Chapter 3
Tegan Wells looked into the small pen. It contained the only horse left after the quarterly auction. It was an old draft horse. Probably Belgium and a bit of Shire if his guess was right. He walked into the pen and up to the big guy. His front legs were splayed a bit, and he was leaning back. The animal was scared. When he opened the gate and entered, the horse shied away, his ears rapidly swiveling but not pinned back, meaning he was a bit overwhelmed, but Tegan knew how to approach skittish animals. He talked softly and made sure the animal could see him, taking his time to let the animal see he wasn’t there to harm him. “You’re going to be okay,” he murmured to the horse as he stroked its strong neck. The animal was a dapple gray with darker hocks and mane. He was at least eighteen hands tall. A huge animal that had been badly mistreated. Tegan hated seeing animals that had been neglected or abused. “How old are you, old man?”
Tegan glanced at the tag and then down at his clipboard. He didn’t recognize the seller.
“You want that?” A man spit a wad of chewing tobacco in the pen. The horse moved sideways away from the guy.
“Whoa, now. I’ve got you.” He stroked the horse”s nose and let the animal see he wasn’t going to let the man hurt him. Tegan turned and glanced at the guy. “I’ll give you a hundred. It’s more than you’d get selling him to slaughter. He’s skin and bones.”
“Two hundred.”
Tegan turned his attention toward the stranger. His clothes were filthy, his teeth were black, and he had sores all over his face. He’d seen people like that before. The guy was a meth head, for sure. They didn’t show up much around here, but there were some people way up north who settled on a small plot of land. Rumor was they produced more meth than they did anything else.
“One fifty, and I’ll waive the fees.” Tegan could see the marks of abuse on the animal, and he was damned if the strung-out man standing outside the fence would sell him to slaughter or take him back and continue to abuse him.
The guy licked his cracked lips and asked, “Cash money?”
“Of course, but you sign the bill of sale before you get it.” He wasn’t going to have the guy come back and say he’d stolen the horse. Tegan was a trusting person by nature, but not when it came to abused animals. That said more than anything about a person’s character.
“Sure, of course.” The stranger nodded. “Now?”
Tegan left the gentle giant and shoved his clipboard through the fence. “Fill it out, make it legible, or you’ll do it again, then sign it.” The man grabbed the board and filled out the form. Tegan reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. He always carried extra cash on auction day for situations like this. His ranch was populated with outcasts and mistreated animals left at the stockyard. And that was just fine by him. Since he started working there, he’d rescued many animals and given them the best life he could.
The man pushed the clipboard back through the fence, and Tegan checked it to make sure the seller”s name and the name on the paper were the same. He knew the man’s ID was verified before the sale. That was the only way the horse would’ve been tagged with a sticker. “Does he have a name?”
“Yeah, that damn horse,” the man said as he snagged the money Tegan extended toward him.
Tegan’s eyes narrowed as he watched the guy walk away. He pulled out his phone and dialed Doc Macy. Doc was a good friend. When he was first in town, the people called him by his first name, Trent, but once he started showing the town what he could do with animals and someone let it slip, his middle name was Noah; well, it was over. No one ever called him Trent again.
“What’s up, Tegan?”
“Noah, I have a new horse. He’s in bad shape. Can you come by and look at him?”
“Sure, where are you?”
“In the back in the holding pens.”
“I’m at the front. Be there in a couple of minutes.”
Tegan pocketed his phone and turned back to the animal. Noah made it a point to be on hand for the auctions. “Well, now, it looks like you’ll be needing a name. What should I call you?” Tegan talked to the big guy in low tones. “You look like a Max to me.” He continued to stroke the horse before he put his finger through the harness and encouraged the big guy to move.
His gait was slow and stiff. The animal’s hooves were overgrown and cracked. It had to be painful to walk, which could account for the stiffness in his gait. The horse was far too skinny for his frame, and his bones were easy to see under his neglected coat. Tegan lifted Max’s lips and looked at his teeth. He frowned. By the length of them, he wasn’t that old.
