The next day, the boys got up bright and early and went downstairs to the living room with a couple of toy cars each. Bill was already drinking his morning coffee as the consummate early riser that he'd always been. The boys got down on all fours in their pajamas and played with their cars on the floor.
"What are your plans today, boys?" Bill asked.
"I thought we'd play in the tree house," Mattlock said.
"Maybe Will would like to see the property. Would you, Will?" Bill asked.
"Sure," Will replied.
"I bet Bo and Lamar would take you both around on horses," Bill said.
Will sat up, suddenly very interested. "That would be fun!" he exclaimed.
"I figured that, Daddy," Mattlock said.
"Oh, you did?" Bill asked with a smile.
"Yep," Mattlock replied as he pushed his toy car on the floor.
"Well, after your aunt and uncle come down, I'll go see if I can find the boys and see if they can take you two out today," Bill said after sipping his coffee.
"Alright, Daddy," Mattlock replied.
The boys played for a few more minutes while Bill drank his coffee and read the daily paper. Roy and Flo came downstairs, dressed for the day.
"Good morning, Brother," Roy said.
"Good morning. Breakfast is in the kitchen. Help yourselves," Bill replied.
"Don't mind if I do," Roy said rubbing his stomach. He and Flo went into the kitchen.
Bill got up and followed them. While they were serving themselves some breakfast, Bill asked, "What would you both like to do today?"
"Flo and I were just talking about that in the bedroom," Roy said.
"What did you have in mind?" Bill asks.
"Well, I'd like to catch up some more with you – maybe see the offices of Houston Oil," Roy said.
"I was wondering if you'd mind if I went around your property doing nature studies in my sketchbook," Flo said.
"Not at all. There's some great scenery," Bill said. "I suppose I could take you up to Houston Oil, Roy, but it's not that exciting."
"Still, I'd like to see what my little brother does," Roy said.
"If you say so," Bill said. "The boys want to go riding with Bo and Lamar today. I thought I'd try to find them and see what time is good for them today, if you don't mind watching the boys for a few minutes."
"Not a problem," Roy said.
"Flo, would you like to explore with them and draw on site? Or would you rather explore on your own?" Bill asked.
"I'm sure the boys would like their special time together and I'm fine with going it alone," she said.
"Alright. I'll go look for Bo and Lamar and I'll be right back," Bill said. He left the kitchen and walked into the living room. "Boys, Flo and Roy are here if you need anything. I'm going to go find Bo and Lamar."
"Okay, Daddy," Mattlock said.
Bill left the house and Roy and Flo entered the living room and sat down on the couch with their coffee and plates of food. The boys continued to play on the floor.
"So, Mattlock, what is it that you like to do around here?" Roy asked.
"I like to ride horses the best," Mattlock said.
"I heard you were going to do that today," Roy said.
"Mattlock has A LOT of toys, Dad," Will said.
"Son…." Flo said in a cautioning tone.
"Will can have any toys of mine that he wants," Mattlock said.
"Well, that's very generous, Mattlock," Roy replied. "But, you don't have to do that."
"I don't mind," Mattlock said.
"What else, besides riding horses, do you like to do?" Roy asked.
"I play in my tree house, play with my toys, watch television," Mattlock said.
"What kinds of shows do you like to watch?" Roy asked.
"Cowboy and Indian shows. Police shows," Mattlock replied, moving his toy car on the floor in front of him.
"Most of his friends are at school," Will said to Roy.
"Oh?" Roy replied.
"We just had a family move in down the street, so I may have a new friend," Mattlock said.
"I like your confidence, Mattlock," Roy said.
"Thanks," Mattlock replied. "Wanna go out and play in my tree house, Will?"
"Yes!" Will said.
"Well… you boys are still both in your pajamas. Why don't you go upstairs and get dressed for the day before you do that," Roy said.
"Okay, Uncle Roy," Mattlock said. The two boys left their cars on the floor and went upstairs to change clothes.
Bill came back in the house. "That didn't take long," Roy said.
"They were at the end of the drive. They're going to take the boys riding this afternoon. They have some chores first."
"I just sent the boys upstairs to change out of their pajamas," Roy said. They're going to go play in Mattlock's tree house."
"Oh, good. I'll take you around the property in the car while they do that," Bill said. "In the afternoon, Flo can wander off and draw and you and I can go downtown."
"Sounds great," Roy said. The three adults chatted for a while in the living room until Will and Mattlock came back downstairs, dressed for the day. He and Will were also wearing cowboy hats and a set of guns and holsters each.
"Daddy, we're going out to the tree house," Mattlock declared.
"Okay, son. Have fun. I'm going to take your aunt and uncle on a tour of the property. If you need anything, Bo and Lamar aren't far away."
