Outside the neighborhood dogs were excited and letting everybody know it. Such barking had not been heard since the dogs chased a fox through the nearby woods.

“What’s their problem Jack?” asked his wife Sue Lane during a momentary pause in the noise.

“Don’t know,” said Jack and he stuck his head out the back door. “Hear that hissing sound? I believe there is a hot air balloon close by,” and the dogs started their barking again.

“Yes I heard it. Let’s go outside and see,” Sue said. “There it is and it’s coming this way. It’s beautiful, with orange and green panels.” Another blast of burning gas hissed from the hot air generator keeping the craft airborne and then it was quiet again, but the dogs redoubled their greeting as the balloon floated closer. Soon passengers of the balloon waved a greeting and the neighborhood waved back at them.

“Wow, that was exciting,” Sue said after the balloon floated away and the dogs settled down.

“Yeah, it would be fun to go for a ride some time,” Jack said. “I’ll check into it.”

“But I’ll be scared to death of landing in a tree or worse.” 

A few weeks passed in that Ohio summer and Jack came home with good news; at least he thought so. “We can go for a balloon ride without going over trees. Saturday we can go up in a tethered balloon without going anywhere except up and back down. You can get the feel of it. You might like it.” She agreed to try it and they showed up at the launch site on Saturday morning during a summer before most everybody was preoccupied with their cell phones.

“Good morning Jack. Is this your lovely wife? I’m Rick” greeted Rick Combs, his unruly hair waving in the slight breeze. We had several requests for short tethered rides today so I gave the chase crew the day off since we’ll be right here all day. You’re my first customers of the day, so relax and we’ll be ready to go shortly.”

“All aboard and it’s up for the ride. Is everybody all right?” Rick said.

“Feels different than it did on the ground. There’s a little sway, but I like it,” Sue said. As the balloon rose the view expanded so that they could see far beyond the usual scope. They had enjoyed the panorama for a few minutes when Jack looked down. What he saw was unexpected. They were not over the spot where they had risen from. It seemed to be a different field entirely. “Oh Rick,” he said, “Look down.”

Rick, who had been busy pointing out remote sights, looked down and exclaimed, “Oh crap! Our tether broke loose. That never happened before. We’ll have to find a place to put this beast down and find our way home. Meantime enjoy the ride, there will be no charge.”

“Oh Jack what are we going to do?” Sue said as she held on to her husband.

“Don’t worry honey. Rick knows how to handle the situation,” Jack said, only half believing his own words. Many anxious moments passed while Rick tried to calm his passengers. Presently there loomed ahead a field that looked like a pasture, green and inviting.

“I’ll try to maneuver a bit to the right and maybe we can land there,” Rick said.

“Go for it,” came words of agreement. The balloon drifted toward the green field, descending so as to contact the ground in the field near a road. Everyone looked about for cows in the pasture, but none could be seen. Just as the balloon was about to touch down someone spotted a dark figure approaching.

“Look, there comes a cow,” she said.

“Sorry,” said Rick, “that aint no cow. That’s a bull and I think he don’t want no company, no how!” and he fired up the hot air generator. The balloon began to rise very slowly. The bull charged on toward the balloon determined to either scare it off or fight it.

Back at the launch site things had not been as orderly as usual. Rick’s wife Betty had been busy trying to contact members of the chase crew on their day off. The tether lay on the ground detached from the balloon. Betty was also cancelling the rest of the rides of the day.

The balloon rose ever so slowly, much too slowly to suit the three in the basket, however it seemed all right with the bull. Either way he had won; he was rid of his company. Once again airborne the people together gave a great sigh and soon began looking for another landing site.

The chase crew, finally assembled, had only a vague idea where to look for the lost; only the soft breeze was their clue.

“It sounds like we’re home,” Jack said as the balloon approached a group of houses where it seemed that all the dogs in the county were barking.

“No I’m afraid not, but there may be a place to land nearby,” Rick said. And he was right. Across the road from the houses lay a fallow field that the balloon was headed for. Rick maneuvered the balloon to make good easy landing close to the road. His passengers were glad to get out of the basket, and assisted Rick by getting someone in the neighborhood to call Betty and report their location. Betty relayed the location to the crew by their radio. The crew arrived soon and helped Rick pack the balloon and basket for the next adventure. They took the passengers and the balloon back to their starting point of a few hours earlier.

“How was that for an exciting day?” said Jack.

“More exciting than for the dogs that started all this a few weeks ago,” Sue said, “and thanks for the ride, no bull.”