Damaged Hearts

by Angel Wolfe

  “We went into the general store together and after informing Mr. Johnson that she wanted to work a few trades, they went outside to the wagon. Twenty minutes later after going through all the items in the wagon, they had come to an agreement. Kat and I looked around the store, picking up odds and ends off of our list.”

  “After gathering up what we needed of the smaller items, Kat then handed Mr. Johnson the list of bulk items like coffee, sugar, salt pork, and etc. After tallying up the list, Mr. Johnson wrote out a receipt showing the items we purchased, the items we traded and the difference and handed Kat the remaining cash.”

  “Heading back to the ranch, Kat told me what she had found out at the land office. There had been some kind of mix-up in the paperwork and one acre of land; the acre near the river did not show up on the copy of the deed that was filed. In addition, they had no record of the prior year’s tax payment.”

  “Kat was furious. She was determined to look over all of her papers at home and find her copy of the deed that showed the river acreage with water rights. She was also going to find her receipt for the tax payment can cram it down someone’s throat.”

  “We rode quite a long time in silence. I knew better than to try to get her to talk when she was mad like that. Finally, when we were three quarters of the way home, she asked about Adam and Matt. I told her again about Matt’s interest in the Palominos and explained to her that I had gone to school with Adam and he now worked for Matt and his brother Rick.”

  “She decided that as long as too many people didn’t start showing up on our doorstep, it was probably ok for Matt to take a look at the stock. We got back to the ranch and after unloading the wagon, and rubbing down and putting away the horse, we went into the house. Like she had threatened, Kat went right to work going through all of her documents that she kept in a box under her bed.”

  “Sometime after midnight, she found the documents she sought and set them on the kitchen table before going to bed. The next morning we were having our coffee on the back porch like we always did when we heard gunshots.”

  “We ran inside, changed into riding clothes, and met back at the barn in less than a minute. We swung up on our horses and left the yard on bareback, riding hell bent for leather towards the sound of the gunfire.”

  “What we found sickens me even today; it was worse than the poisoned water hole. Someone had sat on the back of a horse and fired shots killing off the livestock one by one. Kat checked the around for prints and found several tracks; it was a shod horse with a small star shaped marking on the left rear shoe.”

  “After she looked at the prints she saw something that I honestly think broke her heart. Amidst all the dead stock, she found the body of eight and a half months pregnant Sunrise. She was due to foal in the next couple of months and Kat had just that morning discussed bringing her in. It was too late.”

  “Well, alerted by the sounds of gun shots several Ute hunters that were in the area came charging up. Upon seeing the carnage, the man that had given her Sunrise jumped down from his horse and asked us a few questions before ordering four of his braves to stay and help us as the rest of them went in search of the person that had slaughtered the stock.”

  “At that moment, Kat’s head shot up. “The paperwork!” She jumped back onto Dusty and all but flew towards the house, already knowing that it was too late. Killing the livestock served two purposes; one, to distract us into leaving the house unattended and two, no livestock meant no income.

  “Marie, you already know who rides the horse with the star on its shoe. It’s almost like his trademark. You may as well know too; he is the one that kidnapped Kat the first time and he ordered her kidnapping this time. I’m sorry Marie, but if Rick, Matt or any of the Ute Warriors run across your father; he’ll wish he were dead.”

  “Oh no, I know that he wasn’t always an honorable man but I would have never dreamed that he would do some of these things that he has apparently stooped to.” Marie gasped. “I am so very sorry Angel. I’d like to reassure you that although I love my father, I did not and will not have any part of the dishonest and horrendous things that he has done.”

  “I really appreciate hearing that Marie, and I think Kat will too when she’s well enough to hear it.” Angel replied sincerely.

  “So, did my Father take the receipts and copy of the deed?” Marie asked almost afraid to hear the answer.

  “As fast as she rode, by the time Kat made it back to the house not only were all the papers gone, but there was smoke billowing from her bedroom window. She ran through the house noticing that everything they owned was strewn around, smashed, disorganized, and destroyed. We were very lucky that your father was not an accomplished arsonist. Kat already had the fire out and I arrived just in time to meet Matt in the front yard.” Angel replied.

  “He came barreling into the yard having seen the smoke from the road and was worried about what might be going on. After talking to him, I found out that he had met your father on the road. He said that he found it odd seeing him in this area but didn’t think much more about it until I told him what had happened.”

  “I saw my sister cry for one of the only times in my life. Matt and I ran into the house thinking it might still be on fire. There Kat sit, in the middle of the entry room floor with her hands over her eyes, her whole body shaking with the gut wrenching sobs that she was uttering.”

  “Not knowing what else to do, I ran to her. I put my arms around her attempting to...if not reassure, at least possibly offer comfort to her. Matt, feeling slightly uncomfortable and out of place turned to leave. Hearing his footsteps, Kat looked up and told him he might as well stay since it looked like she’d be selling more stock than she counted on.”

