The Ranch
Written By Lady Cat
1840 –
A lone man in his early thirties
arrives in a small settlement on a wagon pulled by 4 mules. The settlement
consists of one general store, which serves as an assay office, saloon, and
post office, five small wooden houses, and a blacksmith shop. He enters the
store dusty from head to foot, having come 1500 miles. After buying what he
needs, he loads the wagon and makes sure he has the deed to twenty acres of
woods and grazing land.
FORTY YEARS LATER
It is now 1880,
The young man who had arrived there
forty years before, through perseverance and hard work, had turned the twenty
acres into a 6,000 acre cattle ranch, the largest in the territory. The years,
though, had taken their toll. Frank Benson was not on his death bed. His friend
of ten years and attorney, Mick Foley, was sitting beside him. Also at his
bedside were his housekeeper, Judi, his head foreman, Dwayne Johnson, and two
of the house hands.
“Everything has been taken care of,”
Mick reassured him. “We’ve located your niece.”
“Good,” Benson said in a ragged
voice. “Whatever you do, do not let her sell it. She must not sell it,
especially to….” He started coughing.
“Don’t worry. That won’t
happen.”
With a soft smile, Benson took one
last breath and closed his eyes. “Good-bye, old friend,” Mick said sadly.
“I’m gonna miss him,” Judi
sniffed.
“We all will,” Foley said.
The group went downstairs to the
parlor. Judi brought in coffee. “What now?” Dwayne asked.
“Everything stays as is,” Mick
replied. “His niece will be here to run things.”
“When does she get here?”
“I would say a month at the most.
For now, just run things as he would have it.”
Catherine Benson, or Cat as she
preferred to be called, entered the house and slammed the door as hard as she could.
She went in the parlor and slouched on the sofa. “Damn son-of-a-bitches!” she
muttered angrily.
Betty came in. By the look on Cat’s
face things hadn’t gone well. “Want a small shot of whiskey?”
“Right now I could drink a whole
fifth!”
“That bad.”
“Get the girls in here. It’s best to
get it over with.”
Once the girls were assembled, Cat
explained their situation. “We have two weeks to vacate,” she said at the
end.
“Those assholes!” Jade spat. “What
have we ever done to anybody?”
“At this point, we’re lucky they
gave us two weeks. So there’s no time to waste,” Cat said. “But, before I’m out
of here, those who did this will pay, especially when certain papers are
delivered to their wives attention and to one of my friends at the newspaper.”
“What papers?” Sandra asked.
“Ever since I began running this
place, I have kept papers on the clients just in case something like this
arose. When we’re gone, this city will be turned upside down,” Cat
sneered.
For the record, Catherine (Cat) Benson
is the “madame” of a very exclusive bordello, catering only to those clients
who could pay the exorbitant prices for the services of her girls. There are
five that work for her – Betty, Jade, Kal, Sharon, and Sandra. Each girl has
her own set of clients and each one gets to keep half of the fee the client
pays upfront to Cat. Cat sees to it that the girls are kept healthy, clean and
impeccably dressed.
Perhaps a description of the women
would be in order. Betty, who had been there longest with Cat, is a saucy woman
with auburn hair and green eyes, Jade – a blonde statuesque spitfire, Kal - a
down to earth red haired girl, Sharon – shy, quiet blonde, and Sandra – tall
and vivacious with dark brown hair.
Lastly, Cat - a tall raven-haired woman with flashing eyes.
The house is a 15 room mansion with
8 bedrooms (one for each girl, Cat, housekeeper/cook, and the bodyguard), two
bathrooms, a receiving room, parlor, huge kitchen, and dining room, which Cat
inherited from the former madame. House rules were clearly outlined to the
clients and were enforced by Show, whose mere presence was enough of a
deterrent. Back to the story.
Show came in. “Ms. Cat, there’s a
man at the door that says he’s here to see you.”
“I’m not in the mood for any
clients,” she said.
“I’m not a client,” the man said in
the hallway. “I’m here on official business of a personal nature.”
“I’ve seen all the officials I want
to see,” she said bitterly.
“This business concerns you and you
alone.”
Cat’s brows shot up. She waved her hand
at Show. “It’s okay. He can stay.” Show brought the man in. “Okay, girls, I’ll
talk to you more in a bit.”
Cat motioned for him to sit.
------------------------------------------
CHAPTER 2
“My name is James Marshall,” he
said. “I am here at the request of a friend of mine, Mick Foley, an attorney
from
Cat shrugged. “So what does that
have to do with me? I don’t know anyone by that name.”
