Beneath the Tombstone (The Tombstone Series) (26 page)

“Well,
even though you can be a big jerk, I know how much Misty loves you,” Susan said
with a laugh, “so getting you back alive would probably be a bonus.”

“So
I’m just a bonus,” Jason gave a rough chuckle, his throat still a little
knotted from the tears that threatened to spill.

“No,
you’re not just a bonus,” Susan assured him playfully. “And don’t feel bad for
us. This isn’t
all
for you. I’ve been wanting to get Ken out of the city
for a long time and, as far a cleaning stalls… please,” she said as she raised
her hand, “I’d rather clean a horse’s stall than go shopping… and I
love
shopping.”

Ken
walked a short distance away to pet the cow dog, Red, who was doing his best to
maintain a professional composure as the boy rubbed his head.

Susan
lovingly watched her son. “It’s just that Ken believes in you,” she spoke
quietly to Jason. “We all believe in you,” she added with a smile then frowned at
an afterthought before turning to Jason as she added, “Except for my mother, of
course.”

“Yeah,
big shocker there,” Jason said, faking a surprised expression.

They
each stood silent for a moment, watching the boy and dog. Red broke his
professional composure for a split second to give Ken a quick lick on the cheek
before returning to statue pose. As a result, the boy giggled with delight.

Jason
cast a quick glance over at Susan. She was smiling as she watched her boy. It
felt good to have them there… but there was one question that kept coming back.
“Hey Susan,” Jason spoke after getting up the nerve to ask what was on his
mind. She turned and looked up at him. “Where are you
gonna
stay?”

“Tyler
said they’ve got two extra bedrooms and a spare bathroom upstairs that they
never use. There’ll be plenty of privacy,” she assured him. “The only reason
I’m here is to clean stalls and cook in exchange for room, board and a salary.”

They
returned to silence once more as they watched Ken with the dog. Seeing them reminded
Jason of Dixie. “I think he killed my dog,” he said quietly.

Susan
turned to him in surprise. “What?” she gasped. “Who?”

“Denton,”
Jason responded flatly. “A friend of mine has been taking care of her. Said the
other day when he went to feed her, she was gone. Thinks there was blood in her
pen.”

Susan
stood silent for a moment, a look of surprise and sorrow on her face before she
quietly said, “I’m so sorry Jason. But things are not always as they seem.
There could be some other explanation.”

True.
Silence lingered in the air for a moment before Jason looked around, “Where’s
your car?” he asked.

“Parked
up by the ranch house,” Susan explained. “We just walked down.”

Jason
nodded his head in understanding. “Well, it’s still a few minutes before five, but
I can go ahead and start showing you everything,” he offered.

“Sure,
lead the way,” Susan responded as she waived her hand, directing him to go
ahead. As they walked towards the feed shed, she turned back to her son and
called, “Come on, Ken. You can help.” The boy gave the dog one more quick pat
and received several friendly licks before racing to catch up with his mother.

In
the middle of the feeding instructions, Tyler walked up. “
Mornin
’
guys. Good to see you again, Susan,” he said as he shook her hand. “And who’s
this young man?” he asked, directing his attention to a wide eyed boy.

“I’m
Ken, sir,” he said in an impressed tone. The boy was silent for a moment until
his curiosity got the best of him. “Are you a real cowboy?” he asked.

Tyler
chuckled. “I’ve been accused of that a few times.”

“You
ever shoot anybody?” the boy went on in an excited voice.

“I’m
sorry,” Susan said with a laugh. “His image of a cowboy is a gun-
totin
’ madman from the days of the wild west.” Her laughter
died quickly as she looked up at Tyler.

“That’s,
um, that okay,” the tall cowboy replied hesitantly while casting his gaze away
from them. “I, uh, I guess it just goes with the territory.” They all stood
there a moment in awkward silence before the tall cowboy spoke quietly, “I’m
gonna
go saddle some horses.” Without another word or
making eye contact, he slowly walked away.

