Betrayal at the Buffalo Ranch

by Sara Sue Hoklotubbe

  sounded good. He and Camilla had gone there when they got married,

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  but that had been so long ago he imagined it would have changed a lot.

  He’d heard of the Parker Ranch on the Big Island. Maybe he could buy

  it, or a place similar, and live in paradise.

  He’d sell this ranch to the highest bidder— and there’d be lots of

  bidders, because everyone would want to own the Buffalo Ranch after

  he’d made it famous. Drawing up the trust for the ranch had been a good

  idea. It would make it easier to get rid of Camilla. Her behavior was

  getting on his nerves. She’d never been cut out for life with him. It wasn’t his fault she got pregnant, but he’d manned up and married her anyway.

  He had to admit, the best thing she ever did was give birth to their son, Jason, but now he was gone. She might as well be, too. Maybe he could

  send her back to her mother. Then, on the other hand, he didn’t even

  know if her mother was still alive. He’d work it out, one way or another.

  Angus’s thoughts shifted as he continued on the path to the place

  where he’d hidden the cow and calf. How did that cop know about the

  white calf ? As soon as it had been born, he’d herded both animals to this secret place. No one could have seen it here.

  He slammed on the brakes and let out a grunt. The pen was empty.

  He stopped the truck, got out and looked all around. How had they got-

  ten out? They must be nearby. Where were they? He knew the pen wasn’t

  very strong, but the cow had seemed happy enough to stay put. She had

  only stamped the ground once when he got too close to her calf. After

  that, she’d seemed fine.

  He walked completely around the pen. Someone had been there. He

  could feel it. And the grass near the gate had been flattened. He checked the ground carefully but couldn’t see any tracks on the hard dirt.

  He turned away from the enclosure and looked around, eventually

  zeroing in on a nearby stump. He walked over and picked up what was

  left of a small pile of tobacco. He smelled it and threw it on the ground.

  What in the world was tobacco doing here? Then it hit him. Indians used

  tobacco in their ceremonies. The Indians had stolen his calf. That’s how

  that Indian lawman knew about the calf. He probably knew all along.

  Angus jumped back into his truck and careened away from the pen

  toward the house. Those Indians were not going to get away with this.

  He parked next to the house and entered through the kitchen just as

  Camilla came from the garage into the living room. She dropped several

  shopping bags and an oversized leather purse next to the sofa.

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  When she saw Angus, she used her long nails to fluff her bangs over a wide headband that matched the black- and- white pantsuit she wore,

  and then removed her designer sunglasses, revealing dark circles under

  her eyes. The movement of her arm caused her bracelets to clank and

  her diamond rings to sparkle.

  “Wait until you see what all I bought,” she sang.

  Angus barked in her direction while he picked up the phone and

  began to dial. “I don’t care what you bought,” he said. “Someone stole

  my white calf.”

  Her face took on a sour look. “Oh, you and your damned buffalo. I

  don’t get it.” She picked up her packages, climbed the stairs to the loft, and slammed the bedroom door.

  Angus left a message for Eugene Hawk to call him immediately and

  then slammed the phone down on the counter. Hawk should know what

  to do.

  Angus couldn’t report the cow and calf as stolen, because he didn’t

  have any papers of ownership yet. Hawk was supposed to be taking

  care of that. He didn’t make a habit of branding his animals because it

  spoiled the hides. He knew the buffalo had metal identifying ear tags, but he had no idea if the animals had any other unique markings. Acquiring

  the buffalo was Hawk’s responsibility, and Angus wasn’t exactly sure

  where they had even come from. Up north, Hawk had said. Hell, that

  could be anywhere from Kansas to Canada, he muttered to himself.

  Angus hadn’t considered needing to prove ownership. Hunters didn’t

  much care about that when they looked down the sights of a heavy- duty

  hunting rifle and pulled the trigger. All they wanted was a trophy to hang on the wall. But the arrival of the white buffalo had changed all that.

  The calf meant there was a lot of money to be had in the trophy hunting

  world, so his main priority now was finding that white buffalo calf.

  ★

  Lance drove away from the Buffalo Ranch lost in thought. Angus

  Clyborn was beginning to be a problem.

  Lance was convinced that Angus knew the man who had been

  killed near Sadie’s ranch, but so far the murder investigation was mov-

  ing slower than a slug on a sidewalk. Sadie’s research had shown that

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  the two men had known each other in the past, but that didn’t prove anything. All it meant was that Angus was a liar, something Lance

  had known from the first day he’d talked to him. Unfortunately, Lance

  couldn’t haul him in for lying.

  Angus was also a bully, but that didn’t necessarily make him a mur-

  derer, even though he obviously thought he could get away with trashing

  someone else’s property. Eli Walela wasn’t a good choice to try that on.

  Eli was a good man, but Lance didn’t think it was in anyone’s best inter-

  est to back him into a corner.

