Until I'm with you

1910- 'Monte Grande' Ranch

Don Palafox and Don Sandoval, the 'founders' of Rancho Monte Grande never truly got along. There are many stories going around about how one stole a mule from the other, and how the other, in retaliation, set ablaze all the mezcal the one had for the rest of the month; amongst many other. But they are long gone, thankfully. Their grandsons however are much worse, to the dismay of the residents of the ranch.

Eliseo Sandoval was the ranchos jinete. He was good looking and had a special bond with horses like no other, which made him and excellent rider. Tall, good looking, and amazing with animals, no wonder he had most of the women swoon at his every move. The only bad thing about him was his awful temperament and big ego. It was rumored that he would mistreat his lovers in ways that would, sometimes, get physical. But nobody could care less to actually look into them. Most of his ex-lovers would leave the ranch and never come back, so no one was there to back those claims either.

Eliseo was usually calm and flirty, all until Teófilo Palafox would come by. Teófilo was the ranchos main accountant. Tall, skinny, but nonetheless a beautiful man, that was Teófilo. Being the smartest man the rancho has ever witnessed, the ladies would go to visit him every day and bring him little snacks or coffee just to see him work. A truly marvelous man with a calm and loving soul, the only problem with him was that he was married to his work and never truly fancied any of the women around him.

Being the two main descendants of the original rivals of the rancho, there was bound to be some rivalry of their own. Constant bickering, stares, and dares thrown at each other to see who was the 'macho Alpha' of the two, it was quite entertaining.

But all this changed when the Mexican revolution started. Since most of the elder men went to fight in the war, Eliseo and Teófilo where left along with some other men to take care of the rancho.

It was calm for a couple months, nothing to write home about; until the men of the rancho came back, with prisoners from the capital.

Tree men, five women, one child. You could tell they where wealthy by the way they dressed, even though their garments where a bit town and dirty because of the miles of walking they had to endure. Most of the party was older, except for a young pair of twin girls and the small boy.

The people of the rancho where curious as to why the men brought back such prisoners, especially to their homes; but that was quickly put to rest when the leader of the troop, Don Garcia stated aloud;

"Señores! these people you see here are to be our prisoners until further notice from our generals in the north. The women will help with day to day chores, and the men are to be put in the cells"

Another man on horse back, Señor Martinez said;

"Even though they are our prisoners, we will treat them as our own, so feel free to interact with them. Also, the war is going well! we are sure General Zapata will lead us to victory; so to celebrate and honor our general, we will hold a fiesta in his name"

The people cheered and went on their way to prepare for the upcoming fiesta, while the prisoners where taken away. This would be the last time in a long time that the rancho would be this problem free in a long, long time.