Ralph Compton Brother's Keeper

by Ralph Compton

  “That much, huh?” Shoe said.

  “Ain’t none of us rich,” Jasper said.

  Taking another swallow, Shoe said offhandedly, “You could be if you wanted to bad enough. Most anyone can these days.”

  Jasper chuckled. “How does that work, exactly? We wish for money and it falls into our laps?”

  Gareth uttered a rare laugh.

  Pushing his hat back on his head, Shoe said, “Any of you gents know where to find longhorns?”

  Owen nodded. “The hill county is crawling with them.” It was a rare day when he didn’t spot some off in the brush as he went about turning his homestead into what he hoped would become a prosperous farm.

  “There you go,” Shoe said.

  “You’re talking nonsense,” Gareth said.

  Shoe looked at each of them. “You haven’t heard, then? How valuable they’ve become?”

  “Longhorns?” Jasper said, and cackled.

  Owen couldn’t help joining in. The notion was plumb ridiculous. Longhorns had been around since the days when Texas belonged to Spain. Left on their own in the wild, they’d bred like rabbits. To a lot of people, they were a nuisance more than anything. They were good to eat but not much else.

  “We don’t like being ribbed,” Gareth said.

  “Ribbed, hell,” Shoe said indignantly. “You’re behind the times. Cattle drives will be the next big thing. Everybody thinks so.”

  Owen thought he knew what Shoe meant. “You mean those gents who took some longhorns up to Missouri to sell?”

  “And now can’t anymore because the folks in Missouri are worried about diseases the longhorns might carry,” Jasper said.

  “That’s a lot of trouble to go to for nothing,” Gareth said.

  Jasper bobbed his chin. “Rounding up a bunch of contrary longhorns can’t be easy. And for what? Four dollars a head, if that?”

  Shoe sat back. “Shows how much you know. How about if you sold them for ten times that much?”

  “Forty dollars a head?” Jasper said in astonishment.

  “That’s right,” Shoe said. “And not in Missouri either. You’d take them to Kansas. The people back east are so beef-hungry they’ll pay anything to have steak on their table.”

  “You’re making this up,” Gareth said.

  “As God is my witness,” Shoe said, “I left the ranch where I’ve been working to sign up with an outfit planning a drive.” He chuckled. “I can’t believe you haven’t heard about it. Last year a fella named Wheeler took the first herd up to Abilene. They say he made over ninety thousand dollars.”

  Jasper’s jaw fell, Gareth’s coal eyes glittered, and Owen set the deck he was about to deal on the table. “You’re not joshing us?”

  “As God is my witness,” Shoe said again.

  “If that’s true,” Gareth said, “why aren’t you out rounding up a herd of your own?”

  “By my lonesome?” Shoe said. “Might be I could collect a couple of dozen head, sure, but where would I keep them until I start the drive? I don’t own any land. The smart thing for me is to join a drive going north and learn how it’s done.” He grinned. “Besides, the pay is better.”

  “Ninety thousand dollars,” Jasper said, and whistled. “Think of what a man could do with a fortune like that.”

  “I’m thinking,” Gareth said.

  “Sounds like too much risk for my taste,” Owen said. “Longhorns aren’t kittens.”

  “It’s not too much risk for me,” Gareth said.

  “I bet my missus would like me to,” Jasper said.

  “You can’t be serious.” Owen couldn’t begin to imagine the work involved. And then there was all the time they’d be away from their families.

  The cowboy drained his glass and grinned. “Looks as if I’ve started something here.”

  “You sure as blazes have,” Gareth said.

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