High Desert Detective, A Fiona Marlowe Mystery (Fiona Marlowe Mysteries) (24 page)

She walked out onto the back patio where a light breeze stirred
the huge elm tree that shaded the patio. The king birds were twittering in its
leafy branches. They must have young, she thought, they were making so much
noise. She picked Shasta daisies and pink yarrow from her flower garden and
made a small bouquet. Back in the kitchen she filled a plastic water bottle she
kept on the sink. With the water and flowers in hand she walked toward the
corrals and the new bunkhouse. She passed them and kept going. She was headed
for a stand of Russian Olive trees, their narrow silver gray leaves twirling in
the breeze.

The trees formed a windbreak on a slight rise. Henry lay at rest there
in the family graveyard. An old wrought iron fence enclosed the area. His
mother and father, grandparents and siblings lay around him. A modest
gravestone with a cherub angel carved in the top marked where his remains were
buried. Opal had added a stone bench under the trees where she came to sit when
she needed quiet time. It was her personal sanctuary. No one ever came but her.
The trees partially hid the site from the other buildings. She liked it that
way.

She put the bunch of flowers in a metal vase anchored in front of
the tombstone, added water, and fluffed them to make them look pretty. How many
times had she come here with flowers to remember Henry? She sat down on the
cool bench to enjoy the shade. It was too hot for June. It never got this hot
until July and August. The rain hadn’t come like it should have that spring.
The weather seemed mixed up. But then, weather was never normal in Harney
Valley. The high altitude, the short growing season, the poor soil, and the
endless wind made growing things difficult. Freezing night time temperatures
could occur in the summer and destroy the alfalfa crop. The unpredictability of
the weather drove more than one homesteader away to the west side of the state
where rain was more plentiful.

She had grown to like it. She and Henry had settled at the ranch
after they were married. She had no idea what she was getting into. At first,
she hated it. She thought the high desert drab and dusty. But then she
discovered the people, and the rhythm of the land, the sunny days and cool
nights. The winters could be severe. But she’d snuggle up with Henry at night,
and they’d love each other. But the children didn’t come in those first years
and then Henry got killed when his horse threw him. Life was hard after Henry’s
passing, but she was committed to his dream. He used to talk to her at night
about what they would do, how many cattle, how much hay, his idea for a prime
line of bulls and horses. He had had
dreams, that
Henry did.

She didn’t bring all of those dreams to fruition. The horses were
good but not prime. But the bulls were prize winning, and the H Bar O had a
reputation for good cows and calves. She had expanded Henry’s holdings, bought
up land around the ranch until it was over one thousand acres in addition to
the land that they leased. She was proud of what she had done but sad that she
never had children and had no one to leave the ranch to.

All Henry’s brothers and sisters were gone. Opal was matriarch of
a fiefdom of quarrelsome nieces and nephews none of whom had any interest in
keeping the ranch intact. All those years of work to build an empire, and no
one wanted to keep it together.
Except Jake.
He was
the perfect son she had never had.

“Henry,” she said aloud. She liked to talk things over with him
as if in the telling the problem would be solved. “What am I to do about your
ranch? I may be up in ranch heaven with you sooner than you think. Leastways, I
hope it’s heaven. I guess I shouldn’t worry about things that I’ll leave
behind, but you know I do.” She sighed. “If only we had had children.” She
stopped for a while to think. “But they’d probably never turn out like we’d
want. They’d probably be arguing over the ranch, too. If only you’d a lived to
old age with me. I miss you so. Sometimes I feel this burden is more than I can
bear. This is all too much for me, you know.”

She could feel herself tearing up. “Stop it, you old fool. Stop
feeling sorry for yourself. Stop it now.” She blinked away the tears. “Anyway,
Henry, if you have any advice or can help out here while I’m waiting to go, I’d
appreciate it.”

* * * * *

In the ranch office Fiona and Jake went over a list of fifteen
employees who had worked on the ranch over the last twenty years. They narrowed
the list to three suspects, one of whom was one of the infamous relations.

