Pardner 2: Moving On

By Patrick M. Browning

It's a "coming of age" story about a fellow that had a rough start but turned out to be a pretty cattleman. He is a bare-knuckles fighter and certainly likes the ladies. I'm presenting this tale as fiction, but the preponderance is absolutely true!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Westwood Books Publishing
• Release date: Nov 19, 2021
• ISBN: 9781685361396

Patrick M. Browning

Patrick M Browning has spent his life Cowboying all over the west and deep into Old Mexico, managing some of the largest cattle and horse ranches in both countries. These many years in the saddle have given him the advantage of a perspective and knowledge of his subject matter, few writers of our generation have the benefit of drawing from. His works on Contemporary Cowboy life have a true to life feeling and flavor that only comes with actual experience. PMB, 'Lives the life he writes, and Writes the life he lives!"

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Copyright © 2021 by Patrick M. Browning.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

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Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 23

Chapter 24

Chapter 25

Chapter 26

Chapter 27

Introduction

The following will be the ramblings of a mad man. This life of wild cattle, wild country, and even wilder horses will eventually drive a fellow a bit wild himself until he eventually feels he has truly become a part of it all.

As I see it, the real trouble with the world is that the more animals you deal with, the more you learn to respect and admire them; whereas the more people one meets, the greater your disdain of the species becomes. Yes, my friends.

Sometimes it’s just plain hard to be proud to be a people!

There are of course, some who are quite exceptional and very uniquely honorable in all they do, that a person’s hope for the rest of mankind receives a boost.

CHAPTER 1

PICKING UP WHERE WE LEFT OFF!

Things went along wonderfully for the next few years then all of a sudden, Bill and Alex had the opportunity to sell both ranches to a conservation group for more money than they had ever dreamed of and so they sold. This decision wasn’t made easily and it took some time to get Mable to go along with it, but eventually the amount of money became too tempting to pass on. She had always secretly wanted to travel and now they could do so without limit and go first class.

Pardner and May had saved a little money, but they had a few tough years filled with accidents and struggles. Then, with the help of a good friend and the winnings from a famous bare knuckles fight, they were able to buy a little place of their own in Red Hill, New Mexico just across the border from Springerville, Arizona. It wasn’t a real big place, but it was big enough to make a living on with Pardner riding some outside colts and shoeing the neighbors’ ranch horses. The two youngsters built a ranch and a life they both loved, and it was a perfect place to raise their young family. They worked hard and things were a little tight a lot of the time, but they were happy and together, so all was well.

What seemed like just a moment later but was actually a few years, there was an automobile accident, and Pardner’s world fell apart once again. We will get back to that soon enough. For now, we will take a look back, and into the life of a cowboy with a young family in the wild and woolly West.

For several years after they left the Doran’s Double D’s, and before they were able to buy the New Mexico ranch, the kids had moved into a house they had started buying in Glendale, Arizona and Pardner started shoeing horses full time. He had no trouble building a good route as he was able to shoe anything with hair! He took on every bad horse in the ‘Valley of the Sun’ and that’s a lot of horses!

Daniel T. Meredith was the doctor who delivered both his brother and Pardner. He was their family doctor most of their life. He treated their ill mother and was still around to assist with Pardner’s own children. Doctor Meredith owned several businesses in Phoenix and some land way out in the middle of nowhere as an investment.

As it often is with life, the fact he did came in handy about this time. Pardner had been shoeing horses as his main means of supporting his family at the time and had gotten hurt. An old horse jumped and kicked his left knee, blowing it apart and bending his leg the wrong way to the point of it flying up and breaking his left collarbone. It actually stuck in Pardner’s shoulder until he fell to the ground in anguish and jarred it out.

As I said, they were living in the West valley at the time, and he had to shoe all over the Valley to have enough horses to try to beat out a living. Today he was working all the way across the town in Scottsdale. It so happened that another horseshoer was working just two doors down the road from where Pardner was hurt. It also just happened to be a fellow he knew for many years, as this fellow had shod horses at Doc Pardee’s many years before when Pardner was just a kid working for Doc. Small world, ain’t it?

Anyway, he was lying there thinking of how he was going to get up and away from this horse that was then stomping and trying to kick Pardner out from under him. Things were going from bad to worse fast, then all of a sudden, he felt a tug on his right arm pulling him free from the wreck. It was Ross, his old friend, the horseshoer from Doc’s. Pardner was sure happy to see him just then!

He asked if he could take Pardner to the hospital. The latter explained that although he was indeed terribly injured, a hospital was out of the question as he had no insurance and certainly could not afford a big hospital bill but thanked Ross for rescuing him. He told the former that he would ask to borrow the phone in the house as soon as the owner returned from town. (this was the early 70s and the cellphone for general use, had not been thought of until Motorola employee, Martin Cooper made the first cell call on one in 1973) Once assured he’d be alright, Ross left to get back to his own work and Pardner propped himself up against a wall down at the barn and watched the house for signs the owner had returned. After what seemed like days but was actually only a couple of hours, he saw the owner pull into her driveway and was able to attract her attention. She was very concerned and helpful but was obviously worried about any liability she might be held responsible for, so Pardner assured her she was in no way complicit in this, so she allowed him to use her phone. It had a long cord on it, and she had him stay outside while calling his wife to come get him. He didn’t really blame her as he was a sight for sure. He was dirty, bloody, and had a leg flopping around causing some real unsightly inconvenience.

