The Fire Within a Ninjago Soldier

Chapter 44 - Christmas Day at Garmadon Ranch

AUTHOR'S NOTE:

In the chapter below, we switch from focusing on Kai's tribulations at Kryptarium Prison to discovering what's going on with his beloved wife Sam back at Garmadon Ranch, starting on Christmas Day...

Chapter 44 - Christmas Day at Garmadon Ranch

Last year's Christmas Day had dawned bright and clear upon the Garmadon Ranch residents and the welcomed guests - Brooke's family members who were visiting from the United States city of Ogacich.

This year, low gray clouds obscured the Christmas Day sun as it dawned upon the ranch and its many unwanted guests - the Third Division of the Purple Army.

Sam, Mr. Wu, Miss Gayle, and Nya, along with her newborn son EJ, were civilian prisoners of the monarchists. The Yellow Army supporters were generally confined to their bedrooms on the second floor of the stately two-story red brick mansion. They were allowed to move about the house to perform kitchen and laundry tasks, and eat meals, but when they did so, they were monitored by house sentries.

General Chen and his cadre of Purple Army officers controlled the first floor. The Purples also occupied two of the five upper level bedrooms - the ones nearest the stairway - for they needed additional rooms for sleeping quarters. Jake shared one of the rooms with another officer.

Now that Sam had reached the second trimester of her pregnancy, her daily morning nausea had subsided. No longer feeling sick around food, she rose early on this holiday to help Miss Gayle prepare special Christmas cinnamon breakfast biscuits for themselves and their fellow prisoners. They were only allowed to use their own kitchen at certain times of the day, so when it came to breakfast, they had to prepare their meal very early in the morning and clean up before the army cook arrived to make the morning meal for the officers.

Normally Mr. Wu and the ladies ate their meals at the small table in the kitchen, for the dining room was now reserved for the officers, but today - for extra privacy - the group squeezed into the upstairs bedroom shared by Sam, Nya, and the tiny baby boy, where they enjoyed the tasty biscuits and hot cups of fragrant tea.

The only Christmas gifts wrapped this year were given to the child. Mr. Wu gave him a gold coin. Sam and Miss Gayle gave him a blanket they had knitted together. Sam ruefully observed that it was easy to differentiate which portions were done by Miss Gayle - the parts with the smooth stitches - and which portions were done by Sam, a novice knitter. Nevertheless, Nya expressed her tearful appreciation for the kind gifts.

Mr. Wu led them in a prayer of thankfulness. Yesterday Jake had shared with them the joyful news that Jay was slated to be released from Kryptarium Prison in the Christmas prisoner exchange. Though they did not know when they would be seeing him again, since they were presently behind enemy lines, they were happy he was no longer being held against his will. They prayed that next Christmas, Jay would be home to share the holiday with his wife and young son.

Sam's throat tightened as Mr. Wu voiced his supplication that Kai would also be able to spend next Christmas at home with her and their child.

Whereas the Garmadon Ranch folks had to fix their breakfast before the officers, they had to wait to prepare their midday meal until after the officers ate theirs, so it was already after one o'clock in the afternoon when they finally finished consuming their second simple repast of the day. Today, as a thank-you gesture for baby EJ's blanket, Nya offered to take over Sam's duties of helping Miss Gayle clean up the kitchen. Since the little boy was sleeping, Nya simply bundled him in a basket and put him on the kitchen table while she worked. Sam thanked Nya for the unexpected opportunity to relax.