“Did Opal have any inside help beside Queenie?” Fiona asked.

“Yes, but why do you ask? We’re interested in someone who knows
the surrounding territory, who knows the ranch operation.”

She shrugged. “Maybe she was in cahoots with the ranch hands. If
she worked inside and they worked outside, they’d know everything about the
operation and how you spend your time.”

Jake was silent like he was thinking it over. “A young girl
worked for Opal for a short while. She and one of the boys fell in love and
decided to get married and left for Nevada. But that guy isn’t on the
suspicious list.” He ran his finger down the list. “It was this guy, Mark Weiner.
He was young, green, so-so worker. I wasn’t unhappy to see him go. The girl,
Sue White, was in the same league.”

“Maybe they were feeding information to someone else. Maybe they
were a plant. Did they come to work about the same time?”

Jake checked the employment dates.
“About a
month apart.
She came first.”

“Maybe she came to case the joint, he comes later and spots the
opportunities to take a few cows, and then they leave.”

“Your imagination is going wild again, Fiona.”

She smiled. “I’m brainstorming. We have to think of all
possibilities, leave no thought
unspoken,
put
everything on the table, no matter how dumb the idea may be. What year were
they here?”

Jake checked the chart.
“About a year ago.
Queenie had decided she was going to get educated and take some online college
courses and was away for a few months. It didn’t work out, and she came back.”

“When did your rustling problems start?”

“About a month ago.
We were missing two
or three at first as far as I could tell. This last one was a major haul. But
what you’re implying is a mighty thin thread between events.”

Fiona shrugged.
“Thin but plausible.
Did
they leave a forwarding address?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Can you ask your buddy, Hoover, to run down information to try
to find them?”

Jake rubbed his forehead. “I’m not sure the wisdom of that. I
think Hoover is getting a little testy, according to you, with your meddling. And
I got a lot to do here.”

“I have the time to follow through on any information he can give
us, if you give him the call.”

Jake picked up the phone and dialed. “Hoover, please. This is
Jake. Would you have him call me? Thanks.” He hung up. “There, I called.”

Fiona sank into the overstuffed chair beside the desk. “What are
you going to do about the ranch?”

“I don’t know. Opal is thinking about what she wants to do. I
can’t rush that process. I haven’t heard back from the bank on my application
for a loan.” He looked at her and shrugged. “I’m not hopeful. Opal still is
saving relatives, and she may opt for dividing up the ranch in pieces and
giving it to them.”

“Olympia is looking for a ranch.”

“Olympia? She wants to live in Harney Valley?”

“For her it would be an investment. I doubt she’d spend much time
there. She might be looking for a ranch manager if a deal goes through.”

Jake shook his head. “My next ranch will be my own. I’m tired of
working for someone else. I put a lot of effort into this place. I was hoping
to buy it. But that probably was an impossible dream. As a matter of fact, I
called a real estate broker this morning to see what else is available.”

“I admire your persistence. I think you’ll get your own ranch,
one way or another.”

“You bet.”

* * * * *

Samantha, Tillie’s younger sister, arrived that evening. She was
slight and wistful and lived near Seattle. She had gone there to work for
Microsoft. Opal remembered her talking mostly about yoga and art. She wrote
poetry and spoke of things Opal never thought about. But she was a dear and
peaceful child, the only one in the family. She had not called ahead to tell
anyone she was coming. But that was like her. She blew in and blew out like a
rain squall, but she usually brought sunshine and not rain.

Opal was with Fiona and Jake by the horse corral, watching Sweet
work Fancy, the mare, when the car pulled in.

“Who’s that?” Opal shaded her eyes, trying to figure out who
would be coming by this late in the day.
 
“It doesn’t look like Olympia’s car.”

Fiona looked. “No. I talked to Olympia earlier. She might not be
back till late, if at all.”

Jake said, “It’s a small car. I don’t recognize it.”

Fiona and Jake stayed at the corral, while Opal walked to the
front of the house. She broke into a smile when she saw Sammie get out of the
car.

“Hello, gal, don’t you let a person know when you’re coming?”

