Spirit Horses

by Alan S Evans

  Tara walked over to Shane and put her hand on his shoulder. “You’ve done all you can. I have to go to work now. I’ll call Dr. Burrows later and see how Butch is doing.” She kissed him on the cheek and left.

  “All right, let’s load up and go,” Shane spoke. “We’ve got a lot to do today.” Tigee had given Shane a radio so the chopper could stay in touch with Tara’s brothers in the valley.

  “This valley is breathtaking,” Megan remarked as they flew above the Big Wind River.

  Tara’s brothers had found the herd just a couple miles south of where the chopper was, and soon the pilot spotted them. The helicopter noise put Naatea and the herd into a wild run, which gave Brett some great action photos of the horses in their element. After that, JB guided the pilot to Jasper Canyon so Megan could see firsthand the carcasses of the slain horses.

  Next, they flew out to where the thumper trucks had scarred the ground while searching for oil. Tigee had finally told JB and Hawk about the illegal testing after they returned from their last trip to the valley, and Tashawa let JB know where to find the testing spots. Once Megan had taken all the pictures she needed, Shane asked JB to direct the pilot to a place with a view that would blow these people away. “You choose the spot, JB. I just want Megan to get a real grasp of how special this valley really is.”

  JB smiled, nodded, and then directed the pilot to the edge of the mountains on the northwest side of the valley. Shane had never been here, either.

  “Oh, my gosh!” Megan exclaimed, as she stepped out of the helicopter. The pilot turned off the engine to join them. Brett went crazy taking pictures as the five of them stood there in awe. “This area is called South Fork,” JB informed them. “It’s the only place around here where two mountain ranges join together. If you look up and behind us to the north you’ll see the Carter Mountains. To the east are the Owl Creek Mountains.” JB pointed down as everyone looked. “That’s Muddy Creek over six thousand feet below us. The creek runs into the Wind River a few miles south of here.”

  Far beneath them, gracing the majestic landscape was a unique formation. Like a big city sky-scraper, the mesa stood on its own nearly 1,300 feet high but only 40 yards across. Its walls on every side dropped straight down to the valley’s floor, making its hard, rocky top totally unattainable to anyone or anything, except maybe a high-soaring bird of prey.

  The group stood speechless with the wind at their backs for a while.

  “Wow,” Megan breathed as she looked across the basin. “I’ve only been here a couple of days, but I can see how you’ve gotten caught up in this country. I can’t wait to get started on my article.”

  Shane replied, “This place is really something, isn’t it?”

  Everyone profusely thanked their Shoshone guide for sharing this sight called South Fork. JB responded to their gratitude with a simple expressionless nod. Shane thought they would never get Brett to stop taking pictures so they could leave.

  It was mid-afternoon before the helicopter landed in the field next to the compound. Shane’s next move was to take Brett and Megan to their hotel in town, and then meet with Kate and her activist crew, who would have arrived by now.

  As soon as they returned to the ranch, Shane checked in with Tigee to see if he’d heard from Dr. Burrows. “Yes, the vet called about two hours ago. He wanted you to know that the dog does have a hernia, but it was small, and he was going to attempt to repair it. He said they would operate today, and if Butch makes it through the night he should be okay. He also said to tell you that the dog would not have survived another two hours in the valley.”

  Shane remarked with a frown, “We’ll just have to hope for the best.”

  Tigee nodded and asked, “Did your friend, Ms. Megan, get the information she needs for her story?”

  “Yes, sir, it went well today. I’m taking her and the photographer to check into the hotel now. Tara will meet them at the museum later for a tour.”

  Tigee nodded again and walked with him to the door. He grasped Shane’s shoulder and squeezed it tightly. “I trust you, Shane, the Tahotay.”

  Shane smiled, patted Tigee on his back, and walked away.

  On the way to Reddick with Brett and Megan, Shane called Kate O’Hanson on his cell phone. Once he got close to town, he was able to get enough of a signal to use it. The activist group had arrived and would meet with him in the hotel conference room in a half hour.

