A Dying Breed

Chapter Three; Saved by the Announcer

    I wake up in the middle of the night to an unusual dry cough. Grab a napkin and try to stop it. I struggle to go back asleep and ignore it however I am restless. Knowing that there is no use of trying to go back asleep, I grab a sweatshirt and creep down the flight of stairs. I pour myself a glass of coffee and step outside into the peaceful night which is something I haven't seen here lately. Everyone is always busy, the ranch always bustling. I take in the beautiful view. Hearing footsteps, I turn my head to reveal Dolly sitting at my heels. I reach down and pet her soft head. I take a seat on the cold wood of the back porch and continue to take in the view. After about thirty minutes of sitting in silence, I stand up and walk to the barn with Dolly, of course, close behind. I open the door to Harley's stall. I snatch her halter from the fence and put it on her. After I lead her out of the barn, I tie her lead rope in a loop. Still in my pajamas, I slip onto her back and walk across the property to the bull barn. I hop off and tie her up to a pole and walk inside. I walk into the feed room and kick off my slippers, replacing them with my muddy muck boots. The utv we use to carry bales is parked outside. I cut one open and peel off two flakes, throwing them into the first stall. I do this to the rest of them then head back into the feed room and pour grain into eight buckets for later. After I finish, I untie Harley and lead her while driving the utv to the horse barn. I put her back into her stall and throw a flake into each paddock, petting noses as I go. When I start to pour grain into the horse's feeders, I am interrupted by the loud noise of gravel crunching in the driveway. The sun is starting to peek up from the once dark sky. I grab my phone to see a voicemail from Ayla stating she was coming over. Typical Ayla. She hops out of her truck with her mini aussie named Hooey following behind. "You sure are up early for a weekend." I tell her as she approaches me. She flashes me a smile, "You don't look like you are dressed for a roping." "What roping?" I ask, genuinely confused. "The one you promised me to go to? Chase and Lane are roping at the Johnson's today. Don't you remember?" She questions. Ihonestly can't remember a thing. "Now go get ready! We're going to be late!" She exclaims with a chuckle. I gesture to the grain, "I still need to feed." "I can deal, now go." She asserts, shooing me away. "Come on Dolly." I call my dog as I head inside. I race up to my room and change into some bell bottoms. I throw on a white tank top and pull my long, silky hair into a messy bun before I head out of the door. I jog back to the barn where Ayla has finished graining the horses. "You ready?" She asks from the driver seat of her pickup. I nod and sling myself into the passenger seat Dolly bounding after me, Hooey now asleep in the back seat. She lays down on my lap as we start to drive away. "Is Davis coming?" I snap referring to the one and only Cheyenne Davis. "I'm sure she is. Her and Chase have been joined at the hip lately." Ayla explains while keeping her eyes on the road. I scoff, "I am still astonished that he would do that to me, after everything she did to me." "Love is love I guess." She shrugs. "To be completely honest, I don't think a monster like her is capable of loving." I sneer. "I swear, if she's using him, which I wouldn't be surprised if she was, she will not see the light of day." I jokingly threaten. "I am sure she won't." Ayla gives a laugh. I hate that Cheyenne with every bone in my body. I know that you may be thinking that hate is a strong word and I don't really mean it. However, I use hate because I need a strong enough word to express my dislike for Cheyenne. She has earned the title for sure. To be specific, in middle school she was one of the "popular kids". She spread rumors about me, which made my boyfriend break up with me. What kind of rumors are bad enough to cause that? She told my boyfriend that I cheated on him. It pains me so much to even think about, I cared about Levi a lot. The cherry on top of this sundae of hatred is that Cheyenne took Kyla, my younger sister, under her wing. They became best friends during Kyla's freshman year of high school. Ayla taps me on the shoulder, snapping me out of my thoughts. "We're here." She reckons as we pull into the Johnson's ranch. Dolly perks up, just like every time we come here. She loves all of Nadia's dogs, there are so many that you could think it is a petting zoo out here. Nadia is the eldest daughter of Caden and Jolene Johnson, the owners of this ranch. They have put on ropings every Sunday for as long as I can remember. It was sort of a family tradition to come every weekend before Kyla lost interest and my father got his stock contracting job. My father never has time for roping anymore, I can't think of the last time I saw him swing a loop. As for Kyla, ever since her seventh grade year, when she was finally considered old enough to choose where she wanted to go and what she wanted to do, she spoke her mind to my mother about how much she disliked it and how much she didn't want to come. My mom, though disappointed, agreed and she hasn't been to one since. Ayla finds a parking spot and then we climb out of her truck. Dolly runs to a familiar border collie and immediately starts to play. Hooey follows closely behind, joining in on the fun. I smile at the adorable sight. "We should probably go find a seat before they are all taken up." Ayla calls from beside her truck. I nod as we start to walk to the arena. The bleachers meet my gaze, something that doesn't surprise me very much does as well. I see Cheyenne Davis is in deep conversation with the well known roughie, Levi. I grumble under my breath and throw an eye roll. Ayla not understanding why, gives me a questioning look. I gesture to the two, now sitting even closer to each other. "I guess that answers your question if she is here or not." She sighs while pulling her blonde hair into a ponytail. "Guess so." I mumble. I find us seats far enough away from Cheyenne and her latest victim. "Hey, I am going to grab a bottle of water. Do you want something?" Ayla asks, standing up from her seat. "I will just come with you, I want to say hi to Mr. and Mrs. Johnson." I answer, standing up as well. "Alright." She shrugs as we leave the seats we just found.
