Daisies in the Canyon(47)

Bonnie wiped at her eyes and pushed limp strands of soaking-wet hair behind her ears. “What the hell? If there is another damn Lucky Seven cow on Malloy land, Cooper can take care of it later.”

“Look. I’m counting at least four head of Malloy cows over there and we’ve already fixed the fence.” Abby pointed.

“So much for Rusty and Cooper not knowing that we had trouble.” Shiloh brushed fresh blood from her leg and wiped her hand on the seat of her jeans.

“I’m not cutting this fence. Cooper and Rusty can take a cattle trailer over there later and get them,” Bonnie said.

“Let’s go get that truck unstuck and go home,” Abby said.

“Let’s just go home and forget the truck,” Shiloh said.

“And let Rusty think we can’t function without him on the place?” Bonnie asked.

“Okay, okay, we’re already wet anyway,” Shiloh groaned.

“And the lightning hasn’t struck us yet, so that makes us lucky,” Abby said.

Shiloh pointed a long slender finger at Abby. “You can shut up. You said this wouldn’t take long and it’s already past dinnertime. I’m tired. I’m wet. I’m hungry and I’m cold. And besides that my leg is cut open, so don’t you say anything or else lightning is liable to flash out of the sky and set my hair on fire.”

“Fate is a hormonal bitch on steroids. And honey, it was me that said it wouldn’t take long, not Abby.” Bonnie laughed.

“Bonnie is a prophet with that saying about fate. Get her one of them gold chest plates and a fez with a tassel on it,” Shiloh said.

“You did a good job, Bonnie. I wouldn’t have had any idea how to fix that fence. Does Rusty carry tools in the four-wheeler all the time?” Abby asked.

“I doubt it, but most ranchers keep tools in their truck. When Shiloh got stuck, I grabbed the tools and shoved them into the four-wheeler’s saddlebag,” Bonnie answered. “We’re standing here in the rain, ladies, when we could be talkin’ in front of a nice fire. Mount up and let’s go.”

Abby threw a leg over the four-wheeler and Shiloh climbed on behind her. Bonnie led the way back to the truck and looked at the situation. She might have experience with fixing a fence but Abby had gotten more trucks out of sandpits than she could count. Surely getting one up out of a mud puddle couldn’t be a bit more difficult; however, she wasn’t saying a word. Shiloh looked like she was about to cry or throw a hissy, and she was the mildest-tempered one of the three. Abby had learned long ago that the quiet ones were deadly when they’d had enough.

“Bonnie, can you go back to the house and either get some chain or one of those boards the cows broke on the fence?” she asked.

“Sure thing,” Bonnie said. “Hey, Shiloh, crawl up here behind me. You can go on and get cleaned up. This only takes two people, anyway.”

Shiloh did not argue. She moved from one vehicle to the other and they left Abby standing in the rain. She quickly crawled inside the truck and slammed the door.

Abby pushed her blonde hair from her face and envied Shiloh that warm dry robe. In minutes she heard the roar of the four-wheeler coming back and thought about the fact they would have three vehicles and two drivers when they got the truck back on the road.

“Shit fire!” She shook her fist at the sky when she was out of the truck.

“What now?” Bonnie asked.

“Two drivers. Three vehicles.”

“We can’t get no wetter. Shiloh looked like she was about to blow a gasket, though, so I thought she’d best go on to the house.”

“Who died and made you boss?” Abby asked.

“Ezra died and right now we are all three the bosses. You got a problem with that?” Bonnie asked.

Abby smiled and then chuckled. That turned into laughter that floated out across the canyon through the driving rain. “This is what that old fart wanted.”

“Have you gone crazy? Did lightning strike you while I was gone?” Bonnie asked.

“No, can’t you see it? Ezra wanted us to get into a situation where we disagreed and fought so we’d leave one by one and Rusty could have the ranch.”

“Bullshit! This is my ranch,” Bonnie said.

“It’s our ranch right now. We needed Shiloh, but if you thought she’d wimp out and leave, then you did the right thing. We can manage and Ezra loses.”

A smile covered Bonnie’s face. “Then let’s get to it and go home while he turns over again in his grave.”

“We’ll have to drive the truck and one four-wheeler back to the barn and both ride back through the muddy fields.”

“We’re tough.” Bonnie smiled.

A length of fence, ragged on both ends, stretched out across on the handlebars in front of Bonnie. Abby grabbed the board.

Bonnie yelled over noise of the storm. “Got another problem in the yard. A Lucky Seven bull has parked his fat ass on the porch. He’s lying there like he owns the house and all that’s in it. Reminds me of those fancy places that has a big concrete lion out by the fence.”

“Well, dammit!” Abby said. “We’ll have to keep him penned up to be sure he doesn’t breed any of our cows.”

“How are we going to do that? All three of us together can’t budge him off the porch. It’s like he’s found a refuge, I tell you.”