Montana Summer Ch. 09

"Again, I don't know. Kenny didn't tell me, he said for me to tell you that if you had any questions, that you were to give him a call." Hank could feel his palms becoming sweaty.

The man that Tony called Vincenzo came back into the room carrying two plates of a pasta dish that Hank didn't recognize. Whatever it was, it smelled good, and Hank's stomach reminded him that he hadn't eaten much in the past few days. They ate in silence, a silence that Hank was grateful for. He had a nagging feeling that this meeting wasn't going as well as it should. There was something about Tony's manner and tone that suggested, well, Hank wasn't sure. He didn't quite know how to read the white haired man who was sitting opposite from him.

After the meal was finished and the plates taken away, Tony produced a cigar from his jacket pocket and then looked at Hank. "Smoke if you wish, we aren't open for business yet, so the no-smoking law isn't in effect."

As Hank lit his cigarette he found it a little incongruous that this man sitting across from would be the least bit concerned with a local no-smoking bylaw.

"So, my friend Kenny requires the services of a geologist with a knowledge of mining, but you don't know what type of mining." Tony raised his eyebrows at Hank. "This is correct so far?"

Hank nodded. "Yes."

Tony took a long draw off of cigar and exhaled the smoke in a slow, narrow stream. "And because my friend Kenny sent you here to see me, I can only assume that the project may not be..." He paused. "Legal. Correct?"

Hank felt a little uncomfortable, and he wasn't quite sure how to answer. "I don't know about the legalities of this project. All I know is that Kenny said that he needed someone who could be trusted to keep their mouth shut."

"Okay. Give me a couple of days and let me see what I can do for you. When you get back to your hotel and you make your call to Kenny, please give him my warmest regards." Tony smiled a soft smile that made Hank a little nervous. "And tell him that I will be giving him a call."

The two men that had brought Hank to the restaurant seemed to appear from nowhere. Tony stood up and extended his hand. "I will be in touch."

Hank shook the offered hand. "Thank you for lunch. I enjoyed it."

Tony smiled a warm smile. "My pleasure."

As the three men got ready to leave, Tony called to one of his men, "Vincenzo, a moment if you please."

The other man led Hank out through the kitchen and back to the waiting limo. Hank felt a small sense of relief to be out of the restaurant and into the car. Now if he only got to the hotel he would feel even better.

"Vincenzo, take our guest back to his hotel. Call around to our friends. See if we can find such a man, a geologist." He tapped his fingers on the table as he sat deep in thought. "I sense our guest wasn't completely forthright with me. I think he knows more than he was letting on. But that can wait for now. Call me at home tonight and tell me of your progress."

"Si padron." Vincenzo left and joined his partner in the limo and gave him a slight nod that let the other man know to proceed back to Hank's hotel.

Hank poured himself a drink as soon as he was back in the hotel. He picked up the cell phone and dialed Kenny's number.

---

The sound of an elk bugling for a mate broke the quiet of the early afternoon. Ryan shivered for a moment. He found the sound eerie, almost forlorn. He pulled his binoculars out of his saddlebag and scanned the trees in the direction of where the sound had come from.

He spotted the bull elk and watched him through the binoculars. He could see his head move and then, a second or two later, he could hear the high-pitched bugling sound. The elk was magnificent, his brown head and neck contrasting with the tan of his body. His wide rack of antlers rose from his head almost like a crown, making him look majestic among the trees.

Could any place in the world be any more majestic than this? He felt awed by his surroundings. The craggy bluish-grey mountain standing like a sentinel to the land surrounding it and the large bull elk standing like a regal sovereign among the aspen and pine trees only added to the magic of the scene.

There was a deep love in his heart that had been awoken by his summer here. He wondered how he was going to be able to be away from all this. What was he going to do without the mountains, his aunt and uncle, Charlie and Walter? Jessi! How was he going to be able to be away from her? His heart ached for a moment at the thought of being away from the one that was so dear to his heart.

Ryan saw some movement and then smiled. He spotted a cow elk coming down from the side of the mountain, headed towards the bull elk. There seemed to be some preliminary greetings, and then the two elk disappeared from sight.

What he had seen was affirmation of the magic he felt. Within hours, with any luck, a new life form would begin deep within the cow elk's body, a life that would come into this world while Ryan was still at school in the spring. Ryan wondered, if he came up here next year would he see the offspring from the impending mating?