It was on a Friday, and he had not thought about that fact until there was no answer at his house. Every Friday, May and his mother went grocery shopping in Glendale. The lady was standing, waiting impatiently for him to finish his attempt at reaching someone and acted like he was really putting her out by using the phone. Pardner thought she was going to refuse when he asked to try another number because his wife was not home. After a brief pause, she acquiesced, and he called a friend’s house knowing she had an older son living at home who didn’t work and he hardly ever went anywhere. Fortunately, the young fellow was home and Pardner explained he needed help and asked the young man to please call around and attempt to find his wife and have her come to Scottsdale to get him and bring someone with her to drive his Shoeing truck home.

The young fellow was successful in tracking them down by calling the list of stores Pardner had given him. May ‘came a runnin’ to rescue her injured man, and Mom came with her to drive his shoeing rig home! Pardner and May made it to Doctor Meredith’s office and never got paid for shoeing the horse that crippled him or the other three he had done for the lady before he did the old horse involved in the wreck! Life goes on!

Ok, the story is not that simple, as they never seem to be. It had gotten to be late afternoon and the doctor’s office was closed. So, they drove home and iced his knee and shoulder, cleaned up as best he could, and waited until Monday morning.

9:00 am found them at Meredith’s office again, and that time they were taken right in. He set the collarbone, performed a makeshift operation on the knee, and built a big cumbersome brace out of crap he found around his office. He knowing them well, so he knew about the lack of money or insurance and that he was working on what he was sure was a pro bono case.

As he hobbled out of the doctor’s office toward their old Pinto automobile, the fact hit Pardner that he would not be shoeing horses for a while. The only other two sources of income he had were Bareknuckle fighting and riding Bucking Horses, neither of which seemed too practical at the moment. On the way home they talked at length about their situation, and there were very few possible solutions they could come up with. His mom had nothing, and he would not bring himself to ask her for help if she did have. Dad wasn’t giving her much support and he had moved to Texas as was struggling himself. So once again it was just him against the world. That is not fair or completely true either, May was by his side as she always was, and they would get through this together. Now with their little 3-year-old daughter and May pregnant again, it would be tougher but they would make it; that is what they did—against all odds they would survive!

The doctor had told Pardner to wait until the next Friday before he came back to let some of the swelling go down and he would rebuild the contraption on his leg.

That Friday came slowly. Pardner knew he had to get well or at least mobile, and do so quickly. He had a family to support. He spent a great deal of time thinking about what he could do with one leg. The collarbone was just an inconvenience. He’d had many broken bones and had always found a way to keep working. The knee was certainly a different problem and would take some babying to get by it. On the way to see the doctor, he remembered hearing him tell a story a while back about a place he owned down by Casa Grande. It was a little place but had a hay field and an old house on it. Pardner knew they would soon lose their house due to not being able to continue making the payments, so he had a plan.

While the doctor worked on his leg, Pardner was promoting the idea that if he would consider it, they would move down there and take care of the place for him. They would fix it up, as it had been abandoned since he bought it several years ago and was in poor repair. Meredith said he was not looking to hire any employees at the time and the place would be fine for a while longer as it was. Pardner assured him he was not looking for a wage, just a place to stay until he was healed completely. His response shocked Pardner considerably.

Hell Pardner, you may never walk again, at least not without crutches. You plan on just living there for the rest of your life?

No, Sir. Just until I heal up a bit. It won’t cost you anything but utilities, Pardner said boldly.

Damn! Now you want me to pay the utilities too? he said in disbelief.

Yes. We will clean the place up and make it where you can sell it. (Here he stretched the truth a bit as he had never actually seen the place before.) The place is a wreck and running down fast. Vandals are tearing the house up. It soon won’t be worth a thing!" Pardner explained trying his best not to show how desperate he was.

Well, I suppose it does make sense to have someone living there. There wasn’t much to the place when I bought it but if it continues to get torn up, it will sure enough lose what value it had, he said pondering the matter.

A deal was struck, and they started packing for the move to Casa Grande. Pardner put their house up for sale and as they had purchased it at a real bargain, they were able to sell it almost immediately and even made a very small profit. This proved to be lifesaving because the move cost a bit and as he said they were just barely getting by before. Everything they had been using to live with at the Doran’s Double D’s, belonged to the Doran’s and even though they were told to take it all with them, Pardner said he would get what they needed. He was happy for the Doran’s good fortune but felt a bit used by the short notice he was given. Mostly he was mad at himself for not saving more. He had always been very good with money but never thinking this wonderful life would come to such an abrupt end, he had let his thrifty nature be pushed back and now he was really paying for it! Both figuratively and literally! Moving, buying a house, furnishing it, and buying May a good used car had them struggling some, but Pardner knew he would just have to work a little harder and everything would be fine. Then he gets his leg kicked plum off! Damn!

This being out of work was terrifying to a fellow who had not missed a paycheck since he was 14 years old, and now had a family to feed. So, it was off to Casa Grande!

