The Fire Within a Ninjago Soldier

Chapter 33 - Departures

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

In the chapter below, several references exist to events which occurred in my story The Fire Within a Ninjago Cowboy. Kai and Sam's time spent in a Noscut jail cell is narrated in Chapters 13 & 14, and Chapters 33 and beyond describe the week following their rescue from Morro.

Now that the Purple Army is heading toward an undefended western Ninjago, the civilians must decide what they are going to do...

Chapter 33 - Departures

Early in December...

Due to the impending takeover of western Ninjago by the Purple Army, many citizens of Ninjago Town and the surrounding countryside were planning to leave the area.

Yesterday, the Garmadon Ranch residents had said their goodbyes to their good friend and neighbor, Senora Garcia of the Double S Ranch. Senor Garcia had not wished his wife to remain in the area for the impending arrival of the Purples. Consequently, he had arranged for her to accompany friends of theirs, a married couple from Ninjago Town, who were planning to evacuate today to Skeleton Territory.

The gardener of Garmadon Ranch had also said goodbye yesterday. Bo had decided to head to the mountainous forested region of northwestern Ninjago, where a man could easily hide in the boulder-filled terrain.

The remaining Garmadon Ranch residents discussed among themselves about whether to stay or leave. Despite the danger of becoming civilian prisoners of the Purple Army, there was great reluctance to depart.

For Sam, going away meant separating from the beautiful countryside which she had embraced as her home for nearly one and a half years now. Going away also meant abandoning many happy reminders of her beloved Kai, such as the picnic table outside the kitchen where they first enjoyed refreshments together upon returning from their harrowing kidnapping ordeal. And the front porch where they had sneaked kisses after that memorable supper party, before Miss Gayle caught them. And the lawn on which their wedding reception was held.

And going away from Garmadon Ranch meant she might never be able to return.

But there was new life inside her now - Kai's heir - and Sam had to think about what was best for their child. The baby deserved to grow up in freedom, but if the believers in the monarchy won the war, freedom would become a relic of Ninjago's past.

The others also concluded that retreating would be best. Even Mr. Wu, whose brother had built Garmadon Ranch, felt that by selling the cattle, he had preserved enough of his sibling's assets to start up a new ranch, which he would also call Garmadon Ranch.

The group ultimately planned to retreat to the Skeleton Territory town of Noscut, a village which had given Sam both sweet and terrible memories. It was there in a dank jail cell that she and Kai had revealed their love for each other. But the reason they were being held there in the first place was due to Morro, her now-deceased former boss who had kidnapped the young couple in his quest to obtain her daddy's wealth.

On the group's way to Noscut, however, they would pause at the home of Miss Gayle's sister's family in Hibiscus Falls. Because Nya still had not yet given birth, they thought they would try traveling only an hour away and once there, they could reassess how much additional travel she could stand. In addition, Miss Gayle would have the opportunity to say goodbye to her sibling, for she planned to remain with her honorary "family" from Garmadon Ranch and care for them.

They aimed to set out on their journey in two more days after they finished packing what they could reasonably take with them and deciding what to do with things they could not take. Since Kai and Sam's cottage was located in a secluded place, in a wooded corner of the ranch next to the Ninjago River, they began to hide some of the items there.

But shouts of "Wu!" and loud knocks on the main house door at sunrise woke them up and quickly altered their plans.

The unexpected noise caused Sam to swiftly rise from her bed and slip her arms through the sleeves of her wrapper. Grabbing her gun from her bedside drawer, she hurried down the stairs in the early morning light. She reached the front door right behind Mr. Wu, who had rapidly limped toward the ruckus carrying his own gun, and Miss Gayle who, though she looked sleepy, clutched a kitchen knife.

"It's Francisco!" Mr. Wu called out after peering through the side window. He lowered his weapon and unlocked the door.

Indeed, on the front porch stood their neighbor, Senor Francisco Garcia of the Double S Ranch. In the dim light they could see his wife sitting and waiting in their carriage. Both wore worried looks on their faces.

"Francisco! What brings you here at dawn? And why is Rosa with you? I thought you were taking her to Ninjago Town yesterday!" Mr. Wu exclaimed with concern in his voice.

"My old friend, I have bad news to share with you," Senor Garcia began. "Yesterday I did indeed bring Rosa to the home of our friends, the Williamses, and spent the night there in order to see them off this morning. But Senor and Senora Williams kept us awake all night arguing between themselves, for she was having second thoughts about leaving. And then Deputy Dareth knocked on the door. He said he and Lloyd were warning all the townsfolk that the Purples were reported to be located only five miles away from the town limits. That is the bad news."

Senor Garcia began to make his way back down the front porch steps while continuing to talk. "Senora Williams still could not be convinced to leave, however, so I decided right then and there to take Rosa to Skeleton Territory myself. She and I are stopping by our home so I can gather some clothing for myself before we embark on our journey. I am sad to leave my cattle to fend for themselves and face the likelihood of losing them, but there is no one I can call on to tend to them at this point. You were smart, my friend, to sell your cattle in the Ninjago marketplace when you did. My potential buyer in Skeleton Territory acted too slowly and now time has run out."

By this time the Double S Ranch owner had climbed back into the carriage next to his wife. As he jerked the reins to urge on his horses, he called, "Vaya con Dios, my friends!"

"Vaya con Dios!" they all called back, watching from the doorway as the carriage disappeared from sight.

Suddenly Mr. Wu shouted "Tarnation!" and startled Miss Gayle and Sam.

"Beggin' your pardon," the ranch owner said more softly, "but I still can't believe those Purple scoundrels reached Ninjago Town so fast! I reckoned they'd try to cover as much ground as they could before the snow came, but I surely thought we'd have more time to vamoose," he muttered.

He sighed. "We'd best get moving so we can leave in an hour. Whatever we can't finish, we can't finish. I hope that Lloyd, Misako, and Doc will be all right," he added, pressing his lips together with worry.

"They'll be doin' fine," Miss Gayle assured her boss, trying to hide the quaver in her voice. "A sheriff and a doctor are happiest when they be servin' their town. And the Purple Army be treatin' them fine, for those sleeveens be needin' their help. And ye know Misako - she be doin' no such thing as leavin' her men behind."

With wry smiles, Sam and Mr. Wu nodded in agreement.

Thirty minutes later...

Upstairs on the second floor of the main house, Sam finished packing her steamer trunk, then left her bedroom and walked across the hall to Nya's room.

"I'm here to help you finish up, Nya," Sam called quietly as she knocked on the closed door. "Then we'll help you climb into the little makeshift bed in the carriage."

Sam proceeded to open the door, but to her surprise, Nya had remained in her bed, still wearing her nightclothes. The raven-haired woman's face displayed a scared look.

"Nya! What's the matter?" a shocked Sam exclaimed.

"I - I think the baby's coming!" She lifted her blankets to show Sam the evidence.

Sakes alive! Why must the baby come now? Sam thought to herself after taking a look. But she forced herself to be calm for Nya's sake, and she simply said, "Don't worry, honey, I'll get Miss Gayle."

Sam hurried back out of the room and down the stairs to the water pump outside the kitchen, where she knew Miss Gayle was collecting water to take for themselves and for Blaze and Flash, the Australian shepherd dogs.

There's no way we're going anywhere now, she thought on her way down.