Ashes of the Red Heifer

by Shannon Baker

  The engine roared above her. She scrambled to right herself and find the stirrups. If they didn’t move quickly the car would fall in on them. She kicked at the horse, but it heard the car, too, and had already started to leap, gaining slow ground in the sand.

  If the driver of the Silim’s car saw the blowout and braked, all this would be for nothing. Still urging the horse to the edge of the blowout and onto the firmer prairie, Annie glanced over her shoulder.

  The headlights shone in the sky as the car roared to the top of the hill. The headlights suddenly swooped into the bowl of the blowout as the car gunned over the rise and the front tires found themselves with no ground beneath them. Momentum carried the car into the air and then the front tires crashed into the soft sand, burying the front grill. The horn honked loud and long as the back wheels hit. Then silence.

  The horse scrambled from the blowout and Annie headed west, to where David and Moshe should be at the shipping pens.

  She heard the car door open.

  Whether the Silim was better or worse than The Corporation she didn’t know. But The Corporation had Hassan and she hoped she still had a chance to save him. She kicked her horse into a lope. Her time was running out.

  * * * *

  Annie topped the hill relieved that David and Moshe had the critters in the pen and the stock trailer backed up to the loading chute. That was more than she’d expected.

  Annie drew close to the pen and let her horse slow to a trot. Only five heifers. One was missing, probably the one she’d been after when all her troubles started.

  She slid to the ground. David ran to her and pulled her against him. Moshe stood behind David, frowning at Annie.

  David stepped back. “Thank God you’re okay. I heard a shot and then an engine and didn’t know what was happening.”

  She wanted to reassure him that all was well but anxiety ate at her. “Melvin shot from his porch. I don’t know what he’s up to now. I got the Silim boys buried in a blowout, so they won’t bother us any more.”

  Moshe searched the hills behind him. “Let’s get out of here.”

  Annie wondered if they’d survive this night. She climbed the wooden pen fence and turned to David. “Open the trailer gate and let’s load these ladies.”

  The heifers still felt a bit out of sorts, but with scrambling back and forth across the pen and a quick dodge or two from flying back-leg kicks, Annie and Moshe got them into the lane and finally into the trailer.

  David slammed the gate with a bang and Annie heard the sound of metal scraping metal as he secured the latch. She scampered up the fence and jumped down the other side. Moshe raised his arms and they slapped hands at a job well done.

  A quiet click made the hairs on the back of her neck rise. David must have heard it too, because he spun around.

  Melvin stepped out of the shadow of the fence and walked toward them, his rifle cocked and pointed at David. “Where you think you’re goin’ with them cattle, son?”

  How the hell did he end up here? Annie scanned the hills behind Melvin and saw a horse hobbled in the distance. He’d trailed David and Moshe on horseback. She didn’t credit him with that much gumption.

  She’d left the Silim waist deep in Nebraska sand, surely she could outsmart Melvin. Annie kept her voice low and calm, as if soothing an agitated critter. “Listen, Melvin, we’re going to take these heifers. Dad knows about it.”

  Melvin moved closer to them. He jabbed his gun in David’s direction, as if to emphasize his authority. “Matthew didn’t say nothin’ to me about no heifers. This is cattle rustling and that’s against the law.”

  David let out a heavy breath. “This isn’t smart, Melvin. If you want to protect your family, you’ll get back on your horse and forget this whole thing.”

  Melvin snickered. “Like hell I will.”

  Annie took a step toward him. “He’s not lying. The people that sent us are dangerous.”

  Melvin swung the gun to point directly at Annie’s heart. “I’m dangerous, too, and I’m the boss here now, sweetheart. And I say to get in the pickup.”

  Her father warned that Melvin was mean. Was he mean enough to shoot them? Annie didn’t want to find out. She obeyed.

  David caught up to Annie and they walked steadily ahead. She stole a look at Moshe and saw that deadly look in his eye. She didn’t know what he had planned, but someone was going to get hurt.

  When she got close to him, Moshe turned with her and they walked three abreast. His progress to the pickup slowed until they were hardly moving.

