THE RUNNING IRON 4

jenson came back to the corral "the state vet cant have anyone here until tomorrow. pair that calf up with his mother then if the rest of the cows here are yours you can turn them back to the pasture. ill be here at 8 in the morning. the vet should be here then ill bring mr. brooks also. we need a little come to jesus over that mis branded calf." mike simply nodded" thanks for all your doing. but what will happen if that calf does have screw worms?" " they will likley quaranteen a big area around here. but lets see what the vet says tomorrow" jenson explained. jenson got in his truck and drove away. mike and emily stood there together watching him raise dust. " get your horse and lets figgure out what we got here." mike said. emily went to her horse as did mike. after he released the calf from the chute. then they sat and watched to see what mother cow would claim the calf. after a half hour a tall thin cross bred cow allowed the calf to suck. emily opened a side corral and mike started easing the pair to the gate. when he had them corraled he could see the cow wore the ladder brand. going back to the big corral he rode through the rest of the cows but they were all 66 ranch cows emily opened the gate and they drove them out of the corral and started them back up country in the pasture. after a while they were sure the cows were going home in the pasture mike and emily turned back toward home. after a while emiley asked mike " whats the big deal about a screw worm?" " you never had to deal with them but they are pretty bad. they multiply very rapid and any raw wound or cut on a animal they get into quick left un treate they can kill lots of animals. there was a time the whole southern end of the state was infested with them. cowboys carried dope to treat the wounds. lots of ropin went on. the goverment figgured out the female fly only mates once in her life. so the goverment started raising the flys and the male flys they sterolized. they turned loose millions and millions of them. thats what finaly pushed them back into mexico. we cant afford even one case like this one."mike went into details explaining about the fly " i watched my dad and others ride from daylite to dark doctoring, i can even still smell the dope they smeared on the infested cuts. it didnt hardly wash off. it was all mom could do to cook a meal with dad there,"mike was remembering a past that few were aware of anymore. " we are gonna wear out some horses keeping watch now its bad enough we got a neighbor with a running iron habit but he brings the fly too. after tomorrow we better stock up on everything you can think of. we wont have a free day for a while." mike sounded down emily couldnt believe what she was hearing. she wasnt ranch raised. so she was learning lots of thinggs, but what she just heard she didnt think was good.

THE RUNNING IRON 3

the next morning before it was full light out mike was saddling a horse as he pulled the cinchas snug emily stepped up behing him. "can i go?"she asked. mike looked over his shoulder at her. " your horse is in the corral go gget him. ill saddle him for you while you get dressed." when emily came back keading her horse mikestarted brushing the horse while emily trotted to the house. in about 15 minutes she came back haveing changed into wranglers and a denim shirt with abrush jacket over it. mike handed her her reins and she led the horse forward a few steps be for mounting. mike was already heading up the trail into the pasture.after going a good mile into the pasture mike stoped. when emily caught up he pointed to a wide canyon"you work that way. dont booger nothing just look at every thing. if you see a problem take note of where you are. then tell me later. we can go back and get them if need be." emily nodded and turned down into the canyon. mike watched her ride away for a few moments. he never got tired of seeingher horseback. he shook his head and turned up the ridge where he found the mis branded calf. he had been running that ladder brand through his head but couldnt place it. maybe some one bought out the old ryder place next to him. it was the only thing that came to mind. ryder had been trying to sell out for a long time. he was a poor manager of his ranch. he kept the ranch over stocked and ate out. it was just brush and rocks now. every one that looked at would turn their noses up at it. ryder had dropped the price drasticly. mike hadnt heard if any one had bought it. but he figgured it was posible. as he rode along he would see little bunches of his cattle he would get arounf them and hld them up and look them over. almost all his calves were branded. only anything just born would be slick. the farther up the country he rode the more cattle he found. his cattle were in fair shape eve tho it hadnt reined in months. mike thought to himself "he might have to sell some cows or start feeding some hay." he didnt want to do either one. as he neared the back of his pasture he was nearing the ivision fence he shared with ryder. he was in sight of the fence line when he came on five cows, all wearing the ladder brand. he didnt bother them but loped ahead to the fence line. there he found a broken wooden fence post and the wire laying on the ground. the cows had come through there. he loped back to the cows and got around them. they didnt want to go back but with a little prodding mike got them turned and walking back. at the down section of fence the cows tip toed over the still tight wire. and went back on their side of the fence. mike carried a folding saw on his saddle. he went to a close mesquite tree and cut a couple of stakes then useing them he propped up the broken fence post and tied it all together with a scrap of barbwire he found. if a cow hit it hard it might fall, but it would turn a gentle cow. as he mounted he saw emily comming at a trot. when she drew near she hollered " better come i need some help." she turnned and started bak down the canyon the way she had come. mike hit a lope to catch up. they hadnt gone far whe they came to a little bunch of cows and calves. among the cows was big calf with a bloody infected spot on its ribs, bood was driping down it s ribs. it ha been branded and the brand went to deep. it was trying to peel. the brand was a ladder brand. "could you see which one was its mother?" mike asked. emily just shook her head. " ok lets take the whole bunch home, we will sort it out there." mike popped his chap leg and started the little bnch back down the country. as the calf with the bloody brand walked a little blood would squirt from a small hole in the brand. mike shook his head. he didnt like what he was seeing. emily asked what caused that. mike said he wasnt sure they would see when they got the calf home. it was mid afternoon when they drove the cattle back in the yard just as they were shutting the gat the brand inspecter drove up.he got outof his truck and looked at the cattle in the corral. " you find some more"he asked. " yep i found a peice of down fence up next to the ryder, i put some ladder cows through ther and fixed the fence. we found these. i think one calf has screw worms." mike stated when he heard screw worms the brand inspecter jumped. thats the last thing we need. emily and mike carefully sorted off the big calf and a couple of cows into the squeeze chute ally. mike got off his horse and went to the chute with jenson. emily ran the cattle up the lead up to the chut and closed the gate then jumped off her horse and stepped up to the chute and prodded the cattle forward. the calf was first in line and when in the chute and secure jenson again produced the little pocket camera and started takeing pictures of the bloody brand. he stepped back and told mike " the laddr belongs too a guy from southern new mexico. he just bought the ryder. he applied for the ladder at the brand dept. his name is chandler brooks. thats about all i could find out so far. hold that calf right there. ime going to radio this in to the state vet." jenson then walked to his truck. mike could hear him talking on his radion. d inspecter nearly jumped"lets see. thats the last thing we need."