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What is left?

Chapter 7.

Written by Wolfie Steel.

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Tyler and I head back to the ranch in almost total silence, but Ty can see that Michael's letter has hit me harder than I was letting on just by the well of tears that is threatening to breach. Tyler gently rubs my leg with his paw.

"I'm sorry hon, but Michael sure has a lot to answer for, I mean think about it, he couldn't even face you to tell you what was going on and that is just plain wrong, so let's just forget about him and head home to drop your stuff off, because remember hoss, we have three riders and another ranch hand to find"

I nod with conviction and then gently rub Tyler's leg to show that I appreciate what he has just said. We arrive back at the ranch and find that it is empty save for the new horses that are grazing in the paddock, Tyler and I quickly empty the truck of my stuff and then we head into the paddock just to give a cursory check over of the horses.

It seems that Taylor is now starting to get the hang of being a ranch hand, the stalls are all clean with fresh bedding, the horses have been freshly groomed and there are three large hay bales in the centre of the paddock, more than enough to keep the horses busy while the rest of us are in town.

With the horse and paddock check complete both Tyler and I head back to the truck and then make our own journey into town. We pull up at the curb just outside the bar where I had found Makeria; we climb from the truck and head into the bar.

As we enter the bar I can instantly see that the place is absolutely jammed packed with guys of all shapes, sizes and species, Tyler and I head to the bar where we find a new bartender is hard at work, a young American Pit-Bull no less.

The Pit-Bull finishes with his last customer and then turns to face Tyler and I, he then places his hand paws solidly on top of the bar, man this guy is rough, he even has a full set of spikes, collar and cuffs, wouldn't want to meet this guy up a dark alleyway.

"Hi guys, what can I get ya?"

I order my own drink and then Tyler follows suit, with the formalities done I look around the room, I see that the stage that usually has a DJ in attendance is now empty but the microphone and stand are still set up.

"Yo bud, would you or the boss mind if I make an announcement to the crowd, I'm looking for some guys to come work at the new ranch that I am opening"

The Pit-Bull vanishes for a few seconds and then returns.

"Just spoke with the boss, he says he got no issues with it so do your worst"

I thank the dog and both Tyler and I pick up our drinks and begin to fight our way through the crowds towards the stage. We manage the journey without losing much of our drinks and we climb the steps to get up onto the stage, I find the amplifier which the microphone is plugged into and make sure that both it and the mic are powered up, I then switch the microphone on and give it a few good taps to get some attention.

"Hi everyone, sorry to disturb your drinking time, but I have an announcement to make"

The bar falls silent and so I continue.

"Okay, my name is Christian Miles and this is my partner Tyler Mills, we are about to open a new vacation come riding ranch at the old O'Neil's place on Highway 9, I am looking for someone to become a ranch hand, I am also looking for three experienced horse riders, if any of you are interested in finding out more come and find us at the bar and we'll fill you in on the details, we will be there for the next hour so don't hang about, okay guys announcement over, enjoy the rest of your drinking time"

I make sure that the mic and amp are switched off and then both Tyler and I head away from the stage and back towards the bar, we both find empty barstools and park our butts on them, we then order another drink and begin the wait, Tyler whispers into my ear.

"What happens if we don't get any takers here?"

I have given that some thought and so I am ready with my answer.

"This isn't the only bar in town, plus we have a couple of diners that we can try, trust me by the end of the day I think we can have a full work force ready to go"

We sit at the bar for about five minutes just taking sips of our drinks when we are approached by a young looking Shire Horse.

"Are you the guys looking for workers?"

I turn to face the Horse and offer him my hand.

"Yes my name is Christian Miles, and you are?"

The Horse ignores my offered hand but gives me his answer.

"The name is Chester T Jansen, and I am interested in the position of ranch hand that you were talking about"

I slowly retract my hand and regard the horse a little more, everything about him screams trouble and I have to wonder how he will fit in with taking orders from Taylor, but he is also heavily muscled in all the right places and looks as though he could lift a hay bale with just one hand.

