As the Eagle Flies

by J. D. Oliver

  “No, I don’t think so. Not on my account anyway. Hard to say the motive behind it though. I’m just a small cog on a big flywheel. I just do what I’m told.”

  “Why in the world would that have anything to do with it?” Faith said.

  “Well, it just seems funny, right after they found out who you both are, they offer me a position in the FBI. Maybe they are hoping that we can do a little spying for them.” I said.

  “Goodness why, all they have to do is ask Great Grandfather and I’m sure he would tell them anything they needed to know.” Mary Jane said. “If anything, I’m sure they’re just trying to get on his good side.”

  “Oh yeah, Harry, would you and Karen make sure that Mary Jane’s rental car gets returned?” I said.

  “Sure, we would be glad to, don’t worry we’ll take care of it.”

  “Good then, I guess we’ll pack up our stuff and go get the mules and be on our way.” I said, looking at the women for confirmation. They both nodded their approval. It didn’t take us long and we had everything in the truck.

  When we got to the fair grounds, the mules were waiting for us. They came over to the fence, visibly upset. I walked over, “What’s wrong boys?” I went to each one and gave them a little rub behind their ears. “Okay, I think I understand, don’t worry, I’ll take care of it.”

  Faith came over, “What’s wrong?”

  “They tell me someone has been messing with the trailer, now I wonder who that was?”

  “What did they see?”

  “Who ever it was did something under the trailer; you all go on the other side of the arena. I’ll see what they did under there.”

  “You be careful, I lost one husband and I don’t want to lose another, I want to live till we’re old and simple; together.”

  “Well we’ve already accomplished one of those things, the simple part.” I said, as I gave her a kiss.

  I scooted under the trailer, yep, it was easy to find, when you knew it was there. Someone had rigged another C4 charge to the floor boards. It was wired into the electric brake circuit, the first time I would have applied the brakes, BAM, no more us or the mules. This Bomb was the biggest yet. As big as any of those road side IED’s in Iraq.

  Now I could sort of forgive Pete for trying to kill me, but not for trying to kill my family or mules. People that were cruel to animals were beyond forgiveness, in my book. I disconnected the wires and carefully un taped the bundle. Sliding out, I held the bomb up for them to see.

  I heard a car coming, I glanced over my shoulder. What the hell, it was Pete Frank in his jeep. My family was still standing on the other side of the arena. He got out of his Jeep, he said, “Hi, sorry I’m late, but I had a few things to do at home before I could leave.” He looked at the women and children standing over there staring at him. Then back at me, holding the bomb in the air. “Where did you get that?” He said.

  “You don’t know? I bet it has your fingerprints all over it.”

  “Could be, but where did you get it?”

  “From under my stock trailer, like you didn’t know!” I said, gritting my teeth.

  “Whoa, I didn’t plant that there. I recognize it, because I made it.”

  “What about the tailpipe bomb I got out of my tailpipe this morning, it had your fingerprints all over it?”

  “Shit!, look I sold them to some guys last week. I know, I know, I shouldn’t of done it, but I needed the money. I just sold them the C4, there weren’t any fuse’s attached.”

  “Where did you get the C4?”

  “It’s easy to get on the black market. There’s a link on the internet. They already had some, they said they needed more, they were doing some mining in a remote area in the Big Horns.”

  “Weren’t you the least bit suspicious about what they wanted it for?”

  “Sure, but like I said, I needed the money. That C4 in Mary Jane’s car must have been some of what they already had, it wasn’t some of what I sold them.”

  The women had come over and were listening. Iris had stayed over there with Alita. Mary Jane said, “Yeah but it had your fingerprints all over it.”

  “Of course, I diffused it. When I sold them the C4, they were wearing gloves, so they didn’t leave any prints. On the stuff I sold them, my prints were all over that stuff.”

  “Well, his explanation sounds plausible, what do you think Clay?” Faith said.

  “Well, I want him to be guilty, so I can slit his throat, but I think the only thing he is guilty of, is extreme stupidity. Plus being super naïve.” I said. I pulled out my cell phone and called Harry. It didn’t take them long to get here.

