Chapter 16
Bonham was tacking up his chestnut gelding Ace as Maddie rode into the ranch yard, bringing her horse to a stop behind him. 'Mornin Maddie.'
'Morning sir.' She replied, running a hand down Skylar's neck while the mare tossed her head. 'What's the plan for today?'
'Recount, see if we can find the missing cattle. I want you and Skylar working on strays, we'll round them up and bring them into the corner of the paddock so I can count while you two look around for ones out hiding.'
Maddie nodded. 'Got it. How many head are missing?'
'A lot more than I like.' Untying the horse from the hitching rail he gathered the reins then mounted up. 'What's that fence like between your place and here?'
'It's fine, it's not down. I'd have told you if I found any fences that needed attention.'
'And gates? You've made certain you've closed all the gates?'
'Yes sir, check and double check to make sure they're secure each time I go through one.' Skylar stepped after the gelding at a slight touch of her heel. 'Have I done something wrong?'
'No, I'm just tryin to figure out where those extra head got to.' He replied, looking back at her. The teen looked terrible, worse then she had yesterday. 'You been getting enough sleep Maddie?'
With her fathers guests yelling and partying into the early hours of the morning, sleep had been almost impossible since his return. 'Just tired from Hoyt's birthday party yesterday, I had to do schoolwork and such when I got home I didn't get into bed until late.'
'Tomorrow I don't want to see you here until ten-'
'But-'
'No buts Maddie. You look fit to drop off that horse. You've been working too hard, you need a rest. A few extra hours of sleep would do you good.'
'I need the money sir.'
'You can make the hours up later, you've hardly had time off since you started here anyway.' They stopped at the first gate, Maddie dismounting to open it up. 'What's your dad like with working cattle?'
'Dad hasn't got the skills to work on a ranch.' She replied as Bonham rode through, leading her horse after him. After a moment the gate was closed and she mounted, the pair on their way once more. 'Why do you ask?'
'I might have some work for him if he's interested.'
Oh hell no! Having to live with him watching her every move, waiting for her to mess up was bad enough. If he came to work at the Walkers with her… 'Dad has some job interviews today, from what I heard they sounded promising.'
'Keep the offer in mind if they don't turn out.'
She nodded. 'I will sir.' Like hell I will.
They rode on in silence, coming to the first pasture and as Maddie started to round up the cattle with Bonham, her tiredness seemed to finally dissipate. Going out to Hoyt's welcome home party yesterday had been nice but at the same time, mentally and physically exhausting for her. Being around strangers, especially a lot of strangers, always bought her severe anxiety. Ever since she had been little she had trouble with being in crowds or speaking with people. She could remember her mother taking her to the homeschooling meetings to play with the other kids but more often then not, she would choose to sit on the sidelines and watch the others play rather then participate herself. It was just always how she had been though when her mother died and she started living with her father, it had become worse.
Not only had the noises of the party her father had held kept her up the entire night, but the fact that Cordell had seen the bruise on her wrist. Why hadn't she remembered to do up the buttons on her cuffs? In one moment of forgetfulness he had made a comment about her bruising. It hadn't been from hitting her wrist against the benchtop either. One thing she had learnt to be good at was lying.
The day wore on slowly and with each group of cattle they counted, the lines in Bonham's forehead deepened. Maddie had noticed he appeared worried each time he wrote down the count and she wondered if it would match what she had tallied up the day before.
Noon came and went, the two of them finishing the count in the paddock they were working on before stopping to eat lunch. Bonham produced an extra paper bag from his saddle bag, handing it to Maddie as he took a seat on the log next to her. 'Abeline says since you aren't eating breakfast with us anymore, you should at least have lunch so she knows you're eating properly.'
A sad smile and a chuckle escaped her lips as she took the bag. 'She shouldn't have.' She said after looking inside the bag. This sure wouldn't help her trying to lose weight… Two thick sandwiches, a chocolate muesli bar, trail mix, chocolate chip cookies and an apple had been packed for her. After a moment of debate and since she hadn't eaten anything at all so far for the day, she pulled the apple out and began to nibble on it. 'Please thank her for me if I don't get the chance to see her.'
'Of course.' He remarked, unwrapping a thick sandwich. 'You know, for some reason, my wife has taken quite the shine to you.'
'I enjoy her company, I never knew my grandparents so it's nice being able to spend time with her.'
'When will we be seeing more of you around the house again?'
'I uh, I don't know.' After eating half the apple, she already felt full and rose to give the rest to Skylar. 'Probably once I get things sorted and Dad gets back to work. I think he wants to make up for lost time, since he has been working a lot since I started living with him.'
'You not hungry?' Bonham questioned, noticing that she returned her uneaten lunch into her saddlebags.
'I had a big breakfast, I'm still full from that.' She replied as she returned to the log, looking down at the valley below. From where they sat, they had a good view out of the property. It was beautiful country, grass and hills extending across the horizon, a tree here and there dotting the landscape. After a time of silence, she turned back to him as he finished off his cheese and ham sandwich. 'You seem worried.'
'There's a lot more cattle missing then there should be, even with a bad season of coyotes.'
'How many are we talking?'
'Almost a hundred head all up.'
