Chapter Twenty-Four #3
Trumley sighed. “Them sisters are crazy, as you probably know. They’re all over the place, like farts in a skillet.
I think they’re involved in all kinds of shenanigans, but that’s just speculation on my part.
I steer clear of them and they don’t bother me unless they want to borrow my tractor or something like that. ”
“What about the Bucholzes?” Joe asked. “Don’t you share a pretty long fence line with them?”
“Twelve miles of it, in fact,” Trumley said. “Except when it gets knocked down and my cows cross over or their cows cross over to my ranch. Which means I’ll be out there fixing the fence, since John can never seem to find the time to help out.”
“So would you describe your relationship with them as cordial?”
“Frostier than that,” Trumley said. “Except for the last couple of months.”
“Why do you say that?”
“I’ve known John since he was a teenager,” Trumley said.
“I never really saw him as someone who was passionate about the land. That’s something you either have or you don’t, and John never had it.
Neither does Shelby. No, the only thing John has ever been passionate about was being a rich big shot. ”
“So what’s happened in the last couple of months?”
Trumley chuckled and said, “John’s put on a big charm offensive with me, acting like we’re great buddies and neighbors. He and Shelby even brought me a birthday cake for my eighty-fifth birthday last month.”
“Do you know why he’s warmed up to you recently?” Joe asked.
“It’s the damnedest thing,” Trumley said. “John told me he thinks that it’s important for me to retire from this tough ranching life and live it up someplace warmer, like Arizona. He’s offered three times to, and I quote, ‘take this old place off my hands.’
“He knows I don’t have any kids that want it and I’m alone out here. So he acts like he’s being compassionate. He doesn’t realize that if I ever left this place I’d be dead within a week, I reckon.”
“Did he name a price for the Crazy Z-Bar?” Joe asked. “Or was he just fishing around?”
“Five point seven five million,” Trumley said. “And an assurance that surface rights are included. To be honest with you, Joe, that’s not a bad price.”
“So why haven’t you taken it?”
“Because,” Trumley said, “John Bucholz doesn’t have two nickels to rub together. I know that for a fact. There’s no way he could get that kind of cash together, and I know that there’s not a bank within a thousand miles that would lend him the money because of his credit rating and reputation.”
“So what is his thinking?” Joe asked.
“Your guess is as good as mine,” Trumley said. “I don’t think he could even come up with a low down payment. And he’s nuts if he thinks I’ll vacate the place and he can pay me over the next twenty years off the proceeds of my own ranch.”
“That’s very interesting,” Joe said. Then: “Have you seen a helicopter flying around recently?”
“I’ve seen it, all right. The first time I saw that helicopter it was over my land. I got out of my truck with my Winchester, but it was out of range by the time I jacked a shell in.”
Joe winced. “You were going to shoot it?”
“I was going to scare the pilot off,” Trumley said. “I probably wouldn’t have aimed right at him.”
“So you don’t know anything about that aircraft?”
“Not a damned thing. All I know is that it was overflying my property without permission.”
“And was it coming from the west?” Joe asked. “From the direction of the Bucholz Ranch?”
“You damned right it was.”
“Did you ask John about it?” Joe said.
“I called him, all right. He claimed it was news to him, but I think he was trying to blow smoke up my skirt. Then he reminded me that he still had an offer on the table if we wanted to get together and talk it over. I hung up on him.”
“I’ve seen the helicopter,” Joe said. “It’s sitting in a hangar at the FOB. Is the name Global Exploration familiar to you at all?”
“I don’t believe so,” Trumley said. “Did they send out a landman?”
“Not that I’m aware of,” Joe said. “But I think they were flying over the terrain where your ranch butts up against the Bucholz property.”
Before punching off, Joe recalled something Trumley had just mentioned. “You said John specifically asked you about mineral surface rights?”
“He did. I’ve got them. Fat lot of good they’ve done me over the years.”
“Thank you, Lorne.”
“For what?”
“I’ll let you know when I’m sure,” Joe said. “But I think I’m starting to figure a few things out. By the way, have you ever heard of Henry Bucholz?”
“Hank?”
“I guess,” Joe said.
“Yeah, I met Hank twenty years ago,” Trumley said.
“He came out to visit the ranch and look for dinosaur bones or some damned thing. He asked me if he could poke around our place for ’em, and I let him on.
He showed up a couple of days later practically giddy.
Said he’d found the thigh bone of a diplodocus. ”
“No kidding.”
“I looked in the back of his pickup and I said, ‘Hank, I hate to break it to you, but that’s a chunk of petrified wood.’ It broke his heart. Hank was a few fries short of a Happy Meal, if you know what I mean.”
“Have you seen him around lately?” Joe asked.
“Nope. I haven’t set foot on the Bucholz place in twenty-five years. And I have no plans to do so in the future.”
—
Joe roared his pickup through the accumulated snow on the access road to his house to prevent bogging down. He prayed that the cow moose that often blocked his progress wouldn’t materialize from the timber, and for once she didn’t.
He entered his home through the mudroom and shook the snow off his parka, boots, and hat. The savory aroma of elk chili simmering on the stove and cornbread baking in the oven permeated the air. He found Marybeth at the kitchen table with her laptop open in front of her.
“I did some research on those photos you sent me from the hangar,” she said. “You’re going to be interested in what I found.”
“What’s that?”
“We can talk about it later.”
“Later?”
Then he noticed that she’d set the table already and had added two candles. There was also a half-empty glass of wine in front of her. She looked up and smiled. Provocatively, he thought.
“This is nice,” he said.
“We need more snow days,” she replied as she stood up and approached him. “So, do you have any big plans for later?”
“No.”
There was no doubting her intent. But in case there was any, she alleviated them by throwing her arms around his shoulders. “My plans involve you,” she said.
“You’re right,” Joe said as she led him down the hallway toward the bedroom. “We do need more snow days.”