AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Do you ever wonder how authors come up with names for their OCs? Here's how I came up with the names of the friends of the Garmadon Ranch cowboys:
Rowan Birk (the bank teller) - a modification of the name Kirby Morrow, the actor who does the voice of Cole
Michael Donlan (Double S Ranch cowboy) - a modification of the name Michael Landon, an actor from the 1960s and 1970s who played roles in the Western-themed TV shows Bonanza and Little House on the Prairie
Robinson Murphy (Double S Ranch cowboy) - the name of an actual Civil War soldier who won a Congressional Medal of Honor for gallant service in a battle near Atlanta, Georgia
Rusty McKanna (Double S Ranch cowboy) - McKanna is the surname of an actual Midwestern pioneer family, and Rusty is a name I happened to like!
Shoutouts to lovesgod12, MasterofCupcakes, Ninjagoelementals, Titanium Jay and Electro Zane, StoryMaker7, MMM, Naruby7, and AveXCninja11 for your comments on Chapter 23! I am pleased that Zane's backstory was well received!
Thank you, Ninjagoelementals, for including me as one of your favorite authors! I hope to maintain the honor of being in your fave list, and the fave list of 21 others!
See Chapters 40 and 41 of The Fire Within a Ninjago Cowboy to read the original accounts of publishing the wedding announcement and serving barbecue at the wedding reception. Both are mentioned below.
In the chapter below, bad wartime happenings are mentioned, but nothing beyond the T rating of this story...
Chapter 24 - After the First Battle
Yelling. Screaming. Grunts. Horses. Gunfire. Cannons. Smoke. Blood. Bodies. Riding. Running.
Death.
Images of today's battle replayed in Cole's mind as he sat just outside his sleep tent at twilight, playing sad, soulful tunes on his harmonica. In the tents all around him, soldiers were busy packing up their bedrolls and belongings. The Yellow Army was preparing to retreat and relocate its camp to a more northerly location, farther from Jamanakai Village in the south of Ninjago and nearer to the central area of the country.
Today, the Yellows had just been soundly defeated as they attempted to retake Jamanakai from the Purple Army, who had occupied the rural hamlet for two months. The call to retreat from the battlefield had been issued in the early afternoon, after only four hours of fighting.
The clash was bloody, and Company C of the 5th Ninjago Volunteer Cavalry Regiment participated in the suffering.
Robinson Murphy, a cowboy from the Double S Ranch, was killed by cannon fire.
Rowan Birk, the mild-mannered teller at the Ninjago Town Community Bank, lost an arm to a minie ball. He was currently recovering from the amputation in the field hospital.
And Michael Donlan, another Double S Ranch ranch hand, was missing and believed captured by the enemy. His horse had been found shot dead by multiple bullets.
After today's devastating loss, the Yellow Army now found itself in a defensive position. The leaders decided to pull the forces back to a location halfway between Jamanakai and Ouroborus, the main city in central Ninjago. This would mean that the village of Ignacia would be left unprotected, but it was felt that the sacrifice would have to be made for the greater good of keeping Ouroborus in Yellow hands. That city's central location naturally made it the transportation hub of Ninjago, and thus a valuable asset.
Jay bustled around inside the sleep tent he shared with Cole, packing up his war bag. The two of them had not exchanged many words after the battle, each being occupied with his own thoughts.
But Jay was noticing the lengthening shadows cast by the sun as it neared the western horizon. "Better get a move on, Cole, and pack your bag," Jay finally spoke. "Captain Noonan said we needed to be ready to ride at sundown, remember?"
Cole, who was just about finished with a sad song, did not answer Jay right away. He continued playing until the last note was completed.
"All right," Cole said lifelessly, pocketing the harmonica. He entered the tent.
Just a minute later, they had a visitor. It was Kai. The brown-haired cowboy was carrying two bags and two bedrolls.
"Would you two oblige Rusty and me by taking our gear to the gathering area for us?" he asked. "We thought we'd do a favor for Shorty and take care of rounding up the gear of Michael" - he swallowed - "and Robinson."
Their hearts ached for their friends from the Double S Ranch. Both Michael and Robinson, along with Rusty, had played many enjoyable poker games with the Garmadon Ranch boys and had shared much laughter in the years they had all known each other. Last year, at the double wedding reception of Kai and Sam and Jay and Nya, the cowboys from the nearby ranch served the guests their delicious barbecue, using their secret recipe, as a gift to the couples. Earlier this year, their wedding gift to Cole and Brooke was a supply of the ingredients, but without the appropriate measurements needed to create the tasty food. The cowboys had said they would reveal the actual recipe when Zane ended up getting married.
