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Casey exhaled in defeat and took the seat next to Tess. “I’ve been to house-warming parties. I take it this is different,” he said.
“You bet it is!” Lexie settled back onto her chair. “Brock told me we could burn down that old house where Aaron Frye used to live. Aaron murdered Callie and almost killed me. I still have nightmares about it. I’m hoping that when the house is gone, that awful memory will fade.”
“That sounds like fun.” Casey’s voice carried an edge as he filled his plate with beans and eggs and poured himself some coffee. “Are you going to roast hot dogs and marshmallows over the flames?”
“We’ll do no such thing,” Shane said. “That house is toxic. There could be anything in there, even explosives. Once the fire starts, nobody’s going near it, especially you, Lexie. You don’t want to inhale any fumes.”
Until now, no one had mentioned the party to Tess. But she’d be as relieved as anyone to see that horror of a house gone. “We’ll need to clear the ground on all sides of the place and wet it down,” she said. “And we’ll need a hose with a sprayer in case the fire starts to spread.”
“Trust you to take the fun out of it.” Val had taken a seat at the foot of the table. She was sipping her coffee, her plate empty and a sour expression on her face. “I was thinking we could paint our bodies and dance naked around the flames, but I suppose that’s out, too, isn’t it, boss?”
Tess raised an eyebrow but decided not to respond. Something was definitely eating at Val this morning.
“I need to go into Ajo this afternoon to leave Brock’s offer with my lawyer friend,” Tess said, changing the subject. “I could pick up some cider and donuts, or whatever sounds good, for the party tonight. Let me know if there’s anything else I can bring home—you too, Maria.”
“I’ll get you a list,” Maria said.
“Meanwhile,” Tess said, moving on, “I want you all to see Quicksand buck. Ruben and Pedro, I’ll need you on horseback to guide him into the chute. Casey, maybe you can help me get the flank strap and the dummy on him—if you’re staying, of course.”
“Sure. I know when I’m outgunned.” He glanced toward Val, but she pretended not to notice.
There was a definite strain between those two, Tess mused. The question was, should she try to get to the bottom of it, or should she leave them to sort it out for themselves?
* * *
Getting Quicksand into the bucking chute was easier than Tess had expected. The bull was accustomed to being moved by men on horseback. He barely resisted when Ruben and Pedro herded him into the narrow metal chute and closed the gate behind him.
Tess was beginning to understand how Quicksand thought. Things that were familiar—horses and riders, the bucking chute, and hopefully other bulls—were all right. But new situations—different people, dogs, and noisy arenas, tended to throw him into a panic. At least, understanding Quicksand’s behavior should help her correct it.
Getting the 24-pound metal box strapped onto the bull where a rider would normally sit was never easy. But Tess had enough experience to do the job efficiently. With Casey working the opposite side of the chute to hook and lift the buckle, Quicksand was soon readied for bucking.
Shane, Lexie, and Val watched from outside the bucking pen. Ruben, on his well-trained horse, waited in the pen to lasso the bull in case of trouble. Pedro had dismounted to pull the gate rope.
Tess climbed the rails, gripping the remote. “Ready,” she called to signal Pedro.
“Ready,” Pedro called back. Quicksand was slamming the chute, his horn clattering against the metal.
“Go!”
The gate swung open. Quicksand shot out, flying like a winged devil, kicking, spinning, and twisting, making up in sheer fury what he lacked in finesse.
At eight seconds, Tess released the dummy. The box popped into the air, trailing the strap. Quicksand jumped a few times, then lowered his head and made a beeline for Pedro, who’d taken shelter behind the gate. Pedro scrambled up the rails in time to escape a crushing blow.
Ruben’s lasso circled the bull’s neck. Whiplash pulled and bucked, then settled enough to be herded into the chute, where the rope and flank strap were removed. Then he was released to the freedom of the paddock.
“Well, what do you think?” Tess was out of breath from racing around the pen.
“The bastard can buck, that’s for sure,” Shane said. “Let’s hope he’ll do it in the arena, with a real rider on his back.”
“But you say he has no pedigree and no registration?” Lexie was the breeding specialist of the ranch family.
“That’s right,” Tess said. “According to Brock, he was a stray—no identifying marks and no ear tags, although the holes in his ears were there. The best guess was that he was stolen and turned loose by the thieves when the police got too close. Look at him. He’s got all the lines of a quality bull.”
“But without the papers, he’ll be worthless as a stud,” Lexie said.
“What about DNA testing?”
“That might give us some idea where he came from. But the level of detail we’d need to get him registered for breeding wouldn’t come cheap. I say we wait, at least until we know what kind of bucking career he’s going to have.”
