Shadow Has Been Sold!

 Allie was exhausted. "What a day this has been. Life on a ranch is nothing like what I had expected. I thought the green pastures would be beautiful with horses grazing and maybe a few cattle. I expected folks to come a one or two couples at a time to enjoy the trail rides and maybe some riding lessons. I have had nothing but one crazy thing after another happen ever since I've been here. Well, at least now the place is quiet. The children are finally sound asleep and so is poor Jean. I still don't have all the answers she is looking for, but first thing in the morning I will make it my mission to go to the foreman and ask about Shadow, her daughter's horse. Since Josh is sleeping out in the camper I feel like I can conquer the world not just a few hundred acres of dirt. I think I will go to bed with a good book and relax. Wait, maybe I'll read some more of the journal instead. Maggie's mother wrote in this for quite some time. What an interesting history this ranch has." She got ready for bed and propped herself up with the soft pillows and comfy quilts and found her mind following the little girl and her family on their way to Texas in a covered wagon and little else. Well look at this. The mother quit writing. Now her little girl, Maggie has some entries. She could tell by the child like characters that a young child had written the words. "Little did she know she was going to lay the ground work for me and those before me, "Allie thought. As she read the entries made so many years ago she could almost see the hot and tired little girl dipping her toes in the cool water they had made camp by.

Maggie wrote in her journal that the weather was so hot and still she could barely breathe. "I pleaded with Ma to let me go without my bonnet but she insisted that young ladies had to protect their complexions against the sun. Personally I think that's a silly rule. The water felt so good on my bare feet. I wonder how many more miles we must endure this weather before Pa decides that we should build a home and quit traveling. It has been so very long."

Allie thought about the little girl that had not written another entry for several months. "I'm sure she never imagined in a million years that someday there would be another Maggie living on this ranch. I sure would have liked to have known her. Well, it's time to get some rest and much needed sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a very long day."

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Josh woke up the next morning to a lot of loud giggling and honking of what sounded like a goose. "Oh that goose is something else. I wonder where it came from. It wasn't here when Allie and I first got here." He stretched and thought to himself, "Why do I hear giggling? The children shouldn't be up this early in the morning." When he opened up the door to the little camper he looked up to the sky and realized it was much later in the day that he thought. "Boy, I must have been beat last night. I overslept. Hope Allie isn't mad at me. She had a list of things for me to do today." He started walking up to the main house when he saw two of the three little children and several geese. "Oh no! This is not going to go over well I'm afraid. "Hey, guys! Did you two find some new friends and a mud puddle? Well, I hate to break it to you, but you need to get washed up before you go in the house. Come with me and I will hook up the hose. The water is going to be cold, but we need to get the mud off of you. So was it fun?" The children laughed and said, "Yes! It was great fun. Why do we have to get clean? Why can't we play with those big ducks?"

Allie was walking to the house after she had talked to the foreman of the ranch hands. She had been given bad news. Shadow had been sold quite some time ago. K.R. had bilked Jean out of several thousand dollars for care on the ranch when the horse wasn't even there. She felt terrible. She had tried to get the information to whom the horse had been sold to. The foreman thought he had the sales ticket. He had told Allie that when he found it he would bring it up to the house. Allie was hoping that she could buy it back because Jean's daughter would be devastated if she couldn't. She was almost to the house when she heard children laughing and Josh talking. "Now what are those kids up to?" she wondered. As she got closer to the side yard there they all were laughing and splashing the mud off their clothes and their little faces still had a lot of mud on them. Josh was telling them to turn around so he could get the mud off in between his own laughing. Allie couldn't believe her eyes. Neither could Addie! Get wet! Ducks! Want ducks!" This time her grandmother was right behind her and said, "No not this morning, my girl. You had your fun in the rain with the goose last night. Allie, there was only one goose last night. Where did all of these geese come from? Oh there is a big black dog! He loves to run and play, doesn't he? I didn't know you had a dog, Allie."

"I don't have a dog, and I don't have geese, but there seems to be an abundance of them lately. Yesterday there were puppies and two big dogs, and now this big dog and a lot of geese! I've never seen this dog before. Oh no! Josh that dog is rolling around in pooh! Yuk! Wash it please. I think I need to call the animal rescue people to come and get some of these animals. There are a bunch of baby kittens too! Soon these guys will out number the horses!"

Addie laughed and ran after the dog. "Doggie! Play!" The dog jumped and played with Addie with a ball that was not a bit clean, but Addie didn't care. She threw the ball and said, "Bring the ball, doggie." 

It was one of the dirtiest days of Allie's life, but for some reason she grinned. Who wouldn't grin when there stood Josh covered with mud and pooh and was wet to the bone and was laughing and acting just like the kids he was hosing down.. You just had to love him. Did she?

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Willow was beside herself. Zeke! I need help. You'd better be on your way to Texas. I can't do all of this by myself. Where are Edward and Virginia? Are they fishing again?"

Virginia and Edward said, "You just never mind, little angel. We are here and nothing is going to happen to those little children. You are doing a good job. We woke up Josh and he is taking care of them. Our job is to take care of Josh and Allie. So far so good today. Hopefully it will be a rather quiet day at the Double D today if not the cleanest," they laughed and rode their horses over to the edge of the yard and watched the fun.

To the ranch hand watching the children and grownups having fun with the children and dog he found himself frowning. He was worried. Someone had been dumping animals onto the ranch borders. He was sure of it. He was going to get to the bottom of it. Dumping animals big or small made him sick. In the state of Texas it is highly illegal to abandon and neglect animals, big or small. Those people can go to jail and pay big fines. He had rescued animals before and gotten them safe and sound into loving homes, but lately it had increased to the point where he needed to get the law and Allie involved. He saw the patrol car parked by Maxine's cabin. He figured now was as good a time as any.