THE BIG HORN 32

late that aternoon con and roy drove into the ranch yard. earnesto, miriam and their daughter were sitting at the motor home. fawns jeep was no where to be seen. when con and roy got out of the truck earnesto slowley stood up. it was plain to see it was a painful thing to do.. " HOLA amigos" he called out. when they close to him they helpe him sit back down. " where is the patrona?" con asked "she left. when we were comming home and she saw all the police on the road she got scared. she left us here then drove away. she left this for you." earnesto handed con a envelope. when con opened the envelope he saw it was full of hundred doller bills. it was bulging with them.. " what the ......" con asked. " she said you should keep the rancho going. sell more cows. that she would be back." earnesto spoke slowley. " has the police been here?"roy asked. "you are the only ones. i dont understand.why would she be afraid?"earnesto slowley shook his head. in the envelope with the cash was a debit card on a account at the local bank. a note said to deposit the cattle checks in that account and draw funds as needed. con looked at roy" ime sure this is legal but it seems awful fishey. but its work and these folks are depending on us. what do you think?" " well if you think its on the up and up i guess ime in. i got nothing else to do. we came here to punch cows so i guess we will."roy spoke slowley. all of them were puzzled. for the next two weeks con and roy worked the cattlew at the paradise and then back to the 13. they shipped 4 loads of cattle to the auction and there were still cattle left on the ranch. there was no more smugglers crossing the ranch. the federale agent showed up at the end of the first week and told them the raid on the cartel in mexico had be accomplished. he stated it had turned to gun fire and many criminals had died. off handidly he asked about fawn. when con explained about her disaperance the agent asked no more. at the end of the second week earnesto was getting up and around. doing little chores about the ranch but very slow. miriam was cooking for the whole bunch and cleaning and setting things in order in the bender house. con remarked that for once things were going like they should. at the uction barn when con picked up the cattle check his eyes bulged out. he had no idea they would bring that much money and when he deposited the check and saw the balance on the account again his heart almost stopped. out in the truck roy was waitting for him. " you know we are being tailed?" he asked con. con looked at him" who?" " dont stare but that ford bronco parked out on the street. he was at the sale barn too. what do we do?" roy told him. " we havent done anything wrong. we go about our business like always. if they want something let them come ask."con was terse. they headed to the grocery store.

THE BIG HORN 31

later that night both cowboys sat in the steps to their trailer house. each had a glass half full of bourbon. roy ha been sipping on his but con only stared at his as the little bubbles rose to the top. " this deal is getting worse all the time. everyone we come in contact with is connected to the cartel. with my luck some honest law dog will tie me to them. i came here to work cattle. not deal drugs. i cant speak for you but ime going to ave a little talk with fawn when she gets back. if i dont like what i hear ime outta here."con was only talking just above a whisper. roy didnt look at him but took another swallow of whiskey." ime with you, what ever you decide." the next morning the moralis crew drove into the yard and announced the water improvements at the paradise well were done. normally happy and smilling they were sullen and quiet. the old man handed con a peice of paper stateing the were going home they needed to be paid the amount on the invoice. soon! con watched as the whole crew with their camp out fit pulled out onto the hiway and left. roy walked up" well that was a bit sudden. what do they know that we dont?" " i dont know but lets go to the paradise well and see what we can see." con folded the invoice and put it in his shirt pocket. it was a long way to the paradise. it sat in the farthest corner of the ranch. instead of horses the two men took the truck. the road wasnt to bad and they could drive at a fair rate for a desert road. mid morning they rolled to a stop at the paradise wind mill. there were two big , tall concrete water storage tanks. the new water lot would hold no telling how many cattle. the wind mill was a good forty feet tall with a fan of twelve feet in diameter. it rurned slow makeing a trickle of water from the discharge pipe into the closest storage tank. in one corner of the water lot a good size set of corrals built from stacked mesquite stood. there were lots of cattle tracks comming and going but as of yet this morning no cattle were seen. the two cowboys got out of the truck and were walking around takeing in all the improvements when on the far side of the mesquite corrals they came upon a bed roll. it was rumpled but it was plain to see it had been used the night before. no one was in sight. con grunted " we cant get away from this crap no matter where we go on this outfit!" roy nodded in agreement. just then a mexican dressed in the ckothes of a peon working man steped out from around the corner of the corral " HOLA! BUENOS DIAS! he said in a loud voice. roy slapped his leg where his pistol would have been had he had his chaps on. con nodded to the man" buenos dias. you speak english?" " yes i do" the man dug in his pants pocket and produced a wallet and handed it to con. when he opened it it held a badge for the mexican national police." are you the cowboys ive been told about?" the man asked. " we are the only cowboys here so i guess so. what can we do for you?" con asked. " my goverment wants to break up the cartel that is sending the drugs here. it appears nearly everyone here is on their payroll. except you two. they can be deadly. we think even the border patrol are being paid. as we speak we have men in washington meeting with the head people there. i and one other man have been sent here undercover to learn what we can. the other man would be at the head quarters."the man explained. con and roy bothed breathed a sigh of releif. " i think we may have met your partner last night. . there was no one there but us. he left but said he would return. we thought he was a cartel man." roy said. " can you give me a ride to up close to the pick up point on i 8? we believe there is a caravan comming through today. we want to record their delivery?" the agent asked. " load up, we will take you where ever you want to go." con stated. as the trio approached the dead horse tank from the south they could the popping of gun fire. then mexicans came out of the brush everywhere you looked at a run, headed back south. some slowed down as they passed the truck but didnt stop they kept running. roy looked to the agent with a question on his lips. the gaent smilled " i think maybe a honest law enforcement group might have met the caravan. lets drive closer and see" at the fence line a group of trucks and cars were pulled up on the gravel area where the drop was always made. a border patrol truck sat at one side a body laying o the ground with the drivers door open. just as con stopped the truck it was surrounded by men with long guns. their vest were marked as FBI.con held his hands up away from the steering wheel. the agent handed over his badge to the closest officer. "we been looking for you sir. " the officer handed back the wallet. " i think we got their pick up man and the contraband. our other force is raiding the border patrol check station on back east." the mexican agent grinned big " our people in mexico are attacking the cartel head quarters today. this should bring all this to a halt. these men driveing me are the cowboys we were told about." with that statement the agents with the long arms lowered their guns. roy let out the breath he was holding.