Farraday Country

by Chris Keniston

  “What else is there to understand?” Her grandfather looked at her with the sense of a young child explaining his perception of the imperfect world.

  “What I don’t get is how taking,” she paused doing math in her head, “how many cows now?”

  “Let’s see.” Her grandfather and Uncle Ralph looked to the heaven as though counting cattle in the sky. “We didn’t want to hit any one rancher too hard.”

  “And,” her uncle added, “we needed to figure out where to keep the cows.”

  “The abandoned golf course?” Kelly put in.

  Her uncle grinned, clearly proud of her understanding. “That’s right. Plenty of grass for them to feed on, and some straw spread out in the abandoned clubhouse was perfect for any of the cattle we needed to keep indoors. But we still had to figure out where to send the cows to save them from slaughter.”

  “And that’s where we’ve run into a little bit of trouble. There doesn’t seem to be a whole lot of cattle sanctuaries anywhere. Everybody wants to save retired circus elephants, old zoo cats, or animals illegally smuggled into the country, but not so much cows.”

  Kelly had no idea what to say. Of course there weren’t cow sanctuaries. They were considered a food staple of the United States, not exotic animals. Short of a calf or two at a petting zoo, there was no entertainment value in cattle. Even at state fairs, except for the few stud bulls, the end results for most of the cattle was going to be the meat market. “Pops.” She tried not to sound too desperate. “How. Many. Cows. Are we talking?”

  “Twenty?”

  Uncle Ralph shook his head. “I think we’re up to twenty-two, maybe twenty-three.”

  “Somewhere in there.” Her grandfather nodded.

  Twenty-two cows. Maybe twenty-three? Kelly might just be sick. With the kitchen door still open, even from where they stood in the garage she could hear the doorbell sound. Company was not what she needed. Plastering on the closest thing to a calm and cool demeanor that she could manage, she waved an arm from her Pops to the cow. “Let’s close all the doors before someone sees this guy. We’ve got to call Adam and DJ, tell them everything—and I mean everything—as soon as I get rid of whoever is at the front door.”

  Neither old man dared say a word. Her grandfather briefly flashed a scowl, and for a second she thought she saw his lips pucker and mouth open prepared to argue, but instead he nodded, and closing the doors behind them, followed her into the house.

  Through the small section of glass, she could make out Ian’s features. The sight of him on the other side of the door had her heart doing a fast two step, instantly lifting her mood, until she realized she’d have to explain all of this mess to him as well. If she’d thought her grandfather almost burning down the retirement home and then her own house had been a miserable mess, both incidents were a walk in the park compared to this new disaster. Stealing cattle was a criminal offense that could send her grandfather to jail for whatever time was left of his natural life.

  Ian’s finger was perched high, ready to ring the bell again when she swung the door open.

  “Hellp.” She did her best to put on a brave face and smiled as she waved him inside, but the memory of a few hours in jail and the thought of her grandfather spending any time at all behind bars had her almost bursting into tears.

  “Hey.” He stepped into the house and stopped only a few inches in front of her. “What’s the sad face?”

  Closing her eyes, she sucked in a deep breath, willing the threatening tears away. “It’s such a mess, Ian. Pops is in so much trouble.”

  Strong hands weaved around her waist, pulling her against him. “Why don’t you tell me what’s going on?”

  Instinctively, she curled into his shoulder. Closing her eyes, refusing to cry, instead feeding on his strength. There had to be a way to make this right, and if anyone would have answers for her, Ian would. She had to trust him. Knew she could trust him. “It’s a mess.”

  Gently stroking her back in slow soothing swirls, his voice rumbled against her ear. “How about starting at the beginning?”

  With a nod, she reluctantly slipped out of the safety of his arms, but needing the connection, she kept her fingers loosely entwined with his. She moved to the sofa, sat beside him, and did her best to explain as her grandfather and uncle shifted in their seats like boys called to the principal’s office. The words tumbling out like water from a downhill spring, she laid out everything she did and didn’t understand. Occasionally her grandfather or uncle added a word here or there, sometimes helping, other times only adding to the confusion. Ian listened patiently, occasionally urging her on with a squeeze of her hand.

