DELBERT BRIGGS 25

jackson was fidgetting there at his desk at the bank. a thousand solutions ran trough his mind.the fastest and the most illegal was takeing the cash from the vault in the bank. all it would take is a sharp teller to catch him. but, maybe locked away in prison would be a safe thing. he shook his head. if delbert would just make another payment to him and not the bank, he might slip by. he wasnt aware delbert had gathered as many cattle as he had. he knew there was aa lot of cattle left there but he didnt realize most were un branded. before they could sell them the brands would have to peel. he got up and started paceing the floor. there had to be a solution. delbert and bob and norma were about half way through branding when the sun went dow. all three were covered in dirt and blood. a few of the older cows had showen fight when their calves were drug to the fire, it kept everyone on their toes. they would leave the cattle in the corral to night and finish branding in the morning. the odd brands they had cut into a side corral for the brand inspecter to look at. they decided to drive to town and eat and to call the brand inspecter. norma struck a trott to the house to clean up while bob and delbert did the chores. it would begood to go out to eat, norma had worked the whole through and it wouldnt be fair for her to have to cook too. while in town they would call for aa inspecter. solveing two problems. if he could delbert wanted to mske a deal and get the fresh branded cattle off the ranch. so they had a quiet evenning and looked ahead to shipping. jackson was stand ing at the window in his office watching the traffic on the street out side. he feared the corporation who now had his note, and he ferared prison there was only one person who was the key to the scam of selling and reselling the ranch. where was norma? she had the whole scheme in her head all she had to do was point her finger at him under oath. he had to find her! the next morning just at sun up the brand inspecter bounced over the cattle guard into the ranch yard. bob and delbert were at the barn saddling horses. norma was cleaning up the kitchen after breakfast. randy vaughn was a solid , honest brand inspecter who had a back ground in the cattle industry. he approached the father and son smilling. he carryed a note book in one hand and extended the other in a warm hand shake and greeting. norma stood at the door watching them a brand inspecter was still law. she didnt want to have to answer any questions today.