Wildest Dreams - By Rosanne Bittner Page 0,268

that happen again."

Lettie put a hand to her throat. "Luke, I hate to pile on the bad news, but there was an article in the newspaper saying Nial Bentley's wife had died over the winter."

He puffed quietly on the cigar. "I already knew it. When we were out inspecting the damage we ran into one of his men. As far as cattle, Bentley's losses were worse than ours. They say he's in a pretty bad fix. I guess his stock is actually owned by one of his father's companies in England, and Bentley didn't keep the best records. He might be in a lot of trouble financially. I'm sorry for him, in spite of how I've always felt about the man. I'm sorry for all of them. Even with our other investments we'll have to do some juggling of the books to stay on our feet the next couple of years, and we're in a lot better situation than the ones who rely entirely on their cattle for their income. One thing I'm going to try to do if I become governor is to see if the federal government can somehow subsidize men like Nial, and Joe Parker, Carl Rose, Cal Briggs—men who came out here the way I did and worked themselves to the bone to build what they have, only to lose it all in one wicked winter. It isn't right." He shook his head, his eyes tearing. "It just isn't right."

"What do we do now?" Alice asked. She sat next to Tyler, holding his hand.

Luke sighed deeply. "We go out and take a second count so we can keep our books as accurate as possible. We take some of our strongest horses and rig up some kind of drag we can use to scoop up dead carcasses into piles that we can burn or bury. It's going to be a hell of a project any way you look at it, but we can't just let the carcasses all lie out there and rot. They're already beginning to smell to high heaven, and they'll attract all kinds of varmints and diseases that will just affect the cattle that survived. It will probably take a couple of months' work and there are no extra men to help. Every rancher is going to need every hand he's got." He looked at Lettie again. "This one is going to go down in the history books."

"The papers say even the East Coast was hit," she told him. "Practically the whole nation was shut down for a month or two." Their eyes held, both of them thinking about all they had been through over the years, striving to build the ranch, only to come to the point where they had to give up some of it. They had never thought they would see the day. "There are still plenty of people who want to come out here and farm, Luke. We can sell some of the land to them."

"Farmers?" He smiled sadly. "Sheepherders, Indians, farmers. Things sure do change, don't they?"

She thought about their love. "Some things never change. We'll be all right, Luke. And we still have so much to be thankful for. This summer Pearl and Lawrence will be out with the granddaughter we've never seen; and next summer Robbie will be home. One of the doctors in Billings will be our own son, and by then you might be governor of the new state of Montana. Without men like you, Montana wouldn't be where it is today. Nothing has ever defeated us, and we won't let this defeat us, either."

Someone rode up outside then, and Mae answered a knock at the door. "Is Luke Fontaine at home?" came a male voice. "I'm from Essex Manor. I'm to find Luke and give this to him, wherever he is. I'm to wait for an answer."

"Please wait inside," Mae answered. "I'll take this to Luke." Mae came into the parlor then with an envelope. "This is for you, Luke. The man who brought it says it's from Essex Manor. You're supposed to give him an answer before he leaves."

Luke took the envelope, glancing at Lettie. He opened and read it aloud. "'Luke, must see you. Bring Lettie, too. I know you are busy, but please come as soon as possible. Nial.'" Luke frowned. "I wonder what this is about." He read the letter again silently.

"We had better go and find out," Lettie told him gently. "At the least, we should visit him anyway,