The Ranch (Book 1): Troubled Times (2 page)

T
he morning sun
let the girls know that a new day had begun. They got up and did the same thing they did every day, beginning with finding something to wear. The girls dug through their closets, trying to find something they hadn’t worn in a while. They were down to only the basics, having not had the opportunity to go to town and shop like they used to do. They all chose their favorite jeans, and when they came downstairs they laughed at the fact that they all had chosen to wear their favorite old sweatshirts; each one with the Chicago Cubs written across the chest. They never had gone to Chicago, but Debbie always had imagined herself visiting the big city one day. All four of the girls were baseball fans, and all liked to remember the days of watching the games with their dad after finishing their chores. They were also fans of loyalty and dedication, and loved how loyal the fans were to the Cubs.

Debbie got out the ingredients to make corn bread and began her task, while Connie grabbed the eggs her dad already had gathered and began making scrambled eggs. Beth got the coffee going and Amy set the table. Being the youngest, she always got the easiest of chores, and while she liked that some days, other days she wished she could make the food. She knew her time was coming, and waited patiently.

After the men finished their safety checks, they all gathered around the table and talked about the day’s chores. The weather was getting cooler and cooler every day, and everyone knew that soon the snow would be making its way to the ranch. So a lot of chores revolved around preparing for winter. Keith and Stewart began their wood collecting and chopping, knowing they would need four times as much wood as normal. Sometimes they would let Amy help them stack the wood, and she was hoping her father would let her help them later in the day. While they were chopping wood, Thomas made sure the hay was stacked in the barn for the horses, and the grain was brought from the outbuildings to the barn. It was important to keep the corn feed close so they didn’t have to wander in the snow to bring it to the horses.

James hadn’t returned from his fishing trip yet, and while they all worried, they all hoped that him being gone so long meant he was catching a ton of fish to be stored in the cold shed for the winter. Some would be smoked, more would be canned, and some would be eaten right away to prevent it going bad.

Andrew not only made sure the cattle were safe and healthy, but he also kept watch over the ranch, hoping to catch a glimpse of someone off in the distance, watching them. For a while now, he had been concerned, but he did everything he could to keep the girls not only safe, but unaware of his worry. Throughout the day, he would look in on the girls, and knowing that soon they wouldn’t be able to go outside as much, he decided to let them all help Stewart and Keith with the wood. They stacked it along the side of the shed, on the porch and even inside the house, making sure there was enough to keep them all warm, and also to run the stove.

Before dinner, he noticed the girls all were huddled together on the porch talking about something. He went over to them, hoping they were okay. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing, Daddy,” Amy answered, looking a little bit suspicious. She kept her eyes trained on his boots and not his face.

“We were just planning dinner,” Connie said, hoping to keep their father from suspecting they were up to something.

“It looks like more than just dinner planning. What’s going on?” He always knew when there was something going on, especially when Amy wouldn’t look him in the eye.

“We’re just worried about James. He’s been gone for so long.” Debbie was always the voice of reason, and right now she was also the voice of a group of plotting girls. Her sisters all wished they could be like her.

“Well, I’m sure he’s fine. I bet he comes home soon with a pile of fish!” Andrew said to his girls, smiling. He needed to make sure they didn’t worry too much. Andrew went inside to clean up and could smell the stew simmering over the fire. He loved when Debbie made stew in the fireplace. It reminded him so much of Sandra, and made even the coldest days a little bit warmer.

Once they were sure their father was out of earshot, they began planning for their first night of finding the rock moving culprit.” We have to talk quiet and fast,” Connie said, enjoying being sneaky.

“Okay, so, Amy and Beth, you guys are gonna be in charge of keeping watch from your bedrooms. You will have to keep the windows open a little bit, so make sure you bundle up. If you hear or see anything that shouldn’t be, you will need to let us know.” Debbie spoke like she had planned a million covert operations.

“How?” Amy asked.

“Well, caw like a bird. That way nobody will know what’s going on.”

“What will you and Connie be doing?” Beth asked.

“We will be outside, looking for the person moving the rocks.”

“That’s bad! You know Dad said we can’t go outside without one of them with us.” Amy said, almost a little too loudly.

“Shhh! We will be fine. We will be together, and we will have our shotguns.”

