Part VI-B
As they picked up the dogs, one of the judges rode over to the Kentuckian and said something. The handler started cussing and everyone heard him tell the judge that the last find was clearly a divided find. The judge wasn’t about to argue as he knew the man well. He turned his horse and rode over to break away the next brace. Three more braces ran before lunch with no more birds pointed. The judges decided to take a long break in hopes that the heat of the day would dissipate. This would put Buster in the last brace of the afternoon and the birds might be moving by the end of it. As they stood around under the awnings of the trailers that had them, everyone talked about the “divided” find. Many agreed they wouldn’t name a runner-up if the big, white dog was all they had for second at the end of the trial. Bobby stayed out of it. Judges rarely withheld placements and there were still lots of good dogs to run.
When the judges finally called for the next brace, there was little relief from this last blast of summer. The only consolation was that a gentle breeze was rippling the short grass prairie. Bobby and Luce rode at the back of the small gallery and talked. Well, mostly Luce talked and Bobby listened which was fine by both of them. She asked a lot of questions about the dogs and the different handlers’ styles. Some were loud, others raced all over the place trying to keep track of their dogs. Others just rode along and pointed out their dog from time to time which was the way Bobby had handled Girl in the first brace and the other two dogs he had in the morning. He had one more in the second brace after lunch and then two tomorrow with Rebel Yell in the final brace. The handlers picked up at the 40 minute mark with no birds and both dogs letting down a little in the heat. Bobby hoped his brace would go the hour if for no other reason than to allow Buster to run later in the day.
When his brace started the temperature had reached its highest point of the day and already the shadows were getting longer. The ground was baked hard and the dogs were followed by a small cloud of dust that quickly blew away in the breeze. He lasted until the 45 minute mark when his bracemate picked up. He knew his dog wasn’t making any money. If he didn’t pick up as well it would become obvious what he was trying to do which might count against Buster. He signaled to Mack and his dog was soon in the harness. The marshal radioed for the dog truck which arrived within a few minutes. Just about everyone grabbed a bottle of water from the truck in hopes of staying hydrated. John got Buster out and tried to get him to drink. When he would have none of it John led him over to the water trough, threw him in and said whoa. Buster just stood there until John called him out and led him to the line. Bobby was torn between having Mack scout and riding in the gallery with Luce or scouting himself and helping John. Luce saw the conflict on his face and told him she’d rather talk to Mack as Bobby wouldn’t be very good company if he was worrying about John and Buster.
Bobby took Buster and led him to the line. The Kentuckian he had been braced with in the morning was scouting this brace and, he avoided the usual courtesy of wishing John and Bobby good luck. They broke them away and Buster took off like the temperature was below 50 instead of over 90. He was soon a distant speck on the horizon. It worried John that his old eyes wouldn’t be able to pick out the dog in this big country. But he and Buster had a connection that was more than visual and he always seemed to be looking in the right spot when Buster would show on a distant hill or come out of the head of a draw. Bobby soon had his horse in a full lather as he tried to stay in position to help the wide ranging pointer. The other handler rode next to John and sang the whole time even though no one had seen his dog since about the five minute mark and his scout had gone MIA as well.
Buster never slowed: he just kept eating up the prairie as he ranged further and further in search of a bird. The gallery was buzzing and the judges were sitting up in their saddles as they stayed close behind John. Buster made a big move to the right side of the course and Bobby shadowed him. John could see Bobby and let his dog hunt, He’d let him run back to North Dakota if he could find a bird there – it wasn’t all that far as the crow flew or the all age dog ran. John saw him go over a distant hill and reined in his horse. The course was starting to turn away from Buster. The other handler started to ride away but neither judge followed him and he stopped. A minute passed and then two. John had faith in Bobby and in his dog. They would show soon or Bobby would ride to the high ground and call point.
Bobby finally spotted Buster standing in a distant draw and then he saw something that made him sick to his stomach as the other scout saw the dog and not Bobby and practically rode over the dog as he flushed the birds and went on. Bobby yelled. The man looked up, surprised, and then rode on. Bobby went to Buster and reassured him that he had done nothing wrong. He watered him, put him in heel, and loped back to the course. When Buster saw John and the rest of the field trial party he kicked into overdrive and blew by them to the front as though the hour was just starting. When time was called, Buster was crossing from right to left on a distant ridge line looking like he could run the rest of the day and into the night if they’d only let him. When John got on his whistle and rode for him, Buster reluctantly came to him. Most likely the dog was thinking how an hour stake was more than twice the fun of a half hour stake. He was obviously a dog that would not have any problem with the endurance stakes if he was given the opportunity.
When Buster was back on the dog truck, they all rode into the headquarters and the beer and cookout that was to be the Saturday night entertainment. Bobby didn’t say anything to anyone about what had happened. He figured this was between him and Mr. Big Shot Amateur. There may have been a time when that sort of cutthroat practice was a part of the game but all the pros had too much riding on each and every performance to mess with another handler’s dog. They were already feeding the dogs when Buster’s bracemate was finally rounded up and the handler and scout rode into camp.
