Spirit Horses (39 page)

Far beneath them, gracing the majestic landscape was
a unique formation. Like a big city sky-scraper, the mesa stood on its own
nearly 1,300 feet high but only 40 yards across. Its walls on every side
dropped straight down to the valley’s floor, making its hard, rocky top totally
unattainable to anyone or anything, except maybe a high-soaring bird of prey.

The group stood speechless with the wind at their
backs for a while.

“Wow,” Megan breathed as she looked across the
basin. “I’ve only been here a couple of days, but I can see how you’ve gotten
caught up in this country. I can’t wait to get started on my article.”

Shane replied, “This place is really something,
isn’t it?”

Everyone profusely thanked their Shoshone guide for
sharing this sight called South Fork. JB responded to their gratitude with a
simple expressionless nod. Shane thought they would never get Brett to stop
taking pictures so they could leave.

It was mid-afternoon before the helicopter landed in
the field next to the compound. Shane’s next move was to take Brett and Megan
to their hotel in town, and then meet with Kate and her activist crew, who
would have arrived by now.

As soon as they returned to the ranch, Shane checked
in with Tigee to see if he’d heard from Dr. Burrows. “Yes, the vet called about
two hours ago. He wanted you to know that the dog does have a hernia, but it
was small, and he was going to attempt to repair it. He said they would operate
today, and if Butch makes it through the night he should be okay. He also said
to tell you that the dog would not have survived another two hours in the
valley.”

Shane remarked with a frown, “We’ll just have to
hope for the best.”

Tigee nodded and asked, “Did your friend, Ms. Megan,
get the information she needs for her story?”

“Yes, sir, it went well today. I’m taking her and
the photographer to check into the hotel now. Tara will meet them at the museum
later for a tour.”

Tigee nodded again and walked with him to the door.
He grasped Shane’s shoulder and squeezed it tightly. “I trust you, Shane, the
Tahotay
.”

Shane smiled, patted Tigee on his back, and walked
away.

On the way to Reddick with Brett and Megan, Shane
called Kate O’Hanson on his cell phone. Once he got close to town, he was able
to get enough of a signal to use it. The activist group had arrived and would
meet with him in the hotel conference room in a half hour.

Megan said she would write about the fact that this
group was in town trying to save the mustangs, but couldn’t get involved with
their opinions or promote their organization. “I think it’s a good idea they’re
here, but I plan to stay clear of them. Now, all I need to do is interview some
of the local town people about their feelings on the situation, then get the
article started.”

Shane gave her the Jensen’s phone number and told
her that they would probably be glad to talk to her. “Just make yourself as
visible as you can around town while you talk to the locals. We want this
Nethers guy to know you’re here.”
         

Megan smiled and winked. “No problem.”

When Shane reached the conference room, the activist group was there
waiting. The room was loud with conversation, and everyone was in a good mood.
Kate O’Hanson came over and greeted him enthusiastically. “It’s good to see
you, Shane.”

“Yes, ma’am, it’s good to see you, too. Thanks for
coming and bringing this mob with you.” Kate laughed and turned to the other
fourteen in the room.

“Everyone, please be quiet. I know we’re all tired
from the long drive. First of all, I want to thank you for coming out here for
this good cause. For those of you who don’t know him, I’d like to introduce you
to Shane Carson. He’s going to talk to us now about what we’ve gotten ourselves
into out here.” She then stepped aside and motioned to Shane to take center
stage.
            

Shane began by handing out informational materials
he had picked up at the museum concerning the lineage of the mustangs, and
their centuries-old ties with the Shoshone Indians. “There is no other managed
group of wild horses in this country that can be traced back through American
history the way these horses can.”

He continued, “The literature I just gave you will
amaze you with the herd’s bloodlines going back to important occurrences in our
history like the Lewis and Clark Expedition as well as Custer’s fall at the
Battle of the Little Big Horn. In order for a horse to be set free with this
herd, he had to be chosen by the chiefs and had to have been involved in events
that made a mark in time.” Shane then reached into his folder and held up
photos of the slain horses. A shocked sympathetic groan sounded throughout the
room. “This is what has been happening to these horses.”

An angry voice shouted out from the group, “Why
would someone want to do a terrible thing like this?”

As a reply, Shane handed out copies of the pictures
he had taken of the oil test sights. Shane wanted and needed this group to
expose the oil as a strong possibility for why someone was trying to destroy
the mustangs. The public, finding out about the oil, would shine the spotlight
on Nethers’s and his partners’ scheme.

“Who’s behind all this?” someone yelled out.

“We know who it is, but because he’s a very smart
guy, I don’t have enough evidence to accuse him publicly�—�yet.”
Shane went on to explain the situation in great detail.

“One of the things we have going for us is that this
man and his accomplices don’t know that we are on to them. You people are my
surprise attack. If we can blindside him by letting the public know about the
unauthorized testing for oil, along with your strong save- the-horses protest,
he’ll have no choice but to abort his plans. I want all of you to realize that
it’s not just the horses we’re trying to save here, but also some of the most
incredible country you’ve ever seen.”

Everyone applauded, and a loud chatter filled the
room.

Kate stood behind Shane and requested the group’s
attention once again. “Everyone, please listen. All of you can see what a
worthy cause we have here. This has been proven to me by what I’m about to tell
you. WATV out of Casper Wyoming, which is about fifty miles east of here, has
decided to do a feature news story entitled, ‘Who’s Killing the
Horses?’ ” Once again the enthusiastic group began to applaud.

