Of Horses And Waterfalls

30. The Missing Rancher

Lee, Warren, Toni and Gabe were panicking.  Every single day started the same with Harry coming out of his cottage, standing on his porch with a cup of coffee, enjoying the sunrise.  Then after that, he would make it his duty to see that everyone was up and greeted them personally.  He would play with the pups on his way to the stables, to help Gabe groom the horses, and talk to them.  After that he would open the corral so that the cows could make their way to the pastures, and then he would start on his own daily chores.  

At the end of the day, he would climb on top of Trinity, and bring the cows back to their enclosure, and make sure that the stables were locked up, assisting Gabe with whatever he could.  

His chores consisted of repairs to anything that needed it.  The machinery, the buildings, the vehicles, or he would keep himself busy with washing the cars, and even offer his help to Toni when she had to go and hang the laundry.

Today, none of that had happened.  They hadn't seen him, or heard his famous laughter from playing with Jack and Abby.  The cattle were still enclosed in their corral, forcing Lee to open up for them, and the horses - which were four in total now - still had to be groomed.  They knew of the moods of their boss, and when each one of them had walked past his house, they had greeted him, but had never said a word about Harry.

They were of one mind that if Mr Malfoy knew that Harry was not doing his work, then he would get angry and perhaps fire him.  And they didn't want that, because he was the best ranch hand that they had ever had.  That the ranch itself had ever had.  So they decided to keep quiet and cover for him.

But they were worried.  Worried and concerned, because the last time that they had seen him had been yesterday afternoon, when he had been lying down with the two pups on his chest.  They had seen Miss Parkinson approach him, and after that he had gone to his cottage.  After that, nothing.  They weren't even aware that he had assisted with parking the cars at the party last night.

Perhaps he had been invited, and was nursing a hangover or an upset stomach.  They just didn't know.  They saw that Mr Malfoy had left a while ago, and they had come together at the tree stump, to try and figure out what was going on.  Should they knock on his door and ask if they could help, or should they just leave him be.  Begs the question, was he even inside his cottage?  

Toni thought that the best thing to do was to knock on his door.  If there was no response, they could try and look inside to see if he was there.  Warren and Gabe could maybe take a horse or two and go and look for him.  Maybe he was hurt somewhere.  What she said made sense, until Lee spoke up.

"Maybe he doesn't want to be found", he offered.  They all looked at him in confusion.  "All I'm saying is that he is a very private person.  Do any of us know anything about him?", he asked.  "Because I don't.  I've never taken the time to get to know him.  Sure, I know how he drinks his coffee, and that he loves animals, but other than that....", he shrugged and splayed his hands out to prove his point.

The others looked at him, and realized that what he had said was true.  They knew nothing about him.  "We still have to make sure Lee", said Toni.  He agreed with her, and together they decided who was going where, and at what time they would convene again at the tree stump.  The same stump that Harry had put a notebook on the first day he had started here.  It had become a meeting place of sorts for the workers, and it worked for them.  

Gabe and Warren had taken Lightning and Bullet respectively and were going to start their search on the border of the property.  Toni and Lee, were going to knock on his door, and if Harry opened, they would phone the other two men and inform them.  It was a simple plan really, one that had to work.  Toni found herself hoping that she and Lee were going to be successful, and that Harry wasn't lying somewhere on the property badly injured.