“It seems, Ms. Benson, you are,
according to all the records we found, his only surviving niece.”
Stunned couldn’t describe the
_expression on Cat’s face. “This is a joke?” Cat asked in disbelief.
“Ms. Benson, I do not joke,” Mr.
Marshall replied in a serious voice. He opened his briefcase and brought out
some papers. “Mr. Benson is your uncle.”
“What is it he left me?”
“If you read the papers, you have
inherited an 8,000 acre cattle ranch, house, and any and all equipment, horses,
etc.”
Cat got up and went over to the
window. Her father, when he was ever sober, never mentioned having a brother.
Of course, why should he. He was too busy making advances at her in his drunken
state. She had fought him off several times but with little success. But the
last time he did, she was prepared and made sure he never did it again. She
looked at the papers carefully. With her and the girls being evicted, this
couldn’t have come at a better time. Besides, she thought silently, it’s about
time for a change.
“Question. What if I don’t want to
leave and decide I want to sell?” she asked.
“You will note that the will states
the ranch is to stay in the family,” Mr. Marshall replied. “And given your
present situation, I don’t see you having any other choice.”
Cat sighed. “You’re right. I don’t.”
She turned. “Is there a certain time I need to be there?”
“The sooner the better,” he replied
and brought out an envelope. “Here is your train ticket. I’ll telegraph my
friend to be expecting you with the next couple of weeks.” Mr. Marshall arose
from the sofa and handed it to her.
“Your friend was very sure of my
answer,” she said, looking at the envelope.
“As I said, you really have no other
choice.” He closed his case and put on his hat. “Good day, Ms. Benson. I hope
things go well for you.”
Show escorted Mr. Marshall to the
front door. Betty came downstairs just as the man was leaving. She went into
the parlor and saw Cat seated, rubbing her head. “What did he say?” Betty
asked, sitting beside her.
Cat stopped rubbing her head. “It seems
I have come into an inheritance from a relative I never knew I had. An uncle
left me a ranch someplace in
“We’ve talked it over. Each of us is
going to go our own way,” Betty replied. “We’ve all got places we can
go.”
“I hate to see us split up after all
this time, but I guess it’s for the best,” Cat said.
TWO WEEKS LATER
Cat looked around the house. The
girls had left the day before so now it was just her and Show, who had chosen
to go with Cat. One last time she looked the house over. So many memories. She
went out the front for one last time, locking it behind her. Show helped her
climb into the carriage for the ride to the train station. “Ready, Ms. Cat?”
Show asked. Cat nodded. But before they went to the station she made a stop at
the post office to drop off several envelopes for delivery. She softly laughed
as she came out the door. She could picture now the looks upon receipt of those
envelopes as they were addressed to all the wives whose husbands had frequented
her establishment. What a legacy she would leave the town of
CHAPTER 3
Mick waited on the platform for the
train to arrive. The telegraph he received just said to expect her arrival at
any time. He wondered what she looked like, having been informed of her
situation when she was first located. A shrill whistle in the distance made him
get up and inhale. “I hope, for your sake, old friend.”
The train came to a screeching halt.
Cat got up slowly to stretch. The trip had been long and tiresome. It would be
good to sleep in a real bed, providing people out here knew what that was. She
chided herself for thing such.
Mick looked the passengers over.
Then he saw a huge man step down, and then turn to help a tall woman off the
train. “This is her,” he said to himself, and headed in her direction. Cat
looked around after Show said he would get their luggage. She spotted Mick
coming her way.
“Ms. Benson?” Mick asked, taking his
hat off.
Cat nodded. “You must be Mr.
Foley?”
Mick nodded. “I am. Welcome to
“Thank you,” Cat said.
“Excuse me, but who is the big
man?”
“His name is Show. He is, how should
I say, my protector.” Mick arched his brows. “Surely you were informed of my
line of work when I was found,” she said.
“Yes, I was told,” Mick
nodded.
“Then you realize why Show is with
me.”
Show came over, pushing a cart
loaded with several pieces of luggage. Cat introduced Show to Mick. Mick flexed
his fingers to make sure he still had a hand left. He was glad he opted for a
large wagon judging from the number of pieces on the cart. “Shall we go to my
office first?”
