Page 68 of Trickster King

“There are some injured animals. You’ll need the pistol.”

I spat a few curses, and once I finished, I turned to Eddie and said, “Please don’t tell your mother I said that.”

“You’re mad because you don’t want to euthanize any animals, and when Pops tells you that you need the pistol, you’re going to need it. And you won’t let Pops handle it because they’re your animals.”

Yep. We’d done too good of a job teaching Eddie the realities of life. “Cows, horses, or both?”

“There’s at least one cow with a severely broken leg, and there’s a lame horse. The horse can probably be saved, but we’ll have to haul the animal out by air. That is another reason Senator Padrino is here. He always carries a rig in his helicopter, so we have the tools needed to airlift to the equestrian center or animal hospital.”

“Animal hospital. Jerrod will kill us if we bring in another rescue—and the horse will need quarantined. And no, Eddie, you can’t have this one. I draw the line at feral horses. When you’re sixteen, you may ask about gentling feral horses.”

“That’s fair, Dad. What are you going to do with a feral horse?”

“I’m going to give it to your mother to deal with. That way, she’s too busy dealing with her feral prince or princess to take me to task for this stunt.”

Eddie snickered. “That’s actually a good plan, Dad. She can’t look the rescues in the eyes and walk off any more than you can.”

“Exactly. Randy, get me the exact position of the horse. Geoff?”

“Yes?”

“Take care of the cow. I’d do it, but I want to get that horse to the vet as soon as possible, and I can’t be two places at once. Evaluate what can be used and see if any of the other helicopters have a sling or assembly suitable for a carcass. Let’s not waste anything if we can avoid it.”

Eddie’s eyes widened.

Geoff chuckled, crouched in front of Eddie, and said, “Your dad has finally learned to delegate, and he’s using his resources the best way he can. I’ve handled more than a few downed cattle, and the work doesn’t bother me. Your pops will fret if he’s away from your dad too long, and I’ll take a few other agents along. We’ll handle the carcass, and if the meat is sound, we’ll handle the butchering. There is a tanner not too far from here, and we’ll send the hide over.”

“Sounds good. Thanks, Geoff.” I checked the cinch, decided she was good for a ride, and swung up into the saddle. “Once we get in visual of the injured horse, we’ll approach on foot. We’ll need someone to hold the horses while we work.”

Randy regarded me with a rather neutral and unimpressed expression. “I’m sure we’ll manage.”

I waited for them to get mounted, ordered Eddie to stay close, and eyed the hovering helicopters. “All right, Randy. Order the senator to guide us to the animal.”

Randy lifted his hand to his ear and said, “Lead the way, sir. We’re ready on the ground.”

Someone must have wired the senator into the RPS network for the work, something I approved of, especially after having learned he’d worked for Jessica’s father.

We left, and I determined hostile terrain accounted for half the reason the ranch had collapsed, with a disturbing number of holes in the ground. After the first twenty minutes, I asked, “How far?”

“Not far. Apparently, we’re getting pretty close.”

“Someone take these horses back to the barn. This ground is no good. We’ll walk back, and if those nosy RPS agents don’t like it, we’ll practice getting into a hovering helicopter.” I dismounted, handed over my reins to one of the agents, and considered the landscape, which resembled a demolition site more than a pasture. Once Eddie, Randy, and the other poor RPS agents stuck with us were on foot and the rest were guiding the animals out of harm’s way, I opted to take the lead, grabbing up a stick from a downed tree. At first, Randy glowered, but upon realizing I tested where I meant to walk with my stick, he left me to my business.

We crested a rise, and at the bottom of the hill, I spotted the horse, which stood on three legs and held up a heavily swollen hind leg. The injury could be anything from a break to a sprain, but I foresaw trouble.

The animal had somehow found mud, rolling in it to the point I couldn’t tell what color it was supposed to be.

“Wow,” Eddie said. “Where’d that horse find mud here?”

“That’s a very good question.” I suspected the holes had something to do with it. If the ranch had a good source of water beneath it, I’d bring in the earthweavers and figure out if we could transform part of it into a lake to give local wildlife a watering hole while restoring the rest to pasturage for horses or cattle. “Watch your step. The ground seems to be plagued with an unfortunate series of holes.”

“Is this a good idea?” Eddie whined, although he did follow me.

“If it was a good idea, I probably wouldn’t be doing it right now, sparing your pops from more gray hairs.”

Randy laughed. “Ain’t that the truth.”

“Dad, you’re going to get into trouble!”

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