  The entire convoluted story told, Kelly kept a hopeful gaze on Ian. “Please tell me there’s a way out of this mess?”

  Ian’s shoulders stiffened ever so slightly, but it was enough for her to know he wasn’t going to have any easy answers. “One step at a time. We’ll need to call both Adam and DJ, but first I’d like you to take me to where you’re keeping the cattle.” He gave her hand another squeeze. “And if we’re lucky, between here and there I’ll come up with a brilliant plan.”

  Despite the wary glare her grandfather shot in her direction, Kelly nodded. At this point she didn’t care about brilliant; all she wanted was a plan.

  CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

  Even though he’d been hoping and praying, not until he’d rung the bell at Kelly’s did Ian realize just how badly he’d wanted to find a riding mower in the garage. He also didn’t realize how badly he wanted to be an ordinary citizen instead of a law officer until Kelly leaned into him, all broken up over the dilemma at hand. He had no idea how to save her grandfather.

  Sure, he knew that his uncle Sean would not press charges against such an old man, especially one who was clearly not functioning out of malice but from an addled older mind. There was definitely another rancher or two that Ian knew would stand with his uncle and not press charges, but he hadn’t a clue how the rest of the ranchers would feel about the situation. He could only hope that returning the cattle would be a possible first step to coming out of this mess as unharmed as possible.

  “We better start with Uncle Sean. We’re going to need to identify the cattle and see what we can do about returning them to their rightful owners.”

  Kelly’s face lit up. “Maybe if we give them back we don’t have to make this a police matter?”

  “I’m sorry.” Ian shook his head. “I have no choice. I have to bring DJ into this. It’s his town and I’ve sworn an oath.” The light in her eyes dimmed and he held up his hand. “But that doesn’t mean we can’t do a little negotiating.”

  It took only a few minutes to load everyone into his truck and head out to the old golf course. It actually surprised him that nobody around town had noticed the trim lawns of late. Pulling into the parking lot near the old club building, he scanned the distance looking for young cows. Doors slammed, boot heels hit the ground, and circling the hood of the truck, Ian looked to Kelly’s grandfather. “You’ve done a good job of hiding over twenty cows.”

  “Maybe.” Kelly’s grandfather scowled and stomped off around to the back of the building, before spinning around and facing his brother. “You move them inside?”

  Uncle Ralph stared slack jaw at the empty greens, shaking his head. “Didn’t you?”

  Nothing about this conversation made Ian happy. “Are you two saying you’ve lost the cows?”

  “Maybe they just wandered off?” Kelly offered.

  Shaking his head, the creases on her grandfather’s forehead deepened. “Most of this property either has electric fences or cattle walks so stray cattle and other critters wouldn’t wander in and ruin the grounds. We just turned the system on and used it to keep them from wandering out.”

  “Lord I need a smoke.” Uncle Ralph rolled his eyes heavenward.

  Kelly’s grandfather waved a finger at his brother. “Don’t you get me started on that. You know what those—”

  “Pop
s!” Kelly interrupted the two men before they could start a war on the pros and cons of cigarettes. “Where are the cows?”

  Staring daggers at his brother, Kelly’s grandpa shook his head.

  This was so not looking good. “Gentlemen,” Ian asked, “you mean to tell me that you don’t know where the cows have gone?”

  “Oh, I know all right.” Kelly’s grandpa spun around and stormed off toward the front of the building. “It’s that Buford.”

  Uncle Ralph lit up and snapped his fingers. “Of course.”

  “Of course what?” Ian lengthened his stride to catch up to the older men. “And who is Buford?”

  “That no good, skinny, lazy, scheming Beaumont. He and his brothers never earned an honest dollar in their lives.”

  Ian had never heard of the Beaumont family. Turning to Kelly, he looked for answers.