He was at the edge of the tree line and had only spotted one steer along the way. With a gentle nudge of his spurs, Bernie set off again. They set back towards where he planned to meet Jessi at a gentle trot. By the time he reached Jessi, he had gathered a half dozen strays. Much to Ryan's relief, none of strays gave him any problems. They seemed to content to along with Ryan.

A shrill whistle got Ryan's attention, and he spotted Jessi and took his hat off and waved it over his to signal her. He was surprised, because it looked like she had almost doubled the number of cattle she was driving.

"Looks like you could use some help." Ryan was looking at nearly a hundred head of cattle that Jessi had under her control. "Where the hell did they all come from?"

"About a half mile back," Jessi answered. She looked and sounded tired. "Right where I crossed the creek, I found them all there looking happy as clams."

"Clam happy cows!" Ryan laughed heartily. "That's a new one on me."

Once near the camp, Uncle Bill rode out and assessed the group of cattle that Ryan and Jessi were bringing in. "How many do you have? Did you keep a count?"

Jessi nodded and handed her father a slip of paper. "I kept track of them as we went along. Unless I miscounted, with the large group I found lounging by the creek we should have ninety-eight."

Uncle Bill did a quick calculation on the paper that Jessi had handed him. He looked up at Jessi and Ryan. "Well, with what you brought in we are now twenty-six head short."

In the meantime, two more riders had come up and had taken over moving the cattle that Jessi and Ryan had herded in. They turned the group slightly so that they were headed towards where the feed and water was.

"Well, you two might as well go grab a cup of coffee. We still have three groups out, and with a little luck they will have the remainder of the missing animals."

Ryan and Jessi rode over towards the camp, both satisfied with the feeling of a job well done.

Aunt Suzanne yelled over to them as they rode past, "Hey! We got fresh chocolate chip cookies and coffee, head on over get some."

An anonymous voice bellowed, "Yeah! And you'd better get a hurry on, I see Bucky a-comin' and he looks hungry."

"I bet Bucky can do some damage to a pan full of fresh cookies." Ryan laughed as he looked over at Jessi.

Jessi nodded in agreement. "Yup, he can. I've seen him do it."

After they had taken care of their horses, Ryan and Jessi got a handful of cookies and a cup of fresh coffee and sat down on a makeshift bench made from a log.

"Hey Ryan!" Walter Red Elk called out as he road into the camp.

---

Sal perked up at the sound of Ryan's name being called out. He picked up his high power binoculars and began scanning the camp. He locked in on a young cowboy sitting beside an attractive girl. As soon as Ryan looked up, Sal recognized him.

A sense of accomplishment flowed through Sal— he had found the boy who had shot him. Now he just needed to wait for the opportunity. He felt no need to rush. The perfect time would present itself to him, all he had to was to wait and have patience.

---

The cheap scotch burned like liquid fire flowing down his throat. It was his third shot in about five minutes. It had taken all three shots to get his hands to stop shaking. The trip back to the hotel had been as silent as the trip there. Hank felt like mouse that was being toyed with. He knew he hadn't sold Tony on his claims of ignorance, he had sensed it.

Hank flipped open his cell phone and scrolled down until he came to Kenny's number. He pressed the send button and put the phone to his ear and waited for it to ring.

"Yeah." Kenny's voice came through the phone.

"It's me. I just got back."

"What did Tony have to say?" Kenny asked.

"He said that he would look around and get back in touch with me in few days. He also said that he was going to give you a call. I don't know if he believed my story about knowing nothing." Hank waited for Kenny's response.

"That's not surprising. Tony is no fool. I'll give the old fuck that." Kenny paused for a few seconds. "You stay put and wait for Tony to call, and keep your nose clean."

Hank poured himself another drink, kicked his shoes off and sat down on the sofa next to the bed. He picked up the remote for the TV and began clicking through the channels.

---

Becky walked over to where Jessi and Ryan were seated and stood in front of them with her hands on her hips. "What, don't I get at least a hello or something?"

"Becky!" Jessi jumped and hugged her best friend. "There! Does that make you feel better?"

Becky's face lit up as she nodded. "Much better." She gave Ryan a playful kick in the shins. "What about you buster, or are you going to make me get tough with you?"

Ryan shook his head as he rose and wrapped his arms around Becky and hugged her. "Oh, hell no! We don't want to make you get tough. I don't think the world is ready for that."

