AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Bull is my boss and my friend,” Jasper said. “I can’t keep this from him. I’ll be telling him today. He’s going to be madder than hell. And it won’t just be Bull. Every rancher in the county hates sheep on the rangeland. Once words gets around, you’ll make enemies—enemies you don’t need right now.”
“You’re saying I could be in danger? I can’t believe that, Jasper. This is the twentieth century, not the Old West.”
“All I’m saying is that the sooner you get rid of these lambs—any way you can—the better off you’ll be. If you need to earn money, talk to Bull. He can find some work for you on the Rimrock.” He scowled down at the lambs for a long moment, then turned away. “Come on, let’s get the coop finished so I can bring the chickens over for you.”
They finished the work in tense silence. Fortunately there wasn’t much left to do on the coop, just stapling the mesh to the framework, securing it in the ground, and attaching the door.
Was Jasper right? Rose wondered. Could she really be in danger? Ezra Perkins had mentioned that he’d been raising lambs for years, but he’d done it on his farm, not between the boundaries of two ranches and open rangeland. Maybe the lambs hadn’t been such a good idea after all. But never mind. Come hell or high water, she was determined to make her plan work.
They finished the coop, and Jasper put his tools in the truck.
“When are you going to tell Bull?” Rose asked.
“As soon as I see him,” Jasper said. “I’m hoping you’ll take my advice. I’d hate for things to go bad between you and Bull, or for you to come to any harm.”
Rose watched him drive away. Jasper meant well, she told herself. But as he’d made clear, his first loyalty was to Bull. If she clashed with the boss of the Rimrock, she could expect no help from the man she considered her most steadfast friend.
By the time she’d finished weeding the garden, it was time to give the lambs their late-day feeding. Rose was inside the trailer preparing four bottles of milk replacement formula when she heard the sound of Jasper’s truck pulling up outside the gate. Leaving the bottles on the counter, she went outside to meet him.
This time Jasper hadn’t come alone. The back of his truck held baskets and crates, containing the promised hens and rooster. And that wasn’t all. When the passenger door of the truck opened, two small figures tumbled out and raced across the yard.
“Jasper says you’ve got baby lambs!” Beau was breathless with excitement.
“We want to see them,” said Will.
As Jasper came around the truck, his gaze met Rose’s. “I may have gotten myself into a peck of trouble,” he said.
“Did you tell Bull about the lambs?” Rose asked.
He shook his head. “Bull’s gone to Lubbock on business. He won’t be back till tonight. But these two rascals heard me telling Bernice about the lambs, and they wouldn’t give me any peace until I brought them over here.”
The boys had found the lambs. They were standing outside the pen, poking their fingers through the mesh, giggling as the lambs tried to suckle them.
This development could be in my favor, Rose thought. But she couldn’t count on it. Bull was still goi
ng to be upset, maybe more so than ever, now that his sons had been allowed to see the lambs.
“Would you like to give the lambs their bottles?” she asked the boys.
“You bet!” they chorused.
Rose got the four bottles out of the trailer, gave one of them to each of the boys, and let them into the pen. The hungry lambs crowded around them, almost pushing them over. “Now, be careful,” Rose said, showing them what to do. “You have to make sure the lamb’s head is up, the way it would be if it was drinking milk from its mother. After you’ve fed the first two, I’ll give you the other bottles.”
The boys laughed with delight as the lambs drank from the bottles. Watching them, Jasper shook his head. “Now we’ve done it, Rose,” he said. “I’ll never hear the end of this.”
Rose gave him a grin. “Come on, let’s get these chickens in the coop. I’ll sprinkle some grain on the ground so they’ll feel at home.”
Twenty minutes later, the visit ended with the lambs fed, the chickens in their coop, and everyone at least on friendly terms. But as Jasper drove away with the boys, Rose had to ask herself one question. Had she won a small victory, or simply escalated the war?
She wouldn’t know the answer to that question until Bull showed up at her door.
* * *
The next morning, while she was feeding the chickens and checking for eggs, Bull drove up in his truck. She came out of the coop to see him swinging through the gate.
She closed the door behind her, then turned to face him. “I’ve been expecting you, Bull,” she said.
“I can imagine.” His expression was dark, his manner coldly restrained. “You could have asked me before you decided to raise sheep.” Hatred punctuated the last word.
