Betrayal at the Buffalo Ranch

by Sara Sue Hoklotubbe

  cattle ranch, but once it’s in the area, it can be spread by dogs and everything else.” Concern crossed his face. “We just can’t afford it.”

  Lance made another note and pushed the notepad to the side. “I guess

  you’re referring to Angus Clyborn.” It was a statement more than a question.

  “Yes, sir. You might want to know he’s bringing in all kinds of wild-

  life. I’ve seen truckloads of elk, too. Can he do that? Legally?”

  “Give me your phone number,” Lance said. “I’ll look into it and let

  you know what I find out.”

  Roy rattled off his phone number as the two men rose. They shook

  hands with Lance and started for the door. Roy positioned his hat on his

  head, turned toward Lance, and spoke with authority. “I’m not a man

  who makes threats, but I’ll promise you one thing— if that disease creeps into my herd, I’ll take things into my own hands. Just so you know.” He

  nodded and walked out the door.

  Lance stood with his right hand on his hip and shook his head.

  “You sure are making a lot of enemies, Angus.”

  ★

  52

  Sadie arrived early at her office at Paradise Travel. Beanie had a man and a woman sitting across from her desk, eyes shifting from one brochure to another.

  “I just don’t know,” the woman was saying. “The Big Island is the

  biggest. Wouldn’t there be more to do there?”

  “Not necessarily,” Beanie said. “It depends on what you want to

  do. The Big Island is definitely the biggest island, but it’s also the quiet-est. It does, however, have a volcano that’s been erupting for over thirty years— Kilauea. You can book a helicopter tour and fly over it, and actually see the lava flowing into the ocean.” Beanie flipped another bro-

  chure out for the couple and pointed to the photos of Kilauea. “Isn’t this spectacular?”

  The couple scanned the pictures with interest as Beanie mentioned

  some of the other sights to see on the different islands. “The Pearl Harbor Memorial is on O‘ahu,” she said, “but there’s a lot more people there

  and it’s a smaller island. That’s where Honolulu is. It’s the state capital.”

  Sadie listened quietly, allowing Beanie to control the sale. She was

  proud of Beanie and how she’d grown into her position at the travel

  office. She’d studied hard and learned all the details travelers needed or wanted to know. If she continued to do well, Sadie planned to surprise

  her with a trip to Maui in a few months. One thing was for sure, the

  bookings to Maui would quadruple after Beanie experienced for herself

  the magic of the Valley Isle.

  The door opened and Angus Clyborn stood in the doorway for a

  moment before walking in and allowing the glass door to slowly close

  behind him. He took a stubby cigar out of his mouth, knocked the ashes

  to the floor, and held the cigar in his hand.

  Sadie stood and walked over to meet him near the door, hoping he

  wouldn’t disturb Beanie and the conversation she was having with the

  potential travelers.

  “May I help you with a Hawai‘i vacation?” Sadie asked, noticing

  that he was a lot shorter than she had previously thought.

  “Are you the girl that lives out toward Eucha?” he asked.

  “I’m Sadie Walela,” she said, offering her hand. “And, I believe

  you’re Mr. Clyborn. My condolences on the loss of your son.”

  Angus shook her hand with an iron grip. “Yeah, Walela, that’s it,”

  he said, ignoring her words of sympathy.

  53

  Sadie pulled her hand away. “How can I help you, Angus?”

  “I want to buy your place,” he said in a loud voice. “And I don’t

  want you to cheat me with an exorbitant asking price, either. How much

  would it take?”

  Sadie tried to smile as she teetered between mild amusement and

  undignified offense at his ludicrous comments. “Well, Angus, I’d love

  to help you, but my place is not for sale. There’s a real estate office two doors down.” She nodded with her head. “Maybe they can help you find

  some land.”

  “No, I want your place,” he barked, “and I’d prefer not to have to

  pay a realtor, either.” He stuck the stogy back in the corner of his mouth.

  Sadie’s amusement in the conversation dwindled as Beanie’s cus-

  tomers stopped talking and began to stare.

  “Let’s step out on the sidewalk, Angus,” Sadie said, as she waved the

  cigar smoke out of her face, “so our conversation won’t disturb others.”

  Angus turned on his heel and pushed through the door. Sadie

  followed.

  “Now,” Sadie began in a stern voice, “perhaps you didn’t under-

  stand what I said. My place is not for sale. If you want to buy more land, I suggest you look somewhere else.”

  Angus grinned. “Everything is for sale, honey, for the right price.

  I’m sure we can come up with an equitable amount.”

  Sadie took a deep breath. “No, Angus, everything is not for sale.

  And, please do not refer to me as your ‘honey.’ This conversation is over.

  Have a good day.” She turned toward the door.

  “We’ll see, little lady,” he said. “We’ll see.”

  The condescending tone of his voice crawled up the back of Sadie’s

  neck, causing her to bristle. She shot him a back- off- buddy look and

  walked back into Paradise Travel.