"Okay, Daddy," Mattlock said as he grabbed Will by the hand and ran outside. They ran around the house to the south side of the property where a large oak tree with a tree house stood. Several foot-long two by fours were nailed to the trunk in a ladder formation leading up to the tree house. It was partially supported by the oak itself and a couple of rough-hewn logs that acted as pillars for the tree house's front porch. The porch had a railing with a combination of natural tree limbs and milled lumber for slats. The front of the tree house had two windows to the left of the door. The other walls had two windows each and the roof was a low pitched, gabled roof sloping toward the front porch which it also covered.
Mattlock let Will climb up the ladder first and he followed closely. Once they were both on the porch, they surveyed the property together.
"Did your Dad build this?" Will asked.
"Nope. Bo and Lamar did," Mattlock said.
"Neat!" Will replied.
"Wanna go inside?" Mattlock asked.
"Sure!" Will said. Mattlock opened the door and walked in, and Will joined him. "Wow!" Will exclaimed, taking it all in.
The interior had an open rafter ceiling that made it seem bigger on the inside than the outside. In the center of the tree house was a kid-sized wooden table with four chairs placed on a Zapotec rug. On one side of the single room, was a twin mattress on the floor and on the opposite was a large cedar chest with a hinged lid. A variety of western movie posters were thumbtacked to the walls: Apache, starring Burt Lancaster; The Command, starring Guy Madison; The Outcast, starring John Derek; They Rode West, starring Robert Francis;and Vera Cruz, starring Gary Cooper. Bill and Sergei had picked out the posters together since both were fans of Westerns and Bill had convinced the theater owner to sell him a bunch that year. Bill and Mattlock pinned them to his tree house walls together.
"Have you seen all these movies?" Will asked.
"Nope. My Daddy has. He got them for me," Mattlock said. "What do you think?" Mattlock asked gesturing with his arms spread.
"I think this tree house is amazing!" Will said.
"Thanks," Mattlock said, pushing his cowboy hat back on his head and then resting his hands on his gun grips. "Let's form a secret club!"
"Okay!" Will exclaimed.
"Do you want to be good guys or bad guys?" Mattlock asked.
"Bad guys are more fun," Will said.
"Let's come up with some names," Mattlock suggested. The two exchanged ideas for some time, making slight alterations in names and arrangements frequently. At the end of the hearty exchange, Mattlock declared, "Okay. That settles it. You're Ramblin' Red Curtis and I'm Greedy Guy Amarillo!"
"Okay!" Will exclaimed.
Mattlock walked over to the cedar chest and pulled out a deck of cards. "Let's pretend we're gambling in a saloon," he suggested.
Will nodded and they both sat down at the table and they played a few games of Go Fish and acted out scenes in which they were interrupted by law enforcement and shot them down in the doorway of the 'saloon.' Of course, a few times, they each got 'shot' and fell to the floor pretending to writhe in pain, grabbing some part of their bodies that had been 'hit.' They also pretended to be held out in their fort, shooting out the windows in defense. They played like this for a few hours and Sergei called up from below the tree house. "Boys, I have your lunch," he said. He had bagged their lunches in brown paper sacks.
"Thanks Sergei," Mattlock said, and climbed down the ladder to get their lunches.
"Your aunt and uncle are eating lunch with your father inside. He thought you might want to eat out here," Sergei said.
"Yep!" Mattlock exclaimed and tipped his hat at Sergei.
Sergei smiled and handed him the sacks. "There are a couple of bottles of Coca-Cola in the sacks," he said, and Mattlock climbed up the ladder.
Before Mattlock went back inside the tree house, he waved at Sergei and yelled, "Thanks!"
After a while, the boys were eating their sandwiches and pretending to have robbed a restaurant in a small town. "What should we call our club?" Will asked.
"Well," Mattlock started, with his mouth full. "We're in Texas, so, I think Texas should be in the name."
"That's a good idea. That's where a lot of cowboy stories take place anyhow," Will observed.
"That's true," Mattlock said, briefly thinking to himself. "We are bad guys, so we should have a scary name."
"How 'bout 'Texas Bandits?'" Will suggested.
"Texas Killers?" Mattlock asked.
"Texas Terrors?" Will suggested.
"Texas Terrors…" Mattlock repeated. After a moment, he said, "I like it! Let's be the Texas Terrors!"
"Okay!" Will agreed.
The boys ate their lunch and played more pretend games until around 1:30, when Bo and Lamar approached the tree house. They tried to tip toe their way so as to go unnoticed. Mattlock heard movement and told Will to hush. They skulked over to one of the side windows and Mattlock started yelling "Bang, Bang, Bang!" Will followed Mattlock's lead and did the same, both aiming at Bo and Lamar on the ground. Bo fell backwards on the ground first and Lamar grabbed his chest and swooned dramatically until he fell into a heap on the ground.
"Oh no, Lamar! I've been hit!" Bo said, playing along.