  He told Harry the same story. Of course they had to take him into custody, till they could get to the bottom of everything. Mary Jane had taken him aside and they were talking.

  “Harry,” I said, “I think he is telling the truth. I want you to give him the benefit of the doubt. Plus of course follow through and get a handle on who he sold the stuff to, that might be a good lead on finding these guys. And above all, don’t turn him over to Home Land Security, you know how crazy them guys can be. They would probably send him to Cuba.”

  “Sure, I agree with you. I’ll do the best I can. You watch yourselves, Okay?”

  “Yes, Harry, we’ll be alright, you take good care of the boy, you hear?” I said. I think he got my point. They took him away. Mary Jane and Faith, along with the children came over.

  “He’s telling the truth,” Mary Jane said, “he wanted the money for his Mother, she needed an operation. She just got out of the hospital yesterday. Will he be alright?”

  Now I knew how things worked, I wasn’t sure. I knew Homeland Security, trumped the FBI. “I’m not sure Mary Jane.” I said. She took out her cell phone and dialed while she walked away, a little bit. She talked for about five minutes.

  “It’s all taken care of, I called Wolf. He’ll retrieve him if they are going to let Homeland Sec. get him.”

  “He can do that?” I asked.

  Faith said, “Yes Clay, he can do that. I don’t know how, but he can.”

  “Well then, let’s load the mules up and get our act on the road, Okay?”

  Chapter Thirteen

  I had Iris hold the horse trailer rear gate open. I opened the gate to the corral, they trooped out and headed for the horse trailer. One of the mules stopped beside Iris, he nuzzled her, she patted him on the nose. The rest of them got in the trailer, one by one. The one by Iris was the last to get in.

  Iris said, as she swung the tail gate toward me, “His name is Luke, I think he likes me.”

  “Oh, he told you his name, did he?” Mary Jane said.

  “Well, not exactly, I asked him if his name was Luke, he nodded his head yes. Isn’t that the same as telling me?”

  “Sure it is, how would you like him to be your Mule, no one else’s, just yours?” I said.

  “Yes, Oh yes. You’re not kidding me are you?” Iris said, jumping up and down.

  ‘Nope, he’s yours.” I said. Alita was squirming in Faith’s arms, “Me, me too. I want my own mule, also.”

  “Alright, when we get home, you can pick one out for yourself, it’ll be just yours. Okay?” I said. Alita held out her arms to me, I took her and she gave me a big kiss. Iris pulled at my elbow, wanting me to bend down, she gave me a kiss also, “Thank you, Uncle Clay.” She said.

  “Well,” I said, “I got kisses from two of the females, how about the other two?”

  Faith came up on one side and Mary Jane on the other, they each gave me a peck on the cheek. Faith said, “That’ll have to do, till we get home.” Mary Jane said, “That’ll have to do, period.” I stuck my tongue out at her. It was going to be fun having her around.

  It was just a little after nine when we finally got on the road. We went back in the Park, to Mammoth and made a left toward Roosevelt Junction, where one road went toward Tower and the other through the Lamar Valley, beside the Lamar River, to Silver Gate and Cooke city. This road
stayed open year around, it was the only way to get to Cooke City in the winter time.

  We took our time. There were a lot of Bison that used the Lamar Valley year round. Alita was busy counting them. We did see a couple of Wolves, just hanging around biding their time.

  “Now I was never a fan of them restocking our range with Wolves. But it was over and done with now. I was of the mind when somebody shovels shit in your yard, use it for fertilizer. In other words make the best of a bad thing.

  We stopped in Cooke City for lunch. Then proceeded toward Red Lodge, but we turned on the Sunlight Basin road, the same route we came by. It used to be just a trail across there, toward Cody. But now it was a paved road, with all kinds of houses, that didn’t make me none to happy either.

  It was just after seven that night that we arrived home. There were still a couple of hours of daylight left. The first one to meet us was Rosie, with Tiff at her heals, with Hank and Poppy right behind them. Hope stood in the kitchen doorway, shading her eyes at the late afternoon sunset.

