Betrayal at the Buffalo Ranch Read online

spoke broken English and Eli replied in a mixture of English, Spanish,

  and Cherokee. Sadie couldn’t follow the conversation, but it seemed

  friendly enough. She heard the words el bisonte Americano, and was convinced they were talking about American bison; since they were work-

  ing on Angus’s fence, that meant they probably worked for the Buffalo

  Ranch.

  Eli climbed off his horse and showed the two men the stakes that

  indicated Sadie’s property line, and the two men nodded with great an-

  imation. All three men shook hands, and Eli climbed on his horse and

  motioned for Sadie to follow him back through the break in the fence

  toward her house. Sadie commanded Sonny to stay close and waited

  until they were far enough away from the workers to speak.

  “I guess they came to finish the job Sanders started,” she said.

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  Eli nodded. “When they get that fence up, it would be a good idea for you to stay on your side of it.”

  “We were just out for a ride, for heaven’s sake. Angus couldn’t even

  see us up there. I don’t see that it’s a big deal.”

  “That man and everything he does is a big deal. He spreads trouble

  everywhere.”

  “I’m not afraid of Angus,” she retorted.

  “You don’t have to be afraid of him, but you need to be smarter

  than him. There’s no reason to stick your nose where it doesn’t belong.”

  Eli had an intense look on his face. “We don’t have to let him run over

  us, but we need to stay away from him so he cannot drag us down to his

  level.”

  Sadie smiled and thought maybe he was repeating words he himself

  had heard earlier in the day from Aunt Mary. Regardless, he spoke good

  words and she took them in the spirit with which he offered them. Ever

  since her dad had died, her uncle had been a protector of sorts to her,

  and she loved him for it. She considered herself smart enough to take

  care of herself, but she appreciated him and her Aunt Mary for always

  supporting her, anyway.

  “Don’t worry, Uncle. I’ll be careful,” she said, as she turned Joe

  toward her corral. Eli broke off toward his own property, tipped his hat

  to her, and nodded. Sonny ran ahead and gulped water from the nearby

  creek.

  After removing Joe’s saddle and bridle, Sadie brushed him from

  head to toe before releasing him into the pasture with his friend, Sir

  William, the billy goat. The sun had crept high in the afternoon sky,

  making a beautiful spring day. She returned to the house thinking about

  what to fix for dinner. Lance wasn’t a picky eater, but she wanted to

  make something special for him.

  Inside the kitchen, she opened the refrigerator and surveyed its con-

  tents, and then turned her attention to the counter. Based on what she

  had, it would be pork chops, green beans, fried potatoes and onions, and

  for dessert— leftover brownies. She hurried off to clean up and prepare

  to see Lance.

  ★

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  Roy Carter rode his horse north into the pasture where his cattle mean-dered in and around a small pond. Bandit, the cow dog, ran out front,

  making a beeline toward the small herd of Herefords. At last count, Roy

  owned forty- three cows, twenty- nine calves, ten steers, and one bull. Not too shabby, he thought, for a part- time electrician and part- time rancher.

  His steady work as an electrician helped support his love of raising cat-

  tle, and each year his profits grew from the sale of yearlings. White- faced Herefords grazing on emerald-green Bermuda grass looked like a picture

  postcard to him. The idea of losing this herd hurt like a knife stabbing

  him in the gut.

  Roy reined his horse to a stop and whistled. Bandit barked as if

  answering his master’s command and rushed to round up the animals.

  As the dog circled the herd, nipping at their heels, the cows and their

  bawling calves moved south. As Roy watched, anger grew in the pit of

  his stomach as any profit he had counted on from this fall’s sale trotted toward the corral where a stock trailer waited to haul them all away. He

  contemplated his situation as he balanced himself in the saddle.

  After the vet had confirmed what he already knew, that his herd had

  been infected with brucellosis, the man from the agriculture department

  had come out and declared that his herd had to go. He might have to sell

  his animals for next to nothing, but if that’s what he had to do, he’d do it. He’d already decided he was not going to let Angus Clyborn get away

  with destroying him and his herd. He’d warned the deputy sheriff to stop

  this before it happened. Obviously, his herd of cattle didn’t rank very

  high on the lawman’s priority list. He thought the deputy sheriff, just

  like the rest of the people in the county, feared Angus Clyborn, but Roy

  wasn’t the least bit intimidated. The overweight blowhard had to pay.

  When the cattle had been loaded and the stock trailer pulled away,

  Roy unsaddled his horse and released him into the pasture, and then

  retrieved his Winchester rifle from the house. After securing the rifle in the gun rack of his truck, he climbed in and followed.

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  Chapter 19

  Lance swept through the kitchen door, gave Sadie a kiss, and then tick-

  led her ribs, causing dredging flour to fly into the air. She playfully slung a bit of flour in his direction and he quickly retreated, laughing.

  “Do you want a beer, or are you on Pepsi duty tonight?” she asked.

  Lance opened the refrigerator and poked around. “I’d better stick

  with Pepsi,” he said, as he retrieved a can, popped the top, and took a

  seat at the kitchen table.