The old place was indeed a fright. The house had been a shed previously that someone had simply poured a cement floor in and drywalled the inside of the place. The rest of the property was in worse shape than the house was. The whole deal looked exactly like what it was: an old abandoned property next to a feed mill that was just a land investment and the structures on the place were basically worthless. No matter, it was HOME now and they would make the best of it. May started on the house, and Pardner commenced on the outside as best he was able. Even he was surprised how well he was able to get around on that ruined leg with the help of the crutches and accomplished much more than he thought would be possible. What he was not surprised at was that May had the little house looking like a fairy tale cottage in no time. She always made the place they lived a wonderful home, and this was to be no exception.

She was soon to the point she was able to help him outside some, and the place started taking shape quickly. Then one afternoon, much to his surprise, a Semi truck pulled into the drive and down to the little makeshift corral he had thrown together where there had apparently been one many years before. He had rebuilt it out of the pieces of lumber that had been left strewn around the ranch. (I will from this point on call it a ranch instead of the place) Pardner hobbled out to see what the driver had in mind and as he approached the truck, he saw it was full of nice Angus cattle.

Hello my friend! he said, Are you lost?

Is this the Diamond M? The driver asked.

I don’t know! Pardner answered.

Are you Pardner? the driver said, a bit frustrated.

Yep, That’s me.

Then this is the Diamond M! The fellow replied. There are forty-five head on here and two more pot loads behind me that will come in after I pull out. Didn’t look like enough room for all of us to unload at once. Real friendly like now that he knew he was at the right place.

Pardner was sure happy he had fixed all the perimeter fence first thing, or he would not have a place to hold these unexpected arrivals.

Meredith said these would give you something to do to keep you from feeling guilty about living here for free, The driver said with no judgement in his voice.

That will be perfect. Let’s get them unloaded. Back up to the chute but be careful. It’s not real stout. Sort of a patchwork deal, Pardner explained.

All three trucks were unloaded in short order, and the chute held together just fine. Pardner was proud it had, because he had not taken the time to repair it; he would have, had he known it was going to be used.

He now had a slowly repairing collarbone, a left leg that he was told would never support his weight again unaided, and 135 head of heavy bred Angus cows. Ain’t life grand?

As I said, there were no cell phones yet, and if there had been, Pardner certainly could not have afforded one. So as most regular poor folks did on Saturday, they went into town (in this case Casa Grande) to buy the few staple food items they required and used a payphone. Meredith had given him his private number in case he ever needed it but Pardner did not expect he would ever need it, especially this soon. Doctor Meredith answered and he was not surprised it was Pardner on the line.

How do you like my new cows? he asked.

They look like good ones but what are they doing here? Pardner asked.

I thought they would give you something to do to help you earn your rent! Meredith said.

Thank you. You are all heart, Pardner said with a bit more sarcasm than he intended.

Hell! You didn’t expect to just lie around feeling sorry for yourself, did you? Meredith asked.

No Sir! I surely didn’t. Then after a short pause, he continued, Thank you for sending the cows down. I look forward to calving them out. You do know they are close to calving now? Pardner added.

Pardner received no answer to his question but did get the following response:

I knew you would be glad to have something to do. A man would go crazy down there just loafing all day. See you week after next and we will take a look at that leg, goodbye.

Pardner stood on his crutches with a knee the size of a large watermelon; that did not include the huge contraption the doctor had built to keep it immobile. Pardner laughed to himself at how far down his broken collarbone was on his list of inconveniences. Later, standing there with his very large dog Liberty standing next to him, Pardner said, Well Liberty, looks like we are back in the cattle business. I hope we are up to it. Then without hesitation, he continued, Hell yes! We are up to it! This is what I do. This leg won’t slow me down all that much. Trying to convince himself as much as anything. He started back up toward the house to see if he could get the anvil, tools and forge out of the ancient ford truck he had been shoeing horses out of, cleaned out so he could work out of it. He knew he could not get around the pasture on foot and he certainly could not use the little Pinto.

As he was hobbling along thinking of what would have to be done to take care of a little herd of cows, his right crutch tip penetrated a previously unseen hole and he fell hard. He struggled his way back to his feet as he had been taught and stood there shaking both in pain and disbelief. He had broken his right crutch very neatly in half. May had been working in what was to be a yard and saw him go down. She ran to his side and quietly stood there holding him, waiting. It did not matter what was about to happen, she would do what she could to help Pardner as she always had. He would decide if he could walk when he was ready.

Well May, this is a hell of a fix I got us in this time ain’t it! he said with just a bit of his usual grin starting to show through the grimace. Pardner stood up straight and said, let’s see if I can make just this one crutch work. He tried to walk with it under first under one arm then the other and found he had the best luck with it under his left arm. Only problem or should I say the main problem with this arrangement is that the left side not only had the bad leg, it was where he was keeping his broken collarbone. When he had two crutches, he could distribute the weight a bit so the pain in his collarbone was almost tolerable. With just the one support, it was nearly unbearable but that is the hand he was dealt and he simply could not navigate with the crutch on the right side. By the time they reached the house, Pardner realized he was in real trouble. The fall damaged more than the crutch. It had jarred the collarbone so severely that it had shifted slightly and now had a bump at the break, a good indication that it was no longer lined up properly.

