Cows and Coyotes

Cows and Coyotes




The sun shone bright between the clouds while the wind blew through the grasses. Will
rode his horse across the pasture where his friend and ranch-hand waited. Ben had woken
him early this morning to tell him of another dead calf, the second one this week. Now
the sun had cleared the tops of the trees and was slowly warming the early spring day.

He slowed his horse as he came upon the south fence, Ben waved to him from a
dozen yards or so away. Will turned his horse east and trotted to where Bens’ horse stood
stamping its feet at the dislike of the dead carcass.

Will reached out to stroke the horse's neck. “Steady girl, I don’t care for the smell
either.” He scratched her behind the ears and walked over to where his friend waited. He
knelt down beside the dead calf and inspected the carcass. Long tears ran the length of the
hide, blood was already drying at the edges. Both front legs were broken and the entire
head of the calf was missing.

Ben ran a quick hand over his horse's flank. “I don’t think Willow cares much for
our morning find.” He smiled as he adjusted the dusty straw hat on his head. “Can’t
blame her though, not how I care to start my day either.”

“I’ll agree with you both on that one. It looks like the other one for the most part.
The same gashes in the side, broke legs, and blood everywhere. But all of the meat is still
attached to the ribs.” Will rose to his feet and faced his friend. “Except where’s the head
on this one?”

The slim ranch-hand pointed back toward the south fence. “The other side of the
fence. Not sure how it got there, don’t really want to know either.”

“So, counting the bull and the milk cow we’re down to ninety-nine head.”

“Hate to make your morning brighter, we’re at ninety-six head. The two dead
ones, and there’s three calves I can’t seem to find. Don’t know if they got out of the fence
or if I’m just missing them.”

Will searched the area some more. The dirt was dry, and what little of the brown
grass was in the area was flattened, and a lot of it covered with the cows blood. But he could see no sign of tracks from animal or human around the carcass. Just pounded dirt and dust.

Walking over to the area where the decapitated head was lying he noticed something catch the sun. He reached down into the grass and picked up a horse shoe.
“What do ya make of this Ben?”

Ben circled his horse quick. “Got all four shoes on my horse. You suppose someone was out here?”

“That’s what I’m starting to think.” Will tossed the shoe near the carcass.

Will swung back up onto his horse. “Well, let’s go throw some hay down and
we’ll get the cows to the corral and have another count. Minus the bull and the milk cow
We should have seventy-eight cows and eighteen calves. Two dead brings us to sixteen
calves.”

Ben mounted up alongside Will. “Well, let’s get to it then.” He spurred his horse
and the two men headed back to the corral.

As Will rode back across the grasslands with the ranch-hand, he thought about the
dead calf. The gashes in the hide were large and jagged, running from neck to
hindquarter. And the front legs broken on both calves. The head of this new carcass
laying a good thirty yards away from the body.

Will scratched his beard as Foxer trotted beneath him. “Ben, you got any ideas on
what’s killing the calves?”

“My first thought was maybe we got a pack of coyotes. But there wouldn’t be a
scrap of meat left on that carcass. I don’t know Will, I don’t know. It isn’t natural, I’m
almost sure of that. I’ve never seen an animal cut off something’s head like that.”

“And then there’s the shoe I found. Things don’t add up to well now, but I got a feeling.”

Ben looked sideways at him. “You think you’ve got thieves?”

“We’ll find out tonight. Let’s finish up the chores, and get us
a good count, then I have an idea.”

*********

The two men walked through the corral gate and headed for the house, Ben leading Willow.

“Ninety-six cows means five total are gone. Two dead and three calves missing.
We’ll go ahead with the plan tonight.” Will scratched at his beard. “Sure you don’t want
something to eat? Laura was working on fresh biscuits this morning.”

Ben smiled at the mention of Laura’s biscuits; they were the best around. “Thanks
for asking. I got to head into town though. I’ll be back before the sun’s gone.”

“We’ll see ya tonight then, ride careful Ben.”

Ben mounted waved a quick good-bye and rode off. Will went into the house to
see his wife and pilfer a biscuit or two. He entered the house to find his wife already in
the kitchen stewing some meat. She turned as he came in, her long wavy brown hair
falling across her shoulder. She looked him up and down with her dark brown eyes. “Go
on, get cleaned up. This stew will be done in a moment.”

He snatched a biscuit from the table and headed to the bedroom to wash up.