  After depositing the pork chops into the hot grease in the iron skil-

  let, she washed her hands and retrieved her own drink— a low- calorie

  beer. “I’m going to splurge,” she said.

  “Do you miss cooking at the American Café?” Lance asked,

  grinning.

  Sadie gave him a sideways glance as she used a fork to turn the

  meat. “No,” she said. “And, I think that’s an experience I don’t care to

  repeat. At least one good thing came out of it, though. I did learn a lot about cooking from Emma.”

  “My gain,” he said.

  “Well, I like selling vacations better.” She scooped an apple out of a

  woven basket on the counter, washed it, and began to slice it into irregular pieces. “Don’t you think we’re overdue for a vacation? Where would

  you like to go?”

  “Right now I’d like to go anywhere to get away from your neighbor.”

  Sadie transferred the pork chops from the skillet into a baking dish,

  piled the apples on top, added some beer, and placed the baking dish in

  the oven. She dropped her pot holder on the counter and sat down at

  the table.

  “I’m going to let that bake for a few minutes,” she said, and then

  responded to Lance’s comment. “What’s the matter? The buffalo man

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  causing you problems?” Sadie laughed. “That’s what Uncle Eli calls him— the ‘buffalo man.’”

  “He is definitely a piece of work.”

  “What about Kenny Wayne Sanders? Have you tied him back to

  Angus?”

  “No more than you did. I confirmed what you found out. I als
o

  talked to Grover Chuculate, and he recognized him in the picture I have.

  He said he saw him walking on the highway a few days before he was

  found dead. Chuculate offered him a ride, but Sanders refused, which is

  kind of strange since it was raining.”

  Sadie returned to the counter and began to peel potatoes and chop

  them into bite- sized pieces. Then she did the same thing with a medium-

  sized onion.

  “What does that prove?” she asked.

  Lance took a swig of Pepsi. “Nothing,” he said. “But I’m pretty sure

  Angus and Eugene Hawk lied to me about knowing Sanders.”

  “How do you know?”

  “Instinct.”

  Sadie lit the fire under the same skillet she’d fried the pork chops

  in, and when it was hot she slid the potatoes and onions off the cutting

  board and into the hot pan. The sound of sizzling grease and the aroma

  of onions filled the kitchen.

  “Did Mr. Chuculate say why he sold his land to Angus?”

  “I don’t think he did. He said the land belonged to his father and

  now it belonged to him, and when he was gone it would belong to his

  daughter.”

  “Then why is it in Angus’s name at the courthouse? And, why is

  the trademark fence of the Buffalo Ranch going up around it? Uncle Eli

  and I saw a couple of men working on the fence again today. They were

  friendly. Eli showed them where the correct property line is and they

  seemed grateful.”

  Sadie opened a jar of home- canned green beans and dumped them

  into a saucepan before returning to stirring potatoes and onions.

  “I don’t know, Sadie.”

  “Don’t you think we need to ask him?”

  “Ask who?”

  “Mr. Chuculate.”

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  “I didn’t have time to check on it today, but I will. In the meantime, I suggest you keep your nose out of it.”

  Sadie retrieved the pork chops from the oven and served them along

  with the potatoes, onions, and beans. Lance dug in like he hadn’t eaten

  in a week.

  “Did I tell you I ran into Becky Chuculate in the grocery store? She

  came home from California to spend some time with her dad.” Sadie

  began to eat. “Maybe I’ll mention it to her.”

  Lance ate in silence.

  Sadie changed the subject. “What about the arrow? Any luck on

  finding out where it came from?”

  “Not yet,” Lance said. “All we know is, it is handmade.”

  “I saw Angus and another man target shooting with arrows this

  morning.”

  Lance frowned. “Oh, yeah? And, where was this?”

  “I went for a horseback ride and went through the fence where it’s

  down and followed the ridge for quite a ways. I don’t really know how far, say, an hour or so. Ended up overlooking the Buffalo Ranch. Angus and

  some other guy in a red shirt, who looked a lot like Eugene Hawk, were

  target shooting with arrows,” she said, and then added, “at a bale of hay.”

  Lance put his fork down. “You’ve got to be kidding me. One of these

  days you’re going to get into more trouble than I can get you out of.”

  “Oh, you sound like Uncle Eli. He followed me and then scolded

  me like I was a four- year- old child for being up there. You men think I can’t take of myself.”

  “You’ve had your moments.”

  “Well, I’m just saying, Angus and whoever was with him are pretty

  handy with arrows, and isn’t that what we’re looking for?”

  “I,” he said. “That’s what I’m looking for, not we. I think Eli is right.

  That’s not a good place for you to be.”

  They finished eating and Sadie placed the dishes in the sink. “Don’t

  worry,” she said. “As soon as the fence is back up, I’ll be relegated to my own property.”

  She placed a plate on the table and peeled the foil back, revealing a

  stack of brownies. She leaned down and gave Lance a kiss. “Let’s call a

  truce, eat some dessert, and have a romantic evening.”