  Melvin caught up with them. “Come on, let’s go.” He tapped David on the back with the barrel of the gun.

  In a flash Moshe spun, at the same time positioning his arm under the barrel and shoving it up. Melvin pulled the trigger, but the gun discharged into the sky.

  David rolled around and plowed into Melvin’s stomach, knocking him to the ground. Moshe was on top of him immediately, slamming him with powerful fists.

  In the glow of the moonlight, Annie saw the darkness of blood smearing Melvin’s face.

  David tried to pull Annie back. “Let them alone.”

  Each blow landed with a thud while Melvin whimpered and cried. Annie pulled away from David and ran to Moshe. “That’s enough.”

  Moshe didn’t stop. Annie grabbed his arm. He shook her off.

  Annie caught his arm with both hands. “Moshe. We aren’t murderers.”

  The tension went out of Moshe’s arm and he slowly lowered it. Melvin moaned beneath him. “Leave me be. I won’t bother you about the heifers. Just leave me be.”

  Moshe rose. “Are you okay?” he asked Annie.

  She nodded, feeling sick to her stomach. “David, there should be a rope in the front of the trailer on a hook just inside the door.”

  David brought her the rope and she tied Melvin’s arms around a post. “I hate to do this to you but if you mess with these guys, they’ll kill you.”

  Melvin spit blood in the sand next to her. “You better hope I don’t get loose, ’cause I’ll be coming for you.”

  He kept his threat low, so Moshe couldn’t hear.

  David got in the pickup and cranked the ignition. Moshe jumped in the passenger side.

  Annie retrieved her horse and rode over to David’s open pickup window. She glanced at her watch, 1:45 a.m.

  “You take these five to the drop point. I’ll go after the other one and bring her myself.”

  David shook his head, worry lines creasing his forehead. “Leave her. We can go with five.”

  It made sense, but Annie couldn’t let it go. “I have a better chance of getting it right with more cattle to work with”

  Moshe leaned toward the window. “This is not a good idea.”

  David frowned, his eyes bright in the moonlight. “Annie…”

  “Quit arguing with me. This is the way it’s gonna be.”

  David glared at her, but said nothing. She was all business. “Drive to the corner of this pasture. Go through that gate and follow the trail road. It will take you to the highway. Wait for me there.”

  David leaned out the window, his arm bent over the side of the pickup. “If you don’t find her in five minutes, give up.”

  She heard his words, but paid no attention. Giving in to temptation, she urged her horse closer and leaned from the saddle to touch her lips against his full, warm ones. She let her kiss linger. She straightened and kicked her horse into a lope.

  The pickup roared to life. The trailer rattled as David drove away. She scanned the meadow and pointed the horse toward choppy hills behind the house. From there, she’d be able to work her way across the whole pasture quickly.

  Annie had only gone about halfway back to the house when she topped a hill to find the heifer grazing in the pocket formed by the ridge. The heifer looked startled; she flicked her ears forward and lowered her head.

  Annie reined sharply to the left and circled south. As if the heifer knew Annie had no time to waste, she spu
n and headed north at a trot. Annie kept her horse at the heifer’s heels, trying to make up as much time as possible. They trotted down the hill, taking a short cut diagonally across the pasture and avoiding the pens.

  Motor noises disturbed the night calm and Annie pulled back on her horse to listen. The baritone of a diesel engine ricocheted across the hills. David’s pickup was gas. The Silim boys must have made their way back to the ranch and found a pickup. They didn’t know where the plane would land. At least that worked in her favor.

  She kicked her horse and tried to hurry the heifer along a little. Maybe they could get the cattle on the plane before the Silim caught up with them.

  They went through the gate and onto a trail. The heifer was familiar enough with trails to follow it and knowing her path quieted her. For the next few minutes Annie kept them at an easy trot. She heard echoes of engines bouncing off the hills in a faraway whisper. But the only sounds close by were the huffing of the horse, the squeak of saddle leather and the thudding of hooves on the damp sand.