  “I could tell she felt highly ashamed; as if she had lost her dignity. She stood up and wiped her tears away, unknowingly smearing soot all across her face. Not seeing any need to say anything else, I gently told her to go wash her face and we’d meet her at the barn.”

  “A few minutes later she met us outside and acted as if nothing had ever happened. She showed Matt both our horses and our cattle. He paid special attention to the cattle. They talked for a short time and he told her he’d bring his brother out in a few days to check out a couple young studs that she had been trying to decide whether to geld or not.”

  “After shaking hands with him, she told him thanks for coming by and asked him not to mention what had gone on earlier. With that, she whistled for Dusty, climbed up on his back, and rode off without saddle, reins or any tack of any kind.”

  “Matt stayed for quite some time. I found him to be as sensitive and caring as he was good looking. We agreed to see each other more often and he left, leaving me to hope and dream. I went inside the house and began opening all the windows and started to clean the mess that had been Kat’s room.”

  “I could imagine how violated she must feel as I looked at all her possessions strung out across the room. I stripped the bed and hung her quilt out on the line to air. Starting the water to heat in the washhouse, I began picking up all of her clothing and took it out and put it in a pile with her sheets.”

  “I cleaned up everything the best I could. The biggest thing that I couldn’t do though was to replace a small china figurine of a Palomino colt and an Australian Shepherd pup playing, that had been given to her by my father one year for her birthday. It had been a tiny little thing but it was the only non-living thing that my sister had ever cherished.”

  “She came back as I was hanging the last of the wash on the line. She apologized profusely for having left and almost had me crying. We went to the porch and sat together discussing what could be done. She knew we had to hire an attorney regarding the property borders, but she wasn’t sure if she could get anywhere with the unpaid tax issue.”

  “Having made our decision, we went inside, made some quick biscuits, and ate dinner; beef stew that she had put on the back of the stove to simmer all day. Then we sat on the back porch a while lo
nger watching the sun going down and discussing the possibility of getting a hand to help lighten our workload.”

  “A week later, Kat hired Jacob Weatherby to be our attorney. He was new to town and young, which gave us two advantages. We were to be his first case in Franklin, which made him need to win. Plus, since he was new and hungry his services were much more affordable than others in his field.”

  “I had almost given up hope of getting to see Matt again. Then, two weeks after the day of the fire, Kat was out working cattle, trying to separate what she wanted to keep from what was going in the sale field. I was in the yard grooming some of the horses that were in the sale pens, hoping to make them even more enticing so we could get a better sale price for them. Two men on nice looking paint horses came trotting into the yard. I recognized Matt and guessed that the other man must be his older brother. They were very similar in both looks and build; and they sat a horse identically the same.”

  “They dismounted and tied their horses to the post. Walking up, Matt gave me a big grin that melted my heart. He introduced me to Rick and I offered to take them to see the two studs that we had for sale. It seemed like Rick took one look at MagycDust and was hooked. Little did Kat or I know but his place was called Dark Magic Ranch. It was fate. Of course, about that time Rick looked out to the pasture and noticed Kat and Dusty working the cattle.”

  “He asked all sorts of questions about her and the horse and before I knew what was going on, he informed me that he had to meet her. From what I have seen of Rick, once that guy makes up his mind about something, there’s no getting it changed. I knew Kat would probably not be real happy that he came out there but I didn’t have much choice in the matter.”

  “I think Kat noticed him before he got to her because I saw her glance his way before moving off to find more cattle deeper in the brush. After making him hunt for her quite a while, she finally came out into the open and allowed him to approach her. When he introduced himself, I think he actually scored points. He compared her to a wild palomino filly that doesn’t trust people. I think he hit the nail on the head with his description.”

  “She took him to the sale pasture and showed him what she had available and told him that in the next few weeks, a lot more would probably be in there too. He then proceeded to question her about Magyc, his age, training, and bloodlines. Horses are her favorite subject and she gave him every possible bit of information there was, including some he probably could have cared less about. I think she impressed him.”

  “Anyway, they debated and argued and debated some more until they came to a price on Magyc that was agreeable to both of them. He looked over the cattle again almost as if he was reluctant to leave. Finally, he decided that he and Matt would be back in a couple weeks to decide what cattle he wanted to buy.”

  “During those two weeks, a demand letter on the taxes was delivered by the local deputy and after talking to Mr. Weatherby, Kat was told that legally she had to pay it and hope they could later prove it had already been paid. The night after she talked to the attorney, Kat and I discussed it and after adding up our finances, realized there was no way we could get our hands on that much money without selling a large percentage of our stock.”

  “I thought she was going to cry for the second time in four weeks. Instead, she let out a deep sigh of sorrow, pulled out her records book, and put her pencil to it. After two hours, she decided what we must do. All but twenty head of cattle and twenty-five of the palominos had to be sold.”