Pardner did as he always did and just played the cards he was given. Meredith had sent a truckload of hay down behind the cows, after Pardner told him there was some feed in the pasture but not enough for 135 mother cows. He slowly got to where he could load hay into his truck, get in, and drive it around to where he had thrown together a corral for the cows that were already starting to calve. They had been bred to a big BeefMaster bull which made for wonderful big calves. Problem was they were too big for these smaller type Angus cows. Pardner had to assist many of the cows giving birth due to this poor decision in bull selection. It was not as bad as a bunch of first calf heifers that had been bred too young or to the wrong bull, where half would either die calving or the calves would die during delivery or the heifer was so torn up afterward that she missed a year of breeding, which all happen much too often due to poor management. These gals were all three to five years old and had all calved at least once before. It was just that the BeefMaster cross calves were simply too large for these gals to deliver on their own.

Time went on as it is wont to do and before long, all the cows had calved. One calf was stillborn, and one 3-year-old cow had prolapsed; he was able to put it back in and sew her up. She would live but would not be ready to breed back on schedule. Those were the only tragedies out of all 135. Pardner was getting around better all the time but was sure having a tough time getting up and down to help in the calf deliveries. Nevertheless, he was handling all that needed to be done the best way he knew how and that was to just muscle through whatever came up. Move forward, that is all he had ever known, and it was working again now.

CHAPTER 2

DIAMOND M RANCH, HYDER

Not long after the cows had finished calving and while Pardner was having his brace refitted, Meredith asked Pardner how he would like a paying job, running his ranch out by Hyder AZ. Without hesitation Pardner said yes. They were almost completely out of the little profit they had made selling the house in town and Pardner had to do something. Just the trips back and forth to the doctor’s office were taking most of their little savings. Doc had reset his collarbone and that took out most of the bump he had bounced in it from his fall; his leg was the real problem and very few folks would even consider hiring a man as busted up as Pardner was. Meredith was in his own way trying to help the young couple while still helping himself as well. He explained that Pardner could move out to the Diamond M Hyder Division as soon as possible. Meredith would arrange for trucks to haul the cows out, and once settled he would start drawing pay. Pardner explained they would need an extra truck for the calves, and there was a chance they would doggie some if not careful. Pardner suggested they leave the cows and calves there until he had built some kind of pasture fence and corral so they could ‘Mother back up" when they arrived. He had to explain to the good doctor that it wasn’t as simple as just throwing them all in trucks and hauling them out to Hyder. The Doc finally said,

This project of yours is costing me a fortune! Do I have to hire someone to stay with the cows at Casa Grande while I wait for you to build a facility?

No sir. It will be more cost effective if I just drive my old Dodge truck back and forth, checking on them than to hire someone. I’ll get it all done as fast as possible and it will just cost you a little gas. I’ll have May and Marie stay at the Casa Grande Place until I get something for us to live and the cows and calves moved.

Pardner had been concerned about how he could possibly make the move before getting any wages but there weren’t a lot of people beating down his door at the moment wanting him to go to work for them, so this new arrangement would let the doctor pay for the expense of the move. They would simply take what they could in his old truck and the trailer he had purchased from his grandfather years before, and get it all moved a little at a time.

There was no house, corrals, or perimeter fence of any kind out at the Diamond M, but on the long dirt road to the ranch, Pardner had seen an abandoned camp trailer out behind the barn of the only ranch you passed on the way from Sentinel to Hyder. May wanted to help Pardner with all the work needed to build a pasture fence and set up house in the middle of the Arizona desert. They finally both agreed it was just temporary, and she was so pregnant that she couldn’t just live on the ground like he may need to.

Something that should have been mentioned is that at this time May was 8 months pregnant. After the cows and calves were moved out to Hyder, she went into Pardner’s mom’s place to be closer to Meredith’s office for her pre-natal care. A more game gal was never born, but Pardner was concerned she had already overdone. Meredith took care of May, and Mom went with her to his office as often as required.

Dad came back from Texas to help for a while when he heard that Pardner was hurt and trying to build a ranch. He was indeed a great help and most likely made the whole deal possible. He helped build the perimeter fence and even bought an old house trailer, and he and a friend moved it out to the ranch and set it up by the little camp trailer Pardner had been staying in, then helped Pardner move all their belongings into it form the pile he had stacked it in and had covered with a canvas tarp. It was a poor situation, but Meredith told Pardner he had to be cleared out of the Casa Grande house right after the cows and calves were shipped. Dad then went back to Texas as he had his own troubles to deal with.

Soon as the trailer house was set up, May and little Marie were able to move out to be with him again. This both thrilled and worried Pardner no end. She was so close to giving birth and the ranch was so far from any kind of hospital. But she would have it no other way. They were a team and would work and live as one.

They started building a corral and loading chute. It was going slowly with Pardner’s handicap making every phase more difficult than it would have normally been, but they kept moving forward as he always did. May fell ill and Pardner had to drive her to the hospital in Phoenix. He would have rushed her to a clinic in Gila Bend but with no money and no insurance, they had to go to the hospital Dr. Meredith owned part of, so as to at least delay the need to pay until he could figure something out.