  If her heart weren’t keeping double time with every tick of the clock, Annie would have loved being in her hills. Instead, her thoughts flicked from her father’s bloodless face against the pristine hospital pillow, the CEO’s directives, Hassan’s screams when Adi cut his finger and worry over what would happen when the plane landed.

  David and Moshe waited with the pickup and trailer three hundred yards ahead. Something seemed to shift in the air. At first, it was more a vibration than an actual sound, but it grew louder quickly. A rumble, then a roar, then a scream. The plane, and it was coming fast.

  The heifer’s tail came up again. Annie grabbed the rope hanging from her saddle and pulled it free from the soft leather tying it in place. She let out the lasso, grasping it firmly in her right hand. Stiff and out of practice, she swung the rope in large loops over her head, gripping the horse with her knees.

  In all the confusion, Annie spotted headlights on a distant hill. The Silim. Tipping her heels into the horse’s side, she urged it forward, keeping a steady swinging over her head. The sound of the plane grew louder.

  She focused on the heifer, swung her rope, letting her body remember the timing instead of her brain. When it felt right, she let loose of the loop and watched it sail over the heifer’s back toward her head. It would land as planned, a large loop that would trap one front leg, so no matter how hard she’d fight the heifer wouldn’t choke.

  The noise of the plane filled up the air around them, blocking out everything but the roar. Annie quickly dallied the end of the rope around the saddlehorn before the loop even landed around the heifer’s neck.

  At the moment the lasso slipped around the heifer’s neck and the slack jerked tight, Annie already had her right foot out of the stirrup and was jumping to the ground. She stepped back from the horse and wrapped the reins twice around her hand.

  The plane’s screaming seemed to suck all the air away, leaving only a surge of panic running through everything. The horse reared, dragging Annie forward a few steps. She gave it as much slack as she could, staying clear of its hooves, while fighting to keep hold of the reins.

  She didn’t see the heifer, could only hope it stayed attached to the rope and the rope stayed dallied to the saddle.

  The plane came at them like a rocket from an invading planet. It dropped from the air with amazing speed, piercing her eardrums with its horrific roar. Even from across the valley, Annie saw the plane was huge, the body like a pregnant whale. It touched down with great force on the highway, the wheels screaming. Annie didn’t think anything that big, moving with such speed, could possibly stop before the valley narrowed and the wings would eat into the hills closing on either side of the road. The stretch of road measured a mile, but for something as big as this plane, even that seemed too short.

  The horse reared again, fighting to get away from the monster. The deafening sound and choking smell of the engines erased existence so it seemed the only thing in the valley was the hulking plane.

  It slowed with remarkable speed, with a rushing squeal of reverse thrust. In the course of a few moments, the plane stopped, without crashing into the narrowing hills. Even before Annie turned her attention to the animals, the rear of the metal dragon started to open.

  The headlights appeared again. They topped a hill a short distance away and started down the other side.

  She held the reins tighter, drawing herself closer to the horse. Its eyes rolled, showing whites that glowed in the moonlight. Its ears lay flat against his head. The heifer strained against the rope, swinging her head and jumping from side to side. She pulled away from the horse, fighting to get free.

  Although climbing onto the scared horse didn’t seem like a good idea, she had to get the cattle onto the plane quickly, before the Silim arrived and the shooting started. Speaking in a low voice, Annie gathered the reins and boosted herself into the saddle. The horse, still skittish, bounced then took direction from Annie’s pressure on the reins.

  The rear door of the plane rested on the ground and a man stepped on the ramp. David drove the pickup through the pasture gate to the highway and positioned it facing away from the plane so he could back up the ramp.

  Annie kicked her horse toward the plane, signaling to the horse with her posture, the pressure of her knees, and the feel of the reins that she was the boss and meant business.

  The horse marched forward, forcing the heifer a step at a time. The heifer balked, flinging her head from side to side. They gained ground by her panicked jerking, dragging her closer to the ramp at the rear of the plane.