  Megan said she would write about the fact that this group was in town trying to save the mustangs, but couldn’t get involved with their opinions or promote their organization. “I think it’s a good idea they’re here, but I plan to stay clear of them. Now, all I need to do is interview some of the local town people about their feelings on the situation, then get the article started.”

  Shane gave her the Jensen’s phone number and told her that they would probably be glad to talk to her. “Just make yourself as visible as you can around town while you talk to the locals. We want this Nethers guy to know you’re here.”

  Megan smiled and winked. “No problem.”

  When Shane reached the conference room, the activist group was there waiting. The room was loud with conversation, and everyone was in a good mood. Kate O’Hanson came over and greeted him enthusiastically. “It’s good to see you, Shane.”

  “Yes, ma’am, it’s good to see you, too. Thanks for coming and bringing this mob with you.” Kate laughed and turned to the other fourteen in the room.

  “Everyone, please be quiet. I know we’re all tired from the long drive. First of all, I want to thank you for coming out here for this good cause. For those of you who don’t know him, I’d like to introduce you to Shane Carson. He’s going to talk to us now about what we’ve gotten ourselves into out here.” She then stepped aside and motioned to Shane to take center stage.

  Shane began by handing out informational materials he had picked up at the museum concerning the lineage of the mustangs, and their centuries-old ties with the Shoshone Indians. “There is no other managed group of wild horses in this country that can be traced back through American history the way these horses can.”

  He continued, “The literature I just gave you will amaze you with the herd’s bloodlines going back to important occurrences in our history like the Lewis and Clark Expedition as well as Custer’s fall at the Battle of the Little Big Horn. In order for a horse to be set free with this herd, he had to be chosen by the chiefs and had to have been involved in events that made a mark in time.” Shane then reached into his folder and held up photos of the slain horses. A shocked sympathetic groan sounded throughout the room. “This is what has been happening to these horses.”

  An angry voice shouted out from the group, “Why would someone want to do a terrible thing like this?”

  As a reply, Shane handed out copies of the pictures he had taken of the oil test sights. Shane wanted and needed this group to expose the oil as a strong possibility for why someone was trying to destroy the mustangs. The public, finding out about the oil, would shine the spotlight on Nethers’s and his partners’ scheme.

  “Who’s behind all this?” someone yelled out.

  “We know who it is, but because he’s a very smart guy, I don’t have enough evidence to accuse him publicly—yet.” Shane went on to explain the situation in great detail.

  “One of the things we have going for us is that this man and his accomplices don’t know that we are on to them. You people are my surprise attack. If we can blindside him by letting the public know about the unauthorized testing for oil, along with your strong save- the-horses protest, he’ll have no choice but to abort his plans. I want all of you to realize that it’s not just the horses we’re trying to save here, but also some of the most incredible country you’ve ever seen.”

  Everyone applauded, and a loud chatter filled the room.

  Kate stood behind Shane and requested the group’s attention once again. “Everyone, please listen. All of you can see what a worthy cause we have here.
This has been proven to me by what I’m about to tell you. WATV out of Casper Wyoming, which is about fifty miles east of here, has decided to do a feature news story entitled, ‘Who’s Killing the Horses?’ ” Once again the enthusiastic group began to applaud.

  “Wait, wait!” Kate cautioned. “There’s more! Once WATV got on the bandwagon, I was able to get three other local TV stations and several newspapers interested in the story. It looks as though the ‘Whose Killing the Horses?’ story is already becoming a hot news item in this part of the country. Folks, I mean right now—today!”

  Shane just shook his head and started to laugh. He knew Kate was an expert at stirring things up for her causes, but he never imagined she would be able to do all this so quickly, way out here in the middle of nowhere. The people in the room were now more excited than ever and couldn’t wait to get started spreading their save the mustangs posters around the town tomorrow. Kate looked at Shane and said, “You think you can get more copies of all those pictures?”

