She handed John a beautifully wrapped package with a card that read, “To my wonderful husband, my best friend, and the light of my life.”
Saying, “Thank you, sweetheart,” he kissed her. Then he ripped open the package and exposed a beautiful oak case, about 24 inches square. “What in the world is this?” he asked.
“Open it, open it,” Lola excitedly told him.
John opened the hinged lid exposing a tray with lots of compartments. One compartment held three pairs of dice, carved from ivory; one compartment held three decks of playing cards; three compartments held poker chips of different colors, denoting values. The center compartment contained a miniature roulette wheel. All of the cards and chips were monogrammed with a large capital “T.”
“This is absolutely beautiful,” John said.
“Remove the tray,” Lola instructed him.
John obeyed, removing the top tray. It then exposed a lower tray that held a silver-plated ivory handled, Colt pocket revolver; an ivory handled bowie knife; a set of brass knuckles; and an ivory-handled double barrel, silver-plated Remington Derringer.
John whistled then told Lola, “I think I know what it is. I have heard of them, but have never seen one.”
“What do you think it is?” Lola asked.
“I think it is a traveling gambler’s kit. Where in the world did you ever find it?” John wondered.
“Daddy found it for me. He bought it from a man who said it was made for a famous gambler named Ben Thompson. I hope you like it,” Lola said.
“Like it? I love it, and I love you for getting it for me. But I left your wedding present at the ranch. I’ll give it to you tomorrow,” John told her.
The night was spent making serious love to each other.
The next morning, as John had arranged, they had a late breakfast delivered to the room. By eating late, they hoped the majority of out-of-town guests would have left for home.
That turned out to be the case because when they left for their ranch, everyone else was gone.
They arrived at the ranch and saw the presents Juan and the girls had brought with them. Lola also noticed a large present in the corner, covered with a sheet. John told her to remove the sheet, and she saw a beautiful western saddle, with her initials on each side, “LK,” in silver conchos. She looked a little bit disappointed, so he led her to the stable and showed her the rest of her present. It was a buckskin- colored mare. She gave a scream of delight and hugged the mare.
The next morning, after Lola went room to room inspecting the new addition to the house, the two of them rode off together. Lola wanted to see the ranch, and John wanted to see the new well that had just come in. That ride was the beginning of many morning rides they would take together as they settled into a new life on the ranch.
Chapter 19
Visitors at the Ranch
From time to time welcome visitors arrived to visit John and Lola. One Sunday morning Chief Ward, Carol, and their two daughters arrived. They were interested in showing their daughters the ranch. Their older daughter, Elizabeth, was crazy about horses. The younger one, Kimberley (Kimmie), was more interested in seeing the ranch house. Maria took Kimberley on a tour of the house. Lisa busied herself in the kitchen preparing lunch for all of them. Lola took Elizabeth to the barn, saddled her mare for her, and watched her ride away as John, Mike, and Carol sat on the porch and chatted as they enjoyed their coffee.
John said, “Mike, it is good to see you and Carol and to meet the girls. Thank you for bringing them.”
Mike responded, “It is good to see you too, John, especially when we don’t have to ride so many miles in the saddle. And fight our way out of some place.”
Elizabeth was more interested in riding the buckskin than she was in eating, so she continued riding while the rest of them enjoyed their lunch of ham sandwiches, baked beans, and potato salad. The Wards left for Houston mid-afternoon so as to get home before nightfall. It had been a pleasant day for all of them, and they promised to return soon. John put his arm around Lola, and they watched as their buggy disappeared from view. John commented, “I owe Mike a lot, including my life.”
Lola answered, “Then I owe him a lot too, because I can’t imagine a life without you,” and she kissed him hard and lustily.
The next month passed quickly. Maria helped Lisa with the cooking for John and Lola, Juan, and the twelve ranch hands. Maria and Lisa went to the market every Friday and brought home a wagon load of food and supplies. They made Mexican food several times a week, and that was fine with John and Lola. They loved the spicy taste. John and Lola were still very much in love and proved it to each other by making love several times a week.