  Apparently they’d gotten good at reading each other, since she quickly answered his silent question. “Beaumonts live just over the line in the next county. You rarely run into them. None of the boys went to school. The principal and the teachers all tried to talk some sense into their parents, but neither had any education and didn’t see the need for their sons to have it. They live in a piecemeal cabin that’s been in the family for generations. No one has ever been sure how they make their living.”

  “Sure we do,” her grandpa insisted. “They’re thieving scoundrels.”

  Ian turned to Pops. “Do you have any reason other than ‘they are thieving scoundrels’ to think they have your cows?”

  The old man slowed by the truck, turning to nod at Ian. “Other day I saw Buford puffing away like a damn chimney just on the other side of the fork in the road to town. Standing around, watching nothing. Said he was waiting on a ride from his brother. Ralph and I drove off and I saw two of those big trucks pull over and he got into one. Wondered where’d they get the money to buy not one but two of those rigs.”

  Ian was beginning to think he might have the answer to that. “Tell me,” he asked Uncle Ralph, “did you do a lot of smoking while watching the Farraday herd?”

  “I rarely get to sneak in a cigarette with Mr. Save The Environment around. Besides, we never spent much time watching any of the herds.”

  “One more question. Did you loosen the fence wires at the Farraday’s?”

  Both Uncle Ralph and Kelly’s grandfather moved their heads from side to side.

  Alarm bells rang at full volume in Ian’s head. Puzzle pieces were coming together and fast. On the short ride from Kelly’s to the club he’d reached out to his uncle who was most likely already on his way to transport the now non-existent cattle. Whipping out his phone, he swiped at the screen, reaching out first to his cousin.

  “Didn’t expect to hear from you so soon. Need some dating advice?” DJ teased.

  “No time to remind you I’m the one who told you to open your eyes about your wife. We have a bigger problem brewing. Did you get the name of the guy they picked up the next county over?”

  “As a matter of fact, his prints just came back—”

  “A Beaumont?”

  “Yeah. How’d you know?”

  “Buford is a chain smoker. I think he’s the one who was stalking your pastures.”

  “Shit,” DJ mumbled.

  “Yeah. And I’m betting any amount of money they just made off with the stash of cattle here at the golf course—”

  “What?”

  “You heard me. The cattle here are gone. All of them. And I’m willing to bet my badge it’s the Beaumonts behind it. If they’re moving two trucks of cattle they’ve got room for a lot more than twenty calves and the next closest ranch to the golf course is—”

  “Ours,” DJ mumbled.

  “Exactly. How much do you want to bet that means—”

  “We’re next.” DJ sighed. “I’ll call Dad now. You’ll get there before me. Don’t do anything stupid.”

  Ian almost laughed. Talk about the pot calling the kettle black when it came to taking risks to make a collar, DJ was right there with the most brazen of them. “The one you need to tell that to is—”

  “Aunt Eileen,” they both echoed.

  ****

  “If you ask me, Ian looked way too eager to go all the way to town just for a good deed.” Catherine Farraday looked up from helping her daughter with an animal puzzle.

  Eileen continued to separate out the flat end pieces. “That’s what I said. Adam, Brooks and DJ would all have gladly taken Kelly the leftovers on their way home.”

  Rocking Brittany to sleep, Allison looked over Aunt Eileen’s shoulder and pointed to a flat edge she’d missed. “It’s the dog thing.”

  “You mean puppy thing,” Catherine chuckled.

  “Puppy, dog, whatever. I’ve never been a superstitious person, but I’m telling you there’s something about these dogs showing up that is totally worthy of a Twilight Zone episode.”

  “What I want to know is if Kelly was as happy to see Ian as he was to go see her.” Eileen handed Stacey another edge piece for her and her mom to link together. Eileen just loved having small children around the house again. She would miss having little Brittany nearby once Ethan and Allison’s house was built over near the new hospital. Not that she expected that to happen any time soon with all the construction trouble they’d run into. A few times Sean had come within inches of calling his cousin Patrick to see if he could send a crew in from Oklahoma, but each time the local crew had gotten their act together until the next screw up.

