Michael McGarrity - Hermit_s Peak

"What do you think?" Dale asked, as he picked out some burrs that had galled Pancho's flank.

"I think we've got a poacher who sells firewood for a living. Someone who knows his way around the area."

"He sure picked a spot to cut where he wouldn't be seen."

"Exactly" "You're going to lose this acreage to erosion if you don't act fast. About the best you can do right now is slow it down and keep it from spreading. It's gonna take a chunk of money and a lot of hard work to save it."

"I know." Kerney looked up at the mesa. The tips of the ponderosas were tinged gold by the afternoon sunlight.

"We need to get started back."

"Do you think the poaching and the murder are connected?"

"Could be. You never know."

"Barbara and the girls aren't going to believe a word of this when I get home."

"Don't start polishing up your story yet. The weekend isn't over."

"What else can happen?"

"Just about anything," Kerney replied.

They rode back to the crime scene. Another chopper was on the ground and additional techs were busy field searching an expanded area. He could see Melody Jordan in the distance at another grove of trees. She turned and waved, but she was too far away for Kerney to tell if she had a thousand-watt smile on her face.

He found Sergeant Gonzales and filled him in on the wood poaching.

"Do you want me to jump on it right away. Chief?"

Gonzales asked.

"How far along are you here?"

"Nothing more has turned up. We'll be back out in the morning."

"Do you think Officer Thorpe can pick up some evidence and photograph tire tracks without your supervision?"

"He should be able to handle it."

"Send Thorpe in the chopper. Loan me your notebook and I'll sketch the scene for him."

Gonzales pulled a notebook from his pocket and held it out. Kerney drew a rough map of the defile, noting the location of the tire tracks, the cut fence, and the empty oil container.

"Have Thorpe bring back a sample of the cut barbed wire," Kerney said.

"We might get a good tool mark to use as evidence."

"Will do," Gonzales said.

"Stay with it. Sergeant."

"We'll be here until last light."

The chopper carrying Officer Thorpe took off soon after Dale and Kerney left. They watched it rise in the distance and turn toward the poaching site. Enough daylight remained for the two men to follow the south end of the mesa back to the cabin. They dropped off the crest and skirted around a sheared bluff that resembled a poorly chiseled arrowhead. A ranch road plunged down the mesa in a series of switchbacks, and faded into ruts that followed a fence line.

They made the turn around the mesa and joined up with the county road.

Dead ahead, barely visible in the growing dusk, stood the cabin, truck, and horse trailer.

Before they reached the cabin, Kerney could hear Shoe barking. He dismounted to the clamor of the dog scratching at the metal floor of the horse trailer. The mutt was trying to dig his way out of captivity. When Kerney spoke to the dog, it stopped scratching and sat expectantly, eyes fixed on Kerney.

"You'll have to wait a few minutes," Kerney said.

Shoe's tail flapped in response.

Dale got busy with dinner and Kerney tended to the horses, watering them at the stream and feeding each a bag of grain. Then he hobbled them nearby for the night on some good grass where they could graze.

As he walked back to the trailer, rotor noise cut the stillness. He watched the lights of the helicopters pass out of the valley, let Shoe out of the trailer, and tied him to the bumper. The dog rolled on his back, and lifted his front paws in the air. Kerney gave him a tummy scratch.

When dinner was ready. Dale found Kerney in the truck with the cab light on, studying a plat map.

"According to this map, Nestor Barela owns land that parallels mine on the backside of the mesa," Kerney said, taking the plate from Dale's hand.

Dinner consisted of steak, a baked potato, and a large slab of homemade apple pie. He got out of the truck and followed Dale to the campfire.

Two camp stools had been set up. He sat down, balanced the plate on his knees, and cut into the steak with a knife.

"He might be worth talking to," Dale said.

"He holds the grazing rights on my property."

"He sure hasn't been using them."

"Maybe he went into the wood cutting business instead." Kerney took a bite of steak.

"This is good."

"Homegrown range-fed beef. Can you pay the taxes on this place?"

"I'm trying not to think about it. The appraisal is due next week. I don't have a due what the inheritance tax will be."

"It will be a pretty penny."

"Yeah, and it'll take a huge mortgage to cover the taxes and make the improvements the place needs."

"I've been yearning for some high-country summer grazing land."

"What are you saying. Dale?"

"This land is like a grass bank waiting for cattle that need fattening up. I've got yearlings that will add two hundred pounds easy in a summer up here."

"Do you want to buy me out?"

"I had a partnership in mind: your land, my beef. I'll take out a loan each year to make the tax payments, and you give me half interest in the property. You carry the bank note for the improvements. That way we share the load."

Kerney shook his head.

"I won't let you borrow against your land on my account. It's too risky."

"You're one stubborn son of a bitch."

"I know it."

"Well, think about it. It might work."

"I didn't know being land rich could be so damn frustrating."

"If you want to ranch, you're going to have to use somebody else's money to do it."

"I guess that's true. Hold off until I know what the taxes will be.

Okay?"

"Okay" "Did Barbara bake the pie?"

"She did, and sent it along with her love."

"Save your steak bone for Shoe," Kerney said.

"It's already got his name on it."

The dog, still tied to the bumper, flapped his tail, drooled, and kept his eyes fixed on the two men.

In the morning, it was Kerney's turn to cook. At first light, he fixed enough chow to insure leftovers for the dog. After cleaning up the dishes, he fed Shoe, put on the makeshift collar and leash, and took him for a walk.

Dale laughed as Kerney led the dog away. Shoe seemed perfectly content to be on a leash, and after sniffing around for the right spot, he did his business. The dog still limped. Kerney hoped that some weight gain and exercise would correct the problem.

Sergeant Gonzales arrived in a four-wheel drive pulling a horse trailer, followed by a Game and Fish truck, with another trailer, and several patrol units. Kerney questioned him about the crime scene search, and Gabe reported that nothing more had been found. Gonzales, his team, and the Game and Pish officer were all dressed in riding gear.

"Have the techs work the site one more time," Kerney said.

"They're on the way," Gonzales said.

"We'll cover the mesa on horseback. If anything else is there, we'll turn it up."

Kerney saw Gonzales and his team off, tied Shoe to the bumper of the trailer, borrowed Dale's truck, and promised to return in a hour. He wanted to pay a friendly visit to Nestor Barela and see what kind of neighbor he had inherited.

The ranch road leading to Barela's place was an expensive piece of work. Graded, crowned, and topped with packed base course, it was far superior to the poorly maintained county road. The headquarters sat in a horseshoe canyon about a hundred acres deep and half as wide. From the last cattle guard into the headquarters, the road was asphalt.

Kerney stopped before he crossed the cattle guard and looked the place over. The most prominent building was an indoor arena near a large horse barn. Expensive white pipe fences enclosed cool down areas, exercise rings, show jumping gates, and corrals. Two smaller outbuildings, a hay shed, and a loading pen were sheltered at the side of the canyon.