Saddle Up(83)

“If your grandmother fired him, he’s probably got a beef.”

“I suspect you’re right,” Miranda said. “What if something bad happens because of this?”

“The liability is on your shoulders,” Keith replied. “I suspect that’s exactly what Judith and Robert were hoping for. They were really clever if they hired someone else to do their dirty work. There’s no one to point a finger at them.”

“I suppose so,” Miranda said. “But even if it was Marvin, that doesn’t solve the problem of finding and capturing two hundred horses. How are we going to do that?”

“We’ll have to see if we can entice some of them to come back.” Keith pulled cutters and pliers out of his saddlebag and started pulling down more wire.

“What are you doing?”

“Making a wider gate. Go ahead and tie the horses and help me coil this wire up. We don’t want them to get tangled in it when they come back through.”

Miranda regarded him skeptically. “You really think they’ll just come wandering back?”

“Yup,” he replied. “Not all, but some of them will. They were safe and secure in this pasture, and horses like to be safe and secure. After they realize the grass isn’t greener on that mountain, at least not in wintertime, they’ll want to come back. And they’ll look to enter in the same place they went out. Our job is to make it real easy for them to do just that.”

“So we’re just going to wait and see?”

He shrugged. “Not much more we can do at this point, other than putting the word out to neighboring ranches to keep an eye out for them. We especially don’t want to piss the ranchers off if they find wild horses running through their cow pastures. If that does happen, however, maybe we can get some help corralling some of them.”

“We’d better get back and tell Jo-Jo about this,” Miranda said. “She’s going to want to make some calls.”

“I agree that she needs to know they got out,” Keith said. “But there’s no reason to tell her our suspicions. If Marvin really was acting as a hired gun for your aunt and uncle, that’s going to create a really touchy situation for you. Let’s be certain before we say anything.”

“I agree.” Miranda nodded. “She’s already had enough stress as it is. But how do you propose getting proof?”

“I’m going to pay Marvin a little visit.”

“I don’t even know where he lives. How are you going to find him?”

“I’ll begin at the places where you always find all manner of skunks and low crawlers—the local watering holes.”

*

“Keith! Randa! I’m glad you’re back.” Jo-Jo met Keith and Miranda on the front porch as they were scraping the mud from their boots. “I just got the strangest call from Donna Knowlton over at the Flying K. She says her sons saw a bunch of mustangs while they were up on the mountain gathering strays. I just can’t understand it. How did they get out? And why, when they have plenty of green hay and a thousand acres of good pasture?”

“Mustangs are a bit unpredictable that way,” Keith said.

“I guess I know that now, but what are we going to do about it?” Jo-Jo asked.

“Don’t fret about a thing,” Keith reassured her. “I know these animals pretty well. We’ll get them back.”

“Keith has a plan,” Miranda said. “He thinks some of them will return on their own.”

“Some will,” he agreed. “As for the rest, our first priority is to find out where they are.”

“Will the BLM help?” Jo-Jo asked.

Keith shook his head. “Not likely. Once they deliver the horses, they wash their hands of any more responsibility. I think the easiest way to locate them would be to bring in a helicopter to do a sweep of the mountain. It could even push them back in this direction.”

“So I’ll have to hire a helicopter? That’s likely to cost hundreds if not thousands of dollars. Another expense I can’t afford.” Jo-Jo shook her head with a sigh of dismay. “Maybe Judith is right and I didn’t think this decision through as well as I should have.”

Keith and Miranda exchanged a knowing look.

“I’m so sorry, Jo-Jo,” Miranda said.

“It’s not your fault, child. These things happen.” Jo-Jo gave a resigned sigh. “I s’pose we just have to find the best way to deal with it.”

“I’ll phone Mitch to see what it would take to fly his bird in to gather them,” Keith said. “Don’t worry about the cost. Mitch’ll probably only charge us for the fuel, and I’m happy to cover that.”

“Why should you?” Jo-Jo protested. “It’s not your responsibility.”

“I told you I’d secure the fence,” Keith said. “It’s my negligence if they broke through it. You said the Knowltons saw some of the horses? Did they say exactly where?”

“No, but she did say the band they spotted were being chased by a pack of wolves.”

“Wolves?” Miranda repeated. “I didn’t know we had wolves around here.”

“We’ve just never seen any in these parts before now,” Jo-Jo said, “but they’ve been steadily spreading across the state since they were reintroduced to Yellowstone.”