She is exhausted and malnourished! Meredith scolded. These words burned into Pardner’s very soul. He knew she had been working much too hard, trying to keep him from doing too much and reinjuring his leg. This was his fault! No other way to look at it. Things went from bad to worse. She had the child, a boy they named after Pardner they called Murphy, but he had respiratory problems and had to be placed in an incubator in the ICU in the children’s ward for 10 days, then remain in the hospital for an undetermined length of time, May stayed by his side day and night, even as her own health suffered. The bills were astronomical, but Pardner made arrangements with the hospital with the assurance from Meredith that he was good as his word and they would get the money. It would take some time, but he would pay. The one thing that made even the thought of paying the hospital possible was that Meredith had talked them into waiving any interest, penalties, or late charges on the fee. Any interest at all would have grown the debt faster than Pardner would possibly have been able to keep up with and would soon become uncollectable. They eventually agreed and set up a rather loose arrangement with Pardner to pay what he could when he could and that’s the way it was left.

He took most of his last few dollars and gave it to his mother to help her with the extra gas and groceries it would take to care for May, Marie, and the new baby while he was in the hospital and then at home while he recovered enough to go out to the ranch. They needed to stay in town to be close to the doctor’s office for continued treatment. It appeared he had once again failed the person he loved and who loved him most in the world. He was alone again and again; it was surely his fault. At least if all went well, this separation was temporary.

He too, had been working much harder than he should have and his leg was not getting better; it was in fact, getting worse. He drove back to Hyder with what had been more often times than not a heavy and nearly broken heart. I say nearly because Pardner had a different kind of way of looking at things. He would not be broken. He would not be defeated. He was human and could be beat and knocked down, but he would never be beaten and he would never stay down! Not being able to afford to drive back and forth to Phoenix from Hyder to see his wife, daughter, and new baby, made him feel even more lonely.

He assessed his life and was disappointed with what little he had done with it to this point. Here he was, basically a cripple who had worked and starved his wife and unborn baby. He had $112.68 to his name, of which he had given $100.00 of to his mom for expenses as Mom was struggling as much as he, and he now owed many thousands of dollars to a hospital and doctor.

Once back at the Diamond M he said out loud, Ok, Pardner, Its way past time to pull your head out and get back to being you! This said, he did just that. He hobbled out to the old truck and drove to a neighbor’s ranch. Colonel Amavisca was a grand old gentleman who had run sheep and cattle in this part of Arizona for decades and was famous for being a real bastard to deal with. He had once stopped by Pardner’s place on his way home to his own ranch and visited a moment. He, as many people in the ranching industry, had heard of Pardner’s magic way with horses and wanted to meet this young fellow who had already built such an impressive reputation.

His first words were, Hell! You are a cripple! Tact was not his strong suit.

Pardner replied, No Sir! I’m just crippled. I’m not a cripple!

I suppose you use that crutch just for balance, the Col. said with the beginning of a smile.

Nope, I just found it while I was building fence and thought it would get me sympathy. I see it isn’t working very well, Pardner answered also with a bit of smile.

They tell me you use to be kind of a hand with tough horses, the old man said.

At this time, he had not even thought about getting on a horse yet or having considered being able to accept any outside work breaking wild horses, back then, Pardner said, You got the wrong man, Sir. I like riding old fat gentle horses, preferably that someone else has already shod! The smile got bigger and so did the colonel’s.

Well said Son! Well said indeed! With a full open and friendly smile the, he continued, If you ever heal up and need some work, I have some horses that my men can’t seem to do anything with. I’d like you to give them a try. That leg will have to be 100% first! These are 4- and 5-year-olds that have either not been touched or have been started and quit on, the Col. explained.

Damn that sure sounds tempting Sir, but I have my hands full here for now, Pardner said and bid the Col. a good day. That was before the cows and calves had arrived and were due to be hauled out the next day and Pardner had to be in Casa Grande to make sure they were safely loaded, and the calves were taken care of properly. He did indeed have his hands full, right then.

That was back then, but now things had changed, and he had to do something. Dr. Meredith said this would be a paying job, but Pardner had assumed it would be paying enough to at least buy groceries. Now don’t misunderstand me, Meredith felt he was truly doing Pardner a big favor by allowing him to work while he was healing. I suppose that was true enough, but $100.00 a month and utilities was starving them to death. Pardner knew he could not ever pay back the hospital or even keep his growing family fed unless he could make some additional wages. That prompted this trip to the colonel’s. As Pardner drove up to the house he was met by no less than two dozen dogs all barking and raising Cain.

What the hell did you drive to the house for, Pardner? You think I’d be in there taking a nap? The sun is still high and there is work to be done! came a rough voice behind Pardner from the barn.

I figured you’d be watching Rawhide reruns on TV!" Pardner said, the smart-ass in him still alive even though just barely.

Damn is it 3:00? the old man joked, then said, I’ve got to get in there. You’ll have to come back later. Real proud of himself for the quick response. It looks like what I’ve heard about you is at least partly true, sure enough, the Col. said.

