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“Don’t you ever do that to ain,” she said with heat

A sandy-white eyebrow shot up in surprise “Do what?”

“I sounded like a fool back there,” Tara replied, still fu through a drought”

“It struck me as kinda obvious After all, it hasn’t rained rass crunches underfoot, an’ dust coats anything that doesn’t ular”

“There have been dry spells before,” Tara said in her own defense “This could have been sione on long enough to be considered a drought It’s part of your job to keep s, you are supposed to teach me all facets of the cattle business And that includes the impact weather can have on it”

“Lately you’ve been more interested in that house than ranchin’,” Buck pointed out

“It’s taken more of my time, but you could just as easily have pointed out the condition of the range tothe drive over here” Then she could have been the one to tell Chase and Ty about theain “The next tis, you are to tell me about them before you mention them to anyone else Is that understood?”

“Loud and clear, Duchess”

“And just why did you tell Chase about them anyway?” Tara looked on him with sudden suspicion “Since when are you interested in insinuating yourself into his good graces?”

“Pointin’ out the sad shape his graze is in isn’t likely to cause Chase to look on ot problems Or what they should do about ’em,” Buck added

Unable to argue with his reasoning, Tara conceded, “I suppose not” Closing that subject, she moved on to the next “Let’s don’t waste this drive back to town Point out toand explain their importance”

Pulling in a deep breath, Buck looked around and proceeded to lecture her on the essentials of grass and water and the funda—the a distance to water, and the repercussions anytime the two didn’t jive It was a lesson in econoement, and the fine line that sometimes had to be walked to achieve a profit Now and then he would interrupt himself to direct her attention to a dry creek, the motionless blades of a windmill that could be an indication of a dry well, or a cow still grazing at a ti its cud All were snificant only to a rancher

Always a quick study, Tara absorbed every ain

Ty and Chase saw all those things and more The course of action was obvious: an i of all the herds to a number the land could safely support That included the horse herds

That evening the order went out to every corner of the vast ranch to gear up for roundup Since the situation was at a critical stage in the South Branch section, they would start there