Unusual Inheritance (6 page)

“Not so fast”, he put a hand out to stop her.
“The chief says we have to bring the cattle first. By the time I
get back and round them up and make the trip back it will be
tomorrow afternoon. You will have to spend the night.”

“Oh no, please hurry Jed,” Stormy
pleaded.

He reached out and touched her arm. “I will.
You two just stay out of trouble and do what they say.”

Jed fumed on the way back to the ranch. It
appears that his suspicions just got confirmed. Someone at the
ranch is stealing cattle and he was pretty sure he knew who was
heading up the operation. He had been suspicious for a while now
and with all the strange things that had been happening around the
ranch it was all starting to fall into place. A full report would
be made to the sheriff as soon as he got Stormy and Katy Marie home
safely. He could not believe that the rustlers didn’t just steal
from Stormy, but from the Indians as well. It appears their greed
is going to be the undoing of them this time. As soon as he got
Stormy and Katy Marie home he had to sit down and have a talk with
her.

He wanted to talk to her about more than
missing cattle too. It was time to tell her how he felt about her.
She is all he thinks about and he meant it when he told the chief,
she belonged to him! He wanted her and Katy Marie to be in his
life, and he prayed she would want him as well.

Morning came and eight of the best cattle
were rounded up for the trade. Jed took two men with him to help
move the small herd along. Jake had tried to act surprised when he
found out about the missing cattle but his nervousness gave him
away as far as Jed could tell. He just needed to find out if Jake
was the main boss, or someone else. And where were all the missing
cattle?

As the Indian village came into view Jed and
the men were met by the same two braves as before. They helped them
herd the cattle to a makeshift holding pen and then escorting them
to the chief. All the men were allowed in this time, but Jed had
already warned them to keep quiet unless spoken too. If the chief
had changed his mind or anything went wrong, none of them would get
out of here alive!

“Chief Running Bear I have brought you eight
of my best stock to trade for my woman and child,” Jed spoke
firmly. “I bring the best to show great chief how sorry I am his
cattle were taken. The men who took cattle will be punished, I
promise you.” His expression showed he meant the words spoken to
the chief.

The chief nodded his head and spoke. “I
believe your words and am happy you bring honor back to your ranch.
We make trade now.” He signaled to one of the braves and he
immediately left and soon returned with Stormy and Katy Marie. Jed
gave them both a look that meant keep quiet, and they did.

Without another word they all left the Indian
village. Stormy rode on the back of Jed’s horse and Katy Marie with
one of the ranch hands. Jed waited until they were past the point
where the braves had met them coming in before speaking to
anyone.

“Okay, I think we can all breath now. Are you
girls okay?” he asked.

“Oh yes,” Katy Marie said. “It really wasn’t
that bad, except the food wasn’t anything like what Carmen fixes.
You know, they even eat with their fingers,” she squealed. Everyone
broke into laughter, amazed that a child could be captured by
Indians and her only complaint was the food!

Jed helped Stormy down from his horse when
they arrived back at the ranch. “I need to talk with you in
private,” he said as he tied his horse to the hitching post.

“Ok, come on into the house,” she
responded.

“No, I don’t want anyone to know about this
meeting. There are some things going on here at the ranch you don’t
know about and we need to discuss what needs to be done,” he
added.

“Meet me behind the old storage shed as soon
as it gets dark tonight. Don’t use a lantern. Someone might see
it.”

Stormy knew this was serious. She could hear
it in his voice. “Don’t worry, I can follow the path to the
bunkhouse water well and then cut across to the shed without being
noticed.”

“Okay, see you then, and Stormy, be careful.
I think Jake is up to no good and I don’t want him to know we are
on to him.” He wanted to hold her and kiss her but he had already
detained her too long and the ranch hands and Jake were watching
from the bunkhouse.

