Page 68 of Inventions of the Heart

CHAPTER

TWENTY-TWO

THIS LITTLE BEND IN THE CREEKIS PERFECT.”Michelle had decided the stream in the largest pasture needed to be prepared for a waterwheel first.

Zane wasn’t sure why she thought that, and he couldn’t think of any questions that didn’t just slow everyone down, so he assigned five men to Michelle and Jilly, including Josh, and went to help the other cowhands start separating the herd.

Three men had also ridden in who used to work for Annie. Zane hired them on the spot.

Before he assigned the day’s jobs, he mentioned how much the irrigation was going to add to the workload and raised every man’s salary to thirty-five dollars a month.

He had a happy crowd with him for the day.

Shad was riding beside him to the first pasture.

“I want to push ahead with the cattle drive this year, Shad. I know we usually wait and get more weight on the cattle before we thin the herd.”

“You’re worryin’ about the drought, aren’t you, Boss?”

“Yep.”

“We got that fence up you wanted in the small pasture.”

“We can start separating there. Drive out the cows and this year’s calves into the next pasture south. Keep the steers in there and drive in more.”

“We got the cattle moved off that south pasture, so the grass is in fair shape, dry but not eaten down.”

“Thanks, Shad. You’re getting a raise, too, you know.”

As Zane’s foreman and a hand who’d been here through most of Zane’s growing-up years, Shad already made real decent money, and he was a man with simple needs. But if the money was going to be spread around, Shad would get a share.

“Thanks, Boss.”

“We can spend the next couple of weeks pushing the older steers into that little pasture, and I might cut a little deeper than usual.”

“Mrs. Hart is gonna get you some water flowing. You’ll be fine.”

Zane thought he probably was going to be more than fine. Between his thinning the herd, Michelle and Jilly irrigating his pastures, and finding a gold mine, he was going to be great.

“She’s gonna reroute the stream?” Shad glanced behind him as if he might be able to see through the miles to where Michelle had headed to work.

“That’s what she says. And dig some shallow canals for the water to spread out over the field, then put in a waterwheel so the water comes out of the stream and flows into those canals. There might be pipes involved, too. I lost track. For today, I think the plan is to pick a site, then start haulingrocks in to reroute the stream. It’s why she picked that stream to start on. It’s got the easiest bend and a good supply of rocks nearby. She and her sister spent an hour mulling over maps this morning before they came out.”

“She’s a wonder. Mrs. Hart and her sister.”

“I am fortunate in my wife.” Zane’s heart seemed overly warm as he thought how she came into his arms at night. How she listened when he talked. How she’d called the Two Harts home. It all suited him right down to the ground.

“I’d’ve liked to watch,” Zane said. “Try and see how those two are going to manage irrigating my pasture.”

“Go on back. We can handle the herding.”

“Nope, she’ll do what she’s good at, and I’ll run my ranch. It’s an arrangement that suits us both.”

“I’ve had a talk with the men, so they’ll keep their eyes open for trouble. We let Jarvis Benteen get into your house, and that should’ve never happened.”

Then they reached the small pasture and were too busy to talk further. All Zane thought of was no, that should’ve never happened. He worked hard. And while he worked, he prayed hard that they could keep it from happening again.

Because there was no doubt in his mind that the Benteens hadn’t accepted defeat.

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