“You better be careful, or Dad will ground you forever!”

“Amy, really, do you think we are dumb enough to get caught? Just make sure you guys are keeping watch. You are going to be listening for Dad also. If you hear him get up, caw like a bird and then hop in your beds so he thinks you are sleeping.”

“Fine,” Amy said, pouting. She didn’t like sneaking around, and she didn’t like keeping things from her dad. On the flip side, she was a little excited at the prospect of catching the rock mover!

After dinner, the girls waited impatiently for the time to come when their father would go to bed. Wanting to leave no chance for their father to figure out that they were up to something, they all got into their warm pajamas, thankful that it was cold that night. They sat by the fireplace and read books while the men enjoyed some decaf coffee and the rest of the corn bread from breakfast. Connie was getting frustrated because it didn’t look like Thomas, Keith and Stewart would be going out to check the perimeter of the ranch.

Finally, Debbie nodded to Connie and said, “Well, I’m tired. I think I’ll turn in now. Goodnight everyone.” She walked over to her father and kissed his cheek and then waved at the others.

“Yeah,” Connie said, “I think I’ll go to bed, too. Come on Beth, you and Amy should probably go to bed, too.” They happily agreed because they didn’t like deceiving their dad and knew they would feel better if they didn’t have to keep looking over at him.

They all pretended to go to sleep, and shortly afterward, they heard their father make his way up to his room. When they knew it was safe, Debbie and Connie quietly made their way outside, shotguns in hand. Watching from their bedroom windows, Amy and Beth thought their older sisters looked funny walking around in their nightgowns and winter coats holding shotguns. With Thomas, Keith and Stewart at the far ends of the ranch, Connie and Debbie walked confidently…at first. The first twig that snapped stopped them both in their tracks. Amy giggled at the sight, but quickly stopped herself, hoping she didn’t’ wake her dad.

The first night was a little nerve-wracking for the girls, and they cut it close. Keith and Stewart were already at the barn, so Connie and Debbie hurried back to the house and tiptoed in, trying to be as quiet as possible. Debbie ran her foot into the chair next to the fireplace and it made a loud thud.

“Shhhhh,” Connie hissed.

Debbie mouthed “Sorry!” and then they made their way up the stairs and instead of going into their own rooms, they met Amy and Beth in Connie’s room. They all collapsed on the bed, silently giggling and wiggling around. They were so proud of themselves for pulling it off, but were a little bummed out that they didn’t catch the rock mover in action.

This routine went on for another two nights, and while they didn’t catch anyone lingering around, it was still fun and exciting for them. The third night was the coldest, and it also marked a week since James had left to go fishing. They knew he should have been back already, so they were a little more nervous to be out there, not knowing what had happened to him. Amy and Beth didn’t want them to go out there because the wind was blowing hard, and they were cold in the window watching for intruders.

It seemed to Beth as though time was dragging, so she moved to Amy’s room once Debbie and Connie moved to her side of the house. Together, they huddled in the window, watching for any sign of life other than their sisters. They got so cold they went to get blankets.

Debbie and Connie made their way around to the back of the house, Connie staying a considerable distance behind Debbie. She only had gone a few steps when Debbie felt a strong hand grip her shoulder. She let out a scream that Connie never had heard before. Spinning on her heels, Debbie raised the shotgun. There in front of her was James.

“You scared the devil out of me!” Debbie said, breathing hard. She didn’t like that while she was scared witless, James was grinning.

“Who is it?” Connie asked as she rushed over.

“It’s James,” Debbie said, not happy at all with the fright he gave her.

Within a minute, not only had Connie reached the spot where Debbie and James stood, but so had Andrew, Amy, Beth, Keith, Stewart and Thomas. They all were shocked when they heard the scream and ran without even thinking. They all stood there for a moment, not sure what to think.

E
veryone stood around James
, startled by Debbie’s scream, hearts racing. It was a moment that created a lot of tension, and Andrew had spent much of his time trying to keep tension out of his daughter’s life. He stepped forward, torn between wanting to cheer James he was home and wanting to ring the young man’s neck.

“Where the heck have you been? You have been gone for over a week!” Andrew asked, obviously conflicted.

