on her head and heads out the door she says a grateful prayer with a smile. One of her favorite times of year just begun and she gets to share it with the people she loves and care about.

At the barn everyone is gathered around introducing themselves and exchanging stories like cowboys always do. She sneaks up behind Dan and wraps her arms around him.

"There she is," he says as he moves her around in front of him. He winks at her before turning his attention back to the men as does she.

Although she runs the ranch and calls the shots Dan is the boss of the works. To some extent that is. The hands look to him for instructions and answer to him, but when it comes down to it he gets the instructions from Tylee and he answers to her. For the most part she lets him put the men in order the way he thinks is best and assigns pen jobs the way he wants, but the gathering of the pastures and the way that goes down she plans. It comes down to the fact that she knows the ranch best and is the nerd of the two of them.

It isn't long and all five horses are loaded in the trailer hooked onto Tylee's pickup. She and Dan climb in the front seat while her cousin Brandon, Jake Rowlins, and Cooper Wells squeeze into the back seat. It only takes about fifteen minutes to get to the place they leave the pickup. The pasture they will gather is the back pasture and isn't accessible by vehicle. They will trot through one pasture before getting to the White Top pasture which they are gathering. Nobody minds the trek across the pastures as it gives them a chance to warm their horses up nicely.

Once everyone is atop their horses Dan motions Tylee to ride up beside him as they begin to ride out. He softly begins to hum the trumpet sounds that happen just before the gate are opened at a horse race. "And we are off!" He announces making her laugh.

"Yes, yes we are." She looks across the dim light land and her lips turn up in a smile. "This year is so different, but in a good way. I don't feel sad and like I have to do things like Papaw always did them. It's like he's smiling no matter what happens."

A bright supportive smile rests on Dan's face as covers her hand in his. "That's great, Fawn."
***

The days flowed bye easily for everyone until finally they come to the last day of the two weeks. The day the biggest meal is served, the day Ben's momma stays home the next morning, and what the hands look forward to the most, the day the paychecks are handed out.

The bunch of cattle roll into the pens just after ten in the morning. It only takes two hands to sort off the calves with the others open gates and move the cattle that are still in the pens from the past days.

For the first week they put in long gathering days covering lost of country while gathering the calves that were born in the fall and are now ready to be shipped. The second week found them putting in equally long days, but with not so much riding as they gathered the cows with little calves that need to be branded.

Today holds a small bunch of only fifteen. Young heifers that had been kept as replacer cows a couple of years ago calved their first calf. They were kept in a small trap close to the house by themselves to be watched so that Dan, or Brandon could keep and eye on them until they have their calf. Now they are in the pens and ready to have the capital H connected to the capital B brand put on their hips.

Cooper is the designated dragger . He ropes the calves back legs and pulls them to the branding and vaccinating equipment, on horse back. Once he has them close enough Brandon and Jake lay it on its side and hold it as still as possible while Tylee brands and Dan cuts the bull calves, ear marks, and vaccinates.

The fifteen go by in a flash and they move to vaccinating the cows. They run the bovines through a long snake like cute and give them a shot of vitamin A, and put a fly spray dewormed mix on their backs. Once the cows are done the hands turn the cows back with their calves before pushing them back into a large pasture.

Tylee and Dan sit atop their horses and look over the pens full of big yearling calves ready to be loaded on a truck in a couple of days. They look at one another then to the hands and say in unison, "We are done."

Dan quickly adds, "After we eat of course!"

They all ride their horses the quarter of a mile to the main house as they don't have a pickup right there. When they arrive in front of the two story house they loosen the cinches on their saddles before hobbling the horses and heading in side.

As soon as her feet step over the threshold of the house Tylee takes the hat from her head and places it on a hook before continuing in. Quickly she spots her mother-in-law holding her two month old son who is wide awake showing his bright blue eyes. Katherine hands him to her easily with a smile.

"Thank you so much for staying with him," Tylee says with a quick glance up from her son.

Dan walks up behind his wife and nods towards his mom. "Yes, thank you."