Desperado Read online

“You told me you are going to the brook southwest of the ranch and you plan to have lunch in the meadow there, right?” he asked Todd.

  “Yeah, dad. I know the kids from California will like that place. Becky and Charlie agree with me,” Todd answered.

  “With this large a group, it’s important that you all stay together. Don’t let anyone wander off somewhere and get lost. We don’t need to call Search and Rescue out to find you. How about we plan for you to be back here by 1:30 this afternoon? That should give you plenty of time for a good ride and a nice lunch by the brook, okay?” Chris asked. “Just remember some of the kids are not used to the wildlife out here or the terrain.”

  “We promise,” Becky said. “Todd and Charlie and I will keep an eye on the others, so nobody gets lost.”

  “Okay, Becky, one more thing. Don’t change your plans about where you are going. If I need to find you, I need to know where to look,” Chris cautioned them.

  “Okay, Dad,” Todd and Becky said simultaneously and grinned at him. “We’re just going to the brook southwest and the meadow. You know the one; it’s the one we always go to. We won’t go anywhere else. We’ll see you at 1:30 or before.”

  With that, Todd led the way out of the barn and across the ranch to the rear gate. Charlie took up a position at the rear and Becky stayed in the middle of the pack. Todd leaned over and opened the rear gate from Desperado’s back. He led the riders through. Charlie closed the gate after them. They walked through the meadow single file. Todd found the trail and started down it. The group stopped frequently to take pictures on their cell phones. It took them a while to reach the meadow beside the brook. Charlie and Todd set up a tie line between trees so they could tie their horses to it and leave them enough slack to graze on the fresh grass in the meadow. Some of the kids took their boots off and waded into the brook. It was cold and clear and felt good. The brown trout in the brook went into hiding.

  The wildlife in the area avoided the meadow. The young people were enjoying themselves so there was a lot of laughing, joking and splashing going on. They created a racket that cleared the forest for a quarter of a mile. It was a beautiful day with the temperature in the seventy-five-degree range with lots of sunshine and blue sky. Puffy white clouds formed above the mountain peaks west of the ranch. Even though the forest around their private meadow still suffered from the drought of the past several years, the Pine trees were fragrant enough to remind the young people of the Christmas season. The stands of Aspen and Alder trees near the brook were in full leaf. They seemed to shudder in the breeze. Even the horses were in high spirits with the sunshine and fresh grass to munch on.

  “Where are we going next,” Suzie asked when things quieted down in the meadow. The kids had finished their lunch except for stray packages of crackers and bags of chips. They were a little sleepy from the meal, the sunshine, the exertion and the let-down from the prior week. They lay on their backs in the grass staring at the clouds above the mountains. After a while, several of the girls were ready to mount up and ride some more before they had to get back to the ranch for the day.

  “Hey, you heard my dad,” Todd reminded them. “We’re not supposed to go off exploring. If our parents need us, they need to know where to look for us.”

  Becky said, “This is a pretty wild place. We don’t want to stray too far just in case. Chris told us to go here and not go anywhere else.”

  “Aww, come on! We don’t have to go far. I just want to see a badger, wolverine or a bobcat before we leave,” Suzie whined. “I’ve never seen one of them or the mule deer or elk.”

  Several of the other kids shared Suzie’s opinion. They argued about it for a while. Todd and Becky stood firm. Charlie, Maryann, and Brody joined them. Suzie finally snapped at Todd. “What? Are you afraid of your daddy, little boy?”

  Heidi sneered at the naysayers. “Who’s going to know anyway? We’ll never tell.”

  “It doesn’t matter!’ Becky said. “Chris told us to stay together and not go anywhere other than what we discussed in case one of our parents needs to reach us before we get back to the ranch.”

  Suzie took Heidi’s comments to mean she agreed with her. “Come on Heidi. Let’s leave the babies here. We’ll go sightseeing on our own.” She turned her horse around and put her heels in his side. The horse jumped forward and began to canter up the trail. Heidi put her heels in her own horse and joined her.

