Chapter 5
The Barkley men who were to take over for Nick arrived not long after Nick finished breakfast. Nick told them what to look for and how to handle it if any of Cambridge's men came onto the property ("don't shoot unless they shoot first – just let them you know you've seen them and let me or Jarrod know what happened"). He also told them to do the chores that Mrs. Carmichael asked them to do. They were good men. Nick knew he didn't have to worry about them.
Nick made his way out to where Heath was tending herd with most of the other Barkley men. As he approached, Heath smiled and asked, "So how was life with your other mama last night?"
"She plays a mean game of cribbage, I'll tell ya," Nick grinned. "We didn't have any other unexpected visitors, though."
"That's good," Heath said. "Jarrod told us he got the restraining order and he didn't think there would be any more trouble."
"Well, we'll have to wait and see on that. I love that lady, Heath. She was like another mother to me when I was a kid. I'd hate to see her run off that property."
"Jarrod will take care of her. We had a problem with visitors of our own last night."
"What?"
"Don't know. Nobody saw anything, but something was keeping the cattle stirred up. Coyotes, maybe."
Nick sighed. "Did they get any of the stock?"
"No, but if they were coyotes or anything else with four legs or even two, they might be back tonight."
"Can't imagine there are any two-legged types who would want to keep our cattle uphappy."
"Unless they just want to make sure all the hands and us are out here and not somewhere else."
"What are you thinking?"
"Ah, nothing really. Just not sure what happened last night. I'm not ready to rule anything out."
"Well, I'll be here tonight," Nick said. "We'll keep a close look out if there's any problem and at least nail down what we're dealing with." Then he turned off to chase some strays he had spotted toward the back of the herd.
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At about the same time, Andy Cambridge was tending his father's herd very near the Carmichael property, and his eye was roaming from the herd to the land on the other side of the fence. His men had torn down part of the fence and Catherine Carmichael had not had it rebuilt, so the easy way onto the property he wanted was sorely tempting him.
No, "wanted" wasn't the right word. Andy knew that land was rightfully his. He had every right to go over there if he wanted to, and he wanted to. He wasn't even sure why, except he could see the herds of horses and cattle he was going to have grazing on that land just beyond the fence. He could see the Carmichael house in his mind's eye and he could see the changes he was going to make to it once he moved in there with his bride. He could see how he was going to repair and enlarge the barn and the corral, and he could see the larger bunkhouse and the many hired hands of his own he was going to have working for him.
He didn't see why he was going to have to wait for these things even one day, much less a month or more. He wanted to scope out the house and barn and corral again, right now.
"Don't do it, Andy," his father's foreman said, seeing where Andy's gaze was going.
Andy looked over at him. "Shouldn't you be minding the herd, Piller?"
"Yeah," the foreman said, "and that's why I don't need to be minding you, too. Your father told me about the restraining order. We need to keep to it if you're gonna have a good chance at getting that land for yourself."
Andy looked hard at the man, then looked at the broken fence again, then back at the foreman. "You mind the herd, Piller. I'll mind me."
Andy started to head for the broken fence. The foreman cut ahead of him and blocked his way. "Andy, your pa would have my hide if you cross that fenceline. If you can't pay attention to the cattle in front of you here, I'm gonna have to send you back to the main house with your tail between your legs."
"You work for ME, Piller, not the other way around."
"No, I work for your pa. Now you get your #$ back to the main house, or I'm gonna send somebody to fetch your pa instead."
Andy moved for the broken fence line again, and again Piller blocked his way. In a moment, he had two other men blocking the way with him. He had filled all the men in on what was happening with the land dispute.
Andy glared at Piller, looking like he was ready to tear into him, but he knew he was outnumbered. He turned his horse and headed in the other direction, for the main house.
Piller sighed. "Damn kid's gonna ruin his own chances to get that land over there," he said to the men beside him.
"Might be a good thing if he did," one of the other men said. "Kid needs to be taken down a peg or two."
"That's not our job," Piller said. "We better get back to what is."
The men went back to work, and Piller kept a good eye on Andy as he rode away. He agreed that maybe Andy would be better off learning a lesson in this than in winning any land, but he put that out of his mind as soon as Andy was out of sight. Whatever happened, happened. At least if Andy won that land, Piller knew the boy would be out of his hair. That wouldn't bother him at all.
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Things had been quiet at Catherine's home all day, so she felt comfortable inviting the two Barkley hands in for dinner at her kitchen table. They were two brothers – Don and David North – both big, strapping guys in the mid-twenties. Catherine fixed up huge plates full of steak, potatoes and greens, and the North boys dug in happily.
"Mrs. Carmichael, you sure do know how to feed a hungry man," David, the older of the two, said as he finished up and polished off a glass of milk.
"I kept you boys hopping with chores today," Catherine said, "and I do appreciate the fact that the barn roof doesn't leak anymore and my clothesline poles aren't falling down."
"It's been kinda nice doing something other than punching cows," Don said. "What have you got for us tomorrow?"
"The corral fence needs to be renailed in a lot of places," David said, "and that loft in the barn has a couple of supports just itching to fall down."
"Well, I guess that's what I'll have you do tomorrow," Catherine said. "I want to keep you around the house here, at least for a few days. Did Nick say when he'd be coming back?"
"No, ma'am, he didn't," David said, "but if I know the boss, he'll be back in another day or two. He sure does like you, Mrs. Carmichael."
"And I can see why," Don said, smiling at his empty place.
"Nick and I go way back to when he was a boy," Catherine said. "He used to come visit quite a bit."
They suddenly heard a horse whinny outside. Don and Dave looked at each other, then got up and went out the front door. They saw somebody riding off, but they couldn't tell who it was. They came back in.
"Were you expecting anybody, Mrs. Carmichael?" David asked.
"No," she said. "You didn't get a look at who it was?"
"No."
Don and David looked at each other. "Guess we better mention this to the boss when he comes back over," Don said.
David said, "We're not gonna leave you on your own, Mrs. Carmichael. We'll keep close watch until Nick can get back over here and decide what he wants to do."
Catherine sighed. "I can't believe any of the Cambridge men would be over here, what with a court order in effect."
"Court orders don't mean much to some men," David said. "That's why Nick had us stay here in the first place. The boss don't assume anybody's gonna listen to a court."
Catherine picked up the empty plates from the table, wishing there were some way she could contact Nick or Jarrod right away, but she didn't want her guards to leave her alone. She didn't even want one of them to go away. Nick was not the only one who didn't assume anybody was going to obey a court order.