Read Online Ride the Thunder by Janet Dailey - Free Book Online

young, beautiful woman or the thrill of a hunt. He couldn’t condemn the man for it, because he couldn’t be sure he wouldn’t act thesame way in fifteen years. But who the hell could know?
    “Is yours strictly a cattle ranch or do you have sheep, too?” Fletcher asked after the waiter had left.
    “Both.”
    “Domestic sheep are the most dangerous enemies of the bighorns,” Fletcher remarked. “They not only graze on his feeding grounds, but the domestic sheep carry diseases they have become immune to and transmit them to the wild ones.”
    “The old, bitter argument between the rancher and the hunter.” Brig laughed without making a sound.
    “A rancher can wipe out an entire herd of bighorn with the disease transmitted by his flock of sheep. A hunter is looking for the trophy animal, if he isn’t taking it for meat. Trophy size horns only belong to the old rams, the ones nature and the mountains would be killing anyway,” Fletcher pointed out.
    “I’ve heard that argument. But all species on earth have to mutate, adapt, and grow stronger with the changing times. It’s the law of survival, nature’s law. My sheep carry diseases nature put here. If they didn’t transmit them to the bighorns, something else would. The bighorns will acquire immunity or they will become extinct. That is nature’s law, not man’s.”
    “Then you don’t believe in preserving a species?” Fletcher challenged.
    A smile played with the edges of his mouth, deepening the corners. “Personally, I thank God that we didn’t have any zealous conservationists back in the cavemen days running around yelling ‘Save the dinosaur!’ Can you imagine if we had a couple hundred of them in some sanctuary now where man would have to recreate its habitat and food supply as closely as possible? All creatures have a lifespan. So do all species. Man might become extinct someday. By his hand or nature’s, it’s one and the same thing,” he concluded.
    “Man believes he can save the world,” Fletcher said with a bemused smile. “You’re saying he’ll be lucky ifhe can save himself. That is a rather profound philosophy.” He took a deep breath and released it as a sigh. “It’s probably closer to the truth than any of us cares to admit.”
    “The laws of nature often seem brutal and harsh because it’s only the fittest that survive.” Brig lit a cigarette and tossed the match in the ashtray.
    “Ah, but it’s the arrogance of man to believe he is above nature.” Fletcher murmured. The waiter arrived to place Max’s lunch in front of him. “I hope our slightly morbid conversation didn’t dull your appetite, Max.”
    “Not at all. It was very enlightening.” He shook out his napkin and placed it on his lap. “Brig is something of an expert on surviving through personal experience. When he was nine years old, he spent almost three months alone in the wilderness after his parents were killed in a plane crash. Later he saw action in Southeast Asia.” Max hesitated, as if intending to say more, then changed his mind. “And you are something of an expert on nature with all your hunting experiences. Fletcher You know all about the predator and the prey, and the changing conditions that have produced the decline in big game animals. The two of you figuratively stand on opposite sides of the fence, one the hunter and the other the rancher. You are the harsh romanticist and Brig is the cold realist.”
    “You are very observant, Max. Sometimes I underestimate you.” There was a faint narrowing of Fletcher’s gaze. “You’ve done some hunting yourself, haven’t you?”
    “I have, but it was a long time ago. Certainly nothing on the scale that you’ve done,” Max insisted modestly.
    “We should go hunting sometime, you and I.” Fletcher spoke as the thought occurred to him.
    “It sounds good,” Max agreed and laughed, “as long as you let me know far enough in advance so I can get in shape for tramping through the