C4 antho - Chamber Four

Black Night Ranch ~211~
them. Dog was brave, but he wasn’t stupid. He abandoned
the creek and disappeared into the cattails. Billy slowed
when he saw him leave. He waded in and pulled the lamb
from the water. Dripping at the river’s edge, he saw Miguel
staring at him.
“A dog was going to get him,” Billy said.
“It is dead.”
“Yeah.”
Billy heard the familiar diesel cams of the Versatile hammer
to a start. Though it was a half mile away, it was clearly
the big tractor. When lights washed the tops of the creek willows,
he knew James Carl was coming. He saw that Miguel
knew it, too.
“Put it back in the water,” Miguel said.
Billy laid the lamb in soft grass and walked the incline up
and out of the creek to get a better look. The tractor was almost
to the corrals. They hadn’t bothered to kick dirt over
the blood. Miguel and his brother joined Billy.
“He will know,” Miguel said. Billy nodded. “Tell him that
dog did it. Tell him we chased but too late.” In the headlights,
Billy saw James Carl standing at the corrals. “Tell him
it was the dog,” Miguel said again. Billy descended the slope
to where he’d laid the lamb. He gathered it in his arms and
climbed the rise, stopping beside Miguel. “You will tell him it
was the dog?” Miguel asked.
Billy stood looking into the lights now heading his direction.
“Stay in the creek bottom. Walk up it until you get to a
fence. It goes right across the creek. Follow the fence back to
the barn.”
“You will say it was the dog?” Miguel asked.
Billy shook his head.
“It will be bad,” Miguel said.