  “You bet!”

  She nodded and then continued, “I’ve hired a helicopter pilot to go out tomorrow to get some video footage of the herd and the dead horses for the TV stations. Funny thing,” she added, “the pilot said he knew you, and knew just where to go.”

  “Megan Tillie’s in town, doing an article about the mustangs for her magazine. He flew us out there this morning for some still shots.”

  Kate smiled and shook her head. “I know we don’t want to disturb the horses any more than we have to. I thought if I hired a chopper for my cameraman and me, it would mean only one more flight out to the valley. I’ll give everyone in the media any footage they’ll need. This will keep all the TV stations from flying in there for their own film.”

  “I’ll tell the Shoshone you’re doing this for them,” Shane said. “They’ll appreciate it. I do need to hook the pilot up with the men guarding the horses in the valley. They can tell him, via radio, where to find the herd. We’ll coordinate all this tomorrow.”

  Kate walked outside with Shane to his truck, and, in an understatement said, “Looks like we’re about to set this little town on its ear.”

  Shane climbed into his truck and rolled down the window. “Well, Kate, that’s exactly why I got you out here.” Then he smiled, winked, and drove off.

  When Shane returned to the ranch, Tara told him Butch had survived the operation. The wolf would need to stay in the animal hospital for a few days, but then he could come home to finish his recovery.

  Shane let Tara and her grandfather know everything that was happening in town. “Hopefully, all this trouble will be over soon.”

  Chapter 25

  The next morning, Shane helped set up the communication between the helicopter pilot and Tara’s brothers. The second trip into the valley went as planned. The film that Kate took of Naatea and the herd, along with the carcasses at Jasper Canyon, turned out to be just what the doctor ordered.

  Megan told Shane she thought she’d be able to finish up her magazine article, and would be flying home in a couple days. Shane and Tara would take Megan to dinner before she left town. He planned to say his good-byes to her then.

  Kate, who enjoyed being the center of attention, was handling all the press and media from the surrounding cities. Shane had set the ball in motion and was now sitting back, letting everything take its course. Both the TV and newspaper reporters, understandably, needed the Shoshone to be part of this human interest story. So Kate contacted Shane to have him set up interviews with Tara and Tigee at Fort Washakie. Tara did a great job answering their questions with her grandfather by her side.

  Everything really began to accelerate over the next week. Soon all the major networks picked up the story from the local stations. Now the “Who’s Killing the Horses?” story had the nation’s attention. Never in his wildest imagination could Shane have foreseen that this story would explode onto the national scene like it did. Even though he tried his best to stay away from the media, Megan’s story and some of the newspaper articles did mention his name, and explained that bringing his mustang mare out to set her free was the reason the situation had become public.

  All of the news stories and Megan’s article ended up mentioning the possibility of greed and oil being the reason for the brutal shootings of the horses. Megan’s editors, along with their lawyers, decided that this was an important part of the story. As long as no names were mentioned, they would be clear of any libel. The news media had all taken the same views, and most were using Shane’s pictures of the test sites on the reservation as part of their stories.

  The initial media frenzy of the mustang’s plight was over as quickly as it began. Kate O’Hanson’s fifteen minutes of fame had now ended. She and her people had done what they came to do, and were now leaving town. With the public interest still strong, a couple of the investigative reporters lingered around hoping to find out who was behind the death of the mustangs.

  Vince Nethers’s first reaction to all the news was extreme anger. He had seen Shane’s name mentioned in the reports and knew he was behind it. “I lost a fortune because of that son of a bitch—all because he wanted to turn one stupid mustang loose with that herd!” Over the phone, Vince screamed an order to his mafia partner, “I want that prick to pay for this.”