"Yeah," Becky teased as poked Ryan in the ribs. "You don't want that."

Becky turned her attention to Jessi. "Oh, I saw a friend of yours in town. And they just might come on up here." Becky was doing her best to keep a straight face.

Jessi furrow her brows in thought. "Who?"

Becky started giggling. "Hot Lips! I saw Laura in the drug store, and she asked if your hunk of a cousin was going to be up here. So don't be surprised if she doesn't come up here hot on the trail of an individual who shall go unnamed."

Jessi rolled her eyes. "Oh, God! That's all we need!"

"Hot Lips on the prowl!" Becky couldn't contain her laughter any more.

Ryan looked at both the girls. "What? Obviously a girl with good taste."

Jessi punched Ryan in the shoulder playfully. "Oh! You are just too full of yourself."

Becky grabbed on to Jessi's arm. "Come on, give me a hand. Let's leave Mr. Wonderful to bask in his own glory."

"Sounds good to me." As Jessi began walking with Becky, she turned to Ryan and winked. "See ya in a while, cowboy."

Ryan laughed at the two girls as he watched them walk off. Charlie and Walter were walking over with cups of coffee in their hands. Ryan was glad to see the both of them.

"Well, how did you two make out?" Ryan addressed the father and son team.

"Good." Walter nodded. "We got in just before you. We brought in about thirty head."

Charlie sat down. "Ahh, this feels good."

"Having a good time, Charlie?" Ryan asked as he sat back down.

Charlie nodded. "Anytime I can get out like this, it is a good time."

Walter chuckled. "You'd have to knock in him the head and tie him up to have him miss something like this."

Charlie sighed as he looked at Walter and Ryan. "There are days that I think I was born too late. I like the old ways. Even the old ways of the White Man, I can appreciate some of them. This is good that we still do this, relive some of the past. In reliving the past, we honor the ones that came before us."

Ryan nodded in agreement. "It must have been a hard life back then."

"Yes." Charlie looked around the camp. "It was hard but I think it was a simpler life too. Good men lived by their word." Charlie looked at his son and tried hard to conceal a grin. "And the young people respected their elders."

Walter began to laugh. "Yeah, well back in the old days they probably had respectable elders to respect."

Charlie had a look of mock hurt on his face. "You are going to bring up flirting with that waitress in the restaurant the other day."

"And the girl at the grocery store, and the girls at the band office, and the..."

Charlie pointed at his graying hair as he interrupted his son, "Just because there is a little snow on the roof doesn't mean there's no fire in the furnace."

Ryan was laughing so hard his sides started to hurt.

Frank Buchanan walked over from where the horses were tied up, and tipped his hat. "Sorry to interrupt. Walt, you got any of that homemade liniment with you? We got a horse down there that I think could use some."

"Yeah, I got some in the truck. I'll go get it and meet you down at the horses." Walt got up and went to get the liniment from the truck.

Walter was highly regarded in the area for his knowledge of horses. He worked part time for the local vet and was often called upon by local horse owners for his expertise.

After Walt and Frank had left Charlie turned to Ryan. "And are you enjoying this?"

"Just being out here in the mountains, it makes me feel so free." Ryan sat his cup down, and then pointed towards where he had been earlier in the afternoon. "Up there this afternoon I heard an elk bugling and then I saw a cow coming towards him through the trees. Where else but here would it be possible for me to see something like that?" Ryan paused for a moment. "Then there is what you've shown me. There are times I have to remind myself that I didn't grow up here, that I have just spent the summer I here. I feel like I have lived a lifetime here."

Charlie's eyes began to get a little misty. "I am glad you feel the way you do about being here. You have a love for life and for people that is a gift." Charlie put his hand on Ryan's shoulder. "I can't believe you didn't grow up here either now. I feel like I have known you for a long time. One more thing, Ryan. I am glad that you have embraced the heritage of the Lakota the way you have. You could teach some of my people a lot about what it means to be Lakota."

Ryan got quiet. "Can I ask you a question, Charlie?"

"You can ask me anything, anytime," Charlie responded.

"Your spirit guide. Can you contact him anytime you want to?"

