Plainsong

Raymond and Harold McPheron survey the cattle in their corral, waiting for Guthrie to arrive and help them finish the work. They set up the vaccination equipment while discussing the weather. Guthrie arrives with his boys, who “said they wanted to come” (56). Guthrie moves two cows into the holding pens; Raymond positions one cow while Harold lubricates his arm and checks for a calf. Ike and Bobby stare at Harold’s arm, “red and slick, spotted with mucus and flecks of manure and little threads of blood” (57). Once the cow has received its vaccinations, it is released back into the pen. They move on to the next cow, which is old and no longer bearing calves. Raymond and Harold decide to send her to “the empty loading pen from which she would be trucked away” (58).

When there are only a few cows left, Guthrie asks the boys if they want to help. The boys learn how to move the cattle around the pen and into the alley. After one successful attempt with their father, they try to do it alone. Guthrie leaves the boys—armed with a whip and a cattle prod—and goes to help the McPherons dehorn a cow.