Mick was surprised to see how strong
Show was and how quickly he loaded the wagon. “I pity anyone who messes with
you,” he observed. Cat smiled. “He is a good deterrent.” Show helped Cat on the
wagon, then got on, sitting on one of the huge trunks. Mick shook the reins and
headed toward town.
JBL (Bradshaw he was called) sat in
his office reading the paper. He is termed, by today’s loose standards, an
entrepreneur, but used shady means to get what he wanted. Standing a lofty 6
ft. 6 in. he used his height to intimidate his victims, along with a little
help from a couple of his henchmen, who did most of his dirty work.
For years he had tried to get the
Benson place, called the BW Ranch, for half of what it was really worth. He
gritted his teeth when Benson impolitely showed him off the ranch. He had one
of his henchmen get hired to keep him posted as to what went on. When he was
told about Benson being on his death bed, he couldn’t wait to get his hands on
the ranch till he found out about the search for a family member. He had been
so sure none would be found, he had drawn up a bid for the ranch. Then his spy
told him that the relative had been found and was coming. Bradshaw had gone
livid. After calming down he thought it over and decided he would be patient
and meet this “relative.”
During his bid though to get the
ranch from Benson, he had taken out an insurance policy of sorts. One that
would have een to it that Benson would have sold his ranch.
CHAPTER 4
He looked out the window and saw
Foley stop in front of his office. Bradshaw watched with interest the two
people getting off the wagon. He looked at Show and shook his head. “Can’t be
him.” He then looked at Cat as she was helped from the wagon. “She must be the
one,” he thought. He slowly looked her up and down and grinned. “Who would have
thought that ugly SOB….”
One of his cronies, Danny Basham,
came in from the back and saw Bradshaw looking out the window. “What cha’
lookin’ at?”
“Across the street,” Bradshaw
replied without turning.
Danny looked out the window. “Well,
well, ain’t seen nothin’ that fine in a while. Who is she?”
“If I’m right, that is the new owner
of Benson’s ranch.”
“You mean that’s the relative they
were lookin’ for?”
Bradshaw nodded. “Yep. This may be
easier than I first thought it was goin’ to be.”
“What’s that with her?!” Danny
asked. “He looks bigger than a bear!”
“Don’t know,” Bradshaw shook his
head. “But I just got an idea. If things go right, I might not need my insurance
policy. All I’ll have to do is move in.”
“How?”
“After she gets settled, I’ll pay a
call on her, welcoming her to the town. Then, I’ll pay her a few visits.”
“Then what? Marry her?” Danny
snorted.
Bradshaw turned with a crooked
smile. “Exactly.”
Once inside Mick had Cat sit while
Show stood behind her, arms crossed. “Now, Ms. Benson, let’s get down to
business.” He opened his desk drawer and brought out several sheets of paper.
Plus a large one which was folded, and unfolded it. “This is a map of the
ranch,” he said. “You can see it covers quite a bit of territory, around 8,000
acres, with the house and other buildings right about here. Now before your
uncle died, he was getting ready to purchase this area northwest of the ranch,
which goes all the way to the mountains.”
“How much?” she asked.
“Another 3,000 acres of timberland
and grazing, with a stream which comes down from the mountains that goes
through the middle of the ranch.”
“For now I just want to see what the
place is like first,” she said. “If the land meets with your approval, then go
ahead and proceed with the purchase.”
“Fine. Here are the deeds to the
ranch, which he has signed and will be yours once you’ve put your signature on
them.” Foley put the documents in front of her. Cat picked them up and
carefully read through them. Once she was through, she put them down and took
the pen Mick had waiting and signed each one. When she was through, she handed
them back. “The only thing left is to go to the courthouse to get them officially
notarized and recorded, then the place is all yours.” Once they had finished at
the courthouse, they got on the wagon and headed to the ranch.
At the ranch, Judi was rushing to make sure the house was ready. For a week she
had mopped, swept, dusted, and washed, and now she was checking one more time.
On the front porch, Dwayne Johnson sat on the steps, along with two of the
ranch hands,
The guys grinned. “She will.
Besides, there’s your cooking,” Dwayne said.
“I hope that’s good enough, too. I
don’t cook those fancy foods she’s probably used to.”
“Frank thought it was good. So do I
and the rest of the guys,” Dwayne assured her.
The men got up and waited at the
bottom of the steps while Judi stayed on the porch.
Mick halted the horses. Show
immediately got off the wagon.
“Holy shit!”
“Can’t tell,” Christian said out of
the side of his mouth.