It was a Sunday morning and John and Lola were sitting in the porch swing finishing their morning coffee, when they watched as a wagon made its way toward the ranch, on the road from Corpus Christi. As the wagon neared Juan rushed to meet it. It was Tomas and Rosita, who had come to visit from Monterrey. Juan shouted, “Buenos dias,” and escorted them to the porch. Juan introduced them to Lola, then kisses and hugs were exchanged. Hearing the commotion, Maria and Lisa joined the festivities. Tomas apologized for the surprise visit and explained they had mailed a letter to them two weeks ago. He said he was not surprised that it had not arrived yet. “That is just the way my country’s mail works. “Todo es manana.”
John told them, “I am so glad that you accepted my offer, and I hope we can show you the same kindness you extended to Juan and me when we visited you.”
Rosita said, “That was our pleasure having you, and I hope we can all visit each other more often. Juan is our only living relative, and we miss our family.”
Lola then offered, “Well, I hope you will consider all of us your family. We certainly would welcome you into our circle of family.”
Rosita answered, “Well, consider it done. We will all be just one happy family.”
After lunch Juan saddled three horses and took Tomas and Rosita on a tour of the ranch. Tomas was interested in seeing the producing oil well as he had never seen one before.
He commented, “Those oil pumps look like pictures I have seen of dinosaurs.”
John and Lola were waiting on the porch for Juan and their guests when they returned from the ranch tour. Maria and Lisa were also waiting for them with a pitcher of margaritas. Even before the pitcher was emptied, they all sat down for a dinner of tamales, rice, beans, and tortillas.
Rosita and Lola helped clear the table while Lisa served dinner to the ranch hands in the bunk house. John and Tomas adjourned to the porch to enjoy coffee and a cigar.
John asked, “What ever happened to Carmen?”
“Oh, she is fine. She wanted to come with us, but she couldn’t miss school. She is going to college. She wants to be a school teacher, and I think she will be a good one,” Tomas reported.
“I agree. That poor girl has had enough adversity to last a lifetime,” John said.
Maria had prepared the guest room for them and all were tired and ready for an early bed time.
After an early breakfast the next morning, Lisa made them a basket of sandwiches to eat on the train, and Rosita and Tomas said their good-byes and rode off for Corpus Christi to board the train for Monterrey. Lola had expected the next visitors they would entertain would be her parents, but so far they had not shown up. A wire from Bambi explained that Clayton was working seven days a week training Sully to take over more responsibility in the oil business.
It was a Wednesday about noon when a buggy was spotted heading towards the ranch on the road from Houston. Juan spotted the buggy first and ran to the house to get John, who was busy working on the payroll.
“Hey, boss, do you know those folks?” Juan asked.
John looked through the window, and without answering he strapped on his Colt Peacemaker, and walked to the porch. Seeing this, Juan took a Win
chester rifle from the gun case and followed John to the porch. It was Willie Washington and Linda.
Seeing Juan holding the rifle, Willie shouted, “Don’t shoot, Mistah! We ain’t got no guns, and we mean nobody no harm. This is a friendly visit.”
John answered, “You are both welcome. Come on up here.”
Linda explained, “We stopped in Houston and Chief Ward told us how to find you. We both just came here to thank you for what you did for Willie.”
John asked, “And what would that be? All I did was turn him over to the sheriff in Nacogdoches.”
“Oh no—you did a lot more than that! You turned over the reward, and the sheriff was able to hire Attorney Calhoun for him. Calhoun convinced the judge to only sentence him to 60 days in jail. Then the sheriff gave him the money that was left over, and we put that with some money I had saved, and we bought the diner together. Willy is the cook and I am the waitress, and we are making money,” Linda told him.
John answered, “Well, I am sure happy for you two. If it hadn’t been for Willie, I wouldn’t have been able to catch up with the killers of my parents.”
Willie chimed in, “Thank you, Mr. King. Thank you for everything, suh.”
John said, “I am just glad it all worked out the way it did. Thanks for taking the time and effort to come here to tell me.”
All of that said, John watched as Willie and Linda rode off in the buggy, waving good-bye.
When John went to the table for dinner that evening, he was still wearing the gun belt.
Lola, unaware of the visitors, asked, “Why are you wearing that gun belt?”
“Don’t worry, sweetheart. I am taking it off, and hopefully I will never have to put it on again,” John answered.
John King Bounty Hunter Page 10