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There were at least thirty bison in the Castelo pasture. Glancing at her, he kissed his little girl again before saying, "Daddy has to go catch some bison who got out of their pasture. I want you to stay in the lodge or in the yard close to the building. No wandering off. When I get back, we’ll think of something fun to do. Eyes to me, little one.” He waited until he had her attention before adding, "I love you, Gypsy. All my heart."

Giving him a watery smile, she answered, "All my soul." It was something they had started saying at some point during the past week. He liked it. She must have as well because they said the words every time they had to separate.

Knowing he had to go and hating it, he took her hand and let her downstairs. All the girls were in the kitchen, experimenting with coffee flavors and decorating heart-shaped cookies. Knowing he was leaving her in good hands, he headed to the barn to go re-pasture his bison, already planning what they’d do when he got back.

CHAPTER 21

As soon as Chance had Jasper saddled and ready, he headed out to the Castelo Place. It would take time to get there on horseback because, of course, it was the easternmost pasture on the ranch. He had to take Jasper, though. The four-wheelers would be much more likely to spook the bison.

Most people saw bison and thought they were just bigger cows. That couldn’t be further from the truth. Bison were wild creatures. Not only were they larger than cows, but they responded like non-domesticated animals. Take them out of the pasture they were used to, and they became unpredictable.

The thing that really worried him was they had finally moved Bullwinkle from the holding pen a few days ago and relocated him to the Castelo Place pasture. If he was one of the bison who’d gotten out, there was no telling the destruction the bull could cause if he got rattled. He just hoped they could get Bullwinkle back to the right pasture without having to put him down.

Something moved to Chance’s left at the edge of the horizon. There were no main roads over there. Looking closer, he couldn't see anything out of place. It had probably been a wolf or a flock oflow-flying birds. With one more scan, he returned his attention to the problem at hand.

When he reached the cattle pasture, Trace was already there unloading the Australian shepherds they used as herding dogs. They were experienced with moving bison, and Trace was the best handler Chance had ever seen.

Each dog had its own set of whistles. Trace controlled each dog every step of the way just by varying the sound.

Leaving Jasper to forage among the brush, Chance headed for Javier. "What's the latest, Javi? Have you been able to find the missing stock?”

Javi ducked his head to spit. "Yeah. But frankly, I don't know how they made it as far as they did. Normally, they just eat their way across the pasture and don’t go too far past it as long as there’s food and shade. There’s both right here, but these strays made it a little over two miles before someone spotted them and gave me a call. It's gonna be a hell of a long day getting them back in. And then we have to patch the place where they got out, once we find it."

Two miles? Javi was right. Unless something spooked them and caused them to stampede through the fence, there wouldn't be any reason for them to go that far. If that was the case, they're just lucky the herd stopped when it did.

"Did you see any evidence of wolves or cougars? I thought I saw somethin’ on the way over here.”

“Nope, nothing like that.”

This was something they could deal with later. Turning to Javi, Chance said, “Well, we can try to figure out what happened once we get’em back. Daylight’s burnin’ and we best get to it.”

He started back toward Jasper, then remembered what he wanted to ask Javi about the bull. “Did you put eyes on Bullwinkle?"

Javi cocked his head. "Who?"

Dammit. He hadn't meant to call the bull that name. The fact Ironside was now Bullwinkle was supposed to be a secret, just his and his gypsy’s. Now he was gonna have to explain to Javi. Old women didn't hold a candle to ranch hands when it came to gossip. He was never gonna live this down.

"Ironside,” he growled. “I'm talking about Ironside."

Javier's brows shot up in disbelief. Then he grinned, which was worse. “How's Joy settling in, by the way?"

Fucker. "Shut the hell up." Chance didn't have time for this shit. "These bison ain't gonna herd themselves. I suggest you get everybody on their horses and let's get this taken care of. I don't have all day." Chance walked away with the sound of laughter echoing in his ears.

It turned out Bullwinkle was one of the bison that had broken out of the fence because, of course, he was. But it actually turned out to be an advantage. All the other bison saw Bullwinkle as the lead bull. Since bison are social creatures and are perfectly willing to follow, the only bull they really had to worry about was Bullwinkle.

At first, the massive bison had been in no mood to lead the herd anywhere. No matter what he tried or how much he coaxed, Bullwinkle wouldn’t cooperate. This was not the same bull that played fetch with his Little girl the week before. Chance hadn't even told anyone about that because, if he did, no one would have believed him. Hell, he’d seen it with his own two eyes, and he didn't believe it. But he couldn't help but wonder how the bull would react if they had a ball to toss right now.

Remembering his brother Trace had come in his truck, Chance figured they didn't have anything to lose. He might as well say something because the men were laughing at him anyway. He caught Trace’s attention and asked, "Do you have any of your training supplies in your truck?"

Trace looked confused at the question but answered it anyway. "Of course, I always have stuff in my truck."

Was Chance really doing this? Yes, he guessed he was. "You don't happen to have a ball in with your supplies, do you?"

"I do. Why do you want to know?"

Chance didn't want to take the time to explain. Instead, he simply told Trace to get the ball out of his truck and hand it to him.

Guiding Jasper to the front of the herd, Chance stared at the ornery bull. Narrowing his eyes, he said, "Don't you go making a bigger fool out of me than these guys already think I am."