CHAPTER 18
“You’re never going to believe this,” Dean Howe said into the phone, “that stray of yours is back in the pasture.”
“You’re kidding,” Rum said, “What the?”
“The gate was open, maybe somebody returned him.”
“You mean you think someone found him?”
“Got any other ideas?”
“No,” Rum said, “Can you have a couple of hands out there this afternoon? I’ll send a trailer.”
“Yeah, be there about two.”
Rum hung up. He took his glasses off, set them on the desk.
“What do you think about that Dinero?”
At the sound of his name, the dog raised his head off the floor and looked up. Rum reached down and scratched the dog’s neck. Then he called Connie.
“Can you drive?”
“Sure.”
“Have Oyster hook up the trailer for you. Take it over to the pasture at Bar W at two and pick up that stray bull calf.”
“Someone found the stray?”
“Apparently.”
“Hm. Where do you want me to put him?”
“I’ve got the vet coming tomorrow to give the bulls a check up. Might as well have him look at this one too, check him for brucellosis at least. Take him over to the bull pasture for now.”
“Yes sir” Connie said. She doubted that the calf could have contracted brucellosis, since the disease was passed on through contact with the placenta of an infected cow, and the bison calving season was well past, but she wasn’t going to question the boss’s instructions.
Connie pulled up to the gate and got out of the truck. She lifted the rope with her good arm and leaned her weight against the gate, pushing it wide. She drove the truck into the pasture, got out, closed the gate and opened the back of the cattle carrier.
Two men on horseback were circling the herd at the far end of the pasture. They had their lassos ready and were trying to cut the bull calf from the herd. The calf was acting strange. It was mooing hysterically, and every time it found itself at the edge of the herd, it ran back into the center.
When the cows parted, leaving the calf open, one of the men lifted his lasso, twirled it over his head, tossed it out in front of him and released the rope. The loop sailed through the air toward the calf’s head. The calf ducked and the rope fell to the ground. The cowboy reeled it in for another try.
Suddenly the calf bolted away from the herd and ran at top speed across the pasture. It was heading for the gate. Connie stepped out and waved one arm, yelling, “Whoa cow, whoa!” The calf veered away from her and kept running full speed. It slammed into the gate and staggered backwards. One of the cowboys rode up, threw his lasso around its neck and pulled tight. The other man rode over and did the same. The calf stuck its tongue out and bawled. It kicked its back heels and tossed its head, struggling to get free. The men backed their horses away, keeping tension on the ropes. They pulled the calf over to where Connie waited by the trailer and with some difficulty got the calf inside. Connie shut the door and turned to thank the Bar W hands. The calf was bawling and bucking, slamming into the sides of the trailer.
“Guess he don’t want to go home,” one of the cowboys said.
“Thanks for all of your trouble,” Connie said.
“No problem mam.”
They opened the gate and Connie drove away with the calf still making a racket inside the trailer.
CHAPTER 19
Mark stood in the bull pasture, bruised and exhausted by his ordeal and sick with anxiety. He was trapped. Libertia was waiting for him, all alone in the forest. She would never know what had happened to him. It was a terrible mess!
The pasture was occupied by four bulls, all lying around chewing cud when Mark arrived. One of them got up and went over to where Mark stood with his head hung low.
“What’s the matter Boy,” he said, “you look like you’re in bad shape.”
Mark didn’t answer. He didn’t feel like talking to anyone.
“Hey fellas,” the bull called to the other three, “the new guy needs some cheering up.”
“What’s he got to be so down about?”
“Don’t know Herbst, he won’t tell me,” the first bull said.
“You don’t really want to know,” Mark mumbled.
Herbst got up and walked over.
“Listen Boy,” he said, “we got it real good here, you’re gonna like it just fine. Plenty to eat. Lots of sunshine. Shade when you need it. A good mud wallow over there at the stream. Right Moolick?”
The first bull said, “Right, and when the time comes, you’re gonna get to hump lots of gorgeous cows.”
Mark was too dejected to ask what that meant. What did it matter anyway, they were all doomed.
“Hey Blankenship, Anderson,” Moolick said to the other two bulls, “what do you say we take this Boy over to the fence and show him the cows on the other side. That’ll cheer him up.”
Anderson snorted, and hefted his enormous body off the ground. “Let’s go Boy, follow us.”
“My name’s not Boy, it’s Mark, and I don’t feel like going anywhere.”
“OK Boy, just stay here and sulk then,” said Anderson.
“C’mon let’s go get a look at those cows,” Moolick said, “I’m damn horny!”
The bulls laughed and walked off together.
“Mark! Haw Haw! What are you doing here son?” Clowers glided to a landing in front of the calf.
“Oh Clowers! Thank goodness you’re here. You’ve got to go find Libertia and tell her what happened. Tell her I can’t get the herd to follow me. They won’t listen. They can’t understand.”
“Whoa! Slow down there fella. Who’s Libertia, what’s going on? Last I saw you, you were with that herd of bison in the mountains. How’d you get here?”
Mark explained everything while Clowers listened, saying, “I see,” and “Oh ho.”
“So, now I’m stuck here and I’m gonna die and you have to tell Libertia to go on without me.”
