Spirit Horses (33 page)

She stood about five feet tall and three foot wide.
Whenever she locked onto a worthy cause, her strong Irish backbone made her a
force to be reckoned with. She was a wealthy widow with plenty of time and
money, plus she had an army of well-meaning people in her organization. Kate
was also a loyal client of Shane’s. He had started and trained at least half a
dozen horses for her over the years. She called her organization the HTH, which
was the acronym for Humane Treatment of Horses.

Shane had seen Kate and the HTH get involved with
many causes through the years, and he knew her organization could be a real
thorn in the side of whomever they went up against. Shane knew from past
experience that Megan Tillie and her magazine would not partner with the HTH.
These would be two separate entities coming at Nethers from two different
directions. Megan and the magazine would be shining a spotlight in his eyes,
while Kate and the HTH would put a boot on his ass.

Shane was aware that in the past Kate had been
involved in saving wild horses in Montana and Utah. When he told her about the
Shoshone’s unique herd and what was going on, she agreed to come out as soon as
she could get her group together.

Shane sat with Tigee on the porch, waiting for Megan
to return his call. “I think this will work.” Shane could see the old Indian
was still uncertain about bringing outsiders in. The herd and their heritage
was always a private thing to the tribe.

“I hope I’m not taking our horses out of one bad
situation and putting them in another,” Tigee replied.

Shane understood change was difficult for a man like
Tigee, who had spent his whole life trying to preserve the past and the old
ways. He tried to assure him, “If it allows you to keep your valley, then your
tribe will be able to control the amount of access the public will have to the
mustangs. In the end, this will be good for your
people and the horses.”

Tigee reluctantly nodded.

As soon as Megan Tillie hung up the phone, she walked to her senior
editor’s office at the
Journal
of the Horse
. Rick Bivens was reviewing an article as he looked
at her over the top of his reading glasses. “Hi Megan, what can I do for you?”

She walked in and sat in a chair at the front of his
desk. “I think I may have an interesting story for us. Do you remember Shane
Carson?”

“Wasn’t he the clinician you did a couple of
articles on when you first came to the magazine?”

“Right. I told you that a couple of years ago he
lost his family in a car accident.”

“Sure, how could I forget that? You had been a
friend of his wife for years.”

“Yes, actually I introduced them, and I spent a lot
of time with the whole family, so you can imagine how shocked I was when I
heard about Jen and the kids. I can’t even fathom what it was like for Shane.”

Rick closed his eyes and shook his head. “How is he
doing these days?”

“He just called me, and he sounded good. I tried to
contact him after the accident without any luck. I’ve thought about him often
and now, out of the clear blue, he called me just a few moments ago.”

Rick put his hand up to stop her from going on.
“Look Megan, I feel bad for what the guy has been through. I know he was a
special trainer. But the guy hasn’t been in the limelight for, what, about
ten years or more? He may even be a better horseman than some of the ones who
are well known now. I’m sorry, he’s just not worth us spending the time and
money it would take to do an article on him. If he’s looking to do a comeback
on the clinic tour, all I can do is offer him a good discount on some
advertising.”

Megan jumped in to stop Rick. “No, no, Shane’s not
asking for a story on him. He’s run into a real interesting situation in
Wyoming that I think will spark the interest of our readers.” Megan told Rick
all about the mustangs.

“Wow,” he said. “The powers that be here at the
magazine have been on my case to come up with a good human-interest story. This
sounds like just what I’ve been looking for. Our deadline for the next issue is
in ten days. Do you think we can put it together by then?”

“Just give me some plane tickets and a photographer.
I’ll fly out Monday. I’ve got a good feeling about this story. I think the idea
is good enough to write itself.”

Rick smiled at her enthusiasm as he told her to make
the arrangements.

Shane and Tigee were sitting quietly on the porch when the phone rang.
Tigee looked at Shane and motioned toward the door. Shane was at the phone
before the third ring. It was Megan calling, all excited since she had gotten
the okay from her boss.

Today was Friday. She would be flying into Riverton
early Monday morning along with a photographer. Shane offered to pick them up
at the airport, then drive them out to the Wind River Reservation that
afternoon. “You can bunk here with me Monday night, but I’d rather you stay in
town after that. I need the word to get around town as soon as possible that
you’re doing a national article about the Shoshone mustangs being killed off.
It’s a small town, so it should be the buzz around there pretty quick. There’s
no doubt the news will get back to Nethers, so he’ll have to postpone any
future hunts and rethink his next move.”

“Shane, you know I can’t write about anyone’s
involvement in all this unless I have hard evidence.”

“I know. Even if you can’t bring any names into the
story, we do have pictures of dead horses, as well as pictures of test sites on
the reservation. Those photographs show that someone was definitely looking for
oil and then covered up their tracks.”

Megan thought a moment. “I’ll run that angle by our
legal staff, but I’m pretty sure we’ll be okay as long as we aren’t accusing
anyone without proof. You know, Shane, the
Journal of the Horse
is a horse-related publication. The article
can’t stray too far away from facts about the herd and their plight.”

“I understand, and I look forward to seeing you
Monday.”

“Me too. I’ll see you then.”

Shane walked out onto the porch to join Tigee and
leaned on the rail. “Well, everything seems to be in place. My friends will be
out the first of the week. These are all good people whom you can trust, and I
can assure you they will have your horses’ best interest at heart.”
      

