Stars Always Shine Read Online Free PDF

obedience school, where she earned her degree as a “Pawticularly Good Dog,” would cause her to decelerate and return immediately to the truck. But the gamma dog did not listen to her pack leaders. She ran down the dirt roadway continuing on to the stable barn and through it, and down to the sloping pastures that ended at Miwok Creek. She slinked flat through a gap between the earth and fence and ran in a serpentine fashion along and in the creek, chasing nothing but being grasped and pulled along by the allure and freedom of open, fragrant, authentic land.

3
    B efore Jacqueline and Mickey Kittle left StarRidge Ranch under the management of Mitch and Place, they discussed the job duties and wages. Place tried to pay attention, but he was distracted by the thought that Rosa had not returned to the ranch. His hours of searching for her had produced no wandering Airedale. He listened, but his mind was on his lost dog and not on his newfound home.
    Mitch and Place would live in the big ranch house for one year. In addition, the couple would receive a modest check for working six days a week. In exchange, regular ranch chores had to be carried out. More specifically, the eighteen pastures had to be irrigated on a rotating schedule, but daily. The lawns had to be brought up to a satisfying green too. Barns had to be cleaned and operational, and as an immediate impression, the fence that encircled the entire property had to be painted to its original bright white, as did the shelters in each of the pastures. There were no horses to take care of, but Jacqueline promised that the first pasture tenants would be hers and Mickey’s horses and some other animals they owned. As soon as possible, they would open up the ranch as a boarding facility. While they discussed the game plan and guidelines, Mitch documented as much as she could by taking notes on a yellow legal pad.
    Mitch wrote quickly, scribbling notes in the margins in addition to what Jacqueline Kittle had explained, ordered, and demanded: “Jacqueline is in charge,” and “Check with title company to see whose names are on the deed,” and “Mickey’s along for the ride—will stay on for as much as he can get out of the place and Jacqueline!” It had become clear to Mitch that the true owner of the ranch, in spite of whose names she might find on the deed, was Jacqueline. Mitch could see that Jacqueline was accustomed to being in charge; she owned things and that could include individuals in the arrangement that was Jacqueline Kittle’s private universe. That meant that eventually, when the markers were called in, people owed Jacqueline in many ways and with their hearts and souls, whatever it was that she felt made things even.
    “We’re going to be here next week to see how things are going,” a smiling Jacqueline said. She had relaxed considerably now that she knew her ranch would be occupied and fixed up. But there remained a miasmic aura about her that she wore like a thin silk shroud. Her smile never broke into a clean, honest smile—the kind that brightens a face and sets the eyes like starlight. There was always something, perhaps from her history, that suppressed the upward turns of her mouth. With Jacqueline, one could reach out and seemingly palpate her disposition as if feeling a swatch of material. “But don’t worry, we won’t invade your precious home—just remember, if it wasn’t for us, you’d be out on the street, you know. We’re going to camp out in one of the barns. Stuff like that is easy for country folks like us. Now, I need Place to help me out with something. There’s a guy that lives in that shack, and I want you to tell him he has to be gone in three weeks.”
    Place and Mitch were surprised, and they showed it as their expressions formed questions.
    “You mean somebody is actually living in that house?” Mitch asked.
    Place was puzzled. “Who is he?”
    “He’s some Mexican,” Jacqueline replied. “When we bought this