Buffalo Gal

by Mary Connealy

  Wyatt stopped with his mouth almost ready to chomp the first bite out of his fifth burger. “This is buff? Really?”

  “Yep.”

  A thousand questions ran through Wyatt’s mind, and only exhaustion made him quit sorting around for the right one. He just said what was on his mind at the moment. “Does Buffy know you’re eating her herd?”

  Wolf started laughing. Unfortunately he had a mouthful of buffalo, and he almost choked to death.

  Wyatt ate his sandwich more carefully.

  Wolf finally was breathing right again. “That’s not the question I expected, but I guess I should have known you’d think of her first.”

  Wyatt didn’t like the strange tone or the sharp way Wolf studied him. He’d known Wolf ever since the Commons had popped up next door to him over ten years ago. Wolf had gotten along well with his dad, and Wyatt had always liked him, even if he didn’t like his herd or what Leonard did to the price of land.

  “You know,” Wolf said thoughtfully, “Buffy and I have a very different idea about what a buffalo commons should be.”

  “The whole Midwest, empty of people and overrun by buff, just like in the good old days,” Wyatt said sarcastically.

  “Not exactly what I meant. I’ve known her a couple of weeks, and already I’ve learned that she thinks with stars in her eyes. She sees these animals and sees beauty and strength, and it touches something primitive in her. Still, she’s got a practical head in charge of her romantic heart. She just loves them and wants to be near them. She’s done the schooling and burned off a good share of her youth working toward her goal.”

  “You’ve known her for the same length of time I have. You don’t know anything about her.” Wyatt grabbed a sixth burger and worked on the stack of potatoes.

  Wolf poured him another glass of tea. “But I’m a different story. I don’t have the heart of a practical dreamer. I have the heart of a Sioux warrior. I see buff. I see food.”

  “Does Leonard know you’re eating his herd?”

  Wolf laughed again. “Leonard and I almost understand each other.”

  “Almost?”

  “Leonard isn’t what he seems.”

  “A spoiled, rich East Coast liberal who says the right thing in front of the television cameras then does exactly what he wants in private?”

  Wolf seemed amused by that. “Okay, he’s exactly what he seems. He’s got the rest of the world fooled, but I should have known better than to underestimate you.”

  “So, what do you mean, almost? What doesn’t Leonard understand?”

  Wolf said thoughtfully, “He likes the idea of being an environmentalist because it’s popular. It’s his cause. He doesn’t have a clue what it means, but he hires people to understand, and he hires the best, like Buffy, like me. So he’s doing good, I think.”

  Wyatt thought of his ruined ranch and his herd, maybe ruined. He set the buffalo burger down. His appetite was gone.

  Wolf was a smart guy. He had to notice Wyatt’s change in attitude, but he kept on trying to explain. “The thing he doesn’t understand is that the Buffalo Commons can’t survive as a rich man’s toy. He’s raising a herd of buffalo so big that, if something happens to him, if his heirs don’t share his ideas of how to spend the family money, or if the stock market crashes, he’s got a huge herd of big, dangerous animals with nowhere to go. He spends a fortune on staff and fence. He flies in and tosses big checks around and sends us every specialist we need. But the Commons can’t survive like that.”

  “And you think you know a way to make it survive?”

  Wolf gave him a long look. “I’d say you got right to the heart of the matter.”

  “So what’s your idea?”

  “It’s simple. You’re eating my idea. Buff weren’t put on this earth to be admired and cosseted like Buffy wants to do. They were put on the earth to be part of the food chain. If Leonard would give me a year to run this place like I want, I could make it pay. I’d start by making buff into a delicacy that people would buy for special occasions, and then I’d turn it into a staple as common as hamburger. If this place could support itself, we wouldn’t need Leonard’s money.”

  “Why buffalo, Wolf? This meat is good, but it’s no better than beef. And beef cattle are nowhere near as dangerous to handle or as hard to fence in.”

  “Yeah, but buff naturally thrive out here. They don’t need the babying.”

  Wyatt knew that for a fact. “They’re hardy, but my Angus do okay.”

  “They need more water, better grass, and more doctoring than a buff ever would.”

