Page 26 of Rough Stock

‘How?’ Izzy asked.

He pointed to the layout of the field. ‘They came in through that side boundary fence, and must have travelled down the neighbour’s firebreak.’

‘That’s Meckett’s cattle station. Good fella, he is.’

‘I know. I did a few musters for him.’ Craig then pointed to the paddocks that rolled out below them. ‘You can see the ATV’s trek through the fences. How many fences did they cut?’

‘Eleven of ‘em. We’re still sorting out the mob.’

‘If you said the stock were the best of your property,’ Izzy asked, while pointing to the mob of cattle, ‘how did they know which one to take?’

‘That’s what’s got me and my boys stumped.’ Ginny shook her head while staring at the paddocks. ‘Ya see, we only did the paddock rotation just the day before, shifting the calves from the house paddock to the one over there, and had Wraith moved closer to meet his new girls. We’d only just finished tucking them up at sunset, then went back to the house to watch them on the cameras over dinner. Come morning, we found our stock all mixed up.’ Ginny pointed to a field of green grasses that held grazing cattle of different ages.

‘Sorry, but all of your stock looks the same to me.’ Izzy shrugged, but her pretty, dark eyes keenly took in the scenery. No doubt counting cattle, clouds, and fence lines.

‘Which means it was someone who knew what to look for.’ Craig sighed.

‘Someone has been watching your place for a while, then?’ Again, Izzy shielded her eyes with her hand, reminding him to get her a hat, as they searched for potential places to spy. But thick scrublands surrounded the place, it was impossible to narrow it down to just one spot.

‘What did Finn ask you when he showed up?’ Because Craig wasn’t a cop trained to ask questions.

‘If we had any staff.’ Ginny shrugged, hooking her thumbs into the pockets of her work pants. ‘But it’s just me and the boys, no outsiders. Then that Finn fella wanted to know if we had any visitors to the place.’

‘Did you, besides us?’ Craig asked, while watching Izzy slowly turn on the grass, taking in all the details. Izzy would have made a brilliant detective, but she preferred to work with paper and puzzles, not with people.

‘Just the usual crowd.’

‘Who might that be?’ Izzy asked.

‘We get the rodeo organisers who come and check the bulls to pick which ones they want for their shows. We had a fair few visits after you got hurt wanting to check on Wraith.’ Ginny fidgeted with her fingers as her voice dropped. ‘There was this mob who came to investigate your accident.’

‘I told them it wasn’t Wraith’s fault.’

‘But I am sorry Wraith did that to you.’

Craig gave Ginny’s shoulder a squeeze. ‘That’s the game of rodeo, Ginny. Every rodeo rider knows this when we climb on board.’ It was like playing Russian roulette with the reaper.

‘Do you have the names of these visitors?’ Izzy was persistent in her questioning. He had to give her credit.

Ginny nodded. ‘I gave a list to that Finn fella and his young offsider. She was a pretty little policewoman. Comes from a family sheep station in South Australia, she said. Do you do any farming, Izzy?’

‘I just planted my first crop of tomatoes.’ Izzy bowed her head as if embarrassed by her lack of farming knowledge. He slid his arm over her shoulders to console her, and for the ease of taking the weight off his leg.

‘What do you do then?’

‘Um…’

Craig guessed her hesitation, as some people disliked her profession. ‘Izzy’s a lawyer. One of the good ones, too. So if anyone gives you any trouble over Wraith, I want you to call Izzy. She’ll look after you and Wraith.’

‘I will?’ Izzy couldn’t shrug with his arm over her shoulders.

‘My word.’ Ginny’s eyes widened. ‘You really are a good sort. Too good for this blond-haired, handsome lot of trouble.’ Ginny playfully punched Craig’s chest.

‘Oomph.’ Craig clutched his chest. It was like a punch of heated pain slicing through his lungs.

‘Aww, crikey. I’m really sorry, Craig, I forgot.’

‘All good, Ginny.’ Even if the searing pain made it a struggle to breathe. He crouched over with hands on his knees, hoping the stupid crutch didn’t collapse on him.

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