“Was
it something I said?” Susan asked out of concern as she turned to Jason.

“Not
what you said,” Jason answered quietly. He looked down at Ken before nodding
for Susan to step away out of earshot from the boy.

Once
out of the hearing of little ears, Jason spoke, “I said something that sounded
a lot like the question Ken asked when I first meet Tyler. He got kind of
defensive… made him downright mad is what it did.” He looked for a moment at
Susan’s questioning face before he bluntly added, “I think he really did shoot
somebody.” Susan’s head bobbed back, like she couldn’t believe it, prompting
Jason to pose a question. “How else would you explain the way he reacted?”

“He
just doesn’t seem like the killer type,” Susan said, defending the image of
Tyler she seemed to have drawn in her mind.

 “Sometimes
good people make mistakes,” Jason said quietly.

Susan
gave a gentle chuckle. “You’re starting to sound like me,” she said with a
smile, drawing an amused laugh from Jason.

Leaving
things in the more than capable hands of Susan, Jason headed towards the saddle
shed. Tyler and Rye had several horses tied to a fence by the shed and were
busy brushing them down.

Tyler
looked up at Jason. “While you’re just running around and cleaning stalls, you
can wear whatever you want,” he said in normal conversation tone, “just as long
as it’s not too weird, but when you get on a horse, there’s a dress code you
gotta
meet.” He gave Jason a smug smile as he added, “Go
back up to your shed. Should be some clothes up there that’ll work for you.”

Not
sure what the big cowboy meant, Jason headed back up to his shack. What he
found inside astounded him. Four or five pairs of button down, long sleeve
cowboy style shirts lay on his bed with blue jean pants and a belt placed
beside them. On the floor by the bed sat a pair of boots with spurs on them. A
cowboy hat hung on top of one boot. The pants and shirts looked worn, but
everything else appeared to be brand new.

Miraculously,
the clothes, boots, and hat all fit; and as Jason walked out onto the wooden
porch, he wore a big grin. Now he had spurs that jingled, too. He gave the
porch a little stomp, intrigued by the ringing sound that he knew would follow.

When
he got back to the saddle shed, he stood by as the two horsemen finished their
task of putting the bridles on three of the horses. Tyler turned to him with a
grin. “Look who’s all
cowboyed
up,” he said in a
satisfied tone. He seemed to approve of Jason’s getup.

Rye
just glanced at him and whistled.

“Thanks
for the outfit,” Jason said, directing his attention to Tyler.

“Well,
I can’t take all the credit,” the tall horseman admitted. “The hat, boots, and
spurs, I bought as a bonus for you. The shirts and pants are from Rye.”

“Well,
in that case, thanks to both of you,” Jason said, shifting his attention over
to Rye who, in response, simply nodded his head.

Tyler
led two horses over to Jason, one set of reins in each hand. He passed one off
to Jason and said, “This is Edgar,” introducing a big speckled gray horse.
“He’ll be your ride for today.” He patted the laid-back looking critter on the
neck as he added, “The ole’ boy knows more about herding cows, roping, and turning
back than the two of us combined, so really all you’ll have to do is just kind
of directing ‘
em
and give ‘
em
an encouraging nudge from time to time.”

Tyler
separated his set of split-reins and flipped the right one over the opposite
side of his horse’s neck, joining them back together in his left hand. After
stepping up into the saddle, he turned his attention to Jason once more as he
said, “Judging by your height, I think we got the stirrups set at about the
right length. Feel free to adjust them if you need to, though.” He then turned
his attention to Rye. “I’m
gonna
go get the gates
ready,” he told the younger cowboy. “
Y’all
circle
around and get the herd from pasture two heading in this direction.”

“We’re
on it,” Rye said, swinging up on his horse. Jason quickly followed suit and
fell in step behind the two cowboys as they trotted off. After a bit, Tyler
split of into the square pen, leaving Jason and Rye alone in the pre-dawn
darkness. Soon they came to a gate and, without getting down, Rye leaned over,
unlatched it, pushing it open as he rode through then waited while Jason
entered before pushing it back closed, re-latching it.

