“Ah,” he stammered. “Can I get you a cup of coffee? I just made some. I don’t guess it’s much good, but it is warm.”

“No, thank you. I’ve already had mine.” She turned and looked in the direction of the round pen where the colt, lariat still around his neck, stood with his side to the sun to help warm his body from the chill of the night. “I guess we should see about getting that rope off that little horse over there.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Henry said, flinging the few remaining drops of coffee from the bottom of his cup out on to the ground. “I’ve been giving that some thought. I’ve seen similar predicaments before, and the best way to fix something like this is for me to get a-horseback and drop a loop on him. I’ll get him dallied up, slip a halter on him, then take both ropes off.” He glanced in his cup to make sure it was empty. “Once the ropes are off you can leave the halter on so’s he’ll be easier to catch the next time.”

“I see,” Jessie said. “You feel roping him again is the best way to go? Even after the panic it put him through last night?”

“No offence, ma’am, but I believe it’s the only way.”

Jessie stood quietly for several seconds as if going over Henry’s suggestion, then nodded in apparent agreement. “And you wouldn’t mind doing the roping?”

“Not at all,” Henry shrugged. “It’s what I’m good at. I’ve done this a hundred times.”

“Well,” Jessie smiled. “I guess if you think it’s the best way, then you might as well give it a shot.”

“Yes, ma’am.” Henry placed his empty cup on the porch railing. “Now, do you have one horse on the place that might work better than another? As far as being a good rope horse, I mean.”

“Oh yes,” Jessie nodded, then turned and pointed toward the back pasture. “Out back, there, is a big sorrel gelding. He’s got a star on his forehead and a sock on his left hind. He’d be the best bet.”

“Yes, ma’am. I’ll get right after it then.”

With that, Henry tipped his hat, turned and walked toward the tack room. Jessie couldn’t keep herself from smiling. She fully expected Henry to come up with that type of solution to get the rope from around the colt’s neck. It was method typical of a working cowboy whose focus was almost always to get a job done as quickly and effectively as possible so he could move to the next task at hand. Jessie also knew the method Henry proposed was not without merit, and on any other horse she may have actually allowed him to do it. But she had something different in mind for the colt, and rather than trying to take the time to explain what she was going to do, or perhaps get into some big long, drawn out discussion about it with Henry, she simply sent him out to get one of the horses she knew would be a little difficult for him to catch. Between Henry trying to catch the horse, grooming and saddling, then getting back over to the round pen, she figured it might just give her enough time to get the rope off the colt before he got back.