The New West

The New West

The New West
Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grade 4
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	4.11

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		micro-chipped, micro-chips, outdoor, rangy, remembered-Sebastian, semi-truck, tags, tech, towers, unlined, unsightly, viable, education, canter, saddle, heading
	content words:		Crenshaw Watts, Flying W., Global Positioning Satellite

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The New West
By Mary Lynn Bushong

¹     Seb turned in the saddle. The leather squeaked as he shifted his weight. The rangy bay gelding shook his head as he waited for a signal from his rider. Seb held the reins firmly and cupped his hand around his eyes. The tracks of the cattle were easily seen in the snow. Just as visible were the tracks of one- no, two horses. The cattle hadn't wandered away on their own, and now he had proof.

²     He squeezed the horse with his knees. The animal started right into a slow canter. Seb raised the collar of his jacket a little bit higher against the cold. His unlined boots did not keep the chill out well. He could feel the chill creeping into his toes right through his thick socks. It would not be long before he lost all feeling in his feet. He would have to dismount before then and walk, just to keep that from happening.

³     This was the only time of year when he came close to wishing he'd found another job. It seemed a good idea to follow in his Dad's cowboy footsteps at the time. His father had worked for the Lazy K ranch for years. He'd always hoped his son would get away from that hard, outdoor life. He'd even labeled his boy with a name that would be remembered—Sebastian Crenshaw Watts.

⁴     Seb sighed. His name might not have stuck out on the east coast, where he went to college. Here in western ranch country, it stuck out like a sore thumb.

⁵     When the time came, Seb had not wanted to leave the ranching life he'd grown up with. He'd learned from the other cowboys and his father on the ranch. He'd taken the big step of leaving the Lazy K two years before to start his own small ranch, the Flying W. It was just starting to make money, and he wanted to keep it that way. However, there was no way he could support any rustling. He had to get those cattle back.

Paragraphs 6 to 14:
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