Pepper used the shovel to lift the horse manure off the bed of straw. He had it down to an art form after so much practice. The vet was supposed to come later that afternoon to check the mares, and to take the blood samples necessary to see if they were pregnant. After that, they would be returning the horses outdoors. The job of mucking out the stables would be significantly reduced.
A noise from behind drew his attention. He turned to look, and saw Dan standing at the doorway of the stall. The last time he had seen Dan, was when the man was stuffing him in the back of the sedan for the drive out here.
Fully expecting an uncomfortable conversation, he said, "Hello."
"Hello, Pepper," Dan said. He looked down at Pepper's ankle and said, "That wasn't my idea."
"I know," Pepper said. "Mrs. Daniels came up with it."
"I'll ask Craig to remove it," Dan said.
"Thanks," Pepper said.
He noticed that Dan looked a couple years older than the last time he had seen him. His hair was a little grayer. There were a few more wrinkles around his eyes. His eyes looked tired.
Pepper asked, "How's Sonny?"
"He's recovering," Dan said.
"I was worried about him," Pepper said.
Seeing the expression that flashed over Dan's face, he added, "I'm serious about that. I worry about him."
"Okay," Dan said.
He knew that Pepper had good reason to worry about Sonny's health, and it wasn't out of concern for Sonny. His chances of returning to LA depended upon Sonny recovering.
"I don't imagine he'll be able to travel when he gets out of the hospital," Pepper said.
"That's right," Dan said.
Pepper licked his lips nervously, and then said, "He can use my apartment. It isn't much, but it does have all of the comforts of home."
"I'll let him know that," Dan said surprised by the offer.
"I don't know what kind of shape it will be in after sitting there for so long," Pepper said.
He imagined that the entire place would be covered in dust. The food in the refrigerator would have turned bad, and that would make the entire place smell horrible.
Dan said, "Sonny stopped by and took care of it occasionally. He threw away the perishables, took care of the mail, and made sure the bills were paid."
"That was nice of him," Pepper said.
It was good to know that he wouldn't be returning to a disaster at the apartment. With Sonny in the hospital, the odds were good that the place would have gotten a little dusty.
"A management company is running the store," Dan said.
"I know. I signed the papers," Pepper said.
"You've got two new employees. We had to replace you and Sonny in the work schedule," Dan said. "Sonny interviewed them. He said that they were pretty good people."
"Ah," Pepper said.
He had been caught up in his own set of problems and hadn't worried too much about staffing at the store. That was one of the things he was going to have to do when he returned to Los Angeles. Thinking about it now, he realized that there were a lot of things waiting there for him that required his attention.
He said, "I hadn't thought about the need to hire more people."
Dan said, "You can probably take a vacation after Sonny gets home. It seems to me like your business is doing fine and you can afford to take a little time off, after all of this is over."
"I didn't think of taking a vacation," Pepper said.
He noticed the implicit suggestion that he was going to be staying there until Sonny returned. He prayed that nothing else would happen to Sonny.
"You can if you want," Dan said. "On your way home you can stop and see some of the sights that you missed on your way here. There's some of the most beautiful countryside in the world between here and Los Angeles. You have to stop at the Grand Canyon at least."
"I might do that," Pepper said. "I've never given much thought to touring around the country. It just didn't seem necessary since I felt that everything I wanted or needed was in Los Angeles. I always felt that I could look at a picture or watch television and see the sights."
"Do you still feel that way?" Dan asked.
"No. Some things need to be experienced to be fully appreciated," Pepper said.
"Would you mind listening to a little advice?" Dan asked.
"I wouldn't mind," Pepper answered.
"Sell your store and move out of Los Angeles. Find a nice medium-sized town in which to open a new store and then move there. Los Angeles is going to burn one of these days and you don't want to be there when it does," Dan said.
"Why do you say that?" Pepper asked.
He knew that these country folks didn't think too highly of big cities, but Dan was suggesting a bit more than the fact that he disliked it. He was making a prediction of a dark future for the city and the people who lived there.
"The criminals are in charge, there, and they know it. They are getting worse in the sense that the crimes are becoming more violent and more brazen. Sonny was standing within a hundred yards of a police station when he was shot, in a drive-by shooting. The police can't stop them. Actually, it would be more correct to say that the police aren't allowed to stop them," Dan said.
