“Things go this smooth, yes.”
“Sarge is lending me his man Cody again.”
“Billy Bob?”
“He’s really grown up. Made a great hand.”
“Tad handling the cooking?”
“Him, and the boss lady. Same crew except you almost.”
“I know and you know this job is a great deal for me. You know, too, that lots of guys have been crowded out and never got a chance to go back and kick it back into shape again. I am glad I did have that chance.”
“Nor do many men, like Cosby, come back and look at things that were going wrong, bust up the wrongdoers, and hire right again.”
“You ever hear about the guy who dropped that ranch on you? Him or his wife?”
“No. I never saw him after I closed that deal.”
“He must’ve gone back to Texas with her.”
“I guess so.”
“I need to get back to Flagstaff tomorrow. I have a stage line to run. Have fun this summer.”
“Thanks. I hope the boys and Renny will have fun. I’ll be fine.”
“Lisa’s worked great for you, didn’t she?”
“Oh yes. She is a very thoughtful lady. No big storms. She also thinks deep and she’s really good for me.”
“Hope you find a trunk full of rubies.”
“I bet we found them all.”
* * *
Chet saw the two of them off the next morning. Val was a little sad parting with her stepson as she kissed him good-bye on the cheek. He and Lisa stood on the porch until Val and Cole’s dust was gone.
“What is on for today, now that both Rocky and Adam are here, too?”
“Horse racing at the fairgrounds this afternoon. Remember, we promised her. Billy Bob is set up to go along. The kids want to ride horses over there. I’ll take you in the buckboard.”
They left midmorning with food packed in two wicker baskets and Natalie along to help. Billy Bob rode horses with the kids while Chet drove Lisa in the buckboard.
Their drive into town gave them ample time to get to the grounds. It was all new for his kids, but one of the grand social events of the spring for the town.
There were hundreds already there at the grandstands and track. A warm day for that early in the spring and there was lots of talking about the horses running.
“Now, guys, Renny is your ward. You be sure she is with you and not in harm’s way, understand me?”
“We’ll watch her,” Rocky promised.
Billy Bob nodded that he’d keep an eye on them, too. Then they were off and gone that quickly. The ranch had a reserved covered picnic spot with four tables under it. Lisa and her helper began to set out the lunch and lemonade. She sent Chet off to be social.
The church crowd wouldn’t be there for at least another hour. Chet had crossed off their attending it for the day.
By twelve-thirty the grounds would be busting at the seams with families and horse racing activity.
Chet spoke to some other ranchers. Several asked if he would go back treasure hunting on the strip. To answer them, he said they planned to do some more but had no schedule yet, that their discoveries and subsequent finding were probably a once-in-a-lifetime find. Folks always suspected such finds abounded in a land not too heavily explored.
Tom and Millie joined them.
“Heckuva crowd here already,” Tom said.
“People getting ready to break out,” Chet said.
His threesome soon joined him and took him aside.
“Dad?” Rocky began. “Renny wants to ride in the novice girl’s race on a horse belonging to the Bar K Ranch.”
“Is he rideable? Sometimes they bring colts here green as grass.”
“No problem. She’s already ridden him in the pen. He’s not a plow horse and she can handle him. But you have to tell the stewards it is okay for her to ride.”
“They wouldn’t take your word?”
“Dad. You have to be an adult to do that.”
Adam shook his head. “Hell, no, we tried that.”
“Better drop the cuss words. I better speak to Lisa and I’ll be right back. Renny, I guess you’d like to do this?”
“Oh yes.”
“Wait here. I’ll go ask her.”
He strode back to the shade and excused Lisa from the crowd there.
“What is it?”
“They are having an all-girl horse race. Your buddy wants to ride and her grooms want her to.”
“Wow. One to ten, how dangerous is it?”
“Two to three if she falls off.”
“Those boys haven’t planned her demise?”
“No. They were annoyed the judges didn’t accept their approval of her riding in the event.”
“You decide. She’s a pretty smart girl and she can ride.”
“I say yes. I think a win or close win would bind those three together.”
“I never thought about that. Go ahead.”
“Thanks.” He strode back to the waiting threesome.
“Well, Lisa said, all right. Keep Billy Bob informed. You two look out for her. We will be down at the winner’s circle waiting for the roses.”
Rocky made a face. “Dad, we aren’t sure this colt can even run.”
“If I get in a horse race, I plan to win from the get-go,” was Chet’s reply to his son.
“Thanks, Chet. I plan to win.” Renny looked pleased and behind those freckles there was a determined set to her smile and in her brown eyes. If she didn’t win this time, watch out for the next time was how he saw it.
Billy Bob saw it, too, and chuckled. “Maybe we better ride him in that pen some.”
“Listen to him, kids. He’s a hand with horses.”
“The girl’s race is the third one,” Adam informed him, and they left to sign up for it.
Chet figured that was their goal. He overheard Adam ask Billy Bob if he’d ever won a race.
The answer was not loud enough for him to hear.
Carl Evans, who ranched south of the new place, asked how Cole was doing up at Flagstaff.
