AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Howdy pardners!
Depending on where you live, you may be preparing to begin a new school year within the next few weeks, if you haven't already begun classes. In my local school district, the first day will occur this coming Wednesday.
I'd like to thank rainbowaly03 for faving my story The Fire Within: Trouble in Paradise. I appreciate that very much!
And I thank MMM, Willow Falk, Loki God of Evil, ninjagogirl luvs iceage21, and MasterofCupcakes for their recent comments on the last chapter. You put a smile on my face!
In the chapter below, we switch from focusing on Kai's tribulations at Kryptarium Prison to discovering what's going on with his beloved wife Sam back at Garmadon Ranch, starting on Christmas Day...
Chapter 44 - Christmas Day at Garmadon Ranch
Last year's Christmas Day had dawned bright and clear upon the Garmadon Ranch residents and the welcomed guests - Brooke's family members who were visiting from the United States city of Ogacich.
This year, low gray clouds obscured the Christmas Day sun as it dawned upon the ranch and its many unwanted guests - the Third Division of the Purple Army.
Sam, Mr. Wu, Miss Gayle, and Nya, along with her newborn son EJ, were civilian prisoners of the monarchists. The Yellow Army supporters were generally confined to their bedrooms on the second floor of the stately two-story red brick mansion. They were allowed to move about the house to perform kitchen and laundry tasks, and eat meals, but when they did so, they were monitored by house sentries.
General Chen and his cadre of Purple Army officers controlled the first floor. The Purples also occupied two of the five upper level bedrooms - the ones nearest the stairway - for they needed additional rooms for sleeping quarters. Jake shared one of the rooms with another officer.
Now that Sam had reached the second trimester of her pregnancy, her daily morning nausea had subsided. No longer feeling sick around food, she rose early on this holiday to help Miss Gayle prepare special Christmas cinnamon breakfast biscuits for themselves and their fellow prisoners. They were only allowed to use their own kitchen at certain times of the day, so when it came to breakfast, they had to prepare their meal very early in the morning and clean up before the army cook arrived to make the morning meal for the officers.
Normally Mr. Wu and the ladies ate their meals at the small table in the kitchen, for the dining room was now reserved for the officers, but today - for extra privacy - the group squeezed into the upstairs bedroom shared by Sam, Nya, and the tiny baby boy, where they enjoyed the tasty biscuits and hot cups of fragrant tea.
The only Christmas gifts wrapped this year were given to the child. Mr. Wu gave him a gold coin. Sam and Miss Gayle gave him a blanket they had knitted together. Sam ruefully observed that it was easy to differentiate which portions were done by Miss Gayle - the parts with the smooth stitches - and which portions were done by Sam, a novice knitter. Nevertheless, Nya expressed her tearful appreciation for the kind gifts.
Mr. Wu led them in a prayer of thankfulness. Yesterday Jake had shared with them the joyful news that Jay was slated to be released from Kryptarium Prison in the Christmas prisoner exchange. Though they did not know when they would be seeing him again, since they were presently behind enemy lines, they were happy he was no longer being held against his will. They prayed that next Christmas, Jay would be home to share the holiday with his wife and young son.
Sam's throat tightened as Mr. Wu voiced his supplication that Kai would also be able to spend next Christmas at home with her and their child.
Whereas the Garmadon Ranch folks had to fix their breakfast before the officers, they had to wait to prepare their midday meal until after the officers ate theirs, so it was already after one o'clock in the afternoon when they finally finished consuming their second simple repast of the day. Today, as a thank-you gesture for baby EJ's blanket, Nya offered to take over Sam's duties of helping Miss Gayle clean up the kitchen. Since the little boy was sleeping, Nya simply bundled him in a basket and put him on the kitchen table while she worked. Sam thanked Nya for the unexpected opportunity to relax.
Before she headed upstairs to their shared bedroom, however, Sam threw on her shawl and stepped outside the back kitchen door, holding a plate of leftover food from the recently completed meal. The two Australian Shepherd dogs, Blaze and Flash, rushed up to her in an enthusiastic greeting.
