Page 23 of A Triple C Ranch Christmas Wedding
Cayenne and Freckled Fanny were the two she knew and felt a sentimental attachment for. She read the others’ names and thought about how someone had taken the time to paint these nice wooden signs and embellish the letters with designs that were pretty. It showed her that these horses were loved.
Sunshine, Genevieve, Indiana, Blossom, Petra, Duchess, Silent Storm, and Beau were the other names.
All ten horses are gone. Now, we have to round up cows and ten horses? That’s a lot of rounding up. The ranch foreman is in the hospital. What will they do without him to take care of all these horses?
Lucy was feeling overwhelmed and had a sudden bad feeling about things going wrong. But she kept it to herself. Her bad feeling about the bachelor party had just come from worry, and likely, that’s what this was, too.
George walked into the barn. “Cows out again?” he asked. “Where are the horses? Horses get out, too? Looks like they’re all outside. This might take longer than I thought. We might have to call Dan out here to help us.”
* * *
Outside the barn,Jack saw only cows in the paddock, wandering about, no horses. He started to look for horse tracks.
As he searched, he got a strong gut feeling about this. His gut had never steered him wrong.
When he found their tracks and followed them, the tracks bore out what he’d been thinking. Someone had taken the horses.
Horse thieves. Do they still hang them here in Montana? Montana had a long history of horse thieving.
It looked to Jack like that history was alive and well today.
The tracks indicated that someone had led the horses out, single file, all the way to the open gate and beyond. The gate now stood open, just like the stalls inside the barn.
Whoever had taken them had been in a hurry, not bothering to close the gates or doors.
He headed back to the barn to tell the others.
As he stepped inside the barn, he saw that George had joined Leah and Lucy.
“The horses are gone,” Jack said, as he walked back in. “They’re not in the paddock. Just cows. Best look around the barn, see if anything else is missing.”
George went directly to the tack room and came right back out, moving faster than Lucy would have guessed the older man could move. “Somebody broke into the tack room last night. Three saddles are missing.”
“Oh no,” Leah said, her eyes widening. “What can we do?”
“Nothing you can do,” George said. “Except put the cows back right now.”
“I’ll help you with the cows,” Lucy said quietly. “I’m sorry about the horses.”
“Thanks,” Leah said and sent her a sad smile. “Two of the horses are ready to foal in just three more weeks.”
“Get the cattle out of the paddock. Put them back in the pasture,” George said to the women. Then he turned to Jack. “Show me where they took them,” he growled, containing his anger, even as it radiated off his wiry body.
“Tracks are back here,” Jack said and gestured for George to follow him.
“Take me to where the tracks are. Then I’m calling the sheriff. I’d better check Buck’s apartment when we get back, too, to see if they got into it. He’s got a land line. I can call the sheriff from up there.”
He followed Jack outside to where the horse’s tracks were.
They both looked down at the ground.
“Looks like the horses were led out.” Jack said. “Single file. Probably on a lead.”
The women were trying to move the stubborn cows out of the paddock, into the pasture on the other side.
Jack watched his bride out of the corner of his eye as he talked to George.
Seeing her trying to move a big cow was sort of comical, as she began by waving her arms and shouting, “Shoo, move on, cow.”
