Page 28 of Stockman's Showdown

‘There was a cave-in. Hypoxia—which means they didn’t suffer in pain,’ replied Ryder, copping a nod of gratitude from Bree at that part. ‘The police will find out more. Harry left you that box of gold there. It came with that letter.’ Ryder lifted off the lid from the crate.

‘Struth. Gold, huh?’ Charlie rested his hands on the hips of his jeans, where his stockwhip was attached, and peeked inside the crate.

‘And that suitcase is full of old cash.’ Dex tapped at it with his boot.

‘How much cash?’

‘Dunno. Heaps.’ Dex pulled back the lid on the hard suitcase, where amongst the lady’s vintage silk underwear were thick wads of cash. ‘Did they rob a bank?’

‘Dex!’ Ryder scowled.

Dex shrugged. ‘Bree would’ve asked the same.’

‘That’s true,’ mumbled Bree.

It made Ryder pause, considering Charlie’s brother Harry was wanted for murder.

‘Is that cash still legal tender?’ Bree asked Ryder.

‘Sure. But right now, we need to leave it for the police. This is all evidence.’ Even though they might get into trouble for it, it hadn’t stopped Ryder and Dex from poking through everything,finding a few shotguns and a duffel bag with Harry’s clothes in it. ‘Have you read the letter Harry left you?’

Charlie shook his head, patting the envelope tucked into his shirt pocket. Taking in the scene, he slowly shifted his boots, their thick Cuban heels and spurs clinking against the rocky floor, to face the wall where the wordsTogether Foreverwere etched in stone.

Bree rubbed her grandfather’s shoulder. ‘Are you okay, Pop?’

‘Um, I…’ Charlie looked lost.

‘Listen up, Pop.’ She stood right in front of him, getting really close as if to force her grandfather to focus on her. ‘Ryder is going to ride home with you. You need to show him the shortcut.’

‘Yes. Right. Um, we’ll cut through, cut through the—the…’

‘Scary Forest. Ryder will call the police. You’ll then unsaddle the horses and get the Razorback ready.’

‘Why not the chopper?’ butted in Dex.

Ryder would love to, but he couldn’t. ‘The dust and rubble is too fresh for the helicopter to come anywhere near this place. It’d cause a dust storm and may disturb this—’ He couldn’t call it a crime scene, or could he? ‘I’d hate for it to start another landslide.’

‘Yeah, yeah.’ Charlie nodded as if his mind was trapped in a fog. ‘I’ll get more torches, water.’

‘There’s food in the fridge. You need to eat when you get home to keep up your blood sugar levels. And I packed a couple of snack bars in your saddlebags if you need it.’

Dammit. Did Charlie take his pills this morning?

They all knew the caretaker had a tricky heart, flatly refusing heart surgery. But it never stopped the old stockman, that at times Ryder forgot Charlie was in his eighties. But grief was a tricky beast that made people react in different ways. And this, well, this was something entirely different. How do you describe the shock of finding something so completely unsuspected,when they all knew Charlie had hoped for a happy reunion when he found his brother again.

‘Pop, look at me.’ She held her grandfather’s cheek, lowering herself to meet his eyes.

‘But—’

‘Right now, you need to go get the police. You need to focus.’

‘Yeah. You’re right.’ Charlie nodded, blinking the grit out of his eyes as if to clear his head. ‘Where are you going, kid?’

‘To finish this muster. Or do you want me to stay with you?’

‘Yeah—nah. There’s a muster to finish. The cattle are spooked enough as it is. Just be home in time for supper, eh?’

‘I’ll try, Pop.’ She hugged her grandfather. ‘I love you, Pop, and I’m so, so, sorry I ever doubted you.’ With a nod, she was gone.

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