Ranch Life is Great Read online

  "Exactly. Why would they remember? So I'm looking into it, but I'm not sure what evidence I'm going to be able to find."

  Cade looked a bit nervous. "Dan, I have to ask you; do you think one of the Wilsons shot Henry and Velma?"

  The sheriff sighed and shook his head. "I just don't know. I never would have thought either one of them would do a thing like that, but if Ralph burned down a store to eliminate his competition, I guess I have to wonder. Shooting someone is a far cry from burning a store down at night when no one's in it, though. I don't know what to think. I considered the possibility that he may have hired someone to kill them, but people don't do that sort of thing for nothing. It would have taken quite a chunk of money to hire two people killed, and I don't think Wilson's Mercantile was doing that good."

  "I hadn't thought of that possibility. You're right, though; it would have taken a good amount of money."

  "Not only that, but there was no evidence of that. If someone is hired to come in and kill someone, they usually come to town to scope out the situation. They find the person or persons they're supposed to kill, and watch them a couple days at least so they know their routine and can develop a plan. No one saw any strangers in town before their deaths. Also, if someone hires a killer, they'll usually make sure they're out in public someplace where people can see them while it's being done. Ralph and Theodore could have gone to the restaurant or something like that, and someone would have seen them."

  "Again, that makes sense," Cade agreed. "Witnesses to clear you would be very helpful."

  "It certainly would, especially if you happen to own the other store in town."

  "So what happens now?"

  "I'm not really sure. I'm watching them a little closer, and I'm still asking around about the rumor. If I can prove Theodore started it, that would be helpful, but I've kind of hit a wall here. If you have any ideas, I'd sure entertain listening to them."

  "I'll give it some thought, Dan." He started to leave, but stopped, turning again to the sheriff. "So do you think this rock through the window of the store had anything to do with Henry and Velma?"

  "I really don't know. I intend to do some asking around, including talking to Theodore. I think I'll talk to Ralph, too. I haven't even seen him for several months. That's rather odd, too. I never saw him out and about a whole lot, but I did see him occasionally in the store, and once in a while I'd see him in the bank. He doesn't help in the store any more, and I haven't seen him anywhere. I don't know if he's sick and stays home, or what's going on with him, but I'm thinking maybe it's time I pay him a visit and see."

  "That might be a good idea. Now that you mentioned it, I haven't seen Ralph for quite some time, either. I never gave it much thought, though, because I'm not in town all that much. Good luck, and I'll stop back in next time I'm in town and see if you've found anything."

  Cade went back to Wintock's Mercantile and picked up his wife. He thought about what the sheriff said, as he drove the horses and wagon home. Elsie filled him in on what people had been saying while she was at the store, which was something he was interested in. A couple of the men didn't think it was simply a stone from the road flying up when a wagon went past because of how high up the stone hit. What those men said made sense to him. A stone flying up from a passing wagon probably wouldn't have gotten very high. This was rather high. As he thought about it, it was about the height he would expect it to be if a rather tall man had thrown it. Theodore was tall and thin. Hmmm.

  The next few weeks Cade had his hands full. He not only had a ranch to run, but he'd been thinking a lot about the Wilsons, and that situation. He'd been going to town a little more often than was actually necessary, but he knew how much Elsie enjoyed visiting with Harold and Loretta. He also liked to check in with the sheriff to see if he had any news for him.

  Elsie was trying to accept the fact that she would probably never know who killed her parents, but Cade knew she was struggling with it. And truth be told, he didn't blame her. He hoped Sheriff Fitch was able to come up with something to lead him to the killer. He didn't like to think it may have been the Wilsons, but he'd sure like to know for sure. If it were them, they deserved to be locked up in prison. He hated to think of a killer walking free among the people in town.

  Another thing that was keeping Cade busy was trying to keep his new wife entertained and happy. She was used to working every day in the store, so she hadn't learned a lot of skills other ladies learned. She didn't know how to knit or sew, and didn't do much cooking.

