28 Killers

AFTER THANKSGIVING, it was a two-week race toward finals. It felt like we were more in sync this time, though, and like we had our girlfriend back. We decided to move to campus for second semester. There were a few ‘family’ rooms in the student apartments and one came available. We’d done a fair amount of negotiating with Cait and Phile to take care of the bulk of the ranch chores during the week. Either Kyle or I would come back mid-week and we’d all come home most weekends. We were excited about school and about being together again.

Our parents finally relented and told Phile and Caitlin they could have the efficiencies. I offered to go in and clean the wall where Kyle and I had drawn our map, but Caitlin thought it was cool and she didn’t have to worry about decorating so we left it.

We were out of school with finals finished a week before Christmas and wouldn’t return till the end of January. Aubrey promised to visit her parents for the week before Christmas and we’d come into town Christmas night, spend a night with her there and then all come up to the ranch for the next week. We were even thinking about spending a week someplace warm if we could find someplace that we could drive to. There just isn’t much within reach of Laramie that’s warm in the winter.

Kyle and I focused on our stock and our business. The kids had been doing a great job helping us and we loved watching the young colts and fillies romping around their mothers in the snow. It seemed like every chance they had, Caitlin and Phile would run out to check on the horses. I thought I was horse-crazy!

We still had antelope hanging around but they hadn’t added much burden to the hay supplies. Mostly they kept to themselves, just in the same pasture as the horses. Of course, we had a couple boarders come out for a winter ride that week and they all wanted to take pictures of the crazy animals.

Christmas Eve I helped Moms make a big dinner. We just planned on a quiet family time that night. We shared little gifts with each other and all headed off to our rooms. It was fun to just be together.

“Let me go! I’ll get my fucking gun and kill every fucking one of the fuckers!” Caitlin screamed.

“Pa! Ramie! Kyle! Moms!” Phile yelled as he stomped through the kitchen door. I turned to look at my brother and sister as he carried her into the house. She was beating against him and squirming all over everyplace.

“What is it? What’s happened, honey?” I asked. Pa grabbed Caitlin out of Phile’s arms and she turned to start beating on him.

“Wolves. Got Bows’ foal,” Phile sputtered out, still trying to hold on to Caitlin even though Pa had her in his arms as she wailed. Oh fuck!

We all scrambled into our coats and boots. Moms wouldn’t let Phile and Caitlin out of the house. Put a gun in that girl’s hands at that moment and nothing would be safe. Phile wouldn’t leave her side. She quit beating on him and just clung to her brother while she cried.

There was nothing we could do. The horses were all up under the shelter, nervous as hell. Harley kept pacing around the herd like he could protect them all. Bells and Bows stood with Bells’ foal a little ways apart, looking off at the river. The antelope were all gone. The remains of the foal were a quarter mile away.

Arlen Logan got out there about midday and commiserated with us. Feds would compensate us $2,000 for the lost livestock. Fuck that shit! I held my little brother and sister as we cried over the carcass. Little? Hell, they’re as big as me now, but they’re still my baby sister and baby brother. Kyle held all three of us. Mom Mar and Mom Ash and Pa held all four of us.

“I’m sorry, baby,” I said on the phone. “We’ve got an emergency. It’s wolves. Kyle and I are going hunting. We’ve got to do this.”

“But it’s Christmas!” Aubrey cried.

“I don’t know how I’ll make it up to you, honey,” Kyle said as we shared the phone. “I’ll try, but I don’t know how. We’ve got to stop this.”

It took us half an hour to calm Aubrey down and tell her we loved her. Then Kyle and I started scrambling. It was already getting dark and we weren’t going to be leaving tonight, but we’d be on the trail at first light.

“You kids don’t have to do this,” Pa said as he inspected our gear. Mom Mar handed me the last of the trail rations and I stowed them in the panniers on the mule. Kyle packed plenty of ammunition for the guns we’d be carrying, including a shotgun in case we needed to hunt for food while we were gone. “I can have hired men out there within the week. Men who know how to stay clear of the law. You’re both over eighteen and I can’t keep you out of jail.”

“Pa, did you just let other people fight for you in the range war? Or when six riders came to rape your wife and children? It’s not just the stock, Pa. This is our land. Our home. We aren’t safe to take a walk on the hillsides. The wolves have got to go,” I declared.

“All God’s critters got a place in the choir,” Mom Mar sang softly. “Some sing low and some sing higher.”

“Ma,” I said through my tears, “they can sing in hell.” She didn’t warn me about my language.

“This GPS is set with the location of a special place up there,” Pa said. “It’s where Laramie made her home before they came down the mountain to homestead this ranch. It’s a good place to set watch from. There’s a tent platform and a strongbox for food. The wind can be pretty bad up there and you need to anchor your tent on the platform. I don’t want to see you blowing across the valley.”