Archive of Our Own ^beta

After a tiring day of herding 3000 steer through 11 miles of ever-expanding, dry grass filled prairie, it was time to bed down and set up camp. The cattlemen sluggish as they tied their horses up at the remuda and wandered over to the chuck wagon, uneager to taste more of Wishbone’s foul cooking.

“Chow’s not ready yet”, the cook grumbled, waving one of his knives around, “Mushy hasn’t even finished with the potatoes!”

The men sprawled themselves about the camp. There were a couple of trees dotted amongst the landscape, throwing enough shade to conceal anybody hiding underneath them. Besides the herd, Gil Favor and his men were completely alone. Right now, Mr Favor was looking for someone to keep it that way. Employing about 20 men was useful when he had to designate nightherd duty, but it wasn’t always straightforward.

“Where’s Pete?” Mr Favor asked Rowdy as he was walking into the camp.

“I think he’s grabbing some water for washing, Mr Favor, it was dusty today an’ poor Pete rode straight into it”, Rowdy replied in his usual manner.

“Thanks, Rowdy”, Mr favor said, before walking off in search of Pete, to ask him to go on nightherd of course.

“No way Mr Favor. You are always asking me too, why don’t you or Rowdy do it for once?” Pete answered with a touch of irritation in his voice.
Wishbone’s coffee was particularly bad in the morning, so he didn’t drink any, and there was still no revolting chow to end the day off with.

“ I understand that you’re a bit hungry Pete, but why won’t you do what I’m telling you”, Mr Favor snapped at him.

“I already told you. I ain’t never seen you or Rowdy take nightherd, as long as I’ve been workin’ for you”, Pete replied indignantly.

“Finish washing your face, I’ll find someone else.”, was all that Mr Favor said before walking over to the chuck wagon.

“How’s the chow going?”

“It’ll be ready in about 15 minutes. Mushy’s finally finished with the potatoes.”

“That’s good to hear.”, Mr Favor replied, then walked off to continue his task of finding a nightwatchman.

Nobody agreed to his order, not even Joe Scarlett or the greenhorns who were travelling with them until the next town. They were all hungry and exhausted, chow was still nowhere to be seen. Still, there was always one more man that he could ask. Rowdy Yates, his ramrod and the only man he trusted completely, even though his hotheadedness had gotten him into more scrapes than Mr Favor would like.

“Everyone else said no, didn’t they, Mr Favor?” Rowdy asked his boss as he walked up to him.

They were standing together near the edge of the camp, out of earshot of most of the other men.

“How’d you know”, Mr Favor replied with a grin, “Did my face give it away?”

“Yeah”, Rowdy chuckled softly, “and all the yelling of course.”

“Of course.”

“Why don’t we do it for once, Mr Favor, I’m sure it would stop all the complaining”, Rowdy said whilst turning towards Mr Favor with a smile on his face.

Mr Favor turned and smiled back, a warm smile that he reserved for only a few people in his life, and Rowdy was one of them. They kept smiling at each other, like school kids with a crush.

This moment of course was ruined by Wishbone hollering that chow was ready, creating a din by hitting one of the plates with his soup ladle.

“Well, we’d better go eat”, Mr Favor said, giving Rowdy a light pat on the shoulder. They walked over and joined the queue at the chuck wagon.

“I’d like you to know that I have chosen who’s on nightherd. I understand that both Rowdy and myself have not been taking a fair turn at the job, so we will both be doing it tonight”, Mr Favor stated once the men had eaten dinner.

A quickly silenced hurrah rang out across the camp, clearly this uneven shame of duty had upset some of the men, so Mr Favor was glad that it had been fixed now and not in another month or so.

“Could I have another cup of coffee, Mushy?”, Rowdy asked, and was quickly handed a new one, warm and full of sludge like all the rest. “Thanks, I need it.”

