The rancher’s face fell. Then he puffed up his chest just as Tandy rode up. “That’s not gonna happen. No one in the ranchers association will help her.” His glittering gaze shifted to Tandy and on to Scotty, who brought up the rear.
“What’s going on?” she asked, glancing from Wyatt to her neighbor.
Butting in, Preston reiterated what he’d told Wyatt about paying for his bull’s services.
Tandy gasped. “This is an accident. It must’ve happened after Manny and I left the last batch of my cows here yesterday afternoon then went on home. The fence was fine at five thirty.”
“So you say.” Hicks swept an arm around to encompass her cows surrounding his giant Hereford bull. “Yet your cows are in my pasture.”
Wyatt strategically edged his horse between Tandy and Hicks. “What I see is that this wire fencing was cut, not trampled. I suggest we call Sheriff Anderson and have him or a deputy come take a look. I know the mesh is thin, but he can probably get fingerprints.” As he said it, Wyatt watched for Preston’s reaction, and was more than satisfied with the tight clenching of the other man’s square jaw.
“You don’t know what you’re talking about,” Hicks spat. “You’re no rancher. Why don’t you round up your wolves and take ’em and get the hell out of this area?”
Scotty barged his mule up next to Wyatt. “That’s the bad man that yelled at Mama in the meeting. He can’t make you go away, can he?”
“Scotty, hush.” Tandy slid off her mare and walked over to inspect the fence. “I agree it’s been cut, and I know my prints aren’t on it.” Staring at her neighbor, she untucked her phone, tapped a few keys and requested the number for the local sheriff.
“Hold up a danged minute,” Hicks blustered. “Why drag Doug Anderson all the way out here? The wire don’t look sliced to me, but I’m willing to give you a freebie with these cows. I know Manny’s coming back empty-handed, and you’re gonna need old Hector once you come to your senses. Unless, of course, you sell the ranch, heifers and all to me.” He moved his horse nose-to-nose with Tandy’s. “For the sake of your dad, I’d give you a fair market price.”
Her eyes cut to Wyatt, who shrugged.
“Why are you checking with him?” Hicks asked. “You’re the sole owner of Spiritridge, right?”
“I am.” Tandy drew herself up. “And I’m not selling. I suggest we round up my cows and bring them back where they belong. I trust you’ll help us repair the fence.”
“I gotta bad back, missy.”
Wyatt spoke up. “I’ll handle repairs so we’ll know it’s done right. I could use one new post and a couple dozen or so wire brads, though.” He turned to Tandy. “If he can’t provide those we can still phone Sheriff Anderson and ask him to swing past the hardware store on his way out to have a look-see. Whatever fool did this dropped his wire cutters.” He pointed to where, indeed, the metal instrument peeked out from the base of a fence post.
That’s when, from the way the older rancher’s jaw dropped, Wyatt knew they had him dead to rights.
“Come up to the barn with me,” he said, glaring at Wyatt. “Let Tandy and the kid drive her heifers back into her pasture. Boy,” he added, scowling at Scotty, “keep away from old Hector. He’s not always congenial.”
“Mama, what does that mean?”
“It means you stay on this side of the fence.”
Preston Hicks swung his big roan horse around and urged him up the hill.
Wyatt didn’t like leaving Tandy and Scotty working in the proximity of that humongous bull. And he wasn’t sure he wanted to follow Hicks. There was still the matter of his rifle. “I should be back in fifteen,” he told Tandy. “If not, use a sandwich bag and pick up those wire cutters. Get them to Doug Anderson, downed fence be hanged.”
“Surely you don’t think he’ll prevent you from coming back? I know he’s curmudgeonly, but he’s a church deacon and president of the Cattle and Sheep Ranchers Association.”
Obviously she hadn’t seen the gun. “Ask yourself who else would’ve cut this fence on purpose.” He tapped Bandito’s flanks with his boot heels, not wanting Hicks to get too far ahead of him. He got a few yards away and wasn’t prepared when all at once the other man wheeled his horse around and galloped back.
