Montana Madness: A Novel. Sioux Dallas

hour. By then Hank had been taken to the Mission Valley Hospital on Airport Road and Buster’s body had been taken to the ranch. Three wounded had been taken care of.

      Ginger looked at Buster’s papers to see whom she should notify. She was shocked to discover that he was sixty years old and had worked for them all of his adult life. She was saddened to find that he had no one to notify.

      She and Juanita cried together and then straightened up to declare that this was war. She gave orders that Buster was to be taken to Foster Funeral Home and she would bear the expense. Billy informed her that Buster had wanted to be cremated and have his ashes scattered in the field with the horses. The other men attested to the fact they had heard the same. She gave the orders for his wishes to be fulfilled even though it broke her heart to know they were all he had. She was now left with seven hands at the ranch and four in summer pasture.

       Chapter Four

      Ginger notified the BLM of the atrocious happenings and stated that all of her men were going to be armed and given orders to shoot. Billy said he was going to shoot first and ask questions later. He didn’t want to end up on a slab. All of the men liked and respected Hank. They, like Ginger, declared war.

      There was a called meeting of The Cattlemen’s Association because the next night after the attack on Proudfoot property, about forty head of cattle were stolen from Chuck Davidson’s Broken Branch Ranch. There were no injuries to people because it happened too quickly. The thieving and injuries increased in the county. Charles Branson’s Roaring Fork was attacked and he lost cattle. He had few hands and had not counted yet to find the amount of his loss.

      There were shots fired at the house of Marlin Peterson. He thought it was a stray bullet that had been intended for the bunkhouse, but his three year old son happened to be sitting in a chair and the bullet just missed him. The boy had a cold and couldn’t sleep, so he had been allowed to stay up a while. Lake County was up in arms. Even if a ranch had not been encroached, each rancher knew it could happen to them at any time.

      Further more, these were their neighbors and they were concerned for them.

      Ginger went every day to visit Hank in the hospital. Fortunately the bullet had gone in above his heart, another had grazed his hip, but it would be some time before he was able to be up and about. She stopped the doctor one day when he came out of Hank’s room.

      “Please tell me what you can about the condition of this man. He’s my foreman, but he’s more than that. He’s taken the place of my parents and I love him dearly. Will he recover and be okay?”

      “Mr. Baxter is doing remarkably well for a seventy-two year old man. He’s in great physical shape. He’s just determined to get up and do as he wishes, but he needs time to heal and recuperate.”

      Ginger was so astonished at Hank’s age that she could hardly talk. “I’ll talk to him and assure him that we are doing fine without him.”

      “Oh, don’t do that! He doesn’t need to be told you can do without him. He’ll think he’s of no use to you and will be disheartened.”

      “Of course. I wasn’t thinking. I’m so disturbed over the chain of events that I’m surprised I’m even able to think at all.”

      “How do you think these men are getting the information that makes it possible for them to move in? Could there be a traitor on the ranch that is giving out details?” the doctor asked.

      “Good grief. I hope not. I’d like to think all of my men are trustworthy. With the exception of about three new ones, all of the others have been with us for many years. I don’t know how my parents and grandfather handled it, but I’m going to check and see about a retirement plan. I carry an insurance policy on them in the event anyone is injured, but I just didn’t think about a time when they were past the stage of working.”

      “I understand that you just recently had to assume the responsibility of the ranch and the people. It takes time to gain all the knowledge you’ll need, but I’m sure you have some loyal hands that will help.”

      “I have marvelous people and the greatest friends and neighbors in the world. I’m so blessed.”

      The doctor continued. “I’ve heard some of the ranchers talking and they think this is an organized gang with someone at the head that makes the plans. If that’s true, it’s going to be difficult to pinpoint the guilty ones. It’s a crying shame that so much money can be made, with little work, by stealing and taking someone else’s hard work.”

      The doctor excused himself and left. Ginger saw Daniel Grey Wolf coming down the hall to visit Hank.

      “Daniel, thank you for coming. I’m so glad to see you. This man is being unreasonable and insisting on getting up and going back to work. I can’t allow that. The doctor says it’s way too early.”

      Daniel laughed. “Being an obstinate man myself, I can understand how he feels. I don’t know how old Hank is but I’ve known him all my life and he’s been working on Majestic longer than I’ve been on this earth.”

      “Well, see what you can say to encourage him to take the time as the doctor recommends. Thank you again for coming.”

      Ginger left as Daniel slipped into Hank’s room. She hurried back to the ranch to talk to Frank Royce. As she pulled her Dodge truck on to the ground outside the barn, she could see some strangers talking to one of her new hands. When they saw her, the strangers jumped into a new silver Porsche and left. Andy Lutz hurried into the barn.

      Ginger followed Andy into the barn and found him cleaning and oiling tack (saddles and bridles). “Hi, Andy. Who were those men that were here?”

      “Just someone looking to buy several horses. I told them you were not selling until you finished training, but I sent them over to the Deerhunters. I don’t know what James has.”

      “It’s funny they didn’t stay to talk to me.”

      “I doubt they knew you were the owner. They probably thought you were a boarder checking on your horse.”

      Ginger wasn’t satisfied with his glib answer, but didn’t have any concrete evidence to challenge Andy’s statement. She strolled to the house thinking about what she should do. When she went in and told Juanita, the housekeeper suggested she call James and see if the men came over.

      Ginger waited half an hour to give the men time to drive over there and then called. Arline answered the phone. Ginger took time to be polite and ask about her and Howard. Arline wanted to know how Hank was and Ginger took time to tell her.

      “Arline, some men were here while I was at the hospital visiting Hank. One of my hands told me they were hoping to buy several horses and he sent them over to you. Do you have horses for sell and did the men come there?”

      “Ginger, honey. I don’t know. James is taking care of everything now and we also have a foreman that’s been with us many years that we trust. Can you wait a minute and let me call one of them to the phone?”

      “Why don’t you contact them and have them call me here at the house. Thank you Arline.”

      Juanita was waiting anxiously to hear what was happening.

      “Someone will call me from the Deerhunter’s and let me know. I need to go change into work clothes and do some work. What are we having for supper?”

      “I have a roast beef and vegetables. There is enough for the men. Do you care if they come in here and eat or do you want me to send it out to the bunkhouse?”

      “Isn’t Carson cooking for them in the bunkhouse?”

      “No. Carson got too old and left just as you came home. They’ve been taking turns cooking, but I thought since everything is in a turmoil that I could help.”

      “By all means, let’s feed them here. It’ll make it easier on you and they can come here as they get off duty. We still