AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Howdy, readers! You all are ace-high ("first class and respected," in cowboy talk)!
And the comments on the previous chapter posted by lovesgod12, StoryMaker7, MMM, MasterofCupcakes, WalrusWins257, and Naruby7 are as fine as cream gravy ("very good" or "top notch" in cowboy talk)!
Right now I would like to take a moment to do a favor for a family member. Measuremesky and I are related to a fanfiction author named cringelordliz. She asked me to give her a shoutout. Her favorite fandom is Kirby but she likes Ninjago, too. Please check out her story on this website and others on Wattpad.
OK, back to my yarn ("story" in cowboy talk). The chapter below and the following one, which I plan to post very soon, are pivotal to this soldier tale, so I hope you enjoy them!
The reference to the pie is from The Fire Within a Ninjago Cowboy, Chapter 38.
In the chapter below, the calendar is now on the page of November...
Chapter 30 - November News
The city of Ouroborus, the main city in central Ninjago, fell into Purple hands in late October after a bloody battle. Miraculously, the 5th Ninjago Volunteer Cavalry Regiment suffered no fatalities or serious injuries during the fight.
In the first week of November, the 5th Cavalry received reports from Yellow Army spies that the Purple Army had grown large enough to enable itself to split into three divisions and branch out from Ouroborus. One Purple division was reportedly going to keep heading straight north to the northern border of Ninjago. The second division was going to advance to the northwest to take over Ninjago's mountainous forest region.
And the third Purple division, under the command of General Chen, was rumored to be heading west to conquer Ninjago Town, the main town in a region known to be strongly pro-Yellow. This rumor was alarming to the men in the 5th Cavalry, particularly in Company C - the unit of Kai and Jay - for they called that region home.
Should the Purples succeed in these endeavors, they would end up occupying half of Ninjago and, therefore, shoring up their strength before advancing eastward toward the border with the United States. Their ultimate goal was to conquer Sasnak City, the capital of Ninjago, which was located close to the U.S. border. The Purples had no intention of invading the United States, but they wanted to make sure they had the resources to defend themselves from the United States, should the Governor of Ninjago ask the U.S. to step in and provide assistance to the Yellows.
The 5th Cavalry was currently camped about twenty miles west of Ouroborus, waiting for the Purples to make a move. For the past several nights, Kai and Jay had been assigned to reconnaissance duty by Captain Noonan, to see if the enemy was preparing to move onward, as the spies' reports were saying. The two soldiers had come back from each mission at dawn to report that nothing suspicious was going on.
Tonight, the autumn air was quite brisk as Kai and Jay once again mounted their horses and prepared to leave camp under cover of darkness, probably for another ten hours of boredom. But whereas Kai's current nightly activity seemed routine, the daylight hours that preceded tonight's mission were anything but ordinary.
Because the 5th Cavalry and Ninjago Town were both situated on the west side of Ouroborus, with no Purple Army in between them, mail delivery between them remained uninterrupted. Therefore, today Kai had received a package from Sam, which included a nice long letter with some life-changing news:
Garmadon Ranch, Ninjago Town
5th November 18xx
My dearest Kai -
Thank you, my husband, for your wonderful letter! It arrived today and uplifted my spirit. Please don't worry about giving me a gift for Christmas next month. There is just one gift I wish for, which only God can give - the gift of you being here at Garmadon Ranch in my arms, safe and sound!
As always, I hope that this letter finds you well and that you are managing to keep warm, now that cold weather is here. As I mentioned in my previous letter, Miss Gayle has been teaching me how to knit, and now I am sending you the enclosed red and yellow scarf as my first finished project. I know the stitches aren't very even, so don't laugh too hard. Just say it has character, like you described my cherry pies at that supper party two summers ago, right before our engagement.
I will be getting more practice in knitting, for the next project is a baby blanket for Nya and Jay's little Walker, who will be born in just under a month! The blanket will be a joint Christmas gift from Miss Gayle and me, so don't tell Jay about it yet. But you can tell Jay that Nya is doing quite well after that awful scare a few weeks ago involving the baby. She can't wait until the baby is born, for then she can leave her bed and freely walk around once more.
After I help Miss Gayle finish the baby blanket for Nya and Jay's little one, I will work solo on another blanket for Brooke and Cole's little one. You may know that the Hences have decided to spend the entire winter in Ogacich and have the baby there, due to the hazards of traveling during snowstorm season and the continuing Purple threat. Brooke can also avail herself of the many helping hands of her large family.
