Spirit Horses (20 page)

Shane rubbed the back of his neck, thought for a few
moments before he asked, “If Nethers is trying to keep this possible mother
lode a secret, why is he bothering to get a permit to look for it?”

“Well, there’s no way he could bring the specialized
equipment along with that many people into this area without it being noticed.
He would also need fuel, supplies, and lodging for the crew. Besides, I don’t
think the oil companies would come in and do this kind of thing if they didn’t
believe it was legal.”

Mr. Jensen paused to clear his throat, “Maybe he
can’t hide what he is doing, but he can sure mislead everyone about where he’s
testing. What if the testing on his land is just a smoke screen so he can sneak
the equipment over his property line onto the reservation? If he can prove the
oil is where he thinks it is, he’ll probably wait a while longer, until the
rumors die down again, and then try to con the Indians into a lease. This is
all speculation now, but I know ole Vince. He is pretty smart. I think he may
have a long drawn-out plan to make all this happen. If I am guessing right, he
is just trying to make sure the oil is really there, and then he’ll start to
put his scheme into motion.”

Shane listened intently as Mr. Jensen went on,
“Vince is a very influential man with a lot of money and political connections.
If my theory is correct, he is the one man in the area who could pull this off.
If he can’t trick or force the Indians to sign a lease, he’ll probably try to
buy his way into it. One way or another, this guy will stop at nothing to get
to that oil if it’s there.”

Shane thought for a minute, “Okay, if this guy is as
smart as you say he is, he must realize how important the herd and their
grazing land is to the Shoshone. He would know the first thing he has to do is
to get rid of those mustangs. Once they’re out of the way, he probably figures
the Indians would be more willing to lease him the valley.” Mr. Jensen winked
and nodded in agreement.

Shane took a deep breath and rolled his eyes. “If
you’re right, I’ve really stepped into a hornet’s nest.”

Both men stood quietly, looking down at the ground,
contemplating the situation. A minute later Shane looked up. “We’re
really assuming an awful lot, so it would probably be best if we sit on this
information for now and not say anything until we have a chance to look into it
further. What we need is some proof.”

“I agree.” Mr. Jensen complied. “If it’s true, with
the kind of money that’s involved, it might be hard to know who you can trust.
I’ve seen Vince Nethers operate before, and he would have no qualms about
stepping hard on a few toes to get what he wants.” Shane bit his lip and nodded
his head in agreement.

“Sir, thank you for all the information, but I think
I’d feel better if you didn’t go nosing around anymore. The last thing I want
to do is cause you and your wife any trouble.”

“Well, I won’t pry into it unless you ask for my
help. But I want you to understand, I’m not scared of that SOB Nethers. If I
see anything unusual going on around town, I’ll let you know.” Shane smiled at
the old man’s candor as they left the barn and walked over to Tigee’s.

The two men were almost there when they noticed Tara
riding through the compound gate returning from her swim. She saw her
grandfather and Mrs. Jensen sitting on the porch and waved to them as she rode
by. Then, she gave Shane and Mr. Jensen a smile and rode toward the barn.

The old man slapped Shane on the back, “That is one
pretty lady, right there. If I was about a hundred years younger, she’d be in
trouble.” Both of them laughed as they got to the porch steps.

“I hope my wife hasn’t bent your ear too much,” he
motioned to Tigee.

“No, we had a nice talk.”

Mr. Jensen then suggested they should start for
home. The two said their good-byes and left. Shane smiled and nodded at Tigee,
as he turned to leave. He was still feeling a little embarrassed about what
happened at the pool and wanted to go before Tara walked up.

“Wait, Shane!” the old Indian called. “I want to
invite you to a party my friends are having for me at Fort Washakie tomorrow
night. It’s my eighty-sixth birthday. I’d like you to come.”

Shane really didn’t want to go, but he felt
obligated to accept. He figured he’d make a quick appearance and then come back
to the ranch as soon as he could slip away.

“Good, then you can go along with Tara and me. We’ll
head out around six.”

Again, Shane was on the spot, so he reluctantly
agreed. As he turned to leave, he realized Tara was standing only a couple feet
away. “Hi, Shane, nice day for a ride, wasn’t it?”

“Yes, ma’am, it sure was.”

Then she looked at him with her deep blue eyes and
said, “Did you see anything interesting out there?”

His face turned a light shade of red, “I always see
interesting things when I ride through this country.” Tara grinned, patted him
on his shoulder, and went inside. Shane closed his eyes and thought,
I sure hope she didn’t see me at that
pool
. The idea made him blush again, so he quickly walked home before
anyone noticed. He went inside and cleaned up then ambled out to sit on his
porch. Jessie and Butch were resting comfortably next to his chair.

Most of the Indians who worked on the ranch were
participating in a roundup in a large field next to the compound. They were
separating calves from their mothers for weaning. Once they were separated,
they’d move them up the road to another field.

It was a nice afternoon, and Shane began to doze.
The last thing he heard was the distant bellow of cows, calling each other as
the Indians moved the calves away from their mothers. The sounds lulled him
into a deep sleep. When he woke an hour later, he slowly peeked out from under
the baseball cap he’d tilted over his face and noticed eight sets of little
eyes peering at him through the rail. Next he heard a giggle followed by a
whispered, “Shut up!” The dogs must have left the porch when the children
arrived. Since Butch and Jessie were familiar with the kids, they didn’t bother
to alert Shane before slipping away.