Cat had been surprised at how green
the countryside was on the way to the ranch. Upon seeing the house, she was
even more surprised to see how beautiful it was, reminding her of some of the
stylish homes in
While the introductions were going
on, Judi scanned Cat over. “Well, she does have some of his looks, but will she
like it here?”
Mick introduced Cat to Judi. “Judi
runs the house. She does the cooking, cleaning, and makes sure these two (
“The trip was tiring,” Cat said.
“Plus I haven’t had much to each either.”
“Well, supper’s about ready. Let’s
go eat.”
“That sounds good,” Show said.
CHAPTER 5
Cat and Mick followed Judi to the kitchen.
“I hope you don’t mind,” Judi said. “Frank…Mr. Benson…ate in here most of the
time. Cat shook her head and sat. Judi poured the coffee. “Milk and sugar?” Cat
nodded. Judi put the cups in front of them and got out the canned milk, then
went on to dish up the food.
“What do you think?” Mick
asked.
“From what I’ve seen, it’s
beautiful,” Cat replied. “How long did it take him to build it?”
“It took him close to forty years to
reach this point,” Mick replied. “Forty years of back breaking work and sweat.”
Cat arched her brows. “When did he
get here?”
“He told me about 1840. All that was
here at the time was a general store and a couple of other buildings.”
“That’s it!” she said in amazement.
“It has grown.”
Mick nodded his head and sipped his
coffee. “Winters, though are cold and long. One has to be tough to make it
here, especially if you raise cattle. One good blizzard could wipe out a whole
herd.”
Judi had the food on the table.
“Okay, everybody. Eat.”
Cat looked at the food. There were
piles of friend chicken, gravy, mashed potatoes, biscuits, corn, beans, and
cobbler. Jericho, Christian, Dwayne, and Show joined them. “I hope the food is
to your liking,” Judi said to Cat. “I know this isn’t the type of food you had
back east, but it’s hot and it’s filling.” Judi pulled a chair next to
Show.
Cat smiled. “It might surprise you
but I ate pretty much what you have on the table.”
After dessert, Dwayne, Christian and
“I’ll show you which rooms,” Judi
replied, motioning him to follow.
“Think you’ll like it here?” Mick
asked.
“It will take some getting used to,”
Cat replied.
“If you have any problems, Dwayne
handles the ranch hands and livestock, and Judi handles all the house duties.
Frank kept the books.”
“I have some experience in that
area. Once I look them over, I should be able to catch on,” Cat said.
“Good. If you have any questions,
either of them should be able to help you,” he said, and started to get up.
“Oh, one more thing. No one here knows about your previous line of work. I
thought it best not to say anything about it.”
Cat nodded. “If you’re worried about
whether I’ll go back to it, don’t. I had decided before I came here to give it
up.”
Judi came in. “I got your luggage
settled.”
“Well, I have to go,” Mick
said.
CHAPTER 6
Cat learned quickly that days
started early and ended early. It became apparent to her right away that she
would have to ride a horse. The first time she got on, she promptly fell off,
which made some of the hands laugh. But with perseverance, and a few bruises,
she finally was able to stay on. A couple of days after that, Dwayne took her
to the stable to show her the riding horses her uncle had. One caught her
attention, a beautiful snow white mare. Dwayne brought her over. “Your uncle
got her not long before he took sick.”
“She’s beautiful,” Cat said,
tenderly stroking the mare’s velvet nose. “I’ll call her Snowdrift.”
Snowdrift took to Cat, especially
when Cat gave her a carrot to munch on. After Dwayne saddled her, Cat got on.
“Shall we go for a ride?”
It was evening when she got back to
the house. Not used to riding horses, she gingerly walked into the kitchen and
eased herself down. “Oh, my backside!” she groaned. Judi snickered softly
though she sympathized with her. “Add riding horse all day to the list of
things to get used to,” Cat said.
“I have some liniment in the back
room. I’ll get it for you,” Judi said. “Mr. Benson had a bad shoulder and
rubbed this on it. It helped to ease the pain.”
Cat’s thoughts went to the girls,
wondering where they were and how they were doing. How she wished they could be
here to see it, especially when Dwayne took her to her uncle’s favorite spot.
It had left her speechless. One could see for miles, all the way to the
mountains.
Judi came back and found Cat
daydreaming. “Here it is,” she said. “Something wrong?”
“No,” Cat shook her head. “Dwayne took
me to my uncle’s favorite spot. The scenery was just unbelievable.”