  “Deal,” he said, as he crammed a brownie in his mouth.

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  Chapter 20

  Sadie pulled into the grocery store parking lot and sat in her vehicle trying to remember what her Aunt Mary had asked her to get. She thought

  until it finally came to her. “Baking powder,” she said aloud, happy with her recollection.

  A car parked beside her and she recognized Becky, Grover

  Chuculate’s daughter. “How’s it going?” Sadie said as they fell into step together and walked toward the store.

  “Great,” Becky said. “I have a job and a place to stay already.”

  “So, you’re going to stay a while. That’s great news.”

  “Yes, I’ve decided it might be a good idea to get back to my roots.”

  Becky said, laughing.

  “You’re not going to stay with your dad?”

  “Oh, I would, but his place is so tiny. And, I found this job that

  provides room and board.”

  “Really?” Sadie said. “Where?”

  “The Buffalo Ranch.” Becky sounded proud.

  “The Buffalo Ranch?” Sadie tried to hide her alarm by turning away

  from Becky and retrieving a grocery cart. “Doing what?” she asked.

  They pushed their carts into the store and stopped in an open area

  next to the produce department to talk. “I’m going to cook meals for the

  hunters and clean up after each group leaves. It shouldn’t be too hard,

  and the pay is pretty good. As soon as I can save up enough money and I

  can afford a place of my own, I’ll look for a better job.” She smiled. “But for now, it’s not that bad.”

  “I hope it works out for you,” Sadie said. “In the meantime, let’s

  get together and visit some more. You know you have to pass my house

  every time you drive from the Buffalo Ranch to town.”

  “Really? Which one is it?”

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  “It’s the white house that sits on the north side of the road about five miles from the Buffalo Ranch. I’ve got a small barn and corral, and you

  can usually see Joe and Sir William in the pasture.”

  Becky gave her a curious look.

  “My horse and goat,” Sadie clarified. “The mailbox says ‘Walela’

  on it. My uncle and aunt live next door; their mailbox is red with no

  name or numbers on it. Stop by anytime. I’d love to have you. Do you

  still have my card?”

  “Yes, I think so. Thanks.” Becky looked at her watch. “I’ve got to

  get going. Nice talking to you.”

  As Sadie watched Becky push her cart toward the meat department,

  she couldn’t help but think Becky had made a big mistake.

  ★

  As Becky pushed her cart through the grocery store, she thought about

  what she planned to prepare. The first group of hunters wasn’t sched-

  uled to arrive for another week, but Angus said he wanted to test her

  skills in the kitchen. He’d asked her to prepare the meal on a smaller

  scale so he and his wife could judge her performance.

  Angus had suggested chili, and she agreed that would be easy

  enough to fix. He planned to tell the hunters it was buffalo chili, but he told her to make it with regular ground beef. He didn’t think the hunters were smart enough to know the difference, and he was quite certain

  neither was his wife.

  If that’s what
he wanted, Becky wasn’t going to argue. She quickly

  collected everything on her list, made a beeline for the checkout counter, and then drove to the Buffalo Ranch, anxious to show her new employer

  what she could do.

  She pulled her car behind the bunkhouse and parked next to the

  back door. She carried the groceries into the large kitchen and put the

  meat in the refrigerator. The rest of the items— onions, garlic, tomato

  juice, chili powder, and her secret ingredient, green chiles— remained on the large island in the middle of the kitchen, which would serve as her

  work area.

  As she gathered her personal items and headed for her small apart-

  ment, she smiled to herself. If there was one thing in this world she

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  was good at, it was making chili. Her mother had taught her how to cook at a young age, a skill she hadn’t used much during her years in

  Bakersfield. Her ex- husband, Levi, never appreciated her cooking; in-

  stead, he preferred to eat at a fast- food restaurant or pick up a pizza on the way home, but she’d never forgotten the lessons her mother taught

  her, and she thought Angus would be pleased. She couldn’t wait for him

  to taste her first meal as the cook for the bunkhouse.

  When she threw her purse on the bed, she noticed someone had left

  a short dress there. It had been placed on the end of the bed for her to

  wear, she assumed. She picked it up and frowned. It looked like it was

  the right size, but it didn’t look like anything she was prepared to wear.

  It reminded her of a distasteful version of a maid’s uniform. The black

  dress with the white frilly apron was too short and low- cut for her taste.

  “I don’t think so,” she said aloud as she threw it back on the bed.

  “Now, come on.” Angus’s voice caused her to jump. “I think you’ll

  look right nice in that little outfit,” he said. “I know the hunters are going to like it.”

  The tone of Angus’s words scared her and fear crept up her spine.

  She’d seen that look of aggression before, and suddenly she became

  painfully aware that he stood in the middle of the only exit from her

  apartment. Adrenaline surged through her when she realized she had no

  way to escape. Her father’s words echoed in the back of her mind— crazy yonega . . . you do not want to work for him . . . he is evil.

  Becky forced a smile. “Well, we’ll see how it fits later. I’ve got some