Page 76 of Trickster King

Sunshine’s owner stared, her eyes wide while her expression otherwise remained slack. Then she raised a hand to her mouth, biting on her knuckle.

I bet she bit herself to determine if she dreamed.

In her shoes, I would have done the same.

I led the mare over, moving at the horse’s slowed pace. When in the horse’s reach, I gave the animal line and waited to see what would happen. Sunshine’s ears pricked forward, and she sniffed her owner before bumping her hand and lipping at her wrist.

“Ma’am,” I greeted, giving Sunshine a companionable pat to her shoulder. “I’d just like to clear up the situation a bit. When I rescue a horse, I make sure the horse gets the care it needs, and I evaluate every situation. The bill’s expensive, and I get that, which is why I’m footing it. Sunshine belongs here with you, and I got more than a few rescues that’ll be mowing down my pastures in time. Now, if your ranch is having trouble, I’m in the business of helping ranches. That’s my job. I’ve got operations starting up here, and you’re welcome to join the effort. I hear you have good genetic stock on your cows, and I think I can help you get set up in such a way where you can run a lucrative farm, help my diversity program, and keep your ranch without having to sacrifice any of your ethics.”

I expected I would need to repeat myself.

Sunshine decided she needed her owner’s love, rammed her head against the woman’s chest, and demanded attention. The rancher wrapped her arms around the horse’s neck, buried her face into the unkempt mane, and breathed in deep.

“I thought I’d never see her again.”

“We’ll have to take her back to the hospital to finish treatments, but I couldn’t leave you hanging. We’ll sign the paperwork to transfer her ownership back to you after the hospital treatments are completed and paid for. I wish that part wasn’t necessary, but the taxes involved are a beast I can’t vanquish. I can get away with gifting you a five hundred dollar horse that has a long recovery time, but I’d have to deal with the taxes of gifting the vet bills. So, I’m saving us all a lot of pointless drama doing it this way. You’ll be able to visit her as needed. I can’t promise when she’ll finish treatments, but I’d guess you’ll have her home in a week or two. If you don’t have a trailer, I’ll get someone to haul her over once she’s ready.”

“How can I repay you?”

I sighed, pained at how everyone always seemed to think repayment for a good deed was necessary. “There’s no repayment necessary. She’s your horse, and if someone found one of my horses like that after being stolen, I’d hope they’d do the same for me.”

“Most wouldn’t, Your Majesty.”

I wished they would, but I accepted the truth with a nod. “That may be so, but I figure I have a responsibility to lead by example. Anyway, if I don’t, who will?” I scratched Sunshine’s shoulder before giving the horse a pat. “I can provide all the information on where she was found. I don’t know if that’ll help you locate who stole her, but you’ll have my full cooperation.”

Legally, the previous owner would be on the hook for the theft. After conferring with my wife, I would loan the woman some of our attorneys. I expected trouble, but the trouble would be simple enough to redirect.

“Thank you, but I can’t afford no lawyer. I appreciate it, though.”

“Ah, but I can. Here’s the deal. I bought the land where I found your horse, and I don’t let theft happen on my land, even if it was before my time as the owner. Every animal on that ranch will be checked for proper ownership, and if I find that an animal was stolen, they’ll be returned to the owner. If I just bought a bunch of stolen horses and cattle, then I’ve got quite the problem on my hands. Your Sunshine might not have been the only horse nabbed. Now, you’ve got a foal running around, weaned, likely with the herd. I DNA test my animals, so once I identify which one’s Sunshine’s, I’ll bring it on over. The vets said she’d been bred and had finished nursing, and it’s about the right time of year for them to be weaning off.”

The woman pulled away from her horse and stared at me with reddened, wide eyes. “She had a foal?”

“That’s what we think, ma’am.”

“But what am I gonna do with a foal here?”

Goodness. What was going on at the woman’s ranch? Well, I had a potential solution to that problem. I turned, whistled to catch Eddie’s attention, and waved the boy on over. “This is Eddie, and he’s learning how to be a rancher. He loves cows. While I handle getting Sunshine back in the trailer in her sling so there aren’t any accidents, why don’t you take Eddie on a walkabout of your ranch and show him your operation? He’s a smart one, so go on and tell him all about what you do here. Then he gets in his ranching homework for school, too. That’d be doing me a solid favor.”

The woman’s expression brightened. “I can do that. We can bring in some of the calves to show you. They’re diverse, just like you’re hoping for. I brought in some cattle from abroad, and I paid out for the DNA testing.”

“I’d love to see those calves.”

The woman took a few more moments to reassure Sunshine before I led the mare off, stroking her nose and talking to her in soothing tones. Once at the trailer, I told Geoff, “Go with Eddie and get me a comprehensive of what’s going wrong with this ranch. Play dumb; I told her to explain the outfit to Eddie as a part of his schooling.”

Geoff tipped his hat and headed off, leaving me with Randy.

“You’re up to something, Pat.”

I grinned at the RPS agent’s use of my name. As I couldn’t afford Sunshine hurting herself getting into the trailer, I held my hand up in a gesture to wait before coaxing the mare inside so she could be set up in the sling again. Once Jerrod took over the work, I escaped and stood beside Randy and said, “Women in ranching are tough, and I’ve hit her pride enough times. Eddie’s just a kid, so she might tell him stuff she wouldn’t tell me. Eddie’s smart enough to realize if he snitches on her to me, I can solve the underlying problems. And once he sees the calves? He’s going to go on and on and on about Bullmanchu and the other bulls. If he doesn’t have her singing like a canary in ten minutes, I’m going to tell my wife to lock me in my office for a month.”

“Why would I do that?” my wife asked. “I have better places for you.”

I yelped, looked around Randy, and stared. Then I rubbed my eyes just to confirm my wife had made an appearance, wearing the ranch attire I loved on her, a match for when she’d first come calling at my old apartment. As always, she reminded me of a wild west Texas wind. “Randy, did I get enough sleep last night?”

My RPS agent laughed at me. “I had my mic turned on when you were hoping to bring your wife out. The palace opted to fulfill your wish. They dispatched an RPS helicopter. She touched down ten minutes ago, but we kept the helicopter far enough away you wouldn’t notice.”

Huh. I went to Jessica, wrapped my arms around her, and took a deep breath, burying my face into her hair. “It’s been a rough few days, babe.”

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