  Since her family lived next door to the restaurant, they often would go over there for supper after working a full day in the store, which made sense, but it didn't allow her much experience cooking. Likewise, she and her mother were busy in the store all day, so they didn't have time to sew their own clothes, or knit. Elsie could sew a button back on, but that was about the extent of her knowledge of sewing. And she'd certainly never done any needlepoint work of any kind.

  Cade was happy to keep Maria on as his cook and housekeeper. She was like family to him, and the house was too big for Elsie to step in and try to take care of by herself anyway with no experience. But without doing any of the things most housewives generally did, Elsie was becoming bored. Maria saw it, as well, and offered to teach Elsie to cook and sew. Although she appreciated the offer, she didn't much care for doing either one. She was learning, and also helping Maria with the cleaning and laundry, but because she felt she should, not because she enjoyed it.

  Cade always watched his wife and her reactions to things carefully, and he knew she was doing them out of a feeling of obligation, and didn't enjoy them. It bothered him that she didn't have things to do on the ranch that she enjoyed. He'd been giving that situation some thought, as well.

  He'd been teaching her to ride, and he knew she enjoyed that. He stepped up his lessons, finding more time to work with her. At least once he felt confident she could go out alone, that would give her something she could do that she enjoyed.

  One evening when they went to the barn for another riding lesson, she heard a quiet sound in the corner, and went to investigate. She found a mother cat and three little kittens. Over the next few days, Cade often found her out in the barn playing with the kittens. He smiled every time, glad she'd found something else she liked. As he watched, he was amazed at how she cared for them. She was gentle with them, but she seemed to have a special sense about them, like she always seemed to know what they needed.

  One evening when he came in from transferring cattle from one pasture to the next, he found her with the kittens. She was concerned about one of them, and enlisted his help. "She hasn't been as playful or active," she explained. "I'm concerned because she hasn't eaten anything. She's gotten up a couple times, but just stands there, and then lies back down. But the way she's lying has me thinking she's been hurt, or has a sore spot on her one leg. I want to pick her up and examine her leg, but I didn't want to until you were here to help. What if I pick her up wrong? Or what if I do find something wrong with her? I wouldn't know what to do for her, but you might. Will you help me, please?"

  "Of course I will, honey, though I'm not sure I'll know much more than you."

  "But if I pick her up, maybe I can try to keep her comfortable while you look at her leg. I wasn't sure how to hold her without hurting her, but still look at her leg."

  "All right, we can try that." She very gently picked the little kitten up, moving her if she mewed. She gently situated her in her arms so Cade could get to the leg she wanted him to look at. "Why do you think it may be a problem with this leg?"

  "Because when she stands, she doesn't seem to want to put much weight on that leg. When she lies she seems to be lying at a bit of an angle, like she's trying to take some of the weight off the top of her leg, like what would be her hip. I'm wondering if she has a sore or something there."

  Cade concentrated his exam in that area, and sure enough, he found a sore spot. It wasn't very big, and he missed it with his fi
rst general look of the area because of all her fur. Once he found it, though, and did some closer looking, it wasn't as small as he originally thought. "It looks like she may have gotten a little cut," he said, looking closer. "The problem is that it looks like it may have gotten infected."

  "Oh, the poor baby. Will that keep her from eating?"

  "It can, yes, depending on how bad the infection gets, and how much it spreads in their body."

  "Is there something we can do for her?"

  Cade was touched by her concern for the little kitten, and saw tears in her eyes. "I have some liniment I use on my horses if they get an infected sore. Let me try putting just a little bit of that on it." He went to his office in the barn and came back a couple minutes later with a tin. He carefully spread a tiny amount on the kitten, but frowned. "The trouble is going to be keeping it on there. I usually wrap a strip of a towel or something around the horse's leg, but I don't see how we can do that here."

  "Would it help if I put a little bit on several times a day?"

  "It probably would. I know it wouldn't hurt anything. Why don't I show you where I keep this in my office, and you can put a little on it three or four times a day?"

