Chapter 66 Bull Riding and Bull Riders
One night, Alexandra witnessed their courage in its starkest form. A cowboy’s hand became "hung up", the term for being caught in the rope as he was thrown. The bull, feeling the man still attached, went into a frenzy, slinging him around like a child's stuffed toy. The crowd gasped, a collective intake of breath that sucked the air from the spectators. Instantly, the two bullfighters were on the attack. Without hesitation, one leaped onto the bucking bull's back, suspended himself there while trying to work the rope loose. The other stayed on the ground, putting his own body between the bull's massive head and the helpless, flailing cowboy, taking a brutal blow from a horn that sent him sprawling but bought his partner a precious second. For a moment that stretched into an eternity, the chaotic, violent dance continued until, miraculously, the rider’s hand came free. He collapsed to the dirt. The bullfighters lured the animal away. The cowboy, impossibly, got to his feet and walked out of the arena. It was the bravest, most selfless act Alexandra had ever seen. To her surprise, the bullfighters moved back in front of the chute and prepared for the next rider as if nothing out of the ordinary had taken place.
What struck her even more deeply than the adrenaline and the danger, however, was the culture that surrounded it all. There was a paradox at the heart of this world: fierce, cutthroat competition in the arena gave way to an easy, genuine camaraderie behind the chutes. People she’d just met treated her not as an outsider, but as a member of a sprawling, unofficial family. It was a community bound by shared risk, mutual respect, and an unspoken code of conduct.
This pervasive decency reminded her of her time in Arizona with Mister Arnold, helping the cowboys brand calves. It echoed the quiet, immediate respect she’d been shown by Ryan and Evan’s friends in Colorado. At the time, she had assumed their kindness was an extension of her connection to Evan, but now she was beginning to understand it was something more fundamental. It was simply the way of things, the character of the people who inhabited these wide-open spaces.
One evening, sitting on the tailgate of the truck under a canopy of stars, she finally asked Evelyn about it. "Is everyone out here... like this?"
Evelyn smiled. "There are some bad eggs in the bunch, just like anywhere else," she admitted. "But for the most part, yeah. People look out for each other. You'll be treated like a queen out here."
"Out here." Alexandra had heard the phrase countless times. It was a peculiar expression, denoting not just a location but a state of being.
"It comes from pioneer days," Evelyn explained, her voice soft in the cool night air. "When families left the cities and the so-called civilization of the East, they were moving west, out and away from everything. They were on their own, building new lives. They called it 'out here,' and the name just stuck."
Alexandra looked up at the vast, dark sky, so different from the light-polluted haze of the cities she had known. "Out here," she repeated to herself. It was a place on a map, yes, but it was also a place of character, a proving ground where people were defined by their integrity and their grit. And for the first time in a long time, she felt like ‘out here’ was exactly where she was supposed to be.
“Wow!” the voice called out from over her shoulder to the left. “They sure grow ‘em up right around here.”
She glanced in the direction of the male voice, not sure whether he was talking to her or if she had overheard something, but instantly saw the penetrating blue eyes of a wiry little cowboy looking at her with a toothy grin. She was completely overcome by him, finding that she could not turn away. Feeling the warmth in her face, she knew that it had brightened to a rosy shade of red. Her heart raced as he spoke to her again in a slow, relaxed drawl.
“Are all the ladies ‘round here as purdy as you?” He tipped his straw hat slightly.
She wasn’t sure what “purdy” was, but she assumed it probably meant pretty. She gathered her wits before she answered. “Actually, the girls around here are much prettier.” She blushed. She never blushed. What was wrong with her? She could not believe that he had sent her for such a loop. His slow, easy style had sent a thrill running through her, and those eyes, oh my god, those eyes!
“Nawwh, I don’t think so. You’re ‘bout as purdy as I’ve seen in a while.”
“Thank you,” she giggled. “I’m actually not from here.”
“No?” The look of surprise seemed to make his blue eyes sparkle even more. “Where y’all from?”
“I work for Evelyn McKenzie,” she replied. “She shows horses and does barrel racing. You might have heard of her.”
“Yeah,” he said. “I’ve seen her run barrels a few times. She’s been in the top ten for years. I think she made the finals last year. So, where does she call home?”
“Sparks, Nevada,” she answered. “It’s near Reno.”
“Yep,” he said. “Purdy country out that way. Y’all ain't from around here nor Nevada though.”
“I’m from Pittsburgh originally,” she replied.
“I could tell you was from the east,” he said. “I’ve been to Philadelphia and New York, but never to Pittsburgh.”
“Pittsburgh is much nicer,” she replied.
“Guess I’ll have to take your word for it. What are y’all fixin’ to do right now?”
The phrase was a little bit odd, but she decided it probably meant something like what she was planning on doing. “I was going to go back to the trailer.”
“That’s too bad,” he said. His smile dimmed, but it was still brighter than what most people could accomplish at full force. “I’m a little hungry and I was hoping that y’all would go with me to get a bite.”
She wasn’t sure what came over her suddenly. She was under some sort of spell that had something to do with those penetrating blue eyes and that overwhelming smile. “I guess I don’t have to be there right away. Where did you want to go?”
“There’s a little steak house just outside the gate there,” he said, indicating the entrance to the fairgrounds. “It’s just a couple of blocks. You wanna go? I’m buying.”
Something in the back of her mind told her that he was probably too good to be true, but she simply couldn’t resist. “Then let’s get a move on.” She mocked one of Evelyn’s favorite lines.