The Haymeadow

John Barron is a 14-year-old boy living on a Wyoming sheep ranch called the Three Bar S, feeling restless and wanting something to change. The ranch was originally claimed by his great-grandfather, the first John Barron, who came west with a gun and two horses and seized nearly a million acres through force and intimidation. He sent east for a mail-order bride named Emma, who bore John's grandfather in the back of a chuckwagon. The family lost ownership during the Great Depression due to bad loans; eastern corporations now own the land and pay the Barrons as caretakers.

John works the ranch alongside his father, also named John Barron, a man of very few words. Two hired hands help run the operation: Cawley, who has been with the ranch since before John was born, and Tinckner, called Tink, an old man who each summer takes the ranch's 6,000 sheep to the haymeadow, a vast mountain valley, and stays alone with them for nearly three months. Four border collies serve as working sheepdogs: Pete, Billy, Jenny, and Peg.

John barely remembers his mother, Cynthia, who died when he was three after a horse fell on her. His father, who still loves her, visits her grave monthly. John feels his father is too distant and idealizes his great-grandfather as a romantic figure of independence, keeping old photographs of the man in his room alongside a replica photograph of himself that looks virtually identical.

When Tink is diagnosed with cancer that has spread throughout his body, everything changes. John's father intends to stay with Tink through treatment, so Cawley will drive the sheep to the haymeadow with John, then return to manage the ranch, leaving John alone with the herd for the entire summer. John protests that he does not know what to do, but his father insists, noting that he did the same job at 15. Cawley reassures John that the dogs and sheep will teach him.

The old truck that normally pulls the shepherd's wagon breaks down, so Cawley rigs a wagon tongue to pull it with John's two horses, Speck and Spud. He loads the wagon with canned food, dog food, medicine, and supplies, warning that the provisions will not last the full summer. The drive begins with the dogs herding the sheep along gravel roads. At a major highway crossing, John devises a plan to unhitch Speck, push the sheep across on horseback, then return for the wagon. Cawley agrees, and John realizes Cawley already knew the solution but let him figure it out himself, preparing him for making decisions alone. Over the next two days, Cawley shares lessons about the dogs: They have an inborn herding instinct, they will work themselves to death if not cared for, and John must always keep food and water available for them.

They arrive at the haymeadow late on the third day. The valley stretches four miles wide and eight miles long between mountain peaks, invisible until one passes through a narrow cut between two hills, with a stream running through its center. The next morning, Cawley prepares to leave. John confesses he does not know what he is doing. Cawley tells him that in the old days, the advice was simply to keep a horse to hand. Then he rides away without looking back.

Disaster strikes within minutes. A rattlesnake bites a lamb, and by the time John runs to the scene and kills the snake, the lamb dies. Billy kills a skunk that wanders into the herd, getting thoroughly sprayed. Pete tears his foot pad on a sharp rock. Finally, a predator screams from the hillside, and the entire herd stampedes through camp, flattening John's gear. He survives by diving under the wagon.

That night, a violent thunderstorm hits the valley. After it passes, a flash flood undercuts the bank beneath the wagon and rolls it onto its side, flushing John and his supplies downstream. He nearly drowns before catching an aspen trunk and pulling himself to shore. At daylight, he considers riding home but cannot bring himself to abandon the sheep and dogs. He searches the streambed and recovers most of his supplies, though the paper labels have washed off every can. Using both horses harnessed with a rope, he pulls the overturned wagon upright, but a board snaps loose and strikes him across the shoulders, nearly breaking his neck. He finds the rifle buried in sand, cleans and reassembles it.

On his second night after the flood, coyotes attack the herd. John rides Speck bareback with the rifle and shoots one coyote, but hesitates a split second, allowing the lamb the coyote held to swing in front of the bullet, killing both. He reflects on the tension of killing animals he respects to protect sheep that cannot defend themselves.

Days pass, and John settles into the rhythms of solitary life. By the 15th day, he realizes he does not mind being alone. He rebuilds his camp, develops a morning ritual of making coffee and watching the sunrise, and rotates the dogs in pairs so their feet can heal from the sharp shale. He discovers that the sheep respond to his arm motions, sliding across the valley to fresh grass with a single wave.

After three weeks, a black bear attacks the herd at night. John gallops toward the commotion on Speck, fires and misses, and is thrown from the horse onto the bear. The bear swats him, partially dislocating his left shoulder. Billy, Pete, and Jenny drive the bear off, but Peg lies motionless with a broken rib. John drags Peg to the wagon over two hours using only his right arm, treats his own wound, and surveys the damage: 16 dead sheep. He stitches a surviving ewe's foot-long gash closed and drags the carcasses to a distant wash.

After 47 days, John spots his father entering the valley on horseback with a packhorse. He gallops down to meet him. His father brings supplies, surveys the well-run camp, and nods approvingly. He shares good news: Tink's therapy worked, and Tink will survive. That evening by the fire, his father opens up as never before, telling John how he met Cynthia by tripping on a sidewalk in Cheyenne while she stood over him and asked if he knew any other tricks.

Then his father reveals the truth about the first John Barron. The great-grandfather had a partner named Smiley Lincoln; they settled the land together, but when Smiley objected to the great-grandfather's desire to claim everything, the old man shot and killed him, likely in the back, and buried the body in a gully. The ranch was not lost to bad debts, either: Emma sold every acre because she considered the money poisoned by evil, giving the proceeds to a church. His father also reveals that John had an uncle who idolized the great-grandfather, turned mean, and was killed in a bar fight. This is why his father has worried about John's fixation on the old man. John tells his father he is not like the great-grandfather. His father nods and talks through the night, sharing stories about John's birth, his childhood, and Cynthia. John falls asleep by the fire, and his father tucks him into his sleeping bag and kisses his forehead.

The next morning, his father prepares to leave. They ride together to the canyon mouth, where John stops to return to the herd. His father rides away but then turns back, explaining that with only three weeks left before they bring the herd down, Cawley can manage the ranch alone. He wants to spend the remaining time with his son. John reflects on how unexpected happiness can be as they ride together into the haymeadow, with the sheep, the dogs, and the mountains.