  John Risolli laughed at his request. “I’m out of it! There’s way too much attention directed toward what’s happening in that valley right now! Up to this point, there’s no tie-in between your oil testing and me, and it better stay that way, or you’ll be the one who pays! If I were you, I’d leave this Shane Carson alone and maybe even leave town for a while.” A hard click sounded as Risolli hung up on him.

  Nethers had also talked earlier to his other partner, Barry Russell, with the oil company. He got the same reaction from him. “If anyone should ask me,” Barry said, “I’ll tell them my men went where your guides told them to go. I’ll claim I didn’t know they were on reservation land when they did your testing.”

  Vince planned on using the same excuse if the reporters or authorities questioned him. He would just tell them that his guides made a mistake and wandered over the property line onto the

  reservation by accident. Whether or not any ongoing investigation did zero in on Vince and his scheme, his dream of getting richer from any oil in the Wind River Valley was over.

  During the couple of weeks the media was in town, Shane had done his best to lay low and hang out at the ranch. He quietly reveled in knowing the valley was now safe, while Nethers squirmed in his boots. His plan had worked. Now with the public interest and the activist eyes on the mustangs, no one would be trying to catch or kill the herd anymore.

  The tribe’s business interests were beginning to turn around, too. Several oil companies had approached the Shoshone and Arapaho about testing in the valley. With the Indians in control, the drilling could be limited so there’d be minimal impact on the land.

  While Shane was keeping a low profile at the ranch, he’d spent a lot of time working with Tommy and his horses. The young boy continued to soak up the knowledge like a sponge, and Shane enjoyed every minute of it.

  It was an easy decision for him to stay on the reservation for the remainder of the summer, especially since he and Tara were now spending much of their free time together. They both believed that fate had brought them together and were now determined to figure out some way to build a future with each other. Just the sight of Tara brightened each day, and with her understanding and support, Shane was slowly moving from his getting-by-one-day-at-a-time philosophy to actually feeling good about life again.

  With plenty of summer left and the herd now safe from Nethers’s gang, Shane was having to face up to doing what he originally came out to do—setting Sloppy free. The decision to stay for the rest of the summer, however, provided an excuse for him to temporarily put off the inevitable, which was becoming more and more difficult for him to face. He knew doing it soon would allow him plenty of time to keep an
eye on her during her reentry stage. It was important for him to ensure that she was accepted by the rest of the herd, and to give her time to acclimate back to her wild life before winter set in.

  He chose the following Saturday to take her out to the valley. Tara, Tigee, JB, and Hawk offered to go with him, but he felt strongly that this was something he had to do on his own.

  On Friday, the day before he would move the mare out to the herd, he decided he would take her on one last ride. It had been a couple of weeks since Butch came home from the animal hospital, and he was healing on schedule.

  The mare seemed anxious during the ride. Maybe she was picking up on Shane’s mood, about riding her for the last time. She and Tory were, after all, the last living links to so many fond memories he had of his wife and kids. While he rode, he couldn’t help but think of Jacob and Tina.

  As he unsaddled the mare and turned her out for the evening, he knew in his heart Sloppy would finally be content when he set her free tomorrow. “You’ll do fine out there,” he said out loud to her. “After all, you were born and raised in the valley, and that’s where you belong.”

  Her shoes had been pulled several weeks ago so her feet could toughen up, and Tommy had kept her in good shape. She was ready. He just didn’t know if he was.

  When Shane returned to his cabin, Tara was waiting for him on the front porch. As he reached the top step, she walked over to him, put her arms around his neck, and hugged him tightly. “Are you sure you don’t want me to go with you tomorrow?” Shane shook his head no, and gestured for Tara to follow him inside the cabin. He asked her to wait a minute as he ruffled through the old pair of saddlebags he had brought with him from Tennessee. He pulled out the paper Jacob had written in school about Sloppy and handed it to Tara. For the first time ever, he was letting someone else read it. On the top of the paper was the boy’s name, Jacob Carson, sixth grade, along with the date and a big B+ written in red ink.