Andrea Carter and the Cattle Rustlers

By Hannah M.

Part 1

San Joaquin Valley, California, Summer, 1881

           

“Faster Taffy,” Andrea (Andi) Rose Carter said to her palomino horse. It was late afternoon and 13 year old Andi wanted to get home and change before supper. She had been at her special spot all afternoon, and her overalls were filthy.

            Fifteen minutes later, Andi arrived at the barn. She groomed Taffy then she went into the kitchen. “Hurry up and dress, senorita; your family has company,” Nila said.

            Why didn’t Mother tell me we were having company? Andi wondered as she climbed the back stairs two at a time. When she got to her room, she pulled of her boots and changed from her overalls to a red dress with ruffles and a big blue ribbon on it. Then she put some dainty slippers on her feet.

            After that, Andi quickly put a bow in her hair and went downstairs. When she walked into the dining room, Andi saw that all of her family and the visitors were already there. Even Justin was there, and he had been on a business trip in San Francisco for a few weeks.

            “Andrea, this is Mr. Isaac Minor and his son, Isaiah,” Elizabeth (Andi’s mother) said.

            “It’s nice to meet you,” Andi said to them.

            “It’s nice to meet you, too,” Mr. Isaac said. Isaiah echoed his father’s answer.

            During the meal, Andi’s family talked about the normal ranch stuff, and even about San Francisco, which was where Mr. Isaac and Isaiah were from.

            The next morning Andi got dressed and almost slid down the banister, but she remembered just in time that they had company. All morning Andi had to sew and be proper because the Minor’s where here. After dinner, Andi asked Elizabeth if she could go for a ride.

            “It’s fine with me, Andrea,” Elizabeth answered. “Why don’t you ask Isaiah if he would like to go riding?” she added.

            “Alright, Mother,” Andi answered.

            Andi went into the parlor where she found Isaiah and Mr. Isaac talking to Melinda. Andi sat down on the settee, waiting for a break in the conversation. When the break came, and Andi stood up.

            “Would you like to go for a ride, Isaiah?” Andi asked.

            Isaiah glanced at his father who nodded. “Yes, Miss Andrea, I would love to,” he said politely.

            Andi went to her room to change and Isaiah went to the guest room to change. Andi came out in her denim skirt, a white blouse, a denim vest, and a cowboy hat. To her surprise and approval, Isaiah came into the barn wearing britches, a plaid shirt, and a cowboy hat. He wasn’t a city slicker like Andi thought he was.

            “You can ride Patches,” Andi said to Isaiah.

            “Yes, Ms. Andrea,” Isaiah answered politely.

            “Please, just call me Andi,” she said.

            “Alright, Andi,” he answered with a chuckle.

            When they had saddled their horses, they went on their way to Andi’s special spot. Neither of them spoke the entire ride, because they didn’t know what to say. Finally they arrived at the creek.

            “I like this place,” Isaiah said.

            “I do too; this is my favorite spot to ride to,” Andi answered happily.

            Later, Andi saw someone on a horse coming towards them really fast. “Andi! Isaiah!” the rider called.

            Andi stood frozen in fear, because the voice she heard belonged to Chad, and he sounded worried. “What’s the matter, Chad?” Andi called.

            “Cattle rustlers!” Chad shouted.

            That was enough to get Andi moving. “Quick, Isaiah!” Andi shouted. “Mount up on Patches!” Andi mounted Taffy and Isaiah mounted Patches and they rode off after Chad.

            When they pulled into the yard later, Chad went to talk to Mitch and some of the ranch hands, and Andi and Isaiah went into the barn to unsaddle their horses. When they finished, they went inside to find out what had happened. They found Elizabeth, Justin, Melinda, and Mr. Isaac in the parlor.

            “What’s going on, Justin?” Andi asked. “Chad rode over to my special spot by the creek and said something about cattle rustlers.”

            “Yes, Honey,” Justin said quietly. “Mitch rode to the west pasture and saw that there was a big gap in the fence and that approximately one hundred cattle are missing.”

            “One hundred!” Andi repeated in surprise.

            “Yes, and Mitch looked closely at the fence and he said that he’s pretty sure someone cut it,” Justin responded.

