Chapter 14 - Storm Clouds
Circle-R was a beehive of activity the next day.
Arnav was busy all day, working around the ranch. They would be leaving for the annual muster the next day and he had to make sure that all the cattle was branded. This time, they would be taking the Box-Lightning animals with them, too - and that was an added responsibility. They would need additional horses, and mules to carry the packs. He spent time with NK going over the best route to take, to ensure that the cattle were fed and watered on the way.
HP would be traveling with them to the Fort Worth stockyards in the chuck wagon, while JP would handle the lighter work at home, as he'd been with them during the roundups.
Anjali was busy making sure that food was stocked properly for the long, arduous trek across the Texan plains.
Akash had gone to the Box-Lightning to check on Mr. Gupta and Miss Gupta, and he reported that both his patients were doing fine, much to Arnav's relief. Akash would stay on at Circle-R while Arnav was away.
That evening, he returned to the homestead and found a black horse tied to the railing. Stepping into the living room, he saw Shyam sitting there, a drink in his hand. Obviously, he'd arrived a short time ago.
'Arnav!' he exclaimed, standing up and extending his hand to shake. Arnav looked at it, and then raised cold, flat eyes to him.
'I need to talk to you,' he said, turning around and heading to the verandah. Shyam frowned following him out.
'I hear you had quite a day, yesterday,' Shyam smiled, tried to make conversation.
Arnav walked up to him, towering over him, his eyes glittering dangerously. For a long moment he stared at Shyam, taking in his face.
'Tell your men to lay off Miss Khushi. For that matter, tell them to lay off any woman. Next time, I see them, I won't be so slow on the draw,' he drawled out, his fists clenched.
Shyam looked at him, a bit surprised to see this side of the man who could end up being his brother-in-law.
'What'd they do?' he asked, his face curious.
'Ask them where they were two days ago,' Arnav replied. 'They were on my land. Trespassing. Not only that they gave chase to Miss Khushi. She nearly died.'
F**k! thought Shyam. This Rocky and Manny were uncontrollable! Why'd they pull such stupid stunts?
****
Morning had brought a visitor to the Striking-S. Aman showed up with his deputy. Shyam had been working in his study when one of the men informed him that the Sheriff of Yerba was visiting. He had a sinking feeling that it couldn't be a good thing if the Sheriff rode all the way out here to talk to him.
'Howdy, Sheriff,' he extended his hand to Aman, who was waiting for him on the verandah.
'Morning, Shyam,' Aman replied, shaking his hand. 'I got some bad news for you.'
'Have a seat, Sheriff,' Shyam gestured towards the chairs on the porch. Aman took a chair and leaned forward. Shyam sat across from him, leaning back, comfortable, yet with concern on his face.
'Your men were trespassin' on Circle-R land,' Aman said.
'On Circle-R?' Shyam was surprised.
'Yeah. The two what were in the Wild Bull the other night. They harassed Miss Khushi that day, and then two days ago, they chased her onto Circle-R. That's how your men were trespassing.'
Shyam was thinking furiously. He knew Rocky and Manny had gotten into trouble with ASR the other day. And now this? After he'd told them to lie low? The idiots! They'd destroy everything he'd been working so hard towards for the last few years. His fists clenched in frustration. Trying to keep a calm exterior, he said, 'I'll take care of it, Sheriff. They won't be doing no such thing anymore.'
'See that they don't. I believe ASR won't take it too kindly next time,' Aman warned, standing up to indicate that he'd said what he'd come to say. He turned at the bottom of the steps. 'I won't stop him, either. I don't like rotten eggs in my town.' His voice was soft and silky, and promised to deliver.
Shyam nodded. He understood. The Sheriff of Yerba wasn't afraid to take on anybody. His reputation had preceded him and now, because of these idiots, the focus was on Striking-S! Now he had to go soothe ASR!
Bloody hell.
*****
'I want to apologize on their behalf, ASR,' Shyam's voice was smooth, sincere. Obviously, Arnav didn't know that the Sheriff had already come by.