Again, the only response he got was a slight nod. As
Shane started to walk away, the old Indian spoke to him. “My grandsons have
been in the valley keeping an eye on the horses. JB and Hawk will be relieving
them tomorrow. If you’d like to go out to the valley and help, they’re leaving
here at ten.
 
I’m worried that there will
be an attempt on the herd soon. I’m sure they could use a third man if there is
any trouble.”

“I’m working with Tommy in the morning, but I’ll be
ready to load by ten.”

As he started to leave, Tigee called after him so
Shane turned. “I just needed to thank you for all you’re doing.” Shane smiled
and left.

Later that day when Tara came home from work, she
cooked dinner for her grandfather, then went to see Shane. When she walked into
the house, she could tell he was off in his own world again. The sight of her
snapped him out of it and immediately put him in a better frame of mind.

“Did your grandfather tell you I have a few friends
coming out the first of the week?”

“Yes, he did. He appreciates what you’re doing and
trusts you, but I know he has mixed emotions about sharing our herd with the
world.”

“I don’t blame him,” Shane said. “So far, the only
interest outsiders have shown with your horses is to shoot at them. He’ll feel
better when he sees there are other people beside the Shoshone, who will care
about the herd. You’re going to like Megan. She will write a great article, one
that will make the horses and your people come across to the public in a special
way. Who knows, she may even kick up some tourism business in Fort Washakie. I
really don’t think anything bad can come out of this.”

Tara shrugged her shoulders with a disheartened look
on her face and looked away from Shane. “What’s wrong?” he asked.

“When all this is over, and it’s safe for your mare
in the valley, you’ll set her free.”

“That’s what I came here for.”

Tara took a deep breath, looked back in his
direction, and said, “I know. And once you set her free, you’ll be going back
to your farm in Tennessee.”

All of a sudden, it hit Shane like a ton of bricks.
He hadn’t put much thought into life after he accomplished his objective, and
he certainly hadn’t expected to end up in a relationship with this Shoshone
woman. Now everything had become more complicated, and he didn’t know quite how
to respond to her.

Neither one of them were naive about this situation.
The fact that their two worlds were a nation apart was something they had
consciously chosen to ignore. But, as a couple, they could overlook this for
only so long.

Shane’s first response was to walk over to her. He
wanted to tell her that everything would be all right, even though he really
had no idea if it would be. As he reached down to lift her chin, he saw the
heavy look in her eyes, and his heart began to sink.

“Come back with me,” he said as he pulled her face
around to look at him.

No matter how much she wanted to be with him, Tara
knew she would never become comfortable or fit in Shane’s Tennessee. The fact
that he wanted her to go, told her how much he cared. This alone, meant the
world to her. But with a quivering voice, she
mumbled, “My place is here.”

Shane nodded. “I know. Look, I don’t have any idea
what the future holds for us, but I do know I never thought I could feel this
way about anyone again. I don’t want to lose you.”

“I don’t want to lose you either,” she said as she
moved her hands onto his chest and looked at him with misting eyes.

He brushed back the hair from her face and tried to
think of some words to reassure her. “You know, there’s not a lot left for me
in Tennessee. Who knows where my life will lead me. I’m still just living one
day at a time. I can’t even conceive of making plans for the future right now.”

“I’m not asking for any promises,” she said, “only
that you be honest with me. Beyond that, we’ll just see where our destinies
take us.” For now, what they had between them was too good to let go, and
neither one had any intentions of walking away from it. They stayed together
that evening, and in the morning, she and Tommy helped him load Tory onto Hawk
and JB’s trailer. Then she kissed him good-bye.

JB wasn’t too sure about
bringing the dogs along. He had no idea how much help they could be. He and
Hawk still didn’t know about the trip Shane and the two women had gone on, or
what had happened during their stay at Shadow Creek. Tara’s bruises were
healing, and what was still noticeable, she covered with makeup and sunglasses
.

The possibility for trouble was still very much on
the horizon. If the young Shoshone men knew what was going on, it would be
impossible to keep them from going on the offensive. It was more important now
than ever to keep the lid on this potential keg of dynamite until Shane’s plan
could start working.

After watching Tara say good-bye to Shane the way
she did, JB and Hawk could not help but razz him about it as they drove off.
“You know, I’ve seen a lot of guys go after Tara,” said Hawk, “but none seem to
get past a date or two. What the hell does she want with you?”

“I guess she likes old, skinny white boys,” said JB
as both the Indians laughed.

“Yeah, yeah, you guys are hilarious,” Shane growled,
“Or is it you’re just a little jealous?”

Hawk laughed again. “Shoot, JB and me are the studs
of the Shoshone tribe. We’ve got women waiting all over the reservation.
Besides, Tara thinks she’s too good for us. You probably told her you’re rich
or something.”

“That’s how I get all my women,” Shane answered.
“Now why don’t you guys cut me some slack?”

JB, who was driving, looked across at Hawk and then
at Shane before saying, “All joking aside, Tara means a lot to us. If you hurt
her, there will be a lot of pissed-off Shoshone, including me, to deal with.”

Shane nodded while looking out the truck window,
“Yeah, I’ve heard that before.”

As they pulled into the unloading spot, some dark
clouds were beginning to roll in, and it looked like a sure bet they were going
to get wet. Jessie and Butch jumped out of the truck’s bed as soon as it
stopped. They slipped into the woods before the men had a chance to get out of
the truck. “Hey, your two pet wolves have run away,” Hawk pointed out.