“Supper is nearly ready,” Judi
said.
“I’ll wash up and eat. Then I’ll put
this stuff on.”
Bradshaw was on his way to the
ranch. After a couple of weeks, he figured she was settled in enough. He
scoffed. This couldn’t be more perfect – pay a few visits, ply her with his
good looks and charm, and maybe in a couple of months he would be resting his
boots on the porch rail, executing his next plan, being territorial governor.
He entered the gate with a big smile.
Cat had just finished washing and
was applying the liniment to her backside. When she was through she put on a
day dress and slippers and was going to relax in her room. The sound of a gun
blast made her jump. She ran as fast as she could down the stairs, hearing
screaming and yelling. What she found at the bottom of the steps shocked
her.
Show had his hands full restraining
Judi with one arm and holding a shotgun in the other out of her reach. “Let me
at that SOB!” Judi shouted. “Just one more time!” Cat saw a hole in the door
screen, then looked outside and saw Bradshaw lying on the porch, holding his
backside.
“What the hell is going on?” Cat
exclaimed.
“Don’t know, Ms. Cat,” Show replied.
“I was just coming out of the kitchen when I heard a gun go off and ran in
here. I saw Ms. Judi ready to shot again and grabbed the shotgun from
her.”
Jericho and Christian had run from
the barn upon hearing the gun, seeing the same thing that Cat saw. “Well, there
she goes again,”
The two eased up to the porch. When
they saw Show had the gun, they came up the steps and helped Bradshaw up. They
looked at his backside and snickered to themselves. Cat asked again. “What
happened?”
Bradshaw was finally able to speak,
but stood behind
“I wasn’t trying to kill you!” she
huffed. “I never heard anybody yet die from a butt full of buckshot!”
“Who are you?” Cat asked.
“I’m John Bradshaw Layfield. I came
out here, like I said, for a friendly visit. That’s all.”
“Yeah, right,” Judi snorted. “If I
had grabbed the right gun, St. Peter would be greeting you! Better yet, Satan
himself!”
“You two bring him in,” Cat
said.
“No! No!” Bradshaw stammered and
held up his hands. “I’ll just leave and come back at a better time.” Gingerly
he walked to the carriage, and slowly climbed on. “Oww!” he moaned as he sat,
making the men laugh as he drove away. Once in town, he went to the doctor’s
office to get the buckshot removed. “”Laugh at me!” he silently fumed. “You
wont’ be laughing for much longer. Hey, take it easy!” he shouted as he lay on
his stomach. The doctor didn’t ask as Bradshaw had told him he had just come
from the Benson ranch, but knew the reason why.
At the same time, across the border into
The Undertaker would be described by
those who lived after they saw him as the spawn of the devil. His long dark
hair framed green eyes, which shined with an evil light. Any man, or woman for
that matter, who looked at him would swear they had just looked into hell. He
wore black clothing, like a regular undertaker, and rode a black stallion,
which was rumored by some to spew fire when it snorted. And when he spoke, his
voice sounded like the depths of hell.
His partner, Kane, sat back against
a boulder. Unlike his partner, he didn’t have the demonic looks. With brown
hair and hazel eyes, his demeanor was quiet and soft spoken so one never knew
until it was too late. He had just finished cooking their evening supper.
“Where to this time?” he asked.
“Some place in
“Is that all?” Kane put some sticks
on the fire.
“That’s all we need know,” Taker
replied, pouring another cup of coffee. “We’re to meet at Break Heart
Pass.”
CHAPTER 7
The next morning, the train had just
come to a stop. Five ladies, seemingly looking lost, stepped off the train, amid
stares ranging from lustful smiles to looks of disdain from the women. One of
them went with the porter to claim their luggage, and then headed with the
others into the station. One of them went to the ticket window. “Excuse me,”
she said. The clerk looked up slightly. “Help you, ma’am?”
“Where is there a place to rent a
carriage? There are five of us plus luggage so we would need a very large
one.”
“Well, you could check at the livery
stable just up the way,” he said, and pointed toward town.
“Thank you,” she said and returned
to her friends.
“Sharon, you come with me,” Betty
looked at Jade. “You behave. We nearly were thrown off because of your
shenanigans.”
Jade softly gasped. “Me? I didn’t do
anything.”
The girls rolled their eyes.
“Watch her,” Betty told Kal and
Sandra. “If she acts up, sit on her.”
When Betty’s and Sharon’s backs were
turned, Jade stuck her tongue out. “I saw that,” Betty said.
