The Fire Within a Ninjago Cowboy

Chapter 32 - Thursday

Chapter 32 - Thursday

Lloyd decided that the group should spend the entire day of Thursday just staying put at Morro's house, for several reasons.

Doc Julien thought Sam's injury would get some good healing time during a day of quiet rest.

The horses needed some down time before the three-day trek back to Ninjago Town.

And it would be good for the men to rest as well. Before they were able to do that, however, they had to take care of some business.

The first order of business was to release their involuntary guest. Archer was an unscrupulous, disagreeable man to be around, but the information he had provided was accurate and had led to the rescue of the kidnapped couple. Lloyd, therefore, decided to send him and his horse on their way after giving him back his gun and providing him with a few supplies from Morro's house. Archer did not say where he might go, and Lloyd did not ask.

The group also had to bury Morro. Cole and Zane began digging a grave next to a tall pine behind the house, while Kai and Jay set out to build a simple wooden coffin. Lloyd was going to work on creating a grave marker. Since no one knew the date of Morro's birth, Lloyd went into his office room to search for that information.

As Kai and Jay measured, sawed, and hammered wooden boards in the barn, the topic of conversation turned toward women. Specifically, their women.

"Jay, you should just ask Nya to marry you and not worry about giving her an expensive ring," Kai told him in between taps of the hammer. "Life's too short to worry about silly stuff like that. The past few days have taught me that."

"I hear ya, pardner. Being on the trail so much these few days has given me lots of time to consider things," Jay replied as he handed Kai another nail, "and I've pretty much come around to your way of thinking. After nearly two years of courting, Nya probably wouldn't care if I gave her a doorknocker to wear on her finger."

The cowboys laughed.

"I didn't have any ring at all when I tried to propose to Sam in our jail cell," Kai said, hammering some more. "She didn't let me ask her, though, 'cause she wanted to wait until we were in better circumstances."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! This is new information, Romeo," Jay exclaimed, taking hold of the hammer in Kai's hand.

Then a grin spread across his face. "Did this happen before or after you tickled her?"

Kai's face reddened as Jay chuckled. The tickle comment made by the brunette cowboy while he hallucinated on Tuesday night had earned him a lot of ribbing from his companions.

"Anyway," Jay went on, letting go of the hammer, "I can see why she wanted better circumstances. So have you decided when and where you'll finally ask Sam?" He handed Kai another nail. "When I ask Nya, I'm going to take her to that sandy spot on the river where it bends to the west. We'll have a picnic supper and watch the sunset. I think we'll do this on the Sunday following the day we get back, as long as the weather's good."

Kai considered his possibilities as he hammered again. "Maybe I'll take Sam to Sunset Point. On that same Sunday. Since she arrived in Ninjago Town only last week, she hasn't had much of an opportunity to see the beautiful countryside we have in Ninjago. Up on Sunset Point, she can get a bird's-eye view."

As Kai finished tapping in the nail he was hammering, Jay put his hand on his friend's shoulder, causing the brown-eyed cowboy to look up at him.

"Kai, don't get me wrong," Jay said. "I believe in love at first sight, and Sam certainly seems like a great gal. It's just that you haven't even known her a week. And it hasn't been that long since Skylor left. Are you absolutely, positively sure Sam's the one for you?"

"Jay, I've never been more sure of anything."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The sheriff and the cowboys finished their designated tasks in the late morning. At that point, Sam felt like she could tolerate some extended time of standing up, so with the help of Doc Julien, she carefully donned garments from the armoire and joined the men.

Doc Julien led the group in a short, improvised funeral for Morro. They stood around the closed coffin, which had already been placed by Cole and Zane in its final resting spot in the ground.

Doc started out with some brief words of prayer. He next extended an invitation to anyone to say a few words. Everyone kind of expected Lloyd to speak, and he did.

"I guess I knew Morro longer than any of you. When I first knew him, he was a scoundrel. And he stayed a scoundrel to the end. And though I'm a lawman, and the reason I shot him was in defense of my friend, a part of me deep down in my soul is glad that I avenged my daddy's murder. And now today this rogue and his weapon will disappear from the face of the earth."

He tossed Morro's gun, Ol' Ghostmaker, in the grave on top of the coffin.

"I'm done talking now," he said in conclusion.

No one else wanted to speak, so Doc Julien said a quick concluding prayer. Then Cole, Zane, and Lloyd filled the grave with dirt while the doctor, Jay, Kai, and Sam headed into the house. It was time to prepare the midday meal.

Now that the pall of danger had disappeared, the atmosphere among the group began to lighten up. Despite the injuries sustained by Kai and Sam, they all were healthy and were going to head back to home sweet home in the morning.

"I don't know what to do with the chickens in the henhouse," Lloyd announced as the group sat eating their meal.

"I recommend a molasses barbecue sauce," Cole smirked.

"Molasses is good for beef, but we're talking poultry here," Kai corrected him. "A fruit-based sauce is better."

Lloyd rolled his eyes at the barbecue sauce banter. "Obviously we can't take the birds with us. Do you have any idea how they got here in the first place, Sam?"

"A man named Wrayth took care of stocking the henhouse. He lives at the foot of the mountain. Morro hired him to freshen up this house whenever he'd come to visit," she answered.

"Wrayth must be the one who lived in that gray shack," Lloyd guessed. "We'll stop by tomorrow on our way off the mountain and tell him to come get the fowl."

"Who do you suppose is going to inherit this house?" Zane wondered.

"When I was searching for Morro's birth date in his office, I came across a copy of his will," Lloyd said. "If his lawyer ends up verifying that this will is the most current, then there is one person who is getting everything he owned."

"Who's that?" Jay asked.

"Bansha."

The men expressed surprise, but Sam knew exactly why Morro had designated Bansha as his beneficiary, thanks to her supper conversation with him last night. She asked Kai to retrieve the framed photograph of Emma from the parlor, and then she relayed the story of Bansha's association with Morro while the men passed the picture around the table.

"Whoa, Sam, the likeness between you and this girl is incredible," Jay exclaimed.

When they were done looking at the photograph, Sam did not ask Kai to return it to the parlor. She planned to bring it back to Ninjago Town with her and give it to Bansha.