VIRAGO

ludic

ludic (adj.) - full of fun and high spirits

"Ready for your first rodeo?" Tom asked her when she came over that Friday afternoon. She gave him a big grin, nodding.

"I'm a little scared to make a fool of myself in front of a crowd, but I'm excited." She answered as she was handed her saddle. This time it would just be her and Nash competing, for Tom had done a show earlier in the week with Scarlet and decided to help out in the managing side of things.

"Eh that's how everyone feels. Even after twenty, thirty years of doing this I'm still scared to make a fool of myself." He chuckled as Nash found them outside beginning to load the horses.

"George, Nick, and Ryan are just going to meet us in Saginaw." He informed as he greeted her with a kiss on top of her head.

"Sounds good. We're just about loaded up." Tom answered. "Samantha, in honor of your first rodeo and for being a part of this family now, this is for you." He told her as he pulled a box out of the backseat of the truck, and she looked at Nash, then to Tom, then back to Nash. She opened the box and pulled out a cream colored felt hat with a decorative braided band around the base of the hat.

"I don't know what to say." She said with a small gasp of disbelief. Tom gingerly took it out of her hands, took off her baseball cap and put it on top of her head.

"A thank you will suffice." He chuckled. "Now, let's go win ourselves some money, shall we?" He added, and she gave him a hug.

"Thank you." She responded, and they all loaded up and got going to Saginaw. They were all singing along and off key to the music and snacking on the bags of chips that were being passed around the truck. They arrived in Saginaw an hour and forty-five minutes later and parked, getting the horses out of the trailer and going and registering. This rodeo was bigger than the one in Caseville, and it made her nervous about the bigger playing field, but Nash could sense her fear and he grabbed her hand.

"You're gonna do great Reed. Pretend the crowd is in their underwear or something." He said in her ear, making her laugh. She was introduced to more important people as they waited for their events to be called. She was participating in the barrel racing and bareback riding, for now at least. She was a natural at those events, so they worked hard at them before keening in on the others. She watched the other events, tried to keep a light heart, but a knot was forming in her stomach. She was way out of her comfort zone and had been, but she had been loving every minute of it since she met Bandit those few months ago.

After what seemed like a lifetime, she was getting onto the back of Bandit, and everything was going in slow motion. She could hear the announcers saying her name, the name of her horse, and that it was her first rodeo. Tom was on her right and Nash was on her left, George and Ryan were next to either one of them hyping her up.

"Alright, just remember, keep your thighs tight, hold that strap tight, pops wound you up nice. Keep your left arm up for balance and don't touch him or you're outta here. Just stay on for eight seconds and watch your legs." Nash told her as she gripped the leather strap and held her left arm up and away. She looked up at Nash and gave him a nervous smile.

"Let's run it." She said with a heavy sigh and a grin, and Tom looked up at the guy manning the fence and nodded. The fence whirled open and Bandit came out the gate, bucking away. She held on for dear life, keeping her free hand up and away from the horse and from herself. She could hear the crowd chanting the numbers as they went up on the timer. She heard the crowd yell eight, and she knew she had landed the time, and the pickup men came and swooped her off the horse. She could hear the crowd cheering as Bandit settled down and she got to her feet, and she could hear her crew banging on the fence as they gave her a score of eighty-three, best of the night so far. She pumped her fist in the air as she gave a wave before heading over to Bandit, who was being held by the other rodeo hands. They opened the fence for them and they got out of the ring, and Nash lifted her up and swung her around in his arms.