  “Now what are we going to do?” Todd asked as he watched the two girls getting smaller and smaller the farther up the trail they went.

  Charlie watched the girls for a minute and said, “Todd we can’t leave them on their own. What if a bull elk steps onto the path in front of them, or a mountain lion or something like that. They have no idea what to do or where to go. We’re going to have to chase them down and bring them back to the ranch.”

  Becky agreed with Charlie. “Todd, he’s right. We can’t leave them on their own.”

  Brody spoke up. “Your dad is going to be mad at us if we chase them down and bring them back because we went where we weren’t supposed to be. But I’m thinking he’d be even more mad at us if we left them alone and they got lost or hurt or something. I think we need to go after them and bring them back.”

  Maryann, Melissa, and Kathy agreed. Kathy said, “Suzie was the one who started all the stuff in the barn about Maryann. What goes on in her head anyway? This is dumb with a capital D. We’re all going to be in trouble, but I’d rather we stuck together.”

  Todd turned Desperado around and cued him to canter with the others following him. They had some ground to make up. Suzie and Heidi were almost out of sight ahead of them.

  It was still a couple of hours before they had to be back at the ranch. They hurried to catch up with the miscreants. Nobody had much to say as they cantered along the trail. They were so engrossed in what they were doing they didn’t see all the wildlife around them or the first signs of the wildfire in the forest. They missed the badger on the hillside. They didn’t see the gray squirrels rushing up the bark of trees to get out of their way. They didn’t see the dark blue mountain jays flitting from tree to tree. They didn’t see the hawk catch a thermal and ride it high above them looking for a meal of rabbit, squirrel or a deer mouse to snack on. When they passed the ranch, they were far enough away no one from the ranch saw them.

  CHAPTER THREE

  Three Years Earlier

  Henry Babcock thought he had a lead on just the right property. Savannah, his wife, wanted a Ski Chalet for entertaining a few miles north of Boulder, Colorado. She’d taken a drive from Denver to Wyoming once and fell in love with the countryside. She wanted a property not too far from Boulder for the convenience, but she wanted the chalet to be out in the country with a view of the mountains. She thought it would be nice to take friends there during the spring and summers as an alternative to the Villa in Tuscany.

  He found a beautiful 40-acre property that had been a working horse ranch. He discovered the owner passed away recently and left the property to his nearly 80-year old wife. He thought, with the right incentive, she might be willing to sell the property to him and move to town. Anyone in their right mind could see 40 acres of property would be too much for one little old woman to manage by herself.

  Henry flew into Denver and rented a car. He’d seen photos of the property taken by a land specialist who worked for him. He needed to see it for himself and maybe get a chance to talk to the widow. He looked around Boulder as he drove through with some interest. It was the University town in Northern Colorado and it offered cultural events his wife would love. He didn’t expect to spend too much time there, just use the chalet for vacation time on occasion.

  Henry wanted to see the view of the mountains before talking to the widow. He parked off the road a way back from her driveway. He walked around near the road until he found a trail heading into the woods alongside the property. He walked down the trail looking around at the view. He noted the outbuildings, barns, and sheds on the
back portion of the property. The fact large trees had been taken out to provide turnouts and arenas for the horses only made the property more attractive to him. Barns and sheds were easy to take down. The open space created better views of the mountains without him having to remove the trees himself. He also saw a partial view of the main house. It wasn’t very big and would come down easily to provide space for his wife’s chalet. A couple of days work with a dozer would prepare the land perfectly for what he had in mind. Money was no object for him. There was a little stream running through the property too. The original owner built a stout bridge crossing it along this trail. It was obvious the trail had been used for riding horses. The more he saw, the more he liked it and thought about what he needed to do to get it and start his own building project.

