Rancher Ferrets on the Range — Richard Bach

The ground thudded and trembled, the echoes again, as Cheyenne Jasmine Ferret cut a half-circle to stop, breathing hard, by Montgomery and his trusted mount Boffin. It was a familiar sight to all who lived beneath Montana's Sweetroot Mountains, these two ranchkits riding through the morning light, ever together, completely unalike.

Montgomery has the deep stillness of the outdoors in his soul; Cheyenne Jasmine is less quiet within. He understands the thoughts of animals and the endless colors of a single mountain daisy. She watches movie after movie, drawn indoors by emotion and light.

Kithood ends one morning when Cheyenne Jasmine climbs aboard the train out of Little Paw, destination Hollywood. Montgomery stays put, unwilling to leave the country and his future with animals. They do not realize they are in love until the moment she departs.

In time, Cheyenne becomes Jasmine Ferret, the Jasmine Ferret, international film star, darling of the tabloids; Montgomery a sheep-whisperer, a rancher, and some suspect philosopher ferret. Years pass before they meet again, long after each has found the rewards of their separate callings. Yet the highest reward, they discover, waits for them both together, and it's one that they will share for the rest of their lives.