Texas Tornado

Grandad died doing what he loved.

"Dear God" Louis said with disbelief in his eyes. "We're dead!" I looked over to see a tornado touching the ground. The cows and horses were going crazy.

Grandad, who was by our shelter, yelled "Men leave the cows!" Scared for our lives, we left the cows. The shelter was our wagon connected to a hole in the ground. We all squeezed in the tiny hole. Grandad set up crawling for the exit.

"Grandad" I yelled, "you're a dead man if you go out there!" By now the tornado was consuming everything in its path. Grandad's wise eyes had tears in them.

"We ain't about to lose this cattle!" Grandad said proudly, pushing up his sleeves.

"Horace No!" Scott yelled, "I ain't about to lose no men!" You could hear the lump in this throat.

"I've done my duty in this world", Grandad said looking at me, "George, boy you better keep making your granddaddy proud." Tears fell apon my cheek. The old man, my old man, was going sacrifice his life for these cattle.

He said a short prayer and went intothat monster of a storm. You might call me crazy, but I heard a faint-"Yeehaw"- in the wind. Horace Smith sure enough saved those cows. They were allthere- all twenty four of them. Far off in the grassy prairie, Grandad's frailbody was found. His face was resting with a smile. Grandad had died doing whathe loved.

Weburied him by a big oak tree. Carved into the tree was written, "Here lies Horace J. Smith 1802-1888. He's herding cows in heaven." And just like that weare back on the trail again, with twenty more days to go. Scott told us this trailwere on didn't have a name. In honor of Grandad we named this trail, "Horace J. Smith trail". Life on this cattle drive sure ain't easy, but they never said it was.