After the branding, Don and his sisters had more time to roam the prairies near their home. Sometimes Don and Joan would ride Patches across the prairie at high speed. They liked to pretend to be Indians, whooping and shouting as they dug their heels in Patches’ side to urge him to faster speeds. Bucky loved this activity; to him it was challenge for a race. He stood watching as they took off, head and tail up as if he was waiting for a signal. When they were nearly out of sight, he’d go bounding after them. His strong little legs bounced over the sage as if it wasn’t even there. In no time at all, he’d whiz past the children and pony. He raced ahead until they were nearly out of sight and stopped short with his head up high, ears and tail pointed straight up. In this alert position, he’d stand and wait until the riders passes him again and moved out ahead of him. Then the race would start again.
Don loved this racing game. He admired the speed of his little pet. “Boy, I’d like to be able to ride an animal that could go that fast!”
Patches enjoyed the game too. He poured on a little more speed as the antelope moved past him. Then he’d slow down again as if to agree he was no competition for this whirlwind on four legs.
When Patches showed signs of tiring out, they all stopped to rest under a clump of sagebrush. Patches grazed on tufts of grass while Bucky laid down for a bit of ear scratching and finger nipping with the children. Sometimes, Don and Joan would just lie on their backs and watch the fluffy clouds in the clear blue Wyoming sky. It was great to be a kid! After a while, they headed home to do some garden work.
As the summer days became hotter, a morning of hoeing weeds in the garden left everyone hot and grumpy. A trip to Rawhide Creek for a swim seemed like a great idea, especially when Larry, a friend from a nearby ranch came by. Now this was generally forbidden for the children without adult supervision, especially for Joan and Sandie, who were much too young for some of the deeper places. Mother occasionally hiked down there with the children and even allowed Loreen to play in the shallower areas.
Larry and Don decided to go for a sneak swim. Since, Joan was there, they had no choice but to let her tag along. They decided by pretending to be playing marbles near the grove of trees along the back of the chicken house. They thought they might be able to slip through the trees, under the barbed wire fence and across the prairie to the creek without Mother or Sandie realizing they were gone. All well on the way down, even Bucky, who followed behind was able to get away without being noticed. Once they were past the trees and under the fence, they literally flew across the prairie. All three children wished they could jump the sagebrush with ease the way Bucky did. Occasionally, a child would fall from a miscalculation of height and trip over the brush. This happened most often to Joan. She carried her share of scratches from the brush. The boys who were bigger and faster seldom stopped for her, even when she got cactus in her hand and had to stop and pull them out. She never complained, just raced along behind trying to catch up.
By the time they could see the swimming hole, a deeper are in the creek where water was backed up behind the beaver dam, Joan was lagging far behind so the boys stopped to catch their breath and wait for her. Some of these beaver ponds were quite deep, which added the thrill of danger to the forbidden trip. Both boys were sure they were great swimmers. Joan could not swim, but was determined to keep up with the two older boys.
They wasted no time removing shoes, shirts, and jeans, then dived into the cold clear water. Joan cautiously waded along the edge, Bucky stayed at her side, as if to protect her from any danger. Little by little, she became more daring and waded in deeper and deeper.
Soon all three children were splashing joyfully in the water. Bucky ran along beside them on the water’s edge. A branch from a cottonwood tree hung far out over the pond made an excellent diving board for the two boys. Don did not want to let Joan try it. She pretended to be mad, but was secretly really afraid to try it.
When Larry began to taunt her for being a chicken, she got mad, this time for real. “I can do anything you can, Larry Flock!” she shouted and climbed out on the branch. By this time, the smooth white bark had become quite slippery from the splashing water. Joan was so angry she didn’t notice. Suddenly her feet went out from under her. “SPLASH!” She hit the water and went down, down, down.
Surprised and then fearful, she sputtered and splashed, struggling to come up. When her head surfaced, both boys were doubled over in laughter.
“You’re mean!” she shouted and went under again. When she came up another time, fear showed plainly on her face and she went under again. Don moved into action and pulled her to shore. When she was safe, he muttered ‘dumb girl’ and went back into the water. By now, Larry had stopped laughing with a very white face he said, “I didn’t know she couldn’t swim.”
After about an hour, they decided they had better get back before someone missed them and came looking for them.
The return route was the same, but was made a little slower. No one wanted to get hot again. There was time to gather a bouquet of wild flowers. Red Indian paintbrush and the large yellow flowers from the soap weed, made lovely bouquets for the dining room table. It gave them an excuse for being out that direction of the house if Mother caught them returning. They also realized their clothes needed to be dry so she would not suspect what they had really been doing.
Back at the fence, they prepared to crawl under as before. Bucky also tried to go under, but somehow, Don didn’t lift the fence at the right time. Bucky’s right ear was caught in the fane! The boys dropped their flowers and tried to free him from the sharp barb. He twitched and twitched his ear. The boys pulled and tried to work it loose, but every time they touched his sensitive ear, he jerked and struggled. Finally, with a mighty push on his front feet, Bucky lurched forward and freed himself from the fence. He had pulled a chunk of his ear out, leaving a bloody V-shaped niche about an inch deep. All three children were frightened by the blood on their beloved pet and went running for Mother.
She examined the ear after washing the blood away. The little animal was trembling under her gentle hands. Next, she sent Don to the barn for the cow salve that Father used to treat scratches and cuts on the milk cows.
When he returned, Father was with him. By now, Bucky had calmed down and stood patiently while they treated his ear. When the salve was applied, the parents stood back, Bucky shook his head and went to his sardine can on the tree stump near the back door of the house for some oats.
Father told the children, “Bucky now has an ear mark just like the cows do. You’ll always be able to recognize him in a crowd.”
As soon as their pet seemed okay, Joan remembered their flowers and ran back to retrieve the bouquets. The dinner table was resplendent with the reds and yellows of the Indian Paintbrushes and soap weed flowers. Mother never knew the real reason behind the bouquets. At least if she did, the children didn’t know that she did.
Fireside Stories 