About thirty minutes later they arr . ved at the stocked and found that there was an auct . on going on
Xt had forgotten that they have an auction everv
Wednesday night ,” Lonny said , as he slipped on his acket " It ’ s getting cold a bit early this year , Don ,” he said , as they made their way through a crowd 0f people around the big double doors going into the
bis sale barn . _ , , ,,
The stockyard auction was about the same as they are all over the country . Cowboy-looking characters were all over the place . . . sitting on wooden plank bleachers and standing in the hall where they sell horses . Smoke filled the air as there was a g00d crowd in attendance . Lonny and Don looked around and sized up the situation , trying to find out if they would run any Walking Horses through the sale . " Lonny ,” said Don , " there ’ s my buddy who works
M ]* r
" What do you mean . . . you can ’ t find my broodmares ?" boomed the voice over the phone as Lonny held the receiver about a foot from his ear . Lonny took off his hat and scratched his head , trying to explain to Mr . Thompkins that some man had bought the property where they had been pastured , and he claimed that he never saw any broodmares . After about twenty minutes of explaining , Lonny assured Mr . Thompkins that he wTas trying to find out what had happened and that he had a lawyer looking into the problem . " All 1 can tell you , Mr . Barnes , is that you better come up with my mares or two thousand dollars . Those mares would be hard to replace . . With that , he hung up !
" What are we going to do , Lonny ?” asked Helen , as her husband hung up the receiver and turned to Don Hill , w ' ho was sitting on the divan across the room . " Don ," he said , " let ’ s do a little detective work of our own .” Lighting a cigarette , Lonny dialed his lawyer ’ s office . Getting no answer , he hung up and started toward the door . " Com ’ on , Don ,’’ he said . " Let ’ s take a ride before it gets too dark .” Don got up and put his arm around Helen ’ s shoulder , saying , " Don ’ t worry , now . . . we ’ ll find those mares somewhere .”
As they drove down the road , Lonny briefed Don on what had happened . He gave him a complete rundown on the old Waldow place and how he had kept mares there for three years without any trouble . Their first stop was at Lonny ’ s lawyer ’ s house where they learned that Mr . Waldow had died about a month before and that a Mr . Pete Olsen had acquired the property due to an old family debt Mr . Olsen , they assumed , was the man that Lonny had met at the old barn . " Our next stop ,” Lonny said , " is the stockyard over in Blanton County . I have a feeling that they just might know something .” Don added that he knew the owners of the stockyard pretty well and thought they would cooperate . On the way over the both pondered the question of HOW a man who was a stranger to the horse business would dispose of two good broodmares . by Charles Barry Sanderson
here . . . let ’ s ask him .” They caught up with the man just as he started over a gate to get the next horse . " Bill . . . Bill !” Don called . " Are you boys running any Walking Horses through tonight ?” The man laughed and said , " Why , sure , fellows . . . want to buy a potential World Champion for two hundred bucks ?” Lonny smiled and said , " We might like to buy some broodmares if they ’ ve got papers .” Bill said , " Let me get this next horse out and maybe we can do some business .” He put a halter on the horse and handed the lead line to a colored boy who was handling stock , saying , " Here . . . lead this colt through for me . Tell Tom I ’ ll be right back .”
Lonny and Don followed him through a maze of old barns and hallways until they arrived at some stalls out back . " I ’ ve got two broodmares out here that are supposed to be Walking stock . No papers , but the man said that he thought they might have been registered at one time or another .” Lonny looked at Don with a questioning eye as the man led a finelooking sorrel mare out into the light . " How do you like the looks of this one , Lonny ?” Lonny laughed and said , " Well , now ... I like her pretty good . Especially since one of my customers owns her and she ’ s bred to my stud . Where did you get her ?”
Bill stepped back and said , " Wait a minute here , fellows . You trying to tell me this mare didn ’ t belong to the man who sold her to me ?” Don spoke up , saying , " That ’ s about the size of it . Two of them were stolen about a month ago and we just now found it out .” The man protested , " I paid two hundred apiece for them , and thought I was getting a pretty good deal .” He added , " How can you prove they are the mares you ’ re looking for ?” Lonny reached into his hip pocket and pulled out two sets of papers . " Here . . • look these over .” The man looked at the papers and said , " Hell , fellows , there are a hundred mares that could fit that description . I got to have some proof .”
With a borrowed trailer , they loaded up the two broodmares and started home . As they discussed the episode , Lonny stated that he would find a way
16 Voice of the Tennessee Walking Horse