  “The time came for Rick and Matt to come back and Kat was ready for them. She had all the remaining cattle into a smaller pasture. Our eighty head that we had built up and been narrowed down to about forty. Between the poisoned water holes, all the stock that had been shot and what she had sold lately to bring in some fast money to pay the attorney, our herd was pitifully small.”

  “They came riding into the yard and for the first time in my life, I swear I saw interest in something other than stock in my sister’s eyes. She and Rick looked at the stock and spent hours upon hours arguing about what he was buying and what rights she would retain. Finally after coming to an agreement, Kat produced the paperwork that Mr. Weatherby had drawn up for her and they both signed two copies, one for each of them.”

  “Rick got his way though, and Kat spent an entire day with him helping move the cattle. What bothered her most out of the whole deal was the loss of Coal. She retained breeding rights but he wouldn’t be in her pasture anymore.”

  “The property situation was solved and we won the case; our tax money was never found though and you probably have a good idea what happened to it. Over the last year or so, Matt and I have been seeing each other every chance we get and we are expecting a child. We plan to be married very soon and now Rick and Kat are also engaged. Maybe we can make it a triple wedding.” Angel looked pointedly at Frank.

  ~XVIII~

  The telling of the story had made the ride go a lot quicker. Rick had gotten a heck of a history lesson on Kaitlyn and had heard some things that he had not even thought to take into consideration regarding their relationship.

  “You tell a colorful story Angel.” He praised. “What do you do for an encore?”

  “Well, now that you have the history, maybe you can build a future.” She shot back at him.

  “Wow, Angel” Matt added. “Even I heard a lot of things that you hadn’t told me before.”

  “Is Kat awake yet?” She asked anyone that chose to reply. She was getting worried that they had been moving for three hours and her sister hadn’t uttered a word.

  “She has opened her eyes a few times, looked at me, checked my forehead, and closed her eyes again.” Rick told her. “I think she’ll be ok after we get her home, have a doctor check her out and make sure she gets some rest.”

  “We need to check on James too.” Matt added. “Since he was taking George’s body back into town, I hope he didn’t run into trouble. The sheriff is bound to be upset about his rustled cattle disappearing and won’t be too happy about his lead rustler coming back dead either”

  “I had forgotten that they were supposed to go back to the cattle in two days’ time. I wonder what ever happened with that. Plus, the sheriff is bound to have noticed that his daughter hasn’t come home in a while.” Rick said.

  “I’ll bet Father is extremely angry.” Marie said, stating the obvious. “He was already upset with George for messing up something to do with Kat. Now that I left, I wonder if he mad about missing his business trip to Denver.”

  “Business trip to Denver?” Rick asked. “When was this trip supposed to happen? I wonder if it had anything to do with selling or finding a buyer for those stolen cattle.”

  “I’m sure it was Rick,” Marie answered. “When I overheard the conversation that he and Mr. Jenkins were having, they kept referring to their plans about leaving Kat in Sedona and selling off the cattle to a buyer that Father had arranged for. He was very adamant about my being packed and ready to go the very next morning.”

  “I’d have loved to have been there to witness him finding the canyon empty.” Matt laughed.

  “I’d rather not see him at all.” Frank said, speaking for the first time since they had set out. “He won’t be happy that I’m working for you guys now, but he never liked me anyway.”

  “Frank,” Rick started, not sure how he wanted to continue. “I noticed when you came to town to get Matt and me that your stutter had lessoned but now it seems to have totally gone away. What happened?”

  “I’m not sure Rick.” Frank said sheepishly. “But I think it had something to do with Kat being kidnapped and my needing to get the story to you as fast as I could.”

  “I think it had more to do with Marie.” Matt added laughingly.

  Marie blushed as she looked at Frank. “I didn’t think it mattered one way or another. Frank has always been quite charming and polite; and he is oh so handsome.” She giggled making Frank blush too.

  “Maybe I wasn’t t
oo far off thinking there might be a triple wedding.” Angel interjected.

  Frank looked to the men for help; finding none, he kicked his horse and rode forward with a huff. The men looked at each other thoughtfully wondering how they might be able to get enough property set aside for Frank’s dairy farm.

  As they neared the ranch, Kat started to stir. Looking up at Rick, she asked, “Where are we? Are we close to the ranch yet?”

  “We’re almost there Hun. You’ve slept almost the whole way.” He smiled.

  “Oh no, I was going to see to your wound and get it sewed up for you. It was bleeding pretty bad before I passed out.” She said dejected.

  “It’s ok Kaitlyn. Angel sewed it up and bound your ribs too. That’s a heck of a little sister you raised.” Rick said with praise. “You have taught her extremely well; I don’t even think she flinched when she closed up that hole in my side.”

  “I am so sorry Rick.” Kat said still stuck on the fact that she had been unable to help him. “I can’t believe that I was so weak that a minor injury kept me from helping you. Some wife I’ll be.”