  Desperado was nearly three years old and used his sneaky tricks to escape his stall whenever he wanted to. He’d eaten his breakfast in the stall next to his mother and picked the lock Hilda closed after feeding and watering horses that morning. He took off down the trail in the woods looking for the deer again. He learned a lot from them. He knew what was safe to eat, where it was safe to travel and what to avoid in the woods. That particular day he had a funny feeling that something was not quite right. He was looking for one special doe that he often talked to about things. She was a lovely little thing, slight and delicate looking with a tail that flagged like his own. Hers was much smaller, of course, and the underside of her tail was covered with short white hairs which made her a member of the White Tail Deer Clan. When they bounded away from danger, they flagged their tails naturally and the white underside showed.

  Desperado didn’t find the doe that morning. He thought she must be off with the rest of the does and their fawns. He turned around and sauntered down the trail toward home. He was bored but stopped to nibble on interesting bits of grass along the trail until he heard something on the trail ahead of him. He paused and sniffed the air, pricking his ears forward. There was someone on the trail he didn’t recognize. He stepped off the trail into the woods and watched for a few minutes. The man was going back toward the road and had not seen him. He didn’t belong here. Desperado stood very still and kept his eye on the stranger. A bunny hopped out of the woods onto the trail in front of the man. The man kicked at him!

  Desperado was incensed. Nobody kicked at bunnies. He was so much bigger than that poor little bunny. That bunny lived here. The man did not, in fact, he was not supposed to be here at all. Desperado rushed onto the trail and headed for the man. The man heard the hooves pounding on the trail and turned around, saw Desperado coming and began to run toward the road. He tripped over a root in the trail and fell hard. He was trying to get back on his feet when Desperado reached him and launched himself into the air. Desperado jumped over the man and spun around. He pulled his front legs off the ground and stood on his hind legs and screamed at the man. The man scrabbled in the dirt, turned himself around so his butt was on the trail and he pushed himself off the trail with his feet and hands until his back came up against a tree trunk. He quickly pulled himself up and rushed behind the tree using it as a shield between him and Desperado.

  Desperado saw the fear in the man’s eyes. He was satisfied with that. He was sure the poor little bunny looked at the man the same way the man was now looking at him. He dropped back down on four legs and shook himself. He also realized Hilda had probably heard him so she knew he was out of his stall again and would be looking for him. He trotted down the trail again, looking over his shoulder at the man a couple of times until he reached the bend in the trail and lost sight of him. He was satisfied with himself. He was pretty sure that man would never kick at a bunny again.

  Henry was madder than mad. Nothing ever dared attacked him! He wanted that horse! He would make him pay for what he did if it was the last thing he ever did. He brushed off his clothing and walked back to the road. He walked up the driveway to the main house and knocked on the door.

  Hilda had few visitors, and nobody ever dropped in without calling her first. She peeked through the lace curtain in her living room and saw a portly middle-aged man standing at the door. She didn’t recognize him. She left the chain lock on the door and opened it a crack to see what he wanted.

  “Yes, may I help you?” she asked.

  “I’m looking for Mrs. Jorgensen. Is she here?” the man asked.

  “I’m Mrs. Jorgensen,” she answered.

  “My name is Henry Babcock, ma’am. I’d like to talk to you about your ranch if you have a minute. And there’s a loose horse prowling around. Wouldn’t be one of yours, would it? He’s quite handsome.”

  Hilda looked the man over through the crack in the door and decided he couldn’t be a mass murderer. He just didn’t have the right look for that in her mind. She slipped the chain off the door and opened it wider. “That must be Desperado. He’s our escape artist. Don’t know how he does it but he can pick any lock you put on his stall. He’s just a two-year-old so he’s like a teenaged boy. He likes to wander around a bit. I’ll collect him in a few minutes. What exactly did you want to know about my ranch?”

  “Actually, Mrs. Jorgensen, I heard you are a recent widow, God rest his soul, and thought you might be interested in selling the place. I know 40 acres is a lot of property to maintain and thought it might be more than you want to tackle all by yourself,” Henry explained.

  Hilda was shocked. How did that fat little man know anything about her Jan passing away? Who was he anyway? And how did he know Desperado was out of his stall if he hadn’t been snooping around where he didn’t belong. Suddenly Hilda’s red flag went up and she was angry. Hilda’s voice raised as her anger level grew.

