BIG HORN 29

roy had left cons horse saddled at the barn. in the distance headed south he could see roy jog trotting away from the head quarters. conjerked up the cinchas on his saddle and mounted and set out after roy. thing had to be better farther on south. a couple of hours later they jogged past the 13 tank. the triggers were tied open and a few cattle stood inside licking salt and drinking from the pond. con looked at roy as they passed the water lot. " ime almost afraid to go back by dead horse. we could end up like ole george." roy didnt look right or left but kept jogging straight ahead." i often wondered about ole george.before you went to work here did you check them out? i mean see if they were real?" " no, they seemed straight up. i guess he fooled me . he even fooled fawn i think" con was looking off into the distance. a haze of dust hung in the air . "now what do you think is causeing that?" con pointed with his chin. "i was just wondering my self. we gonna go see?" roy asked. a good hour later the came in sight of the south boundry fence. it ran east to west at this point. the division fence for the bombing range and the papago reservation came up from the south and tied into it. as the two cowboys rode up to the fence they found no one or anything that would raise a dust cloud. but right next to the fence was a deep cattle trail on the papago side. that trail went east. super imposed on the cattle tracks was a set of hoof prints from a bare foot horse. roy looked over at con. " indian rustler?" he asked. " looks kinda suspicious dont it?"con reined his horse to the east and started following the trail.after a good hour of long trotting the two cowboys rode up to the edge of a wide deep wash. there in the bottom stood a hand full of cattle , panting with their tounges hanging out. they wereent in very good flesh and you could tell they had been driven hard to this point. no rider was in sight. "go way around and hold up everything down there. ill wait until you get over there then ill drop down into the mess and see what we find."con pointed north as he spoke. roy turned north and trotted a good distance before turning into the wash and crossing it. while he sat there watching the cattle con detected a whiff of cigarett smoke. but he still couldnt see any one down there in the brush. after a bit he saw roy ride up on the east rim of the wash. con kicked his horse on down the bank but didnt hurry. as he drew near the bottom of the wash the cattle shifted and started drifting away. the smell of tobacco was stronger. as con pushed through the limbs of two close growing mesquite trees he came face to face with a skinny papago . he pulled up as did the indian. they stared at each other. the indian finally spoke. " buenos dias." " do you speak english cowboy?" con asked. behind them the cattle had started to climb the east bank but stopped when they saw roy ahead of them. the indian looked at con then back at roy." those are reservation cattle."he said. " ok, where you going with them? we will help you.?" con offered. the indian seemed to relax." there is a hole in the fence about a mile ahead. i think the coyotes cut it. ill show you." the cowboy turned his horse and started toward the cattle. con stood in his stirrups where roy could see him and waved roy a side. the cattle drove slower, but drove on along the fence line. as they rode along con talked to the indian cowboy. asking where he came from and how he came to find the hole in the fence. the cowboy explained his name was pedro, and he lived in a cow camp about 4 miles south. this area was his responsability. he had been rideing checking the cattle when he came on a foot trail headed north. it came to the hole in the fence. the cattle had found the hole first. he was just takeing them home. roy had had a chance to look the cattle over and hadnt found any big horn cattle . as they approached the hole in the fence roy turned the cattle thru it. once inside the reservation pedro stepped off his horse and went to pulling the wire back accross the hole. roy and con helped to rebuild the fence and close the hole. when done pedro thanked them then asked if they worked for the cartel. they assured him they didnt. pedro got a solom look on his face. " be careful then my friends. ime told the cartel owns this ranch now." pedro mounted and waved as he rode back south. "what did he mean by that?"roy asked. " probably just a rumor from down south." con said. but con didnt sound convinced

BIG HORN 28

the next morning as con stepped down from his trailer he saw a border patrol capitan walking toward him. he had climbed the fence. his truck parked at the locked gate. as he approached roy came out from the house behind con. " good morning!" con waved as the man approached. the capitan didnt respond he had a serious scowl on his face. roy stepped up" did ya catch the man at the pick up spot last night?" the capitan stopped in front of the two cowboys" when we set up our our surveylance the guy was already there. he never moved. we watched him for over a hour.when we finaly approached him we found him dead. shot in the head. the mexican woman with him was shot too.. were you two here all night last night?" "yes we were here. you dont think we did it do you?"con almost yelled. roy turned and took a step or two them came back." why would we kill them?" he was incredolus. con was shakeing his head. the capitan asked " is there any one else here?" " no every one ele is at the hospital in town. your barking up the wrong tree pard." con was firm. a horn started blareing down at the gate. roy looked down that way then back at the capitan" thats fawn down there, your blocking the gate." without a word the capitan spun around and started back followed by con and roy. con got the gate unlocked and the border patrol man pulled into the yard. fawn followed and drove straight to her motor home. before con could shut the gate a county deputy pulled across the catttle guard. roy stepped back looking right and left. con stood firm. " what is this?" con asked as the deputy got out of his car. " the border patrolman and the deputy stood together as the border patrolman said" the man killed was this womans astrainged husband. that why we are looking at you." " you all have been haveing problems with him all along." the deputy spoke up. " ill admit george made some threats but we havent seen him in a few days. and shooting him and his girl friend wasnt something we would do."con was shocked. roy had stepped up next to con in a defensive posture. " does fawn know about this?" con asked. " yes we questioned her this morning.if the guy was smuggling drugs or involved in any way we wanted him. but not dead." the deputy stated. " we want this train of drugs stopped. you need to tell us everything you know." "you know all we know. we just want them stopped from crossing the ranch. we had no idea who the pick up man was. when we catch the smugglers we send them back and give the back packs to this guy" roy pointed to the border patrol man. con was seething" look if this is all you got we gotta go to work. if we find anything else we will contact you."con stepped to the gate roy turned and started walking to the barn " i got horses to feed" he said as he walked away. the two law men looked at each other. they didnt like being dismissed but they had nothing else. they went to their cars and drove out over the cattle guard. con shut and locked the gate behind them. as con started walking toward the barn fawn called to him from her motor home. he went to her. as he stepped into the motor home he could see fawn had been crying. she had a glass of whiskey in front of her on the table. " ime sorry you and roy are wrapped up in this." fawn mumbled. " we are ok, but what about you? we need to anything for you?"con asked. he could see fawn still held some feeling s for george. " no, ill be ok. let me pull my self together. ill have to go make arraingments for them later. i shouldnt have to deal with his mistress but they couldnt identify her. they can get buried together i guess. its the decent thing to do."fawn took a sip of whiskey. " you and roy go on doing your jobs. ill bring earnesto and miriam home in a day or so. she is going to help me decorate the bender house and move in. ime ok really" con nodded and went out side and stood there a minute then went to catch up with roy.