"Well Mr. Jansen, I will tell you now, that if I decide to take you on as a ranch hand you will be working under my chief ranch hand who is a young husky, hopefully that won't cause too many problems for you?"

I see a slight grimace appear on the horse's muzzle.

"Well I would normally like to be top dog as it were, but a job is a job, and I need all the financial help that I can get, so if I gotta work under a husky, then so be it"

The horse takes a tentative seat beside me and I pay for a drink for the guy, I guess you can say that is my way of telling him that he is hired.

"Welcome to Miles To Go Mr. Jansen, I hope that this will be the beginning of a fruitful working relationship"

All I get in reply is a soft nicker. There is now just about five minutes left before Tyler, Chester and I leave the bar when we are approached by two middle aged Wolves, one of them greets me in a Texan's accent.

"I understand that you are looking for shit movers and trail riders?"

There is a throaty growl from Chester but he manages to keep a lid on his obvious dislike of the Wolf.

"Well good sir, the post of ranch hand or shit mover as you so eloquently put it has gone; however, I do still have three positions left for trail riders"

The second Wolf nods his head and replies.

"Please forgive my brother Blake, he is not right good when it comes to manners, let me introduce us, my name is Gregory Manson and this here is my bro Blake, we are both accomplished trail riders so I believe that we would fit in just peachy"

Gregory holds out his paw which I take in my hoofed hand and shake, well at least one of these three guys has some breeding and manners. We stay a little longer so that I can buy the two Wolves their sign on drink, and then we head to one of the few diners in town, a rundown place that seems like it could serve up a healthy portion of food poisoning, there are a few vehicles parked outside, amongst which is an old ford pick-up.

We walk into the diner and it seems that my assumption of the place being a health risk is without foundation, as inside is really clean and the food smells actually quite edible. The five of us take a seat and then I stand from mine and head over to the counter, but before I can get to the counter I see him, a Horse who looks as though he won't take any prisoners, dressed in a plied shirt and old faded jeans he is the very definition of a trail rider.

Instead of heading to the counter I now change direction and head straight for the horse, I park my butt on the stool next to his and I can see that he has a steaming cup of coffee and a cinnamon roll in front of him, I casually ask the question.

"I don't suppose you know of any decent trail riders here about do ya?"

The horse flicks his ears a little and then replies to me with an Australian accent and without turning his head.

"Look bud, if yer trying to get into my jeans it ain't gonna happen, my horsecock is only interested in the Sheila's, when I find 'em that is"

I decide to fight fire with fire.

"Actually bud I am genuinely looking for experienced trail riders to work at my ranch, besides if you look over at the table with those four guys sat at it you will see a very striking young Doberman, it is his jeans that I will be getting into tonight so don't worry on that score"

The Horse looks up from the table at me, a small smile on his muzzle.

"Good comeback bud, I like the way you work, as for the experienced trail riders, well I have done a fair bit of outback riding before I left Australia, so I guess it is pretty much the same as trail riding, and at the moment I find that I am down on my luck and in need of work"

I offer the Horse my hand which he takes and shakes and introduce myself.

"Good to meet ya Christian, oh I hope that you don't mind me usin' your first name, it's just that I'm kind of a first name kind of hoss, name is Buck Daniels, anyway let me just finish my roll and coffee and then I can follow you guys back to the ranch"

I nod gently and leave the horse to finish his snack in peace while I go to the counter and order up some coffee's to take back to the table, once I arrive back at the table I point out our final trail rider and I am met with agreeable nods from all around the table.

Well it seems that I have managed to do what I set out to do today, I started out this morning with just me a Tyler in the truck, and now I will be heading home with the same, but I will also have three other vehicles following me.

Miles To Go now has its full complement of workers, all from different walks of life, but one thing is for sure, everyone of us is going to have to pull together as one force if Miles To Go is to become the success that I desire.