  Inside, Sadie returned to her desk and watched Angus stand in front

  of her business and revive his cigar. Pushing his western hat off his forehead, he blew smoke rings into the air, brushing ashes off the western

  shirt that strained to cover his plump belly. Then he placed one of his

  fancy boots on the bumper of someone’s parked vehicle and leaned on

  his knee. His behavior irritated Sadie, and she decided if he didn’t leave soon, she’d call Lance and have him move him on down the street.

  54

  She took a deep breath and jiggled her mouse to awaken her computer screen. About that time, the couple Beanie had been helping rose

  and shook Beanie’s hand.

  “This will be delightful,” the woman said. “Thank you so much for

  all your help.”

  “I know you’re going to have a great time,” Beanie said and smiled.

  Sadie gave Beanie a thumbs- up and smiled at the couple as they left

  through the front door, and then sighed with relief when she realized

  Angus had disappeared.

  “Good job, Beanie,” Sadie said. “What did you book for them?”

  “They’re going to spend three days on the Big Island, four days on

  Maui, and a week on O‘ahu,” she said. “That’s a nice trip, don’t you

  think?”

  “I think so.” Sadie grinned. “Two weeks in Hawai‘i should give any-

  one enough time to decide they don’t want to come back to northeastern

  Oklahoma.”

  Beanie laughed.

  “Maybe before long we can send you to one of the islands so you

  can see firsthand what you’re peddling.”

  “Oh, Sadie. That would be wonderful.” Beanie glowed with

  excitement.

  “Okay, we’ll work on that.” Sadie looked at the clock on the wall.

  “It’s about time for your lunch. How’s the Three Sisters project coming

  along?”

  “So far, we’ve only won twelve dollars.”

  Sadie could hear the disappointment in Beanie’
s voice. “Well, I’m

  sure you’ll hit a big ticket before long. Hang in there.”

  “We will.” Beanie picked up her sweater. “You want me to bring

  you back something to eat?”

  “No, thanks. Have a good lunch.”

  Beanie disappeared out the front door and Sadie decided to tidy

  up the office. She pulled out a dusting cloth and cleaned the computers

  and printer, and then retrieved a dust mop from the closet and swept the

  painted concrete floor. When she got to the ashes Angus had deposited

  near the door, her thoughts returned to the annoying man. Why did she

  allow everything he did to get under her skin?

  55

  A faint odor of the man’s cigar still hung in the air, so Sadie propped the door open to let fresh air in the small office. After a few moments,

  she closed the door, put the mop away, and sat at her desk.

  Why would Angus want her land? Was he just a jerk, or was there

  some unknown reason he was targeting her place? She ran the events

  from the last few days through her mind— specifically, the death of

  Kenny Wayne Sanders. Could Angus have done that? And, if so, why?

  She wondered about the fate of the buffalo trapped inside the tall fence

  at the Buffalo Ranch. She hated to think they were on display for an easy kill so that some rich person could hang a trophy head in the family den.

  The fence left behind by Sanders linked him to Angus, she thought. But

  that land belonged to the Chuculates.

  Heat suddenly rushed to her face. He’d made the same pushy offer

  to them, she thought. He’d bought that land and had begun to connect

  parcels of land together like a puzzle. That’s why he wanted her land, so he would have road access to the Chuculate property. Why didn’t he just

  ask for an easement?

  Her Uncle Eli popped into her mind. If Angus used the same ap-

  proach with Eli that he had with her, he would end up staring down the

  end of a double- barreled shotgun. Her uncle did not contain his anger as well as she did. She’d better give him a call.

  She’d just hung up from a long conversation with her uncle, who

  had been dismissive and uninterested in anything about Angus Clyborn,

  when Beanie returned from lunch.

  Beanie waved a pink lottery ticket in the air. “This is a winner,” she

  said. “I can feel it in my bones.”

  Sadie laughed. “Good luck,” she said. “I’m going to walk over to

  the courthouse and do a little bit of research. If you need me, call me

  on my cell.”

  Beanie agreed, and Sadie took off for the courthouse.

  56

  Chapter 10

  A few hundred feet from the courthouse steps, Sadie stopped and ob-

  served Angus walking out the front doorway, followed by an elderly

  Indian man. Angus turned around, shook hands with the old man, and

  strode off toward a black Dodge truck with dual rear wheels. He got in

  and drove off.

  The Indian man walked down the steps and stood on the sidewalk,

  looking at a piece of paper. When Sadie got closer, she recognized him

  as one of her late father’s friends.

  “O’siyo, tohitsu,” she said, saying hello and asking how he was in Cherokee.

  The old man grinned and exhaled a gravelly laugh as he held a

  check in the air.

  Sadie could see he was missing several front teeth. After the custom-

  ary inquiry of his family, she said, “What brings you to the courthouse

  today?”

  “I sold eighty acres of land for five thousand dollars.” He grinned

  proudly. “Yonega needed it for his elk,” he said, referring to Angus as a white man. “I guess that’s all right if the animals need it. I don’t need it that bad.”

  Sadie made a quick calculation in her head. That was less than

  sixty- five dollars an acre. “That was what Angus paid you? Five thou-

  sand dollars?” she said in a tone so as to not alarm the old man. “That’s a lot,” she lied.