Arnav's eyes glittered as he heard the note in his voice. There was something about Shyam that he didn't like. Had never done. He couldn't fathom what it was his sister or Nanny saw in this man.
'Just make sure they stay away from my land, cause next time, I ain't gonna be waiting for your apology,' he said. 'There won't be no need for one.'
'Oh, there you are!'
They both turned at the sound of the soft voice, to see Anjali walking out towards them, smiling. She wore a deep pink dress, her hair in curls and held up on one side with a glittering comb. Both the faces in front of her softened at the sight. She looked from one to the other.
'What's going on?' she asked. 'Why're you out here instead of inside?'
'Needed a breath of air, Sis,' Arnav was the first to recover. 'I'll see you,' he looked at Shyam as he said that, going inside the house.
Shyam stared after him. 'I don't think your brother likes me much, Miss Anjali,' he remarked.
She laughed gaily and shook her head. 'Don't worry about him, Mr. Shyam. He doesn't know you yet. Once he does ...' she trailed off at the ardent look in his eyes. He'd moved closer to her as she spoke.
'Once he does, will he be all right with me coming around to see you?' he asked carefully, looking deep in her eyes, his finger trailing down the soft skin of her cheek. It was the first time he'd touched her like this, and he shivered at the sensation it sent through him.
'My brother doesn't ... doesn't ... ' Anjali fumbled with the words, as her thoughts became clouded. The touch of his fingers on her cheek, heightening their color. She could feel little butterflies unfurling their wings deep inside her belly.
He stepped back. 'We should go inside, Miss Anjali,' he held the door open for her. She nodded, flushing even more, and stepped back into the house, with him following closely behind.
It was later that night, when Arnav sat in his study with Akash and Anjali. Nanny Raizada had already gone to bed, and so had the children. Arnav would be leaving the next day, so the three of them took the time to sit down and just talk. Although Akash spent most of his weekends at Circle-R, it was rare that the three did sit down together, just by themselves.
Arnav lay sprawled in his chair in his favorite position, feet up on his desk, a glass of his favorite whiskey in his hand. Akash lay on the couch, his head resting on the arm, a glass of wine balanced on his chest. Anjali chose the armchair, her feet resting on an ottoman in front of it, a glass of wine balanced on her armrest.
'Sis,' Arnav looked at the two of them in front of him. 'I need to ask you something.'
'Ask away,' she waved a languid hand.
He drew a deep breath and said, 'what do you think of Shyam?'
She was startled by the question. 'Shyam? Why?'
'Just answer the question, Sis,' he drawled, taking a sip of his drink. Akash turned slightly in his position to better see his siblings. He knew Arnav a bit better than she did, and wondered what his brother was getting at. Although he could certainly guess at it.
'I ... well ... I do like him, I confess,' she smiled secretively, looking into her wine. 'But you already know that!'
'Do you think he's a good man?' Arnav asked, his brows pulled together in a frown.
Akash raised his eyebrows. It was strange to see Arnav going around the bush, trying to get to a point. He already knew what the point was.
She raised surprised eyes to him. 'Yes. Yes, I do,' she said, with no hesitation.
'Then what makes him hire the men he does?' Arnav said softly, wonderingly.
'What do you mean?' Anjali sat up now, puzzled at her brother's insinuations. 'Arnav, if you've got something to say, spill it,' she said crisply, all sense of relaxation gone.
'The men who chased Khushi, were Shyam's men,' he stated baldly, his eyes expressionless as they met his sister's. Akash paid attention to his glass of wine, avoiding looking at the other two staring at each other.
She frowned. 'Could you be mistaken?' she offered tentatively.
'NK saw the horses they were on. He didn't mistake the brand, Sis. NK doesn't make mistakes like that,' he looked right into her eyes as he said it.
She sighed. 'Perhaps his foreman hired them.'
'Rocky is the foreman, Sis. He's seeding that place with bad eggs like him,' Arnav said.