Charlie's brows furrowed as he formed his answer in his head. "That is a difficult question to answer. I think much of it depends upon the individual. For me, I follow what I was taught. I spend a day in a sweat lodge fasting, purifying my body and my mind. Then I will sing and play the drum to call my guide to me, and most times I am successful. I have talked to others who say that they can contact their guide whenever they want, but, I have some doubts."

Ryan nodded and sat and thought about what Charlie had just said.

"Have you tried to contact your spirit guide?" Charlie looked into Ryan's eyes.

"No." Ryan shook his head. "I have been tempted to try a couple of times, but I had no idea of how to go about it."

"With you, Ryan, it might be different. Your spirit guide came to you without you seeking him. Clear your mind, you want quiet with nothing around you to distract you. Concentrate on your spirit guide and on the reason for contacting him. Call his name in your mind. Be patient, if you are not successful at first, keep trying." Charlie hoped the advice he gave him was what Ryan was looking for.

---

Becky and Jessi walked slowly to where Aunt Suzanne and the other women were busy starting to prepare supper. Cooking for a group like this was a full time job. As soon as one meal was done the women would begin preparations for the next meal.

Becky stopped. "Oh God, Jessi, I have the worst news."

Jessi frowned. "What is it?"

Becky took a deep breath and sighed. "Well, Lindsey found out about what had been going on between Stan and me."

"Oh fuck!" It was the first thing that came to Jessi's mind to say. "How did she find out?

"Something happened, and well, I guess Stan called out my name while he and Lindsey were doing it." As embarrassing as it was, it felt good to Becky to admit it to her best friend.

"Damn, Becky!" Jessi felt a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach. "So what is going to happen with Stan and Lindsey?"

Becky looked down at the ground and shook her head. "I don't know for sure. I stopped and saw Lindsey on the way up here this afternoon. She said that it was just going to take time for her to get over it."

Jessi gave a sigh of relief. "At least there is some hope."

"Yeah, I know." Becky nodded. "I don't know what I was thinking. And don't tell me you told me so."

Jessi reached over and hugged Becky. "You know I would never do that to you."

Becky felt a little better now. "Thanks for listening. I feel better now."

"Good." Jessi pointed towards where the women were cooking. "Maybe we should go over there and show them how it's really done."

Becky laughed as they began walking again. "Oh! I'm going to tell them you said that."

"Don't you dare, Rebecca Marie!" Jessi had visions of her mother and the other women setting down their cooking implements and telling Jessi to go ahead, and show them how it's done.

---

"We need to go do some shopping," Kenny stated in a matter of fact manner.

Stella's eyes lit up. Kenny had just mentioned her favorite word. "Where are we going?"

Her reaction did not go unnoticed by Kenny. "I saw a mall. We need to get you something more conservative, more business-like."

Stella furrowed her brows for a moment, she was puzzled. "Why?"

"We need to look business-like for our little operation. We need to impress people. As soon as we hear from Hank on whether Tony can find us a geologist you and I will need to go looking at property records," Tony answered her in a calm tone of voice.

"Why don't we just do that tomorrow? Why do we have to wait for Hank?"

Kenny explained, "I need to find some maps, that's another thing we are going to be looking for. I need to figure out exactly what property we are going to be doing the searches on. I don't need people knowing where we are looking, at least not until we are ready to make our move."

Stella gave a little pout. "Maps and business suits, that doesn't really sound like a fun shopping trip."

Kenny reached over and caressed Stella's smooth face. "I'm sure we will be able to make it more fun for you after we find what we need."

---

Tony pulled the beeping cell phone from his pocket. He was sitting in an overstuffed chair in a room lined with shelves filled with books. "This is Tony," his voice was soft as he answered the phone.

"Padron, it's Vincenzo."

"Yes, Vincenzo."

"I think we have found the man you are looking for."

Tony sat up in his chair. "Tell me about this man."

Vincenzo was looking at a small note pad as he read what he had written. "He is a mining engineer, specializing in hard rock mining."

"Is he a geologist?" Tony asked.

"Si, Padron, he is also a geologist."

Tony smiled to himself. "How do we know this man?"

"He has had a run of bad luck with the horses, Padron." Vincenzo continued. "And to make matters worse he has lost his job."

Tony feigned compassion. "Then we must call our friend. I want to meet with him, tomorrow if possible."

Vincenzo nodded. Tomorrow if possible meant tomorrow. "Si, I will arrange it Padron. Do you want to have Mr. Hank at the meeting also?"