BooksBarbecue
Back The Last Goodnight
Chapters (50)
  1. Also by
  2. Title Page
  3. Copyright Page
  4. CHAPTER ONE
  5. CHAPTER TWO
  6. CHAPTER THREE
  7. CHAPTER FOUR
  8. CHAPTER FIVE
  9. CHAPTER SIX
  10. CHAPTER SEVEN
  11. CHAPTER EIGHT
  12. CHAPTER NINE
  13. CHAPTER TEN
  14. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  15. CHAPTER TWELVE
  16. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  17. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  18. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  19. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  20. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  21. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  22. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  23. CHAPTER TWENTY
  24. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  25. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  32. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  33. CHAPTER THIRTY
  34. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  35. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  42. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  43. CHAPTER FORTY
  44. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  45. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  46. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  47. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  48. CHAPTER FORTY-FIVE
  49. EPILOGUE
  50. Teaser Chapter

Kade wasn’t laughing an hour later when the wind picked up and the rain turned to sleet, then snow, blowing sideways in a full-on Colorado Rocky Mountain blizzard.

* * *

Ellie had forgotten how cold a snowstorm like this could be. Now her fingers and toes were numb, her cheeks chafed and burning. Her hat was gone, replaced by a wool cap pulled low over her ears. She drew up the handkerchief that had slipped down around her neck and nudged the paint horse forward.

She knew Kade was somewhere close by, but she couldn’t see him though the blinding white. She nearly missed the calf that had slid into a depression filled with mud and was almost completely hidden by the falling snow.

Ellie climbed down from the mare, grabbed the coil of rope off the horn, and slogged her way through the tall drifts to the downed animal. She slipped a noose around the calf’s neck, remounted, and dallied the rope around the horn.

Tugging lightly on the reins, she urged the mare backward, her gaze on the calf. “Come on, sweetheart, get on your feet.” The rope went taut, and the calf slid a little out of the icy mud, but the animal was half-frozen and barely able to move.

She started to dismount when a second loop dropped over the calf’s head; then the rope went taut as Kade’s bay horse moved backward. Working together, they pulled the calf out of the slushy mud. The calf bellowed and struggled to its feet. Kade removed the ropes, and the little guy trotted off toward its mother, who stood a few feet away.

“Let’s move them back with the others,” Kade said. “We’ll push them all up into the draw out of the wind.”

Ellie nodded, and they drove cow and calf back to the herd in the north pasture, then pushed the animals up into the canyon, where the wind wasn’t so deadly. Ellie sighed in relief as Kade rode up beside her.

“Let’s head in. You’ve done more than your share, and the snow’s letting up. Most of the cows have been moved someplace they can weather the storm. That’s all we can do for now.”

Ellie just nodded, too weary to speak. It was dark as she rode next to Kade across the pasture back toward the barn. The rest of the hands were also heading home, nothing more than fuzzy dark spots in the distance.

As they reached the fence line nearest the house, Ellie spotted a small, dark shape lying on its side, almost completely covered by snow. She touched Kade’s shoulder, pointed to the fallen calf, rode over, and swung down beside it.