'Rocky?' she asked.
'One of the two men,' he said.
Anjali was disappointed. Sorely disappointed in Shyam.
She'd watched her brother hire and fire cowhands for so many years. He'd always surrounded himself by good people. People they could trust implicitly. NK being one of the first. In all the time he'd been at Circle-R - he'd not only not given them any cause for complaint, he'd also made sure the men they hired followed the principles and values of the owners themselves. And it was all due to Arnav - because he led by his own behavior.
If what Arnav said was true - and she didn't doubt that it was - then Shyam didn't seem to be such a good judge of character as Arnav. But did that make him unsuitable for her? Is that what Arnav was implying?
'I'm sorry, Sis. But why does he have such unsavory characters around him?' Arnav asked.
The unspoken question lingered in the air. How could Arnav trust his sister to a man, whose judgement he couldn't trust? She looked at Akash for help.
'He's right, Sis,' Akash said in his soft voice, his grey eyes serious. 'There's something off about him. I don't know what it is either.'
'I'm sorry you feel that way about him, Arnav,' she straightened up.
'It's okay, Sis,' Arnav didn't want to get into a confrontation with Anjali at this point. Perchance, she might even become more fixed on Shyam, if he pushed her. It was up to him to put those niggling doubts away.
*****
The morning held the smell of wetness in the breeze. Grey clouds were starting to roll in from the South. NK cantered over to Arnav as they followed the trail of the thousand head of cattle. They had started early, and it was now mid-morning. The clouds were coming towards them. Dark, angry, roiling cumulonimbus clouds gathering over the flat plains.
'It doesn't look good, Boss,' NK said, his eyes constantly scanning the horizon and the skies. They were in direct path of the storm. 'Should we ride out the storm here, or d'you want to push on?'
ASR squinted his eyes, following the path of the clouds. They could see the gray swath of rain under the clouds as they marched on. 'Push on,' he said. There was no point in stopping now. Either way, they would still be caught in it. They might as well push on while they could. He could smell the ozone in the air, and feel the cooling and shifting of the breeze.
The men were hunkered into their ponchos, as the animals started getting a bit restless. They lowed a little more than they normally would. The day got darker and the wind started picking up.
Suddenly, a long fork of lightning lit up the sky, ripping its brilliant path from the heavens to the earth.
The cattle lowed repeatedly as seconds later they heard the distant boom of thunder. The horses shied a little, but Shadow stayed calm. Arnav patted the horse's neck as he clucked at it.
'Fan out,' he said to NK.
'Fan out,' NK yelled out. The men spread out, the chuck wagon creaking along behind the large herd. Arnav moved towards the front of it, ready and tensed as he waited for what he knew might come.
Another crack of lightning traced its way down from the clouds. Thunder crashed much faster than it had done before.
There was a long bellow from one of the cows.
'Shit!' thought Arnav, keeping his eyes on the animals closest to him, trying to see if he could spot a leader amongst them. The clouds moved closer, and the wind picked up, now buffeting them with its force.
Another crack of lightning and the thunder was almost on top of them.
The cows bolted!
'Stampede!' yelled Arnav, tugging on Shadow's reins, moving him towards the running beasts, even as the heavens opened up above them and rain poured down.
The brim of his hat kept the water out of his eyes. He kicked Shadow into a gallop, trying to head off the cows that were breaking away from the group. He could see his men also racing around the herd, trying to keep the cattle together. The massive beasts snorted, some of them lowing. The air was filled with the sound of pelting rain, pounding hooves, the neighing of horses, and the incessant sound of thunder. The flashes of lightning seemingly all around them.
The cattle were running now, thousands of pounds of maddened beasts blindly trying to get away from each other. Their long horns clashing with each other and trying to gore the horses that got too near. The horses tried to head them off, each rider as one with his horse, twirling their lassos, trying to bring the animals under control, in a rainy hell.