But just a few hours ago, Cole had been right next to Robinson, fighting on the chaotic battlefield, and through the hazy smoke the Garmadon Ranch cowboy had witnessed the cannonball hit the doomed soldier right in the chest. Watching the mangled and bloody body slide off the horse and onto the ground, Cole knew that his friend had instantly perished. If the black-haired cowboy could have, he would have collected the body and brought it back to camp himself, but with the bullets flying, he needed to attend to the business of staying alive. All he could do was turn Robinson's horse around and give it a slap on the rump in the hope that the animal would run back to the safety of the camp. And it had.
Some of the men had said that during the hasty retreat which occurred a while later, a fellow Yellow soldier named Murray had shouted at them that he had just seen Michael's horse get shot from underneath him, and that Murray was going to help him. The bullet-riddled bodies of Murray and his mount were eventually found near Michael's horse, once the armies had called a temporary truce to collect their own dead and injured. Michael had not been found dead nor injured, and no one could believe he would desert the army, so the only remaining explanation for his disappearance was that he had been captured.
Everyone knew, however, that the Purple Army would not verify that Private Donlan had been taken. Just before the start of the war, the Yellow Army had declared its intentions to withhold the identities and the whereabouts of Purple soldiers they had captured. This policy was meant to discourage the monarchy supporters from commencing hostilities. The Purples were not intimidated, however, and they had gone ahead and initiated the war, declaring that they, too, would not reveal the names of their military prisoners, nor where they were being held.
So all Michael's friends could do right now was hope that wherever Michael was, he would be all right.
The next day…
Michael Donlan, his hands tied behind his back, was escorted into the command tent of a Purple captain. The two Purple guards on either side of the cowboy shoved him into a chair. The Yellow prisoner winced from the resulting pain he felt in his ribcage. He guessed that he had injured a rib yesterday during the battle when he and his horse tumbled to the ground, right when the animal collapsed from multiple bullet wounds. After that, Michael was not able to move fast due to the discomfort, and thus he had been captured by the enemy army.
"That will be all, sergeants. Stand at ease outside until I call you again," the Purple captain said to the escorts, dismissing them. Then, after watching them leave, he focused his attention on the prisoner. Standing in front of Michael's chair, he put his hands on his hips and announced, "Private Michael Donlan, I am Captain Jacob Clouse of His Majesty's Royal Ninjago Army."
Michael studied his adversary for a moment. "You seem pretty young to be a captain," he smirked. "Does the Purple Army need to rob cradles to fill its officer positions?"
"Very funny, Donlan," Clouse snarled, slowly walking around the back of Michael's chair. When he reached a point just where he would re-enter Michael's line of sight, he backhanded a surprise blow to the cowboy's eye.
Michael gasped at the sudden pain, but he did not say anything. He merely gritted his teeth and waited for the uncomfortable sensation to subside, while Clouse completed his circle around the chair.
"Would you like to know why, out of all the Yellow prisoners we captured yesterday, I have singled you out for a personal interrogation by me?" Clouse sneered, standing in front of the cowboy once again.
Michael glared at him using his unswollen good eye. "I don't really give a hoot, but I reckon you'll tell me anyway," he answered defiantly.
Clouse rolled his eyes at the Yellow soldier's bravado but continued. "When we captured you yesterday, you stated that you belonged to Company C of the 5th Ninjago Cavalry."
"Yep, and that hasn't changed since yesterday."
Clouse leaned close to Michael's face. "Our spies have found out that Company C was formed in Ninjago Town."
The prisoner stared at his captor with contempt. "I ain't sayin' anything."
Clouse straightened up again. He reached into his uniform pocket and pulled out a metal object, holding it up. "These binoculars belong to someone by the name of Zane Falk from Ninjago Town. You know him?"
Michael swallowed. He remembered looking through Zane's binoculars on the day of that reconnaissance mission which had ended badly for the corporal. "Maybe I do. Maybe I don't," he answered ambiguously.
"It just so happens that on the day we found these binoculars, one of our Purple lieutenants went missing. And our spies haven't been able to determine what happened to him," Clouse explained. "Judging from blood we found on the ground near where these glasses were located, we have reason to believe that Falk severely injured our lieutenant and took him prisoner."
"Now hold on there!" Michael objected. "It was your man who hurt Zane!"
Clouse smirked. "So you DO admit to knowing Zane Falk."
