CHAPTER 1
The bull had been with the heifer for almost eight hours and while Irene Cave hadn't kept her eye on him every minute she'd only seen him sniff the heifer's rear twice and then he failed to perform his duty. This was the fourth time with two other heifers and a cow mating had failed.
The jerk. She decided he was gay or had broken his thingy when being trucked in because Highland Peaks Nevis the Fourth had passed the veterinary test before he was put up for auction. Irene's foolish bidding war with two other ranchers had resulted in her paying $7550 for the useless piece of beef.
Angry, she decided to shoot the Hereford but he did have appealing eyes although they were rather red-rimmed. Trust her to end up with a gay bull.
The uneconomic 902-acre ranch with seventy-three breeding pairs had been running down even before her father her widow father had died, leaving the property to her and leaving money and investments to her brother in England. She'd accepted the gift gratefully assuming she'd work her butt off proving what a great little cattle rearing cattle ranch it was.
But it hadn't worked out. Her father had never purchased a dud bull let alone a gay one in all his farming life and yet she had, it being her first purchase. Meanwhile the gap between income and outgoings was moving relentlessly against her. Luckily all four neighboring ranchers wanted the property, gathering she imagined like crows along their common fence lines, waiting for her to crack. She had seventy-five acres of the flattest and most productive irrigated hay paddocks within 500 miles, although her father had only claimed it was 50 miles. Still, it didn't hurt to exaggerate when facing becoming a reluctant seller.
It was hot, mid-summer and Irene scratched under both armpits, believing it was bra rash. God, who wants big boobs in hot weather? Amended question, who wants big boobs? Her mom's chest had been practically flat and she never complained about her breasts.
Irene was diverted from that stupid rambling by the sound of a misfiring engine and looked out and saw a single engine Piper coming in low, lurching a bit and then realized the pilot was attempting a forced landing in the bull pasture.
Jesus.
She grabbed a heavy blanket from the linen cupboard and the fire extinguisher from the storeroom and raced out, hoping the pilot knew what he was about. Unless he only just cleared the eastern fence to the bull pasture he'd run out of room and crash through the western fence and career straight into the pine plantation.
The pilot only just cleared the fence and she breathed good boy. He or she landed hard, the airplane bounced, it's motor backfired hugely and stopped. The bull bellowed in fright and went straight through the northern fence and over the twenty-foot drop into the almost dry rocky river bed. Irene grinned, thinking insurance! She noted the heifer remained grazing with her tail out a bit, instinctively waiting to be served. Tough!
The shallow bog in the middle of the field slowed the aircraft considerably and when back on firm ground it stopped a good thirty yards short of having its wings clipped by the fence and then being mashed by the 30-year-old trees.
She ran to offer assistance.
A guy wearing goggles pushed the up on an old-fashion leather-flying helmet and already standing beside the aircraft grinned and said, "Hi blondie, what's up with the blanket?"
"To wrap you in if I succeed in pulling you out of a blazing wreck."
"Oh how kind but unnecessary. Any chance of a beer?"
"What after your reckless exhibition of flying running out of fuel?"
"I have almost a full tank. The fuel is contaminated."
"Oh god, sorry."
"It's okay sweetheart. I'm sorry about your bull committing suicide."
"It's okay Mr Pilot. Come inside, you'll have to report your mishap to the airfield."
"I've already done that and a team is on its way. My name is Nash Neave. And yours?"
"Irene Cave."
"Oh, great name. With a beauty like you it will be Mrs I guess?"
"And why should that be?"
"Oh apologies Miss Cave."
Irene smiled and invited him inside, saying she had no beer but she could do him coffee.
"That's great. The ground crew that is coming will drain my fuel system and refuel my airplane. In the meantime I'll have to negotiate with you about pulling down part of your fence and paying for you to have it reinstated. That way I can fly out of here rather than have my airplane dismantled and taken out on a truck. It's my airplane and I would not like it to suffer that indignity."
"Oh I see."
"Please Miss Cave. I would be grateful if you would be so accommodating and allow me to fly out. I might have to taxi out and take off coming back this way, depending on wind direction. An early morning take-off could be accomplished with nothing more than a breeze."
"Yes, the wind tends not to increase in velocity until 10:30 or so."
"Quite Miss Cave. Um, your decision would be appreciated."
"Yes pull down my fence."
Nash removed his helmet and Irene's breath caught when she saw how good-looking he was with all that curly blond hair. He was saying something.
"Pardon me?"
"I said two things. You should be calling your insurance company about your bull. The heifer out there is in season. You'll need a replacement bull."
"Yes I'll call my insurance agent. I'll take the heifer out to where my other bulls are. What was the other thing; you said there were two things?"
"Oh the ground crew will arrive with a hoist. With your approval we could pull the posts, I think six will do. If you have wire pliers I could go out now and remove the staples and cut the wires at different places so all the joins are not in the same place when the wires of that cross fence are re-strung."
"You appear to know what you are talking about. Let's leave the coffee and go out and do that now before they pull the posts from the ground. This way we'll have the wires rolled back so the extractions will be quickly accomplished. Since we will be working together you best call me Irene and I'll call you Nash."
"Sure, that's great."
By late afternoon the ground crew had the posts lifted and stacked neatly to one side. The airplane's fuel system had been emptied and flushed and the engine was started and left ticking over for half and hour while the mechanic sat waiting for any sign of problems. The wind was up strongly and with the pastures being rather lumpy Nash decided to wait till the morning.
After serving coffee and cookies to everyone Irene was over repairing the fence where the bull had gone through. The insurance agent had recommended burying the carcass where it was and Irene agreed. The crew looked down at the dead animal and the mechanic went to their truck and returned with a crowbar.
"The bull's dead, no need to kill him again Tony," said one of his mates as they watched Tony dig the bar several times near the edge of the sheer bank, scoured by floods over the centuries before the river bed moved farther out to the west. Tony heaved and triggered a small landslide of grit and stones that covered the carcass.
"Well done," Irene said, beaming and looking very attractive.
"Kiss, kiss," chanted the guys so Irene kissed him.
A few minutes later Tony switched off the engine and after chatting to Nash the pilot walked over to Irene and said, "The engine appears fine. I'm to run it for fifteen minutes prior to take off. Tony will have the retrieved fuel tested and thinks it was a faulty delivery, probably diesel contamination. That tank supply at the airfield has been shutdown pending an investigation. I'm heading off with the boys and..."
"Stay the night in my house and you can start the pre-flight test just prior to dawn."
"Um Miss Cave... your reputation. People could talk. And..."