Bobby excused himself from the chores and walked over to the big man on his big horse. He planted himself squarely in front of his horse, “I would like to have a word with you.”
“I got nothing to say to you, sonny.” The man spurred his horse and attempted to ride right over Bobby.
Bobby grabbed the reins and spun the horse to his left. At the same time he grabbed the man’s ankle and dumped him out of the saddle. He landed with a thud and the air rushed out of him.
Bobby let the horse go and leaned down in the man’s face and spoke in a low even tone, “If you ever interfere with a dog that comes off my truck again, you can expect more than just a humiliating fall off your horse.” The man started to get up and Bobby put a boot on his chest and held him down. “Am I making my self clear to you?”
“Fuck you.” The man gasped when he finally had enough air in his lungs to speak.
“I wouldn’t expect you to say anything else.” Bobby walked away feeling good about himself.
The man dusted himself off and looked around for a sympathetic face. Everyone knew Bobby, and pretty much knew what the man would have had to do to get Bobby mad enough to accost him. Many of them would have just waited to get even, but none of them would have let it slide. The amateur had no allies in this crowd. Even the man he was scouting for had been surprised when he had been told what had happened. He told another handler what the man had done and soon everyone at the trial knew the story. What they wanted most was to beat the man’s dog that was still in the second position. Had Buster gotten credit for his find, Girl would most likely have moved to runner-up and the big white dog would be an also ran.
Bobby was fine once he had confronted the man and said his piece. The only awkward part of the rest of the evening was when it became apparent that Luce had more on her mind than a final glass of wine when she invited Bobby into her room again. In the morning Mack and John were up at the usual time and started walking the dogs. When Bobby and Lucinda still hadn’t shown up when they were finished they walked across the parking lot to the diner and ordered breakfast. John took a table by the window where he could see the motel and smiled as he tapped Mack on the arm when Bobby came sneaking out of Lucinda’s room. Bobby looked around and then at his watch. He walked over to the diner and told John and Mack he’d meet them out at the grounds as Lucinda was going to bring her car out and leave from there late that afternoon. Mack just nodded and John smiled quietly which made Bobby blush.
By the time they had the dogs on the stakeouts and the horses saddled Lucinda’s Mercedes SUV came rolling into the grounds. Nothing was said. They were all adults, and John was glad to see Bobby with a woman as smart and as nice as Lucinda, which had not been his MO earlier in his career as he seemed to attract the bad girls who thought his shyness and “aw shucks” manners were just an act. And there was a wild side there that they easily brought out in him. He had missed more than one early brace back in the day, but had outgrown all that. Lucinda appealed to the adult in Bobby. He didn’t know where it would go once he headed south, but hoped there’d be a way for the relationship to continue.
The first brace again produced bird work and both dogs pushed the big, white pointer from Saturday’s first brace. Most seemed to think that Girl was still on top, and they argued over which one of the dogs from Sunday’s first brace would be carried as runner-up. Everyone was also talking about Buster and the race he had laid down in the afternoon heat. They all agreed that had he gotten credit for his find there were very few dogs in the country that could have beaten the race he had put down. Some wondered if he’d have anything left for the derby if they got to him that day.
Bobby got nothing done in the next two braces. After lunch, all that was left was to run Rebel Yell’s brace to wrap up the championship. Jack ran a race close to or maybe even equal to Buster’s, depending on who you talked to. It was definitely an angels and pins kind of discussion. But no birds were pointed and it was another also ran performance. They all rode into the headquarters for the announcement. One of the dog’s from the Sunday morning brace was announced runner-up and Girl was declared champion. Everyone wanted to shake Bobby’s hand except the big shot who went into his trailer and turned on his air conditioner.
Buster ran in the last brace of the derby that afternoon and hadn’t lost a step from the day before. This time Mack scouted and found him on point. With a broke find and a true prairie race everyone expected he would at least have a piece of the derby. Most admitted they didn’t have anything that could beat him. Lucinda headed home and Bobby, John and Mack fed the dogs and went back to the motel. They had a couple more derbies to run in the morning and then the trial would be over. In the past Bobby always looked forward to moving on from the prairies to the Midwest and then eventually back to the South for the winter trials. He knew he’d go: he only needed another first place finish for Girl and he’d have two in the National and he felt that somehow Buster would get there too, but for once he was reluctant to go south as he thought about Lucinda and how she had so quickly become an important part of his life.
Buster won the derby and one of Bobby’s dogs took third based on a really strong ground race. Buster had proven something that John had only suspected up to this point. Buster was the type of dog that people would talk about and his reputation was already well on its way. It was a little bit like the NBA where the stars always seem to get the calls in their favor. When a dog had the right kind of reputation, the judges always seemed to see them in a positive light. They got the close calls going their way. Buster looked to be headed that way and as far as John was concerned he was earning his reputation honestly – without ads in The Field or home cooking at the trials or in the reports. He didn’t have a crystal ball and had been disappointed by more than one young phenom over the years, but Buster had the brains, endurance, and that intangible something that make judges sit up and watch him which could take him to the highest levels. John would pick his places as the year went on but this would not be the last time in his derby career that Buster would run in a championship.
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