That’s when he noticed the side door that led to the back pasture was cracked open. He pushed it open all the way and stepped onto the packed dirt. “Carter?”
All at once a sobbing boy launched himself at Carson. Alarmed, Carson picked him up and said, “Are you hurt?”
“No, Daddy.”
“What’s wrong?”
“I think I killed Beast and Sassy!” Then he sobbed so hard Carson couldn’t understand the rest of what he said.
“Slow down, son.”
More hiccupped crying.
Once he’d settled, Carson said, “Where are the dogs?”
Carter pointed to the stock tank.
What the hell? “Where? I don’t see them. Are they in the tank?”
“Behind it.”
Still carrying Carter, he walked over and sure enough, the dogs were lying on their sides, bellies bloated, panting heavily. Then he caught the ripe scent of barf and saw two enormous piles of vomit, mostly comprised of undigested chunks of dog food. At least the dogs weren’t laying in it. He wasn’t cleaning up kid or dog barf.
“You wanna tell me what happened?”
“I went to get the scoops of dog food and Beast and Sassy followed me into the stall. And they started eatin’ and eatin’ and they wouldn’t stop! Not even when I tried to pull them away. So I made a trail of food and they followed me outside. But then they started drinkin’ and drinkin’ from the stock tank. They wouldn’t stop that neither. Then they started throwin’ up, like a lot, and they laid down and I thought maybe they was dead.”
“That’s why you’re hidin’ out here?”
He nodded. “I didn’t want them to die alone.”
Carson pressed his lips to Carter’s sweaty forehead. He was such a sweet boy.
Then Carter said, “But then I was scared that maybe you’d whup me for killin’ them, so I was hidin’.”
He had to work hard not to laugh. “You didn’t kill them. They’re pretty sick though. But that’s their own doin’. They’re greedy pups and they don’t know better than to eat everything in sight. I’m thinkin’ maybe they learned their lesson.”
“Sorry, Daddy, I just wanted to help.”
“I know. I’m sorry that you’ve been sittin’ out here by yourself, while your brothers…” He sighed and set Carter down. “Let’s make sure the door to the feed stall is shut tight before we head back to the house.”
The morning of day three, Carson called Cal and asked if he wanted to come over with Kade and Kane for a couple of hours so he and Cord and Colby could get some work done. His brother laughed, said no way in hell, said it wasn’t his problem that Carson had three times more kids than he did and hung up on him.
Asshole.
So as to not have a repeat of the previous day, leaving the kids unattended in the house, Carson and Colby saddled up. Cord drove the feed truck and his siblings rode along. He led the cattle through four pastures and Carson and Colby followed behind wrangling the strays. What should’ve taken two hours took four and a half.
By the time they returned home, the boys were starved and fighting, and Keely had a complete meltdown because Colt threw the wildflower she’d picked out the pickup window.
Lunch was a free for all and as he looked in the refrigerator, he wondered where the hell all the food had gone. And how they could be completely out of dishes when the boys complained that he wasn’t feeding them?