Michael mentally face-palmed himself for divulging his acquaintanceship with Zane, thus giving this sack of cow dung standing in front of him something to smile about. So he decided to say something else to make the smile go away. "But your man didn't get away with it. I helped to stop him so he could get roped up, kinda like a young little Purple calf about to get a branding with a hot iron!" he chuckled.
The captain was not amused. Without warning, he clenched his fist and punched the defenseless Michael in the nose. "So you were there when it happened," Clouse growled. "Did you hurt my lieutenant?"
However, even with blood dripping down his face, the Double S Ranch cowboy remained defiant toward his Purple captor. "I ain't sayin' anything."
Clouse folded his arms and cupped his chin. "Well, I'll ask another question. Do you know Samantha Smith?"
Michael didn't have to say anything. The way his unswollen eye widened told Clouse that the answer was yes.
Clouse took his hand off his chin and idly examined his fingernails. "Is she still living at Garmadon Ranch?" He took his eyes off his hand and focused on the prisoner.
Michael still said nothing, not even an insult.
A slow smile creeped across the captain's face. "Listen, Donlan, I know where Ninjago Town is. I was there once. And I have access to a network of spies. You wouldn't want to be the reason for anything bad to happen to her, would you?"
Michael swallowed. Sam was a great gal, and he knew how deeply Kai loved her, so he definitely did not want harm to befall her. "Nothing bad happened to your man when we captured him. We took him back to camp, and he got processed and sent off to Darkley Prison in Sasnak City. That's all I know," he admitted.
"Now, then, what was so hard about answering a few questions?" Clouse smiled, responding in a mockingly soothing voice. "See, when people are reasonable, we can get things done."
"How do you know Sam, anyway?" Michael demanded.
The smile disappeared from Clouse's face. "I'm asking the questions here, Donlan!" He clenched his fist again and punched the prisoner in the ribs. This time Michael groaned loudly in pain.
Clouse was finished with his interrogation. "Sergeants! I need one of you in here, now!" he shouted.
When a sentry showed up, Clouse ordered him to watch the prisoner while the captain went to talk to the other sentry outside the tent, out of earshot of Michael.
"Bring the prisoner back to the stockade and leave him there for now," the superior officer commanded the subordinate. "But at sunset, retrieve him and meet me at the rattlesnake pit."
A confused look came over the subordinate's face. "The rattlesnake pit?" he questioned. He himself had helped to dig that pit, and he wondered why Clouse would want to show off his quirky pets to a prisoner. Did they share an interest in snakes?
"You heard me," Clouse scowled. "Having prisoners get bitten by rattlesnakes was one of the methods of execution in the days of the monarchy, just before democracy took over Ninjago. Private Donlan is no longer necessary to me, so he will be the first royal prisoner in over 100 years to be executed in such a way. Now move!"
Clouse and the sentry re-entered the tent, and the two sergeants took away Private Donlan. The captain, now alone, sat down at his desk and began to pen a message to General Chen, informing him that the whereabouts of the missing Purple lieutenant from several weeks ago were divulged by a Yellow prisoner through interrogation tactics, and that the prisoner would be summarily dispatched through the ancient execution method of snakebite venom.
That ought to impress old man Chen, Clouse thought as he stuffed the missive into an envelope. I should soon have the rank of Major.
Clouse's thoughts then drifted back to a few weeks ago. In the days just after the binoculars had been found, he had been racking his brain, trying to remember why the name of Garmadon Ranch was familiar to him. Then it dawned on him. Clouse recalled that last year, his father - who still lived in his home city of Tonbos on the east coast of the United States - had mailed him a clipping of a wedding announcement from that city's newspaper. The article stated that an heiress from Tonbos had gotten married, in Ninjago, to Kai Smith, a cowboy from the Garmadon Ranch near Ninjago Town, and the couple would be making their home on the ranch. Clouse's father had mailed the announcement to his son because the bride, who was the daughter of the late business tycoon Cyrus Borg, was Clouse's former sweetheart, Samantha Borg.
And Clouse had been in Ninjago Town once. He had traveled there to meet Skylor, a leader in the Purple monarch restoration movement and now his fiancee, before she took him to Jamanakai to meet other Purple leaders and form the Purple Army. He had only spent one night in Ninjago Town, but that was enough for him. He couldn't understand why Sam would deliberately choose to shun the good life of Tonbos to live in such a dusty, godforsaken outpost of civilization.
Clouse shrugged dismissively before standing up from his desk to give the envelope to a subordinate to deliver to his future father-in-law. Sam's choice to live at Garmadon Ranch seemed foolish, but it had actually proved useful to him today.
Maybe Sam will end up being useful in other ways, too, he thought.