  “But buff will never be safe. There’s no taming them and nothing except a million dollars in fence that’ll keep ’em in.”

  “I haven’t figured out the fence yet. The fence is the thing that keeps stopping me.”

  “But it would be solved if you could really create a buffalo commons, right?” Wyatt asked coldly. “Forget the fence and let the buffalo have the whole Great Plains.”

  “If I had my way, I’d use the Missouri River for the east fence and the Rockies for the west fence. I’d turn ’em loose.” Wolf held up his hand to stop Wyatt. “I know that’s impossible.”

  “My great-grandfather—”

  “I know. He homesteaded this land. It’s in your blood. I’ve heard it all. Big deal.”

  “Big deal?” Wyatt had taken one more bite of burger, and it was his turn to choke. He had to chew for a moment, and while he did, he studied Wolf. He had known Wolf for a long time, and he’d never seen the almost mystical calm in the man waver. Until now. Suddenly he could see the Sioux warrior. He could imagine Wolf, riding wild across the prairie, ramming a spear into a charging buffalo.

  “You heard me. Big deal. My great-great-grandfather is buried under these hills. This is sacred land to my people since before recorded history. All my ancestors lived and died in these mountains and valleys. Why is your four generations of family something I should respect when you don’t respect the blood that calls out to me from these hills?”

  “You know I respect you, Wolf. But it’s a little late to be re-fighting the Battle of the Little Big Horn. I’m here. You’re here. Why isn’t that enough? Why does your plan have to include me moving east of the Missouri?”

  “I’ll tell you why, Wyatt. It’s because I’ve never heard you say I have a right to be here. You’ve wanted these buff gone from the first day they unloaded the truck.”

  Wyatt took a deep breath. It burned him to admit Wolf was right. He couldn’t bring himself to say it now. “Now’s a bad time to try and convince me these buffalo are a good idea.”

  Wolf snorted. “When is there ever a good time with you?”

  Wyatt had to give him that one, too. “You really think you can make it pay?”

  Wolf hesitated.

  Wyatt saw the blazing eyes of the warrior subside. He reached for another burger.

  “Now that the fence is here, yes, I think it could pay. I’ve even made some contacts with specialty meat buyers. I could start supplying them with buffalo meat with a phone call. I’ve approached Leonard about it. He lets a few buff be sold off for meat when they’re injured or older, but that’s not the best meat. The best is young, tender. Like what you’re eating right now. Leonard lets me buy one for my own use from time to time. I’d try and get Buffy to have a bite if she wasn’t a vegetarian.” Wolf shook his head. “I’ve never figured that one out. The whole animal world eats each other, but we’re not supposed to join in. It don’t make sense.”

  Wyatt drained his glass of tea and stood up. “You’ve finally said something we agree on. I think we’d better go to sleep while we’re ahead.”

  Wolf laughed and turned back to his burger. He looked at it thoughtfully. “A million dollars’ worth of fence. What am I supposed to do about that?”

  ❧

  Buffy rolled out of bed when the alarm rang at five thirty.

  She almost dropped to her knees.

  She groaned and would have
lowered herself back into bed if she wasn’t afraid she’d never get out again. Every muscle in her body was screaming at her for yesterday. She staggered to the shower, even though she’d showered last night before she went to bed. She let hot water blast down on her muscles, and it helped enough to keep her going. She swallowed more than her share of aspirin and pulled on her work clothes. She was outside at the buffalo pens long before light.

  The sun peaked over the horizon just as Wolf emerged from his trailer. Wyatt and Seth came out of the bunkhouse at the same time.

  She glanced at them and went back to counting buff. “Coffee in the thermos.” She pointed to it and some coffee cups on the hood of her truck and went back to counting.

  None of them spoke to her beyond “Morning.” They just poured coffee and started their own count.

  The buffalo stood or lay on the dewy grass. They weren’t agitated like they’d been yesterday, which made counting easy. The day was already hot.

  The heat and Buffy’s movement eased the ache in her muscles more than the shower and the aspirin. They had ten sturdy yards close around the ranch yard, and they’d divided the herd up so the number was manageable.