“I don’t like the idea of leaving a woman and boy around a sometimes randy old bull. It’d be best if you stay and help Ms. Graham round up her cows. I’ll go home and drive my pickup back with everything you’ll need to fix the fence. I’ll toss in a new roll of wire mesh.”
“What’s the price for all of that?”
“Man, but you’re suspicious. Can’t an old friend of the gal’s pa be neighborly?”
Wyatt knew that wasn’t Hicks’s nature. He must be missing something, but at the moment he had no idea what. Since Wyatt also wasn’t comfortable leaving Tandy and Scotty, he acquiesced. Turning back, he could say it was mostly Scotty who worried him. The boy was a bundle of energy. Expecting him to stay put was futile.
“Why are you coming back?” Tandy called. “Did he refuse assistance after all?”
“No. In fact, he expressed concern for you and Scotty. Clearly he has concerns about Hector’s disposition.”
“Me, too.” She laughed awkwardly. “I feel as if he’s eyeing me if not for his next meal, at least as an appetizer.”
“Maybe he’s really a big old teddy bear,” Wyatt said.
“Wyatt, can I help gather cows?” Scotty navigated his mule through a few grazing heifers, which was exactly what Wyatt had feared.
“Sure. You take those closest to the fence and let me and your mom bring the ones farther away.”
Looking gleeful, the boy got behind the nearest cow and slapped it on the rump with his hat.
“You’ve made him happy,” Tandy said. “I would’ve been yelling at him to stay put. How is it you know so much about handling kids?”
Wyatt grinned. “I was one. Granted it was a long time ago. But some things you don’t forget. Let’s get started. I’d just as soon have all of your stock on your land by the time Preston returns.”
“Do you really think he cut the wire?”
“I do.” Wyatt circled behind a group of three heifers and he treated them to the same tactics that Scotty employed.
Tandy brought four into her pasture, and several more fell in line and followed their obvious group. “Why would he do that?” she asked, pulling abreast of Wyatt.
“He’s determined to hassle you.” Wyatt trotted his horse across the fence line again and collected another batch of heifers. When he and Tandy passed again, he paused momentarily. “If I thought it was all because you’re renting to me, I’d move out tonight. I’m beginning to think he really wants your ranch.”
“I’ve no idea why. He’s not getting any younger and he already runs more cattle and sells more at market than any rancher around. I can’t fathom why he dislikes me.”
“Before you joined us he reiterated that no one is going to sell you a bull. He said to expect Manny to come home empty-handed. Blocking you from purchasing a necessity goes beyond pettiness. But, I have a friend who I’m sure will sell you a bull, Tandy. He lives in New Mexico.”
“Hmm, thanks. It’s something to consider. Here Preston comes in his pickup. Do you think we can move the last dozen cows before he gets all the way here?”
“Yes.” Wyatt circled around the bull and let out a rebel yell. The remaining heifers left where they’d been grazing. Between Tandy waving her hat and Scotty stationed off to the left side, Wyatt scrammed the remainder of the herd well onto Tandy’s lease.
Swinging out of his saddle, Wyatt handed her his reins. “I’ve put up plenty of animal enclosures. Why don’t you and Scotty patrol along the creek?” He swept a hand at the babbling water. “I’ll string wire. Then before we go after another grou
p of cows, why don’t we settle down and eat lunch?”
“Ah. You’re suggesting that to see if Preston hangs around and pulls any shenanigans.”
Giving the toe of her boot a little squeeze, he smiled. “We think alike.”
Hurrying over to Hicks’s pickup, Wyatt let down the tailgate and quickly unloaded the items. “I can take it alone from here,” he said. “You probably have other things needing your time.”
“I’ll just wait. You’ll be using my hammer and posthole digger. Even though I have a bad back, I can steady the wire as you unroll it.”
Because it was true he needed the other man’s equipment, instead of responding, Wyatt shed his jacket and set to work. Since only one section was damaged and one post was down, he finished quickly.
Hicks put the hammer in his toolbox. “Do you mind lifting the posthole digger into the pickup bed? One of my cowhands rode in for lunch. He lifted it into the truck.”