    "Mr. Johnson!" Ayla exclaims as we make our way to the makeshift snack bar by the time booth. "Girls! Are you guys roping today?" He asks while pullings us in for a group hug. "Not today, we're giving our horses a break. We just ran yesterday." Ayla lies while breaking the hug. "Well the rodeos are two day aren't they? You are sounding like all of the rest of those silly barrel racers. That's full of bologna." Caden ponders. "They are but we only run one day. The system has been changed for the Clements arena." I tell him letting out a chuckle. "I also might have forgotten about coming today. Ayla had to come retrieve me from the barn! It completely slipped my mind." I say chuckles into my hands. "Don't tell the boys." I say to Caden. He raises his right hand and promises, "I will not." I smile at his response. We grab a couple of water bottles from the large ice chest in front of the snack bar and give the unfamiliar women running it two dollars. We walk by groups of people that are talking amongst themselves as we head back to our spots. Once we sit down, I crack open the bottle and take a sip of the cold water. I can feel a buzz coming from my phone in my pocket. When I pull it out I see a text from Lane. look up. I do as it says and see a smiling Lane on top of a roan behind the box. I almost thought you weren't going to make it another one reads. To be honest I wasn't before Ayla captured me. I type and hit send. I can see him give an audible laugh as he types something else. Well I'm glad she did. I read. Quit the sweet talk and get to roping :) I send it to him. Yes ma'am. He says. I smile to myself and give a playful eye roll. He sure is in a better mood than last time I saw him. Ayla peeks over my shoulder and reads the texts. "Ooooo." She coes. "It's not like that Ayla." I groan. "Sure it isn't. "Well I'm glad she did." What else does that mean?" She observes while gesturing to my phone. "It means that he is happy that I didn't break our tradition, Ayla." I lie while sitting back in my seat. "Sure it is." She scoffs. "I saw the smirk that formed when you were reading those texts." She objects seriously. "Face it Jade. You like Lane." She argues. "First out will be a team of brothers, Ryle and John Jenkins." Caden says into the microphone from the time booth. Forget saved by the bell, I am saved by the announcer.
     Finally, Caden booms into the loud speaker that Chase and Lane are up. "Next out is Lane Smith and Chase Miller.", he bellows. I lean forward in my seat, paying close attention to their run. Lane nods his head and comes out full blow. In just four swings he catches the steer with Chase running from behind. He turns to left, giving Chase the perfect angle to throw. Chase catches both feet, giving them a 5.1 score. "Great run boys, that's a 5.1. Good enough for second place." Caden says. I see Lane's smile falter, which confuses me. Second place is still reserve champion if you compete at a finals.
    "Second place, first loser." Chase says as he loads his horse into the stock trailer he hauled in today. "You still pulled a check." Ayla adds, bending down to pet Hooey and Dolly who have made their way back to us after a long day. "Second place money spends like first place money." I comment, walking over from the truck to the boys. "You guys did great." I promise. "Whatever." the boys mumble in unison. "Hey, Jade my mom just texted me. She wants me home soon." Ayla calls from the driver seat while looking at her phone. "Alright." I respond while giving both of the boys a hug. "You guys sure are negative. Be proud. I will if you won't be." I praise, then I turn around and climb into the passenger seat. "Come on." I say referring to our dogs. They look up and jump right into the truck, finding places to lay down in the back.