“It’s great to see you Aunt Opal,” said Sammie.

They embraced in a big rocking hug.

“My, my, my,” said Opal, “you still look not a day over thirty. I
don’t know how you do it.”

“Genes. If stress were any indicator, I would have been dead long
ago.”

“You take after the Crawford side of the family, you lucky girl. Well,
come on in. I hope you’re here to stay for a while. Are you on vacation?”

Sammie didn’t move to follow Opal. Instead she raised her hands
over her head, looked up, and slowly turned in a 360 degree circle. “It’s so
beautiful here. I always forget how beautiful my home country is.”

“Is city life getting to you again?”

“A little.”
She paused in her circle
dance and sighed. “Tillie called me last night.”

Opal nodded. “I figured as much. And the peacemaker has sallied
forth.”

Samantha smiled and shook her head. “She unloaded on me. She only
calls when there’s some kind of crisis. Unfortunately, there’s a crisis a
minute these days with her.”

Opal looked off into the distance, off into the violet rose
sunset. “I really don’t know what to do with her and Howie.”

“Neither do I, but I thought between the two of us, we could come
up with something. But I came to see you first and foremost. Tillie told me
about the treatments and all.”

Opal lifted a shoulder. “We all got to die of something. It looks
like I know what mine will be.”

Sammie stroked Opal’s back with a light, caring touch. “You have
always amazed me. I hope I will have your resilience when I get to be your
age.”

“Ranching does it.”

“That’s what has kept you going all these years.”

Opal rubbed her arms. “It’s cooling down and the mosquitoes are
getting bad. Come in. Have you had dinner? Can I get you something to drink?”

This time Sammie followed Opal across the wood porch and in the
front door. She stopped in the living room. “Just like it always looks. This
place smells like home to me.”

Opal hugged her again. “Your mama tried to keep a good house.”

They both laughed.

“The key word is
try
,” said Samantha.

“I was thinking to have the place re-decorated.”

“Don’t you ever. It would change the smell. It might start
smelling new or something.”

“If Tillie gets it, who knows what she’ll do.”

“Tillie isn’t going to get this place.”

“They’re in a bad way.”

“She said you’re going to sell to Jake.”

“I want it to stay in one piece, and Jake would keep it together
and build on what Henry and I started. He’s responsible for the fine shape the
ranch is in now. The nieces and nephews each want their chunk. They’d rip it
apart and destroy it. If I can prevent that I will.”

“You should sell to Jake. It’s your ranch.”

Opal sighed and shook her head, gazing around the great room. She
hated the thought of giving it up. She wasn’t ready to go, but she didn’t have
much say in the matter.

Sammie said, “Tillie and Howie have made their choices. They need
to pay the consequences.”

“They’ll be out on the street, did she tell you that?”

“We both know Tillie is a drama queen. They’ll find something or
someone to bail them out. You’re an easy touch, Aunt Opal.”

She sighed. “You’ve told me that before. Can I get you something
to drink?”

“Do you have any white wine?”

“I have a boatload of wine. Fiona and Olympia are wine
drinkers.
 
Did you hear about them?”

“Only what Tillie tells me, and she’s never complimentary.”

* * * * *

Opal was sitting at the kitchen table with Samantha when Jake
came into the kitchen after dark with Fiona. Sammie went to Jake and hugged
him.

“Good to see you, Jake. Opal and I have been solving the problems
of the world.”

Jake smiled. “Have you met Fiona? She’s good at world problem
solving.”

Sammie gave Fiona a hug. She was that kind of girl. “I’m
Samantha, one of Opal’s endless relations but, hopefully, one of the nicer
ones.” She turned to Jake. “She’s been telling me the problems you guys have
been having. I’m sorry to hear it.”

“Yep, it’s been one thing after another,” said Jake.

Fiona sat down at the table with Samantha and Opal. Jake slid a
glass of wine in front of her, mixed a whiskey for Opal and himself, and poured
Sammie another glass. He figured this would be a long night. When this family
got to talking and drinking it could go on until the wee hours of the morning.