Part 14 (1/2)
She stole two more frames of him hunched in the saddle, leadrope stashed under his armpit, both arms resting on the horn of his saddle. The leadrope he tossed at her almost pegged her before she could swing her camera out of the way. All summer she'd been trying to take pictures of the old cowboy, and he'd been pulling similar stunts to thwart her.
”When I'm famous, you'll be happy I took the time.”
”I'll be happy when people stop being idiots.”
”Who's got you so worked up?”
”d.a.m.n group we packed in today. p.i.s.sheads, all of them. Wish I could throw 'em all on the ground and p.i.s.s on their heads, make 'em wish they were dead.” He squirted a line of chewing tobacco juice through his teeth to punctuate the remark.
Kristine had been relieved that she had a scheduled pickup in the backcountry and left the yard before the chaos of the morning could come into contact with her. She'd been mounted and out of the yard with her three mules before the other packers had even made a dent in figuring out how many loads to pack.
”How many mules did it come out to?” she asked, untying the mules from the string.
”Twelve.”
”TWELVE! How many people in the party?”
”Eight.”
Takeisha, the gregarious day-ride girl who had come over to help out with the ma.s.sive ride, didn't appear to be put out in the least. When she began the season, her gear had all been stiff off the rack, and Kristine had thought the yellow kerchief she wore tied around her neck was hokey. After two months of saddling and riding, she fit right in with the crew with their frayed-at-the- cuff jeans and s.h.i.+rts that were never going to come quite clean because of the oil and dust that had been ground into them. Kristine had grown used to the kerchief, admiring how good it looked against her ebony skin. ”I'm glad. It was fun to lead a ride over here, and bringing the string in was totally cool,” she said.
”Are they out there for a week?”
”Four nights,” Brian said. He'd been roped into helping with the giant party.
”What in the world did they bring?” Kristine asked.
”Five mules alone were alcohol.”
”You're s.h.i.+tting me.”
”Watch your mouth, girl,” Sol warned.
Kristine had to laugh. He could swear up a storm, but she was never allowed to follow suit. ”What are you doing tomorrow? Going out of here? Should we put up your stock for the night, or is everything going back down to the Lodge?”
”Overnighter leaving out of the Lodge tomorrow. Leo said he'd be here with the stock truck.”
”You want a beer while you wait?”
”Sure, he might be a while.”
”Takeisha? Brian?”
”No. If it's all the same to you two, we were thinking of catching the shuttle down to the Lodge. We're hoping Frank's in to tell us more about the bear mauling.”
”Bear mauling?”
”Gimme a beer. I'll fill you in.” Sol waved Takeisha off.
Kristine brought two beers from the fridge, and Sol unfolded a couple of lawn chairs on the upper dock and lowered his crooked body into one. He took a long pull from the bottle before he leaned back. ”We lost that Cisco horse down at Fish Creek.”
”In all the years I've worked here, I've never heard of a bear mauling a horse,” Kristine said.
”Weren't no bear mauling. Just Leo being stupid and listening to his pocketbook first. Sent that old horse down with some greenhorns. I bet you anything that's what killed 'im.”
”And Frank gets to clean him up?” Kristine asked, wondering if Gloria was down with the crew. Even though the topic was gruesome, a flutter went through her stomach thinking about the night they had shared.
”The cleanup is sure to be the s.h.i.+ts, but I'd sure take a dead horse over packing in a.s.sholes like today's group. It's a G.o.dd.a.m.ned tailgate party up there.”
”You said that Leo shouldn't be working with this group. What's that about,” Kristine asked, settling in next to Sol.
”Last season, they had a trip out of the Lodge. Wanted a base camp out at Second Crossing.”
”That's a long ride for a spot. I thought Leo only used that for travel trips.”
”Like I said, Leo listens to his pocketbook. He'll agree to anything, even if the packer is riding home in the dark after supper. Didn't even make them change their plans when they rolled in late and had way more gear than they'd reserved mules for. It was late in the season. Everything was out except for the babies. Instead of telling those fools to cut back, he adds the two babies to the string. Barely got them out of the yard with them bucking off the loads.
”So they finally get on the trail. This packer named Pat's got the string. Heather's leading the guests. They're complaining the whole way about how their stuff's been treated, getting bucked off the mules, saying they should get a discount, b.i.t.c.hing about the saddles, about that granite pa.s.s being dangerous. It's the backcountry, not a G.o.dd.a.m.ned hotel.
”When they get to Second, Pat's ready to drop them at that nice camp right by the meadow, good fis.h.i.+ng up and down the river. Great established camp. No. They want to be on the other side of the river. Heather says no. The river's too high. They go back to b.i.t.c.hing about their 'experience' not being what Leo promised when they booked. Said Leo a.s.sured them a more private campsite off the main trail. Pat...” Sol shook his head. ”He was new that summer, didn't know you can't cross anywhere near that camp. Just plunged right into the river.”
”Gabe said the runoff was huge last year.”
”Yup,” Sol said. ”Swept those mules right away. Panniers filled up with water and pulled them down.”
”I never heard any of this. What did Pat do?”
”Tried cutting them apart to see if they could swim, but those d.a.m.n bags were so heavy that they couldn't make it. Not one animal made it out of there. And you know what those G.o.dd.a.m.ned people said?”
”Where's my stuff?”
”Where's my G.o.dd.a.m.ned stuff. No sorry. Not one blink of the fine animals that got killed on account of their stupidity.”
”I can't believe they're back this year,” Kristine said, shocked.
”Free trip. Why do you think they brought so much c.r.a.p? Leo's doing this for free because of what they lost.” He spit in disgust. ”They're trouble. Cursed. He should never have let them back in this valley.”
”How do you get over losing your whole string like that? Those new babies, too.”
”Oh, Pat didn't.” Sol drained his beer. ”Took off that night. Never saw him again.” He stopped, looking pointedly at her. For a moment, she thought he'd ask, bring up the parallel, but he took a deep breath and continued. ”Heather's back this year, but she's smart. Wouldn't have anything to do with this group. That's why Takeisha was up here today.”
A few of the mules on the tie rail started braying. Kristine tipped her head back, looking up the trail. ”Here comes Gabe.”
Gabe came in with a string of two mules and four riders. A large black duffel rode across the horn of his saddle.
”Someone lost a top pack,” he said, tossing the bag to his sister.