Shane sat there a little longer, still feigning
sleep, then he said in a deep low voice, “I’ve been known to eat little people
when I’m really hungry.” The eight stood up tall and froze, their eyes wide
open. He could see they were thinking about running away, so he opened his eyes
and smiled. The group included six boys and two girls between the ages of about
five to nine years, with the two little girls appearing to be the youngest.
Shane looked them over and seeing the worry in their eyes, spoke to them. “Does
anybody here like chocolate chip cookies? I’ve got a whole bag inside.” All but
one of the little girls nodded their heads, yes, and grinned from ear to ear.
“Well, come up on the porch. I’ll go get the cookies.”

When he came out, they were all eagerly waiting with
their hands out, except for the youngest girl who was still standing in the
yard. Shane looked down from the porch and offered her one of the treats. She
avoided eye contact and didn’t respond. “She’s real shy,” one of the older boys
said.

“Here take this to her.” She smiled as the boy
handed her a cookie and in no time she ate it, as had the others.

“You know, we have enough people here to play a game
of touch football if you guys want. All nodded yes, except the shy little girl.
When he left home, he decided to bring one thing from each of his family
members. This included Jacob’s football, Tina’s favorite doll, and one of Jen’s
old pillows, which he used to sleep on every night. Playing with these kids
would make good use of Jacob’s football.

For the next hour Shane played hard with the kids,
he even got the shy little girl to join in. With the others pretending to miss
her, she made a touchdown while laughing all the way to the makeshift end zone.
The last play of the game, Shane was the quarterback. He halfheartedly
attempted an escape as all the kids, even the ones on his own team, ended up
tackling him in a roar of screams and laughter. As he got up and brushed
himself off, he noticed Tara and her grandfather standing on their porch
laughing and cheering the kids on. He gave the two a grin and then high-fived
all the children before he picked up Jacob’s football and walked back to his
house.

Chapter 13

It was Saturday, the day of the big party. Although Shane wasn’t into
crowds these days, he didn’t want to let Tigee down. After taking it easy that
afternoon, he was ready at six. As they climbed into the truck, Tara remarked,
“Since my grandfather is a tribal leader, most of the tribe will be at Fort
Washakie for the event. My two brothers are already in town setting up for the
party. There will be plenty of food, drink, and even a live band. Most of the
tribe pitched in money for it.” She looked at Shane with a mischievous glint in
her eye. “There will even be a few other white people from town, so you won’t
stand out too much.”

Shane grinned back at her, “Where have your brothers
been? I haven’t seen them.”

“My grandfather sent them on a
two-week hunting trip. He told them to go because they got into a fight with
those same guys you and I had trouble with. He decided the best way to cool
things down would be to send them away. You’ll be seeing them at the ranch now.
They both have houses in the compound. My oldest brother is married, and two of
the kids you were playing ball with yesterday are his.
”

As they drove, Tara spoke again, “I hope you don’t
mind, but my grandfather wants to go to a place we call Red Moon Ridge. It’s a
tradition for him on his birthday.”

Tigee explained, “My father was also the shaman of
our tribe. He would take me to this place often, and always on the day of my
first day. I have some good memories of those times I spent with him watching
the sun go down.” Shane felt a little awkward being part of this family
tradition, but the old man seemed to want him along.

Tara drove down a dirt road Shane had never seen
before. When they arrived, it was easy to see why this spot was so revered by
Tigee. It was another slice of paradise. The cliff sat high above the valley.
Below you could see for miles. The ridge faced northwest and on the horizon
were the now familiar Owl Creek Mountains. “Wow,” was all Shane could say, as
he approached the edge and looked at the view.

“The sun will be setting soon,” Tigee said. “You and
my granddaughter will stay here.” Then he turned and walked down a narrow trail
heading toward a specific place only he knew.

Tara leaned back against a tree and began to speak.
“As a younger man he came up here often.
 
Now it is very important to him that either I or one of my brothers
bring him here on his birthday. He prays and says he seeks advice from our
ancestors. He must think a lot of you to want to show you this.”

Shane took a deep breath and looked across the
valley below.

“This is the kind of view most people only get to
see in pictures or movies, myself included, until I came on this trip.” The two
sat quietly and enjoyed the brilliant colors of the sunset, then Shane looked
at her inquisitively. “I’ve noticed you spend a lot of time at work.”

“Yeah, I guess I do.”

“What is it that consumes so much of your life?”

“I’m a teacher and administrator for our schools.”

“You must really like it.”

“Yes, it’s my purpose. Educating our kids is the
only way our people can better themselves. The Shoshone nation has many bright
capable people, but for so long they have been held back because the lack of
resources has not allowed them to get a quality education. The funding that
most schools in this area get seems to dwindle down to almost nothing before it
makes it out here. Because of this, the opportunities for our children to make
it to college are not very good.”

“You seem to have earned a degree.”

“I was fortunate enough to have a mother who had
gone to college to become a nurse. She came back to help our people in the old
clinic that’s still on the reservation. She had been awarded a government
scholarship given out to the Indians in the 1960s. Most of the Indians given
the opportunity to go to college do not have the foundation of learning skills
it takes to succeed at a university.

“I have goals to upgrade our
schools at the elementary and high-school levels so our children are more
prepared for college. In return, they will be able to send their own children
to a good university
.”

Shane was impressed with the depth of Tara’s
commitment and purpose in her life. He was gaining a new respect for her and
her people’s struggle. Unfortunately, many of the Indians still lived here in
poverty, but with the efforts of tribal members like Tara, things were bound to
improve. In fact he felt a little guilty about how self-serving his own life
had become lately.