â¦
âSo,â said Pidgeon, âwhat has happened since weâve been gone?â
Du Pré told them about Chappie, Patchen, Amalie and her story.
âMother of God,â said Bart. Pidgeon and Pallas were silent.
âSo we are going to find them, take them home,â said Du Pré.
âThere will be a lot of people,â said Pidgeon, âwho wonât want this to come out. â¦â
âYah,â said Du Pré. The big SUV rumbled along.
âThe keys are in the cruisers,â said Bart, âI remember now. â¦â
âNot enough room all your stuff,â said Du Pré. They laughed.
âHow are my horses?â said Pallas.
âFat,â said Du Pré. âNeed a good run, up to Canada and back.â The telephone set in the console chirred. Bart picked it up. He listened a few seconds.
âJust a moment,â he said, handing the phone to Du Pré.
âI ainât speakinâ to that guinea bastard,â said Booger Tom. âYou saw that goddamned water buffalo you was here getting Bartâs fucking land yacht there. â¦â
âYah,â said Du Pré, âhe was in the pasture.â
âWell, he ainât now,â said Booger Tom. âHe got into the grain room, opened the danged door, went in, shut it. He has his fat ass pooched up against it so I canât get in. Heâs eatinâ real good. â¦â
Du Pré laughed.
âI quit,â said the old cowboy. âHe kin git another foreman. â¦â
âYou quit twelve times the last two years,â said Du Pré.
âI really quit,â said Booger Tom. âI am going to be gone âfore you git here. â¦â
âWhy you run off before you kill Bart?â said Du Pré.
âGive me that goddamned thing,â said Pidgeon, reaching for the telephone.
Du Pré grinned and handed it to her.
âBooger Tom,â said Pidgeon sweetly, âitâs me. Now what is this fucking bullshit about you quitting?â
She listened.
âYouâre whining,â she said. âCowboys do not whine. Itâs in the rules of conduct. Number six, I think.â
She listened.
âSo you got an animal smarter than you are. I have a cat like that,â said Pidgeon.
Booger Tomâs voice rose, crackling with electronic indignation.
âItâs a first,â said Pidgeon. âThe Australians have a sense of humor. â¦â
She handed the telephone back to Du Pré.
âShe donât play fair,â whined Booger Tom.
âThey donât,â said Du Pré. âThem women, it is the way of their people.â
âI think I will just shoot him,â said Booger Tom.
âThen how you get the door open?â said Du Pré.
The phone went dead.
âI finally got him,â said Bart, beaming. âI finally got him.â
âLook at this simple idiot,â said Pidgeon. âNow he has death following him on soft padded feet and he thinks it is a triumph.â
âBooger Tom very vengeful,â said Du Pré.
âSmart, too,â said Pallas.
âI think I remember him once admitting he had a math degree from Dartmouth,â said Pidgeon. âAnd the day he graduated he got on a horse and rode all the way to Wyoming. â¦â
âHe lies a lot,â said Bart.
They rode for a while in silence, looking out at the prairie flowers that soon would burn and be gone.
Du Pré found the road north. He sped up.
âWe tried to get a plane to Cooper,â said Bart, âbut the flying service was booked.â
âI hate those planes,â said Pidgeon. âI think they are made of Styrofoam and duct tape. â¦â
âSo this old woman is at Jacquelineâs?â said Pallas.
âYah,â said Du Pré.
âIt is an incredible story,â said Pallas. âI have to do a paper over the summer. â¦â
âPretâ
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