“No problem. You did the decent thing. Tandy only wants to make a home here for herself and her son.”
The older man shot Wyatt a sour look. Without a word he strode to the pickup cab and climbed in. Only after he rumbled off did it strike Wyatt that Hicks hadn’t moved like someone with a bad back.
Tandy walked up, holding the reins of both their horses. “You seem perplexed. Did you two have words?”
He shook his head. “I feel his offer of help was phony.”
“Maybe you’re seeking reasons because he opposes your project.”
“Maybe. Should we eat? I worked up an appetite. Hey, Scotty, are you hungry?” he called.
“Yeah. Mama packed me two slices of our leftover pizza. Yum.” The boy slid off his mule and watched his mother open her saddlebags and pull out their lunch sacks.
Tandy handed Scotty one sack and retied her saddlebag.
“Mama, did you bag that cutter thing Wyatt said to take?”
She spun quickly and stared at Wyatt. “I didn’t. We can do it after we eat. We’ll have plenty of plastic bags left to scoop it up with.”
“But it’s not there anymore,” Scotty declared, pointing to where the wire cutters had been.
Tandy and Wyatt shared a look of dismay. Then both frowned.
“Okay, there’s why Preston offered to help and why he stuck around,” Tandy said.
“I should have shot pictures. We have no way to charge him with mischief. In fact, the opposite. He can say we’re lying. And by giving you wire and a post, he has proof he helped you.” Wyatt’s frown deepened.
“I told you he’s a bad man,” Scotty announced, plopping down on a stump. He opened his sack and wasted no time chowing down on the first of his two pizza slices.
Wyatt and Tandy sat side by side on a log. Their thighs occasionally rubbed against one another, and their arms, too. Neither pulled away. Halfway through lunch, Tandy admitted to herself that it felt good knowing this man had her back. Perhaps it was more.
Chapter Five
They’d made it back to the barn after transferring all remaining stock before a weak winter sun slipped behind a western peak. As expected, Scotty had the most energy left. When they finished unsaddling and feeding their horses and the mule, he begged Wyatt to show him how to find animal tracks.
“Scotty, maybe Wyatt’s too tired. We all did a lot of work today, but he expended the most effort rebuilding that fence.”
Wyatt squeezed her shoulder. “I’m fine. And there’s enough light to check out some tracks around the corral. Unless you want him to call it a day.”
“No.” She sent him a grateful smile. “I don’t want him to become a pest.”
“I’m not a pest.” Scotty sounded indignant.
“You’re not,” Wyatt assured. “Let’s go over between the barn and the corral before we run out of daylight.”
“I have stew in the slow cooker,” Tandy said. “I’ll go make biscuits to go with it. Oh, I hear Mr. Bones howling his head off. Is it okay if I let him out to join you?”
“Dog tracks will be a perfect contrast with those of rabbits, raccoons or other small animals that have likely trekked through the ranch.”
Tossing him a smile, Tandy went off to the house and freed the dog, who’d been cooped up all day.
Wyatt gave Scotty a few minutes to play with his pet. Then, again reminding the boy they were losing daylight, he motioned past the corral. There, he’d observed a highway for small creatures making their way from spilled grain at the barn into the woods.
Kneeling, he pointed to clear tracks in the damp earth. “These are from a rabbit. See how many you can find. When tracking any animal you don’t need every single print. Once you pick up two or three, walk in the general direction they’re going and you’ll see more.”
“I see them.” Scotty scampered along. “Mr. Bones’s footprints are way different.”
“That’s right.”
“I think there were two rabbits.”
“Very good.” The boy was more focused and learned quicker to see the difference in tracks than Wyatt imagined a kid his age could.
“Darn, it’s too dark,” Scotty said, getting up from the dirt and wiping off his knees.
“You did great for your first time. If I have time tonight I’ll draw pictures of various animal tracks you can study. Then when you’re out with your mom and Manny, you can be on the lookout and see how many different prints you can identify.”
“Cool.” Scotty called his dog back from the edge of the woods.