  Buffy marked the number in the tally book, counting each pen until she got the same number twice. She was done and adding up the totals on her pocket calculator when Wyatt joined her. They compared numbers.

  Wolf walked over. “We just had a good count a few weeks ago, when all the spring calving was done. They’re all here.”

  Buffy stretched her back, and a mild groan of pain escaped.

  Wyatt ran his knuckles up and down Buffy’s spine. She appreciated the gesture. Too bad it was coming from a man who wished her buffalo had all died.

  One of the new hands Leonard had sent came tearing into the yard in a pickup and jumped out of his cab. He hit the ground running. “We’ve got trouble on the west fence.”

  Buffy stepped past Wyatt and Wolf. “What trouble?”

  “We’ve been putting this down as an accident—the lightning spooked the herd, and they stampeded through the fence. I’ve just had a closer look, and that fence was cut.”

  Wyatt stepped up beside her. “Deliberately cut? Someone let these buffalo loose?”

  “And stampeded them, I’m guessing. It looks like fireworks were set off, aimed right at them. We found shredded Roman candles and other trash. There are tire tracks all over out there, and I found this.”

  It was a mirror from the side of a car. The word Subaru was painted on the base.

  “Where’d you find it?” Wyatt took the mirror. He plucked some long hairs off. Buffalo hair.

  “It was in the Commons, inside the yard. There were no other tracks.”

  “So someone driving this rig”—Wyatt waved the mirror—“did this? It doesn’t make sense. No one’s this stupid.”

  Buffy took the mirror and turned it over in her hands. “Someone is.”

  Wyatt leaned down until his nose almost touched her. He said through clenched teeth, “So now I have to deal with vandalism? Which means this could happen again?”

  “The fireworks sound like the work of kids. We’ll beef up security on the fence and worry about who did it when we’ve cleaned up the mess from the stampede. For now, just let it go.” She turned away.

  Wyatt caught her arm and turned her back.

  “Please, Wyatt. Not now. We have the rest of our lives to argue.”

  Wyatt was suddenly not breathing fire. His eyes were still hot on her, but it was a different kind of heat.

  Wolf said, “C’mon, Seth, we’ve got a fence to fix.”

  Buffy and Wyatt stared at each other.

  Finally Wyatt said, “Do we?”

  “Do we what?” She couldn’t remember her name, let alone understand the question.

  “Do we have the rest of our lives to argue?” His hand relaxed on her arm, but he didn’t let her go.

  She could have pulled free, but she didn’t.

  “Wyatt, I didn’t know you were here.”

  Buffy’s eyes fell closed at the sound of Jeanie’s breathless pleasure. She wrenched her arm away from Wyatt. “Maybe she’ll make you some breakfast. Oh, wait, she might break a nail.”

  Jeanie was hurrying toward them, coming out to the buffalo pens for the first time since they’d moved. “Why don’t you come in and have coffee with me?”

  Wyatt looked from Buffy only after Jeanie stepped between them.

  “Hi, Wyatt.” Jeanie ran a finger down the snapped front of his blue denim shirt.

  Buffy refused to give in to her urge to protect the big lummox.

  Jeanie latched onto his arm with her well-polished claws.

  Buffy pulled her work gloves from behind her belt buckle and began jerking them on. “Enjoy your visit. Some of us have work to do.”

  Ten

  Buffy wondered how long Wyatt had stayed having coffee. . .or whatever. . .with Jeanie.

  Buffy knew what she was doing around buffalo. It was only with people that she was a complete moron. She walked into the kitchen to find Jeanie fiddling with rabbit ears on their little TV.

  With a disgruntled glance over her shoulder, Jeanie said, “I can’t get anything.”

  “What’s that you’re watching now?” The television seemed to be working fine to Buffy.

  “It’s just regular TV. There’s no cable out here, and there’s a satellite out back, but Wolf said the last guy here disconnected it because he never watched TV.”

  “Jeanie, you haven’t been bothering Wolf, have you?” Buffy imagined Wolf dodging buffalo horns while trying to appease Jeanie.

  Jeanie turned the set off with a discontented snap. “I just asked him a few questions. I can’t ask you. You’re never around.”