“Damn! She has eyes in the back of
her head,” Jade said.
Betty and Sharon walked toward town.
It wasn’t far to the livery stable and they soon spied a middle-aged man,
figuring him to be the proprietor. The man heard footsteps and turned to see
them approach. “Can I help you?” he asked.
“We need a carriage, a rather large
one. There are three others at the train station plus our luggage,” Betty
said.
“Sounds like you might need a
freight wagon.”
Betty looked at
“No ma’am,” the man replied.
“We’ll have to take it then,” she
said. “
“That’s all he had,” Betty replied.
“At this point, I think we’re lucky.”
The porter helped the driver load
the wagon and then helped the women on. Betty told the driver where they were
going. “The Benson ranch, huh?” He shook the reins. “Giddy-up!” he ordered the
mules. As the wagon went through town, the girls looked around. “Not bad,”
Sandra commented. “Yeah, but it isn’t
A tall man noticed the wagon passing
and stepped off the wooden sidewalk, curious as to the contents of the wagon.
Jade exclaimed, “Wow! You see what I see? What a hunk!”
The hunk Jade was excited about
approached the wagon. The driver stopped. “Mornin’ Marshal,” the driver
said.
“Mornin’ Henry.” The Marshal looked
the girls over. “Rather unusual freight.”
Henry chuckled. “Takin’ this load to
the Benson Ranch.”
While the two men talked, Jade
looked the Marshal up and down like a wolf eyeing its next prey. A long-legged,
rugged body in black denims, white shirt, black vest, and black hat, which sat
atop medium brown hair, blue eyes, and a moustache and goatee. Betty motioned
for her to stop, but Jade didn’t notice. “Be careful,” the Marshal smiled and
winked at Henry.
Henry clicked for the mules to get
moving. As the wagon passed, the Marshal tipped his hat at the ladies, winked
at Jade, then continued across the street. He had seen out of the corner of his
eye the way she had looked at him. When he reached the other side, he went into
his office and looked out the window at the wagon. Damn they sure are pretty he
thought to himself, especially the one that had boldly eyed him.
When Jade had heard his low baritone
voice, a tingle shot up her spine. “Oh, to get my hands on him,” she growled.
“What’s the driver’s name?” she asked Betty. “I think I heard the Marshal say
Henry,” Betty replied.
Jade leaned over and tapped Henry on
the shoulder. “Who was that you were talking to?”
“That was the territorial
Marshal.”
“I mean, what’s his name?”
“Nash,” Henry replied. “I would
suggest you ladies remain sitting as it does get bumpy. I wouldn’t want any of
you to fall out.”
“Jade, when are you ever going to
stop?” Betty shook her head.
“Stop what?” Jade asked in
reply.
“You know damn good and well what I’m
talking about,” Betty said.
“Never!” Jade said emphatically,
with a devilish grin.
“One of these days you’re going to
meet someone that you won’t be able to handle,” Betty said.
Jade just snickered, her mind
dwelling on the handsome Marshal.
“One thing’s for sure, they sure
grow big out here,”
“Wonder if there are any more like
him?” Kal asked.
“Who knows,” Sandra replied.
CHAPTER 8
Cat was finishing a leisurely breakfast and going over the list of supplies
with Judi. Every other Saturday Judi would head into town to get supplies for
the main house and for the cook house where the cowboys would eat when they
weren’t with the main herd. Cat shook her head. “Never knew it took so much to
feed these men.” Judi smiled. “Feeding 30 permanent cowhands is a task, and
that’s not counting Dwayne, Christian or
“But so many.”
“It takes a lot to watch a herd that
size. Out here you deal with wolves, sometimes a mountain lion, on rare
occasions a bear, and the worst of all, cattle rustlers. They can rob you
blind.”
Show was on the front porch reading
one of the many books he found in the library. Watching over the girls and
making sure the clients behaved themselves left him little time to relax. But
with only Ms. Cat there was plenty of time to sit back and enjoy. He looked up
toward the entrance and saw a wagon entering the gate.
The girls gaped at the house, not expecting
it to be so large. “I can’t believe it!”
Sandra peered at the front porch.
“Hey, isn’t that Show?” Betty looked closely. When the figure stood up, she
said, “Yep, that’s Show. Nothing else is that big.”
The girls started yelling and
waving. When the wagon stopped in front of the house, Show ambled down the
steps. “Well I’ll be… What are you doing here?” he asked, hugging each one as
helped them down. “We thought we’d visit and see how Cat is doing. Judging by
the looks of things, not bad at all.”
