The rain stopped about midnight and all the clouds were gone by morning. Except for the wet grass and mud, it was as if it had never happened. The rain stopped about midnight and all the clouds were gone by morning. Except for the wet grass and mud, it was as if it had never happened.
Bobbie pushed the tarp back and peeked out. Wolf licked her face. The sky was bright and blue overhead. She stood up and stretched.
She stopped. Something wasn’t right, some sound was missing. She turned to the corral.
The cows were gone.
She ran to the pens. The gate was down, trampled in the mud.
Alex came up behind her, still rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. “I guess the lightning spooked them.”
Bobbie moved inside the first pen. “That’s what they wanted us to think.”
“They? What are you talking about?”
“The Bledsoes. They did this.”
“How can you tell?”
“The cattle might have run through the gate all right, but Diablo didn’t open his own pen and follow them. Look over there.”
Alex turned to look where Bobbie pointed. Diablo’s pen was empty and the gate was standing wide open. “Those morons. Hadn’t we better go after them?”
“On what? They took our horses.”
Alex looked at the grassy hill where Bobbie had staked the horses the night before. They were gone too. All that was left were the girls’ saddles and bedrolls.
Alex rubbed her hands together as she thought. “You know this country better than I do. Where do you think they took them?”
“It doesn’t matter. We can’t go after them on foot.”
“Why not? Your ankle seems better this morning. Besides, we don’t have horses in L.A. and we manage to get around.” She moved to the saddles, untied Bobbie’s saddlebags, which held the food, and slung them over her shoulder. “You in or out, cowgirl?”
Bobbie ran her hand through her hair. She let out a deep breath and then whistled for Wolf. “I thought you told me to stop you when you wanted to do something stupid.”
“They’re your cows, aren’t they?”
Bobbie nodded. “You said the ranch might go under if you don’t get them, didn’t you?”
Bobbie nodded again.
“Then what’s stupid about it? We need to go get them.”
Bobbie untied her rope from the front of her saddle. “How can anybody argue with logic like that?”