Betrayal at the Buffalo Ranch by Sara Sue Hoklotubbe

Author:Sara Sue Hoklotubbe [Hoklotubbe, Sara Sue]
Language: eng
Format: epub, pdf
ISBN: 9780816537273
Amazon: 0816537275
Publisher: University of Arizona Press
Published: 2018-02-20T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 19

Lance swept through the kitchen door, gave Sadie a kiss, and then tick-

led her ribs, causing dredging flour to fly into the air. She playfully slung a bit of flour in his direction and he quickly retreated, laughing.

“Do you want a beer, or are you on Pepsi duty tonight?” she asked.

Lance opened the refrigerator and poked around. “I’d better stick

with Pepsi,” he said, as he retrieved a can, popped the top, and took a

seat at the kitchen table.

After depositing the pork chops into the hot grease in the iron skil-

let, she washed her hands and retrieved her own drink— a low- calorie

beer. “I’m going to splurge,” she said.

“Do you miss cooking at the American Café?” Lance asked,

grinning.

Sadie gave him a sideways glance as she used a fork to turn the

meat. “No,” she said. “And, I think that’s an experience I don’t care to

repeat. At least one good thing came out of it, though. I did learn a lot about cooking from Emma.”

“My gain,” he said.

“Well, I like selling vacations better.” She scooped an apple out of a

woven basket on the counter, washed it, and began to slice it into irregular pieces. “Don’t you think we’re overdue for a vacation? Where would

you like to go?”

“Right now I’d like to go anywhere to get away from your neighbor.”

Sadie transferred the pork chops from the skillet into a baking dish,

piled the apples on top, added some beer, and placed the baking dish in

the oven. She dropped her pot holder on the counter and sat down at

the table.

“I’m going to let that bake for a few minutes,” she said, and then

responded to Lance’s comment. “What’s the matter? The buffalo man

111

causing you problems?” Sadie laughed. “That’s what Uncle Eli calls him— the ‘buffalo man.’”

“He is definitely a piece of work.”

“What about Kenny Wayne Sanders? Have you tied him back to

Angus?”

“No more than you did. I confirmed what you found out. I also

talked to Grover Chuculate, and he recognized him in the picture I have.

He said he saw him walking on the highway a few days before he was

found dead. Chuculate offered him a ride, but Sanders refused, which is

kind of strange since it was raining.”

Sadie returned to the counter and began to peel potatoes and chop

them into bite- sized pieces. Then she did the same thing with a medium-

sized onion.

“What does that prove?” she asked.

Lance took a swig of Pepsi. “Nothing,” he said. “But I’m pretty sure

Angus and Eugene Hawk lied to me about knowing Sanders.”

“How do you know?”

“Instinct.”

Sadie lit the fire under the same skillet she’d fried the pork chops

in, and when it was hot she slid the potatoes and onions off the cutting

board and into the hot pan. The sound of sizzling grease and the aroma

of onions filled the kitchen.

“Did Mr. Chuculate say why he sold his land to Angus?”

“I don’t think he did. He said the land belonged to his father and

now it belonged to him, and when he was gone it would belong to his

daughter.”

“Then why is it in Angus’s

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