Playfully rubbing the tops of their heads with her free hand, she felt bad for them. Ever since the army had shown up, they now had to be tethered to long ropes instead of being able to roam freely. It was for their own safety, so that a bored - or drunken - soldier would not be able to use the sweet animals as target practice. Also, the dogs were now forbidden to enter the house, even to sleep in the kitchen during the cold winter nights. Protests by Sam and Nya, the canines' mistresses, goaded Jake into arranging for some soldiers to build a doghouse outside the back door, which provided the pets with at least some shelter from the elements.
"Enjoy!" she smiled at them as she slid the contents of the plate onto the ground. The dogs happily partook of the food as she went back into the house.
Upstairs in the bedroom, Sam decided to use her free time to sit at the writing table and compose a letter to Kai, telling him about Christmas Day at Garmadon Ranch. Jake had promised to arrange for letters to be delivered to the imprisoned Yellow soldier. Sam wasn't sure how much trust she could place in his promise, based on how he had cruelly faked romantic interest in her, back when they both lived in Tonbos, their hometown back in the United States. But the possibility of communication with her brown-haired cowboy motivated her to put pen to paper.
Sam had not gotten very far in her letter writing when she heard a soft knock on her open bedroom door. She looked up to see Jake standing in the doorway.
"May I help you?" Sam asked in the most formal tone she could muster.
Jake perceived her icy attitude toward him. He took a step back and held his hands up in surrender fashion. "Hey, I'm off duty for a few hours, and I was just wondering if maybe you'd like to go for a Christmas Day ride around the countryside, maybe spend some time chatting about the old days...catching up on news of what's been going on with you, me, old friends. That sort of thing."
Sam considered his invitation. Since the Purples had arrived, there had been little one-on-one conversation between herself and Jake. Right now he seemed sincere in wanting to establish an association of good will between them. Perhaps he had matured since their days in Tonbos. Sam had to admit that, at the very least, she was interested in news of the various people within their common circle of friends from their hometown.
Sam agreed to ride with him. "All right. I can be on the front porch in five minutes. Tell the house sentry what we're doing, so that he'll know why I'm going out there," she replied.
"Sounds good. I'll bring a cutter around."
He left, and Sam stood up from the writing table to put on her coat.
A few minutes later, Sam was seated next to Jake on a small sleigh as he urged his horse forward. As they traveled around the side of the house, Flash and Blaze spotted them and began to growl and snarl, straining against their ropes.
Sakes alive! What's gotten into those dogs? Sam wondered silently as the travelers headed away from the house and began their jaunt.
Soon the cutter was passing through the land where cattle once serenely grazed in the picturesque meadow. Rows of purple tents now occupied the space. The winter sky was gray and the air was cold. The breaths taken by Sam, Jake, and the horse were clearly visible.
Sam waited for Jake to speak. He remained silent, so she began the conversation. "Have you heard from Mary Adams since she moved overseas to live with her new husband?" she asked. Sam had discovered this news about their friend in an attempt to match Mary with Zane nearly a year ago, before the platinum-haired cowboy found the love of his life while convalescing in the Sasnak City military hospital.
"She sent a letter last Christmas, but I haven't heard from her since then," Jake answered before becoming quiet again.
Sam thought of more friends to inquire about. "So...do you still have contact with Sarah Brock?" she inquired, breaking the silence once more.
"I saw Sarah last year," Jake responded. "She married a lawyer and has two sons." He said nothing further.
Sam sighed in exasperation at his reluctance to talk to her. "How about David Cook?" she tried again.
"David's father passed away and now David is running the family's cargo ship line."
Jake slipped into silence again. They were now leaving the open pasture and heading into the woods.
Sam became irritated. "For someone who said he wanted to chat about old times, you're certainly not being very chatty," she scolded him.
"Actually, I didn't take you on this ride for a casual chat," Jake admitted, keeping his eyes focused straight ahead.
Something in his voice alarmed Sam. She swallowed. "What do you mean?"
"I'm taking you to see General Chen."