  “Do you think this means Ian will transfer someplace closer to Tuckers Bluff or are we going to lose Kelly?” Catherine asked.

  Eileen straightened, she hadn’t thought about that. Honestly today was the first time since the drive back from Dallas that she’d given any serious consideration to Ian and Kelly as a permanent relationship. A thought she’d actually discarded when she hadn’t seen a dog around anywhere that day. Of course what she had yet to figure out at all was how had those two wound up driving together in the first place. Not that it mattered, fate, and the dogs, had an interesting way of turning everyone’s lives around.

  The old phone on the wall rang. That didn’t happen very often. Usually everyone communicated via cell phones.

  Pushing away from the table, Eileen reached for the avocado green phone. “Hello.”

  “Your cell is going straight to voicemail,” Sean said.

  “I forgot. It’s on the charger upstairs.”

  “We’ve got a situation. Connor and I are coming back to the ranch. DJ and Ian are meeting us. Ian thinks the cattle thieves could be coming back to the section with the weak fence line.”

  “What do you need me to do?”

  “Keep the girls in the house. Don’t let Catherine and Brittany go home until we say the coast is clear. He could be wrong and the pasture is nowhere near the house, but I’m not taking any chances with my own.”

  “I’ll take care of everyone on this end. You be careful.” The only other crack shot in the family at home now besides her was Hannah. She didn’t know what was happening in the universe but she was getting pretty tired of reaching for her rifle.

  CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

  “Can’t you drive any faster?” If Kelly’s grandfather leaned any more forward he’d be sitting on the dashboard.

  “Pops, Ian knows what he’s doing. Do you want him to stop and set you out at the side of the road?”

  What Ian would have preferred was to have left them all behind, but he knew darn well from the way her grandfather was carrying on that two minutes after Ian had pulled out of the driveway the old man and his brother would have been racing after Buford Beaumont on their own. Which meant Kelly would be trailing her grandfather. This way he could at least keep them out of trouble.

  The old man harrumphed and sat back in the seat. Kelly and her uncle remained quiet in the back row of the quad cab pick up. The way Ian figured it, DJ was only about twenty minutes behind him coming from the other side of town, and
his Uncle Sean should be reaching the ranch just ahead of him. Enough time for Ian to drop his passengers off at the main house with Aunt Eileen, and for Uncle Sean to dump the trailer and saddle a couple of horses for everyone.

  Sneaking up on thieves was much easier on horseback. As tempting as it was to go blazing in on four wheelers with sirens, a silent approach was his friend.

  “There!” Kelly’s grandfather shouted, waving a crooked finger at the road ahead of them. “That’s one of them trucks we saw the Beaumonts driving.”

  Ian slowed and scanned the distance for the second vehicle. A cloud of dust along the back trail told him his gut had been right. Unable to turn off or turn back, he had no choice but to drive past the truck. “Everybody duck down low and stay down till I tell you to come up.”

  “What for?” Pop spun around to glare at him, but the look Ian shot him was enough to have the old man act now and think later.

  The last thing Ian wanted was for anyone in the big rig to recognize all the passengers and grow suspicious. At least if he was the lone driver heading home from town, simply driving by might not raise any red flags. “We’re going to drive past the truck, nice and casual, like any other Sunday afternoon.”

  He couldn’t see Kelly and her uncle, but her grandfather grumbled from low in the seat.

  Using the bluetooth on his phone Ian called DJ. “What’s your ETA?”

  “Another thirty to the ranch. Where are you?”

  “At the turn off to the South trail. One target is parked at the mouth of the road, the other is heading up the trail.”

  “Damn it. That’s a little closer but you’re still looking at twenty till I’m there.”

  “I’m driving past now.” Ian casually checked out the cab. Nothing. “No one in the driver seat. They must have all gone to load the cattle.”

  Kelly’s grandfather popped up from his spot. “Then there’s no reason for me to be hiding like a scared rabbit.”