“He said if I ever touch his saddle again, he’ll cut my hands off and send them to my mother.”

Jessie chuckled a little and nodded knowingly. “Next chance you get, you make sure you go and apologize to him for taking his saddle,” she said, patting Jim on his shoulder. “Then never touch it again.”

“Oh, I hadn’t planned on touching his saddle again, or anything else that belongs to him, for that matter.”

“Good,” Jessie nodded as she turned and walked away. “Good.”

It would be another hour before Jim had gathered enough courage to walk over to the bunkhouse and talk with Henry. When he finally did, he didn’t really walk up to him, but rather he sort of slunk with his head down, hands in his pockets, shuffling his feet, and acting as if he had forgotten where his final destination actually was. Henry watched in amusement at the boy’s jittery and indecisive gait, and knew just by looking he’d made his point.

“Hi Henry,” Jim’s voice was a little shaky. “Did you get some supper?”

Henry nodded, but otherwise didn’t respond. He figured Jim had probably come to apologize but didn’t want to look too eager to accept it. As far as Henry was concerned, Jim had already gotten off easy. What he had done wouldn’t have been tolerated at all on any real outfit. All things being equal, the same blunder on a working ranch might have at least cost him a couple teeth, and at most, some broken bones.

“I’ll say this about the place, they sure have good grub.” Jim forced a smile. “Good grub and good horses. Usually, a place like this either has good horses, or they have good food. But this place has both.” He smiled again. Henry spit in the dirt, and then wiped his mouth with his sleeve. Jim’s smile faded a little as he watched the little puff of dust rise from the dirt. “Um,” he started again. “Sure is dry…ain’t it? They’re sayin’ it might rain tomorrow. But then, that’s what they said about today. And look. No rain. Not even a drop.” He smiled again.

“You’re wearin’ on me boy,” Henry growled. “If you got something to say, then go on and say it. I ain’t in the mood for no chit chat.” He spit again.

Jim gulped. “Um…well…actually, I just wanted to come by to tell you how sorry I was that we used your saddle today.” He winced a little, as if getting ready to be hit. “That’s something we do around here all the time—borrow each other’s saddles. Nobody ever minded before…”

“I mind,” Henry interrupted.

“Yes sir,” Jim nodded. “And I can see that. It won’t happen again. You don’t have to worry about that.”

Henry could see the boy was sincerely sorry for what happened, and he also understood Jim probably knew nothing about the unspoken code of ethics between cowboys when it came to their equipment. After a few moments hesitation, Henry slowly nodded. “Fair enough,” he said as he reached his open hand toward Jim. A little surprised, Jim slowly reached back and shook it. “Fair enough,” Henry repeated.