by "Kate" age 16
With a condescending look at her younger sister, Melinda flounced down the stairs, leaving Andi to tremble with rage. Melinda wouldn’t get the last word.
“I hope I never see you again!” Andi shouted.
She and Melinda had been in one of the many trifling
tornados which frequently disturb the peace between sisters. At this point Andi
did not know why she was fighting.
“I don’t ever want to hear that again,” that was Chad.
“You hear me Andi?”
Without a look at him, Andi rushed down the stairs. Stupid brother! Forcibly she choked down
the forbidden words. He always took Melinda’s side. Taffy would understand
though.
In the stall with her beloved palomino, Andi poured out
her grievances, finding comfort in an occasional snort or whiny. When she had
eased her mind she decided to take Taffy out for some much needed exercise.
Having saddled the palomino, Andi began to lead it out of the stall. Through
the barn door she caught sight of a lone ride, and an adventurous tingle ran
down her spine. She had seen him before. But where?
The rider drew nearer and it finally struck her. She had
seen him while on outings at school in San Francisco! Each time she had seen
him he had caught her attention, but then she would forget some ridiculous rule
and her attention would revert back to being a ‘proper young lady’. Now, Andi
wondered why she had noticed him at all. There was something about him that she
didn’t like. Was it the sarcastic eyebrows, or the sneering mouth?
Sid, the ranch
foreman, walked out to meet the man. They exchanged a few words then separated.
Andi looked at Sid as he entered the barn.
“I don’t like him,” she blurted.
Sid laughed. “It’s just your imagination Andi.”
Nettled, Andi went for her ride mulling over the strange
rider and wondering why he would be on her family’s ranch. She would have to
tell Chad. That reminded her of Melinda. She’d apologize to her, too.
That night at supper, Andi learned more. She always
learned a lot at supper. Chad said a stranger had spoken to him, warning about
a circulating cattle disease called foot and mouth. Chad explained that cows
got severe blisters that could cause lameness and other harmful complications.
It was highly contagious and cows often had to be put down and buried with a
corrosive acid to prevent a spread of the illness.
Inexplicably, two days later, ten Circle C cows showed
signs of foot and mouth. Because he had purchased some of the corrosive acid
before hand, Chad said it was an advantage to have been warned. However, Andi
thought it was too convenient.
Although Chad, Mitch and the hands always disposed of the
carcasses in the proper way, the cows continued to come down with the disease.
Andi was growing suspicious, so she and Cory, to whom she had explained the
situation, decided to ride over the ranch, and have a look around.
While riding near her special spot, Cory spied a flash of
red. Motioning to Andi he started off quietly in the direction he had seen it
in. Eagerly Andi followed. They were getting close and she could feel it. Silently,
they rounded a corner. He would be there. They saw nothing.
Nothing?
He must have heard them coming.
To be safe, Andi told Chad what she and Cory had seen.
“It could’ve been a bird’s wings reflecting the sunset,”
he offered.
“No, Chad,” Andi shook her head. “We were out before sunset, it was early afternoon.
And Cory saw red, not orange.”
“Was it your imagination? Sometimes when people are looking
for things they imagine they see them.” Chad was not cooperative. Didn’t he realize
she was trying to help save their ranch?
“Look Andi, I appreciate your trying to help,” so he understand.
“But…” But? What was that about? “But I think your imagination has run away
with you this time. Cattle disease is not uncommon. These things happen. I value
your interest in the ranch. It is commendable; however I think it is best for
you to let alone.”
It was not discouraging. Andi felt hurt. After all her
encounters with dangerous criminals, Chad still doubted her. For once, she was
going to him to get his advice, and wasn’t doing what was
right in her own eyes, like the fool
in Proverbs. She was trying to do right, and he wasn’t helping her!
As
she had expected, the cows got sick, again.
While, she and Cory were once again out riding, they spotted
a pink flash. This time they dismounted, sidling up to the tree clump where
they had seen the pink. Eagerly, they peeped around a thick oak trunk. What was
that?
“How many are gone, Mac?” another man challenged.
“Best guess is a hundred Circle C head,” the man in pink,
and the one Andi had seen before, answered.
“Boss wants another two hundred. Eliminate competition. Bar G, lost four hundred. Carry did the work.”
The children waited to hear no more. Soundlessly, they
raced to the house to tell Chad, Mitch, and the hands.
When
they got home, Sid got the sheriff, and all was commotion. Andi and Cory stayed
at home, while the men rode off to where the children directed them. It sounded
like a rather uneventful ambush when Mitch told the story.
“They
were so busy arguing they didn’t realize they were surrounded until it was too
late. Then we packed ‘em off to jail.” He grinned.
Later
Chad apologized.
“I’m
sorry I didn’t listen, Andi.”
“That’s
alright Chad. At least this time I listened and didn’t do what was right in my
own eyes.”
“Amen
sister! Once more Proverbs proves true!”
“Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but
the Lord weighs
the heart,” Andi recited.
“Exactly,” Chad smiled.
God had been good to their family. They would recover from their losses quickly.
Nice!
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