dontravis.com
blog post #369
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| Courtesy of publicdomaininvectors.org |
Last
week, Forrest De la Roche decided he wanted Austin Andino, and he’s accustomed
to getting what he wants. But the power was on the other side this time. Austin
is his rescuer. So what does De la Roche do? He puts his mind to work on the
problem. As we pick up the story, they’re in Austin’s cabin with the storm
still raging outside.
*****
IMPOTENT
Austin was in the small kitchen tossing
steaks into a pan when De la Roche returned to the common room. “Hungry?”
“Famished. I had breakfast in Farmington,
but didn’t take the time for lunch.”
“Hope you like beef.” Austin threw him a
smile. “It’s sort of required around here.”
“Sounds great. Can I help? I toss a mean
salad.”
“Have at it. Dig out what you need from
the fridge.”
Preparation of the meal was passed in
comfortable silence. De la Roche initiated conversation as they ate.
“You live here year-round?” he asked. Knowledge
was power.
“I ship my cattle down and sell them in
late October or early November. Have a little place outside of Albuquerque
where I stay until the following spring when I buy some more stock and haul
them up. Open up the cabin and live here the rest of the year.”
“Sort of a solitary life, isn’t it?”
The handsome man smiled. “Yeah, but I like
it. I go overboard socializing during the winter and early spring, so I’m ready
for a little solitude by the time I get back up here.”
“Any family?” the businessman inquired.
“Older sister and her family keep up the
house in town while I’m gone. Other than that, just a couple of aunts and
uncles. You?”
The bittersweet reminder of Elaine Madison
De la Roche took him off for a moment. Beautiful, poised Elaine. They’d been
married for twenty years when she caught him with their Filipino houseboy and
used that to squeeze an additional twenty-five million dollars out of him
during the divorce. Belatedly, he answered Austin’s question.
“An ex-wife, a really cool daughter who’s
getting married for the second time next month, and two grandchildren.”
“Thought a gorgeous wife was required for
a man in your position.”
He speared a piece of rare steak. “I’ve
spent most of my life confounding the conventions. Maybe someday, but I’m not
interested in complicating my life with a woman right at the moment. Why aren’t
you married?” he shot back.
“Almost was,” Austin answered with a
slight frown. “Got real serious with a girl my senior year at New Mexico State.
She was a rancher’s daughter, so she knew what she’d be getting into. Went at
it hot and heavy for awhile, but when we graduated, we sorta lost interest. I
started riding for an outfit up north, and you can’t raise a family on a cowpoke’s
wages. I bought a few head and ran them on a permit while I was cowboying for
the Rocking Z, but it was slow going. While she was waiting around, somebody
else came along. Never got serious over another one after that.”
“That’s surprising,” he opened his gambit.
“How come?” Austin asked.
“Guy who looks like you, built like you
oughta have women hanging all over him.”
The young man grinned. “I didn’t say there
weren’t any women. Just said there wasn’t a wife.” Once again, Austin turned it
back on him. “Nobody in the wings for you?”
“Plenty of prospects. Lots of them willing
and anxious to be Mrs. ConstructCo International, but I’m not so sure they’d be
marrying me.”
Austin grinned again. “That’s not a
problem for me. The Circle-A brand doesn’t attract a lot of fortune-hunters.”
“You’re something of a mystery to me,” De
la Roche said slowly. “And I usually figure out people pretty quickly.”
“How’s that?”
“Let me tell you what I see. I see a young
man hiding out up in the mountains caretaking a few head of cattle. Now this
man is educated, physically healthy, well-built, and handsome as all get out. He
has the strength and vigor to do about anything he wants. He owns a hundred
acres in the middle of beautiful mountains not far off a major road. Right so
far?”
Austin colored slightly. “Don’t know about
the handsome part, but reasonably accurate. So what’s the mystery?”
“Where’s the ambition? Develop this
property, sell it, and get something bigger. If ranching is your thing, this
ought to be a down payment on a pretty good spread.”
Austin took his time answering. “If I ever
sold this place it would be to somebody like me or to the Forest Service so
that it would never be developed.”
“Ah, a Green,” De la Roche interrupted.
The young man thought it over. “Yeah, I
guess. I love the mountains, Mr. De la Roche—”
“Forrest, please.”
“I wanted something I could do that would
keep me in the mountains, so I started running cattle. They only allow a
limited number of domestic animals in the Forest, so I ran on my own place
until I could get limited grazing rights. I’m ambitious, Mr…uh, Forrest. But my
ambitions lie in a certain direction. I’ll grow, but I’ll grow at the pace
these mountains will let me. Does that make sense?”
“Perfect sense,” he replied. “Austin, I
know squat about cattle ranching, but there are always ways to do things more
efficiently. Describe your routine to me.”
For the next thirty minutes, De la Roche
listened carefully as the young cowpoke laid out his operation.
“So the key to immediately increasing your
herd is to get more production out of the hundred acres,” he said slowly.
“Not possible without overgrazing. I’m
careful about that. In the long run you come out ahead by grazing light and
allowing the land to sustain itself.”
“I can see that, but I recently read an
article about something called ‘small-unit grazing.’ If I recall correctly, it
consists of small pastures and rotating the cattle often. Is fencing
expensive?”
“Not the way I do it,” the young man said
thoughtfully. “I string it myself. I might be able to run a few more head, but
that would be all.”
“A few more head? Ten percent more? Twenty?”
“Ten or fifteen.”
“Ten percent a year represents quite a
gain in most businesses. I’d kill for a ten percent increase in some of my
divisions.”
“I’ll think about it,” the young cowman
agreed. “Right now, the whole hundred acres is under one fence. It would cut up
into about four natural pastures, I think. It would mean handling the cattle
more often, but maybe it’s worth a try.”
“Good!” De la Roche said, confident that
their relationship had changed subtly. “Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to
turn in and get some rest. It’s been sort of a hard day.”
“It’s my bedtime anyway,” Austin answered,
rising from the table. “I get up early. I’ll try not to disturb you.”
“I’d like to go with you on your rounds
tomorrow,” De la Roche said quickly. “There’s another bag I need to get from
the Volvo. And frankly, I’m curious over what makes up a cowman’s day.”
“Work,” the young man responded
immediately. “But I’ll make sure you’re up. The company will be welcome.”
As De la Roche turned back the covers in
his tiny bedroom, the rain, which had hadn’t realized had stopped, began again.
Still semi-aroused, De la Roche went to sleep to the monotonous, lulling sound
of falling water.
He heard Austin before his half-closed
door swung back. Backlit by the log fire, the young man appeared naked until he
moved, revealing white jockey shorts. De la Roche’s first thought was that the
beautiful cowboy was coming to him, but then the deep voice roused him
sufficiently to realize that it was time to get up. Stimulated by his
imagination, he had no trouble coming awake. He sat up to watch the graceful,
near-naked figure stride manfully to the bathroom. It was still pitch-black
outside.
*****
Has De la Roche managed
to shift things slightly in his favor with his suggestion for improving Austin’s
output? Did the fact the young cowboy came to wake him up while nearly naked
mean anything, or was it simply his casual attitude about his body? Maybe
Chapter 4 will tell us.
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