"Thank you for the opportunity," Frank Rhoer said to Michael York as everyone stood up.
"They did this for family purposes," Michael York nodded, "and I can understand family matters... I suppose it is only fair that I gave you this chance."
I could hear some forced politeness in Michael York's voice, which indicated his rivalry with Beauregard and everything Beauregard had done in Columbia Falls. I hoped that in time, Frank Rhoer could move out of the shadow that Beauregard had cast and that Michael York and those that had been against Beauregard would learn to trust Frank Rhoer and his family.
"All the same," Frank Rhoer answered, "thank you."
Michael York then nodded.
"We would like to get a look at the cattle," Nessie commented, "make sure they're all in good shape."
"Of course," Michael York nodded and motioned for us to follow him.
We followed him in a single file line through the house, which probably looked like a snake as we went through his kitchen and out the back door. Once we were outside, the formation changed into a loose grouping with Frank Rhoer and his daughters closest to Michael York. Molly and I hung back a bit. Even though Joshua Ames had commented that cattle were somewhat stupid when it came to predators, I didn't want to run the risk of spooking them, and I was sure Molly had the same idea.
"The cattle are all in good shape as you'll see," Michael York explained, "Ebenezer Smith took good care of them as far as I know... with the obvious exception of the one he shot..." He then paused to sigh, "I'll never fully understand why he consented to doing that. He had a small herd to begin with. Two bulls and four cows. Now, thanks to his little adventure, George and Molly, you now own one bull and four cows."
"Our best guess is that Beauregard would have compensated him for the loss of the cattle," I spoke, "although that's related to the evidence collected against Beauregard, so I can't say any more."
"Of course," Michael York nodded.
"Are any of the cows pregnant?" Meredeth asked, "we'll probably be getting close to calving season."
"All of them are, from what Albert and I could tell," Michael York answered, "though, neither of us can tell you which of Ebenezer's bulls is the father."
"We'll probably sell of this year's calves as soon as possible," Frank Rhoer sighed, "or maybe sell them as veal, which can bring in a fairly pretty penny per pound... although not as much overall as say a really big cow that's reached adulthood. Beauregard never sold any of his calves to be made into veal because he said they never produced enough..."
"Veal is pretty tender, isn't it?" Molly asked.
"Yes," Michael York nodded and looked back to see Molly licking her lips, "generally because the calves haven't matured enough to toughen up their muscles... though all domestic cattle are pretty tender in comparison to buffalo meat. Since they're wild and have to escape bears and wolves on a daily basis, and their calves have to worry about coyotes and mountain lions as well."
"Have they been vaccinated?" Nessie wondered.
"Albert and I don't really know, as the paperwork connected to their vet records was apparently shredded for some reason... but given the age of the cattle, I'd assume that they have been vaccinated... You'll end up being responsible for the calves though."
Nessie and Meredeth nodded as we arrived at a small enclosure made by a series of metal "gates" hooked to a barn-like shed. The "gates" created a moderately sized open area, and there were square bales of hay in the "barn" and there was a large water tank that was outside the "barn".
And all of the cattle were there. Two cows were in the "barn" laying down next to the bales of hay while two other cows were laying in the snow just outside the "barn" The two cows that were out gazed blankly toward me and Molly. The bull was actually standing up and drinking from the water tank.
"As you can see they're all in good shape," Michael York gestured to the cattle, while Frank Rhoer moved to get a closer look at the bull.
"I see you've crossed out the Smith's brand on them," I commented.
"Yes, that was the first thing Albert, Joshua, and I did after you had paid him for the herd," Michael York answered.
"You paid for the cattle?" Molly gasped.
"It made me feel too guilty to just take them," I said weakly, "Michael York has already helped us so much... it feels rather selfish to just expect him to continue to give us things."
Molly paused for a moment and then slowly nodded.
"Anyway, we're only now waiting for George here to come up with an idea for a brand of his own," Michael York then spoke.
"Actually," I spoke up, and fished out the piece of paper that Frank Rhoer had drawn his brand design on, "Frank, here, came up with a design when we came out. I don't know how workable it is, but I thought it looked interesting."
Molly nodded beside me as I handed the paper to Michael York. He unfolded it and looked at it for a few moments.
"Interesting," Michael York then spoke, "this will take a fair amount of welding, but Albert will probably enjoy the challenge. He likes a good project."
"Alright then," I spoke, and then turned to Frank Rhoer, "Mr...."
"Call me "Uncle"," Frank Rhoer answered, "You married my niece. We're family now."