As the night went on and the sun finally set, the sky became clearer and clearer. The men in the camp settled into sleep as the fire slowly died, and Mr favor and Rowdy saddled up and rode over to the herd.

“It’s going to be bright tonight, look at all the stars,” Rowdy observed, gazing up at the sky in amazement.

“I can never believe that anyone could be bored by this view even if they see it every night”, Mr Favor agreed. Rowdy’s amazement was contagious in a way, Mr Favor thought.

They trotted loops around the sleepy herd, in the starlight it was easier to spot any problems, even if there was no moon. Rowdy and mr favor continued circling and checking the cattle, it was after midnight when there was finally something interesting.

“Mr Favor, look over there!” Rowdy yelled, pointing in the direction of a ridgeline.

“What, is something or someone up there?”

Mr Favor parked his horse beside Rowdy’s and followed his extended arm with his eyes.

“There, did you see it?”, Rowdy asked, pointing again in the direction of the ridge.

“On the ridgeline?”

“In the sky above it.” Rowdy said with wonder in his voice.

Mr Favor looked up at the sky above the ridgeline and was taken aback by what he saw. Hundreds of meteors dancing across the sky. It was beautiful, the way the stars sometimes gifted people a showcase of their beauty.

“Wow, what a sight,” Mr Favor sighed, “I can’t believe we almost missed it.”

“What are they?” Rowdy inquired, he knew about shooting stars, but not like what he was currently witnessing.

“It’s called a meteor shower, Rowdy. They are basically just space rocks”, Mr Favor
answered, happy to fill Rowdy in on the wonderful event he was witnessing.

“Is it still true?”

“Is what still true, Rowdy?”

“Do you have to make a wish like you do with shooting stars?”

“Do you really have that many wishes?”

“Just one. I really want to make it come true though,” Rowdy answered, eyes still transfixed on the sky.

“Yes, you can wish on a meteor shower if you like. But don’t wish on every meteor you see, sometimes they take hours to dance across the sky,” Mr Favor remarked.

“Really, hours?” Rowdy was surprised by this fact, “Okay Mr Favor.”

Rowdy grinned and finally looked over at Mr Favor, who was still watching the meteors fly above the ridgeline.

“Hey Mr Favor, it’s kinda cold now, isn’t it?”

“Do you want to take turns watching the cattle?” Mr Favor asked as he dismounted his horse, checking the area they were in for cowpats before unrolling his bedroll and blanket.

Rowdy did the same, and placed his bed roll next to Mr Favor’s, as proximity was important in staying warm when they couldn’t light a fire.

“I’ll stay up first,” Rowdy said, sitting down on his bedroll, eyes glued to the sky. The meteor shower was still happening, although it was starting to slow.

Mr Favor positioned himself on his bedroll, pulling his blanket up to his ears, and turned to face Rowdy, who was still in awe.

“Goodnight Rowdy, wake me up in a couple of hours, will you?”

“Goodnight Mr Favor”, Rowdy replied, leaning down and absentmindedly giving him a kiss on the head. His face dropped as soon as he realised what he had done.

“I’m so sorry Mr Favor I didn’t mean –”

“It’s okay Rowdy, it’s okay,” Mr Favor assured him, stretching out a hand from underneath his blanket and placing it over Rowdy’s, “I understand completely.”

“You meant it?” Rowdy asked, astonished.

“I do mean it. Now I’m sure that the herd will be fine for one night if we both sleep.” Mr Favor said, coaxing Rowdy to lay down next to him, cosy underneath his own blanket and on his own bedroll, facing each other with giddy smiles.

“Well, I guess it's goodnight again, Mr Favor”, Rowdy said softly, and placed a chaste kiss upon Mr Favor’s lips. He smiled as he did it, and could feel that Mr Favor was smiling too.

“Goodnight again, Rowdy”, Mr Favor whispered, returning the kiss with more warmth and passion.

The two men quickly dozed off, thinking about the wonderful sight they saw and their newfound connection to each other.