Bucking the Odds Page 12

  She looked up at him.

  "Well women don't like to be taken for granted, and that was taking a lot for granted."

  He was getting his first lesson in handling women.

  "Honey, I knew that if you felt only a tenth of the way about me as I do about you, then you would be staying."

  Before they could continue Dobie and Don rode up with the wagon.

  "I want you to go back to town, I'll get Don to ride in with you."

  Seeing what just happened she knew enough not to argue, and after the three of them left, Dobie filled Lance in on what happened in the rocks as they saddled up to start separating their cattle.

  They bunched the five hundred head and started them toward the upper end of the valley. The sides of the valley got steeper and were more wooded as it neared the hills. The herd would be safe there and there was still plenty of water.

  Then they rode back to round up the remaining cattle in the lower end of the valley when they met Don on his way back from town. Now the three of them started driving the herd away from the water.

  It was not an easy task as the thirsty cows kept trying to double back to the water, but the three of them riding back and forth waving their saddle blankets finally got them started up the hill. When they reached the top and pushed them onto the 'Tall T' range they noticed a rider who had been watching them hightail it back towards the ranch.

  As they watched him go Lance took of his hat and wiped his brow.

  "Well I guess she will soon know that we meant business, we best get back and make plans for a full out attack, that woman is not going to stand by and let her herd die....and I can't say as I blame her much."

  The water wagons came daily for the next week and Lance was hoping that it would be enough until the tempers cooled down. They took turns riding along the 'Tall T' side of his range turning back any cows the started in their direction.

  He knew that they could not do this forever, so he took advantage of the lull in action and rode into town. He went directly to Dan's office and filled him in on everything that had happened. Dan sat listening until he was finished and then he shook his head in dismay.

  "I'm sorry to hear all that son, and I feel like you do, I don't think Geraldine is one to just lay down and let her herd die, but as I told you before it's not in my jurisdiction and there is nothing I can do.”

  Lance rose to leave, but he shuffled from one foot to another until he finally got up his nerve.

  "I understand Dan, I just wanted you to know the situation, but there is something else."

  Dan sat waiting for him to continue, which he finally did.

  "I've been footloose since the war, never settling down in on place for very long and not taking life to serious, but now I've found a home and a purpose in life and....

  He stopped and turned his hat in his hand, almost afraid to continue, but he took a deep breath and blurted the rest out.

  "And now I come to ask you for Mamie’s hand in marriage"

  Dan jumped up from the chair and held out his hand.

  "Damn boy, I knew that was coming from the first time she saw you, and you two certainly have my blessings, but I will ask you to wait until the situation settles down before you take her and Rachael out to the ranch."

  Lance grabbed the outstretched hand.

  "That my feeling as well, I fear that the worst is yet to come"

  He left the office and rode directly to see Mamie and Rachael.

  When she met him at the door she knew that this was not the time he had come for her, he told he she would know, and she knew by his face it was not now.

  "Do you have time to come in for a visit, or are you just passing by?"

  He saw the concern in her eyes as he looked at her lovely face.

  "I've got a few minutes, but the boys will be needing me soon."

  She stepped back from the door and let him walk in, and he walked right into the outstretched arms of Rachael. As he stood hugging the girl, Mamie realized for the first time that she would have to be willing to share him with her.

  "Do you have time for something to eat or a coffee?"

  He put Rachael down in a chair and pulled Mamie toward him in a long hug.

  "I just spoke with your father and hopefully this will be all over soon, and we can get married."

  She didn't say anything, she just hugged him tighter, she was afraid to speak because she knew he would hear the fear in her voice. Finally he let her go and pulled back to look at her face again.

  "I have to go now, but I'll be back when I can."

  He turned and walked out the door, and as he rode away he was wondering if he was doing the right thing by trying to keep the ranch against such odds. He wondered if it would be better to just give it up and take her somewhere else to live.

  It was a fleeting thought as he knew in his heart that this is what Larry wanted. He was never a quitter and this was no time to start now. He was glad that Mamie had agreed to stay away from the ranch for now because he felt sure that there was more trouble to come.

  This time the ride back to the ranch was the saddest of all, he just wanted it to be all over so he could begin his new life. He had left Dobie watching the 'Tall T' and Don watching the ‘Bar 7’and when he arrived back they both told him that nothing unusual was happening, but he knew it was just the quiet before the storm.

  They continued to ride the lines keeping any strays from coming across, they were more worried about the 'Tall T' because of the water situation, but Lance knew that if there was any move to take over the water, the 'Bar 7' would be moving in too.

  It was on the fifth day of them riding the lines that the trouble started. The herd came boiling down over the hill followed by the 'Tall T' riders whooping and hollering. The three of them were waiting at the bottom of the hill, there was no use to try and shoot the cattle to stop them because there were too many and they were coming too fast.