Carmen grabbed Katy Marie and then Stormy.
“Oh I’m so glad Mr. Jed found you and brought you back. I thought I
would never see you again when those Injuns took off with the two
of you. I was so frightened, Miss Stormy,” Carmen said as she tied
her apron around her ample waist. “I go right now and fix you both
something to eat”

Katy Marie, no worse for wear, followed
Carmen to the kitchen, her words trailing off….”Carmen, did you
know Injuns eat with their fingers……..”

Night time arrived and after making sure no
one was outside Stormy started toward the shed. At least she would
finally find out what Jed was hiding and what Jake had been up
to.

The quiet of the night made her every move
sound amplified, so she moved as silently as possible. Once she
thought she heard voices, but she realized they must be coming from
inside the bunkhouse. Cricket sounds became evident the closer she
came to the shed. It was probably because the river was not far
beyond it. The half-moon gave her a sliver of light and she could
now see the outline of the old storage shed.

Stormy rounded the corner to the back of the
shed and called for Jed. “Jed,” she whispered. “Are you here?” She
asked.

Jed walked forward from the blackness of the
bushes. “Yes.” he replied. “I’m right here.” He reached out his
hand in the dark and she felt his fingers brush her arm. She
grabbed his hand and he took her through the dark woods to a
clearing where he they could sit on a log a talk.

“Stormy, I’m not who you think I am.” Jed
started. He put a finger to her lips as she started to speak. “Let
me finish and then you will understand,” he added. “Your Aunt Lucy
brought me to the ranch about six months before she died. She was
losing money and had a feeling that something strange was going on,
but the sicker she got the less she could deal with investigating
it. She was friends with my father and together they cooked up a
plan for me to work here and secretly try and find out what is
going on. The truth is your Aunt Lucy hired me but after she died I
had a choice to make.

I was not having much luck to start with and
was thinking of calling it quits when your Aunt died. I felt that I
needed to stay on a bit longer just to make sure her holdings were
safe. Then you came to live here and other strange things began to
happen. It was then I knew something was wrong. I figured out you
were suspicious as well and that scared me. Jake seems to be
getting more agitated and may not be someone you want to cross. I
have been so afraid for you.” He admitted. At least I’m pretty sure
it’s Jake,” he added.

“You…you were afraid for me?” Stormy
repeated. “I did know something was up and I could tell you were
hiding something but I wasn’t sure who to trust. I know cattle are
missing and too much money is being spent on supplies, but that is
all I could find out.”

Jake began to soothe her then quickly he
covered her mouth. ”Shhh,” he said quietly. They sat there for a
moment and heard rustling in the bushes, but the rustling was
moving away from them. Someone had been listening; but who?

Jed motioned for Stormy to get going without
saying a word. If someone heard what was being said things could
get dangerous for anyone who was against what was going on. The
problem was he needed proof, not just suspicion. But now there may
not be time to get it if they have been found out.

Maybe he should send Stormy and Katy Marie
away for a while. He couldn’t stand it if anything happened to her.
Now was no time to be thinking of her creamy skin, or how much he
wanted to kiss her beautiful mouth and full lips. But that was the
problem, she was constantly on his mind and that could get a man
killed. He had to solve the problem at hand first; then he would
deal with Miss Stormy Calder.

Stormy saw old Benjamin, dressed in his work
overalls, outside the barn unloading some supplies from the wagon.
Now was as good a time as any to find out what he knows. Someone
getting suspicious was not going to stop her from getting to the
bottom of the losses on the Double LL.

“Good morning, Benjamin,” she smiled friendly
like, as she placed her hand on the wagon.

“Morning Ma’am,” he answered, never lifted
his eyes off the task at hand. “Is there something I can do fer ya,
Ma’am,” he asked, still not looking up.

He was a strange old man she thought to
herself. “Well yes, there is Benjamin. As I told you before I’m
looking in to how inventory is kept on supplies and grains and was
wondering what it is you are unloading.”

“Just plain ole supplies,” he responded and
looked up this time. “You know, we got food for the chickens and
some sugar and flour I’ll take up to Carmen in a bit.”

