Page 37 of Caleb's Cause
“Holy hell,” Kevin said as he turned and looked before them, then whipped his head over to Ryan. “It’s like stepping back in time. The ranch we just left is like in this century, but this, this looks like it belongs in the eighteen hundreds.”
“That was Erin’s plan,” Pru said. “We’re still on Riceman property, but the only way to get to this ranch is the way we came.”
“Why is that?”
“The horses. When the horses came here, they were, well broken. I’m not talking about broke like you can ride them, I’m talking broke like they had been beaten and literally starved by their previous owners. Most of them we got when the authorities were called in about animal abuse. They came here to be fostered, and basically put back together again and I think every single horse Erin purchased after the owner was found guilty of neglect and abuse.”
“With no outside access to this ranch,” Ryan said as he looked over at Kevin. “Both Erin and Naomi thought it would be safer for the horses not to have the constant in and out of traffic. That’s why the cabins were built, and why we are building more.”
“Aren’t you building more because there’s no room?” Caleb asked from the back seat.
“There is that,” Ryan said with a laugh, then went on to explain to Kevin how the ladies had been there first, and that each man from the SEALs had come to the ranch and ended up falling in love with one of the women, and how they needed more room for others.
From Broken, Ryan drove along a path and came out where four cabins were, then went further, and Kevin asked what he was seeing when he saw three buildings.
“These are the bunktels.”
“What are they?”
“I’ll show you.” He parked, and the four of them got out and went inside. After walking around for a good fifteen minutes, Kevin stood there with a shocked look on his face. “Who or why would anyone use a building like this?”
“Do you know what Broken does?” Pru asked.
“Not really. So far, I’ve heard that you take in abused horses and fix them.”
“We do that, and we make sure they’re fixed before we go to the next step. One thing you need to know is that once the horses are better, then we take on clients.”
“Clients?”
“Horse rehabilitation,” Caleb said. “Remember when I was in elementary school and Jason down the block was hit by that car?”
“Yes. What about him?”
“He was given the opportunity to do horse rehabilitation. I thought he was lying, but when his parents showed me the information, that’s why I wanted to get into physical therapy. I was even able to go with them one weekend.”
“I remember now, when you came home all you could talk about was being a therapist with horses. Because you were only eight or nine, I never gave it any serious thought. Where was Jason’s rehabilitation place?”
“Idaho.” Caleb nodded and led the way back out to the truck. They continued driving down a better road until they reached two buildings. Ryan stopped before one of them, and they got out. Kevin looked at his son in shock when he pulled a set of keys from his pocket.
“What are you doing?”
“This is my office building. That’s the other one,” he said as he pointed to the other building. “Erin said I can have my own office here as long as I work with any of her employees that need my services, and I work with the clients when they arrive.”
“Really?” Kevin asked in shock.
“Yes. In the last week or so, I’ve been running around getting the proper paperwork done to be licensed here in the state of Colorado, and I’m working with another doctor up in Colorado Springs that had some equipment Erin already had on hand, but I needed training on.” He looked at his father with a grin. “That saved me several thousand dollars.”
Kevin shook his head and looked at the three of them. “How many employees are there?”
“Not enough,” both Pru and Ryan answered at the same time. They left the building, then went out on the road and headed in the opposite direction. Thirty minutes later, they pulled into another ranch, and Kevin looked at Ryan in confusion.
“What’s this?”
“Another part of Riceman property. We dubbed the ranch New Double, because it was brought over from Wyoming. When it was there, it was called The Double A.” Kevin and Pru explained how it all came about, and Kevin could only shake his head after the explanation. After getting the tour of that ranch, they started back toward Erin’s Way, but Ryan slowed down at one point and pointed to the driveway, and explained that was another ranch, and who lived there, but then went on to explain how it would be turned into a ranch for rodeo stock.
They returned back to where Kevin had left his car, and as the others joined them, he shook his head to ask, “Are you looking for more help?”
“Yes,” Erin said. “We’re in desperate need of at least two dozen more people for now. I want them over at New Double. Here at Erin’s Way, and Broken we’re set, but New Double needs help. You looking to retire and join us?”
