The Rodeo #2
Maria laughed. It was funny to think of the Montana Rider wearing regular clothes as a disguise. “I guess we wouldn’t know, then.”
She still didn’t want to talk too much about the Montana Rider.
She had acted so silly, swooning over him, when all he was trying to do was protect the ranch.
It had seemed romantic to have a masked vigilante protecting the place.
But the Montana Rider didn’t seem to be doing much against the ongoing ranch sabotage.
In any case, Maria hadn’t seen him again since the last time she’d been out at night.
She’d stayed in since then. The last thing she wanted was a scolding from the Rider.
In the grandstand, with good seats, the Austins got settled with snacks and drinks. Somewhere down there, waiting to compete, were most of the ranch hands.
The rodeo began with entertainment—people in fancy clothes and costumes, riding around to music; rodeo clowns in bright colors with big red noses; announcers explaining things and telling about the upcoming events.
The competitions would come first, and then the stock auction.
Savannah told Maria the auction was boring, but Maria had never been at a real auction before, so she was excited for it.
The first event was saddle bronc riding. Maria watched with interest as the cowboys tried with all their might to stay on unbroken horses.
“Hey, that’s Elijah!” Uncle Russell yelled, as a horse with a familiar rider came out of the chute. Elijah stayed on the horse, spurring it expertly, clutching the rein in one hand while the other hand stayed in the air.
“He has to hold the reins one-handed and stay on for eight seconds,” Savannah explained to Maria. “And he has to start with his feet in the stirrups above the horse’s shoulders. Otherwise he gets disqualified.”
A buzzer sounded, and Elijah quit spurring the horse, sitting straighter, his feet firmly planted now. The horse was quieting down.
“Atta boy, Elijah!” Uncle Russell yelled. “Great job!”
The Austins clapped wildly.
“Eighty-two!” the announcer shouted. That sounded good. Elijah had safely gotten off the horse now. Someone else was riding the next bronc.
“That’s a great score,” Aunt Steph said. “A perfect score’s one hundred, but nobody gets that. Professional riders tend to be in the high seventies or low eighties.”
“There’s Tim!” Savannah shouted.
Maria watched Tim, with his good gray Stetson, holding on and spurring mightily as a huge black horse pitched and bucked under him.
Wow. He couldn’t have stayed on better if he were the Montana Rider.
Of course, Maria had never seen the Montana Rider on a bronc, but she assumed he was good.
Probably that wasn’t fair to Tim, who did tough ranch work all day instead of just riding around keeping an eye on things at night.
When you thought about it, Tim, although not as mysterious and intriguing, was likely a better cowboy than the Montana Rider.
Tim was still hanging on. That must take a tremendous amount of strength to stay on a plunging horse like that. Maria couldn’t imagine having that strong a hand grip. Cowboys needed a lot of muscle.
“Eighty-seven!” the announcer yelled. “That’s one heck of a ride for Tim Daniels, folks!”
The grandstand exploded with clapping, and Maria joined them, a rush of adrenaline surging through her. Every time she turned around, Tim did something that impressed her more.
“I told you he was good,” Grandma Austin exclaimed. “Good for Tim!”
This was so exciting. Basking in the glow of pride that Elijah and Tim had represented the ranch so well, Maria understood now why the Rocker A people talked about the rodeo all the time—it really was the event of the summer.
Another great thing about living in Montana.
Maria felt the tug of the two halves of her life again.
But not even the best cowboys in the world could make her want to leave Dad and Grandma all alone in Michigan.
She had to figure out what to do about her dilemma.
There were many rodeo events, some for just men, some for both men and women, and barrel racing for only women. Maria kept an eye out for Annabelle.
Barrel racing was just what it sounded like from the name. The riders went around three barrels in a predetermined pattern, as fast as possible without knocking any barrels over.
Savannah pointed out Annabelle’s friend Scarlett. She whipped around the barrels, turning her horse so quickly Maria half expected her to fall. She didn’t fall.
“Sixteen point five seconds, folks!” the announcer shouted, and the people in the grandstand cheered.
“She’s good,” Aunt Steph said. “Sixteen or seventeen seconds is great in this arena.”
“What’s Annabelle’s personal best?” Savannah asked.
“I don’t know,” Aunt Steph said. “She and Scarlett practiced together. Hopefully they were both able to help each other.”
