Turf Wars

Just as ranchers have a code about how to handle predators, there is also a code about handling women. Dave knew he wouldn't physically harm Debbie but that didn't mean he couldn't scare the shit out of her.

At the last second, he pulled her back from the hole then shoved her over to one of the ranchers.

"Debbie, accept the divorce on my terms or you will find yourself next to lover boy here. Understood?"

Sobbing, she nodded frantically.

"Get this slut the fuck out of here and out of my sight."

One of the ranchers put her in his truck and drove down the hill.

As they were driving away, Debbie looked back and heard Paul's blood curdling scream as she watched Steve dump the 1,800-pound rotting carcass of Jethro into the hole. Shaking, she turned back forward, staring blankly at the dash, tears streaming down her face.

What she did not see was how the men then used the end loader to move Jethro off of Paul's body. She did not see Paul's body dragged out of the hole, tossed into the bed of a truck and driven off to the farm of the man whose wife had confessed. Paul's body was fed to the man's hogs. Later, the remaining bones would be ground up and mixed in with feed.

Nothing on earth would remain of this predator.

Debbie moved back to the city where she began to feel safe. She was pissed about the prenup and refused to sign the divorce papers. She became even bolder and contacted the state police and convinced them she had witnessed a murder on the ranch.

Her statements and Paul's absence was enough for law officials to start an investigation.

Dave was the main suspect due to his recent brawl with Paul over Debbie's affair. Steve and several other ranchers were also identified by Debbie as being involved in the murder.

Detectives interviewed all the suspects and many locals but no one claimed to know anything about Paul's disappearance.

The State Police and the County Sheriff brought Debbie, Dave, Steve and several ranchers out to Oak Grove where Debbie said the murder happened. She pointed to the spot where it was clear there had been some recent digging.

After a few hours, the investigators uncovered the remains of a dead angus bull.

This confirmed what Steve had already told the investigators about burying the neighbor's dead bull.

"Paul's body is under the bull. I swear I saw it!" Debbie asserted.

The bull carcass was carefully removed but Paul's body was not found. Jethro was reburied at the same spot.

During this entire time, detectives were carefully eyeing the group of ranchers looking for any sign of guilt but got nothing.

Sheriff Anderson knew better. He knew these people and he was sure he knew what happened to Paul. He also recently learned that Paul had seduced his married daughter. He liked his hard-working son-in-law. He didn't much like Paul. Sheriff Anderson kept his silence.

The absence of a body, the lack of any physical evidence and no corroborating testimonies caused the case to go cold.

Debbie's claims were dismissed as the rantings of a cheating wife who was angry about the prenup. Fearful of retribution, Debbie returned to the city and signed the divorce papers.

Dave healed up, continued ranching but never married again.

Bo and Maggie had a few more calves and spent the rest of their lives on the pastoral setting of Oak Grove.

Steve thought it was odd that every time he saw Bo taking a piss or a shit, it seemed to be right at that spot where Jethro was buried. He shook his head and laughed at himself. "Naw, that's just a coincidence."

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Author's note: 5 years is fairly old for a breeding bull, but some can go even a year or two longer.

Some of the inspiration for this story came from something I witnessed while working for a rancher back in high school. We were taking his truck out to check on his angus cattle when suddenly he started cussing, floored it and we raced extremely fast across the field. I didn't initially see why until we got about 100 yards away from where his old bull and the neighbors young bull were fighting. The raw power and rage of these two huge beasts head butting was awesome and scary! He drove the truck straight at the bulls to separate them. His older bull was breathing really heavily and was clearly getting beat. My boss was certain he would have died if he hadn't stopped them. We managed to keep them separated and guide the young bull back toward his own field.

In this case, the neighbor was the rancher's own dad so there was no need to brawl. Oh, and no sex either!