Show looked in the wagon and saw the
trunks. “Are you sure you’re here for just a visit?” Betty looked away quickly
and replied, “Yes, just a visit.”
“Ms. Cat will be happy to see you.
Wait here. I’ll bring her out.” Show went inside.
Christian and
“I like the red head,”
“How come you two aren’t started for
town yet?”
As soon as Show told Cat, she rushed
out the door and down the steps. “Oh my God!” she happily squealed, hugging all
the girls. “I have missed you! When did you get here?”
“We got here just this morning,”
Betty replied. “I know we should have sent a telegram but we thought we’d
surprise you.”
“Come on. We’ll sit in the kitchen,
just like old times,” Cat said.
“You need me to fix something before
I head into town?” Judi asked.
“I would love to have something,”
Kal said, rubbing her stomach.
“No, go ahead,” Cat said. “I’ll fix
it for them.”
The girls went inside, leaving Show
to unload the wagon. Judi eyed the trunks, wondering where was she going to put
the girls and how long were they going to stay. The boys brought the wagon out
to the front. “You two stay here,” Judi told Christian and
Cat got out cups and saucers and set
them on the table, then went to cut the bread that Judi had baked the day
before, along with butter and jam. She poured the coffee and poured one for
herself while the girls ate.
CHAPTER 9
Taker and Kane had crossed the
border into
Kane nodded then looked up to see
the local sheriff enter and heads toward them. “I think we’re about to be paid
a visit.”
“I see him,” Taker said.
The waiter brought their coffee and
set it nervously in front of them. Taker took a sip and turned. “Sheriff,”
Taker nodded.
“Gentlemen,” the sheriff said. “I
trust you two are just passing through?”
Taker nodded. “Just long enough to
eat and get a few supplies.”
“I don’t want any trouble.”
“There won’t be, unless someone else
starts it,” Taker replied.
The sheriff looked at the two of
them and nodded, telling the waiter he wanted a cup of coffee. Soon their order
came. The men ate while the sheriff sat a couple of tables over to keep an eye
on them. When they had finished, he waited till they left and had crossed the
street to the general store. After several minutes they came out and put their
supplies in their saddle bags. Once the sheriff saw they were on their horses
and heading out of town, he left the restaurant to head to his office, but at
the last second, decided to go to the telegraph office instead.
Taker and Kane were a half hour out
of town when Taker reined his horse. “What?” Kane asked. “Somethin’s not
right,” Taker said, gazing at the rocks up ahead.
Kane knew too well when Taker sensed
something wrong, it usually was. A small glint of light caught Taker’s eye.
“Get behind the trees,” he said. A volley of shots rang out as they galloped
behind a small clump of trees. Taker felt a slight sting before he got behind
the trees. The gunfire became more intense as Taker and Kane fired in return.
Kane spotted one of the attackers and fired, hitting him in the chest. Another
man peered from around the rocks to check on his fallen companion. Taker waited
till the man was almost halfway and fired. With two men down, the other three
decided it was time to get out of there and ran to their horses. Taker and Kane
fired at the retreating trio, hitting two of the three.
Taker and Kane stepped out from
behind their cover, their guns still drawn. Taker felt something warm running
down his neck. He put his hand there and took it away, seeing blood. “One of
them nicked me,” he shrugged.
“The bullet grazed your neck,” Kane
said. “You’re damn lucky it wasn’t worse.” Taker snorted and wiped the blood on
his pants. Both men went to check out the bodies. “Wonder who they were?” Kane
asked. As they approached one of the bodies shifted slightly, his finger on the
trigger. Kane turned over one of the bodies. “Don’t look familiar,” he
commented. The slight movement caught Taker’s attention. He placed his foot on
the hand, pressing hard. The man gasped in agony and let go of the gun. Taker
kicked him over onto his back and saw a gaping hole in the man’s belly. “Who
are you?” Taker asked.
“We…were…hired…to…kill…you,” the man
gasped in pain. Taking one last breath, he closed his eyes before he could say
anything more.
Without looking back, they left the
dead men where they were. The vultures already gathered, waiting only for Taker
and Kane to leave.