  Dobie rode out waving his blanket to try and turn the herd, but Lance knew it was useless, he understood what Geraldine had meant when she said that you couldn't keep thirsty cows from water. As he and Don helplessly watched Dobie trying to turn the cattle another faction entered the fray...riders from the 'Bar 7' came thundering across the valley with their guns blazing.

  One of the 'Tall T' riders went down, now they were returning the fire and Lance watched in disbelief as he saw Dobie knocked off the back of his horse. He and Don made a dash through the rushing herd to get to his side before he was trampled, but before they arrived two of the 'Tall T' riders were there splitting the herd making them go by on each side of him.

  When they got to Dobie they found that one of those riders was Geraldine, and she had already reached Dobie and she had his head cradled on her lap. He was unconscious with blood was flowing from his chest, and Lance, who had seen enough wounds in the war, knew that it did not look good.

  He told Don to go get the buckboard and he rode off as fast as he could, while Geraldine told one of her riders to go for the doctor and bring him to her ranch.

  Lance started to object but she shut him off sharply.

  "He's going to my place, if he's going to die it will be in my arms!"

  Tears welled up in her eyes as she spoke and Lance knew that it was no further need for his objection. Then Dobie opened his eyes, it was not the bullet that put him out but the fall on his back from the horse. The first person he saw was Geraldine.

  "Hello lass, is that really you or am I dead?"

  She held him tighter as the tears flowed down her cheek.

  "You aren't dead you big Irish galoot and you aren't going to be, I will not have it."

  As Lance watched he saw her tears dripping on his face, and when he realized that there were more than tears falling on him and he turned his head upward to feel the rain drops hitting him. At first it was just drops and then it turned into heavy rain, and they just sat in it waiting for Don.

  The shooting stopped as quickly as it started whe
n the herd went crashing into the oncoming 'Bar 7' riders and they scattered for protection. Now with two men down, calm began to prevail as the riders began milling around their downed man all looking at the sky in disbelief.

  The rain fell for three straight days filling the dug ponds once again and causing the stream to run over its banks. It was the answer Lance wanted and the only thing that would solve the water problem without further gun play and loss of life.

  He stood soaking wet on the porch of Mamie's house and when she opened the door she knew by his expression that he had finally came for her. They were married the following day but Dobie wasn't able to attend, the doctor had removed the bullet and felt sure that it was the loving care of Geraldine that had kept him alive that long.

  He knew that Dobie and Geraldine would be good neighbors to have, and that a lesson was learned by both her and Harvey Kincaid that running more cattle than the conditions would allow was not a good thing.

  His next trip to the ranch was the happiest one he had so far and he knew that every place he would ever go with the two females in his life it would always be the same.

  XXX

  Thank you for choosing to read my book,

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  The Cougar Man

  Chapter 1

  The tall, raw boned man knelt on the trail, looking at the small tracks in front of him. He had seen these tracks before, but this time they were not following where he was going...they were following where he came from.

  He had seen the same track for the last three days, but it was always following behind him partly covering his track. This time it was not good, he didn't like it when people knew where he lived. He studied the small tracks closer and assumed they were made by a boy...or maybe a woman.

  He shook his head...what would a woman be doing up here alone? It was a moccasin track, but that didn't necessarily mean it was an Indian. Most white folks who spend much time in the mountains end up wearing moccasins after they wear out their boots.

  He had met with the Mountain Crow band that lived in the area shortly after he came to the mountains and he was on passable terms with them, but he could never be certain of them being friendly all the time.

  He felt certain that they knew where he lived and had probably watched his comings and goings, but he had never seen any tracks or signs of them before. He could understand a boy being curious and practicing his tracking skills but a woman...what would she be doing here?

  As he sat on a rock mulling over the question he saw a movement out of the corner of his eye. He had learned that if he was going to stay alive in the mountains, he had to always be watchful, so he sat perfectly still and looked across to a ledge where he thought he saw the movement.

  After a minute or two...there it was again. It was just a fleeting vision between the rocks but he kept his position and turned his eyes slightly to the side, knowing that sometimes his side vision picked up movement better than staring directly at it.

  This time he was right, he saw the flash of movement again, and looked directly at the area. Now he knew what it was, and that it didn't pose a threat, so he took a small telescope out of his bag and aimed it at the rocks and quietly whispered to himself.

  "So there you are, out hunting food today."

  He watched as the big cougar stood on the rock ledge and looked at him, they shared the moment, and then he slinked away behind the rocks.

  It was near this spot the he had killed that cat's mother. Shortly after he settled in his valley he spotted a cougar on the ledge near where this one just disappeared. Cougars were seldom caught in the open, and were virtually impossible to stalk, but he was sitting still when she showed herself at the wrong time, so he took the shot and she went down.

  When he worked his way over to the fallen cat, he heard a noise...he listened carefully until he heard it again, and then he tracked it down. There, in a small crevasse between two big rocks, were two young cougar kittens. Now he understood why the cat had been so careless, she probably knew he was there, but had to return to her young.