Pepper shrugged his shoulders and said, "For a long time the LAPD had the reputation as the meanest cops in the country. We've had riots because of the actions the police took. Maybe they have over-corrected the problem and become too soft, but they'll toughen up after a while."
"I think it runs deeper than that," Dan said.
There was an intrinsic weakness within the good people of the city. They didn't have the will to do what was required to protect themselves and the people around them. The situation would get worse before people would demand harsher actions to be taken. He feared that there wouldn't be people left that knew how to defend themselves by that time.
Dan sighed and said, "It runs a whole lot deeper than that."
Thinking it wasn't worth arguing about, Pepper said, "You might be right."
"I hear that you like fishing," Dan said changing the subject a little.
"Yes," Pepper said.
One of his fondest memories of staying there had been standing in the stream with the fly rod and pulling in that little trout. The idea that a fish would actually try to eat a fluff of feathers tied to a hook was incredible to him.
He added, "I'm not very good at it."
"All it takes is practice," Dan said with a smile. "Maybe we can go fishing before Sonny gets back. I think there is some spare gear around here."
"That would be nice," Pepper said surprised by the invitation.
"I better let you get back to work," Dan said.
Pepper studied Dan for a moment.
The man looked tired.
There was a haunted look to his face that spoke of having done something horrific.
He knew a little about what the man had done in Los Angeles.
It dawned on him that his actions were weighing heavily upon him. One of those actions had been kidnapping him and sending him to Montana. He thought about his conversations with Carl.
Pepper said, "I forgive you."
"Thanks," Dan said softly.
Dan gave Pepper a curt nod of his head and left.
Pepper stood there for a second thinking about the discussion. In his first conversation with Dan, the man had spoken with an air of certainty about right and wrong. Everything was black or white. It seemed to him that that certainty had been robbed from Dan, and all he could see were shades of gray.
He said, "You've been changed by Los Angeles, Dan Daniels. I do not know if that is a good thing or not."
Pepper had almost finished mucking out the stall when Craig stopped by. Craig held up the key to the lock on the manacle and said, "Let's get that bar and chain off of you."
"That would be nice," Pepper said.
He lifted his pant leg to give access to the lock. The quicker it was removed, the better, he thought.
Craig looked over at Pepper's ankle on which the manacle was attached. Pepper had a sock wrapped around the metal piece.
Curious, he asked, "Why do you have a sock wrapped around it?"
"It was rubbing my skin raw," Pepper answered.
"You should have said something," Craig said while removing the sock. He looked at the red raw skin around the ankle. Frowning, he said, "This doesn't look good."
"That's okay," Pepper said.
Craig removed the lock. He examined Pepper's ankle a little more carefully. Pepper was lucky that it hadn't gotten infected.
He said, "Come on over to the medical area. We've got some 'bag' balm that will fix that right up."
"Bag balm?" Pepper asked wondering if he heard correctly.
"We use it on any cuts and scrapes that the horses or cattle get," Craig said.
He was pretty sure that Pepper wouldn't like to know what was being referred to by the word 'bag' in the name of the balm he would be using. Some folks didn't like the idea of medicine that was used on a cow's udders being used to treat them.
"I'm not horse or a cow," Pepper said.
That whole thing about having to go to veterinarians for treatment seemed to be more than a threat, but a real possibility. He couldn't imagine the kind of medical care that the people in the area received. It appeared that everyone out there knew more than a little about first aid and treating minor injuries.
Craig laughed and said, "Out here the distinctions can get a little blurred when it comes to medicating someone. To tell the truth, we use some stuff on animals that is a thousand times better than what you can buy for people at a pharmacy."
Pepper followed Craig into the medical area. He had never been in that room of the barn before. He noticed that they had a refrigerator, shelves with medicines, and medical instruments. It looked a lot like a doctor's office.
He asked, "What is the refrigerator for?"
"That's for some of the medicines that need to be stored in a refrigerator. We also keep a beer or two in there for when the vet comes by," Craig answered.
He pulled a small metal bowl down from one of the shelves. He filled it with a little water from the tap after letting the water run for a little bit.
"I thought you would take the animal to the vet," Pepper said.
