Authors: Alan Evans
Tigee thought for a moment. “I want all four of you
to stay out of sight. I don’t want anyone to know we have people guarding the
herd. The element of surprise will make it safer for you as well as help us to
spoil any more attempts. I will take Shane and Tara with me. We will bring the
sheriff and police in from the north logging road. You must get there before we
do to tell my grandsons that we are coming, so they don’t think we are the herd
hunters when they hear our trucks.”
Tigee walked over to the phone to call the
authorities. It took some convincing, but the sheriff agreed to meet the
reservation
police and the old Indian at the north logging road in three hours. This would
give JB and Hawk time to gather supplies for Ivan and Willie and to let them
know Tigee wanted them out of sight.
“Where is Shane?” Tigee asked.
“He’s in the barn, tending to the horses,” Hawk
replied.
“Go and ask him to come see me.”
Hawk headed out the door to get Shane. As he arrived
at the barn, Tara was stepping down off her horse from a morning ride.
She wondered why he walked by her so
abruptly.
He found Shane inside finishing up. “Tigee wants to
talk with you. He’ll fill you in on his plans.”
Shane nodded and started walking toward the barn
door. Tara could tell something was up and stopped him, “What’s going on? Is my
grandfather okay?”
“Yes, ma’am, he is fine.”
“Well, something’s wrong!”
“Someone shot some of the mustangs. We found them
this
morning.”
Tara’s face went blank, “Why would someone do that?”
“I don’t know. Let me help you with your horse, so
we can go talk to your grandfather together.”
“Does he know about it?”
“JB and Hawk just told him.”
Shane and Tara made short work of unsaddling her
horse.
When they walked into the house, the old Indian was
just hanging up the phone from talking with the reservation police.
“I want you both to come with me. Tara, I want you
to make sure you have some film in your camera. Shane, I hope the sheriff will
be more willing to help us if you’re there.”
Shane scratched his head. “You know I’ll do all I
can to help, but the sheriff and I have already had a run-in when I was in
town. I don’t think he likes me very much.”
Tigee smiled. “You didn’t make many friends in town
during your brief stay, did you?”
“No, sir, I guess not.”
“Well, I’d appreciate it if you would come anyway.
You’re a part of this now. We’ll meet the authorities at the north entrance in
three hours. They should see what has happened! I want the sheriff and police
to know how serious we are about stopping this.”
“I’ll be ready.”
Tara followed Shane out to the front porch and sat
down while he leaned against the rail. Shane could see she was stunned and
still trying to absorb the shocking news. “It’s a damn shame,” he said.
Tara shook her head. “I just don’t know why anyone
would want to shoot them. I’m worried about the horses, but my biggest concern
is for the violence all this could cause. Our young men won’t stand for this.
They’ll fight back, no matter what the consequences.”
Shane tried to be the voice of reason. “Let’s not
jump to conclusions. Hopefully, this was just an isolated incident and it will
all die down soon.”
“Hopefully,” Tara said, “but I don’t think so.
Trouble has been brewing for a long time, and tensions were already running
high. I am afraid to think what could come of this.”
Tara stood up and moved over to lean on the rail
next to Shane. She hesitated for a minute as she glanced down at the wood floor
of the porch, then looked back up at him. “I don’t know what those jerks are
capable of, but I do know they think they’re above the law around here. You
watch out for yourself and please keep an eye on my brothers. If there is a
fight, I know they’ll be in the middle of it.
“With everything that has happened today we can’t
guarantee your mare’s safety, and it may be a long time before we can. My
grandfather said you’re a part of this now. I feel I should remind you, it’s
not necessary for you to go with us today. You aren’t obligated to get
involved, and no one would blame you if you loaded up your horses and went back
to Tennessee.”
She was leaning on the rail close to him and gently
bumped her shoulder into his. “You know if you do leave, there would definitely
be some people around here who would miss you.”
Shane didn’t know how to respond, so he just stood
quietly for a moment, then said, “I don’t plan on turning that mare loose until
its safe, but I also don’t plan on leaving until I see through what I came out
here to do. I know it’s hard for you to understand why it’s such a big deal for
me to set her free. Along with my personal
reasons, I’ve come to understand and appreciate how special these mustangs
really are. This land and these horses are at a crossroad. If a stand isn’t
taken, these links to the past could be lost forever. I guess I need a
worthwhile cause in my life right now, so I think I’ll stick around to see how
it turns out.”
Shane paused before adding, “Besides, if I were to
leave there might be a couple of people around here I’d miss, too.”
Tara, still leaning against the railing next to him,
looked back down at the deck with a bashful smile that would melt any man’s
heart. A few quiet, awkward seconds passed before she shifted her blue eyes
toward his. Once again they found themselves caught up in an intense gaze. He
wanted to reach out for her. Maybe even just move his hand on top of hers, now
only a few inches away from his on the rail. He was almost sure she wanted him
to do something.
Instead, he politely
made his exit. “I’ll be back in an hour,” he said as he ambled away. Shane had
become an expert at shutting off strong emotions, so by the time he made it
down the steps, his mind had conveniently slipped back to the day’s events and
what lay ahead.
It had already been a long afternoon, and it wasn’t
over yet. The two dogs were lying on his porch waiting for him. Both of them
perked up their ears when they saw him walking up the steps. Jessie still
wouldn’t allow Shane to touch him, but Butch came over for a light rub on his
head. Then Shane went inside to clean up. He found himself looking in the small
mirror above the bathroom sink while he waited for the shower water to warm.
