Amanda remembered the stone later that night before she went to bed She took the smooth flat rock out of her jeans pocket and rolled it over in her hand It was a dark grey colour about the size of a loonie She noticed a faint mark on the stone in the shape of a V I wonder what that means she mumbled She placed the rock on her book shelf and crawled into bed beside a jet lagged Leah already asleep Happy that her BFF was there with her she soon fell asleep
Chapter 2 Amanda's mom served toast at the breakfast bar the following morning Are you over your jet lag Leah Oh yes Mrs I mean Evelyn I slept well last night It s too bad you missed Amanda's dad He went into the office early Hey how would you like to go to a real ranch with real cowboys That would be so great I've only seen ranches on the telly They have way cool horses at the ranch we're going to said Amanda She stuffed the rest of the toast in her mouth and jumped off the stool eager to get going Leaving the busy city behind they drove past golden fields of wheat and through rolling green hills towards the snow capped Rocky Mountains in the distance These are called The Porcupine Hills said Aman da You do have funny names for places replied Leah There it is Amanda pointed to words burnt into a slice of wood that read BAR U RANCH Why do you think it is called the Bar U Ranch Mom asked Amanda I believe that's the brand the rancher puts on his cattle to prove they belong to his ranch Do they paint it on asked Leah No They use a hot branding iron to burn it onto the side of the calf That way it stays on the animal for the rest of its
99 Leah scrunched up her face Wouldn't that hurt Probably But I don't think it hurts very much replied Mrs Ross The skin of a cow is leather so it s tough Do you remember going to a branding party at your Uncle Jimmy’s Amanda It was a while ago I remember I had fun with all my cousins but I didn't like the burning smell I felt sorry for the cute baby calves who were crying for their mommies Mrs Ross laughed You asked your Uncle if he would please stop hurting the calves He assured you they would all be back with their mommies soon and would get a special treat for their supper They drove through the gate into the yard past a large red barn a log cabin and other red painted buildings Once parked the girls jumped out of the car and were immediately greeted by an excited dog that barked and leapt up to lick their faces Leah backed away but Amanda patted his head and said Hi there Bud How’re you doing Bart leave the young ladies alone A man his face tanned and wrinkled grinned and shook Mrs Ross's hand Sorry about that ma am he just loves to get company that's not cowpokes Welcome to Bar U Ranch My name's Andy and Ill show you around This your first time to the ranch Yes said Amanda and Leah at the same time She's from England and we wanted to show her a real ranch said Amanda Well you've come at the right time The horses are being exercised right now Follow me You don't mind if Bart comes along do you Not at all I love dogs Amanda gave the grey blue dog another pat on the head What kind of dog is Bart Bart here is a Blue Heeler They come from Aus tralia and are great cattle dogs They need the wide
outdoors Best on a farm or ranch Not good as house pets They followed Andy to a corral where some horses were being led while others wandered around on their own Two men in one corner of the corral appeared to argue Amanda glanced in their direction just as one man punched the other in the face A grey horse near them reared up his front legs Andy ran over and caught the horse's reins He spoke softly into his ear until the horse settled down and then led him back to the large red barn Other men broke up the fight The man who had been hit held his bleeding nose and limped past the girls He looked directly at Amanda with the saddest eyes she had ever seen Somehow the eyes looked familiar She shivered in spite of the hot weather Leah continued to watch the magnificent horses walk around the corral They sauntered very proud and alert some mostly grey with specks of black while others black with white markings on their heads Andy came back from the barn a few minutes later and asked if they would like to go for a wagon ride and see the rest of the ranch Oh that would be super wouldn't it Leah The girls climbed up onto an open wagon and sat on bench seats while Andy held the reins of two large salt and pepper grey horses Whoa Dick Stand still Casey Let everyone get on board before we get a move on Andy stroked their broad fore heads You sure like your horses What kind of horses are they asked Amanda These are Percheron draft horses They are the best work horses and extremely intelligent They are known as the gentle giants of ranching This ranch is well known for raising Percheron horses over the
