In what felt like no time they'd reached the bottom of the valley and turned to ride along it, a herd of cattle grazed, looking up curiously as the horses passed.
Mick could make out buildings ahead of them, as they came closer Lee reined back into a jog and then to a walk to cool the horses off, though Mick figured they were less the worse for wear than he was. Enjoyable as the ride had been he could feel the fatigue caused by the crack to his head and leg wound setting in and knew he'd be glad to reach the comfort of the house.
They passed smaller fenced pastures and then through another gate, Lee dismounting this time to open it and Mick looked around at the buildings, there was a huge covered sand school to the left of the turning space for cars. A goose necked horse trailer parked to one side and on the other, with a covered walkway connecting it to the school, was clearly the horse barn. Mick expected them to head for that, but instead Lee led Harley to the right, towards a house that was a large log cabin at heart, but had been extended into something more substantial over time. Hitching Harley to the garden fence Lee turned to Mick and helped him down.
"Welcome to the Old Homestead" she gestured to the house before tying Buck next to Harley and then taking Mick's arm to help take weight off of his injured leg.
"It's not quite what I expected." Mick commented.
He wasn't sure what he'd expected really, something run down, but homey, maybe a beat up old Chevy truck on the drive. Instead the place was well kept and clearly there was money here, though it was understated, rather than brash, and that feeling continued inside. The interior was cosy and well appointed, a mish-mash of American and English styles and furniture. The front door opened straight into a big double height room with exposed beams, comfy armchairs and sofas, and cow hide rugs on the floor.
A large fireplace dominated one wall, a framed painting of a horse above it, and on the wall that held the door they'd just passed through there was a large framed photo of a man in dress uniform. To the right was an alcove leading out to what looked like the kitchen. But what took his gaze was the huge expanse of glass opposite, looking out over the same view he'd seen earlier, just from a different angle.
"I knew as soon as I saw that view that this was where I wanted to live. John had offered to leave the military, move to England for me, but this felt right, like coming home somehow."
He just nodded, there was a sense of peace to the landscape that he had to admit appealed to him too. They'd reached a big sofa that sat nearest the doorway and Mick lowered himself onto it, Lee fussing with the cushions, propping his leg up on the seat beside him.
Mick indicated the framed picture of the uniformed man.
"Your husband?" Mick asked, taking in the easy going smile and thinking maybe they'd have gotten along if they'd met on deployment, as long as the man had no idea of the interest he was beginning to feel for his wife.
Lee nodded, "He spent so much time away that a tiny part of me still expects him to come walking back in through that door. Even though I know that he won't." she shrugged "life goes on though and John wouldn't have wanted me to while away my days moping." Smiling again she reached for a side table and handed Mick a cordless phone. "We're at the Old Homestead, part of Three Peaks Ranch, the deputies will know it. I'll leave you to it and see to the horses. I'd better take the dogs, otherwise you'll find yourself sharing that sofa!"
Whistling to them she turned and left. Mick watched her leave and then dialled Cooper's mobile number, hoping he'd be in range of a cell tower.
"Hey Coop."
"Mick, where have you been? We were just about to send out search parties!"
"Yeah well, we got into a bit of a situation." He paused trying to figure out the best way to explain. "Look Coop the deputy, Carter, he's dead. The Jenkins place turned out to be the jackpot, guy started shooting at us before we realised what was going on."
Mick paused as he could hear Cooper updating the deputy in the car with him, he could them hear the man in the background radioing it in.
"Are you alright?" Coop was back with him.
"Yeah, I'm ok, took some pellets to the leg and then the sneaky S.O.B. knocked me out, not exactly my finest hour. He tied me up and then left, no idea where he went, though he sounded like he'd be returning."
"Are you still at the Jenkins's place?"
"No, I'm somewhere called the Old Homestead, near Three Peaks Ranch." Mick could hear Coop relaying that information, he'd clearly gotten a good response as Coop sounded puzzled when he came back on the line.
"Ok, we're on our way to you, we're the closest. Beth and Prophet will head out to the Jenkins place as they're in that area. Gina can join them, but we're having trouble reaching her, turns out the radios don't work much better than the cell phones" Mick could hear the frustration in his voice at not being able to keep tabs on his team. "Now how did you get free and why are you at this ranch?"
"Ah, now that's where it gets interesting. It's a really good story."
Sam rolled his eyes, "Mick!" he warned the younger man.
"Ok, old man, keep your hair on. So the short version is, I'm locked in this stable, trussed up like a thanksgiving turkey, when the cavalry arrives. Literally, on a horse."
"On a horse?"
"Yeah a horse, this is rural Montana mate, they do have a lot of horses round here. Anyway this woman, Lee's her name, though I'm not sure if that's her full name, got the feeling there's a story there too." He meandered.
"Mick!" Sam interjected trying to bring him back on track.
"Oops sorry, so she turns up and lets me loose. She patched me up pretty good, but since Jenkins had de-commissioned the patrol car and it's radio, I was a bit stuck for transportation and since he hadn't been paying the phone bill and there was no cell coverage, I couldn't call for back-up. So as Lee had a spare horse I figured it was best to get us both out of there and go for help."
"So she took you back to her place?"
"Whoa, steady on mate, she's a widow." Mick joked.
"Like that would stop you." Coop joked back. "You're really ok?"
"Yeah, nothing a few stitches and some aspirin wouldn't cure."
"Right sit tight," he checked with the deputy, "we should be with you in about 30 minutes."