Ashes of the Red Heifer (22 page)

Moshe took the reins, a twinkle in his eyes, despite the purple shiner he still had. “Howdy, ma’am.” His accent made Annie laugh.

David looked miserable. “I can’t ride.”

“And I can’t work for religious fanatics. So we’re both doing the impossible.” She helped him atop his horse, holding the reins to steady the nervous beast.

David’s voice almost squeaked. “I’ve only been on a horse a couple of times, and that was when I was a kid.”

She winked. “I hope this is a gentle one, then.”

“God willing.”

She looked up at him, knowing this wasn’t the time to joke, but feeling hysterical laughter threatening. “If you don’t relax, the horse will sense it and get riled.”

David positioned himself in the saddle and grasped the horn as a drowning man might cling to a life preserver. “Riled. Is that a cowboy talk for ‘toss me from the saddle and trample me with razor-sharp hooves?’”

She rolled her eyes. “Look at Moshe. He’s a regular John Wayne.”

Moshe held a rein in each hand, arms extended from his body. The horse, not getting any direction from its rider, took tentative steps forward. Moshe’s mouth tipped in an amazed smile. “I never thought I would ride a horse.”

Annie chuckled. “I’m not sure I’d call that riding but you are on top of a horse.”

“Isn’t there another way to do this?” David asked.

Annie handed him the reins and laughed when he took his hand from the horn to clutch at them, then took hold of the horn again. She whirled around and planted her foot in the stirrup of her old saddle and lifted herself onto the strawberry roan. “He isn’t a man-eating dragon. Give him a little more rein and let him follow behind me. You’ll be all right.”

Suspecting she’d never be back, she wanted to savor every second of her ride back to the ranch, the smell of the sweaty horse, the call of the blackbirds, the way the grass rippled in the breeze.

The glory of the Sandhills filled her. The wind blowing her braid, the sun on her face, the smell of the prairie—all of it combined with childhood memories into one clear image she wanted branded on her soul.

Annie topped the last hill before descending to the ranch headquarters and saw a blue car parked in front of her father’s house. Fear shot through her and she jerked the reins to the left, spinning her horse around, almost colliding with David’s horse.

His horse startled and jumped to the side. David hunkered into the saddle, gripping the saddlehorn with white knuckles. The look on his face might have been funny if Annie hadn’t felt close to panic herself.

Moshe, who had seemed to be enjoying the ride, pulled the reins to stop his horse.

She motioned toward the ranch house. “Someone is there.”

The lack of surprise on Moshe’s face showed he probably expected it. “How many?”

She hadn’t bothered to get details. “I don’t know.”

David narrowed his eyes. “It’s the Silim.”

Annie looked at him in disbelief. “That’s ridiculous. How would they know we were here?”

“They sent Hassan to watch you,” David said. “They know about this place.”

Moshe gingerly pulled his leg over the saddle and landed on the ground. He handed his reins to Annie. “Stay here. I’ll go look.”

David dismounted and tossed the reins at Annie, hurrying after Moshe. They made their way to the top of the hill, then crouched down and inched forward.

This meant she had to rethink her plan. The heifers were in the corral on the opposite side of the headquarters. They wouldn’t be able to sneak the cattle across the yard under the Silim’s nose.

David scooted backward, then got to his feet and trotted to Annie. “There’re three of them ” He looked up. “How long until dark?”

Moshe joined them.

Prairie darkness, uninterrupted by streetlights, would help. “Not long. Maybe an hour.” He nodded.

Annie handed them their reins. “We’ll take the long way around these hills and tie the horses in the pasture on the far side of the corrals. Unless they’re out checking the cows, they won’t see the horses.”

David struggled atop his prancing horse. “Then what?”

Annie shrugged and turned her horse. “Then I’ll think of something.”

An hour after sundown, Annie, David and Moshe crouched in the fenceline behind the corral of pregnant heifers. Fortunately, the heifers had been in the pen for several days, with her father or Melvin checking them frequently, so the presence of humans didn’t make them nervous.

Annie whispered to David. “That guy’s been leaning on the car since we’ve been watching.” She pointed at a tall man with dark hair and skin. He wore navy blue slacks and a golf shirt.

David nodded.