Knowing what was coming, Pardner asked, Oh yea, what part is that? He stood there waiting for what he knew was next.

The part about you being a natural! A natural smart-ass, that is! Real proud Pardner had taken the bait. What can I do for you young man? the Col. asked sincerely.

Well Sir, I came about those bad horses you have. I need a little augmentation to my income right now and thought if you hadn’t had them educated yet, I would offer to straighten them out for you.

Damn, man! You are serious! the Col. said unbelievingly.

Yes, Sir I’m dead serious. I need the work and you need someone to make them old broncs useful citizens, Pardner said trying to be as businesslike as possible.

But Pardner you are still crippled. I mean still hurt. What good could you possibly be to me in your condition? the Col. asked the perfectly reasonable question.

As always, Pardner had a ready answer and said, Tell you what. Send me two or three, and I will get them going and the worse that can happen is I’ll have fed them for you for a few weeks. No harm done!

That is exactly what I’m worried about Pardner! Harm being done. I’ve heard about your recent troubles and I’m not going to help you kill yourself using my outlaw horses to do it.

I’ll sign a release, freeing you from any possible liability in case of an accident. I assure you, Colonel, I have no intentions of getting myself or your broncs hurt. Then after a very short pause, Sir, I really need this. The bills are astronomical, and this is the only way I can get started paying them off, Pardner said so sadly a tear welled up in the tough old man’s eye.

I could lend you a little to help out, Pardner. You’ve been through hell. I’d like to help, he said.

Good, You can help! Have one of your men bring me a few of the worst old outlaws that you always thought could be good using horses and then pay me when I’m through, Pardner explained.

Done! the old man said. I’ll send over a load of hay. It’s sometimes hard to get good hay out here and you will have your hands full enough with these sorry Bastards without having to hunt around looking for hay.

Pardner had a tear in his own eye now, realizing the old man was trying to help as much as he could without insulting the big young man. Thank you, Colonel. That was all he said, and all that needed to be said.

True to his word, the colonel had a load of hay delivered and a man hauled a big wild-eyed bronc to Pardner’s newly built corrals, with a promise of more to come if Pardner still wanted them.

Of course, I’ll want more! I can’t make a living breaking one horse! Pardner wasn’t quite sure what was implied by the cowboy’s statement, if anything but it didn’t really matter. He needed horses to ride, or he’d starve plum to death! As always Pardner had two really good horses of his own, both had been racehorses. One a quarter horse named Mr. Continental he called Mr.C. and a leggy pie bald bay thoroughbred, he simply called Pie Bald. He had not been on either since the accident but was sure enough going to need to get on them now. Their help in starting this monster would be invaluable. Pardner had owned many splendid horses in his life, and these two were good useful horses but neither had the ability that several of the really top ones did. They would have to do as they were what he had. He sure missed his old horse Boone. He had helped Pardner through many tough situations and now with him gone he had to make do with these two, but he sure wished he had his old pal Boone now!

He found even saddling Mr.C. was much more difficult than he had expected it would be and started worrying if he had let necessity place him in real danger yet again. Once saddled, Mr.C. acted up a bit like most fresh well-fed horses will and would not stand still for Pardner to mount. It was not actually all his fault because it was quite a circus act making the attempt.

In trying to mount without the use of his left leg, the normal process of simply placing your left foot in the stirrup, rising your body to a standing position and swinging your right leg over the horses back and saddle then settling into position and sticking your right foot in the off stirrup and away you go, was not to be!

His right leg would hold his weight but his left leg with the brace holding it straight could not be bent to place in the stirrup. He could not mount from the offside because his left leg would not hold him while he stuck his right foot in the stirrup so he could rise, swing his wrapped left leg over and try to gain the stirrup with his left foot. He then moved back to the side near him and attempted to hold the saddle horn with both hands bending slightly on his right leg and jumping up to stick his left foot in the stirrup but Mr.C. had never seen anything like this and moved some during the attempt causing Pardner to miss his mark and hang, banging his already injured leg. He had been at this much too long now and things were not looking good. Pardner had many faults but being short on guts was certainly not one of them. He figured if he could crawl up on the fence and get Mr.C. to stand close enough he might be able to step over and onto him. After several tries this was successful. That is if one considers swinging an immobilized leg over the back of a fresh, good feeling horse who like all horses has a round body, a success. Pardner hit the saddle and then realized his left leg was sticking out at a dangerous angle that would bump the fence or anything else he passed too closely to, while on horseback. He could not do much about it now as he was sure he could not possibly get off and then remount after making any kind of adjustment to his leg. For now, he was on horseback. He was nearly exhausted, in a great deal of pain but on horseback just the same. Real problem is that after all this effort, he was just on a gentle saddle horse, not one of the monsters he was to be paid for breaking! Damn!

He rode around the corral some and the leg sticking out bounced and caused a great deal of discomfort. This had to be remedied quickly. Riding a gentle well broke saddle horse around a pen without having the advantage of your left stirrup for support and balance was one thing. Riding a bucking tornado would be quite another.

