Wild West

@ Jaguar's Heart

"Trust me I know it won't be a quick fix for this one." Richard said as he looked up at the mustang. "He has caused more trouble then those damn tornados." He shook his head before going back to the other horses. "There are other horses here that you'll need to take care of. Some of just gotten old enough to be trained and to start working. Though I also have oxen, pigs, sheep, chicken and cows." Richard owned a huge ranch. However despite the size that it had gotten to he liked to keep the values and traditions of a smaller ranch. Which was why his wife and daughter still cooked for the hands who stayed for a season instead of hired help."

@ Mother.Of.Dragons
Blake nodded, "Alright. I can do that." He grinned at Richard, "Am I to saddle train the ox and chicken as well?" As he spoke he allowed the mustang to get use to the smell of him and the sound of his voice. So he was more rambling, allowing the horse to slowly accept his presence first before he was expected to accept Blake's weight in a saddle.

@ Jaguar's Heart

Richard laughed, enjoying the joke. "I do not believe that is necessary. You'll need to feed all of the animals obviously. Though the sheep will need to be sheared soon. You'll need to get the eggs from the chickens. The oxen will be out in the field most of the time but when they're not you'll need to feed them and ensure they're okay. Just feed the pigs and keep them in their pin. Milk the cows and ensure they got out to the fields. Though it sounds like you already know what to do about the horses."

@ Mother.Of.Dragons
Blake grinned at Richard, leaning back to the side of the stall, mind set still getting the mustang used to him, "Yeah. Horses are my thing. I'll be honest, other animals tend to confuse me, but I can handle feeding and milking fairly well. Poultry doesn't like me, they tend to attack on site, but it ain't nothin' I've survived through before."

@ Jaguar's Heart
"Poultry doesn't like anyone." Richard said with a laugh before waving for him to follow. "Can you start tomorrow?" He asked as they headed out of the stables. The other hands were beginning to head towards the house to eat.

@ Mother.Of.Dragons
Blake grinned, "I can start as soon as you need me," He said softly, pushing off from the stall and nodding to the man, "I just rode into town this morning, only minutes before your daughter introduced us, so I have no other previous engagements."

@ Jaguar's Heart
"In that case you should come join us for dinner and meet the other hands that work here. If you need you can stay with us too with the others." Richard said as he lead him to the house.

Daisy and her mother was setting the food down at a large table outside, getting dinner ready. The workers were outside too, sitting at the deck, cleaning themselves off a bit for dinner.

Blake followed him into the house, eyes widening a little at the amount of fresh food. His meals normally consisted of syale biscuits and herky. This was heaven.

As he walked in he found his gaze drifting to Daisy, a small smile stretching his lips as he nodded, "Evenin'. Good to see you again."

@ Jaguar's Heart

Daisy turned to see that Blake had made it to the ranch. She smiled lightly at him. "It's good to see you too." She said as she set down the last plate at the table. Her mother then came out, telling everyone that it was time to eat. Daisy, her family and the rest of the hands all moved to sit down at the table. Once they were there, they all brought their hands together and began to join in group prayer.

@ Mother.Of.Dragons
Blake sat, a little nervous. He just didn't understand the whole getting together for a meal thing. It may be because he was on the trail, alone, a lot, but he just didn't get it. Still, he joined in for prayer, then waited for everyone to take the first bite before he began to eat. There were some manners that had be instilled in him long ago... it was just hard to access them when he normally wanted to forget that time.
As he ate Blake found his eyes roaming more often than he'd like to admit. He tried to tell himself he was just checking out the people he would be working with... which would have been true if Daisy wasn't the one his gaze tended to land on. What was it about her? It wasn't that he'd never seen a pretty girl - there were lots of them... so what was it?

@ Jaguar's Heart

Daisy spoke to those that were close to her at the table, which happened to be her parents and a few of the hands that she had grown to know rather well. She was a sweet southern bell and many of the hands there seemed to be hypnotized by her. Though none of them made a move since none of them wanted to go down that path with Richard.
One of the hands, Pete, turned to Blake who was sitting besides him. "You must be the new hand." He said before reaching his arm out to shake his hand. "The name is Pete Kelvins." Once Blake shook his hand, he turned back to his food, though still looking up at Blake as he waited for him to talk.

@ Mother.Of.Dragons
Blake grinned, giving Pete's hand a good pump, "Blake," once more, there was no surname given... habit, "And, yeah, I'm new. This whole everyone-eats-together thing is new to me. Does this happen every night?" He asked, shoveling a spoonful of food into his mouth and chewing as he waited for Pete's response.

@ Jaguar's Heart
"This does happen every night but you do not need to join. There are hands that go elsewhere for meals and others that head home for the night and come back in the morning." Pete told him. "Though those who sleep here normally come and join for dinner."

@ Mother.Of.Dragons
After swallowing Blake grinned, "And miss this masterpiece of a meal?" He shook his head, "The cookin' here's too good to miss. I think I'll be here every night." He took another bite, went through the motions of chewing and swallowing, before continuing, "How's it working here? Good people? Satisfying work? Is it worth it to stay or should I just ride on?" He figured those weren't too horrible questions... things most newbies would want to know.

@ Jaguar's Heart

Pete chuckled a bit before nodding to the other hands. "You see most of the men here?" He said before turning back to Blake. "They do not stay here for longer than a season but they come back every time. Most of the men here have been returning here for a few years now. There are even some men that decided to settle down and work on this ranch full time." He told Blake with a grin. "I been coming around here for the summers for about three years now."

@ Mother.Of.Dragons
"That's pretty good." He said, a little surprised. On most farms and ranches the work was hard and the owners harder. They expected more than what could happen and didn't accept anything less, "So... about this mustang... how many have been thrown from his back? And how long has he been here?"

@ Jaguar's Heart

"The boss got him in may so it's been here for about a month and a half now. The mustang threw about five from his back until the boss had them all stop. He has been looking for someone who thinks they might be able to tame the beast. I think he's gotten to the point where he doesn't care how long it takes for the creature to be tamed as long as it does." Usually with animals people thought logically, like Richard normally did. However now he just wanted to win this fight against the Mustang. It had turned into a man vs creature challenge.

@ Mother.Of.Dragons
Blake nodded, "Hel-Heck," He corrected, remembering he was sitting at a dinner table and not on a trail, "I don't even know if I can tame him, but I'm willing to give it a shot. I love a challenge." He shook his head, "Have you tried working on him?"

@ Jaguar's Heart

"No I don't work much with the horses except for my own and Chestnut. I mostly am out in the field doing other work." Pete told him before leaning back in his chair, full from the delicious meal. He turned to Mrs. Taylor and Daisy, grinning before giving them a nod. "As always your food is the best I ever had." He told them, which caused them to thank him for the compliment.

@ Mother.Of.Dragons
Blake grinned at Mrs.Taylor, adding a nod for Miss Taylor, "Best I've ever had. And I'm not just sayin' that because I'm fresh off the trail. It really is delicious." Again his gaze strayed to Miss Taylor, but he figured that was okay since he was talking with them.