Chapter Eleven
A storm swept over the town and ranch so quickly that it caught everyone by surprise.
Everyone rushed inside to secure everything while the storm rattled the window panes and threatened to take the doors off their hinges.
Anna knew the animals would be frightened, and they hadn’t had enough time to get them to a proper shelter.
“I’m going to the west field,” Connor said, standing on the porch as the rain poured down, soaking him. “I’ll take some of the others, and we’ll round up the cows and get them into their shelter.”
“Good.” Anna shrugged on her coat. “I’m going to the upper field to do the same.”
“Do you need someone to go with you? It’s going to be rough doing it on your own.”
“I can manage.”
Anna wasn’t going to stand there talking to her foreman when they had to protect their animals.
And the only two people she could take with her were Edwin and Travis.
Anna didn’t trust Edwin at all, and she wasn’t sure if she could trust Travis.
Yes, she enjoyed their hug and her rescuing her from the snake, but that didn’t mean she could fully trust him.
Anna wasn’t about to be led by how attractive someone was.
Connor looked like he was going to argue, but instead he nodded and turned away.
“Be quick and be careful,” he warned. “We need to hurry.”
Anna didn’t need to be told twice. She hurried out, almost getting knocked over by the wind, and went to the stables.
Her horse was already saddled up and ready to go, although she was nervous about going outside.
Anna managed to get her outside and urged her into a gallop over the soft mud.
There wasn’t any time to ease the fears of her horse; the cows needed to be corralled right then and there.
As she moved past the house, a shadow appeared from the back.
It took a moment for Anna to realize it was Travis.
She could feel her face warm as she immediately thought about their earlier hug.
Her thoughts returned to the hug, and she bit her lower lip.
He pushed his sodden Stetson up to look up at her.
“Where are you off to?” he shouted over the sound of the rain.
“We need to get the cows under shelter,” Anna shouted back.
“On your own?”
“I can manage.”
But Travis didn’t look convinced. He held onto her reins, and Anna resisted the urge to push him away with her foot.
“Wait for me,” he said. “I’ll come with you.”
“No, I’m going alone. I don’t have time to wait.”
“You can’t handle…”
“I can’t handle it on my own?” Anna countered sharply, wiping water off her face. “I haven’t got time for this, Travis. I’ve done this before. So just let go, and let me get on with it. If you want to do something useful, make sure the house is secure. This is going to be a bad one.”
Then she rode off before Travis could respond, the reins slipping through his grasp. Anna resisted the urge to look back, sure that he was staring after her. She didn’t have time to deal with any of this; she had to get her animals somewhere safe.
It felt like the journey to the top field took longer than usual, the wind and rain pelting her and making Anna wonder if she was going to fall off her horse. She was certainly slipping around on the saddle. It wouldn’t take much for her to end up on the ground.
She gritted her teeth and concentrated. She’d done this alone before. This was something she could handle in her sleep. Nothing to it.
And yet when she arrived at the top field and saw the cows huddled together in the middle, she knew that it was going to be a tough one.
She went over to the gate and opened it, managing to get through and close it again without falling off her horse.
Then she urged it into a gallop, reaching the cows and circling them.
There was a chorus of moos from the cows, and a couple of the bulls looked at her warily.
They were clearly scared, but they weren’t interested in moving.
They had to, though. There was a bad-weather shelter at the bottom of the field, where they needed to go. Only a couple were by the shelter. All the others were practically at the other end of the field.
They really needed to get moving. Anna had found animals caught out in a storm like this before, and the outcome wasn’t pretty.
She began to circle them, hoping to herd them toward the shelter. But the cows didn’t want to move. One bull shifted closer to her and then tossed its head, almost catching Anna in the leg as she went past. She had to veer off, her heart racing at the near miss.
She tried again, but the bull was stubborn. It just wouldn’t let her anywhere near it. Anna could feel her hands slipping on the reins, her legs sliding about in the saddle. She couldn’t end up on the ground. She had to get them to safety.
For a moment, she regretted not agreeing to Travis’s help. But Anna knew she could manage. She was more than capable.
Just then, there was a shout, and she saw a figure on horseback riding toward her. As they got closer, Anna caught sight of Travis’s face as lightning flashed overhead.
“What are you doing here?” Anna asked.
“Coming to help you.” Travis pulled up beside her. “You can’t do this on your own.”
Anna smarted at that comment. She was independent, and she’d done it before but the storm was getting worse. She had to do something.
“I’m here now, so you might as well show me what to do.”
Anna wanted to tell him to go away. She could handle this on her own, and it wouldn’t be a problem. The animals were getting very nervous with the storm, and they had become dangerous in the past, but she’d done this plenty of times. Herding cows was nothing.
Even so, a tiny part of her was glad that Travis had come out with her. Even if they were both getting soaked to the skin. Anna didn’t want to get pneumonia. Nodding once, she set her horse into motion.
“Just follow me to begin with and watch,” she said over her shoulder. “Then copy what I do on the other side.”
“Where do they need to go?”
“Into the shelter at the bottom of the field. It’s big enough for the entire herd.” Anna pointed. “See that building there?”
Travis squinted, leaning forward in his saddle.
“Just about.”
“Once they’re close enough, they’ll see it and run for cover. Right now, they’re petrified and don’t want to be hassled into moving.” Anna urged her horse to the right to round up a cow that was starting to break away. “We just have to keep them together. Just do what I do on the other side.”
“Don’t you normally have more people to do this?” Travis shouted over the wind as he trotted away. “Why do it alone?”