  Her face lit up, and he knew she liked the idea. She gave the little kitten a tender kiss and carefully laid her back down in the straw. Then she wrapped her arms around his neck and gave him a quick kiss on his cheek. "Thank you, Cade. I knew you'd be able to help her."

  Not one to miss a good opportunity, he took her in his arms. "You're welcome, honey, but I can't guarantee anything. You keep putting a little bit on her and we'll hope it helps." He met her lips with his and gave her a kiss that was much more passionate than the quick one she'd given him.

  Over the next several days he found her in the barn often, nursing the baby kitten. The kitten healed, much to Cade's relief, and was soon playing again. She still went to the barn often to play with them.

  Chapter Seven

  A couple days after the kitten's leg healed, Cade had another casualty on the farm. A foal's leg had been stepped on by another, larger foal. The leg wasn't broken, but it was bruised. He was pretty sure the leg would heal and the foal would be fine if he rested and wasn't on his leg as much as normal. The foal's mother was one of his large workhorses, and he put the foal and his mother in a stall in the barn. It was sore enough that he stayed off his leg that evening, once he put them in the stall instead of out in the pasture.

  The next day, though, he took the foal's mother out to work, as usual, but the foal spent the entire day standing at the gate, pacing back and forth. He talked to his foreman, Wyatt, about it that evening while they ate supper.

  Wyatt wasn't sure what to do about it, either. "I guess it's lonely in the stall," he suggested, "but this is a busy time, and we need her. She's part of the team we're using to install the new fence. It's hard work for all three of them. The other two wouldn't be able to handle it without her."

  "I know," Cade agreed. "We can't finish the fence without her. The foal probably is lonely, though. He's used to his mother being gone during the day, so I didn't think this would be a problem, but he's usually in the pasture with the rest of the foals while their mothers are working. So I guess maybe he could be lonely. If we put him back with the others, though, he'll be up on his leg much of the day playing with the other foals."

  "Maybe I can stay with him some during the day and he'll lie down," Elsie suggested.

  Cade looked at her several moments before responding. "That might help. You'll have to be careful, though. He's just a baby, but he could hurt you if he gets you pinned up against a wall or lies down on you. If you watch and stay safe, though, he might calm down if you're there with him. I'm not against you trying, but don't be upset if it doesn't work."

  "I understand," she assured him. "I'll go out some after we finish supper. If I pet him some then, and again in the morning before his mama leaves, maybe he'll know me a little bit and not be as upset."

  "Let me go out with you tonight," Cade said. "If his mother doesn't know you and acts upset, he won't feel comfortable around you, either. She knows me, and if I'm there with you, I think she'll be more likely to trust you with her baby." She nodded, and he could see her excitement while they ate their meal. He hoped this worked, because she sure had taken to the baby animals on the ranch. She seemed to be in her element around the animals and liked being able to help them. He liked seeing how happy it made her.

  They went to the barn after they ate, and he showed her the foal and where he had been hurt. He got in the stall with them, and judged the horse's reaction to Elsie. At his insistence, she stayed out of the pen, but pet both of them and fed them carrots. He could tell the mother was starting to accept her, but didn't want to wear out their welcome, so he directed her out of the barn, with a promise to return later and give them each another carrot before they went to bed.

  She was excited when they went later, and the mother came right up to the gate and let her pet her, with her baby right next to her. She gave them each another carrot and scratched their necks a little before going in for the night.

  The next morning after breakfast, she went out with Cade when he went to start his day. She took an apple for the mama horse, and scratched her and the baby. When Wyatt took the mama horse to hitch her up to the wagon, Cade was there, as well. Elsie went in the pen with the foal, and scratched his ears as Wyatt took the mother out the door.

  Cade and Elsie were both happy to see the foal seemed much more content. Elsie went over in the corner and sat down in the straw, and held out a carrot. The foal looked back at the gate once, but as Elsie talked to him softly, he came over to her and lay down next to where Elsie was sitting. Cade had to smile. His little wife had obviously made friends with the little foal very quickly. He stayed with them a couple minutes watching before going out to the fields.