He didn’t offer anything extra so Stormy kept
probing. “So nothing that seems to be in excess? Do you feel we
have the right amount of supplies?” Stormy could tell Benjamin was
uneasy and reluctant to speak. She had a feeling he knew more than
he was letting on.

“Ah, Miss Stormy, I just unload. Why don’t ya
ask Jake about the supplies and maybe you will find out what you
need to know.” Benjamin seemed irritated as said his goodbye. He
headed back into the barn, throwing a big sack over his shoulder as
he turned.

Stormy got nowhere with Benjamin so he either
didn’t know anything or was afraid to say. She decided to walk
around and see if she noticed anything unusual going on. And
tomorrow she was going out looking for the missing cattle. The men
were branding in the North pasture before and she would start
there.

Stormy rounded the corner of the stable and
ran smack dab into Jake. He reached out and grabbed her to stop her
fall.

“Gosh, Stormy, I almost ran you down. Are you
okay?” he asked, full of concern.

“Yes, yes, I’m fine,” she replied as she got
her balance.

“I’m sort of glad I ran into you Stormy,”
Jake said. “I’ve been meaning to have a talk with you about some
strange things going on here at the ranch.” He added.

“Well, the truth is….some cattle are missing
and a few more go missing about every week. Also the bunkhouse cook
is missing some bacon, flour, and sugar. We haven’t seen any
strangers around so I’m not sure what’s going on. And on top of
that, Jed has been acting strange lately. He comes and goes at all
hours and never explains himself to anyone. How do you want me to
handle this, Stormy”? He said as he looked her straight in the
face, as if he were telling the truth.

“Let me think about this tonight and we will
discuss it in the morning when Jed is not around. Is that okay with
you? Oh, and Jake, thanks for bringing this to me. I’m sure you can
handle things but I want to be kept in the loop.”

“Well,” Jake said. “I realize we kind of got
off on the wrong foot but we can fix that right here and now by
working together.” He added.

“Ok Jake, come up to the house after
breakfast in the morning and we will go over it together.” Stormy
excused herself and headed back to the house. She sat down in the
big rocking chair on the porch that overlooked the front yard,
while soft breezes blew light kisses of fragrances across her
nostrils. The smell of fall was in the air and it was her favorite
season. She thought back to the conversation with Jake. He actually
seemed sincere, so where did that leave her investigation? Hmmm,
better think on this some more, she mused, and just kept
rocking.

Breakfast the next morning didn’t go down
easy for Stormy, knowing Jake would be here soon. She didn’t trust
him, but would hear him out. What if Jed was just trying to throw
suspicion off himself and on to Jake? Could Jed be making her fall
for him to cover things up? She had told herself back in Cedar
Falls that no man would ever pull the wool over her eyes like they
had Jenny Carson, her best friend in school. Turned out Jenny’s
love interest only married her in order to merge two neighboring
ranches. Her mind whirled with possibilities that were soon
interrupted as Jake appeared at the house.

“Morning, let’s go sit at the table if that’s
okay with you.” Jake pointed the way with hat in hand. Stormy
obliged, sat down, and decided to take control of the conversation
right from the beginning.

“Tell me what you know or what you suspect,”
she began.

“I’ve been keeping a headcount on the cattle
since Lucy died and every month we come up short. And I’m not
talking just a few head; I’m talking about 50 head a month. There
is no way we could lose that many unless someone was taking them.”
Jake told her then continued before Stormy could speak.

“I don’t really have any proof but as I said
last night, Jed is acting very strange. He leaves the ranch at all
hours of the day and sometimes at night without telling anyone
where he is going. When I ask him he just says he was out
riding.”

“That’s really not enough evidence to accuse
him of cattle rustling Jake. However, I too have noticed some
irregularities around here. For example, the bills for food and
grain for horses and other animals have been continually rising.
With cattle missing, plus the ones we have been selling, the bills
should be getting lower.” Stormy sighed.

“To be honest, Jake, I was starting to
suspect you because you never give me a straight answer when I want
to go over the books, and in many cases ignore me all together.”
Stormy said as she bravely looked him right in the eyes.