“I am freezing, man. Can we go inside and talk?” James said, hoping they would welcome him inside.

“It is cold out here,” Andrew started. “We should all get inside, especially you, Debbie and Connie.”

Debbie saw the look on his face and knew he was angry and had questions. She was definitely not looking forward to the conversation they were about to have, so she walked slowly, not caring how cold she was getting. Amy and Beth hurried inside, prepared to let their older sisters do all the talking. They hoped their father wouldn’t even consider the thought that they had been involved in whatever went on outside.

Once inside, the girls were told to sit by the fireplace, and Andrew went to make some coffee and hot cocoa. When he returned, he sat down and glared at James. He struggled to find the words to say, praying that what he was about to hear wasn’t some lame excuse for why James was gone over a week for a two-day fishing trip.

“Well, what happened?” Andrew asked.

“I planned on coming back in a couple of days, but it was so peaceful out there, and the fish just weren’t biting. So, I stayed until I caught some fish.”

“You weren’t down there, dude.” Andrew said, calling him on his lie. “We checked the area, and there was no sign of you. We saw no smoke from a fire, and it was obvious that nobody had camped in our area.”

“The first day I caught no fish, so I moved up the way a bit, to where the water was bigger.”

“You should have come back after two days.” Andrew was frustrated. He wanted to believe his ranch hand, but James’ story just didn’t sound believable.

“I know, and I’m sorry if I worried you. Look, in the morning I will show you the fish I caught. I put them in the shed. I even can show you the spot where I finally found good fishing.”

“I am really having a hard time believing you. I feel like you left, found something better and now you are back…Why?”

Feeling the pressure to answer the questions correctly, James said, “I came back because this is home.”

“Well, you don’t leave home, and leave the people at home, stay gone and make them worry. And you definitely don’t come back in the middle of the night and expect a warm and fuzzy welcome. What really happened while you were out there?”

“I told you. I went fishing. They weren’t biting so I moved upstream. They were really biting up there, so I stayed until I couldn’t catch any more. Then I came home.”

“Why so late at night?”

“By the time I caught the last fish and packed up it was already late. I had taken the tent down and didn’t want to spend the time to put it back up, so I just headed back.”

Andrew realized James had an answer for everything, so he dropped it. He had plenty of time to worry about what really happened later. “How much did you catch?”

“Three totes. I tell you, it was heavy! Thank goodness the sled could hold it and still slide over the ground with no snow! I had to take all my camp gear out of the one tote to fill it with fish.”

Impressed, Andrew said, “Well, thank goodness you are okay. Did you see anyone while you were out there?”

“Not a soul.” There was a look on his face that Andrew wasn’t too sure about, and he decided he would need to keep an eye on James for a while to make sure he wasn’t up to something. Then he turned his attention to the girls. “What in the name of God were you doing out there?”

It was the moment Debbie had been dreading. Since it was her idea in the first place, she knew it was only right that she be the one to talk. She swallowed hard and took a deep breath. She couldn’t look her father in the eyes while he was so upset with her, so she looked at the floor as she spoke.

“I’m sorry, Daddy.” It had been years since Debbie called him that, but at that moment, she felt like a little girl. “We were just trying to catch the person who had been moving the rocks. And then we were worried about what happened to James.”

“If you were worried that something bad had happened to James, then don’t you think that was a clue that you shouldn’t be out there…especially at night?” He said, teetering on the line between anger and heavy concern.

“I know, but we wanted to help. All we do is cook, and we wanted to be more help. We thought if we caught the person coming on our property, it would be one less thing for all of you guys to worry about.”

“Well, now I have to worry about that, and have the added worry of knowing that my daughters like to sneak around late at night. What if Thomas was nearby and thought you were an intruder? What do you think would have happened?” He was frustrated, and hoped he was handling things right.

“We didn’t think about it. We just waited until you were sleeping and the guys were at the perimeter.”

It was obvious to Andrew his girls felt bad for making him worry. He didn’t want to yell at them, but he wanted to make sure they understood how dangerous what they had done was. He took a few minutes to gather his thoughts, and during that time, Debbie and Connie went to make more coffee. Beth and Amy were so upset about everything that happened that they sat in silence, unable to speak, and barely able to look at their father.