“A draft horse?” Doc Macy said as he approached. “Oh, damn it. Who in the hell did this?”
Tegan nodded to the clipboard. “I don’t know the guy, but I think it might be one of those meth heads from up north.”
Doc Macy came in the pen and stood to the side. “Walk him around for me?”
Tegan led Max on a short circuit of the small pen. Doc Macy walked up slowly. The horse shied away again, but after a few minutes, some soft talk, and a whole lot of gentleness, Doc was able to do an exam.
“I’m going to get some blood from him, Tegan. His gums are paler than they should be. It could just be the shock of everything that’s gone on today, or he could have anemia, or hell, it could even be from being malnourished. You’ll need to get ahold of Josh Martin and get him out to your place. Those hooves need some serious attention. He’s a young one, though. Maybe five or six years old.”
“I’ll pay for whatever he needs.” Tegan stroked Max’s neck. “Where’s your kit?”
“Back up front.” Noah nodded toward the large auction building at the front of the yard. “I was getting ready to go to the Bit and Spur and have a drink.”
“I’ll walk him up there, so you don’t have to pack it back here.”
“How are you going to get this guy home? He probably won”t fit into a normal trailer.”
“By the looks of these cuts and scrapes, someone forced him into one today.” Tegan’s anger was growing by the second. If he ever saw that abusive son of a bitch again, he’d knock him into next Tuesday. He wasn’t a violent man unless provoked. “I’ll get permission to use the Hollisters’ semi-trailer and take him home in that.”
“Have they ever said no?” Noah asked as he opened the gate, and the three of them walked out of the small holding pen.
“No.” Tegan chuckled. “But I’m never going to assume. That gets a person in trouble.”
“Ain’t that the truth.” Doc chuckled. “You know the drill. Quarantine him before you introduce him to your animals.”
“Yep. Not my first foundling.”
Max’s ears pointed forward as he walked docilely beside them. “He seems to have a good temperament,” Noah said as they made their way through the maze of pens and holding areas. “Wonder if Doodle will approve.”
Tegan laughed at that. “He does seem to have the last word on things, doesn’t he.”
Doc laughed and just started to say something when Ken Zorn’s SUV flew by with the siren screaming. Max shied violently, but Tegan was able to keep ahold of the animal’s harness and settle him down. It took a hot minute, but thankfully, he calmed.
“What the heck was that about, do you suppose?” Noah said from up on the fence where he’d jumped to get away from Max’s desperate bid to flee.
“Don’t know,” Tegan spoke quietly, still calming Max down. But Ken was heading north, and he’d bet anything that meth head had gone that way, too. He glanced up at Noah. “You staying up there all day, Noah?”
“Nice view up here, and my feet have been abused enough. I’ll be a cripple by the time I’m fifty.”
Tegan chuckled and watched his friend climb down. They’d all had their feet trampled by horses, cows, and the occasional pig. “I’m putting him in the arena, so I can make the call, and you can do what you need to do. I’ll settle the books and do the accounting tomorrow. I’ll explain the situation to Senior.”
“Besides this guy, it was a good sale today. The horses went for a nice price.”
Tegan nodded. “They normally do during the spring auction.”
“What’s next for you?” Noah asked as Tegan led them into the arena. It was quiet now. No auctioneer or crowd. Max’s ears rotated this way and that, and his head lifted. Tegan would bet anything the horse remembered being pushed through the arena before it was sent back to the pen. Tegan had watched as no one bid on the big guy. He knew then he would buy the horse, no matter the cost.
“Hollisters and Marshalls will be bringing in a new bunch of cows next month.” That meant he and his crew would run their quarantine and get them the necessary vaccinations. It was business as normal. If there was no work, he and his crew would report to the Flying H and work with the rest of the Hollisters’ hands. Tegan had his own animals to look after when his day was done at the Hollisters’ or the stockyard. He put in long days on occasion, but he wouldn’t change anything about what he did.
“That’s right. Frank told me about that. You know, this county is getting more and more people in it.” Noah leaned against the fence and patted Max’s neck.