  If Angus really did have a white buffalo calf, Lance was going to

  have a giant headache trying to keep the crowds under control. He

  couldn’t even imagine how many people would show up to see it. Once

  again, Angus had to be lying about the calf. Either that or Sadie was

  wrong about what she’d seen. That was unlikely.

  Angus reminded Lance of a rogue bull he’d once owned. No matter

  how many times Lance reinforced the fence, that ornery bull walked

  right through it and mated with every cow he could find before Lance

  could get him rounded up and returned to his own pasture. The bull had

  turned into such a pain, Lance had loaded him up one Saturday morn-

  ing from his neighbor’s pasture and hauled him straight to the Delaware

  County sale barn, where he sold him for next to nothing to get rid of

  him. He wished he could do the same with Angus— ship him off to

  some other lawman’s jurisdiction.

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  Chapter 18

  Saturday morning gave Sadie a chance to relax. Beanie had volunteered

  to work for some extra money, and Sadie gladly accepted.

  Sadie lay in bed thinking about the man who had been killed at the

  edge of her property. She had an uneasy feeling about the whole thing

  and felt in her heart that Angus Clyborn had been connected in some

  way. She stiffened when she remembered how the girl in the county

  clerk’s office had slid her hand across the map indicating the land Angus had gobbled up.

  Her thoughts drifted to the Chuculates, and she wondered why they

  had sold their land to Angus. She wasn’t aware that they’d ever used the

  land, so maybe it was a good way for them to make some money from

  selling land they didn’t need.

  The phone beside her bed rang and she grabbed it before the se
cond

  ring, thinking it might be Beanie needing help. It was Lance.

  “Morning, Sunshine.” His voice boomed through the receiver.

  Sadie smiled, propped a pillow behind her head, and settled in for a

  lengthy conversation.

  “Good morning to you, too,” she said. “I’m glad you called. I dis-

  covered the Chuculates sold the land behind my house to Angus, so that

  means Sanders was killed on Buffalo Ranch land.”

  The silent phone line meant Lance was thinking. “Are you sure?”

  he finally said. “I talked to Grover Chuculate, and he didn’t say that.”

  “That’s what the records show at the county clerk’s office.”

  More silence. “I’ll check on it,” he said.

  “I can’t wait to hear all about your visit to the Buffalo Ranch,” she

  said, moving the conversation in a new direction. “What happened?”

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  She listened while Lance proudly explained how he’d convinced Angus to drop the complaint against Eli and he hoped that would put an

  end to the conflict.

  “Well, I’m glad you got that taken care of,” she said. “I don’t see Eli

  angry very often, but he was definitely angry.” Before Lance could say

  anything else, she changed the subject. “What about the white calf ? Did

  you see it?”

  She couldn’t believe it when Lance explained that, according to

  Angus, there was no white buffalo calf.

  “Lance, there is a white calf. I saw it. Did you look around for it?”

  No, he said, explaining he couldn’t search for something that wasn’t

  connected to an investigation. If Angus had a white calf, it would show

  up eventually. Until then, it wasn’t any of her concern.

  Sadie reluctantly agreed, and after several minutes of small talk and

  making plans for dinner, she hung up. Angus was lying about the white

  calf, and she wondered what else he was lying about. She didn’t trust

  Angus; he was a jerk. She had to concede the affairs taking place on

  the Buffalo Ranch were none of her business, but the murdered man

  had been found uncomfortably close to her property, which made it her

  problem. She intended to uncover the truth.

  She felt an immediate need to get out of the house, away from peo-

  ple, and breathe some fresh air. After making a quick call to the travel

  office to make sure Beanie didn’t need anything, she dressed, grabbed

  an apple and a bottle of water, and headed for the barn, with Sonny fol-

  lowing close behind. In a few short minutes, she’d saddled Joe, got on,

  and reined him through the gate and into the pasture behind her house.

  She pulled Joe to a stop and waved when she saw her Uncle Eli

  working with a horse in his corral. He used his hat to return the gesture.

  Sadie nudged Joe with the heels of her boots and continued to climb

  the hill to the place where some stranger had met his maker. Everything

  looked the same as it had the last time she’d been here.

  She slid off of Joe’s back and looked around, hoping she might have

  missed something before, anything that would shed some light on what

  had happened that day. Sonny ran from post to post, sniffing and mark-

  ing, and then trotted through a break in the fence away from Sadie.

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  “Okay,” she said. “We’ll go in that direction.”

  She hoisted herself onto Joe’s back and followed slowly, looking for

  something, anything of interest, along the fence line that led away from

  her land. Technically she was trespassing, but she didn’t think anyone

  would mind. After all, she was just out for a morning ride and didn’t see any “no trespassing” signs posted.

  The land Sadie rode on did not lend itself to grazing buffalo, but it

  was perfect for deer. She noticed a few trails that had been cut through

  the brush with four- wheelers. Hunting on gas- powered vehicles didn’t sit too well with Sadie, but she realized it was the new way of doing things.