After he had ridden what he thought was about an hour he started thinking about how to get off Mr. C., something he should have worked out before getting on him! There were only a few options. With his left leg already being free of the left stirrup, he could swing his right leg over the back of the saddle and slowly as possible lower himself to the ground taking the weight on his right leg, or he could try to swing his left leg over the back of the saddle and try the same move just on the opposite side, or he could attempt to ride close to the fence again and climb off using it. The first option seemed the best and he simply swung his right leg over and slid off catching his weight on his good leg. Perfect! Except, he was now in the middle of the corral balancing on one leg with no crutch to help keep the pressure off his tore up left leg.

All was not lost; he may be standing on one leg with no crutch, but he was standing next to a good horse! He reached up and held on to the saddle horn again then pushed Mr.C. toward the gate using his body. It took a few minutes for the horse to understand what was wanted but once he figured it out, he walked steadily and slowly to and out the gate to where Pardner had leaned his crutch against the fence.

That wasn’t too bad was it fellow? he said to his horse like he meant it. Unsaddling and putting Mr.C. away was not nearly as easy as saddling him had been and that had not been all that easy! Pardner assumed it must be because of the extreme effort he had been putting out for the last few hours, it was all he could do to hobble along with the saddle to put it on the saddle rack he’d built. He could have just laid it on the ground for the night but Pardner, hurt or not would take care of his tack! After turning Mr.C. out and feeding all the cattle and the pie bald, he went to the trailer, but did not go in. He didn’t spend much time inside anymore because of the empty feeling in there. The little trailer house was so full of memories of May, Marie and dreams of his sick little son, that he felt crowed anytime he walked inside it.

He eventually even quit sleeping indoors and slept in his big bedroll outside. Pardner spent little time thinking about how hard life could be and concentrated mostly on how he was going to survive it. He was getting all the necessary things done to take care of the Diamond M cattle and his horses and of course Liberty but was not yet able to confidently convince himself he would ever be able to generate enough money to pay the doctor and hospital bills he owed. He made up his mind while lying there on the ground that he was simply going to have to get better and that was all there was to it. There was really no other choice as he was certainly not going to default on a debt.

Slowly but steadily, he would start using the crutch less and less. He still needed it desperately and any normal human being hurt as he was, would still be in bed and would be using both crutches whenever they were trying to get around. Not our boy Pardner, no Sir! He simply laid it down and walked, actually hobbled away, and never looked back. He found that if he wrapped an ace bandage or two, tightly over the brace the doctor had put on his leg, it gave enough support to enable him to function to a small degree of normalcy. It did considerably further restrict his movement, but he would just have to deal with that. Next morning, he was up and ready to face whatever the world threw at him that day!

He saddled Mr.C. and stepped on from the offside swung his bound up left leg over the saddle and sat there rather proud of how he had not passed out from pain. He then realized that with his leg immobilized as it was, he could not come close to reaching a stirrup. He either had to lengthen the stirrup or rebandage his leg in a bent fashion enabling the much-needed access to the left stirrup. For now, his leg sticking out was not a real problem as Mr.C. was very well broke and didn’t seem to notice the leg. However, when he was ready to start getting on the broncs, things would be very different indeed. He made the decision to re-wrap the leg as lengthening the stirrup would make it useless on a bucking horse. As he was off Mr.C. attending to his bandaging he got aggravated. Not at his leg particularly and certainly not at Mr.C., but at himself in general. This was now the second day, and he hadn’t even touched the bronc he had begged the colonel to let him break. What kind of sissy was he? He had taken on a job and was damn sure going to fulfill his obligation to see it done. He finished wrapping his tore up leg in a more bent position and stepped on Mr.C. with his old determination and was thrilled that the leg slid right into the stirrup perfectly. Walking back over to Mr.C. was less painful than he had suspected it might be, but he did make an almost comical figure walking with that one leg wrapped and bent to an extreme degree. That didn’t matter to Pardner. He needed to ride and ride well to accomplish his task and how he looked walking made little difference; it was how he was able to ride that mattered! Then that damned depression swept over him as it so often did.

Hell, there ain’t nobody here to see me walk anyway is there, Liberty? he said to his huge dog that was as always, his constant companion. The big dog looked at Pardner as if he understood but didn’t say anything. He seldom did. At night, the dog always laid just out of reach, next to Pardner’s bed roll and walked next to him at all times unless he was told to stay back or out of the corral which was now the case. He was unusual in the fact he didn’t seem to like too much physical contact. He was as loyal as any dog Pardner ever owned and was willing to do anything asked of him, he just wasn’t Lovey. He was always in close proximity and would rush into any situation if Pardner called him but at dinner, mid-day, or at night he was wont to lie just a few steps beyond reach in his self-determined comfort zone. He would allow Pardner to pet him some and enjoyed it when he was bragged on, but just didn’t want to be touched more than absolutely necessary. He would not let anyone else other than Baby Marie(He tolerated her as Pardner had scolded him the first time he had growled at her) touch him at all. He would not slink away when approached, on the contrary, if someone made a move toward him as if to either pet or strike him it made no difference to Liberty. He would stand firm and swell up half again his normal size with the hair along his back standing on end. The extra-large head was absolutely full of teeth which he freely displayed at these times. No, people did not fool around with Liberty at all. This was fine with Pardner. He liked having a dog he could count on to back him up when things got tense. The only downside to Liberty was even as good and willing a working cowdog as he was, he was so damn big he was not as mobile or agile as he needed to be working wild cattle and got kicked a lot. He was tough and seldom did he get hurt badly but he got kicked or run over too much and it worried Pardner a great deal. The good attributes of the big dog outweighed the bad by a large margin so they would just try to be careful and avoid life-threatening situations as much as possible.