  He carefully picked the kittens up and placed them in his bag, not realizing at the time what he was taking on. He took them home and fed them water and honey and small bits of meat to keep them alive...and they both lived.

  Now they were full grown, and one of them was watching him from across the chasm, he knew when he returned home they would be waiting by the door as they always were. At first he kept them in the cabin with him, but they soon grew too big and demanding for even him to handle.

  Playing with them when they were little was fun and entertaining, but now it was a handful wrestling with two full grown cougars. He had to put bars on his window and strengthened the door to keep them out until they learned to use the shelter he built them at the front of the cabin.

  They had been a chore that required him to hunt everyday just to feed them until they were full grown, but eventually he cut back on their food and they began hunting for themselves. Still every night he could count on them being back at his front door wanting him to come out and play.

  He turned back again to take another look at the puzzling tracks on the trail, and his mind began racing again. He knew that it was almost impossible to live in the Crow country without being watched, but he had learned a lot from his friend John Johnson who had lived alongside the Crow for years.

  He had come to the mountains to be alone and not have to deal with the troubles he left behind, and now as he sat beside the trail watching the sleek cat, his mind drifted back to what had brought him here.

  He would never forget the day his mother sat him down and told him that his father would not be coming home from the war. He was only ten at the time and idolized his father. His father was a good man and a farmer living on a small but productive farm in the eastern part of Nebraska, and he and his mother did their part to make the farm successful.

  Joseph O'Neil was a good and kind father and had only enlisted in the army the year before. Ryan didn't understand about war, but he did understand he would never be seeing his father again.

  It left him, and his mother Sarah, on their own at a time when things were hard for a single woman with a ten year old boy. They tried to keep the farm up but it was too much for them so his mother took what she could for the farm, and they went to stay with his mother's sister for a while...until his mother met another man.

  He remembered how happy she was when she met Wesley Colson and started to feel like a woman again, now that a man was paying attention to her. She was learning how hard life was for a woman alone with a young boy, and he seemed like a good man, so they were married. She and Ryan moved to the Colson farm in western Nebraska with Wesley and his four boys, and it was only after they were married that Sarah and Ryan found out what kind of people he and his boys were.

  Colson was a stern and demanding man who took everything out on her or Ryan, it seemed that his four boys could do no wrong, and they treated Sarah and Ryan as bad as their father did. Ryan endured it for the sake of his mother and he didn't realize it, but she was enduring it for his sake.

  The boys continually picked on him and he learned that it was better for him and his mother if he just took it, so when they hit him he just fell down and didn't try to fight back...they thought he was a weakling and a coward, but he was neither.

  He was strong from the work he was doing and he was secretly taking boxing lessons with a neighbor. Wilhem Gruber was a couple years older that Ryan and he was a big tough boy who learned that to earn his place in life, he had to learn to defend himself.

  Ryan was friendly with his sister Johanna and convinced Wilhem to teach him how to box, because he knew someday he would get the opportunity to pay them back for all the beatings he took, so he practised hard and relentlessly.

  He remembered the look of surprise in Wesley Colson eyes as he pushed the knife deep into his chest. Their eyes held and as he fell backwards and hit the floor, Ryan found himse
lf staring into another set of eyes, they were the eyes of Wesley's youngest boy Willy, who was sitting on a chair at the table.

  Stare was all he did. Willy was the only of the boys that didn't pick on Ryan, they were the same age, but he was a little slow witted and hadn't picked up the bullying habit from his father or the boys. Ryan had always figured that the reason the others never picked on Willy was that he never reacted to their jibes and jokes...it was no fun teasing someone who didn't react.

  He tried to take a lesson from Willy, and not react to the constant badgering the boys did to him, but it was not working the same. He knew when the boys came home and found their father dead, they would blame him.

  He went through the house and gathered some of his belonging and put them in a sack, then he found Wesley's gun and holster and strapped it on, and went to the place where his mother had told him she was secretly hiding what little money she could save.

  She had decided when she had enough saved to take Ryan and run away from there, anywhere and any life would be better than this and he was eagerly awaiting that day. Now he knew it would never happen for her, but he knew she would understand his need to run now, leaving her body still laying on the floor.

  He was not going to be around when the boys came home because he feared for his life, he knew they would not hesitate in killing him for what he did...even though it was self-defence.

  He saddled a horse and rode to the farm where Johanna and Wilhem Gruber lived. Although she was a girl, Johanna was his only real friend, at fifteen she would have liked to be more than a friend, but Ryan heeded his mother's wishes when she told him he was too young to get involved like that.

  He didn't tell her what had just happened, only that he wanted a place to hide for now and that he was leaving the country. She knew how badly he was treated by Colson and his boys, so she didn't blame him. She put him and his horse in the barn and told him she would bring some supper...but before that could happen some riders showed up in the yard and spoke with her.