DELBERT BRIGGS 16

as del was leaveing the er with a fresh bandage on his hand bob rolled into the parking lot. when he saw the hand he paled. " who did that?" " a drunk in the bar, but when he tried to set the barn on fire i caught him, he s in the hoosgow now. he confessed he was hired by the bank."delbert explained. " theres just enopugh time to make the sale in marana, see how the trash bucket herd sells, you wanna go?" " i ought to, just to keep you out of trouble but i got chores at home. drive careful and stay out of trouble" bob patted del on the shoulder and he turned to leave. a hour later delbert rolled his truck to a stop in the gravel parking lot at the marana sale barn.the lot was full of cars and trucks which meant there would be a good crowd of buyers. as delbert was threading his way through the parking lot , in and around vehickles he was met at the barn door by a brand inspecter he knew. " they shook hands and the inspecter told him" you know the bank filed a hold on your cows? they claim you havent paid for them." delberts jaw went ridgid, he ground his teeth. " lets go to my truck a minute. ill show you some thing." the brand inspecters eye brows raised and he followed delbert back to the truck. there delbert dug under the seat for a brief case and dragged it out. he opened it up, shuffled some papers and handed the brand inspecter a sheet.the inspecter read the agreement then looked up at delbert." can i go make a copy of this?" " sure ill go with you." delbert closed the brief case and picked it by the handle and followed the inspecter back to his office. there the inspecter made a copy then faxed it to the judge in tucson who issued the hold order. in less than ten minutes the judge sent a release order and on the bottom was written in bold letters SELL THE COWS! the inspecter took the release order into the sale ring and handed it to charlie the owner. when he read it he nodded and called to the cowboy out side to bring that set of cows. delbert had walked into the ring and was in the process of sitting down, when mason who was sitting three teirs above him saw him. he slowley scooted to the isle and was in the process of tip toeing down the steps when the brand inspecter saw him and started toward him. mason broke and ran for the side door only to bump into a rancher comming in.that was all the inspecter needed and he closed the distance on mason and grabbed his shirt collar. " come here man i want to talk to you."the inspecter said. mason let out a little girls squeel and twisted around leaving the inspecter with a hand full of whaite rags that had been a van husein shirt. mason burst out the door and was stampeding to his car when a truck backing out of its parking space backed over him, running the passanger side tires the length of his torso and over his head. when delbert caught up to the wreck and saw mason laying theree with firestone tread marks down his body he looked at the inspecter" well jack, that cleans up half the problem." later when the cows hit the sale ring they acted more like wild cattle instead of cattle who were recovering from a drug habit. they sold reasonably well. the main thing was they were off the ranch.