“He has the stagecoaches back on a real-time schedule and they are close to quadrupling the number of telegraph lines.”
“I hated when I learned he was going back to work for them. He and Val made real neighbors. The new man you have up there is very polite and friendly but that Cole is a real manager. He had that stage deal working well and the folks they hired to replace him didn’t know a damn thing about running it. Be real honest with me. Is that train running across through there really going to help us prosper?”
“I believe it will but how long will it take to get here is the question. On that I have no idea. It may take ten years.”
“Oh Lord. That is way too long. Thanks.”
They shook hands and Chet went on back to the shade.
“She entered?”
“Billy Bob’s handling that. It is the third one on the card. They said the colt was gentle and she is ready to race.”
She swung on his arm. “I never thought about the bonding part. You can snack on the food or we can go be at the finish line.”
“I’ll get a bite now and when the race is over we can come back and eat.”
He took a plate of cherry cobbler and a spoon from Natalie then motioned for Lisa to start for the finish line. They stopped and spoke to Bo on the way.
“Where you going?” his land man asked.
“Lisa’s new ward is in the girl’s-only race.”
“Where did she come from?”
“She is a trial deal. The judge asked us to see if we could help her.”
“She a jockey?”
“Both my horse experts think so.”
“Who’s that?”
“Adam and Rocky.” Chet was laughing by then.
Bo was rocking his oldest in his arms, laughing. “You hear that, Shelly?”
“Yes. I am anxious to see this race.”
“Here, Lisa, hold my plate. We can go up to
the finish line.”
“This must be kids’ day at the track,” Bo said, switching the baby to his other side.
They soon were in place. Race number one was between three spotted Indian ponies, and the riders were all young Indians riding them. Howling like coyotes, they gave it all they had, and the fattest brown boy in a loincloth, feathers in his hair, and riding the fattest spotted pony, won the race.
Next the track announcer called for race number two. This was for young horses and teenage boys only riding them. The starter gun went off and at least four of them left the starting gates bucking like double-jointed critters. The crowd laughed and applauded. A swift black horse won the race, and the boy was riding low with only the finish line in his eyes the entire quarter mile.
His name was Huey Craft, and they presented him the bronze trophy.
Race number three was for previously unraced colts ridden by girls only. Anyone entering a previously run animal would be barred from racing for two years and fined two hundred fifty dollars. Pretty strict rules, but they obviously meant business. Two horses entered were withdrawn at the last minute, leaving a field of five entries. Obviously they feared being exposed.
The starting pistol had a similar effect on the entries. Two of the entries ducked their heads and had no ambition to run but rather bucked while the other three swept away like haints.
Renny on a sorrel was on the outside, bent low in the saddle, and she must have been challenging her mount to run. She was nose to nose with a black and a bay, and the race looked to Chet like it would end in a dead heat, but Renny used a bat on her red horse and it shot ahead, crossing the line first.
“We will have the results for you in a minute, ladies and gentlemen.”
A silence smothered the crowd. Billy Bob and the boys on horseback rode up and shouted, “She won fair and square. Why isn’t she being announced the winner?”
Dressed in a business suit, big Tom Drake for F Bar Ranch came running over to Chet. “She is your daughter, isn’t she?”
“She’s my ward.”
“What in the hell are they stalling for? She won by a full neck.”
She and the two boys leading the dancing colt came up to the finish line.
“The winner is Calvin Arnold’s colt Horacio.”
The crowd shouted, “No!”
Tom Drake waved his arms in the air to quiet them. “What ruling made you make that call?”
“The girl on the Bar K colt used a false name on her entry.”
“What name did she use?” Chet shouted.
“Ringold Byrnes.”
Tom looked at Chet.
Chet nodded and then shouted, “Today that is who she is. My adopted daughter. Ask the judge.”
Renny and those two boys were dancing hand in hand in a circle, celebrating, and the crowd was on their feet, roaring.
Lisa ran out and kissed both Tom and Chet. “She won the race. Flat outran both of them.”
Soon his entire crew was on the track, waiting for the retraction.
“After due consideration, the Bar K Ranch entry ridden by Ringold Byrnes is today’s winner in the third race.”
The crowd really roared.
Tom shook his hand. “You have yourself a winner, Chet.”
“I had one before that.”
“I guess you did. Young lady, anytime you want a horse to race, come holler.”
She swallowed and, a little red-faced, thanked him.
“Well, the horse racing committee for the Quarter Circle Z ranch better get down there and eat with Natalie. Before it is all gone.”
Lisa had Renny under her arm ahead of them. Chet and the two boys followed them.
“Dad?”
“Yes, Rocky.”
“Any of those clay bank horses we own—can they run?” Rocky asked.
“I bet they can.”
“Renny, we need to go see May’s son. The family owns those horses that Dad brought from Mexico.”
She flashed a smile at him and called them what they were named. “You mean the Barbarossa horses.”
Lisa looked to the sky for help.
Chet laughed. “They can run.”