  Faith opened the truck door, Dog jumped out. Rosie reached in and took Alita, Alita fastened her arms around Rosie’s neck. Rosie looked at Mary Jane and Iris, “Who do we have here? My, but Faith, she looks just like you, is she your sister or what?”

  “Not quite, she’s my cousin, Rosie this is Mary Jane, and the little one is Iris, her daughter.” Then, “Mary Jane and Iris, this is our daughter, Rosie. And standing beside her is Hank and Poppy, they’re family too, and that’s Hope standing in the doorway, their Mother.” Dog ran around checking everything out. I think he liked his new home.

  As they all jabbered at each other, I jerked my head at Hank, then indicated the horse trailer. He followed me to the back. “Hank, why don’t you open the corral gate, I’ll let these guys out, just whistle and they will follow you.” It went pretty much that way, all except for Luke, Iris’ mule, and one other. They came and stood close to the talking women. Hank said, “What about those two?”

  “That’s Okay, leave them alone, the big one there belongs to Iris. And I guess the other one must belong to Alita.” I walked over and took Alita, the smaller Mule came over, “Well Alita, I guess you didn’t get to choose, it looks like he choose you, is that Okay?”

  “Yes, Daddy, I like him, can I sit on him?” Alita asked.

  “Sure,” I put her up on his back, she grabbed his mane, and kicked him in the ribs, he walked around the yard, with her talking a mile a minute to him. Iris had me lift her up on Luke, they joined the other two, with Dog right on their heels.

  Hope called from the doorway, “I have supper ready, it was a good thing Faith called and said how many there would be.” They all went in the house, I called to Iris and Alita, “Hey come on in, supper’s ready.” They rode over, Alita said, “Daddy, can Matthew and Luke stay in the old coal shed outside the back kitchen door. There is nothing in there now, can they please Daddy?”

  I looked at her, “How did you know about that old shed?”

  “I seen it out there before, Rosie told me what it used to be used for. They said they wanted to stay close, incase we needed them.”

  “Oh, they did, did they? Well alright, I can’t see that it would hurt anything. There’s an old tub that Iris can fill with water for them. I’ll get them a bale of hay after supper.”

  Alita never ceased to amaze me. She noticed everything. I helped them down, Iris led Alita into the house. I said to the mules, “well go around back, I’ll run you some water and get you a bale of hay.” I went to the hay stack beside the barn and grabbed a hundred pound bale of alfalfa. I cut the bale open and then filled an old wash tub that was hanging on the side of the shed. They seemed quite content.

  I went in the house, they had saved a place for me, someone had filled my plate. That was nice of them, I wasn’t a picky eater, I cleaned the whole plate full up, and then held out my plate for more.

  Hope said, after noticing the mules out the back kitchen window. “Are they going to be alright there?”

  “Yeah, I reckon, I can’t think of better watch dogs, than mules. A lot better than Guinea Hens, the hens might make more noise in case of intruders, but mules will kick the shit out of them.”

  Faith said, “Please Sweetheart, your language, the children, you don’t want them to use that word, do you?”

  “Well no, I guess not. You’re right, I’ll try to do better.” Mary Jane gave me a wink, she knew I would backslide.

  As to sleeping arrangements it was decided, by Alita and Iris, that Mary Jane would take Alita’s old room. There was an extra room off of the kitchen that hadn’t been used in years. Iris and Alita wanted to share that room, so they could be closer to the mules. And of course Dog would sleep in there also.

  The only thing I wasn’t too happy about, was that Alita’s old room had a door opening into ours. I wasn’t sure the lock worked on that door. All of the bedrooms upstairs were full up now. Well really all of the bedrooms were, since the one off of the kitchen was now occupied. Nothing like a full house.

  Hank had finished eating, I asked him, “Well, how are those horses coming, do you have them all broke yet?”

  “Funny thing, I don’t have to do much, their pretty much training themselves. Seems they are very anxious to please.” Hank said.

  “Well now, that’s good to hear. Tomorrow you can start on the mules, I don’t expect they’ll give you any trouble, they’ve been used in a dude string, packing supplies in and out of the mountains. Mules are a bit different than horses. If they take a liking to you, they will do most anything for you.” I said.