            Everyone sat quietly for a few minutes; no one knew what to say. Finally, Andi excused herself and went to the barn to think. It was dark as she went into Taffy’s stall and started talking to her. The next moment, a gag was put in Andi’s mouth and a bandana was tied in front of her eyes!

Part 2

            Andi tried to kick her captor, but someone lifted her legs and tied them up. They carried her by her arms and legs and dropped her into a wagon. The wagon started with a jolt, and then Andi slipped into unconsciousness.

            When Andi woke up, her hands and legs were tied up, but she wasn’t blindfolded or gagged. It was very late in the night and there was a camp fire very close to her. She was lying on the ground and someone had wrapped a blanket around her.

            Andi looked around and saw two men at the other side of the fire. She couldn’t tell who either of the men were, though.

            Then one of the men came over; it was a ranch hand that Chad had just hired! “What’s going on, Karl?” Andi asked.

            “We’re—”

            “Be quiet!” Karl’s partner growled.

            “Why does it matter if I tell her, Martin?” Karl asked. “She’ll find out sooner or later.”

            “I don’t know, just don’t tell her!” Martin answered.

            “Why don’t you just ask the girl if she wants to find out now or later what’s going to happen to her?” Karl suggested.

            Martin shrugged. “You can ask her,” he replied.

            Karl bent down close to Andi. “Do you want to find out now or later?” he asked.

            Andi was quite taken aback by the question. She thought about it for a minute. Then Andi said slowly, “For now, I think that I would rather not know.”

            Karl shrugged. “Fine with me.”

Part 3

            Andi awoke to someone shaking her shoulders roughly. “Wake up, girl,” Martin said.

            Andi sat up and looked around groggily. It was a little bit before sunrise and the camp had already been cleared and everything had been put into the wagon. Martin untied Andi’s feet and said, “Get into the wagon.”

            Once Andi had climbed in, Karl came over and retied her feet. Then he got up in the front seat of the wagon and Martin picked up the reigns. Then the wagon jolted and they were on their way for an 8 hour ride (there was a brief break for lunch, of course).

Part 4

            Meanwhile, back at the Circle C Ranch, everyone was worried. Andi had disappeared and there were no clues as to where she had gone. They concluded one thing though; that someone had taken Andi. After all, Taffy was still in her stall, and Andi never went anywhere without her if she could help it.

            Chad had gone into town and told Sheriff Tate about, and Sheriff Tate had hired some deputies to help with the search party. They had left the night before and Mitch and Mr. Isaac had gone, too. Justin had wanted to go, but he’d had too much work to do. Isaiah had stayed at the ranch with Mother and Melinda.

            There was some good news, though. The cattle rustlers were gone. Justin had said that the cattle rustlers had probably taken Andi, and they were probably traveling at a fast rate. That is, fast for a wagon.

Part 5

            Andi winced in pain. Her back was stiff and sore from being bounced around in the wagon so much. This was her second day of riding in the wagon, and she wasn’t enjoying it at all.

            Suddenly, the wagon stopped. That’s weird, Andi thought, it isn’t even noon yet. Why are we stopping?

            Martin and Karl jumped down from the wagon seat. Martin started unpacking everything and setting up camp. Karl came over and lifted Andi out of the wagon. He carried her to a nearby tree and put her down. As he did so, he grunted.

            As the men set up camp, Andi kept trying to figure out why they had stopped so early. Finally, Karl came over. Andi decided to find out what was going on.

            “I think that I want to know what’s going on, now,” she said, sounding much more confident than she felt.

            “Alright; I’ll tell you,” Karl said. “When we were rustling cattle back at the Circle C—” Karl stopped when Andi gasped and he nodded. “Well, as I was saying, when we were rustling cattle at your ranch, we decided to make some extra money.”

            Andi felt sick; she was pretty sure she knew what was coming next. She was right.

            “We decided to take you for ransom,” Karl finished.

            Andi sat quietly for a moment, and then she asked, “Why did we stop so early?”

            “Because we’re at our next spot,” Martin answered. He had just come over and he stood beside Karl.

            Andi asked hesitantly, “Your next spot for what?”

            “Our next spot to get cattle,” Martin answered.

            That’s what Andi had feared. She had to get away so that they couldn’t use her for ransom, and so she could let everyone know who the cattle rustlers were.

