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Show Page 49 not to end rustling, but to frighten the settlers and force them to abandon the range. This would leave it open to the cattle barons, particularly the Haley Two Bar. Ann believed Rash had been chosen as a target because, as president of the Brown's Park, Cattle Association, he had arranged with the manager of the Two Bar to set up a dividing line on the east side of Brown's Park. Cowboys rode the line keeping Two Bar cattle on the east side, Brown's Park cattle on the west. Of course this setup stopped the drift of Haley's cattle into the Park, a grazing area Ann believed the Two Bar wanted. In spite of Ann's suspicions, there was not enough evidence against him to arrest Horn, and Ann got little support from her neighbors. She kept talking though, and the killer must have been listening, because Ann almost talked herself into becoming yet another victim of cold-blooded murder. It was a few months after Rash's death. Wind gusted noisily around the Bassett cabin spattering night rain against the windows. Out of the darkness a figure crept, guided by the light which streaked through the latch hole in the living room front door. The dog was silent, unable to give a warning, for moments earlier he had been quietly strangled. Inside the living room Ann sat at a table playing a game of solitaire. Her younger brothers and two friends were in next room. Suddenly blasts of gunfire shattered the night. |