The ground turned slippery as the parched earth barely kept up with the downpour. Little rivulets formed in any little dip, making it more dangerous for the horses. Little holes filled up quickly with water, that the ground did not soak up. Every little hole is a death trap for a horse.
For what seemed like hours, the frenetic activity continued. Arnav and Shadow worked as one trying to keep the cattle from breaking away. Some of them ran back the way they had come. The horse chased them, trying to head them off, and back towards the rushing herd, trying to keep away from the lowering sharp horns that could rip a man or horse apart with their tips.
Arnav tried to spot the leader. One bull, one cow that would slow down and help slow the others down. Finally he spotted it, bringing Shadow parallel to the cow. The whites of the eyes of the cows showed as they continued their panicked run.
Slowly the rain eased up, now drumming along as a slower pace, the sudden thunderstorm moving away as fast as it had come, making towards the hills in the distance. The cows slowed down, helped by the leader that Arnav had spotted. Finally, the rain stopped. The cattle stopped.
Arnav sat for a while, panting as much as Shadow was panting. The cattle were still uneasy, milling about.
NK rode up to him, as out of breath as he was. Arnav looked at him. 'Did anyone get hurt?'
NK shook his head. 'We're all good.'
'Good,' Arnav gasped. 'Let's set up camp here today. Find out if we had any losses. Did any of the animals get injured?'
'Don't think so,' NK said. 'Though we might be missing a few.'
Arnav stilled. 'How many?' his voice was grim.
'We'll know in a bit,' NK said.
'ASR, we've got missing cattle,' Malone had ridden up to them, covered in mud, and soaking wet just like them. The breeze still blew, but the rain had stopped.
They spent the rest of the day getting the cattle herded and rounding up as many missing animals as they could. There were still about eighty unaccounted for. HP had made stew so the hands could warm up with the hot dinner.
The storm of the morning had gone, leaving in its wake the muddy aftermath. The evening shadows had grown longer when they heard the distant beat of hooves. The men stood alert, their hands resting on their guns. To the North they saw the dust trails that told them a lot of four-legged animals were moving, coming towards them.
NK shaded his eyes under the brim of his hat. 'It's cattle!' he exclaimed.
As the little cavalcade got closer, they saw Shyam riding point, followed by three of his hands, and a whole lot of cows.
'Howdy, ASR!' he greeted, pulling up his horse.
Arnav nodded, His hands remained firmly on his Winchester. 'You're trespassing,' was all he said.
Shyam smiled at him. 'I'd say it was your cows doing the trespassing. We found these animals on the property line between the Striking-S and the Circle-R. Thought we'd be neighborly and bring them over.'
Arnav gave NK a slight nod, and NK rode to the cows. To his surprise they were all branded with the Circle-R brand. His quick eye figured there were about fifty cows there.
'There's about fifty head there, ASR,' he said softly to Arnav.
Shyam dismounted and walked over to Arnav, holding out a hand. Reluctantly, Arnav shook it. 'Thanks,' he told Shyam.
Shyam smiled widely. 'I can't say the pleasure's all mine. We found them after the storm. Figured we'd return them to you. Did they stampede?'
Reluctantly, Arnav nodded. His eyes scanned the men who'd ridden in with Shyam. Rocky and Manny weren't amongst them. He was relieved. 'Yes, they did,' he watched as NK with the help of two more men, started moving the cattle back to the main herd, who seemed to welcome their long lost brothers/sisters.
'You got some good animals there, ASR,' Shyam looked that cows judiciously. 'You selling some bulls, too?'
'Just a few,' Arnav said careful.
'Well,' said Shyam, after an awkward pause. 'We'll be on our way.'
They watched the Striking-S men ride off, Arnav with narrowed eyes.
'What the hell was that?' NK said, the words mirroring the thought in all their heads.
*****
My apologies to all who waited so patiently for this chapter and stayed with me as well. I was very tangled up in work and didn't even come online for days. But now, the worst is over, and I am headed back to Circle-R. Hope you're joining me for the ride!