Annabelle emerged with a pink cowgirl hat, her blonde hair flying out in a braid behind her. She was riding the same horse Maria had seen her practice on, back at the ranch. Annabelle and the horse flew around the barrels, but even Maria could tell it wasn’t as fast as Scarlett.
“Twenty-two seconds,” shouted the announcer, and the family clapped for Annabelle, but that couldn’t be good. Maybe Annabelle was off her game today.
“There’s always next year,” Uncle Russell said.
“There are other events today,” Aunt Steph said. “She’ll do better. She was probably nervous.”
The events went on. Maria felt bad for Annabelle—who, as the events went on, had a rough night—but it was exciting watching the cowboys and cowgirls compete.
Elijah did well. Tim did better. Maria was proud to be affiliated with the Rocker A.
It was like being friends with the chef in the best restaurant in town.
Not that Maria had been friends with the chef at Rover’s, but she’d probably feel like that if she had.
The stock auction followed. Grandma Austin and Uncle Russell watched and listened as the Rocker A sold cattle and horses.
Prices hadn’t been great lately, but Rocker A stock was good and fetched a reasonable price.
The amount of money people would pay for a horse was astonishing.
How could anybody afford to own horses? But the auction process itself was exciting, another thing that felt like the Wild West.
§
The rodeo was over. Uncle Russell turned to Maria. “I’m going to take Mom and Steph and Savannah home,” he said. “Do you want to come with us, or would you rather ride home with the ranch hands?”
Maria wanted to congratulate Tim. “I’ll stay here and hitch a ride with somebody. Thanks, Uncle Russell.”
It was getting dark, but the midway was a blaze of lights.
Maria went down there, making sure her cell phone was securely in her purse.
It wouldn’t do to get separated from the Rocker A people without a cell phone.
She could just imagine the embarrassment of having to page Annabelle or Elijah from some fairground information booth.
She stopped at a display of Western wear, fingering a fringed jacket, looking for the price tag. Oof. Four hundred dollars. Leather wasn’t cheap. That jacket that Annabelle threw carelessly on the floor, at home, was probably just as expensive, if not more.
“Maria!” a masculine voice exclaimed. Maria looked up and saw Tim, handsome and dusty and glistening with sweat. Rodeo riding was hard work. How had Maria ever thought the Montana Rider was a figure of romance? A real live down-to-earth cowboy was far more attractive any day.
Was Tim really making Maria’s heart go pitter-pat? She’d think about that later.
“Tim!” Maria said. “Congratulations! You were so good!”
He grinned. “Thanks. The Rocker A had a pretty good showing, I think. Nice boots!”
Maria looked down at the boots, now just the right amount dusty from walking through the fairgrounds. “Thanks,” she said. “They were my mom’s. Grandma Austin let me wear them.”
“Good for her,” Tim said. “They suit you.”
“Even though I’m not a cowgirl?”
“We can fix that,” Tim said. “Say the word, and we’ll start your riding lessons.”
Maria smiled. “Thank you.”
“Glad to,” Tim said. “Now, do you wanna go on a ride or two with me? I’m buying.”
His tone was casual, but his blue eyes asked a question. Maria suddenly regretted not going out with him before when he asked. That had been a mistake.
“I’d love to,” Maria said. “But not on anything that goes upside down. I’ll lose my lunch.”
“Wouldn’t want that,” Tim said easily. “Come on, then, I’ve got an idea. Follow me.”
Maria followed him to a ticket booth and around a corner. This area was mostly rides for kids.
Tim stopped. “Ta-da! Now you can be a cowgirl tonight after all.”
In front of them, brightly painted metal horses rode around and around. Maria laughed. “The carousel?”
“Sure, why not?” Tim said. “Adults are allowed.”
“All right,” Maria said. “Let’s.”
Tim handed Maria onto a tall white carousel horse and got on the one next to her. “Here’s a little lesson in riding.” He grinned. “Always keep your heels down so they don’t slip out of the stirrups.”
Maria tilted her heels as far down as they would go on the carousel horse’s stirrups. “Yes sir, ramrod!”
Tim grinned. “You’ve been watching The Virginian, haven’t you?”
“Yeah,” Maria said. “But not since I came here. I used to watch it a lot with my dad.”
“Your dad sounds like a great guy,” Tim said. “Maybe I can meet him sometime.”
“I think you’d get along great with him.” Maria smiled. Dad would like Tim’s straight-forwardness and his courage. And did Tim mean Dad visiting here, or Tim coming to visit Maria in Michigan?