When the two older girls returned, Anthony spoke in a calm but firm voice, “I want all four of you to look at me.” He waited until all four girls mustered the nerve to look into his eyes and then spoke again, “It is very important that you all stop this mission that you are on. We will figure out what is going on with the rocks, and James is back now. So there is no need for you to be sneaking around at night. It is dangerous, and my job is to keep you safe.” He looked at them and waited.

Thomas also spoke up, “Girls, you are gonna be the death of me! I don’t know if you realize how much we all worry about you. You’re not just Andrew’s daughters, I feel like you are my family as well. Please don’t scare us like that again.”

As if having their father upset with them wasn’t bad enough, the thought that everybody else also was upset really hit them hard. Debbie spoke for all four of them, “We’re really sorry, Dad. Sorry to all of you, really. We didn’t mean to upset you and we won’t do it again. We just wanted to help.”

“Why don’t you all go up to bed? It’s the middle of the night and I think spending some time in your rooms to think about things will help.” Andrew wasn’t making a request, and the girls knew it. So they said goodnight and headed to their rooms.

Once they were settled in and the ceiling above stopped creaking with their footsteps, Andrew turned and looked at James once again. “I’m still not convinced your story is exactly what happened. I absolutely do not like feeling like I can’t trust someone, and right now you aren’t giving me a really warm and fuzzy feeling.”

“Sir, I really don’t know what you expect me to do or say. I went fishing, it wasn’t productive where I was so I moved to another area and caught a lot of fish. It’s all in the shed now. I could show you.”

Feeling like he really needed to see that James had indeed caught a lot of fish, and knowing that he wouldn’t sleep until this situation was behind him, he put on his shoes and coat and led James out to the shed.

“See, sir, it’s all right there,” James said when Andrew unlocked the shed and slid the door open.

“How did you get it in here? It was locked.”

“I have a key.”

Andrew didn’t remember giving him a key, and decided he would have to talk to Thomas and the other guys to see if they had. He looked over the fish and then looked back at James, uncomfortable with him standing behind him where he was out of his peripheral vision. “Well, good job. After breakfast, you and Thomas can bring it over to the smoker and prepare it for storage.”

“Yes, sir.”

“Go on and get some rest. See you at breakfast.”

James walked away, and Andrew locked the shed. He put it in his mind that he would be changing the lock on the sliding door once the fish was moved to the smoker. He didn’t like that James had a key and access to some of their stored supplies. He turned and walked back to the house, noticing just how frigidly cold it had grown. There were clouds in the sky, and the moon was just barely peeking through them. He wondered as he walked up the back steps when the first major storm would roll in.

Once inside, Andrew placed two more logs on the fire and made himself comfortable on the couch. Thomas sat in the recliner, and Keith and Stewart had gone to their place to get some sleep. He looked over at Thomas and said, “Can you believe those girls?” Thomas chuckled and just shook his head. “Hey, did you give James a key to the shed?”

“No, why?”

“Well, he put the totes of fish in the shed and the lock was on the door. I asked him how he got it in there and he told me he had a key.”

“No, did he tell you I did?”

“No, and I didn’t ask him either. Something is not right with him, and I don’t like it. I’ll be changing the lock tomorrow after breakfast. I need you to go with him to the smoker to prepare all the fish. I know you hate doing that, but right now you’re the only one I can trust and I need you to keep an eye on him. I’ll give you the new key after dinner, when he goes off to bed.”

“Sounds good. He did seem a little off tonight, didn’t he?” Thomas asked.

“Yeah, he did. He wouldn’t even look me straight in the eye for more than a second. He is up to something, and I intend to figure out what.”

“I’ll keep my eye on him.”

“Why don’t you head back to your cabin? I’m fine here. I will be camping out on the couch for a while to make sure the girls don’t get any more bright ideas.”

“If you don’t mind, I’ll just stay right here. You have a tendency to sleep kind of heavy, so two of us definitely will be a bonus.”

“I don’t sleep heavy,” Andrew replied.

“Did you hear them sneak out of the house, right past your room?”

“Point taken,” Andrew said and they both laughed.

They sat in silence, watching the flames flicker. The wind picked up outside, and they both fell asleep to the sound of leaves rustling outside the window, though it took Andrew a little longer.