I am uncertain if my baby blanket will reach Brooke and Cole, now that Ouroborus is in Purple hands, but there is still a possibility that the postal system can reroute mail destined for places outside Ninjago. Brooke's last letter to us said that Cole is doing so much better now. He works alongside his father-in-law at the piano company, and she has found an opportunity to make money as a seamstress. The extra money is allowing them to donate funds and supplies to the Yellow cause.
And according to what Zane wrote to us in his last letter, we shall be welcoming yet another new resident of Garmadon Ranch when the war is over! Celeste was present when the doctor removed Zane's final bandages, and the first thing he said was a question directed at her: "Will you marry me?"
She, of course, accepted his proposal. After her schooling is finished next month, they will wed in Cefran and if the war is still going on in January, they plan to return to Sasnak City where he will reenlist as a military instructor, since his jaw is not yet internally healed enough to withstand another blow in a battle.
I wish to continue the topic of new residents of Garmadon Ranch. Once I send the baby blanket to the Hences in Ogacich, I will start knitting another one. And this blanket will be for OUR baby! Yes, my dearest Kai, you will be a DADDY next June!
Doc Julien confirmed this today when I was in town with Miss Gayle. I went to see Doc because I've been feeling very tired and a bit nauseous and have had my suspicions as to why. Obviously we were blessed in early September, right before you reenlisted. I am so thrilled that finally, after a year of trying, we will soon welcome the arrival of a little one!
It is getting late, so I will close this letter. Miss Gayle and Nya send their best wishes. So does Mr. Wu, who says he's feeling pretty kedge, despite his broken ankle. Please tell Jay I said howdy, and please keep yourself safe as you all whup those Purples, so that you all may come home soon and we can decide together on a name for our future little leaf on the family tree. Blaze and Blossom and I miss you!
I love you, cowboy!
I am, as I ever was and ever shall be, yours,
Sam
The red and yellow scarf sent by Sam was now wrapped around Kai's neck and tucked under his uniform collar. She had obviously spritzed it with her strawberry fragrance before she packaged it up, for he could detect the scent with each breath he took. The letter, which had also absorbed a bit of the fruity aroma, was now tucked safely in an inner pocket of his black and yellow winter slicker, issued by the Yellow Army. He wanted to keep the letter close to him so he could read the happy news again and again.
I'm actually going to be a father! he marveled.
He smiled at the memory of that early September night just before he left for reenlistment. At the time, he had sensed a specialness about the evening, and not only because it was the last night for a while that he and Sam would spend together.
"Have you thought of any names for the baby yet?" Jay inquired, interrupting Kai's thoughts as they rode their horses past the camp guard and out into the night.
Kai rolled his eyes. "Jay, I've only known the news for four hours!"
"Well, keep in mind that James would be a mighty fine middle name for a boy," the auburn-haired soldier teased.
When they had ridden their horses about a quarter mile beyond the camp, Kai and Jay stopped their idle chatter and focused on their mission.
They rode on the dirt trail in silence for a few miles. Upon reaching a certain oak tree, they guided the horses off the road, as they had done for the past several nights, and steered them into the woods that ran alongside.
About halfway into their journey through the woods to the outskirts of the Purple Army's camp, they came across one of their landmarks, an abandoned farmhouse which backed up to the woods but which faced a meadow. Tonight it looked the same as it did on other nights, except…
...two horses stood by one side of the house.
Jay and Kai, having not yet emerged from the woodsy area into the open area, spotted the horses at the same time and looked at each other. They drew their guns and slowly dismounted their animals. They trusted Flame and Wisp enough not to run away. Kai threw his coil of rope over his left shoulder, in case it was needed to truss up a man...or men…
Quietly, Jay whispered that he would go around the far side of the house to the front door, and Kai whispered back that he would get to the front door by following the side that the horses were on. Once they met at the front of the house, they'd both burst through the front door together.
Keeping low and close to the wall of the house, Kai crept along its length, from the back corner to the front corner. The horses were quiet as Kai passed by them. Once he reached the front corner, he peeked around and waited for Jay to show his face around the opposite corner, then they would approach the front door together.
Kai waited, but Jay did not appear.
What's taking you so long, Jay? Kai wondered to himself.
Kai decided to retrace his steps to the back of the house, then go the way Jay had gone. He kept low and close to the same side wall he had just traversed, and then he kept low and close to the back wall, slowly creeping along the length of it. When he peeked around the corner to look down the third wall before traversing it, he saw an alarming sight.
Jay was sprawled on the ground, face down and unconscious.
Behind him, Kai heard a strange noise. But before he could turn around to investigate, he felt intense pain on the back of his skull.
Kai fell to the ground, unconscious.
