think of her name in a minute. Sheâs a big man around townâs daughter. A very attractive woman. They have a ranch up near Hackberry, too.â
Chet finally admitted, âI know about her. She was the one who really messed up my nephew Reg. I guess she messed up Buster, too.â
âWell after she left him, he and all his deals went to hell. I knew he was over-financed but I figured heâd climb out of it. After she left him, I think he fell off the wagon and went to staying drunk, not minding his business and so it all failed.â
âI will think of her name. As I said, she did the same thing to my nephew. Sheâs a black widow. He was running our place up there near Hackberry and when she spurned him he ended up committing suicide.â
âI didnât know about that, but I do know that when Weeks lost her he lost his way. That house place had a great view of all the country north of Lemon. I think itâs what sold that place so quickly and that the bank might come out with very little loss. On the other hand Rob Nye at the Tucson Territorial Bank has the number two ranch. I donât think much besides the ranch land is up there. I heard the ranch houses are old adobe jackals and nothing as nice as on number one.â
âThe banker want to sell it?â
âHe is no cowboy. Acted like heâd sell it cheap and cut his losses. But you can talk to him. Heâll be in his office. Nyeâs an on-the-up-and-up guy to me.â
âIâll do that. Thanks. What do I owe you?â
âNothing. Come by more often to talk and tell your lovely wife I said hello.â
âI can do that.â
A young man met him in the Tucson Territorial Bank lobby and asked if he could help him.
âIâd like to see Mr. Nye. Is he available?â
âI think so. Let me check. Who may I say is calling?â
âChet Byrnes of Preskitt.â
âNice to meet you, sir.â
In a short while he was ushered into Nyeâs office. A large portly man rose up and shook his hand firmly. âNice to meet you, sir. What can I do for you?â
Chet took the seat indicated before the desk as Nye sat back in the chair. âMy lawyer told me you had Weeksâs ranch number two for sale north of Oracle.â
âNumber two is right. They got the gold and Iâve got the shaft. He tell you they have a buyer ready to pay full price for number one because theyâve got that damn fancy house that he fixed up for the rich bitch he married and who shortly after that divorced him?â
âHe did. Weeks is not the only one she screwed up. My nephew had the same fate and he never even married her.â
âI would not have kicked her out of bed. But sheâs something else. Originally, in the second ranch deal, Weeks messed me up on it by bringing his cattle from the first place onto that land, joining with the cattle already there, making the herd look big. My men are bankers. Theyâre not cowboys and never noticed different brands while they were counting the cattle. I thought theyâd got a good count, but it was two herds.â
âSo what do you have left?â
âA count short of a hundred cows. Probably all culls. I have a good man running the ranch. He made a list of the cows and he reported many were old ones. You may go look but there is no hacienda -like setting for the headquarters, only some jackals. Seriously, there is a solid title to all the lots of land with it, but it is all cactus country. The deed calls for thirty sections.â
âIs it a good deed? Thatâs over twenty thousand acres.â
âI know that part is good. We double checked the deed and it is all legal.â
âI am interested.â
âWhat would you do with it?â
âThat is a big ranch. Let me go look at it and Iâll be back. What was the first ranchâs size?â
âAs I recall like four