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THE NEXT MORNING LEO AND CREW WENT INTO THE HOLDING PASTURE AND GATHERED ALL THE COWS AND CALVES THAT WERE THERE. LEO HAD IT FIGGURED THEY HAD GATHERED ABOUT HALF THE CATTLE ON THE RANCH BUT THE CORRAL WOULDNT HOLD ALL OF THEM THEY WOULD HAVE TO ONLY WORK A HALF AT A TIME. . when they had everything in the corral he moved in and cut most of the cows into a a djoining corral leaveing just a few with the calves to keep them from getting to wild. he rode by zane and travis and said" you boys tie tour ponies up ." then he rode to cassie who sat her horse by the gate" think you can heel and drag those calves? hold them by the hind feet while we work them that way it will only take one man on their heads."\ cassie nodded and took her rope down and started building a loop. leo rode on to the fence where the horses were tied. a propane branding pot was there and zane had already lit it the irons were getting hot. mollie came into the corral with syringes and vaccine she set them up on a barrel top and started filling them . leo walked over to travis. " you ever do this before?" he asked. travis started to speak but finally just shook his head. " ok let zane flank the first one, watch what he does. be sure to lay them left side up. ill tell you when to turn them loose. this wont be to hard because cassie is going to hold them with her horse. its slower but not as hard on the ground crew."leo explained. when he turned back to the fire he saw the irons were red hot. he slid them back just a little so they would stay hot but not so hot as to burn through the hide on the calves. he turned to cassie and nodded. she held her loop down along her side and eased the horse into the bunch of calves. one calf turned back to go past her. she took one easy swing and slid the loop under the calves belly in front of its hind legs. the calf jumped forward and cassie held the slack in her rope high as she turned her horse toward the fire. when the rope snugged up around the calves leggs she dally ed her rope and jerked the calf on it side as she drug it up to the fire. as she passed zane he put his arm over her rope and slid down to the calf. he grabbed the calfes tail and flipped it over so the left side was up. he then grabbed the front leg and doubled it back, putting his knee behind the calfs head holding it down. cassie had spun her horse and was keeping the rope tight on the hind legs. mollie stepped up and injected the calf with a vaccine in two different. places. while she was doing that leo had burned the ranches brand on the calfs ribs. he then took his pocket knife and cut off half the calfs left ear. zane stood up and cassie undallied her rope letting the calf up . that calf had been a heifer. the bull calves would be casterated before getting turned up. the whole process took less thhan a minute. the next calf cassie brought was a bit smaller and she had it on a shorter rope. as she came past the fire travis mimiced zane and went down the rope , flipped the calf onto its side. then squatted with his knee on the calfs head. . as they progressed through the day leo watched travis closely. he had a few wrecks but nothing bad, he didnt complain or whine. zane looked over at leo who shrugged they had niney three calves to brand. the cows were just starting to get enough green feed that they were milking a good amount and their hair was getting a shine to it. the calves were loosing their pot bellys and starting to look like the good beef calves they were. as they neareed the end of the calves to brand there ws a bigger than average bull calf left she heeled it and spun toward the fire, but the calf slipped one leg from the loop as she came to the flankers zane looked at travis" tail him down ill take his front end." travis nodded. as the calf came close travis grabbed the calfs tail and jerked hard to the side. while in the air zane grabbed the calfs front leg and kneeled on his head. cassie rode up and travis was putting the loop on both hind feet when the calf started kicking but travis stayed in place and pulled the loop snug on two feet. when the dust settled they could see the calf had ripped the leg on travis es desighner jeans. blood was tricklung down his shin. leo looked at mollie " looks like you will have a patient this evenning" mollie picked up her gear and vaccine and started to the house. as she passed travis she told him to come to the house after they were done she would patch him up. cassie and zane were counting the cattle back into the holding pasture. leo was putting the branding pot away. along with the branding irons. when he and cassie finished counting the cattle zane turned toward his saddled horse and saw travis leading his away. limping. zane turned to cassie" i didnt think he had that much grit. surprised me. he never quit or complained." cassie smilled" to be honest i was fooled to"