  From that morning on, Elsie started caring for any small animals with any kind of an injury. The animals seemed to trust her naturally, as did their mothers. Cade could tell she felt like she had a purpose on the ranch now, and was happy for that.

  He was a little concerned and had to warn her more than once, though, about trusting the animals too much. She would never hurt an animal, and assumed they would never hurt her. He explained they were big enough to hurt her without meaning to, so she needed to be careful around them, especially until they got to know her better.

  One evening as he was coming into the barn to get cleaned up for supper, Dallas, one of his hands, was at the stall with an injured heifer. As soon as Dallas saw Cade walk in, he yelled, "Boss, up here. Miss Elsie's hurt."

  Cade quickly got to the stall and made a quick assessment as he climbed into the stall. The heifer was lying on Elsie's leg, which was at an awkward angle. He was afraid her leg was broken, but he wouldn't know until they got her out of the stall and could look at it. "All right, Dallas, let's get the heifer up, then you keep her over on that side of the stall while I pick Elsie up and take her out so we can look at her leg."

  Wyatt had heard Dallas yell out to Cade and had gotten there by then, as well. "You get Elsie, Cade, and I'll open the gate for you." The men got behind the heifer and used enough strength to get her up on her feet, but were careful not to let her back up any, for fear she'd step on Elsie's leg. As soon as the heifer was on her feet, Dallas half led, half pushed it to the other side of the pen, away from Elsie.

  Cade quickly bent down and scooped her up into his arms and headed for the stall's gate. Wyatt opened it for him, and closed it behind him. Dallas and Wyatt both followed him over to a bench in the barn, where he sat Elsie down and immediately started checking her leg and foot. "What happened," he asked as he was gently palpating her leg.

  "I was putting the medicine, the ointment on the calf's back where the bear clawed it, and I must have put some on a spot that was pretty sore, because she jumped and cried out. When she did that, she jumped toward me and knocked me down. Before I could get back up, she laid
down, and I couldn't get up."

  "Where does it hurt? Your leg was at an awkward angle, and that worries me. Can you show me exactly where it hurts?"

  "It's just at my ankle," she insisted, "but I don't think it's broken. It's probably not really hurt much. I was just at an awkward angle to get her back up, so I had to wait until Dallas got back to the barn."

  Cade's concern was obvious. "How long were you lying there waiting for someone to help you?"

  "Not real long. Maybe half an hour," she said quietly, knowing he wouldn't like hearing her answer.

  "Your ankle's swollen, but to see if it's broken or just sprained I'm going to have to press a little harder. Are you all right with that?"

  "I'll be fine. It's not broken, I'm sure." He pressed a couple places, and she flinched a little, but that was it. Then he pressed in another spot and she jumped. "Ouch!"

  "That's what I was afraid of," he said. "Dallas, would you please ride into town and get the doctor? I'm not sure if it's broken or just sprained, but I want Doc Wallace to check it."

  Dallas turned to go, but Elsie tried to stop him. "No, don't. I'm fine."

  Cade gave her a look that should have gotten her attention, but she obviously wasn't thinking clearly, and ignored his warning look. "I'm sure it's not broken."

  "So this doesn't hurt?" He pressed on a spot on her ankle, and she jumped and yelled. "That's what I thought," he said. "Go get Doc Wallace, Dallas."

  "I'm on my way, boss."

  Cade gently picked her up and sat down on the bench, settling her on his lap. "Honey, I'm sorry I had to do that, because I know it hurts. But that's exactly why I want the doctor to check it. I hope it's not broken, but I want to be sure, one way or the other, and I want to know what I should do to help you."

  "I'll put Thunder up for you, Cade, and give you two some privacy," Wyatt said as he left.

  Cade looked down at his wife, who looked even smaller and more delicate to him at the moment. "I'll take you into the house in a couple minutes, but I want to ask you a few questions first. Are you fine like this; is there a better way for your ankle?"