Tegan frowned, not understanding the comment. “Meaning?”
Noah chuffed out a laugh. “Nothing. Just busy, that’s all.”
“Do you ever get a day off?” Tegan asked as they both stepped out of the arena.
“I had one last January. I think.” Noah shrugged. “Not that it matters. The only thing waiting for me at home is my bed.”
“I know that feeling.” One of the things he and most of his friends could commiserate about was the lack of female company. Not that Tegan was trying hard to find a woman. Hell, to be honest, he wasn’t trying at all. He had a problem talking to women. He’d stammer and mess up. He wasn’t one of those smooth talkers, and women seemed to pass him by after they found out he was as boring as a burned-out lightbulb. The exact quote he overheard was, “He sure is pretty, but he’s as interesting as watching paint dry. That face and body can only get him so far.” That comment stung, and it had stuck in his brain. He wasn’t stupid; in fact, he was a fast learner, and in trade school, he was always at the top of his class. Sure, he knew girls thought he was awkward, and hell, he was. His mom had done a number on him when he was growing up. He had zero confidence with women. Well, except for one. Kate Johnson didn’t mind his awkwardness, the stammering, saying the wrong thing, or just blushing and not saying anything. He could be himself with her. And they had a great summer. Then she joined the Army, and his shot with a woman took a massive nosedive. Not that any other woman had measured up to Kate.
“I’ll let you know when I’m done, so you can lock up.”
“Thanks.” After Tegan and Noah separated at his office, he made the call to Senior.
“What’s up?”
“Got me another horse.” Tegan smiled when he said it.
Senior laughed. “Figures. Accounting and deposit will be done tomorrow?”
“Yes, sir. I was wondering if I could borrow your rig to get him home.”
“You need the rig? What kind of horse did you buy, son?”
“A big ass draft horse. He’s all skin and bones, and he’s been abused and neglected. I’m going to give him a shot at a good life.”
Senior was silent for a moment. “Who was abusing it?”
“Don’t know for sure, sir, but I’m thinking it was those people who settled into Mitchener’s old place up north.” Tegan couldn’t be certain, and he wouldn’t place blame on them in absolute terms. “I have the name on the bill of sale.” He glanced down at the clipboard. “Collin Boseman is what’s printed here.”
“Write that down for me and include it in the report, will you? I don’t want to forget that name.”
“Sure.”
“Use the rig, and you don’t have to fill it up, you hear me? Last time, you spent three hundred dollars putting diesel in that truck for a thirty-minute trip each way. I don’t want you using your money on that. You could be buying more animals.”
“Sir, if I buy any more, I might have to go into ranching full-time.”
“And I’d welcome it, son. We appreciate you leasing us your land for grazing, but your cattle would do just as well as ours on that land.”
“I enjoy what I do here. I think I’m supposed to be here to find animals like Max who need a good home.” Tegan shrugged even though Senior couldn’t see it. “Tell your friend at the Denver Stockyard that Doodle is doing fine.”
Senior barked out a laugh. “I’ll do that. Get your horse home and settled, and remember, I don’t want you to fill up that rig. Are we communicating here?”
“Loud and clear, sir.”
“You’re still going to do it, aren’t you?”
“Probably,” Tegan admitted.
“Stubborn young people,” Senior muttered and hung up.
Tegan put his paperwork together. He’d actually do the report that night at home, bring it in, type it up on the computer, and send it to Senior electronically.
“I’ve got what I need. Limit his food to begin with,” Noah said from his door. “Do you need help loading him?”
“Shouldn’t, but thanks. Let me know what that bloodwork says as soon as you know?”
“You got it. He’s in a bad way, but I’ve seen worse. He’ll pull through.” Noah lifted a hand. “Especially with your time and attention.”
Tegan smiled and finished his work before he went through the yards and auction house, closing things up and making sure everything was turned off. He grabbed a lead rope from the small tack room they had in the auction house, things that had been left and forgotten over the years, then went to the arena to get his horse. Even though he hated what the animal had gone through, he knew for the rest of his life, the horse would be well cared for.