He may not have had a pet, but he did know that you took it to the vet to get shots and treatment when it was ill. Vets, like doctors, didn't make house calls in Los Angeles. He wondered if the doctor out here actually made house calls.
Craig replied, "No. You don't take a thousand pound bull to a veterinarian's office and sit around a waiting room with it on a leash. The vet comes out here, examines the animal, prescribes a treatment, and then we take care of it after he leaves."
"I didn't realize that," Pepper said.
He watched Craig pull down a squeeze bottle from a shelf with medicines. It was a green bottle with black writing on it. He wondered what was in it.
"There are times when I think vets make better doctors than people doctors. I mean, think about it. A vet has to learn how to take care of cattle, horses, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, and turkeys. That's not to mention the occasional cat and dog. An animal can't tell a vet what is wrong with it. A people doctor only has one kind of patient and that patient can tell them where it hurts," Craig said.
"I'd rather have a real doctor," Pepper said.
Craig pointed to a chair and said, "Have a seat on that stool."
Pepper sat down on the small stool and rolled up his pant leg. He asked, "Will it sting?"
"No. I'm going to wash it with an antiseptic soap first," Craig said.
"Okay," Pepper said.
Craig knelt down and used a sponge to wipe down Pepper's ankle. He squirted some liquid on the ankle and started washing it.
He said, "They used to sell this stuff in the pharmacy over the counter. Someone decided that using it every day was leading to resistant bacteria and they had to pull it from the market. They still use it in hospitals. Now the only place where you can buy it over the counter is in a store that sells supplies for livestock. It is the same exact stuff."
"I didn't know that," Pepper said.
"Some of the products we use have been on the market for a hundred years. Farmers have been using it on themselves and their animals forever. It costs too much to get it approved for human use, so they only sell it for animal use. That doesn't mean it doesn't work on people. Besides, most folks in the city wouldn't use a product called 'Bag Balm'," Craig said.
Wondering about the fact that some of these medications were approved for use on people, Pepper asked, "You aren't worried that the product might be unsafe?"
"If it was unsafe there wouldn't be a person alive out in the country," Craig said with a laugh. "I figure that if something has worked for a hundred years then it will work for another hundred."
"All these cattle are loaded up with antibiotics. That's got to make the bacteria more resistant," Pepper said.
Craig said, "Have you seen us shooting up all of these animals with antibiotics?"
"No," Pepper said.
He really hadn't noticed them doing much with the cattle other than checking them every day. So far, he hadn't done anything around the cattle.
"The only time one of our animals gets an antibiotic is when it is sick. As soon as it is cured, we stop the antibiotics," Craig said.
He opened the container with the bag balm and scooped some of it out. He slathered it on Pepper's ankle. The balm felt cool and soothing on Pepper's ankle.
He said, "I know for a fact that the beef we get in the store is loaded with antibiotics and hormones."
Craig nodded his head and said, "The feed lots give the cows plenty of antibiotics. They've got to do that with the way they have the animals crowded together. If they get one sick cow, then they end up with a hundred sick cows."
"I didn't know that. I thought they were raised with antibiotics and hormones," Pepper said. "Why give them the hormones?"
Craig put the lid back on the bag balm while he answered, "They give them that to fatten them up quicker. Of course, the only reason they fatten up the cow is because people want beef with a nice marbled texture. If you take one of our cows straight out of the field and butcher it, you'd find that beef is a pretty lean meat.
"Lean beef is pretty tough and you wouldn't really like it. We fatten up an animal or two every year for butchering. We don't use any hormones to do that. We just feed them corn. It takes a little longer to fatten them up that way, but we aren't trying to fatten up enough cattle to feed three hundred million people. We might be a part of the production line, but we don't operate on the scale that feed lots have to run, to meet consumer demand for well marbled beef."
"I didn't realize that," Pepper said.
Craig said, "Our animals are well cared for. They are an investment and you don't ruin an investment by abusing them."
"How many cows does Donny have?" Pepper asked.
"About six hundred head," Craig answered.
He wrapped Pepper's ankle with a gauze bandage to keep it from getting dirty. The bandage was in a roll and he basically unwound the roll by winding it around the ankle.
"That's a lot of cows," Pepper said.