"Me too! Done shot me in the heart! I'm not long for this world," Lamar said in a weakening voice.
The boys watched the scene from up above.
"I guess the horse ride today is cancelled, being that we'll be dead and all," Bo said.
The boys looked at each other with worried expressions. Lamar didn't answer Bo.
"Lamar?... Lamar?... Lamar?" Bo said in an escalating tone to raise the drama of the moment.
Lamar didn't answer.
"Oh no! You killed Lamar!" Bo said. Then Bo started gasping with his arms and legs spread like he was making a snow angel, and then he crossed his eyes and held his breath like he was dead.
The boys looked at each other, and Mattlock motioned to Will to indicate that they should leave and check on their victims. Mattlock climbed down the tree house ladder first and Will followed. Once on the ground, Mattlock nudged Lamar in the chest with his gun and Will stood nearby watching. When Lamar didn't react, he went over and nudged Bo in the chest as well. Bo let out a big breath and grabbed Mattlock's gun and said, "Gotcha!" He stood up. "Now see what happens when you let your guard down?" Bo instructed. "You shoulda had Will cover ya."
Mattlock kicked the dirt and looking at his feet, he said, "Yeah."
Lamar stood up and smiled. "Well, are you boys ready to go ridin'?"
Mattlock looked up and smiled wide with Will who was doing the same. "Yep!" Mattlock exclaimed.
"Let's get on over to the barn, then, and get the horses. We're burnin' daylight," Lamar said.
The men and boys got the horses. Mattlock rode in front of Bo on his horse and Will rode in front of Lamar on his. They spent the rest of the afternoon exploring the property on horseback listening to Bo and Lamar's tall tales and witty banter.
When it was time for dinner, they headed back to the barn and the boys ran up to the house and Bo and Lamar went their separate ways for the evening.
Mattlock and Will ran inside the front door. Flo, Roy, and Bill were sitting in the living room together. "Well, boys – we hardly saw you today. Did you have a good time?" Roy asked.
"Dad, the horse ride was so much fun!" Will said.
"I don't believe I've ridden a horse since before I went off to the second World War," Roy recalled.
"Well, you'll have to remedy that while you're here, Roy," Bill said.
"Might just do that," Roy replied.
"Boys, Sergei is getting dinner ready. We're having barbeque tonight. Go upstairs and get cleaned up," Bill said.
Beef ribs, mashed potatoes, green beans, and corn on the cob were the items on the menu for dinner. Dessert was apple pie a la mode. Everyone present gorged themselves on the home cooked food. Roy praised Sergei for his culinary skills once more (in Russian), and the boys played for a while in Mattlock's bedroom before bedtime, when Bill tucked them both in and came back to the living room to spend some more time with Roy and Flo.
After a few moments of chit-chat, a knock came at the door, and Bill got up to answer it. He opened the door.
"Well, hi Bill! Are your kin here?" said Cattle Annie.
"Yes, as a matter of fact," Bill replied. "C'mon in." She barged into the room in her usually theatrical cowgirl getup. Roy and Flo stood up.
Cattle Annie walked right up to Roy. "I'm Annie Hickok, but you can call me Cattle Annie," she said, thrusting her hand at Roy for him to shake.
He took her hand and instead of shaking it, held it and then kissed the top of it. "My privilege to meet you, madam," he said.
"Woo, Bill, honey! Your brother's got a lot more charm than you. You been holdin' out on me, Bill?"
Bill looked at her askance. Annie put her hand out and shook Flo's hand. "That's Flo, Roy's wife," Bill said.
"I figured that, honey," Cattle Annie said, looking back at Bill. "Nice to meet you, Flo," she said.
"Would you care to join us for drinks?" Roy asked.
"Don't mind if I do. What are we having?" Annie asked.
"Anything you want. The bar's open for business," Bill said, walking over to the bar.
"You know, I think I'm in the mood for a beer tonight," Annie replied.
"Coming right up," Bill said, as Annie, Flo, and Roy sat down. He removed the bottle cap and walked the beer over to Annie and joined everyone.
"What have y'all been up to today?" Annie asked.
"I went with Bill to see where he works," Roy said.
"And what did you do, honey?" Annie asked, turning to Flo.
"I walked around with my sketchbook on the property and drew," Flo replied.
"Oh! An artiste!" Annie exclaimed. She turned to Bill, "No offense, Bill, but that's more interesting than where you work."
"Yes. I know. I warned Roy, but he wanted to see it," Bill said.
"Tell me more about your art, honey," Annie said to Flo.
Flo regaled Annie with her educational background in art and her interest in abstracting landscapes. Roy shared his romantic adventure stories of war and espionage – the ones he could share. Bill talked about recent investments and philanthropic projects. They all socialized until about midnight, when Cattle Annie called it an evening, and everyone went to bed.