The Mystery of the Bovine Butcher- Day one, Morning
Deputy Carter
Parker Ranch, Jackson Home, Sheriff's Office
The morning sun had just started to creep across the sky as the Deputy dismounted from his horse. Thatch was the sort of horse that would ride into just about everything without hesitation and yet today he was squirly. The older horse pranced and nickered as though it had caught a strange scent on the wind. Even though there was no wind; no stirring of the grasses that the Parker’s grazed their animals on. The foothill ranch was prime estate for the second oldest of the Job rancher families. There were three of them, three large ones that is; a few smaller ranches populated the scrubland to the east of Job but they were only minorly successful in their endeavor due to the inferior quality of the grazing.
Dismounting Thatch at the edge of one of the cattle fences Henry wrapped the horse's reigns around a fence post. The animal seemed relieved to not have to go further than the edge of the pasture. Ernest had sent for the Deputy in the small hours of the morning. Leaving his still sleeping daughter Henry had rode for the outer pasture following Ernest’s directions. The ranch owner had returned to his own family with haste. Apparently a cattle hand had woken him in the middle of the night. They had heard the lowing of the cattle as though something were wrong with them. When the ranch hands had rode out to the pasture the cattle were clustered in the far corner of the pasture. What they found in the pasture didn’t bear mentioning. Ernest had simply told the Deputy he would need to see it for himself to understand.
Crossing the pasture Henry finally caught the scent that was making Thatch skittish. It was the smell of a violent and fearful death. There was a pile of something lying in the field as Carter approached. It quickly became apparent what the pile was, pulling up the bandanna around his neck Henry did his best to not breath through his nose. The object was what was left of a cow and it had died horribly. The animal's entrails had been splattered all around the opened carcass. Bending to the dead animal Henry peered at it. There were claw marks on what remained of its skin and the wounds had a ragged edge.
Walking the area around the dead animal The Deputy peered at the ground searching for tracks. If it had been a bear attack then the animal should have left prints. The search was in vain and Henry knew from the star that it would be. Something about the way the corpse had smacked of something more than a simple animal attack. The fact that it appeared as though the animal had simply been ripped open seemed to indicate that the cow had been targeted for some reason beyond feeding on its flesh though it did strike Henry as odd that the cow seemed less messy than it should have been given the nature of its death.
After further consideration of the scene it finally dawned on him what was bothering him about the corpse. For such a large animal it seemed like there was a lot less blood than one would expect. Pursing his lips Deputy Carter began the walk back to Thatch. Climbing the fence he mounted the horse and started back towards Job proper. No doubt the town would be buzzing soon enough. It was rather odd for a bear to show up and attack cattle since usually the ranch hands were good about driving them off before they could take the cows; not that bears were a common problem since it was rare for them to venture out of the forest to the lower foothills where the cattle grazed.
After a quick stop at home to make sure Anna was situated with the Jackson’s for the day. The family ran a hardware and tool shop two houses down from where Annabell and Henry lived. Leading his nine year old daughter over to the Jackson’s home Mary opened the door to greet the pair. Mary was a middle aged mother of the four Jackson children and might be the only other person in the world who cared about Annabell as much as Henry did. Ushering the young Miss Withers inside Mary turned back to the deputy.
“A pair of the Parker’s ranch hands came in today looking to purchase shotguns…” Mary let the comment hang in the air as henry looked away running his hand through his hair as he pushed his hat back to comb his hair. When he didn’t respond immediately Mary pressed further. “They said something killed a cow last night. Said it escaped without a trace and that it left the corpse in the field as though it weren’t interested in a meal.”
The Jackson’s weren’t a stupid family but they preferred to remain as ignorant of the supernatural as best as possible relying on Henry to keep them safe as he had proved time and again he could.
Finally meeting her questioning gaze the deputy nodded. “Something killed a cow, not sure what. Could just have been a bear but the corpse was strange. Keep the door locked tonight okay? Oh and maybe let Anna stay here? Not sure if I’m going to be home and I much prefer her to not be on her own when strange things start happening.” Mary studied the worry lines in Henry’s face for a long moment before she spoke.
“You think a storm’s coming?” meeting her eyes again for a brief moment Henry’s right hand went to rest on the tomahawk in his belt.
“Can’t rightly say what I think just yet. I’m holdin out hope that this was an isolated incident but you know how these things are.”
To the surprise of both adults a voice came from just inside the doorway.
“It’s okay Dad, Leroy says we’ll be alright so long as we stay inside. He says the bad things don’t like the light.”
The hairs on the back of Henry’s neck stood on end from his daughter’s comment. Mary visibly stiffened as well. Both of them had thought Annabell had gone to find the other children but it was clear the young girl had not left the entry way. Leaning to his right Henry looked around the door. Sure enough his daughter stood in her dress and petticoat with Him. In her arms.
Leroy.
The damn cat always gave Henry the creeps since it seemed to be far more intelligent than any cat had a right to be. It stared at Henry and Henry stared right back at the big black yellow eyed Tom that was Annabell’s constant companion and guardian, or so his daughter said. Mary shivered as she turned to look at the young girl and her cat with something bordering on fear.
Taking this as his cue to leave Henry put his hat back on. “I’m off to tell Abraham what happened. Church social is tonight so I expect I’ll see you all there. Take care now, thank you for keeping an eye on Anna, it means a lot.”
Snapping out of her study of the cat in Anna’s arms Mary nodded. “Stay safe out there Deputy.”
Henry nodded as he stepped off the porch of the Jackson house and started towards the Sheriff's office.
