Cross My Hart and Hope to Die

Chapter 21

"This is the third fucking cow this week!" Carlos stormed in and threw an old baseball cap he had taken to wearing onto the table where Chogan, Xavier, and I were going over plans for a better defense.

"We already know." Chogan picked up the cap and threw it back at the teen. "Xavier did a head count and noticed one missing so Hart and I took her Jeep around the property and found it."

"Same as the last ones?" Pops was standing over the wood stove cooking eggs for lunch. We had been reluctant to kill any of the animals because there was no way to store the extra meat. Pops, being the scout master that he was, had told us of a way to keep things cold using two flower pots, sand, and a cloth, but it didn't work too well during the cooler months, and it still wasn't cold enough outside.

"Yes." Xavier rubbed both hands over his face. "It's obvious someone has found out where we are at and our animals and is doing a hacked up job of butchering them for meat."

This was why we had been going over better ways to defend the property. Someone had found us, but we didn't think there was many of them as they hadn't tried to attack us yet. It was still nerve wracking, and we had set up a watch rotation during the night. Xavier had demanded Shenae to stay closer to the house and not out in the treehouse. She had argued but in the end relented.

Although, I think she still snuck out there when no one was looking. We had all promised to leaver her alone in her treehouse, but I was starting to become curious as to what she did all day out there. What could possibly keep a 16 year old girl entertained?

"Is there any way we can save the meat?" Pops had been able to save some on the first cow, and there was delicious steaks that night. We had found the first one purely by accident minutes after the incident occurred. We had scoured the area for the culprit, but there was no one within the vicinity. The second we weren't as lucky. It had been sitting out for a few days before we had found it, and the bugs and buzzards had already had a feast.

"No." I answered him. "This one has been sitting out, just like the second one."

It was depressing, really. Wasting an animals life for a few hunks of meat, and the rest left to waste away. At this rate, our cows would be decimated before winter truly hit.

"Why don't we try moving the animals into a pasture closer to the house?" Pops suggested.

"There would be too many crowded in one area. They would demolish the grass, and we would end up using our limited supply of hay and feed." Xavier said wearily. It was an argument we had already gone over before.

"Not if we only keep them there for a short amount of time." I threw back. "We could catch whoever is doing this, and once they are taken care of, we release them back into the larger pastures to roam."

"And what if we don't catch them?" Chogan argued back. "Then we would be waiting until we really do waste all of our supplies on the animals. We need to work on building a better defense and hope that they move on."

I rose from the table, frustrated and angry. We had been going around in circles all day. We didn't have the supplies or manpower to go completely on the defensive. It just wasn't possible. A wooden fence and a little barbed wire wouldn't keep anyone from gaining access to the property if they really wanted in.

I paced in the living room, occasionally watching Benji play with his blocks to distract my tired mind. We were all tired and angry. Nothing was really the same after Lola passed away. Even with all the work, we were cooped up with one another, and we honestly all just needed a break from each other.

I sat down on the floor next to Benji. "Can I help you build a castle?"

Benji nodded enthusiastically. "Yes. I am building a towew for us so we can be safe fwom the bites."