Rustlers.



The Pima Indians came up behind the pickup and had the three men laying on the ground when Willi got up to them. They hadn’t heard anything until they were surrounded. Wendy was there in twenty minutes, in her black Mercedes SUV. She had the pictures that she had taken of the three who tried to take Keiko. Two of the men were there in front of her.

YOU DIRTY SON-OF-A-BITCH! she screamed at them. This is my home, you think you have enough nerve to come here.”

Why don’t you shut the fuck up! one of the men said.

Wendy walked up to him, and kicked him in the side of the head. Do we have pictures, of this slime?”

I have Fotografien of each, said Willi. So if there are bruises, it’s ok.”

In a few minutes a sheriff’s car pulled up, and the deputy got out.

Miss Wendell, These are the trespassers?”

Yes, they tried to steal my livestock, she answered.

Cattle theft is a serious offense, here on the rangeland, he said to the three lying on the ground.

We didn’t try to steal no cattle, one of the men said. We were just lost.”

My how amazing, a criminal denying his guilt, the deputy said, as a second car drove up. The county sheriff himself got out of the car.

We’ll take care of this Miss Wendell, he said. My that’s a nasty cut on your head, how did that happen? Did you fall down? He nodded.

Whose handcuffs are these? Do we have enough to for them, the sheriff asked?

Keep them for now, one of the Pima’s said. We’ll get them back, later.”

Wait, that little Nazi bitch wanted to cut me up. I want to make a complaint, one of the other men said. The deputy ignored him.

The sheriff and deputy collected the three up and into the patrol vehicles. While they were getting them packed off, Wendy’s cellphone rang; it was the guard barn with news that Erin and Letitia were there and all right.

We’ll get these three out of here, sorry we couldn’t get here sooner, Miss Wendell, the sheriff said as the deputy drove off with two of them in the back of his car. The sheriff took the other one.

If one of them tells you who hired them to take my livestock, please tell me, Wendy asked.

Well that pickup doesn’t belong to any of them, it’s registered to a Rip K. Miller, of Oregon, he said. Mean anything to you?”

Yeah, it does, Wendy, said. She told the sheriff about the theft attempt of Keiko, at the race near Reno, and that two of these men were involved.

Do you want to contact the owner about his pickup, he asked. That way I’ll have a bunch less paperwork.”

Thank you, very much, Wendy handed him a free pass for a ponygirl sulky ride, and one for the deputy.

I’m not sure he would want it, he’s married.”

It’s good for two. I’ll bet you’d be surprised to know how many of our clients are women, well over half, Wendy smiled as she told him.



Betty was waiting at the security barn with the two guards when Erin and Letitia ran up. She had been there since the phone call, on her private cellphone, from Wendy. She was surprised by the call; she didn’t even know that Wendy knew her number. She got to the guard stand within about ten minutes, and stood by for Erin and Letitia.

They had left the corral in bright afternoon sunlight, but the sun was down and the moon up and bright by the time they returned. Erin was glad to see Betty, Letitia was just glad. Her pierced nipples had started to hurt and she was very uncomfortable.

Come on, we’ll go over to the training stable where you can get cleaned up. It’s safe here; the Pima’s got them and then gave them to the sheriff. He has already taken them away. Betty took each one by the hand and led them off to the training stable.

Two grooms, Joan and Alyssa were waiting there for them and took each in for a bath and then put them in stalls in the training stable. Betty sat with them until Wendy and Willi got there.

The sheriff took them off to jail, but I don’t know how long he can keep them there. Ponygirl rustling isn’t really a crime on the books here in Arizona, Wendy told Betty. We have them for trespassing; they can be kept until they bond out. Mr. Jung said that since none of them have local addresses they could be held until they post a cash bond.”

Paddy came by trying to blink the sleep out of his eyes, and got the keys to Wendy’s SUV and took the girls and Willi back to the track.

They were there by 10PM; Paddy dropped them off and headed back to the ranch. Willi took them to the stable where their grooms were waiting. Irina took Erin and Taylor took Letitia, to their stalls. Since they were bathed at the training stable, they were secured in their stalls. Erin and Irina went to the kennel, first and got Ajax. They were secured with their collars and, of course, the gates were locked. The rustlers were in the county jail so the extra locking was just for the girls peace of mind.



The next morning, Wendy called Rip Miller and told him that his three goons were in jail, and she had his pick up. He had no idea what she was talking about, but he would look into it to see what he could do to help. Wendy also called the PRA and reported the incident to them. The operator at PRA gave her a secured email address to use to send the pictures to the office.

She got a call from the Pima guard detail; they found where the pickup was driven through the fence. The front gate, at the souvenir shop called and said they had a package dropped off by a delivery service.

Wendy went to see what it was; she wanted to know what it was before she brought it into the ranch. When the clerk handed it to her she saw that it was from Oregon. When she opened the large envelope she found it was the title of the pickup, signed off by Rip Miller. It was no longer his pickup; he had put her name in the new owner space.

The sheriff called her and said the lawyer for the three came in with a statement from Mr. Miller. He said they were delivering the truck to her ranch, and had a copy of the title signed over to her. The judge signed the release without bond, and set a court date for three months away. Wendy said that she had just received the title by courier, and yes she saw that the date was for three days ago. She also saw the shipping date and time for the courier company was at 2:30 AM this morning. She told the sheriff that she had also reported the incident to the PRA and that they could probably do more than the legal system. Maybe they could put Miller out of the racing business.

She took the title to the ranch and made arrangements to have the pickup titled in Arizona and registered in the ranch’s name. She called the Pima Guard office, and told them to send someone to come by and get the vehicle for another perimeter patrol vehicle. The pickup was a Ford F150 Lariat XLT, the top of the line. It made for a very deluxe patrol vehicle. They had to keep it on the ranch property until the title and new plates were in.



Letitia was taken to the tack room, for measurements by Margot and Joshua they needed to get her new tack and orthotic soled hoof-boots ordered. She was amazed by the idea of having custom equipment made to order for her. Rip Miller had only adjustable harness and mail ordered hoof-boots for her. Margot explained that better equipment would allow her to apply more of her abilities to the track. She agreed that the cheap tack did some times cause painful abrasions, and the mail-ordered hoof-boots were not comfortable. When the delivery came she was overjoyed.