“The only thing I’ve determined is that the people are either working somewhere else, or they’ve disappeared off the face of the earth.”
Jake shook his head. “That’s not much help. Have you heard anything on the bones in the springs?”
“Now there’s an interesting situation. I talked to the state lab guy. He says it looks like there is one almost complete skeleton, which is that of a woman, and the rest are pig bones.”
“Pig bones?” asked Jake.
Hoover pursed his lips with a tight nod. “The female may be one of Hank Little’s wives. We are trying to get DNA samples of the wives, but it seems all their personal belongings have disappeared. Funny how that happens.”
“But pig bones?”Jake said.
Hoover lifted his shoulders. “Someone had a pig roast and dumped the bones in the spring. I don’t know. I’ve seen stranger things. We had a diver poke around the rest of the springs but some of the pools are so hot, that he had trouble staying in the water. There were a few other pig bones. That’s all.”
“All roads seem to be leading nowhere.”
“What are you going to do now?”
“I’m going to finish haying, get the cows to decent pasture, and try not to lose any more.”
Jake turned to go.
Hoover said, “You don’t have any proof about anything, you know.”
Jake turned back. “I am aware of that. Until Glory comes to, we won’t know what happened to him. The doc said someone apparently inflicted the bruises on his face. It wasn’t from a drunken fall. I found cowboy boot prints at the sight.”
Hoover crossed his arms and studied Jake. “I’m following up on it. It appears that someone was trying to burn the hay shed. It appears that the bunkhouse fire was pre-meditated. Apparently, the bruises were inflicted. Right now there are too many appearances and apparentlys. The only solid facts are that you’re missing cows, and someone took a whack at you. Are you posting a watch on your herd?”
Jake nodded. “I’ll have to hire someone since I’m now short a hand, and it’s haying season.”
“Hire someone you trust. You know I need a smoking gun with fingerprints.”
“I might come up with one. I’ll let you know.”
Fiona had listened to the exchange between the two men with intense interest but stayed in the background, biting her tongue the whole time. Hoover had been cordial enough, but Fiona had her suspicions about him. She wasn’t sure what was going on, but he sure could flash hot and cold. She watched his body language and what he was saying and how he was saying it. Had he been evasive with her because there was something he didn’t want her to know or did he have a short fuse under pressure as Jake had said?
In the parking lot Fiona said to Jake. “I’ll drive. You look beat. How about breakfast in town?”
Jake nodded. “Thanks, but I want to get back to the ranch. What happened to Opal?”
“She called and said she got a ride with Sammie.”
“That reminds me.” Jake pulled out his cell phone and dialed. “Sweet’s not answering.” He dialed another number and listened. “Tommy’s not answering. They must be out of range.” He stuffed the cell phone back in his shirt pocket.
“Try calling Rosemary or Esme.”
“Good idea. I forgot about them. My mind’s not working right.” He brought out the phone and dialed again. “Rosemary. It’s Jake. Where are you? Did you get the cows back? Good. Where are Tommy and Sweet? Tell them to call me. I haven’t been able to get through.”
When they got back to the ranch, Jake checked on the cows, the hay and the water situation and then turned in to get some rest.
Fiona sat on the front porch rocker with a cup of coffee to think things over. She was afraid Jake would collapse under the strain. Opal was frazzled. Olympia was nowhere to be seen. Fiona dialed her cell phone number.
“Where are you?” she asked when they connected.
“I’m looking at ranches. What’s going on with you?”
Fiona updated her friend with the latest happenings.
“You know, Fiona, Paul is an amazing resource, and he said maybe someone believes there is something valuable like gold or uranium up on your knoll.”
“Uranium?”
Olympia told her what Paul had said. “He’s an expert on these things. I think that one of the family somehow got erroneous information or maybe they know something you don’t know about the knoll or about the ranch. Paul has mapped this whole area, and he says there is nothing underground of commercial value.”
Fiona’s brain went into overdrive and she said, “Or maybe someone has new information. All this started happening in the last few months, the cattle rustling, that is. The most exciting part of the drama started after I got here, so what does that tell you?”
“You’re the problem.”
“Right and the jack pot question is why. Tell me, how long ago did Paul evaluate this area?
“I don’t know. I’ll ask him though. We’re having dinner tonight.”
“This sounds serious.”
Olympia laughed. “As serious as I can be about anyone. But, Fiona, I think you are right that someone is trying to scare you and the others off or maybe make things so unbearable that they have to leave or go bankrupt.”
“Any way you slice it the fact is that someone is determined to change the way of life at the H Bar O. Thanks for that information. Have you found a ranch to buy?”
“Not yet, but Paul is a great help since I know nothing about ranches. Catch you later.”
Fiona finished the coffee and sat watching a hawk hovering over the tops of the brush in the distance. He made a short dive and came up with wiggling legs. She wondered about how that hawk flew and dipped and dived then came up with breakfast or lunch. Someone with malicious intent was doing the same thing to the H Bar O. Dipping and diving, hovering, then trying to move in for the kill. They hadn’t succeeded yet, and, if she had anything to say in the matter, they wouldn’t. She couldn’t stand idly by and watch the ranch go to ruin.
First, there was the accident and the bones in the spring which seemed totally unrelated. If the female skeleton was one of Hank Little’s wives that mystery would be solved. Who knows what had happened to Brewster’s girl friend, and maybe that didn’t matter. The bunk house fire she was sure was set deliberately, but Hoover still spoke of appearances.
Then there was the old gun she found on the knoll whose look alike was in the new bunkhouse on the couch. Jake said the gun belonged to Glory who was supposed to be on watch. Did Glory set the fire? At first, Jake thought he had. But Glory had never made it back to the ranch. It would have been hard for him to be in two places at once. Who did the second set of foot prints belong to?
Then there were the missing cows, and Jake getting whacked trying to track the rustlers. Was that another warning? It was like a ghost was haunting the place without much luck.
Then there was Tillie. Could she really be so devious as to organize a concerted effort to scare Jake away from buying the ranch? Was she in cahoots with a former employee? And what about the one relative of the three that Jake had high on the list of suspects? She couldn’t remember his name.
She jumped up and rushed into the house, destination ranch office. She wanted to know the name of the relative that Jake suspected. She tiptoed past Jake’s closed door. She was sure he wouldn’t mind her looking at the list. She wanted to know that name. Who was the relative on the suspect list?
The mini-blinds were closed against the glare of the sun. She opened them to let more light in so she could see the desk top. There were neat stacks of paper to either side of the computer and a flowing geometric pattern on the screen. She glanced through the papers on either side of the computer. Bills of sale, records of bull bloodlines, equipment catalogs, ranch magazines, weather records. No list. Maybe he hadn’t printed it out. A weather station monitor sat to the back that registered wind velocity, temperature, dew point and other data she didn’t understand. The radio that Jake always left on was playing country and western music.