  She had been riding for more than an hour when she came to a

  clearing at the top of the ridge she’d been following. She got off Joe and dropped his reins to the ground, indicating to the horse to stay where

  he stood. She whistled for Sonny and the wolfdog appeared, panting as

  if he’d just run a fast race. Sadie dug in Joe’s saddlebags and pulled out a pair of binoculars along with the apple and water. She found a place

  near the edge of a drop- off overlooking some buildings in the valley

  below and sat down. She had no idea she had ridden so far. The Buffalo

  Ranch lay sprawled below.

  Sonny plopped down beside her, sniffing at her food. She bit off a

  piece of apple and handed it to him. He moved it around in his mouth

  and then spit it out. Sadie chuckled. “What?” she said. “You don’t like

  fruit?” She reached over and scratched the top of his head.

  The sunshine broke through the few lonely clouds, and Sadie leaned

  against a large rock, soaking in the warmth of the sun. She took another

  bite and washed the sweet taste down with water. Suddenly, Sonny’s ears

  pricked and he stared into the valley. A low rumble grew in his throat.

  “What is it, Sonny?”

  She finished off the last bite of apple and dropped the core on the

  ground. Lifting the binoculars to her eyes, she tried to focus in on what interested Sonny. It took her a few minutes, but she finally found the

  source of his angst. Angus Clyborn and another man stood in an open

  area, shooting a crossbow at a round target attached to two rectangular

  bales of hay stacked against the back of the barn. First Angus would

  shoot and retrieve his arrows, and then the other man would do the

  same. She wished she could see the arrows they were shooting. Maybe

  Angus and his friend had killed Sanders.

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  Sadie’s late dad had taught her how to handle a longbow when she was young, a bow that had been handed down to him from his uncle.

  Sadie and her dad used to practice shooting arrows at a bale of hay, in

  much the same manner as the two men in the valley below. Her dad

  hunted deer during the annual bow season, but she didn’t like to hunt

  and had lost interest. She still had her dad’s bow and thought for a mo-

  ment that she should get it out and either use it or give it to Lance. Either way, she’d think about that later.

  Sadie sat back down next to Sonny and patted his head. “It’s okay,

  boy. They’re not going to bother us and we’re not going to bother them.

  Be quiet.”

  She rested her elbows on her knees and continued to spy on the

  men through her binoculars. She could see the small herd of buffalo in

  the distance behind the barn. She looked in earnest for the white calf

  with no luck. Where had it gone? Returning her attention to the target

  shooters, she tried to focus on the other man with Angus. He wore a red

  long- sleeved shirt and jeans, and had short black hair; she thought he

  looked a lot like the Cherokee councilman, Eugene Hawk. What would

  he be doing at the Buffalo Ranch?

  What appeared to be an argument broke out between the two men,

  and Sadie wished she could hear what they were saying. For a minute,

  she thought Angus was going to hit the other man, but instead, the red-

  shirt man turned on his he
el and disappeared around the barn and out

  of sight.

  Sadie stood and stretched her legs, and Sonny trotted into the brush.

  She put the binoculars back into Joe’s saddlebag, drank the rest of her

  water, and added the empty water bottle to the bag. The sunshine felt

  good on her face, and she sat back down to enjoy the warmth. Suddenly,

  she intuitively felt a presence behind her. Her heart pumped and her

  mind raced. They hadn’t seen her, had they? Red- shirt couldn’t get to

  where she was that fast, could he? Where had Sonny gone?

  Quickly, she turned. Eli stood about ten feet away from her, holding

  a rifle. He didn’t look happy.

  “Uncle Eli,” she said, relieved. “You scared me. Why are you sneak-

  ing up on me?”

  “You shouldn’t be here,” he said in a stern voice.

  “Why not?” she protested. “I’m not doing anything wrong.”

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  “This is not our land. Come on, let’s go.” He turned and walked away from her. A few moments later he reappeared on the back of a

  buckskin horse. He nodded his head for her to follow and began to ride

  away.

  Sadie climbed onto Joe’s back and whistled for Sonny. The wolfdog

  raced ahead as she reined Joe in behind her uncle’s horse. This didn’t

  seem like a good time to tell him about Angus’s accumulation of land,

  which included the very trail they were on. After several minutes of si-

  lent riding, Eli pulled his horse to a stop until Sadie could come along-

  side him.

  “Did Lance tell you that Angus dropped the complaint against

  you?” she asked.

  Eli ignored her comment. “One man has already died in these

  woods,” he said, looking into the distance.

  “Okay, I get it,” she said, accepting her uncle’s protective nature.

  “Let’s go home.”

  Sadie fell in behind her uncle again and followed him back along the

  ridge toward home. When they approached the break in the fence at the

  edge of her property, she could see two men working on the fence. They

  stopped working and eyed Eli and Sadie.

  Eli nudged his horse and trotted up to the men. Sadie remained

  behind her uncle, yelled for Sonny, and commanded him to stay close to

  her, which he did.

  Eli began to talk to the men and Sadie moved closer. The two men