“Why don’t I just let you out of here?” Clowers asked.
Mark looked blankly at the raven, then it hit him. Of course, why hadn’t he thought of that? He’d been so terrified that he hadn’t even tried to figure a way out. Now Clowers was here to help and escape would be easy!
“Oh Clowers, let’s go, get me out of here, I want to go back to the wilderness now.”
Mark got up and ran to the gate, Clowers flew over and landed on the post. He eyed the gate. It was different than the one at the other pasture. Instead of wood, it was made of metal. There was no rope holding the gate to the fence. Clowers walked along the top rail studying it carefully. He couldn’t figure out how it worked.
“Sorry kid,”
Mark hung his head. Hope drained out of him and he felt hollow.
“Hey don’t be like that,” Clowers said, “I’ll find a solution, just give me some time. Let me fly around a bit and see if I can catch the Ranchers working a gate like this. I’ll be back. Don’t go anywhere. Haw Haw!”
Mark walked slowly across the pasture to the stream, he sank into the mud wallow and rolled around.
“That’s more like it,” Anderson said, walking over and lying down in the mud beside Mark. “Glad to see you’ve decided to make yourself at home.”
“Any of you know how to open the gate?” Mark asked.
“Open the gate?” Moolick exclaimed, “Why the hell would we need to open the gate for?”
Mark decided to give his plan one more chance. Maybe the bulls would understand and go with him into the wilderness, maybe they could convince the cows to come too. He launched into his story about freedom, the Natural Order, Wisdomkeepers and Dreaming. The bulls listened without saying anything until he got to the part about the fate of cattle.
“Hold on there buddy!” said Herbst, “You’re not suggesting the Ranchers, who’ve given us everything we could ever want; a wealth of food, protection from our enemies, an easy life…that they’re really bloodthirsty killers who want to torture and eat us?”
“That’s a serious charge Boy,” Blankenship said, “You better not say things like that, it’s traitorous.”
“But it’s true,” Mark said, “Don’t you want to know the truth?”
“The truth is the Ranchers protect our way of life, they defend us from our enemies,” Anderson said, “enemies that would like nothing more than to destroy and devour us. That’s the truth.”
“But what about our right to live in the Natural Order?” Mark said. “The bison live in families, the bulls and cows and calves all together, along with all of the other animals.”
“What! That would be a disaster,” Moolick said, “can you imagine the chaos if everyone lived together and was free to do whatever they wanted?”
“All of the animals in the wilderness live in perfect balance,” Mark insisted.
“You have been misled Boy,” Anderson said, “the wilderness is a terrible place, full of real enemies. The Ranchers aren’t our enemies. They care about us.”
“Those longhaired dirty bison have filled your head with a bunch of propaganda,” said Herbst.
“Oh just forget it then, forget it!” Mark yelled. He heaved himself out of the mud and walked away.
Mark stood next to the gate waiting for Clowers to return and get him out of here. At sundown Clowers arrived and perched himself on the metal top rail.
“I couldn’t find a way to work this gate, but I have another plan,” he said. “I’ve got some friends of mine coming over later to help us out. By the way, I talked to your girlfriend.”
“Libertia! How is she? Is she ok?”
“She’s fine, but worried. Expected you back last night. I told her what happened and said I was working on getting you free and she said she’ll wait for you to bring the herd. I didn’t tell her they weren’t coming.”
“Doesn’t matter, I don’t care anymore about saving the stupid cattle. I just want to get out of here and go back to the wilderness with Libertia.”
“OK meet me at the moonrise end of the pasture after dark. We’ll get you out of here, and you’ll be humpin’ your girlfriend in no time. Haw Haw!” Clowers lifted off and wheeled into the dusky sky.
Mark headed toward the full moon rising over the pasture. A row of dead Cottonwood trees lined the fence and perched on one long branch were thirty or so ravens. More ravens were arriving from all directions, landing and lining up along the branch. Clowers swooped down and met Mark.
“Almost ready kid, just waiting for a few more of my pals.”
“What’s going on Clowers?”
“We can’t get the gate open so we’re gonna wreck the fence.”
“Wreck it?”
“Yeah, wreck it good so you can get out.”
“Hey Clowers,” a raven yelled from the branch where now more than fifty ravens had gathered, “I think we’re ready.”
Clowers winked at Mark and called, “OK Hoffman, be right there.”
“Thanks,” Mark said.
“Haw Haw! You’re welcome kid.”
He flew up to the branch and squeezed himself between two ravens in the middle.
“Ready everyone?”
“Ready!” they shouted.
“Go!”
All at once the ravens jumped up and came back down yelling, “Haw!”
The branch creaked.
“Again!” Clowers said.
The ravens all jumped, “Haw!”
The branch groaned.
“Again!”
The ravens jumped up and down, up and down, everyone yelling, “Haw! Haw! Haw!”
The branch started to give. It bent, then broke and came crashing down onto the fence, knocking several posts to the ground, causing the strands of barbed wire to go slack. The ravens lifted off into the air and circled around cheering and hawing. Clowers swooped down to the startled calf and said, “What are you waiting for?”
Mark walked over to the wrecked fence and stepped over it.
He was free.