“Wait, wait!” Kate cautioned. “There’s more! Once
WATV got on the bandwagon, I was able to get three other local TV stations and
several newspapers interested in the story. It looks as though the ‘Whose
Killing the Horses?’ story is already becoming a hot news item in this part of
the country. Folks, I mean right now�—�
today!
”
 

Shane just shook his head and started to laugh. He
knew Kate was an expert at stirring things up for her causes, but he never
imagined she would be able to do all this so quickly, way out here in the
middle of nowhere. The people in the room were now more excited than ever and
couldn’t wait to get started spreading their
save
the mustangs
posters around the town tomorrow. Kate looked at Shane and
said, “You think you can get more copies of all those pictures?”

“You bet!”

She nodded and then continued, “I’ve hired a
helicopter pilot to go out tomorrow to get some video footage of the herd and
the dead horses for the TV stations. Funny thing,” she added, “the pilot said
he knew you, and knew just where to go.”

“Megan Tillie’s in town, doing an article about the
mustangs for her magazine. He flew us out there this morning for some still shots.”

Kate smiled and shook her head. “I know we don’t
want to disturb the horses any more than we have to. I thought if I hired a
chopper for my cameraman and me, it would mean only one more flight out to the
valley. I’ll give everyone in the media any footage they’ll need. This will
keep all the TV stations from flying in there for their own film.”

“I’ll tell the Shoshone you’re doing this for them,”
Shane said. “They’ll appreciate it. I do need to hook the pilot up with the men
guarding the horses in the valley. They can tell him, via radio, where to find
the herd. We’ll coordinate all this tomorrow.”

Kate walked outside with Shane to his truck, and, in
an understatement said, “Looks like we’re about to set this little town on its
ear.”

Shane climbed into his truck and rolled down the
window. “Well, Kate, that’s exactly why I got you out here.” Then he smiled,
winked, and drove off.

When Shane returned to the ranch, Tara told him
Butch had survived the operation. The wolf would need to stay in the animal hospital
for a few days, but then he could come home to finish his recovery.

Shane let Tara and her grandfather know everything
that was happening in town. “Hopefully, all this trouble will be over soon.”

Chapter 25

The next morning, Shane helped set up the communication between the
helicopter pilot and Tara’s brothers. The second trip into the valley went as
planned. The film that Kate took of Naatea and the herd, along with the
carcasses at Jasper Canyon, turned out to be just what the doctor ordered.

Megan told Shane she thought she’d be able to finish
up her magazine article, and would be flying home in a couple days. Shane and
Tara would take Megan to dinner before she left town. He planned to say his
good-byes to her then.

Kate, who enjoyed being the center of attention, was
handling all the press and media from the surrounding cities. Shane had set the
ball in motion and was now sitting back, letting everything take its course.
Both the TV and newspaper reporters, understandably, needed the Shoshone to be
part of this human interest story. So Kate contacted Shane to have him set up
interviews with Tara and Tigee at Fort Washakie. Tara did a great job answering
their questions with her grandfather by her side.

Everything really began to accelerate over the next
week. Soon all the major networks picked up the story from the local stations.
Now the “Who’s Killing the Horses?”
story had the nation’s attention. Never in his wildest imagination
could Shane have foreseen that this story would explode onto the national scene
like it did. Even though he tried his best to stay away from the media, Megan’s
story and some of the newspaper articles did mention his name, and explained
that bringing his mustang mare out to set her free was the reason the situation
had become public.

All of the news stories and Megan’s article ended up
mentioning the possibility of greed and oil being the reason
for the brutal shootings of
the horses. Megan’s editors, along with their lawyers, decided that this was an
important part of the story. As long as no names were mentioned, they would be
clear of any libel. The news media had all taken the same views, and most were
using Shane’s pictures of the test sites on the reservation as part of their
stories.

The initial media frenzy of the mustang’s plight was
over as quickly as it began. Kate O’Hanson’s fifteen minutes of fame had now
ended. She and her people had done what they came to do, and were now leaving
town. With the public interest still strong, a couple of the investigative reporters
lingered around hoping to find out who was behind the death of the mustangs.

Vince Nethers’s first reaction to all the news was extreme anger. He
had seen Shane’s name mentioned in the reports and knew he was behind it. “I
lost a fortune because of that son of a bitch�—�all because he
wanted to turn one stupid mustang loose with that herd!” Over the phone, Vince
screamed an order to his mafia partner, “I want that prick to pay for this.”

John Risolli laughed at his
request. “I’m out of it! There’s way too much attention directed toward what’s
happening in that valley right now! Up to this point, there’s no tie-in between
your oil testing and me, and it better stay that way, or you’ll be the one who
pays! If I were you, I’d leave this Shane Carson alone and maybe even leave
town for a while.” A hard click sounded as Risolli hung up on him
.

Nethers had also talked earlier to his other
partner, Barry Russell, with the oil company. He got the same reaction from
him. “If anyone should ask me,” Barry said, “I’ll tell them my men went where
your guides told them to go. I’ll claim I didn’t know they were on reservation
land when they did your testing.”

Vince planned on using the same excuse if the
reporters or
authorities questioned him. He would just tell them that his guides made a
mistake and wandered over the property line onto the
reservation by accident. Whether or not any ongoing investigation did zero in
on Vince and his scheme, his dream of getting richer from any oil in the Wind
River Valley was over.