They had come for Laura in the spring of her nineteenth year. They had rounded up three others girls along with her and brought them to this ranch. They had ushered them into their new homes, stalls in the barn.

Their bodies were immediately put into leather harnesses and boots, their arms rope-bound behind, In the past year, these had never come off, making them rely on the ranchhands to be fed, watered and groomed.

Though the girls had useless, roped arms, they did have the liberty of their legs, and the freedom of the vast open ranch to roam, to run and stay fit.

The following spring, as soon as Laura realized They had returned, she bolted and ran like the wind, her luxurious never-cut hair billowing behind her. So futile, as They easily chased her down, lassoed her and brought her back rope leashed, back to her fate as a ponygirl - her last roundup.