After dinner, Grams invited Lester and me to spend the night. Although we loved spending thenight on the Ranch, you always had to be prepared for ‘‘The Call.” ‘‘The Call’’ meant cows were on the loose. I never understood why Gramps didn’t have guard towers with strobe lights for the pasture. Cows standing together in a group aren’t posing for a group picture; they’re planning a big escape. They may look content, standing there, but an escape is always in the back of their mind. And they never escape during the day…only at night, preferably in a driving rainstorm, when you’re playing checkers by the fire, or are sound asleep.
That night Gramps got “The Call.” “You got some cows out,” Gramps’ distant neighbor, Mr. Franski, said. “It looks like the Great Cow Escape.”
“Wake up boys,” yelled Gramps. “I’ve got some cows out. And don’t forget your slickers. There’s a driving rainstorm.”
We stumbled out of bed and put on our rain gear. Then we jumped into Gramps’ pickup and rushed over to the scene of the crime.
As soon as Gramps issued the call to arms, we jumped out of the truck, and began waving our arms wildly, shouting at the cows to put down their luggage and line up along the fence. Then I began giving Lester some advice, trying to get him in position, so no cows would get by us. Just as I had Lester in position, and told him to hold his ground, a cow bolted from the group, apparently attempting a run for the border. As the cow came barreling toward Lester, I feared Lester might attempt to outrun the cow to the border, so I yelled again, “Hold your ground!” In that instant, Lester dove out of the way as the cow romped past. “I didn’t want to hold the ground that close,” he said. Lester had just ignored my advice. His dad would’ve been proud, and the cow was jubilant.
After some lengthy negotiations and tough cow talk, the escapees returned.
Lester and I walked the fence line on our way back to the house. Along the way, we spotted a large opening; just large enough for a cow to walk through. “Just what I suspected, “I said. Not far from the opening was a pair of wire cutters. “That just shows you,” said Lester. “You can never let a cow get their hooves on a pair of wire cutters.”
“You’ve got that right,” I answered.
We spent the rest of the night mending the fence, and looking for other possible escape routes. When we were finished, I said, “Lester, we need to go home and get some sleep before we spend another day on the Ranch.”
“Good advice,” answered Lester.
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