Texas Pride

Austin installed security cameras around the entire place. His security guards posed as ranch hands. Housed in a newly built building on the southeast end of the ranch’s property line, they monitored every angle of the farm. The outside of the building looked very much like every other building on the property, but the inside housed a hi-tech security control panel that rivaled that of NASA’s in its ability to monitor every inch of his land. No one knew they were here, including Mike, until yesterday.

To help with the oddity of being so fully staffed without much more than a couple of horses on the property, the ranch hands spent their time fencing the place, separating the different pastures. They also installed more surveillance devices. Mike unwittingly helped the security team by designing a pasture system perfect for rotating cattle and horses and growing hay. The fences provided extra surveillance from every angle.

Austin’s persona for the area, what all of his staff were required to say if asked, was that he was a wealthy older Northerner who never planned to live on the ranch, but might visit once or twice a year when he felt like playing cowboy. His family bought the land as an investment. Mike ran the show, and that’s all the town needed to know.

Austin hadn’t been back in this part of the world since he’d left right out of high school. It was the biggest reason he’d chosen to come back in the first place. No one would suspect it. He’d never spoken highly of the years he grew up on a farm.

The back breaking hard work and hot summer sun had pushed him away to begin with. Yet, he knew these roads like the back of his hand. The wide open range allowed his security team to easily locate and apprehend anyone coming in while letting Austin roam freely within its borders. They all went out of their way to make Austin fully secure here. He had check points installed and monitored along the only two routes leading up to his farm. To get this far back, a person would either have to come through town or come in the back through miles and miles of nothing but rugged terrain. That would require a trained tracker and none of the soft paparazzi he knew could tough it out in the Texas wilderness.

Yesterday, while Austin drove through the small town, it struck him as funny how things hadn’t changed since he left well over fourteen years ago. He’d moved his parents to far northern California soon after he’d made some real money, getting them out of the hot desert of Texas that they still called home. Growing up, Austin had always felt a little stifled here. When he was young, he resented the hell out of everyone knowing his business, always telling his dad when he’d done wrong. But, now that he’d been on the true side of hateful, mean spirited gossip, he realized these people down here were the salt of the Earth and never meant him any harm. They just tried to keep him from making too many mistakes, even if their interference sometimes caused his father to take it out on his hide.

There was a time Austin knew what it meant to shine in this town. He’d been the local sports hero, for as much as that said at the time. Their little Division Two school district bussed in kids from as far as sixty miles away. Less than forty kids graduated in Austin’s class. To play football, basketball as well as baseball was nothing for the boys out here. To do it well didn’t really mean much except to the older population who took pride in their school sports. It provided the only real entertainment around. They considered Austin a star even back in his high school days, betting he’d make it to the Pro’s someday. It was those accolades that gave Austin a false sense of confidence, making him think he could handle Hollywood. That he could even belong there. The entire time he grew up, he’d baled his fair share of hay and woken up hours before school to help feed the animals. It taught him the work ethic that made him the movie star he was today.

As he stood out on his back porch breathing in the clean dry air, something from the corner of his eye caught his attention. He took the steps down two at a time. Yesterday, he found out that he’d apparently bought several four-wheelers, and now, two of his crew drove around from behind the barn toward him. He planned to ride out today with his foreman to check the property lines.

The one rule he made clear last night, he didn’t want to be treated any different from anyone else on the ranch. He wanted to be held responsible, and his goal was to work alongside them. A frown furrowed his brow. If he intended to pull his own weight like everyone else, his ride wasn’t supposed to be made ready and brought to him. He’d do it on his own.

The scowl Austin wore said it all as he stalked toward the two riding up. One of the ranch hands jumped off a four-wheeler, tossing him the helmet and took off running back to the barn.

“Mike, I told you, no special treatment!” Austin yelled over the engine.

“Then catch me if you can, old man!” Mike yelled back and tore off on the four-wheeler. In that moment, Austin knew he’d hired the perfect foreman. He slid on his ride, fastened the helmet and took off. He was a little rusty in controlling the vehicle, but quickly got the hang of it, barreling after his foreman.

~~~~~~

The fence line looked good. It wasn’t the standard hand stretched barb wire surrounding the property line like on other ranches. Instead, they’d used a rod iron design, snaking surveillance equipment all along the way. There was a definite difference in the look. Austin hoped anyone who saw it would think ‘successful rancher’, not that Austin Grainger hid inside. Austin took a long drink from his water bottle. It was early October, but still hot as hell. He wiped his bandana across his face, ignoring his foreman’s mocking laughter.