CHAPTER 10 The girls filled Cat in on what they had been doing. Cat though had the feeling they were not telling the whole story. She would have a talk with Betty later to see what really had been going on. “Oh, you should have seen how Jade was on the train,” Kal snickered. “Hmm Hmm. She nearly got us thrown off a couple of times,” Betty raised her brows at Jade. “Me?! I was a perfect lady,” she said innocently. All the girls groaned. “Please, spare us the innocent act!” Sandra moaned. Cat snickered. “I bet I know what for.” “Yep,” Kal said. “You got it.” “And how about when we were going through town,” Sharon Cat sighed. “Okay, what did she do?” “She took a good a look at the Marshall Sandra related how Jade acted when she saw the man. Cat laughed. “Same old Jade. I understand he’s notmarried.” “Uh Oh,” Kal said. “Look at those eyes light up.” Upon hearing that tidbit of news, Jade’s eyes had lit up like Christmas lights. “Look out, Marshall ,” Sharon “He’s not going to be that easy,” Cat warned, looking directly at Jade. “He’s managed so far to keep from getting tied down. I think it’s Jade that has to look out.” Jade bit her lip as a devilish grin appeared. “He hasn’t tangled with someone like me. We’ll see.” “Back to you. How do you like it here?” Betty asked. “Doesn’t seem like there’s much to do.” “Don’t let that fool you. There’s plenty to do here at the ranch,” Cat replied. “I get up early and go to bed early. A far cry from what I used to do. But the country, the country is just beautiful, which is something I hadn’t expected. When the foreman took me on a tour of the ranch, I couldn’t believe at first just how huge the place really was. It took us a couple of days to see the whole place. During those two days, he took me to a place my uncle used to go to relax. I’ll have to take you there, maybe we could do it as a picnic,” she said. “Oh, you’ll never believe this, but I learned to ride.” “Ride? Ride what?” Sandra asked. “A horse you dummy!” Jade retorted. “It’s a beautiful snow white mare,” Cat said. “I named her Snowdrift.” “You! Horseback riding!” Kal laughed. “That I have to see.” “Hey, I do pretty good,” Cat replied. “Of course, you should have seen me at first. There wasn’t a place that wasn’tbruised,” she added, rubbing her thigh to emphasize. “And to get to where we went, a carriage isn’t the best thing.” “How big is this place?” Sharon “Well, about 8,000 acres.” “Eight thousand acres!” Sandra gasped. “Out of curiosity, are there any good looking men here?” Kal asked. “Yeah,” Betty added. “I noticed one when we were going in the house.” “Which one was that?” Cat asked. “Well, he was tall, had dark hair….” “Oh, I know which one,” Cat grinned and nodded. “That’s the foreman. His name is Dwayne Johnson. Oh, there are two others that work around the house. Jericho “Are they tall?” Kal asked. “And good looking?” Sandra added. Cat thought. “I guess so.” “I’m tired,” Sharon “Sounds good here,” Betty said. “I’ll take you upstairs,” Cat said. “Oh, one thing. No one but the lawyer knows about my background.” The girls nodded in acknowledgement. In town, Judi was going over the list of supplies with the owner. Show walked around the store looking at the variouswares, stopping to looking at a shelf of hats. A Stetson caught his eye and reached up to get it. As it were, the hats were near a shelf of dress material. In trying to get the Stetson, his arm hit the bolts, knocking them on top of a lady customer. Show apologized. “Ma’am I am so sorry,” he said as he helped her off the floor. Judi and the owner heard the commotion and rushed over. Show began picking up the bolts of cloth and put them on the shelf. “Are you alright, ma’am?” the owner asked the lady customer. The lady nodded, rearranged her hat, then turned to Show. “Clumsy oaf!” she huffed, and walked out of the store. “I really am sorry,” Show repeated sadly. “I was trying to get a hat and my arm hit those things and fell.” “Don’t worry,” Judi assured him. “She’ll get over it. Find what you were looking for?” Show showed her the hat and put it on. “Not bad,” she said. “Let’s get back to the ranch.” Show paid for the hat then went outside to help load the wagon. Judi waited by a bunch of brooms in front. JBL was limping toward the saloon and happened to see Judi standing outside the door. At the same time, Judi spotted JBLheading her way. She stiffened as he approached. JBL stopped for a bit then stepped into the street and made a wide path around and away from her. Show saw him go by then saw how Judi glared as he walked past, noticing her hand balled into a fist. “Ms. Judi, the wagon’s loaded,” he said, taking her by the arm and helping her into the wagon. Asthey rode out of town, JBL glared. “I’ll find a way to get rid of you, hag!” he sneered to himself.
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