Page 14 of Knot His Beast
I wanted to give my father and the other ranchers a fighting chance against these big city ranchers who are trying to force them out.
Digital marketing creates a different playing field for ranchers. From having award winning cattle, to prized bulls to impregnate the cows, everything works together to keep a steady income going.
It’s a constant battle to keep our cattle healthy and happy, which includes constantly checking the feed supply so it’s not poisoned. The “accidents” didn’t end with my mother, we’ve justgotten a whole lot smarter to ensure they aren’t happening as often.
I had to talk my dad into putting in electrical fencing. It keeps our cattle from escaping, and keeps intruders to a minimum.
That doesn’t mean we don’t still worry at all different times of the day about the people on our farm being paid to hurt us. We pay our people well, but not everyone is trustworthy. The only way to truly stop this madness is to force out our biggest competitors by bankrupting them.
I need my father to give me the go ahead to destroy these fuckers. Leif Walker is a hard worker, but he is not cutthroat enough to grind his peers into the ground. I’m going to need to present this differently or he’s going to tell me some shit about being a better person.
I’m protective, a good son and brother, but I am not a pushover. That’s never been part of my DNA.
“Dad, do you have a minute?” I ask, walking up to where he’s talking with a few people. They’re ranch hands who work for us, and they’re getting instructions for the day since there’s always something to do on the ranch.
A part of me feels badly that I’m not doing as much physical labor here, but Dad insists that my work is elsewhere.
“Yep. We good here?” Dad asks gruffly.
The men all say that they’re good to go, and greet me before going their separate ways.
“Let’s go inside,” Dad says. “It’s too fucking cold to be out here. Plus, you look like you have a lot to tell me.”
“It’s not a dissertation or anything,” I sigh, smirking as he rolls his eyes.
“Fancy education and fancy words,” he grumbles. “Now, let’s see what those things have in store for me.”
“It’s not nearly that bad,” I laugh, going inside.
My sisters are all out of the house right now, so we have a few hours before they’re home. While I tell myself that it’s nice to be able to enjoy the quiet inside the house, I still love how full of life it is.
My grandmother passed away five years after my mother was trampled to death by the herd. It was a loss that kicked my dad and I in the nuts, because neither of us were ready for her to go. I don’t think any amount of time would have been enough, though.
I’ve been playing with the idea of moving, starting my life somewhere else, and it’s still too painful for me to do it yet. What if something happens to my family and I wasn’t here to protect them? It wouldn’t be beneath our neighbors to set the house on fire to take care of the competition.
It happened to the Peterson family two years ago, and none of them survived. Guess who bought their property and livestock?
Bobby Trumaine and his father. Bobby grew up to be even more of an asshole than he was in school. I haven’t punched him since then either. I think a karmic dildo without lube is the next best thing, don’t you?
“Don’t sound quite so excited,” I grumble, grabbing my laptop to show him the prototype for the ranch’s website.
I’ll make sure the keywords will bring people’s searches to the website, push advertising toward it to drive up interest, and keep people invested as we move toward selling cattle as new calves are born. It’s a dance that varies from year to year, and one that my father does very well.
I just want to expand his reach in a way that these other ranchers can’t because they’re not willing to think outside of the box.
“Don’t be like that,” Dad chuckles, starting the coffee maker in the kitchen as we sit together at the table. “You’ve been quiet,broody, and planning for weeks. Show me what you’ve been working on.”
“Okay, look.”
I walk him through the website, how it’s not live yet, and all of its capabilities. I also discuss how it’ll help the ranch stay not only afloat, but it’ll also help us grow.
“Our bulls breed strong calves, right?” I ask, knowing the answer.
His grunt is all I need to explain my next point. Pulling off the hair tie on my wrist, I pull my shoulder length blonde hair into a man bun so I can think better.
Does that sound crazy? Maybe, but when it gets into my face, I can’t think.
“Right now, we work with other ranches to breed with our bulls. We charge them a fee, but our range isn’t very big. What if we could expand that and have ranchers come from other states to breed with our bulls, therefore increasing the demand for our services?” I ask. “The fee wouldn’t be astronomical, but it would help to pad our finances.”