This morning after saddling Mr.C., Pardner simply walked into the pen he had been keeping the bronc in and roped out the big sorrel gelding and got drug around some for the effort. He did not go down and get dragged like a log; it was more of a skiing trip until he was able to get a dally around the snubbing post he had fortuitously secured in the middle of this particular pen when he built it just in case of times like this. He was pleased how little the sorrel fought the rope once he had determined he was indeed held fast by it and the strong post.

That shows good sense, Liberty! he said to his dog, which was peeking under the bottom board ready to rush in if called to do so. Pardner, handicapped as he was with the wrapped and bent leg, worked as he always had and was able to get the horse saddled with less trouble than he had expected he would have.

This fellow has either already been broke or has never been touched! again to the big dog. I sure hope it’s the latter. It’s by far easier to work with an untouched horse even a five-year-old than one some goof has started and quit on or spoiled. He continued talking to Liberty just as if he was talking to another person. Again, no answer, just the usual wag of the tail and stare waiting for any instruction that may be forthcoming.

With Mr. C. saddled and the big sorrel caught, now with the extra wrapping on his left leg—it would hold his weight for the seconds necessary to mount—Pardner stepped on from the off side of Mr.C. and rode into the pen where the sorrel was snubbed. He rode up close, and the bronc just sidestepped a little apparently not being too afraid of the man horseback.

Pardner said, That’s good enough big fellow! And commenced to place a halter and strong lead on the horse’s head. Again, the big sorrel pulled back and made a weak attempt to escape but Pardner stayed steadfast in his mission and had the big rascal haltered in little time. Also, again, Good Enough! was all Pardner said. From that moment he called the big sorrel bronc Good Enough. He took his dallys around his saddle horn with the halter lead and just sat there talking to Good Enough for several minutes. The horse calmed down considerably in almost no time. He did have a little fit when Pardner eventually took the lariat off over his ears and started to walk off, but settled down quickly.

This rascal must have been started before. He is much too docile for a raw bronc! he said to himself, Liberty, and the world in general. He led him around the pen some and stopped him, turned him both directions for a considerable time.

Soon he said, Damn! You are getting to be a real coward. You should have this bastard saddled and be riding him by now. Then, again, to himself, Remember, you are hurt and all alone dumb shit! If you get hurt worse, you are completely on your own out here! He said in way of justification for his going so slowly with this horse. He rode to the fence then thought better of it and returned to the snubbing post in the next pen and tied up Good Enough short and high but not too much of either. He didn’t want Good Enough to feel too restricted and get scared. He tied Mr.C. close but not so close as to get into trouble if things got western, which they can do in a hurry working with a five-year-old bronc. He did tie Mr.C. directly in front of Good Enough so he could see him and possibly derive some comfort from that fact. It seemed to be working well, as Good Enough did not fidget around as much as one would think when Pardner hobbled up to him carrying a saddle blanket. When Pardner set the saddle down close by so he could reach down and pick it up when it came time to do so, Good Enough did jump some but again not nearly as much as you would think. Pardner kept thinking this horse had surely been ridden some before, but he would be cautious moving forward as he always was. The horse shied a bit when Pardner was first placing the blanket on his back but again, not as much as one would expect. He did this from both sides as was his custom but this time with more immediate purpose. He would now have to mount from this offside after getting this big horse saddled. He was sure there was no way he could step up on a bronc with his injured left leg first. The saddle did not pose any more trouble than the blanket had. Again, Pardner was sure this horse had been handled some before. He thought that, until he tightened up the saddle that is!

Good Enough, who Pardner had untied from the snubbing post, so he didn’t fall back and hurt himself, absolutely fell apart! He started bucking and striking and jumping around almost running over Pardner several times. Pardner had been taught that on a horse’s back was the safest place to be in a wreck, so without much thought he grabbed the saddle horn and in the middle of one of Good Enough’ jumps, he swung into the saddle from the offside. He caught the right stirrup almost immediately but was unable to catch the left one for several jumps and this made things very inconvenient for sure. This big rascal could damn sure buck. He was bucking scared and wild in his attempt to rid himself of the saddle and the nut sitting on it. He was diving so high then ducking so low Pardner’s boots were actually touching the ground at times. On one of these occasions Pardner took a stab at his left stirrup which was sitting on the ground within reach, and he was successful in this attempt. Now the fun began for real. Good Enough had started to weaken just slightly but was still scared and fighting for what he thought was his life. Pardner on the other hand was just getting started! He now had both stirrups and was not feeling the pain that would surely come later. For now, it was ride or go down. Bucking off was never the plan but even a good hand like Pardner got bucked of now and again. Not this time, he was going to make this ride because he had to. Bucking off now would be very dangerous, if not