The outriders pushed the herd slowly, and like a lumbering black wave, the cattle shuffled forward. The cruisers moved out of the way, and the deputies turned to crowd control to keep zealous onlookers safe. The herd lined out, and the trail drive continued. As the lead riders neared the flood plain leading to Lake Overholser, Cass doubled back to check with each rider.
“We’ll take them around the lake road to the spillway and down the riverbed. It’s mostly dry. We can cross under I-40 that way.”
The herd moved without incident. A Bethany police car led the way while other units shut down intersections to traffic so they could pass safely. The lead cows balked at the dip down the riverbank, but the smell of water overcame their fear. They plunged over, and the rest of the herd followed. The riders allowed the cattle to drink their fill and then pushed them down the wide, sandy river bottom.
The sun climbed overhead, passed zenith, and the herd kept moving. They needed to find a place to move the cattle out of the riverbed and back up to a surface street. Cord and Chance rode ahead to find a spot and a few minutes later, Cord galloped back. He joined Cass, and the expression on his face left her worried.
“Chance is talking to the Oklahoma City cops. They say we can’t use Fifteenth Street to push the herd through.”
“What? How the hell are we going to get them across I-44 then? We can’t swim them down the river, and the first dam is just past Meridian. If we don’t push them out of the river soon, we’ll be stuck.”
“Duh. Chance is negotiating with them. I’m thinking we take them just past MacArthur. They’re dredging the river there, and it’s a construction zone. We can drive the herd to the start of the riverside park and use the bike and running trail. That gets us under I-44. If we go all the way to Agnew, we can take them straight under the Stockyard City arch and to the stockyard pens. With the publicity you’re getting, all the merchants are lined up ready to help.” He held up his cell phone. “My contact at the chamber of commerce says they’re ready to block the intersections with their private vehicles if that’s what it takes.” He passed the phone to her so she could read the text for herself.
“I...this is just crazy.”
“And?”
She laughed. Cord seemed convinced they could do this. And Chance was a white knight fighting battles for her. “I say we unleash some crazy.”
They managed a steady speed of almost two miles an hour. Chance hadn’t returned, and she hoped he hadn’t been arrested. Cord assured her his brother wouldn’t let that happen, but she noticed he looked worried and checked both his phone and the view downriver every few minutes for some sign of Chance.
When the herd reached the construction area, the lead riders turned up the gently sloping bank. Cass topped out and reined in her horse. A cluster of police cars, with lights flashing, lined up to block any sort of egress to the street. She was relieved to find Chance, dismounted and talking to a policeman. Chance waved his hands to make some point and while she couldn’t hear his words, his posture and every gesture indicated how angry and frustrated he was. The cop responded with a jutted chin and hands stiff at his side as if he had to keep them there with effort.
She waved her riders and the herd on to the east. They wouldn’t try the street, instead opting for Cord’s suggestion. They would follow the upper riverbank, crossing under the roads between them and the stockyards. There was only undeveloped land until they hit Meridian Avenue. Any problem would likely crop up once they hit the bike trails and developed area between there and the stockyards where the land narrowed.
Cass couldn’t help but glance over her shoulder to keep an eye on Chance. And then all hell broke loose. Staccato pop-pop-pops sounded like gunfire. Her horse reared. The cattle panicked and surged every which way. She struggled to stay in the saddle as cops drew their weapons. Chance yelled and shoved the cop he’d been talking to out of the way as a knot of cows stampeded in their direction. He managed to hang on to his horse’s reins, leaped up on the animal and rode into the melee.