Anna ignored him. She wasn’t going to get into an argument when they had something more important to focus on.
She managed to get the cow back to the herd, but there were a couple of bulls near her that looked wary.
She wondered if they were going to bolt.
If they did, hopefully, it wouldn’t be in her direction.
Anna knew she couldn’t cope with both of them.
She spied Travis keeping close to the other side of the herd, ensuring the cattle stayed together.
He didn’t seem panicked at all, and there was a confidence about him that she hadn’t seen before.
Even in the dim light with the occasional flashes overhead, she could see the determined look on his face, the concentration in his eyes as he worked.
He was taking to this a lot quicker than she had thought he would.
He was really trying hard. Anna felt a pang of guilt for not giving him a proper chance.
She’d been so worried about having her marital status changing and not wanting to be tied down as a wife that she’d forgotten about the man himself.
He was another asset who was becoming very useful.
She could still remember when they ended up in a heap in the same field, how warm Travis’s body felt, and the way her fingers tickled as if she’d touched something hot. She recalled how close they were, how she felt lightheaded from their closeness.
She pushed that away. Now was not the time. She wasn’t about to reminisce about something that had no business being in her life.
One of the bulls snorted and came toward her.
His nostrils were flared, and he looked ready to charge.
Anna felt the panic setting in, but she fought it down.
She wasn’t about to show any fear of this animal.
If they sniffed it out, she would be thrown to the ground and stamped out of existence. She moved her horse a little closer.
“Don’t even think about it,” she muttered under her breath.
But the bull seemed to have other ideas.
It suddenly charged, and Anna barely got her horse out of the way.
But as the bull shot past her, her horse slipped, and Anna ended up in the mud.
Anna cried out as she hit the ground hard with a wet splat.
Pain shot up her side, from her knee and hip to her elbow.
Stunned, she lay on the ground for a moment, trying to get her bearings.
Her head was spinning, and it felt like the world was tilting even though she wasn’t moving.
“Anna!”
Someone leaned over her, hands touching her face. Anna blinked, focusing on the face above her.
“Travis?”
“Did you hit your head?” His eyes were searching her face. “You went down pretty hard.”
“I… I don’t know.” Her head hurt, but she couldn’t recall hitting it. Travis helped her to sit up, the wet mud seeping into the seat of her coat and trousers. It was very cold. “Maybe?”
“I’m not surprised. You were lucky to get out of the way.” Travis cupped her head in his hands. “Do you want to head back to the house? I can look after this.”
Anna was very tempted to. But she couldn’t. She had to finish what she started. She wasn’t someone who walked away without completing something. She shook her head, wincing as it made everything tilt again.
“No, I… I’ll be fine.”
“Are you sure?”
“Just get me back on the horse, Travis.”
He looked as if he was going to argue with her, but decided against it. Helping her to her feet, he walked over to where Anna’s horse stood, and helped her into the saddle. It made Anna feel like she was on a ship being tossed around in the waves, but at least she was back where she needed to be.
“I don’t think you should do this,” he said. “You had a nasty fall…”
“I’m tougher than you think.” Anna took hold of the reins, squeezing them in her gloved hands. “We’d better get moving. Otherwise, this herd is going to be scattered, and we won’t get them back.”
Travis didn’t look happy about her answer, but he nodded and swung himself up into his saddle, turning the horse around and trotting quickly to the other side of the herd.
Somehow, despite it all, the cattle had mostly stayed together.
They just stood there, watching everyone unfold around them.
The only one missing was the bull that had charged Anna.
It was prancing around further up the field.
Anna ignored it. She would deal with that one later. Her priority was on the main part of the herd.
It took a few goes of gently nudging them in the direction of the shelter before the cattle decided they were going to move.
They started at a sedately walk, and then a gentle trot, before that became more urgent.
The storm overhead was getting worse, and Anna needed to get them moving.
They seemed to respond, though, which was a good sign.
Travis did the same on the other side, herding the animals in the same direction.
He didn’t seem to bat an eye when a couple of cows got a bit too close to him before veering back into the pack.
If anything, he looked more comfortable in the saddle than Anna did.
She wondered how much experience he’d really had with cattle. For someone who was meant to be inexperienced, he was good. Anna had a feeling he’d done it at some point in the past. Lumberjacks often had to get animals away from the trees they were felling to keep them safe. Maybe that was it.
She wasn’t going to dwell on it. Not when she was still worried about losing her ranch. If Connor was right about Travis wanting the ranch for himself…
No, she couldn’t think about that when she had to get her animals to safety. She could worry about these concerns later.
It felt like forever before they got the cattle to the shelter, where they huddled together, out of the rain.
The bull that had attempted to charge Anna was starting to realize that he’d been left alone and was trotting down the slope toward them.
Anna moved aside and watched as the bull joined the rest of the herd, one cow mooing loudly at him as if to admonish him for his actions.
“Thank goodness that’s done,” Travis said, sounding breathless. “I thought they were never going to move.”
“Cows are stubborn creatures,” Anna replied. “A bit like humans, in that respect.”
“I won’t argue with that.”
Then Travis sneezed, and water flew off his Stetson. Anna looked down at herself and felt the cold really setting in. She felt her clothes sticking to her, and she began to shiver.
“We’d better get back,” she said, raising her voice over the roll of thunder that rumbled in the sky. “Otherwise, we’re going to end up sheltering with the animals.”
Travis shuddered.
“Not my idea of a fun evening.” He turned his horse around. “Lead the way.”
Anna was more than happy to do just that.