DELBERT BIGGS 1

the dust cloud over the thicket was raising straight up into the sky. there ws no breeze and it hung over the mesquite in a choking fog. from the thicket you could hear brush popping, occasionally a cow brute bawl and a man cussing and fumeing. presently there came a POP! then the sound of a animal leaveing at a run. the breeze wafted just enough to drift the dust cloud away. from out of the thicket came a man leading a sweating and visibly exhaused sorrel horse. the man led the horse to a clearing and to a ancient cottonwood stump where he sat down heavely with a grunt. the man had a long scratch from his ear down to his shirt coller, it was seeping blood. flys buzzed around his head. the sorrel horse was worse. he had numerous puncture wounds in his neck and chest all dripping blood. a long gouge ran from his flank accross the gaskin and off the end of his hind quarter it was dripping blood. a rope was tied to the saddle horn and drug behind for about 20 feet, the frayed end collecting dust. the man took his hat off exposeing a shock of sweat soaked brown hair badly in need of a hair cut. he ran his hand through the mop and pushed the sweat out the side then wiped his hand and mopped his head with a blue bandana. he looked at the sorrel who was trembling and sweat running in rivlets down his legs" ime sorry cracker, i didnt know we would get in such a storm." the horse cocked a ear toward him but kept trembling. the man drug the rope up close and tied a knot in the frayed end to stop it from unraveling, untied it from the saddle horn and coiled it and layed it on the saddle horn. it was a good half hour until the horse seemed to recover. it was five miles to the house and the man didnt see himself walking in. ole cracker would have to carry him. the cowboy didnt hurry him but let him pick his own pace. on the way back to the house the cowboy kept running the circumstances of the past three months through his mind. his good friend mason who worked at the bank had called him. the bank had a ranch and was willing to let a good honest man take it over. it even had a remnent of cattle the bank would throw into the deal. delbert had a good solid job working on a road crew building a new road through the central arizona mountains. but he had been wanting a ranch for a number of years. he had grown up on a desert ranch and had all the experience a man could ask for. but the ranch his folks had was just big enough to support them. he still went home time to time to help with the work. but he wanted his own out fit. so when mason called he jumped at the deal. at the bank mason explained there was sixty sections of state lease. it wasnt real rough, no mountainouse pastures. the head quarters needed some work but was liveable. improvements servicable, maybe needing some little work. and, there was a remnent of cattle that went with the ranch. the bank would even transfer the ranch brand.delbert couldnt believe his luck.the bank didnt want a big down payment. and would let him move on while he scrapped up the down payment. del had cashed in a retirment from the construction company, and took out a second loan on his house in town. he figgured he could rent that out for enough to make the payments. he was going to have his ranch! his good life long friend mason had realy kept him in mind. " yeah he did me a big favour!" del said to cracker. " he didnt tell me this remnent hadnt been gathered in 3 years and had whipped everyone who went after them " del said sarcasticly" just wait till i see that paper pusher ill fix him good." cracker bent a ear back toward his rider but marched on. del had wanted the ranch so bad he didnt look at the cattle only the headquarters house he didnt dicker or ask any questions. the bank got this head ach off their books fast and easy.delbert didnt dare turn any gentle cattle onto the ranch with this bunch of outlaws on it. he couldnt afford to hire any help and he didnt think 20 cowboys would get this bunch of renagades in a corral. in the past couple weeks since takeing the ranch over he had caught and led in 4 head of cross bred brahma cows. each had been a battle. after ropeing them he had had to tie them up over night before leading them in. he wasnt sure just how many of these cattle still ran here but he thought it had to be around 75 head or so. at this rate he would wear out a sizeable string of horses and be a year or longer cleaning them off. the good thing the cows were fat and in good condition . when sold they brought a good price. but that would stop when the buyers found out how bad the cows were. cracker marched on. delbert ran his hand through his hair again.