As
they made their way across the big pasture, Jason looked up at the stars. Misty
would have loved riding under a sky this clear and filled with stars. It
reminded him of a night long ago when he and Misty had stayed at her parents’
ranch. About midnight she had started begging him to slip out with her for a
ride through the starlit night. Thinking it would be more trouble than it was
worth, Jason had refused… And now he knew he could not have been more wrong. He
should’ve went; she’d have loved that. Maybe there was another chance planned
somewhere in his future.

The
limb from a nearby tree brushed against Jason’s leg as he rode past, bringing
his mind back to the present. “Thanks again for the work clothes,” he said
while brushing off the little twigs that had fallen from the limb. “They’re
comfortable.”

“You
bet,” Rye responded quietly. “No problem.”

“Were
they yours?” Jason asked.

“My
father’s,” the boy explained. “He was about your size, so I thought I’d give
you a few pair.”

Jason
picked up on the fact that the boy had spoken of his father in the past tense.
“Um, well, thank you,” he said voicing his gratitude once more before going
ahead and asking the question that was on his mind. “So, um, Tyler… he’s not
your dad?”

“No,”
Rye answered quietly. “Not really. Not biologically anyways.”

Jason
hesitated for a moment, but then his curiosity became stronger than the small
voice that warned him not to pry. “So what happened to your biological father?”
he asked.

“You
ask too many questions,” Rye replied in a quiet tone. He looked off into the
distance for a moment before answering. “He died.”

“I’m
sorry,” Jason replied earnestly. “How’d it happen?”

“That
is too many questions,” the young horseman responded as he gently nudged his
horse up into a trot, leaving Jason behind and removing any chance for further
questions.

As
they began gathering the herd, Rye, in a low pitched voice, called over to
Jason. “These girls
ain’t
been worked much so gather
‘
em
easy. Push ‘
em
too
hard, they’ll scatter.”

Tyler
joined them and dawn was beginning to light the morning sky as they drove the
herd across the square pen into a holding pen on the other side. Tyler and Rye
entered the holding pen behind the heifers. “Might want to get out of the
gate,” Rye spoke to Jason, who had stopped, unsure of what to do. Doing as
advised, he trotted over to one side of the pen and watched as the two horsemen
began counting part of the herd back into the big square pen.

“Twenty-one,”
Rye called out as he jumped his horse out in front of heifer number twenty-two,
cutting her plans of entering the square pen off short.

As
Rye shut the gate, Tyler rode over to Jason and said, “We’re
gonna
hold this bunch up against the fence, on the other
side,” he said, pointing at the far side of the pen where the heifers had
already gathered. “Part of your job will be to make sure they stay there.”

Jason
nodded in understanding as Tyler began lopping his horse. Several minutes
later, he gently entered the herd and sorted one out. The horseman dropped his
rein-hand down to the horse’s neck, and with the other, he gripped the saddle
horn. Horse and rider seemed to become one as they danced in rhythm with the
calf, which was determined to get back to the herd. After letting the horse
make a few moves on its own, Tyler lifted his rein-hand and made a few
adjustments over the course of the next few minutes.

Soon,
the calf came to a stop and just stared longingly at the herd on the other side
of the big horse bully that wouldn’t let her back to her friends. She was on
Rye’s side of the pen and, after Tyler sat patiently for a moment, he gave the
younger horseman a nod. Rye eased towards the heifer until she moved. When she
did, he backed off. Next she stopped on Jason’s side. He did the same thing –
waited until Tyler nodded, eased forward until the heifer moved then backed
off. After a short time, Tyler stopped and sorted out another cow.

A
while later, Jason and Tyler were turning the first group of yearlings back
into the pasture as Rye saddled more horses.

“So
how much land do you have here?” Jason asked, looking out across the pastures.