They drew a crowd. Not expecting this many, they soon ran out of food, and Lisa spoke to Chet. “I brought enough for twice more than I expected and we still ran out.”
“You didn’t know you’d win a race, either.”
About then Tom Drake’s man arrived with the cooked leg of a steer on his shoulder and his men carrying two more and lots of French bread loaves. The party continued. Lisa shook her head at the sight. But they’d have enough to eat for everyone.
Tom said, “I seen they was all down here. More power to you. You and that girl made my day. This is the best day I have ever had on this track. Thanks.”
Tom’s three men sharpened their knives and they went to work on the beef and the bread.
“Mine, too,” Chet agreed. He was prouder of the kids than anything else. Besides, he saw the bond they’d made with her over the win. It was going to be a helluva summer. He knew it right off.
No one had to rock them to sleep when they made it back to the ranch that evening after dark. He dropped into bed and Lisa mumbled, “Next time—we camp—over there . . .”
CHAPTER 32
There was a cold-water creek east of Camp Verde, so his winning horse racing party all went trout fishing over there. Camping for a few days under the deep canyon sheer walls, they caught trout and had a great time. Billy Bob gave guitar-playing lessons and they discovered Natalie could really play the mouth harp. After a week of camping and some rain they rode back to the ranch, tired.
The threesome, Rocky, Adam, and Renny, were assigned to help Vance and the crew at the roundup branding process. Keeping the branding iron fire red-hot was their job and they did good at that, according to Vance. Things moved right along. Chet, Jesus, and Billy Bob made a run out to check on the Rustler’s Ranch roundup. They were impressed with the crew and all they accomplished. Several of Toby’s hands could heel a calf in a loop, slide them to the fire on their back as careful as they could be, and go right back for another.
With three packhorses to pack their camping needs they left to see how Spencer and Fred were doing. Same story. Branding was going smoothly. An hour on the job, Chet saw Spencer was letting Fred lead, which was super—he’d be the man, next year, who would organize it again.
They learned the new baby and mother were doing fine. They spent the night in the cow camp satisfied all was going right. Very early they saddled, ate some jerky, and rode west for the Windmill to pick up Cody. Jamie from the east ranch was to meet them in Flagstaff in four days at the ranch property there. Those guys didn’t need any looking after.
They were headed west under a blanket of stars. Midmorning his sister greeted them as they rode into her place.
“You guys look tired.”
“We are,” Chet said. “How are you?”
“Fine. Breakfast is about cooked. I want to hear about your horse racing team.”
Chet’s crew laughed.
“Those men will put up your horses. Wash up and come inside. I want to hear it all.”
“We are coming.”
Seated at the long dining table, drinking some good coffee, he began the story of how Renny came to Lisa and him. How they were attending the Sunday races with his two boys and Renny and how Fred had offered to let her ride his untried colt in the novice race.
How Chet told Lisa that Renny could safe enough ride him, and so she entered. And how she outran the others and the judges decided he had no daughter so they disqualified her. But the so-called judges quickly learned she was his ward by the court orders and they called her the winner.
“Neither of your sons rode?”
Chet shook his head. “When they get home, they are going to look at the Barbarossa stock for possible entries in the next races.”
Sis was laughing. “And you have three teens this summer?”
“Adam’s a little short on years but the three of them are fun to watch. They are going up on the strip with us.”
“Isn’t that dangerous?”
“No. I’ve got to settle some things while we are there.”
“Chet Byrnes, you have not changed one lick. It all has to be straightened out, doesn’t it?”
“I like it that way.”
“It is the only way you will have it.”
“All right. But things in life need straightening and there is lots unsettled up there.”
“And I want our foreman back in one piece. Cody has grown into the best man we’ve ever had, and I get some time to take off and go see a few things—time I never had before. So you remember, I need him back here before the summer is over. Is the railroad coming at all any faster?”
“No, but they are adding three more lines to the telegraph system.”
“Why?”
“Cole has that much business.”
“I heard he was blowing them away. They need him in charge of the track laying.”
“He might be someday. The railroad president knows where he’s at.”
“That wouldn’t surprise you, would it?”
“No. But don’t say anything—I don’t want to have to run that iron path. Cole can if he wants to and if they will pay him enough.”
“Does anyone think it strange that ranch foremen like Cole and Spencer can get things done that no one else can?”
“There is nothing stupid about being a ranch foreman. They all are not that smart but the ones that are make good supervisors anywhere.”
“I never would have believed it when we lived in Texas. But just look at what you have done.”
“We better eat and run. Tom can help you if you need anything when Sarge is gone.”
“I know. You be careful. I love your wife. I thought Miguel was robbing the cradle but you didn’t.”
“She’s having lots of fun with a daughter.”
“How did that happen?”
“Her father was killed in a wagon wreck two years ago. Before that her mother died and so she went to live with her grandparents, who are old folks. The judge picked for her to stay with us. She’s happy. A tomboy like you, and those three together are a big kick.”
“I understood the boys were looking forward to this summer with you.”
Sharpshooter Page 23
