Page 15 of Ember Meadow
There has to be an easy way out of this. If I honk my car horn will they move? Or will they trample me? I look ahead, assessing the situation. They are everywhere I look. Dozens and dozens of cows, trampling the empty flower beds, eating the grass around the cabin, pooping in the road.
My gaze slides to the left, where a few more are gathered by the back wood fence that goes around the cabin, separating the small yard area from the rest of the property. Well, what used to be the fence. Now, it’s gathered on the ground in a pile of logs. Perfect.
I pull out my phone and dial Walter. Surely, he’ll have some cowboys come and take care of this, right? These have to be his cattle. He answers on the first ring.
“Well hello there, young lady. How is everything coming along so far? Did those boys get the guest cabin ready for you? They better have.” I can hear his warm smile through the phone.
“Actually, Walter, I haven’t made it quite that far yet. I was heading up to the Old Cabin to take some photos for my interior designer, and when I got here… well…” I search for a polite way to describe my current predicament. “There are sort of a few… cows. Dozens of them. Blocking the road, standing all around the cabin. I think some might have trampled the fence too. They wouldn’t happen to be your cattle, would they?”
“Ah shoot. They’re mine, alright. So sorry about that, I’ll get someone out there real soon to take care of it. There’s not too much damage is there? Damn cows, they kinda go wherever they please I’m afraid,” he says.
“No, nothing too bad, just the fence. Thanks for the help,” I assure him. If it was anyone else I might be a little mad, but I just can’t be mad at Walter.
“Don’t you worry about that, we’ll get it fixed too. Sorry again,” he says.
I pull out my laptop after saying goodbye to Walter, hoping to get a little bit of work done while I wait for someone to come and get the cows. It’s not like I can go anywhere anyway, I’m blocked in by cows on all sides now.
The familiar sound of a horse galloping towards me pricks my ears. It’s only been around fifteen minutes. My laptop shuts with a snap as my attention is dragged away. Two cowboys on horseback ride towards me with a cattle herding dog following closely to the side of the first horse.
They surround the cows on one side, pushing them back towards the back right of the cabin yard. The cows in front of my car run off to the side, clearing my path, but I’m too wary to move quite yet. The horses move so quickly, cutting sharp corners, working with the cattle dog to move the cows into a pile in the back corner of the yard.
It’s a flurry of hooves, dust, cowboy hats and whistles.
One of the cowboys hops down and unlatches the small gate in the fence. Cows pour through it like water through a funnel. I’m so in awe of it all I can’t look away. They were so quick, the cows just listened to their movements and gathered like they were just waiting here for instruction.
After the last of the cows is through the fence and they’re running off towards the ranch again, the cowboy that hopped down to open the fence closes it again and claps his hands, dust coming off of his gloves like a cloud. The second cowboy hops down from his horse and I can hear a murmured conversation. Feeling a little safer to move, I start my car and pull forward into the drive of the cabin.
I move to gather my things, ready to hop out and thank the two cowboys that saved my morning, when there’s a quiet tap on my window. I look up, right into bright brown eyes and a bearded frown. Miles.
Of course it’s Miles.
He steps back as I open my door, climbing out of my car with my laptop under my arm.
My eyes slide from his face down to his arms, on his hips. I don’t think he even realizes how powerful his stance is. If I was anyone else, I’d be scared to mess with him. His biceps bulge in his sleeves, his tan forearms peeking out from beneath his rolled up, black long-sleeve shirt.
“Sorry about the cattle. Won’t happen again,” he says with a nod.
“No problem. Thanks for coming so quickly to take care of it.” Good. This is exactly how things should go from now on, cordial, short and sweet.
“Walt insisted that I was the one to come out here, so you weren’t dealing with a stranger,” Miles explains, as if he can’t stand I’d think he’dwantto see me. Point taken.
“Okay,” I say.
“Hi,” a much happier voice says from behind me, “I’m Parker.”
I turn around to the smiling face of Miles’s friend from the bar last night, his curly hair hidden under a straw cowboy hat. He still feels familiar to me, but I can’t quite place it.
“Hi Parker, I’m Katie.” I shake his outstretched hand. At least someone that works here knows how to greet a stranger.
“Your name’s Katie? That’s so funny, one time Miles– ow!” Parker is cut off by Miles punching him in the arm.
“She doesn’t want to hear your rambling, Park. She’s got a job to do,” he says.
“That actually hurt, man,” Parker mumbles at Miles, still holding his arm where Miles punched him.
Turning back to me, Miles’s face goes stone cold again, “We’ll get out of your way.”
“Actually I was just thinking about how nice it is to have someone around that wants to have a conversation with me in full sentences,” I say with a sarcastic smile. I just can’t help it, jabbing at him is so fun. His ears turn red within seconds.