Maddie raised her eyebrows. 'That amount just doesn't disappear without a trace.'
'Without fences being cut…' Lunch over they headed back to where the horses were grazing and mounted up once more. 'Maybe more got onto the Grant's property then I thought, but they aren't folks who would keep somethin that doesn't belong to them.'
'What about rustlers?'
'There'd be some sign. Lock cut, fence cut.' He looked over at the girl for a moment then dismissed the thought. Why would Maddie be stealing cattle? It just didn't make sense. On the other hand, one hundred head of cattle didn't just disappear into thin air…
'Who did the last count? When was it?'
'Bout three weeks ago, Clive did it before he left.'
'And I'm guessing that they were all accounted for?'
Bonham glanced back at her. 'What are you getting at Maddie?'
'One hundred head can't disappear in three weeks unless there's a lot of hungry coyotes and cougars around.' As she said that, a worrying thought came into her mind. Was it just her imagination but that was the exact time her father had been home for… She quickly pushed that thought out of her mind. No, there must be some other explanation.
'There you go.' Maddie gave Skylar a pat as she took the halter off, turning the mare out into the pasture. Closing the gate behind her, her phone started to ring and she pulled it from her pocket. She frowned. Why would Cordell be ringing her?
The bruises. Perhaps that was why he was calling. It rang out before she could answer but then he tried again. After a slight moment of hesitation, she answered it. 'Afternoon Walker.'
'Maddie. Hi. Uh, have you by any chance heard from Stella lately?'
She frowned as she headed back to the barn to muck out Skylar's stall. 'No, I haven't. Not since last week, I've been so busy lately… Why?
'She didn't show up for her soccer game today and she's ignoring my calls. Listen, if she or Trevor Strand gets in touch with you, let me know ASAP, okay?'
'Yeah, sure. Hope everything is okay.'
He hung up and she looked down at her phone for a moment before putting it back in her pocket. I wonder what's going on…
'Maddie, you're twenty minutes late!'
Crap. All thoughts about Stella were thrown out the window. She had enough of her own problems to deal with.
'Where's that daughter of mine?' Robert grumbled, his beer can empty. 'Maddie! Maddie, get your ass out here.'
The teen entered the living room, her head down as she tried not to draw any unwanted attention to herself from her father's guest. 'Yes sir?'
'Another beer from the fridge, and while you're there, another for my friend here.'
'Right away sir.'
'So, as I was saying…'
Making her way into the kitchen to grab her fathers drink, the teen took a moment to take a deep breath. At least tonight there was only one stranger in the house, unlike the night before when there had been six. Whatever business these strangers had in her home, she wanted absolutely nothing to do with it. For as long as she could remember, when her father was home he would have strangers come over but never as much as he had the last couple of weeks. What they were doing here, she didn't want to know. One thing was for sure though, she never felt safe around them.
'Hurry up you useless bitch!'
At her fathers impatient shout she returned to the living room, handing a beer to her father before passing the other to the guest. 'If that is all, may I be excused now?'
'Stay.' Clint said then looked at Robert. 'This can't be your one, she's too good looking to come from you.'
'I thought you were here to talk business, not grovel about my daughter.' He growled. 'Maddie, get your ass back to your room.'
Maddie nodded, more then willing to get herself out of there. Hurrying back to her room, she closed the door behind herself, taking a deep breath to calm her nerves. That man out there sent shivers up her spine. The way he had looked at her… He seemed mad almost and it wasn't from the alcohol.
Bubbles purred as she returned to her bed once more, the kitten rising to come nuzzle her face. She smiled sadly and rubbed beneath the kitten's chin. 'You and me again tonight hey?' The kitten purred louder as she pressed her cold nose into the girl's neck. 'Hey, quit that.' She chuckled, the kitten's whiskers tickling her. 'That tickles.'
The kitten curled up on her lap again after a moment, the girl absentmindedly stroking her while she kept purring. The count for the Walker cattle had come in at one hundred and seven short, a mix of heifers, steers and yearling's amongst the missing number. Not a single fence was down nor a single lock cut. It didn't make sense how over one hundred head could go missing in three weeks…
Bonham was worried, she could tell. It was a lot of cattle to lose without explanation and tomorrow he had said they would head out once more and cover every inch of the ranch. If those missing cattle weren't on the Walker property, then they had been stolen. He wasn't quite ready to call in the authorities just yet but after tomorrow if they didn't find them, he would have to. If the cattle weren't recovered she knew he would lose a lot of money.
Where could they have gone though?
Not a single fence was down or had been cut and not a single gate had been tampered with. There weren't even any tracks either of the missing cattle, it was as if they had vanished without a trace…
A search on her laptop didn't give her any clues, having been looking to see if anyone was privately selling Angus cattle in the area. No one had been recently. There were a few upcoming auctions with Angus listed as being on offer and she made a note to mention that to Bonham when she saw him in the morning.
Hearing footsteps coming up the hallway she quickly shut her laptop and placed it aside, pretending to be asleep as the door was opened.
'I know you aren't asleep, little bitch.'
Dad's drunk again… She thought, trying to keep still. Perhaps if she stayed still enough he would think she was asleep and would leave her alone for the night.
The covers were ripped off her a moment later.
No such luck tonight.