  “I’ll be able to help you once we clear up this mess with the stampede.” Buffy went to the refrigerator, hoping for a sandwich. She saw the rest of the egg salad she’d made yesterday had been eaten. There weren’t any more eggs, so an omelet was out. There were cold cuts and several packages of hamburger. There was Coke and enough junk food to live on for a week, if she didn’t mind dying young.

  Buffy clenched her jaw. She knew she should just eat a ham sandwich and leave. She didn’t really think it was a sin or anything. It was just so much healthier to eat her way, and she couldn’t help picturing the pig. What really burned her was that Jeanie had done this deliberately. Just more hostility.

  “There’s nothing wrong with the food in there. Eat it or go without.” Jeanie turned her back with a little “humph” of annoyance and went back to the TV.

  Buffy saw red. “I earn the money you spent on that food!”

  Jeanie rounded on her. “I get child support checks from Michael.”

  “You never chip any of it in to supporting us. You don’t even buy things for Sally!” Buffy started looking in the cupboards for something to eat, a can of tomato soup or anything. She found cookies, snack cakes, potato chips, sugary cereal. Row after row of food that would give her a sugar high for the next hour then leave her feeling sick all afternoon.

  “If you think you’re so much better of a mother than I am, why don’t you just say so!”

  “Well, I couldn’t be much worse! I’m working twenty-hour days, and I still spend more quality time with her than you do!”

  “You didn’t even see her yesterday!”

  “I was gone in the middle of the night, and I didn’t get to bed until almost midnight. And I did so see her. I came in for lunch, which Wyatt’s niece made. And Anna kept Sally while you went to town. And you were gone for hours.”

  “I met someone and got to talking.” Jeanie’s eyes shifted in a way that worried Buffy.

  “Met someone? Who?”

  “None of your business. Just someone who’s sick of living in the wilderness like me. I wasn’t gone that long.”

  What was Jeanie up to? A boyfriend? Buffy hoped not, because Jeanie was still married and she’d taken no steps to divorce Michael. “If Anna hadn�
��t been here, I’d have spent the whole day with her. And today I’ve been up since five thirty working, and you don’t even have lunch ready! Did you feed Sally yet today?”

  Jeanie ignored the question. “So you haven’t seen her today. Who do you think takes care of her while you’re out and about?”

  Buffy had a sick feeling that Sally fended for herself. Buffy finally spotted a jar of peanut butter. “Did you at least get some bread?”

  Jeanie ignored her.

  Buffy opened a few drawers until she found a loaf of plain white bread. No fiber. No whole grain. With a poorly concealed growl, she made herself a peanut butter sandwich and drank a glass of milk. At least it didn’t take her long.

  She ate three sandwiches before the gnawing in her stomach subsided. Then she sat and nursed her second glass of milk. She pictured Jeanie clinging to Wyatt’s arm and felt a pang of guilt because she was afraid her temper had at least a little—oh all right, a lot—to do with that. Jeanie had taken Michael’s desertion hard, and it had changed her. She was still healing, and Buffy had agreed to give her time.

  Buffy drained the glass of milk then tried one more time. “I do think you should be in here with Sally. And I know she’s a handful.”

  Jeanie didn’t turn, but she said quietly, “It’s all meaningless without Mike. I can’t seem to care about anything. I know I don’t help like I should, but. . .” Jeanie shrugged and turned around. Her eyes were bleak, like a child who had become separated from her parent in a shopping mall. She was lost and too scared to think.

  It broke Buffy’s heart just as it had been breaking her heart for the last year, but she’d babied her sister long enough. “You have to go back to the grocery store and get something so I can eat a quick meal. I need you to do that for me.”

  Buffy tugged her tally book out of her breast pocket. She quickly wrote a short list of food she wanted on hand. Jeanie’s face took on a mulish look, but Buffy ignored it. “I expect this list to be filled today. And I shouldn’t have to write the list. You know what I like to eat. You deliberately bought things I didn’t like. It’s time to grow up. If I earn the money, you take care of the house and the meals and Sally. That means have a hot dinner waiting tonight.”