"Okay... Uncle Frank," I spoke slowly, "do you need Molly and I for anything more?"
"I do not think so," Frank Rhoer answered, "the cattle all look good. All that Nessie, Meredeth, and I have left is to ask for a tour of Mr. York's facilities so we don't hurt his operation."
I put one arm around Molly's waist and began to move off, "okay then... we actually need to get going."
The others nodded as Molly and I began to move off.
"Hopefully your partner gets better soon!" Nessie called after us.
"I hope he does too," I replied, "I hope he does too."
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Molly and I had returned to find Bandhavgarh Cabin as quiet as I had left it. We entered and prepared to go about our evening, as it was now close to five thirty PM.
"You did well, George," Molly spoke after a moment, "you came very close to getting yourself in trouble, but you did well."
"My goal was never to get in trouble," I replied.
Molly turned to glance at me and raised one eyebrow.
"Maybe... but buying cattle from a total stranger... you nearly blew it," Molly smirked, "but you got lucky in that Uncle Frank needed the work and was willing to start over and put Beauregard's nonsense behind us."
"And for that I'm grateful," I nodded, "and I'd think that with Beauregard gone, we have a chance to succeed... provided R.A.M. doesn't come up with some new barb to use against us."
Molly slowly nodded, "Yeah. Sometimes it's good to be lucky then good... you'll probably find that out come hunting season."
I nodded in response, "that's still a long way away and our hunting clothes haven't arrived yet."
"They'll probably take awhile to make since they're trying to match our stripe patterns," Molly nodded and then paused for a moment, "I'd best get dinner ready."
Molly then made her way toward the kitchen. As she did so, I headed upstairs. It had been several hours since we had left our cabin, and I decided to check if there were any messages on our answering machine. I found that there was one message, and I pressed the button to see what the message was.
"Hello, George," Joey Barnes' voice spoke through the machine, "this is Joseph, Joey, Barnes. I'm calling from the Kalispell hospital with an update on my brother that I think you'd like to know. He's awake right now and has been eating. He complains about some pain when breathing, but the Doctors say that is to be expected after all the surgery he went through. He is doing fairly well, and they expect to be able to discharge him to go home in a few days... though in the sense of letting the wound heal and let him regain his strength, they don't think he'll return to duty for about a month at least."
I then heard some mumbling in the background, as though someone was talking to Joey Barnes.
"Fred has a question for you," Joey Barnes spoke, "hold on..."
The next voice I heard was Officer Barnes' voice.
"Hey," Officer Barnes coughed out, "first off, hospital food sucks. Don't end up here."
I chuckled at that.
"Second, the next time we search the property of some fanatical lunatic, you go out the door first," Officer Barnes continued, "and finally, did we get him? Please call back and tell me if you got him."
He then gave me the number of the phone in his room, and the line went dead. I felt relieved to hear that my partner would recover. I then picked up the phone and dialed the number. A nurse answered it.
"Kalispell Hospital," the nurse spoke and then gave the room number, "whom may I ask is calling?"
"This is George Wayne, partner to Frederick Barnes in the Columbia Falls Police Department," I am returning a call that was made to me."
"Hold on a moment," the nurse spoke. A moment later, I heard Officer Barnes speak into the phone.
"Hey, George," he said politely, using my first name since neither of us were on duty.
"Hey, how are you doing?" I asked.
"Fairly good," Officer Barnes answered with a cough, "got a little discomfort on my chest and stuff... you should see all the scars and staples they put in me."
"Ouch," I replied.
"Yeah, ouch," Officer Barnes answered, "so... did you get him?"
"Yes, we got him," I answered, "Beauregard won't be bothering anyone for awhile... and as for our next search of some fanatic's property, I propose we wear our vests. They'll stop most gunshots."
I heard Officer Barnes manage to laugh a little, "Yah... Good that you got him. Anyway, they're coming in with dinner soon... I suppose I'll have to surrender my pride and swallow the stuff."
"Okay, you get well now," I told him.
"I'll try."
Molly was pleased to hear that Officer Barnes would recover, and the two of us would enjoy a rather quiet dinner.
+++++++++++++++++++++++
I got up early with the alarm the next morning. While I had the previous day off, I doubted that would extend beyond that day. So, after breakfast, I said my goodbye to Molly and went into work. The station seemed rather quiet when I arrived, and I found Officer Howard coming out of his office for a cup of coffee as he came in.
"Good morning, sir," I spoke to him as I signed in.
"Good morning, Officer Wayne," Officer Howard replied, "How did your day off go?"
"It went fairly well," I answered, "Molly and I took care of some matters."
