Laughter and excited hoots sounded across the dusty plain. The sound of hoofbeats, thunderous on the cracked, dry ground, rumbled along the railroad. Two young men were racing neck and neck, their small but fleet horses just as excited as they were. One of the men rode with only a harness, his back arched slightly as he watched the ground ahead of him for any holes or rocks. The man riding next to him, almost close enough to bump his foot, rode without a saddle or harness, his hands gripping the white mane of the Arabian stallion he was egging to go faster. The white horse took a lead, just barely in front of the other.

The cloud of dust being kicked up behind them was rather impressive. It was even more so when they came to a sudden stop upon reaching the switchyard. One of the brothers called out for victory. 

[i]"I told you my Adjum was the fastest, brother. I don't know why you will never believe me," [/i]He said, the biggest shit eating grin on his face. Kadir gave the horse an affectionate pat on the neck. His brother, Amid, turned his horse around and began a slow walk back towards town.

[i]"You wouldn't have gotten ahead of me if you hadn't cheated,"[/i] He said. His horse, a bay colored stallion, huffed heavily. Kadir came up alongside him, his devil of a horse still somehow managing to look lively. 

[i]"I didn't cheat. I wouldn't have gotten a head start if you were just a little quicker. You [i]and[/i] your horse are slow."[/i] 

The brothers had been on a slow ride around the ranch on their favorite horses when Kadir had challenged his brother to a race. He had promptly sped off, leaving Amid to realize what had happened. And of course, he couldn't turn down a challenge. Amid could only assume their stable hand had no idea where they were.

The ranch was back in sight within only a few minutes. The landscape being what it was, it was hard to hide such a large complex. By the time the brothers arrived home, their horses were cooled down enough to have some water and let rest. Amid went right back to work; going inside to sort out some papers from recent sales. Kadir, however, apparently wasn't in the mood to stay still.

He wandered into the kitchen and messed around in there for a while, then slunk into the den to pretend to busy himself with a book. Amid sighed under his breath as he listened to his brothers' boots wander across the wooden floor. He counted the second in his head until he knew Kadir would come to pester him. His brother never failed.

[i]"Amid?"[/i] Kadir appeared in the doorway, eating a piece of toast, from what Amid could tell. [i]"What do you say we go to the saloon?"[/i]

[i]"Bored already?"[/i] Amid didn't look up from his work. He knew his brother couldn't help it. They'd finished their chores that morning, and they didn't have any meetings planned. He had already known Kadir would be pestering him for some form of entertainment today. The man in the doorway remained silent. Crumbs from his toast were gathering on the floor at his feet.

Amid closed his records book and looked up, his thoughts portrayed in his eyes. [i]"I did all my chores already!"[/i] Kadir said in his defense, [i]"There's nothing else to do! Come on Amid."[/i] Amid sighed and stood up, grabbed his billfold from the desk. Kadir smiled in victory once more.

The two took a different set of horses into town; the lazy bastards needed excise anyway. Their stable hand was left in charge of the ranch until they returned. It wasn't a long trip to town. Just long enough for them to gossip a bit about a strange buyer they'd had the other day. Upon entering the town, the brothers found themselves switching to English to talk. For whatever reason, the people around here didn't seem to like other languages being spoken. They always thought that [i]they[/i] were the topic of the two's conversation. Amid only[i] wished [/i] he could be that arrogant.

The saloon was busy with their regular story telling contest. Amid and Kadir slipped in and sat towards the middle. Kadir, who was probably the better speaker of the two of them, ordered their drinks while Amid looked at the faces surrounding them. He didn't know a whole lot of people in town, but a group of men towards the back caught his eye as being not from around here. He didn't pay them much attention though. He turned back to the stage to listen to whoever was up there.