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I didn’t move an inch.
Not a wave.
Not a smile.
The only thing that woman got from me was coldness. I watched them drive away just as my cell phone rang.
“Yeah?” I answered.
“The bitch gone yet? We got a problem in pasture four,” one of my cowboys, Beau said on the other end.
“She’s gone. What’s the issue?” I asked, putting on my hat and jogging down the steps.
“You gotta see this for yourself.” He hung up before I could answer.
“Fuck,” I sighed as I sprinted down the hill to the barn. My horse, Ranger, was already saddled and ready to go.
Hallow Ranch has been in my family for generations, passed down from my great grandfather. All to first born sons. This ranch wasn’t just a business, or a lifestyle. It was a legacy.
A legacy that came with a curse.
“Let’s go,” I said to Ranger as I swung my leg over his back.
A second later, we were flying out of the barn, galloping through the field in front of us, heading West to pasture four. The ranch encompassed ten thousand acres of pure, untouched beauty. Mountains stretched around us, surrounding my ranch, other ranches, and the town of Hayden in a valley.
Home.
Every year, Hallow Ranch makes six figures in grass fed cattle profit. We, my five ranch hands and I, work day in and day out to ensure our cattle are healthy, protected, and thriving. It was nearly time for the heifers to start birthing to their calves, the next generation, and my cowboy calling me out to pasture four due to a problem meant something was up.
Something fucking bad.
Rounding a patch of trees, I approached the lush green grass of pasture four. I whistled at Beau, who was about ten yards away, sitting on his horse, watching the herd. This herd was one of two; in total, Hallow Ranch had about six hundred cattle. This was just half of them.
I slowed Ranger as we got closer. Beau was leaning forward on his saddle, facing the herd and my eyes followed suit. Jigs, Beau’s father and a good friend of my late father, was at the head of the herd. Lance and Lawson, the twins who had been with the ranch for about three years, and at the back was Mags, a former Marine, like me, who wanted a simple life after coming home
“What’s going on?”
“Dead calf. Other end of the pasture by that tree,” Beau answered, tipping his head to the left.
“Shit,” I muttered.
“Yep.”
“Come on.” I clicked my tongue at Ranger to get him to move towards the calf.
“Right behind you,” Beau answered.
I bit out a curse as I got closer to the scene. The stench was something I was used to, but that didn’t mean that it wasn’t foul. A newborn calf, still covered in blood and fluid was lying in the grass. My stomach dropped; not just because it was a new life we had just lost, but because a few things can cause a miscarriage to occur like that in a cow.
One of those was brucellosis, a disease that can be transmitted to humans through the consumption of cattle.
“It’s not,” Beau said, reading my thoughts.
I turned my head to him, waiting for him to explain. He pointed to the right, and my eyes followed. A heifer was on the ground, panting hard. “Mags wanted to end her, but Dad wanted you to see it first.”
Ranger trotted over to the heifer, and I dismounted ten feet away. After I handed the reigns to Beau, I walked over to her. “It’s alright,” I cooed, “It’s alright, momma.”
I walked around her slowly so I wouldn’t frighten her. Kneeling down behind her, I placed my hand on her neck, only for her to jump a groan. “Hey, hey. Shhh. It’s alright, momma. It’s okay,” I said softly, my eyes scanning her body. When I found it, I cursed.
