THE BATTLE AX REMNENT 4

friday afternoon rick turned off the asphalt onto the dirt road that led down to the battle ax corrals. inn his trailer he had four head of rock ribed hard country horses. his saddle was strapped to the side of the trailer. in the back of his truck was his bed roll and every concievable gadget for handling wild cattle. up a head he could make out the top of a canvas tent where his camp cook jake peters had set up. with jake cooking for these jobs it was a little easier to hire cowboys. but he had to admit this time it had been harder than usual. the battle ax had a bad reputation. when he rolled to a stop next to the corrals he saw the two cowboys he had hired had their horses settled in and were eating hay fed to them off the stack jason had sent. the water for the corrals was from a well that was equiped with a jenson jack pump. the boys had it running pumping a stream of water into the storage tank. back away from jakes cook tent the two cowboys had set up their teepee tents and had a canvas shade pulled over the space between their trucks. they were both sitting back in camp chairs with a cold drink in their hands. after unloading his horses and putting them away rick ambled over to the two cowboys who stood up to meet him. barry jacobs was about the same age as rick and had worked these deals with him many times. the other cowboy mickey bottoms, he been along a time or two but had never been tested as he would be on the battle ax. both men shook hands with rick. he ooked at the cold beer in each cowboys hand. " enjoy that" rich nodded at the silver cans " after today i dont want to see those until we are through." barry frowned" like that huh?" " we are going to need clear heads, any fuzzy decisions may get some one hurt. this out fit had whipped some good men. we dont need to be hobbled in any way." rick explained. " when we get done if we pull this off ill throw a party nobody this side of hell will be able to match." with that mickey threw his beer can over his shoulder, " ime done!" was all he said. jake came over and drug up a chair as the cowboys sat down in a tight circle. rick began to explain the lay of the country and his idea on working it. he hoped the steers would hold as many of the wild cattle as possible, he knew the steers had been handled and driven where the remnent of cows hadnt. the big problem was going to be getting a drive through the cholla thicket. but he had a idea o that front. leo shadrack had sent him a map of the ranch showing deeded and state grazeing lands. tomorrow the two cowboys would start rideing out the ranch. while they were out jake and rick would start a improvement program concerning the cholla thicket.it might take a week or so but when ready they would make a big drag with any luck. rick explained they couldnt leave one live animal on the ranch so was his agreement with leo. barry raised a eye brow. "thats a tall order on any ranch let alone this little slice of heaven." " yes, but thats the deal. i expect the first couple of gathers wont be to bad, but then its gonna be a catch and lead thing unless i miss my guess." rick made it plain. " doing that here is going to be a fun little chore. i just cant wait" barry turned his head back and drained his beer. then dropped the empty can next to the chair. rick then explained he wanted the two cowboys to ride down rive to the farthest corner then start back through the thicket getting idea on the amount of cattle liveing down that way. he told them to stay clear of johnny long for the time being. he drew them a rough map in the dust to explain what he wanted. the two cowboys looked to each other as if to say " oh hell."