  “What about those two outside of the kitchen window?” Hank asked.

  “Leave them to me, they belong to Iris and Alita, I don’t expect them to take too much training.”

  The whole family turned to on the dishes. All but Hank and I, we went out to check on how the mules were getting along with the horses. I guess we didn’t have to worry much, they seemed to be getting along pretty good.

  Red came out while we were there, filling me in on the branding and such. “How’s the count coming; did we lose many over the last winter?” I asked.

  “Just a few head; I found about five carcasses bunched up in a dead end coulee. That last blizzard we had probably drifted them in there.”

  “Didn’t lose any to rustlers though huh?”

  “No, not us. But the outfit next door did, they seemed to think it was funny that we didn’t. I sort of got the impression they thought we might be branding a few that weren’t ours.” Red said.

  “Who said that, Old Man Dithers?” I asked.

  “No, they sold out to an outfit from back east, some rich bastard, I didn’t like him none.” Red said, as he spit tobacco juice into the dust.

  “When are you going to stop that chewing Red. It’s going to give you cancer, sure enough if you don’t?” I didn’t wait for an answer, cause I knew he wouldn’t, “What’s that ranny’s name?” I asked.

  “Joe Cummins, anyway that’s what he told me. He stands about six foot four, looks to weigh in a shade under two eighty. If you asks me, he’s a big bag of shit.” Red said.

  “My, I guess you sure don’t like him none. I’ll ride over there tomorrow and let him vent his ire on me.” I said.

  “Well, watch your back if you do, some of his hands look like they came from the back alleys of New York. They can’t rope worth a damn, but I bet they can shoot you in the back.” Red said.

  We went back to the house, Hank went in, I stopped to talk to Luke and Matthew. I scratched them behind their ears. “Well boy’s,” I said, “you two are the official watchmen, if anyone comes around, just Hee Haw really loud, I’ll hear you.” I went in, everyone was already in bed, I tiptoed up the stairs.

  Faith and Mary Jane were setting on our bed. For once they both had PJ’s on. I told them about what Red had said about our new neighbor. Faith said, “I don’t think you should go over there alone, Mary Jane and I will go with you. No, don’t argue, it�
�s settled.”

  “I wasn’t going to argue, I know you both have your knives, but does Mary Jane have a gun?”

  “No I don’t. But, being an ex-cop, I know how to shoot, that is if you have an extra gun.” Mary Jane said.

  “I have one, I took it from the closet in hallway at home, just before we left. I thought we might need an extra one.” Faith said, then she went to her suit case that was in the closet. She put it on the bed and opened a false bottom on it. She not only had this ten shot .41 caliber auto, but ammo for it, and her little .32 Mag. Plus about ten more stiletto’s,

  Mary Jane took the .41, pulled the receiver back and checked to make sure it was loaded, which it was. Then snapped it home. I could tell she knew what she was doing. “Is that an extra clip for it?” She said, Faith handed her two extra clips. Mary Jane smiled. I looked back and forth between the two of them, I sure wouldn’t want to get on their bad side.

  Mary Jane said, “Well, I’m going to bed. You two hold it down when you make love, I don’t need to hear it, I haven’t had any for ages.” As she went through her bedroom doorway, she pulled her teddy off over her head and wiggled her naked butt at us. Then she shut the door. That I was glad of….

  The next morning I was the first one up, I went downstairs and put the coffee on. Hope heard me clanking around and came down in her robe and curlers in her hair. I looked at her, “You still wear curlers at night, I thought that went out with the 60’s?”

  “Yes I do. My mother always did, and I just got in the habit. Don’t you like curlers?”

  “I ain’t got nothing against them, just surprised some is all.” I said.

  “Do you want breakfast now, or do you want to wait for the rest of the family?” Hope said.

  “I can wait, I just wanted to get the coffee started. I’m going out and check the stock. Do you want me to the feed the chickens, or are you going to?” I said.

  “You can, while you’re at it, gather the eggs too, will you?”