Part 6

            Isaiah stopped in his tracks. What was that creaking noise he had just heard? He looked around quickly, and, not seeing anyone, he hurried to Patches stall.

            Its pitch black in here, Isaiah thought. Well, it is the middle of the night, after all.

            Isaiah saddled Patches as quietly as possible; if anyone heard him, it would be the end of his adventure. Isaiah hadn’t been to keen on the fact that he had been left at the ranch with the women and that he hadn’t been allowed to go with the search party, so he was going to look for Andi himself.

            Isaiah rode all night, and when morning came, he stopped and got some beef jerky and an apple from is saddle bags. He ate and then rode on. He was exhausted and sore, but refused to give up. He was a day behind the search party, but that didn’t matter as he was going south and the search party had gone west.

            He thought he had seen some wagon ruts in the road going south, and it had been muddy when he had come. That had been the day before Andi disappeared, and no wagons or buggies had gone by since the rain.

Part 7

            Andi was alone. She was standing against a tree and her hands were tied together around the tree trunk. It was dark and Martin and Karl were out stealing cattle with three other men. It was getting very chilly, and Andi felt filthy in the dress that she had been wearing for a few days.

            Then she heard a rustling in the bushes. Oh God, please don’t let it be a cougar or something, Andi thought. Images of rabid coyotes popped into her mind. A shiver raced up and down her spine.

            “Andi!” a whispered voice said. Andi strained to see who had said that.

            “Andi!” the voice said again; a little bit louder this time, though.

            “Who’s there?” Andi asked.

            “It’s Isaiah,” the voice answered.

            Andi’s heart soared; the search party had come! “Come over here, Isaiah,” Andi said. “Nobody else is here.”

            Isaiah stepped out from behind the bush, and then he came over to Andi and untied her hands. “Where’s everybody else?” Andi asked.

            Isaiah was about to ask her what she meant, when it suddenly dawned on him that she thought he had come with the search party! “I’m the only one that came,” Isaiah said quietly.

            “What?” Andi said in astonishment.

            “The search party went a different way and they didn’t let me go,” Isaiah explained. “Last night I snuck away, and by riding day and night, and by not pulling a wagon, I caught up to you.”

            Andi was surprised, but she said, “Thank you very much, Isaiah.”

            “You’re welcome, Andi,” he answered.

            Andi and Isaiah climbed on Patches and rode away.

Part 8

            “Mother! Melinda! We’re home!” Andi shouted.

            Elizabeth and Melinda hurried outside. When they saw Andi and Isaiah on Patches, tears of joy came from their eyes.

            Andi and Isaiah quickly dismounted, and Andi ran to Elizabeth and hugged her. “I’m so glad you’re back!” Elizabeth whispered to her daughter.

            Andi took a bath and then Isaiah took a bath, and then they both went to bed.

Part 9

            “Yes, I saw what the nearest ranch was; it was the Bucking Bronco Ranch,” Isaiah said in response to Justin’s question.

            Andi was about to ask Justin a question, but then she heard a noise. Then she jumped up; she’d heard it again! It was Chad!

            Andi ran outside; everyone in the search party stared in surprise upon seeing Andi. Chad and Mitch jumped down from their horses and ran to Andi. She gave each of them a hug.

            “What happened to you?” Mitch asked.

            “And how did you get back here?” Chad added.

            “Andrea will tell you later,” Elizabeth said. She had just come outside. “I know you boys are exhausted; you can find out what happened tomorrow,” she added firmly.

            “Alright, Mother,” Mitch agreed.

            Chad and Mitch had some food, cleaned up, and went to bed.

Part 10

            The next morning, everything was explained to Chad, Mitch, and Mr. Isaac. Of course, Chad wanted to know where the cattle rustlers were.

            “Well, when I rescued Andi, the nearest ranch was the Bucking Bronco Ranch,” Isaiah told them.

            Yet another search party went out.

Part 11

            A few days later, Martin, Karl, and their three partners were captured. Chad and Mitch were helping people figure out which cattle belonged to which ranch. All of the Carter cattle were returned, and soon, the whole ordeal was over.

            Life at the Circle C Ranch went back to normal, but not for long, for Andi was soon to find herself in another predicament (Thick as Thieves)!

The End!