Tandy hollered at them to come to the house as Manny drove in.
“C’mon, Scotty. Let’s go check out that bull.”
“Goody. I hope he’s bigger and meaner than the one the bad man owns.” The boy took off running with Mr. Bones at his heels.
By the time Wyatt reached where Manny parked, Tandy had joined Scotty and they were peering into what looked to Wyatt like an empty stock trailer. In the light from the porch he saw the elderly ranch hand shaking his head even as he exited the cab and approached Tandy.
“So Stew didn’t have a bull available?” She gripped Scotty’s shoulders to keep him still.
“He had two, but he said both were sold and waiting to be picked up.”
Tandy’s face fell. “Do you believe him?”
“It’s hard to dispute.” Manny wore an unhappy expression, but he glanced at Wyatt. “You mentioned a friend who sells bulls. It may be the best option since I don’t know of anyone else here.”
Wyatt looked at Tandy. “You want me to check with Loki?”
At her nod, he dug out his cell phone, swiped a number and they all waited until he said, “Hey, Loki, it’s Wyatt. Do you have any bulls to sell?”
“I have two. A Brangus and a Charolais. Why do you want a bull? I thought you were in Arizona chasing your wolves.”
“He has two bulls.” Grinning, Wyatt shot the others a thumbs-up then spoke into the phone again. “I have to swap out my SUV, and a friend is in the market for a bull. Is the cabin vacant in the next day or so? If it is, maybe I’ll bring her and her boy to take a look at what you’ve got.”
“The cabin’s open. So, this rancher friend is a woman? Is there something Abby and I should know, you sly dog?”
“Loki, it’s the woman I’m renting from, okay? I’ll call you back if we work out travel plans. So long.”
“You heard?” he asked at large after ending his call.
“I can’t go off to New Mexico and leave the animals,” Tandy exclaimed.
“Why not?” Manny asked. “If you moved the rest of the herd to grass along the stream, I’ll keep an eye on them and the horses until you get back. What do you figure it’ll take? Three or four days?” he queried, pinning Wyatt down.
“Five at most. My boss said he has a king cab pickup for
me. We can truck the stock trailer up there. If the replacement for my SUV doesn’t have a hitch, Loki and I can install one,” he informed Tandy. “Think about it and let me know.”
“Does he have kids?” Scotty asked.
“Yes, as a matter of fact. A son who’s almost seven, and boy-and-girl twins who are four. He and I have been best friends since elementary school,” he added.
“Manny, come in for stew and biscuits. It’s all ready. We can talk more about this. Maybe you can go with Wyatt.” Tandy turned toward the house.
“I have appointments with my dentist and orthopedic doctor in the next few days. You know how hard they are to schedule. You all go eat and talk it over. I brought a hamburger from town. But remember, if you don’t get a bull soon there’ll be no calves come November.” Plainly done with the conversation, he climbed into the pickup and drove toward the barn.
“We should go with Wyatt, Mama.” Scotty skipped up the porch steps, Mr. Bones racing alongside.
“I guess we can. Manny’s right about this year being wasted without a bull. I’ll be darned if I’ll pay Preston Hicks for the use of his.”
“If we’re up and out of here at daybreak, weather permitting we can cut travel time to a day each way with a full day up there.”
After ushering everyone inside and to the kitchen, Tandy set out food while the others washed up. “I hate barging in on your friends,” she said as they all took the same seats they’d had the previous evening.
“Loki and his wife come from big Apache families. Their ranch isn’t on the reservation, but Abby has a huge family that often drops by. Loki has aunts, uncles and cousins galore who visit, too. They’re used to people popping in. I stay there whenever I get time off. I’m sure you’ll like them.”
“I don’t doubt that. If they’re used to drop-ins, it’ll be fine. I’m anxious to buy a bull, so again, thank you.”
“You don’t have to keep thanking me. Friends help friends. I’ll be glad for company on an otherwise boring drive.”
“Can we take Mr. Bones?” Scotty indicated his pet eating at his bowl.
Marrying the Rancher Page 7