Staring aimlessly at his reflection, he could not help but ponder on the spark
that seemed to be growing between him and Tara. He stood there thinking how
good it felt to just be near her and wondered if she really did feel the same
way. Then he slowly wiped a handful of water on his face and mumbled, “I don’t
think I’m ready for this.”
After showering, he went out to the barn. The day
had flown by, and Tommy was preparing hay for the afternoon feeding. Both Tory
and Sloppy were nickering at him. “They’re talking to you,” Shane said, as he
walked up.
“Yes, sir, they do every time I feed them. Are we
working horses tomorrow?”
“You bet, son, I’ll be here, bright and early. You
have the roan saddled up and ready to go by eight.” Tommy grinned from ear to
ear at the idea of Shane helping him.
Just then he heard the horn blowing from Tara’s
truck, signaling they were ready to leave.
The drive out to the valley was solemn, neither Tara
nor her grandfather wanted to look at the scene that awaited them. When they
arrived at the north logging road, the reservation police were already there.
They waited another half hour before Sheriff Benson finally showed up. The
sheriff’s attitude was as expected. “Let’s get this over with. It’ll be dark
soon, and I’ve got dinner waiting at home.”
From this point on, the trees were too thick to
drive through, so they all started the fifteen-minute walk to the Deer Creek
clearing, where it happened. No one talked during the walk except for the
sheriff asking if anyone brought any bug spray.
When they got to the clearing, it was an emotional
scene
for Tara and Tigee. Rigor mortis had set into the carcasses and
there were large puddles of blood around each of the slain animals. The flies
were thick, and the buzzards were beginning to circle low
overhead.
“You have to do something about this!” Tigee sputtered.
“Sir, this is an awful thing someone did,” the
sheriff said, “but there’s nothing I can do. This was probably just some
poachers that happened upon the horses.”
“No!” Tara insisted. “My brothers backtracked the
horses and can prove that this was an organized effort to kill the whole herd.
It was definitely not a chance encounter.”
“You can’t prove that, miss,” the sheriff said. “How
about you boys?” He pointed to the reservation police. “Do you see anything
that makes you think it was more than a random incident?”
“No, sir,” one of the Indian officers answered,
“These were probably just some kill-happy hunters who would have shot at
anything.”
Shane had heard enough. “I’ve seen the tracks of the
shod horses and dogs that were chasing the herd. I’m telling you, if you go
down this trail and look beyond your own noses, you’ll see this was a large
group of men who obviously came out here for one reason. They were well
prepared and knew what they were after. If it hadn’t been for some bad luck,
when the main part of the herd split off, they would have killed a lot more
horses.”
“Mr. Carson,” the sheriff said, giving Shane a
pissed-off look, “the last thing I need is for you to be causing trouble by
putting bad ideas into these people’s heads. Just what the hell are you doing
out here anyway?”
“No one is putting ideas into our heads. We are
perfectly capable of thinking for ourselves!” Tigee responded angrily. “He is
here because I asked him to come. I figured you wouldn’t listen to us, but I
hoped Shane could convince you to help.”
“I’m going to tell you one
more time,” the sheriff said. “It doesn’
t make any sense for someone
to have an organized hunt for these mustangs. If they were going to go to all
that trouble, they would have taken the meat to the killer market. This was
just some punk kids who happened to come across these mares. Now, if you have
any more trouble out here, you let me know, and I’ll help your reservation
police try to catch these guys. Until then I can’t waste
valuable time chasing phantoms for a crime that doesn’t have a motive. Now
these dead horses are beginning to smell real bad, so I’m going home!”
Tara, looked over at the two native policemen and
sneered sarcastically, “You guys sure were a lot of help!”
“I don’t see any reason to think differently than
the sheriff,” one of them said. “I really think this is just a one-time thing.
We’ll come out next week on horseback and look around, but I really don’t think
you’ll see these hunters again.” After saying this, the two officers started
hiking to their truck.
Listening to all this talk about no motive made
Shane want to speak up about the oil, but this was still an unproven theory,
which would only fan the flames of potential trouble. Shane noticed a figure
moving up beside him. He was startled by Hawk, who appeared out of nowhere and
was now standing next to him. Then just as quietly, Tara’s brothers and JB
emerged.
“We can’t expect any help from the law,” Tigee said.
“We know, we heard,” replied Hawk.
“You knew those assholes were useless,” JB added.
The old shaman then took charge. “I want at least
two of you out here at all times. We’ll figure out a schedule later. Ivan and
Willie, you stay here the first couple of days. Use your long-range radios to
stay in touch with me at the ranch. You men need to keep your horses quiet and
stay out of sight. Watch your tracks, stay off the main trails, and no fires
except late at night. We need to keep the herd safe until we figure out a way
to handle this. If the shooters show up, try to spoil their attempt without
them even knowing you’re here. This way we can avoid any unnecessary violence.
If you find yourselves in a situation where you need to protect yourself, you
do whatever you have to do.”
The four Indians nodded and slipped back into the
trees, blending in and soon disappearing into the foliage and shadows.
Shane knew that if Nethers had pulled permits for oil exploration in
the area, sooner or later, the test crews would show up. Once he knew they were
here, he would have to catch them testing on reservation land. The more he
thought about it, the more he realized he would need the Shoshone’s help. The
area bordering the Indians’ valley and Nethers’s land was vast and rough. It
would take the Shoshone’s intricate knowledge of this terrain, along with their
amazing tracking skills, to come up with the proof Shane was after.