Two other men waited inside the car. They didn’t look like Middle East terrorists. They looked more like New York bankers. They wore dark suits, white shirts, and ties. Their hair was cut short and neat and their skin was a much lighter shade than Hassan’s. No one you’d look at twice. Which is probably what a spy should look like.

The two Wall Street guys went in and out of the houses and buildings. Right after the sun went down, one of the men checked behind the barn, but he didn’t venture too far into the corral, probably afraid to get manure on his wingtips.

Her stomach clenched with worry. “Do you suppose they suspect we’re around? Or are they waiting for us to show up?”

David shook his head, squinting in the darkness to see them. “If they thought we were here, they’d be tearing the place apart. Those two in the car haven’t moved in a while. I think they went to sleep.”

Annie slipped under the fence. The sand on her belly felt cool, but sweat trickled down her back.

Moshe’s whisper sounded alarmed. “What are you doing?”

Annie stood slowly, dusting sand from her jeans. She crouched close to the ground and started moving toward the herd. “If the henchmen are sleeping, now’s the time to pick out our heifers.”

He looked uncertain but didn’t argue. She pointed down the fenceline. “Go unhook the gate and hold it closed. Let the heifers I cut out into the pen.”

Annie waited to see that they did as she instructed, then she moved through the cattle. She didn’t want to get them stirred up, so every movement had to be excruciatingly slow. She studied the back ends of each, trying to estimate the due date. She wanted heifers due to calve as soon as possible. It wasn’t an exact science. An ultrasound would make it easier and help her better identify the sex of each fetus, but they didn’t have that luxury tonight.

Annie found one she wanted and stepped behind it. “Sstt. Sstt.” She whispered to the heifer and waved her arm.

The heifer let out a low moo and turned from Annie, making her way across the corral toward the gate. Annie followed until it was close to the gate and David swung it open. The heifer walked through like a Homecoming queen escorted by the quarterback.

Annie studied the man leaning against the car, who she thought of as Golf Shirt Guy. Unless the cattle stirred, he’d have no reason to suspect anything unusual in the corral. And with the yard light shining from a thirty-foot pole outside the barn, anything in the darkness beyond its glow would be difficult to see.

Annie made her way back through the herd three more times. She urged the fourth heifer through the gate when she heard the rumble of a diesel engine.

She ran to David and Moshe and whispered, “Shut the gate and get down.”

Moshe closed the gate. He slid beside Annie and David in the fenceline.

Headlights shone from the road and flashed into the yard. Golf Shirt Guy jumped from where he leaned against the car and paced back and forth, watching the approaching vehicle. The car doors opened and the two suits unfolded, one from the back seat, one from the front.

Now what? The pickup slowed as it crossed the cattle guard and came to a stop in front of Lizabeth and Melvin’s house.

Golf Shirt Guy hurried over, the two suits following. Both pickup doors opened and Melvin slid from the driver’s side. Lizabeth stepped out of the passenger side and leaned inside, helping out first one child, then another. A third jumped out on her own.

Melvin put his hands on his hips and faced Golf Shirt Guy.

Annie barely heard voices. She stood. “I’ve got to get closer.”

Moshe put his hand on her arm. “No. Stay here.”

Annie shrugged him off and took off across the dark corral in a crouching run. She sidled behind the barn and slipped around the side away from the vehicles, keeping close to the shadows. Lying on the cool ground at the corner of the barn, she ventured a peek around the corner.

Melvin folded his beefy arms across his chest. He looked down on Golf Shirt Guy. “They was at the hospital. But I run ’em off. Ain’t’ likely they’ll be back. Not if they know what’s good for ’em.”

Golf Shirt Guy had his back to Annie. “I understand. But if they did come this is the only road in, right?”

Lizabeth shooed the children toward the house and came around to Melvin’s side. She raised questioning eyes to her husband.

He shrugged. “Says he’s friends of your sister’s. He’s wantin’ to talk to her.”

David squeezed beside Annie in the sand. She held her breath, trying to hear the conversation. Moshe plopped down beside them.

Lizabeth studied Golf Shirt Guy. “She’s not welcome here. And if you’re her friend, I guess you’re probably not welcome, either.”

Melvin nodded. “Might as well get along.”

Golf Shirt Guy sounded angry. Annie couldn’t hear what he said.

