Antelope - New Episode

Cal kicked at soil so dry that it almost kicked back. It was only natural to look up and West, hoping to see more clouds in the sky than the past forty-three days or so had provided. He wasn’t rewarded with much more than a stringy white feather drifting by on the other side of the river. The wheat on the ridge was already gone – the rest of the field wouldn’t be far behind it at this rate.

The creek was dry, and the cows were bawling. Something needed to happen. They couldn’t haul water forever. “You ready?”

“Would’ve been five minutes ago, if you’d done more than standing there looking around,” Horace snapped back.

“I was thinking,” Cal said as he walked toward the wagon. Even the horses looked sorry in the building heat.

Horace climbed up and settled himself before he picked up the reins. Cal didn’t mind – it gave him more time to think. “There’s nothing we can do about the drought, Cal. No use in worrying about it.”

Not unkindly, Cal told his brother, “I reckon that’s how we’re different, Horace. I worry about what needs worrying about, and you worry about what you can change.”

“No use in worrying over what you can’t.”

“We should have sold down the herd this spring,” Cal said.

“I say it here and it comes out over there,” Horace mumbled.

“Pa told me to keep track of things until he came back, Horace. I’d just as soon not seem him disappointed by what he found when he got here.” 

“Pa’s always angry about something,” Horace said. He snapped he reins, and the horses responded by swishing their tails and little else.

🙂 Hi! I’m Eric, the author of this series. If you’d like to consider both supporting my work and getting hold of a collection of Christmas stories, please consider having a look at the ‘Books for Sale’ link on the drop down menu at the top of your screen. There are also links to more free content if you’ve never checked it out. Thanks for visiting! Come back next week!