“I saw that William Strand. That’s one less biscuit for you at dinner.” He caught
her quick smile as he went through the bedroom doorway.

Will re-entered to find a hot cup of coffee on the table next to a plate of stew. As

he sat he glanced around the room. Their house was small, consisting of the bedroom and
the one large room that was used for cooking, eating and contained a couple of padded
chairs next to the fireplace. Most nights Laura would sit and sew while he read. During
the day little time was spent in the small house, with him working cattle most of the day
and feeding the few hogs they had, Laura spending her days collecting eggs, laundry and
preparing food. It’s was a wonder at all if they could find time to work on a family.

Laura sat down to her own plate of stew. “Will you be out long tonight?”

“We had another calf killed last night. Ben and I are going to do a little exploring
tonight.”

“Any idea what killing them?”

Will sipped his coffee and scratched his beard. “No, not with any certainty. I’m
sure they were all killed by the same thing.” He sipped at his coffee again. “If we don’t
figure it out, we’re not going to have any of this years calves left.”

“Are you going to be out all night?”

“Let’s hope not. I’d like to get some kind of sleep tonight.”

Will finished his stew and pushed his plate away. “How’s that quilt coming?”

Laura smiled at her husband. “It’s almost finished. Along with the crib you made
last month and the few clothes I’ve been able to make, all we need is the child.”

“It will happen Laura. Soon we will have a child, and with you as its mother it
will be well cared for.”

He left the table pulled on his coat and walked over to kiss his wife.

“Wake me when you get in?”

“I promise.” He kissed his wife again, grabbed his rifle and headed out to meet
Ben.

**********

Will watched Ben ride into the yard and dismount. He looked around the yard the
confusion on his face was plain. “Where’s your horse?”

He smiled. “Tie up Willow and grab your rifle. We’re walking.”

Ben looked unsure. “The horses will be faster if we need to get out of there in a
hurry.”

“I don’t plan on running into trouble, I just want some information. The rifles are
just in case trouble finds us. The horses will make too much noise when we need to be
quiet.”

“Well, at least we’ve got a clear sky and a full moon tonight. Not to mention that
darned wind settled a little bit.” Ben tied off Willow and hefted his rifle, at the same time
checking the gun on his hip to make sure it was loose in the holster. “Shall we?”

**********


The scene below the small rise was clear enough in the light of the full moon.
Their eyes had quickly adjusted to the dark during their walk through the tall dry grass.
When they had approached the small hill, they could just hear voices and the light
moaning of a calf.

Now they lay prone on the ground watching two men use a length of barbed wire
to slice through a cow's neck. The cow was already dead and lay bleeding turning the
brown grass a strange color red. The third man in the group was tying three calves to a length of lead rope.

Will rolled to his side. “I just don’t believe what I’m seeing. Why would anyone
go this far to thieve a few cows. I wish I could tell who they were from here.” He shifted
backward to sit on his haunches. “You think we should go down there or should we see if
we can get the sheriff here in time.”

A wide toothy grin spread across Bens face. It was the kind of smile you’d expect
to see on a crocodile after he’d eaten your prize cow. “I’m betting on the sheriff being
here on time.”

Will just looked sideways at the man. “And why are you so sure.”

“Well, of course while I was in town I decided to grab a beer.”

“Of course.”

“And I was thinking about what you were saying about maybe we’ve got some cattle thieves. Well, I just thought that had to be the best answer, so I already let the sheriff know what we were up to.”

“Well you seem to be on top of things. Never thought you stopping off for a beer
would ever produce such good results.” Will rolled over to his back and sucked in a deep
breath. “Guess we just wait for the sheriff then.”

“Yep.”

*********

Once again the two men walked up to the house. Will scratched at his beard and
pushed his hat back on his head. “Can you imagine doing that kind of work just for a few
head of cattle?”

Ben shrugged. “I’m just kind of disappointed they gave in without a fight. I was
hoping to take down at least one.”

“Well, the sheriff did bring five men with him. Seven against three is hardly fair.”
He reached up to stroke Willow's neck. “There’s biscuits left if you want to come in.
Laura wants me to wake her anyway.”

“I’m going to have to pass again. I think I’ll go in for another beer. Why don’t you
go in and work on that family.” Ben grinned that wide grin of his again.

The two men shook hands and Ben mounted his horse. Will waved his good-bye.
“Good idea, good idea.”