A Pair of Second Chances (Ben Jensen Series Book 1) by Brian Gore

sunset.
    Ben was an odd drunk. He could choose to not drink... in fact, felt little need to when he was hard at work. It was in the quiet times, down below, amongst the people of the lowlands... that life caught up with him. When the agony of his life grew into too heavy a burden, and the only thing that seemed to lighten the load, or soften the pain, was to fog his brain with the bottle.
    Tomorrow would be a day of hard riding. He silently hoped he would find himself still up to the task if it happened to get "western". A smile creased his face as he half hoped that "Western" it would be!
    Dawn found him up and burning his breakfast in a cast iron skillet over an open fire. The battered, once enameled, coffee pot sat steaming on a rock beside it.
    He squatted beside the fire as the sun brightened the sky. A tin cup of coffee warmied his hands in the chilly, high mountain air. Yes sir! It was mornings like this that kept some small flicker of hope alive in his battered heart. How could you not feel the life that remained, on a morning like this?
    Ben wolfed down his eggs and bacon as if he hadn't eaten in a week. He emptied his coffee cup, throwing the dregs into the fire. Standing up he dumped the remains of the pot in the fire, poured a pail of water from the creek behind it, and stirred the embers to make sure they were dead. He sure as hell didn't need the Forest Service after him too!
    With the morning routine done, he set about saddling Keno, his second saddle horse, for this days work. Toby had worked hard enough the previous two days, and had earned a rest.
    When his watch told him it was 6 a.m., Ben Jensen was another mile up the mountain, tracking his horse herd.
    He found a few apple piles, maybe a day old, so he turned and followed the tracks that accompanied them. From what he could tell, the majority of his horses had stuck together. His hope was that his luck would hold and he'd have the pressure from the bank off his back sooner... rather then later.
    It would be nice if the mares had stuck together. The few yearlings and two year olds he'd kept would likely hang close to them. He hoped, but he wasn't counting on it.
    Ben and Keno rode most of the morning before he spotted the tell tale switch of a horse tail behind some brush, several hundred yards across a park. The horses he was following had shaded up in a little grove of aspen to take a late morning siesta.
    Now came the fun. Either those horses would herd along like a good, mountain ranch horse herd, or, they'd be feeling a little feisty, and he'd be in for a run. He was a little surprised when he found his luck still holding.
    He circled around to get behind the herd, and started pushing them back toward the working pens where he'd set his camp. Initially, the lead mare made a hard run, a little ways out into the park, making like she'd really crack out and take 'em all on a wild ride. However, just as quickly, she quit her flight and moved easily back up toward the trail when he circled below them.
    Late that afternoon he had those horses corralled in the pens. The rest of that day was spent catching a few of the mares he judged to be leaders. They were brushed down and gotten used to being handled again. While Ben worked, the others munched on the grain he'd spread in the rough board feed bunks scattered across the corral.
    If he had the cooperation of those lead mares over the next few days, driving the herd back to the home place would be much less of a job.
    He hadn't yet collected the whole herd. All the two year olds and yearlings were present and accounted for, but by his count six mares and four colts were still missing. Likely they weren't far from where he'd found the main bunch. It wouldn't surprise him a bit if they came in during the night. Horses didn't like being alone, and these, few as they were, would likely come hunting the herd.
    The way his luck had run so far, he had high hopes Lady Luck would continue to smile on him... and, damn