SMALL TOWN BIG CATCH 15

when del pulled back into his yard there were two rigs with horses tied to them waittting for him. it was late in the day so when he got stoped a young man went to his trailer and started unloading dels horse" get started del, ill put your outfit away" he called. when del was down to the last hoof on the last horse the lights in his barn were on. it had been a long day but the court hadnt paid him yet and he knew sharon had to be running low on grocerys so he needed to shoe these horses. when the last outfit pulled out of his yard he started to the house. as he trudged along with his head bowed down he was thinking about the nails with the ribbon and the pay stub from nafzigger. just as he reached the house he looked up and saw jerrys patrol car parked at the front gate. in the house jerry and little mike were setting at the kitchen table with a plate of beef stew each. it smelled great. del patted mike on the head as he went by. sharon stood at the stove is a fresh dress with a flower pring. del smiled at her as he reached for his whiskey bottle above the refridgerator. " load me up sis i can eat every bit from a bulls back side!" everyone chuckled at that. he sat down at the table with his glass just as jerry finished eating. " well did you find anything today cowboy?" jerry asked. del fished in his shirt pocket and dropped two nails and ribbons in front of jerry. then fished in the other and produced the pay stub," there ya go pard i dont know what the nails are for but theres a line of them driven in the ground up there."del took a big swallow of the jim beam. surveyors use these when they dont want to use stakes that will get knocked over. " jerry was unfolding the pay stub." where did you get this?" he asked. del explained the trash site and haveing to clean it up. jerry looked at the three items and grinned" good job cowboy, the county attorney will want to see this." " well ask that guy when i will see some cash. feeding you every night is starting to take a toll." del was grinning at jerry as sharon slapped the back of dels head as she put his plate in front of him. jerry had a sheepish look and answered ill ask him in the morning. i didnt mean to be a problem here." " your not ime just picking on you your always welcome here. more so than a few others around." del handed sharon the horse shoeing money " when yer at the store tomorrow grab a fresh bottle of whiskey will ya. this job is going to make a drunk out of me yet."

small town big catch 14

karl nafzigger sat behind a big mahoganey desk in his office in down town pheonix. like the desk he was a big man 6 foot six and 300 pounds. but he wasnt fat. for a man of 55 years he held a good figure to his german frame. accros from him sat a man in denim work clothes, his straw hat in his lap. " they got a care taker out there daily karl. they think the killing was on purpose. but i swear i only shot to warn the old codger. he got killed......" " i know all about that , you should have rode on. on one hand we got to many snoops there but on the other the old man is out of the way." nafzigger was shuffling paper around. " you boys get back out there and finish that survey. i need to figure what the cost of land prep will be.you boys get back up there as soon as possible. i got a whole crew of dirt movers and equipment ready to move in there." "but what about that care taker?" the man asked. " what about him?, get rid of him , pay him off, do what you got to do. i got a hearing on the land trade this week we need to get moveing." nafzigger didnt look up he signaled the meeting was through. the man turned and slowley went out the office door. at the receptionist desk she handed him a envelope. he pushed it between the buttons on his shirt and rested it next to his belly. he went on out to his truck. he had worked for nafzigger a couple of years and had always been well paid for his work. but nafzigger had never told him to eliminate some one. scareing a old mans horse was one thing but eliminateing them was something else del was being as quiet as he could. sharon and mike were still asleep. it was a good hour until sunup and he wanted to be in jakes pasture then. his horse clumped up into the traier. del shut the trailer gate as easy as he could and latched it when he started the truck he didnt let it idle and warm up, he dropped it into gear and let it start rolling out of the yard, the air outside a cool feel, a few clouds skirted the horizon and there was no breeze. out on the road he mashed the accelarater and rolled up to 55 mph. the dust rolled out behind the rig as he moved along. it wasnt that far to jakes yard. when he rollled into jakes yard he pulled down by the barn and corrals. the sun was just peeking over the blue mountain range.before unloading his horse he pulled on his scared and worn chaps. then unloading the horse he cinched up his saddle. tapaderos covered the stirrups , his 50 foot of rope hung over the right side from the saddle horn the coils neat and snug. a couple of piggin strings were laced through the gullit of the saddle and hung down the left side of the rig over the horses shoulder. del with out thinking put his hand on the pistol he carried in his chap pocket. he didnt want to ever use it but he had been warned. takeing a little hop he stuck his left foot into the tapadero and swung on up into the saddle. he rattled a foot in the tapadero and started the horse off into the riseing sun. he needed to check this pasture and when satisfyed head home. he had two horse shoing customers there that afternoon. it was going to be a long day. as he slowley made his way up the gentle slope he kept a weathered eye for cattle and stray horse tracks. he found neither as he rode along he kept seeing peices of red plastic ribbon on the ground. he stopped and got down and found they were attatched to a big nail that was driven in the ground. he startd looking about and found there was a line of these one every fifty yards or so. he pulled a couple and stuck them in his chap pocket. he kept looking all around. remounted he rode on looking for cows. ahead was a wind mill. when he rode up cattle stood about, some bawling. the discharge pipe from the windmill had been pulled aside and the water was running down the hill in a small stream the trough was empty. cussing ablue streak he pulled the pipe back over the trough it would be a couple hours before there would be enough for a cow to drink.looking about he found more of the red ribbons nailed to the ground above the well.here he found foot prints of work boots.remounting he could look down country and see the barn and house a good two miles away. as he rode along the boot tracks he absently minded un butoned the chap pocket and eased the gun around in case he needed it. all along the trail he kept seeing the red ribbons. then ahead he saw a cloud of dust made by a vehickle as it left.he rode on. when he came to where the vehickle had been parked he found a mess. trash scattered everywhere. empty soda and beer cans. sanwich wrappers as well as choclate candy bar wrappers.del started collecting everything and makeing a pile of it but then he picked up a crumpled paper and when he flatened it found it was a payroll recept from nafzigger. he carefully folded it and put it in his shirt pocket. he then struck a match to the pile of trash and watched it burn.when down to ashes he mounted and trotted back to the wwindmill. the cattle were drinkig up the water as fast as it came from the well. it was a good hour before all the cattle had drank the breeze was slight and the well pumped a slow stream.glanceing at the sun del mounted his horse and turned him down hill. he was going to be a long time shoeing the horses the customers were bringing. he hhoped jerry would be there ogaling sharon. he had to admit she was a fine looking woman. he said out loud as he rode along," she got all the looks in this family"