ENTANGLED 8

the next morning leo and zane had fed all the horses. mollie was cooking brakfast with cassies help travis haddent come pit of his trailer. on the way to the ouse leo detoured over to the traailer and beat on the door and yelled" GET UP" HE COULD HEAR SOME ONE RUMBLING AROUND IN THE TRAILER AND SO HE WALKED ON TO THE KITCHEN. ten minutes later travis came into the kitchen and plopped down in a chair at the table " good morning " was all he could muster. when he came in cassie had jumped up and gotten him a cup of coffee and started fixing him a plate. zane didnt look up or show any intrest. mollie watched as did leo.later when everyone was saddled and ready to go travis was still fooling with his gear , adjusting this or rearranging that. leo finally said" catch up when you can" and turned and left with zane following . finally travis mounted and cassie pointed to the two riders in the distance " we better catch up" she left at a long trott to catch leo and zane. travis trotted along in her dust. a hour later leo pulled up at where he considered the back side of his circle. zane rode to one side and was loosening his cinch and letting his horse catch its breath, he reset his saddle. just as leo had his saddle reset and was cinching up cassie and travis trottted up tracises horse was takeing the rough ground hard. he wasnt limping but you could tell he wasnt used to it. before they could dismount leo walked over to them" casssie you take the inside circle ill drop travis next the zane and ill be on the outside. takem all same thing as yesterday" looking up at travis he said" come on with us". leo led zane and travis on to the next drop point. there he turned to travis" you work this strip of country all the way back to the house. these cattle are gentle so take your time. zane will be on this side and cassie the other waatch for them and not get behind." with out another word he turned his horse and spured him into a long trot with zane following. when he stiopped again he turned to zane"i hate doing this to you but you work this part of the country plus your going to have to keep a eye on travis. i think he is so green the cows will eat him" zane broke a smile" i think he will get lost in a barrel.. ill watch out for him" leo shook his head as he turned to ride on. three hours the drive was in sight of the home corrals. they had a good many pairs. leo loped ahead and opened the main gate to the corral. zane and cassie were busy holding things together. travis sat his horse and didnt move to help . the cows saw the open gate and started filing into the corral and lineing up to the water trough. travis horse was limping now. he had cholla stuck in his shins and one shoe was loose. when the gate was shut he stepped down from the anumal and led him to the barn. he pulled the saddle then found a pair of pliares and started pulling the catus from the horses legs cassie walked up behind him" you need some help? i can hold him." travis shook his head and growled" no i can do it" cassie stepped back" ok i was just offering" she then turned and walked toward the house. zane stepped up behind travis" you didnt have to be such a hard ass. she just offered.she has covered your butt all day long she did her work and yours too." zane stepped around travis and went to the house. leo had over heard the whole thing but didnt say anything he had decided that this young man wasnt even a warm body. he was going to have to think on this a little bit.

ENTANGLED 7

the desert was comming alive. the rain had started greenerry to erupt from the hard scabble soil. under every mesquite a ring of green weeds and grass was growing rapidly to a hight a cow could get a mouth full. in places where there was pot holes in the granite there was water still in place. the cattle were scattered thin because they didnt have to congregate around established water sources.. it took lots of rideing covering large areas to get even the minimum aamount of cattle gathered. at supper that night the new man informed everyone his name was travis beans. he was a aspiring rodeo competitor who had run short of cash before he was to compete at the next rodeo. leo informed him if he went to work here he would stay until the work was done, not until the next rodeo. travis had no answer to that. he just continued eating the great meal mollie had prepared. one thing leo had noticed was cassie was now mooning over travis. before supper that night she had helped get travis es horses settled in for the night. his horses were clean limbed sleek high quality animals. showing a high pedegree. it was plain the horses were just as pampered as their owner. while all this was going on zane simply stood to one side and took everything in. leo didnt think he was a bit upset that cassie had moved her attention on to travis.. after a day of hard work leo was very impressed with zane he saw at a glance this young man was a cowboy. the real deal. he hoped that travis was more than a warm body. it was easy to see travis would use cassie s affection , and leo was grinding his teeth. when traavis went to his trailer to go to bed cassie followed along chattering with him. zane noticed leo s agrivation but said nothing. when zane had gone to his bed roll leo still sat at the supper table.looking to mollie he asked" whats with that girl? she is throwing herself at every young man that comes in arms length." " she is just lonley i guess. she is a growen woman, just let her be as long as she doesent disrupt the works or causes a problem,. i think she will come out of it in time."mollie seemed a bit embarrased. but leo knew she was right. she was a growen woman, a very attractive growen woman.