THE LONE OLD TIMER 16

the next day buck was once again brought back into the room. roer sat there waitting for him. "alright they are going to release you, just stay in the county. i had a temper tantrum in front of the judge but he finally agreed with me they had no case.they are doing the paper work now to release you. the big question in this whole thing is where is the body. i saw all the photo graphs, that guy had to die. if i were you i would quietly snoop around on that. of coarse i didnt tell you that." " i thank you for all this, whats the bill? ill get you paid as soon as i get to the ranch" buck shook roers hand. " i dont know yet, it wont be much, i hate seeing law enforcement doing this kind of deal. maybe next time you butcher send me some beef , i dont know. just keep your nose clean." roer turned to go to the door. and as he did cloe came in a hand full of papers" i got it, lets go!" she shook the paper over her head.on the way back to the ranch buck was quiet watching out the window as the scenery whizzed by. " what you thinking buck?" cloe asked. "what happened to that guy? with all that blood, he had to die. so if he did who hauled him away? who set me up?" buck murmered as he watched the real estate going by. " i didnt ssee any one all that day except the cow cop.and i dont think he would have done it." " want to put it behind us, just move on, you didnt do anything so we can go on with life. maaybe that killing will put all the rif raff on notice about stealing your stock." cloe spun the steering wheel and turnned up the drive way to bucks house" ime cooking a welcome home supper. ime takeing tomorrow off work so i can spend some time with you. is that ok?" buck looked over at her and grinned "well the meal will be great, ill withhold judgment on any thing else." " thats more than you have said yet on that so we must be makeing progress. ill take that for now." cloe beamed. for supper cloe set the table with baked potatoes, sour cream . corn and a big ole roast beef. buck felt his stomach grumble.. a bit later after his second plate full he got up and poured a glass with whiskey from the bottle on top of the refridgerater.he stepped out on the porch and watched the sun set from his favorite wicker chair.presently cloe came out with a glass also and sat down close to him." this is about as good as life gets. you got it pretty good here." she took a sip of whiskey. buck turned and looked at her. " behave your self and you might get to see it a bunch more."he chuckled. " your awful sharp for a guy just out of jail" cloe was almost laughing.

THE LONE OLD TIMER 15

at the sunday ropeing buck and cloe were haveinga good time . she had brough a lunch box full of sandwiches and between go rounds they sat on the trailer fenders with a sandwich and cold beer. wes had come by a couple of times but wisely moved on. romance was in the air.buck had just finished his beer when wes returned" hey pard, theres a deputy over yonder looking for you. sounds serious." did the deputy walked up.in his hand hehad a set of hand cuffs." buck your under arrest, hold out your hands" wes stepped between them" whats this all about?" he demanded. "suspision of murder. i got a warrent" the deputy explained. the ropers were gathering around listening. murmering. " just who is he supposed to have murdered?" wes demanded. " the owner of that bike, bill young."the deputy was looking around at the crowd of ropers nervously. " you got a body"wes demanded " not that i know of , i got a warrent tho." the deputy was getting scared the ropers were moveing closer buck stepped around wes" ill go with him, take care of my horses, and find me a lawyer. theres no need for a scene here. cloe clung to bucks arm as the deputy put the hand cuffs on buck. he turnned to her" its ok doll, help wes with ole baldy will you? find me a lawyer this wont stand i promise you." the next morning buck was brought to a interigaton room.he had spent the night in a single call and had eaten two good meals. when he got seated a door opened and we and tall dark haired man came in and seated accros from hin wes said" buck, this jimmy roer, the best attorney in town bar none." roer extended his hand accros the table and buck shook it" i already tried to get the judge to set bail but with murder he dont have to. from what i can see all they have is the fact that you were there at the scene, they still havent found a body nor do they have your finger prints. with the amount of blood they think it was a large caliber weapon that was used. do you posses something like that?" buck ducked his head, in my chap pocket, a pistol. but it hasnt been fired in a year or more." roer turned and looked at wes" can you take care of that?" wes nodded. "its my understanding that someone killed some of your cows and stole their calves and tried to sell them. do you think this man on the motor cycle did it?"roer asked. " i got no idea. wes was with me up until the day we found the cycle i had tried to move all my cows away from that area. i do know that guy tried to vandelize my truck and trailer. butt i never saw him that day i swear"buck swore, " well, sit tight, ill try to get bail set, but they really have no case against you other than the fact you were there. sit tight and let us work on this." roer got up and shook bucks hand again.+