"Good to hear," Officer Howard answered, "have you heard anything more on Officer Barnes?"
"His brother called me yesterday from the hospital," I told him, "he seems to be doing better, but the doctors don't think he'll be ready to return to duty for at least a month."
"That's likely to let all the "wounds" close," Officer Howard sighed, "he'll probably still have physical therapy as well... but it's good to hear that he's getting better."
"It's seemed somewhat miraculous, given how well he's doing, sir," I commented.
Officer Howard sighed and nodded, "there are times when we could use God's help, son."
"What is my assignment for today, sir?" I asked after a moment.
"I've been in contact with the FBI and your father's office in Peoria," Officer Howard answered, "because the gang fled across state lines, their crimes are being considered as Federal level crimes. A couple of FBI agents are supposed to arrive this morning to pick up the gang members and then drive them back to Illinois. I think they want them to face one of the Federal courts there since that was where the original crime was committed."
I nodded.
"Since you were one of the arresting officers, they may have questions for you," Officer Howard continued, "so until they come in, you can fill out the paperwork for Beauregard's arrest."
"What about Beauregard himself?" I asked, "will they be taking him too?"
"I don't think so," Officer Howard sighed, "though I think he'll end up facing a Federal Court too, since he planned the Pit Bull gang's operation... although I think that when they do take him, they'll take him to Helena."
"Okay," I nodded, and set about my work.
The paperwork took a fair while, but the expected agents hadn't arrived when I had finished. I then set about filing the various reports and paperwork pieces that had been filled out over the course of the past two days. At about eight thirty AM, a black SUV, which looked like its rear area could hold a small elephant calf without risk of it escaping parked along the street in front of the window near where I was working. Two men in business suits got out of it and made their way in. They then nervously approached me when they saw me... apparently they hadn't expected to meet one of the country's two tiger people.
"You are George Wayne?" the first agent inquired slowly.
"Yes," I nodded, "Officer George Wayne, Columbia Falls PD. I take it you're with the FBI?"
"Yes," the first agent nodded, "I am Agent Alexander Harris, this is my partner Agent Mathew Blustunn. We were ordered to pick up a group of gang members that you have caught and believe to be connected to the attack on Peoria."
"Yes," I nodded, "I was told to expect you. If you'll come with me... did you have a good drive out?"
"About as well as could be expected from our regional office in Helena," Agent Harris spoke.
"Do you have cuffs for these three, or do we need to provide them?" I inquired, just to make sure there wasn't any confusion.
"We have the cuffs," Agent Blustunn answered as we entered our department's cell area.
Spot, Snoop, and Big T were all seated in one cell while Beauregard was pacing a different one. His formerly dislocated arm was in a sling.
"We've been told that these three are willing to cooperate?" Agent Harris spoke as I opened the door to their cell.
"Yes, Big T," I pointed to the Pitt Bull that had cooperated, "has agreed to it. I think the other two will too if it gets them a smaller sentence."
"It might," Agent Blustunn commented, as he put the first set of cuffs on Spot, "it'll all depend on how much motive they had in attacking Leona Washburn's lab. If they only did it for the money this Beauregard had promised to pay them, and they can prove it, the court will probably reduce the sentence... though considering the four slain officers and one wounded, how much it is reduced will be up in the air."
I slowly nodded as the two agents cuffed the three gang members, who seemed to be fairly cooperative. They didn't struggle or threaten to bite the two agents, which reduced the potential wrestling that I might have to do with them if they decided to fight back.
"When will you be coming for Beauregard here?" I wondered as they began to move the three Pit Bulls out.
"We won't come for him until his case goes to trial," Agent Blustunn answered, "and that is scheduled in about a weeks time."
"I see," I nodded, and lead the procession out.
I moved ahead of the group in case any of the three gang members got the idea to run as we moved through the station and then outside to the SUV the two agents had arrived in. Once we got there, Agent Harris opened the back door to reveal how secure that area was. There were two seats right behind the driver's and passenger seats, with very sturdy metal bars keeping the two areas separate. There was then another set of metal bars that separated the middle two seats and the last two rear seats. Agent Blustunn went into the SUV and opened up the door to the rear seats.
"First two," He spoke
Big T and Spot were moved in first. They went in one by one and were buckled into the seats, though with their arms still around their back. Snoop was moved in last and was put in the seat behind the passenger seat in the middle section of the SUV. Once they were all in, Agent Blustunn got out of that area and Agent Harris shut the door behind him.
"Thank you for your help," Agent Harris spoke.
"No problem," I told him.