  David backed the pickup into the plane, where supposedly the crew would help him unload and get the heifers into crates. The crates were attached to rails on the floor so they could easily be rolled in and out. When they landed in Israel, they wouldn’t have the luxury of a stock trailer or an abandoned stretch of highway.

  Annie had the heifer nearly to the pasture gate, with only a dozen yards between the horse and the ramp. They’d be loaded and on their way in a matter of minutes.

  David drove the pickup out of the plane, the empty trailer rattling above the rumble of the idling plane. He parked it and climbed out, moving quickly toward the ramp.

  The cavernous interior of the plane was lit with minimum wattage. Moshe stood toward the rear of the cargo area by several one-animal, topless crates that looked like stalls. The other heifers were trapped in these.

  Annie prodded her horse to step onto the ramp. He balked, trying to turn to the left, but Annie beat on his butt with the stinging reins and kicked, translating her urgency. He finally jumped onto the ramp, pulling the heifer after him.

  David ran for the plane, the vaccine case in his hand.

  Annie worked at the rope wound around the saddlehorn. Kicking and urging the horse forward, she finally made it to the top of the ramp and entered the belly of the plane. She planned to toss the rope to Moshe, hoping he’d have enough sense to wrap it around something solid and make a primitive pulley.

  Grunting with effort, she worked the dally from the saddlehorn. A shot popped from behind her and almost immediately pinged on the ramp. She swung around and searched the hills. In darkness thirty yards away Annie made out Melvin atop his horse, rifle pointed at them.

  Frantic to release the heifer and stop Melvin, Annie finally released the rope. She leaned toward Moshe, leveraged against the balky weight of the heifer. He reached for the rope.

  It slackened. Annie pitched forward, nearly toppling from the saddle. Damn it. Melvin might have aimed for her but he’d hit the heifer. It slipped off the side of the ramp. The rope burned through her hands.

  Yanking the reins, Annie wheeled the horse around and thundered down the ramp toward David. She skidded to a stop beside him.

  Another shot rang out. A puff of sand exploded a few feet behind David. He dove to the ground, still clutching the vaccine case. She screamed.

  Headlights streaked across the pavement as a pickup
sped down the highway toward the plane. The Silim had made it in time for their bon voyage party.

  Moshe ran down the ramp, yelling at David in Hebrew. His gun flashed as he raised it. Moshe dropped to one knee and fired a few shots, then motioned for Annie to get inside.

  Another shot, sounding like a BB gun compared to the engine of the plane. It pinged against the ramp, only a body length away from David’s prone figure.

  The horse reared and whinnied, pawing at the air in his terror. Annie struggled to stay in the saddle.

  Shots popped around them and the horse flew into a panic, bucking with the force of a rodeo saddle bronc.

  Annie felt her grip weaken and knew she was going down. She released her hold and pulled her feet from the stirrups, pushing away from the horse as it bucked. She flew a few feet and landed with a thud on the sand.

  In seconds David and Moshe had her by the arms and dragged her to her feet. In a crouching run, they took off for the ramp, the vaccine case in David’s other hand. The squeal of hydraulics sounded and the ramp jerked and started to close. Annie and the two men jumped to board.

  Headlights of the pickup lit the ramp as it slid to a stop. More yelling and shots fired. One hit in front of them on the ramp that closed too slowly for Annie’s comfort.

  The Silim men ran in the stream of light from the headlights.

  Next to her Moshe raised his gun and aimed. The report echoed in the plane and it should have canceled out any other noise but Annie swore she heard Melvin scream. He sat atop his horse, his rifle still raised to the plane. His body convulsed and the rifle flew from his grip. He jerked backward and fell from the saddle.

  One of the suits stood behind the hood of the pickup with a gun raised and pointed at the plane. The ramp squeezed toward the plane. In the last sliver of the Sandhills, she saw the suit fire and heard Moshe grunt.

  The ramp sealed shut and the plane jerked forward.

  TWENTY-THREE

  From the corner of her eye Annie saw Moshe fall backward. The plane lurched and she tumbled into him already searching for injuries. Even in the dim light of the plane it wasn’t hard to see blood darkening his shirt just above his left elbow.