THE WILL 13

the next morning tobey was up early doing chores roberto was late to work. a truck pulled up to the gate. tobey unlocked it and the driver went to the fresh hay stack and backed up to it. when tobey got there the driver in a demanding voice hollerd out the window, " five bales, hustle up!" tobey picked up a couple of hay hooks and pulled bales down into the truck and stacked them so they would ride. he rehung the hooks and jumped down and brushed the hay dust from his clothes. " hey! how much i owe you?"the driver yelled out the window. "forty dollers" tobey was trying to be casual. "here!" the man stuck his hand out the window with the money in it. tobey stepped up and took the money. "are you the man who took this place over when the mex abuser cashed in?"the beligerent man almost shouted. "no one abused any one here. they told me themselves they wernt abused. where did you hear that?" tobey was instantly mad. " oh i heard it around town why?" because i find the man spreading that lie ill settle up on it. its a lie, and telling it on a dead man is bull. he cant defend him self, so i guess i will. tobey was stepping up to the mans truck " who told you?" tobey demanded. the man started his truck and roared out of the yard. roberto had arrived just as the man left he came to tobey" sorry i was late, i had a flat tire. so you met hadley huh?" " thats who that was? i wish i knew it before. he is still spreading the lie about blake." " he is a bad man, he wants juana to go out with him, she hates him and wont go." roberto spoke plain. tobey went to his truck and left for town. he was going to be late at the hospital. when he started down the hall in the hospital he could hear hi yelling and cussing. the tall real estate sales man was backing out the door of hi s room holding his hand out toward hi"now, now, it was just a offer, its nothing to get upset about " he ducked as a empty bed pan came flying at him. tobey stepped up" you better leave, they been trying to keep him quiet. you might kill him doing this leave!" the agent spun and huffed down the hall. tobey picked up the bed pan and walked in. hi was fumming. " that crook said i better sell to his buyer if i know whats good for me. he all but threatened me! if i had a gun i would have killed him.!" hi was mad clear through. " well he is gone so settle down." tobey was putting the bed pan on the side table. two nurses rushed in the first one looked at tobey" what did you do? his moniter is off the charts!" hi sat up in bed" he didnt do it it was that other crook who was here." the nurses were checking his blood pressure and pulse , the head nurse produced a syring from her apron pocket and injected hi with the contents." now get some sleep and cool off!" she told him. hi s eyes began to droop almost instantly. " aw hell pard come back later." tobey stepped out of the room only to run into alexis. this morning she was dressed in wrangler pants with bell bottoms a plain white blouse and a pair of athletic shoes. her make up and hair were perfect. tobey almost swallowed his tounge. she smilled sweetly" is hi awake?" tobey explained what had transpired. her composure seemed to crack but she held it in. " so i guess we cant tell him about out partner ship deal. i ougt to go run that cheap crook down"alexis was showing her brothers temper. " lets go have a cup of coffee and let him sleep and you cool off." tobey was almost to laugh at her.

THE WILL 12

roberto was scurrying around as they unloaded the truck load of hay. they were haveing a hard time getting it al under the shed s roof, but finally they got most of it under cover. roberto brought toby the invoice. he had a dozen counter checks and wrote one out to dewitt. and then paid the hay squeeze in cash. in the corrals the cattle were steady working on the scrapehay. tobey had left the gate open to the pasture and th cattle out there were comming in and eating the scrap hay right along with the sale barn cattle. tobey decided he would go to the north part of the pasture and check fences and maybe find more water improvements. he told roberto he would be late getting back he then mounted one of the good horses his uncle left and headed out.like the rest of the fenceing this line headd north was in excellent shape it was quite a ways farter to the north corner than it was to the south. he didnt know who ran on the country to the north . he vowed to find out. he saw no cow tracks along the fence line on either side. as he jogged along his mind kept drifting back to alexis. he knew he was going to step into the middle of a bad situation. but he rationalized it by possibly leasing their ranch. he laughed to himself as he rode along remembering the line from a song he had heard,THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT THE FIRST TIME, BUT I DID IT MYSELF THE SECOND TIME. it was just getting dark when he rode back into the corrals. he was pleased with every thing he had found. the fence was in great shape,he had found two dirt ponds holding rain run off, and he had found another bunch of cattle he hadnt seen yet. the cows had calves that wernt branded. more cow work. he liked it. he pulled the saddle from the sweated out horse and washed his back off before turninghim out. then he headed to the house. on the front door was a note with a phone number on it. he took it and went in the house. after turning on a light he could see it was written by alexis. saying to call her. he sat down next to the phone and dialed the number. on the second ring her syurupysweet voice answered. "would you like to come to supper?" she asked after he identified himself. tobey thought a moment and the temptation was great" i better pass, i just got in and i got some book work to do. how is hi this afternoon"? " he is somewhat better. he may get to come home in a couple of days. imr going to keep him here instead of letting him go to the ranch alone. it wont give me much privacey when he is here tho." she had a depressed sound in her voice. tobey gulped and was about to change his mind about supper.. deep down he knew supper meant breakfast too. but he held strong" well maybe you can come here and ill cook you supper. hows that?" he asked. " oh i think that would be great, just dont put us off to long."she almost whispered. " ill come by the hospital in the morning. if hi is up to it we need to put the partnership deal together." tobey changed the subject. " ill be there around 9 in the morning, that ok?" she asked. " thats good for me" tobey was trying to hold the line, but her voice was breaking dowen his defenses. " ill look forward to it sleep well ill see you tomorrow."tobey knew he wasnt going to sleep well. but until the partnership was finalized he needed to stay in his own bed.......alone.