noon
None of the cowboys would take him on the saddle and let him ride , that day . They looked harassed -- Buddy called it cross -- when they rode up to the wagon to give their horses a few mouthfuls of water from the barrel . Step-and-a-Half could n't spare any more , they told mother . He had declared at noon that he needed every drop he had for the cooking , and there would be no washing of dishes whatever . Later , mother had studied a map and afterwards had sat for a long while staring out over the backs of the cattle , her face white . Buddy thought perhaps mother was sick . That day lasted hours and hours longer than any other day that Buddy could remember .