  “We need the money,” he said.

  Sadie nodded, and the old man walked away from her, down the

  sidewalk.

  Tears pooled in her eyes. She was so sick of white people taking

  advantage of Indians. They’d been doing it since they set foot on this

  57

  continent, and she supposed it would never end. Most of the land that had been allotted to the tribes in Indian Territory had been swindled

  away from the Indians with the stroke of an X on a piece of paper, a deed. Indians didn’t understand the European concept of owning land;

  land was a gift from the Creator just like the air. No one can own the air, the Indians reasoned, so how could anyone buy and sell the earth? She

  regained her composure, climbed the steps, and entered the courthouse.

  Once inside, she stopped at the first office on her right— the county

  clerk. She approached a high counter where a young girl, wearing black-

  framed glasses too big for her face, rose from her desk and offered her

  assistance.

  “I’d like to look up the name of some landowners of some adjoining

  property,” Sadie said. “Can you help me?”

  “Sure.” The young girl motioned for Sadie to follow her through

  shelves of thick, dusty books to another counter where three computers

  sat lined up side by side. “Here’s how it works,” she said. She showed

  Sadie how to access the database. “You can use names or legal descrip-

  tions.” She pointed to a large map on the wall. “You can find the section numbers on this map. My name is Renny, if you have any questions.”

  Sadie thanked her, pulled up a chair, and began to punch in names.

  She started with her own. The screen filled with information about

  her property. She used one of several blank notepads strewn across the

  counter to write down the legal description. Then she rose and looked

  at the giant map, where she could easily trace the outline of both her

  property and her aunt and uncle’s next to it.

  She returned to the computer and entered the name of Chuculate.

  The inquiry prompted several properties under that name. It took a

  while, but she checked every one of them. Nowhere could she find the

  property behind hers, where Kenny Wayne Sanders had died.

  After an hour, she asked Renny to help her again. Returning to the

  giant map, Sadie pointed to an area on it. “This is my property,” she

  said. “How do I find information about this land directly behind mine? I

  thought it was under the name of Chuculate, but I can’t find it.”

  Renny adjusted her glasses, stared at the map, and wrote on the

  palm of her hand with a pen. Then she went to the computer Sadie had

  been using and punched in several letters and numbers. When the screen

  returned the information, Sadie gasped.

  58

  “Are you sure that’s right?” Sadie asked.

  “Yes, ma’am, I’m pretty sure. This guy’s been buying up land like

  nobody’s business. He’s all over the place.” She rose and returned to the large map. “Look. All of this is in his name now.” Her hand floated over

  the map, indicating a wide swath of land from the main entrance of the

  Buffalo Ranch up the valley, behind her uncle’s place and her own.

  Sadie stared in disbelief. “You mean Angus Clyborn owns all of this

  land?”

  “Yes, ma’a
m. I think his legal name is Anton Clyborn, though.

  Angus must be a nickname.”

  Sadie realized her mouth was gaping. She closed it and swallowed

  hard. “Thank you,” she said. “You’ve been lots of help.” She gathered

  her notes and her purse and quickly left the clerk’s office.

  Sadie’s mind raced wildly as she hurried back to her office. Angus

  was a monster gobbling up every bit of land in and around Eucha. What

  was he going to do? An image popped into her head of a wild animal

  park where people shot animals from their cars as they drove through

  and picked up their trophy- head mounts as they left.

  When Sadie got back to the travel office, she decided not to share

  her new information with Beanie. Angus Clyborn taking over the coun-

  tryside seemed surreal, too bizarre to repeat. Maybe the girl in the clerk’s office was wrong. It had to be a big mistake. Together they closed the

  office and Sadie decided to stop by the grocery store on the way home.

  The locally owned IGA bustled with afternoon business. Sadie

  grabbed the last grocery cart and pushed it toward the corner of the

  store filled with fresh vegetables and fruit. Still distracted by thoughts of Angus’s land grab, she sideswiped another shopper’s cart.

  “Oh, I am so sorry,” Sadie said, pulling her cart backward. “I’m a

  terrible cart driver.”

  The other shopper, a woman about her own age, looked up and

  smiled. “No harm,” she said.

  The woman’s facial features— hazel eyes, brown shoulder- length

  hair, and pretty smile— triggered Sadie’s memory. “I’m Sadie Walela.

  Do I know you?”

  “It’s been a while,” the woman said. “We went to school together.

  You were in the class above me. My name is Rebecca Silver, but please,

  call me Becky. You would probably remember me as Becky Chuculate.”

  59

  “Of course,” Sadie said. The name Chuculate echoed in her head.

  “I do remember you, and it has been a while. Do you live around here?”

  “No, I’ve been in Bakersfield, California, for the last several years.

  I drove in yesterday to visit Dad and came in today to pick up some

  groceries.”

  Sadie looked in Becky’s cart at organic lettuce and tomatoes, a

  variety of fruit, low- fat cottage cheese, skim milk, and fat- free yogurt.