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“In case you haven’t noticed, I have been busy lately” He matched her testiness

“Why? Because you’ve been bossing this drive?” Lorna gave hi a drive, too, but that didn’t keep hi nice to me”

“It’s probably been three weeks since he’s seen a woman”

“And I suppose it makes a difference because you’ve seen ed “Or ood about herself and you only kno to norant”

Lorna slapped the buckskin with the reins and sent it galloping back over the route they had traveled to the river She knew Benteen was angry, but so was she She hadn’t encouraged Bull Giles and she resented the implication that she had

That night, Benteen assigned hiht herd and spread out a bedroll on the ground outside the wagon so he could be easily wakened Lorna hadn’t spoken to hi tohe blaht

The wagons were sent ahead to cross the Red before the herd Once the Longhorns had the razed a short while, Benteen nal the men to move them out The point riders picked up the nal down the line

The brindle steer quickly shouldered his way to the lead It wasn’t long until the herd was nicely strung out, aThe cattle alking freely toward the water, at this point drifting, not driven There had been no water at last night’s bedground, and thisthey were thirsty

When the brindle and his ihtened ranks to shove the rest of the herd after theroup into the river Jessie Truht point swam his horse in front of the brindle to show him the way to the other side

“Come on and follow me!” Benteen heard Jessie call to the steer “Come on, you captain of this sea of horns!”

The swie spectacle Theexposed only the heads with their sweeping rack of long horns The cowboys pressed to keep the herd coap to appear in the flow of horns

The first steers reached the opposite bank while the swing , rode into the river on either side of the swi riders continued to push froe point on the riverbank, Benteen watched the proceedings, alert to anything thatSometimes cowboys never kneould startle a cow—an eddy, a subed tree branch, or the cry of a whippoorwill Andy was letting his side of the herd drift too far downstream, where there were patches of quicksand that could s a horse or steer inbeefs It was acknowledged with a wave

So in midstream Benteen never sahat it was Suddenly the cattle startedto turn and swim back to the bank they’d left, but the rest of the herd was being pushed into them

It had happened quickly—and it had to be broken up just as quickly, or the ani bodies Jonesy had already seen it and i and yelling at the excited beasts to turn them toward the north bank Benteen spurred his horse into the river as Andy Young turned hisin a blind panic, ra its rider

“Andy’s down!” Jonesy shouted