  “Just who do you think you are? How do you know anything about me and my Jan? Why are you snooping around on my property? This is private property. I own it free and clear and the taxes are paid up. Now get off my land and don’t come back! Do you hear me?” By that time Hilda was screaming. “Get off my land! Get off my property NOW!”

  Desperado heard Hilda screaming at the man. She was furious and possibly a tiny bit afraid. He thought he heard a tinge of fear in her voice. He ran for the house at full speed. If the bunny kicker man was hurting his Hilda, he’d be sorry!

  Henry Babcock hurried down the driveway to the road and was almost at his car when Desperado rushed up from behind him. He barely got inside the car and slammed the door when Desperado flew past. Desperado turned to face the man through the windshield of his car. He realized he was not going to be able to get at the man with the car in the way so he turned around and kicked the front of the car with both hind feet. He kicked hard. The hood crumpled and the windshield cracked. The man desperately poked the key in the ignition and started the car as Desperado kicked the front of the car once more. The left headlight exploded and the grill crushed into the radiator. The man put the car in gear and stepped on the gas. Desperado hopped sideways, out of the way and let the car pass with one last kick into the rear quarter panel. The tail light on the driver’s side flew in chunks onto the highway behind the car. Hilda was running toward him.

  Hilda caught up with Desperado and threw her arms around his neck sobbing. “You could have been killed you big lug! What would I do without you? Come on now, I have some treats for you in the barn. Thanks for coming to my rescue. I’m sure that bad old Henry Babcock will never set foot around here again!” She held onto a small piece of Desperado’s mane and led him back to the barn. She took a few minutes to give him a good brushing while she got her own emotions under control. Hilda had gone from curiosity to shock, then anger and finally fear in a few short minutes. That was enough emotion for anyone in a single day much less a few minutes. She was a little shaky. She talked to Desperado as she brushed.

  “I think you need to go back to Cold Water Creek Ranch for a while. You need to learn a few things and you’re getting to be such a big boy. Chris will teach you what Jan can’t. You’ll be right down the street so I can come see you every day. I know you
like it there. You love learning new things and maybe you won’t get yourself in so much trouble. What do you think?”

  Brushing the horse calmed Hilda as it always did. The more she brushed the steadier she became. By the time Desperado’s deep bay coat gleamed, Hilda was back to her normal self. “You sure put the fear of God into the fat little man, didn’t you?” she chuckled. “I don’t think he’ll be back here.” Hilda walked Desperado into his stall and measured out a nice portion of his favorite grain and added a couple of apples to top it off with when she put it all into his feeder. “Thanks for coming to my rescue, young man. That was pretty daring of you and I love you even more,” she told him. Hilda added hay in his stall and fed his mother before going back to the house for the night.

  Desperado thought about the bunny-kicker man. He had a name. Hilda called him Henry Babcock. There was something about him that made Desperado very uneasy. He didn’t like him at all. He hoped he would never see that man again.

  Henry Babcock got a mile and a half down the highway before his rental car stopped running. The crack in the radiator leaked all the radiator fluid out of the car and poured over the hot engine so it steamed under the hood. He was madder than a wet hen. That horse was going to pay for this, one way or another. He’d make sure of it. He stewed on that while he waited for a tow truck to haul the car back to the rental yard in Boulder. He took another rental to the airport in Denver and flew back to San Francisco. He was still shaking with rage when he got off the plane. He stopped at his office and made several phone calls before going home for the night. Mrs. Jorgensen called the horse Desperado. He had a name. They would find him. He would buy him, whatever it took. That horse would pay for what he did. He’d be very sorry he ever messed with Henry Babcock!

  Two weeks earlier…

  Henry Babcock was livid. He had enough money to buy every one of those bureaucrats in Boulder ten times over, and still they put roadblocks in his path! He was a man that never took “NO” for an answer. He wanted those darned trees gone. They were in his way. He was throwing a fit of epic proportions. Things flew off his deck as he slammed his fists down in rage.