Melvin unfolded his arms. “Now would be a good time to get goin’.”

The larger of the suits mumbled something and Golf Shirt Guy nodded. They walked back to their car and all three got in. The ignition started and the car took off slowly away from the headquarters.

Lizabeth went into the house. Melvin stood in the yard by his pickup, unzipped his overalls and peed on the tire.

Annie pulled back into the shadows and sat up, resting her back against the barn. David sat next to her. He put his face close to hers and barely made a sound. “What’s next?”

She got into a crouch. “We finish cutting out the heifers. At least we don’t have to worry about the Silim. It’d frost ol’ Melvin’s tomatoes if he knew he helped me out.”

Moshe shook his head. “They will not stop so easily.”

Of course Moshe was right. What would they do now? Did they know about the plane or even suspect it? Would they be able to find the pickup and trailer and guess her plan?

She looked at the group of pregnant heifers. “We’ll have to go with the original plan. But if we run into any more trouble, we’re not going to make the plane.”

She could almost taste David’s worry. “Can you cut out the rest now that Melvin’s home?”

Annie followed David’s gaze. She figured Melvin had gone inside. “Go man the gate. I’ve got another picked out.”

David and Moshe moved silently across the pasture to the gate and Annie slipped into the bunched cattle. A half moon and clear sky provided enough light.

She looked for ear tag number 153, the heifer she’d noted earlier. Its bag looked full and it had a springy look to its rear end. Annie figured she’d calve in less than a week

A shriek of metal on metal split the night and Annie froze, her blood turning to ice. Someone had opened the gate into the corral by the barn. David and Moshe were nothing but two lumps in the fence line where they’d dropped. Several heifers blocked her view of the gate.

Footsteps scratched in the sand as someone approached the sleepy cattle. Melvin’s mumbling grated on Annie’s ears. “Soon’s that old man’s gone I’m outa here. No more night calving. God damn I hate bein’ out here at night.”

The cattle stirred. Even if they were used to people around them, Melvin’s irritation translated to them. He kept up a steady monologue. The heifers on either side of Annie shoved away from Melvin.

Annie held her breath, fear tingling throughout her body. She moved with the heifers. They didn’t like that, but were even more disturbed by Melvin’s clumsy stomping and his cursing.

When the cattle got close to the fence, Annie fell to the ground and rolled under, praying Melvin hadn’t spotted her. If it had been her father checking, he’d have known immediately that four heifers were missing. Hell, even Annie knew there were thirty-six heifers in the bunch.

But Melvin evidently wasn’t counting. He seemed satisfied nothing was calving and trod back to the gate. Again, the metal screamed and Annie lay motionless, listening to the huffing of the cattle and Melvin’s retreating footsteps crunching on the gravel of the ranch yard.

Lizabeth’s black dog let out a string of barks and Melvin’s harsh voice stabbed the darkness. “Shut up, shit-for-brains. I don’t want to hear your yappin’ all night.”

Real nice guy. Her father had him pegged, all right, he was mean. She bet Matthew regretted bringing him into the family but he’d never admit it. Before the lights in the house were off, Annie was back cutting out the remaining two heifers.

Annie retrieved the horses and they rode through the pasture collecting the six head. The cattle hadn’t wandered too far and had stayed calm through the whole process, but Annie felt time ticking. She didn’t know if they could get them to the shipping pens and into the trailer before the plane landed.

Moshe seemed to take to cowboying right away. He didn’t exactly look natural atop his horse but he seemed fearless.

When all six heifers grouped before them, David brought his horse close to Annie. “Can’t we take them around the long way, like we came in, and avoid the ranch?”

Anxiety burned in Annie’s belly. “We don’t have time.”

They pointed the heifers toward the headquarters and when they got close, Annie opened the gate into the ranch yard and eased her horse behind the bunch to let them walk through. Lizabeth’s house stood silent and dark.

She motioned for Moshe and David and positioned her horse close to theirs. “Stay behind them a ways. Don’t crowd them or they’ll get spooky and take off twenty ways to sundown.”

Moshe nodded.

David gripped the saddle horn. “What are you going to do?”

She stood in the stirrups and leaned off the side of her horse, grabbing hold of the mane of David’s horse and covering his tense hands with one of her own on the horn. Both horses jumped slightly at the unexpected jarring.