He rolled down his pant leg thinking that Craig was pretty good at first aid. It was a whole lot better than a trip to the emergency room back in Los Angeles.
"We could have more, but we limit how much of the land is allocated to pasture," Craig said.
Finished with treating Pepper, Craig started returning things to the shelves where they belonged.
"Why not turn it all to pasture?" Pepper asked.
Craig answered, "A lot of the land here is forest. That's an important part of the overall revenue for the ranch. We sell a lot of trees. Depending on the kind of tree, they are made into plywood veneer, telephone poles, and musical instruments."
"Telephone poles?" Pepper asked. "You grow telephone poles?"
Craig said, "Don't knock it. Trees are a crop just like wheat or corn. Think of how many telephone poles there are in Los Angeles alone."
"I never thought about it," Pepper said.
Back in the city, people talked about deforestation because of the need for paper. No one ever talked about all of the trees that were turned into telephone poles. He wondered how many sheets of paper could be made from a single telephone pole.
"There's a lot of science behind managing a forest for production of trees. You have to decide which trees to cut based on the value of the tree, health of the tree stand, and risk of fires. You might decide to cut down a poor tree that won't sell for much to make room for a tree that will make more money in ten years. You have to have a plan on how to replace trees," Craig said.
Pepper said, "A lot people are against cutting down trees."
"Next time you go outside look at the forest that surrounds you. They've been cutting down trees on this place for fifty years. If you had been here fifty years ago you would have seen the same forest. If you come back fifty years from now, you'll see the same forest. It will be different individual trees, but you wouldn't be able to tell the difference between now and then," Craig said. He finished putting things away.
"I guess you can't pack more trees in here," Pepper said.
It seemed to him that a lot of the things he had accepted as fact weren't quite so factual. His understanding of the timber industry was that they cut down every tree in an area leaving behind desolation. It made him wonder about the protesters who drove large nails into trees in an attempt to prevent them from getting cut down.
"That's right. If you try to put more trees here then a bunch of them will die. When they die, they'll increase the fire hazard. When we have a fire, we'll lose more trees," Craig said.
Pepper was feeling like he was still pretty ignorant of what went on with a working ranch like this despite his time spent there. He had dealt with the horses and building the bridge.
He said, "I guess there's a lot more to this farming stuff, than meets the eye."
Craig said, "Every place around here has a computer and a backup. It is a lot of work keeping track of livestock, crops, and contracts. Donny's breeding program for his horses requires that he keep track of their lineage going back several generations. You can't produce a bunch of inbred animals, and expect to make any money at it.
"Taxes require that he keeps a full set of books that are as complicated as any enterprise that does millions of dollars worth of business a year. Believe me, he is as much of a business man, as anyone who owns their own company in Los Angeles. He might only have five employees, but he has to do payroll. Every rancher out here could run just about any small business in a city.
"I know that a lot of people in the city think folks out in the country are ignorant and uncultured. They are wrong. We've got farmers with high school degrees and farmers with college degrees. The guy who comes out here from the Department of Agriculture has a Ph.D. When they get together at the breakfast place in town, you can't tell the college educated from those whose education ended after high school. Why? None of them are stupid, that's why."
"I guess I have been guilty of thinking that way about people who live out here," Pepper said.
Craig said, "When winter comes, we won't be outdoors as much. The sun rises late and sets early. If you were here in the winter, you would see us sitting around the bunkhouse reading books and watching documentaries on television."
"I guess it is easier working here in the wintertime," Pepper said.
"No, it is just different. We have to drag hay out to the cattle rather than let them graze. The horses spend a lot more time inside the barn. We've got to keep the buildings clear of snow so that they don't collapse," Craig said.
Life on a ranch was never boring.
"I guess winter out here is a lot different than winter in Los Angeles," Pepper said.
It was easy to overlook demands that different climates imposed on people living in different areas of the country. The people out here were a whole lot more aware of the changing of the seasons. To Pepper, the different times of year just meant different holidays. Fall meant Halloween and scary looking decorations. Winter meant Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years with the appropriate decorations being hung.
"Yes," Craig said, "You better get back to work. You've still got a few stalls to muck out and I've got some cattle to check."
"The fun never ends," Pepper said getting up from the chair.