THE BIG HORN 30

roy and con turned their horses north toward the hiway they started out following the well beaten path the coyotes had used. but as they neared the dead horse tank the foot prints veered away toward the west. con pulled up and stared down at the foot prints. " now, what you think this is all about?"he asked roy. roy shrugged" i dont know. do we go check the dead horse or follow the trail?" " you go check the dead horse, ill follow the trail. when you get done at dead horse come catch up with me. it looks like these tracks are headed toward the ranch." con sounded concerned. roy peeled off and took a bee line for the dead horse corrals and water. con booted his horse into a jog trott following the trail of the coyotes.after a mile or so he was sure they were headed to the ranch. but he suddenly realized he had lost the trail. he turned back and 50 yards back he found where the trail had turned back north toward the hiway. in the distane he could see roy comming at a short lope. when he was sure roy had seen him con struck out again following the trail. in a few minutes roy loped up and fell in along side con. "nothing at dead horse. no cattle, or tracks and no back packers tracks. i dont think any one has been there in days, cattle or man." con nodded and pointed at the set of foot prints they followed." ya know i hired on here to run a cow ranch not baby sit a bunch of ruggies. we dont get some answeres soon i may just drag up. the border patrol hasnt caught anyone of importance and we have lost one half of the owners who hired us. whose to say we arnt next?" roy didnt say anything but he did note the disgust in cons voice. as they neared the hiway fence the foot prints kept on going to it. on the other side the two cowboys could see a border patrol crusier. they followed the foot prints right up to the fence. the driver in the cruiser got out on seeing them. " you boys come a long way? you looking for me?" pointing to the tracks they had been following con said" we been following them, but they must have been picked up before you got here." " i havent seen a soul since i been here. but ill keep a eye peeled." the officer stated. he didnt offer anything else even tho he seemed friendly enough. con sat there a few moments longer and nodded. "we had a long day, its still a couple hours to the barn" roy waved a careless hand and they turned west toward the ranch the officer waved back. they had ridden a quarter mile when con looked at roy" something back there stinks. i dont know what but it dont feel right. you see that pile of cigarett butts by the car door?he s been there longer than a little while and those were mexican ciggaretts like we been seeing.." " yep, i wonder if that guy is even a real border patrolman.i was getting the hee be jeebys." it was dark when they rode into the yard on give out horses. no lights shone anywhere. as the two cowboys dismounted a voice came from the dark barn " buenos noches amigos." both me froze next to their horses. con slowley looked all arounf but didnt see a vehicle. " que pasa amigo" he asked. a stocky mexican came out of the barn. he had no weapon they could see. but roy had pulle his pistol and held it against his leg any way. "i came for water. but i found no one here. where is the patrona?" the man asked. " she went to town be back tomorrow or the next day. did you find the water?" con asked. " yes i got water. i will go now. maybe come back another time."the mexican turnned and walked toward the hiway. roy stood quietly and watched the man walk away then returned his pistol to his chap pocket." what you make of that?"he asked con. " lets get these horses put away and fed. i want a glass of whiskey to think this over on."con went back to unsaddling his horse.

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