Homecoming 1885 by EM

Word Count 9,832

#4 in the Holidays series

This is a continuation of my Holidays series and takes place two years after New Year 1883.  Scott and Johnny are estranged and I hope to change that.

Both Lancer sons are married and have children.  To recap-  Scott and Caroline have Elizabeth age 12 and Henry age 3.    Johnny and Sarita have Enrique age 11, Juliana age 9, Cristian age 7 and Isabel age 4.  Johnny is 34 and Scott is 37.

In 1883, Johnny started raising and training horses and Walt took over running the cattle business with Johnny still overseeing the ranch.  Scott is a senator and he and Caroline live near Washington DC.

Chapter One

“Hurry up,” Johnny called to his children.  Their two room hotel accommodations felt cramped with the six of them.  Johnny moved the curtain aside and looked down onto the already bustling streets of Salinas.

The young Lancer family always left the ranch for four weeks to travel to see Sarita’s family for Christmas and then they went up to Salinas for the New Years Day rodero. 

The day was sunny and warm considering it was winter.  Being closer to the ocean, it tended to stay a bit warmer in the winter as compared to their inland ranch.

Finally corralling the four children, ranging in age from the youngest, Isabel at four, to Enrique, the oldest at eleven, to the middle children, Juliana at nine and Christian at seven, they proceeded to the dining room.

Johnny squeezed Sarita’s hand and looked with pride at his family and felt content.  They all simmered with excitement in anticipation of what the day might bring.

Sarita gave her children the look that ensured they paid attention to her.  Johnny felt himself sit up as well.  “I expect you all to behave today,” She began, giving each child a slice of her gaze.  “There will be a lot of people at the rodero so what do we do if we get separated Juliana?”

“We go to the grandstand.”

“Muy bien.  Enrique, Christian did you hear that?”

“Si Mamasita,” Enrique had that sincere innocent look that his father had perfected, but Sarita wasn’t fooled.

“Si Mamasita,”  Christian echoed his brother.

“Enrique, you and Juliana stick together.  Cristian, you stay with me and Isabel.”

“Yes Mama,” Enrique acknowledged.

“Mama, why can’t I go with Enrique and Juliana?”  Cristian complained.

“You’re too little,” Juliana told him with a shake of her head.

“Bird,” Johnny said using his pet name for his oldest daughter. “Mind your own business,” He said smiling at his daughter which took the sting out of it.

That brought a smile from her and she didn’t complain further.  She had her father wrapped around her little finger so she was confident they would do something fun.

The family walked down the crowded street, dodging wagons loaded with families coming for the festivities.  Johnny held Isabel’s right hand and had Juliana’s hand firmly in his left, while Sarita held the boy’s hands even though Enrique thought he was too old and complained until his father had a sharp word with him.

Reaching the racetrack, the grandstand was already filling up with excited spectators.  This was the highlight of the year.  Taking up three rows were Sarita’s mother, and other family members and what looked like a dozen children of various ages. 

Johnny got his family settled and gave the children another reminder of where to meet if they got separated. The two older children took off to look at all the booths that were set up. Each had a nickel to spend.  “Don’t eat all the candy at once, or you’ll be sick,” Johnny called.

Sarita whispered, “And save some for your father.”

Johnny grinned, and left to join his father-in-law in getting the horses saddled.

*****

Sarita’s father, Tomas was checking on the horses with the help of two of her brothers.  This annual festival was a celebration of ranches working together to gather cattle, brand, and drive the cattle to Monterey.  Some of the meat ended up in San Francisco and as far away as Sacramento, however some of the meat was dried and salted and taken by ship to the far East. Some of the cattle were shipped live to the east by stock car, but the ranches always kept the best to further improve their herds.

The annual rodear also gave the rancheros a chance to swap bulls in order to improve their bloodlines.  It was a genial practice that Johnny appreciated.  His father used to trade stock with Aggie and her husband Buck, a practice Johnny continued with both horses and cattle.

Shaking his head, he put thoughts of Lancer out of his mind. Today he needed to make sure Victorio was ready to perform at his best.  Two years ago, he won the novice stock horse class.  Johnny didn’t bring him last year as he needed more time to get him ready to compete against the older horses. Now at five years old, Victorio was showing the kind of promise he, and his father in law, Tomas thought he would.  He would be forever grateful for Tomas to trust him with such a fine horse.

In the background, Johnny could hear the sounds of the rodero  taking place. People calling out to friends, cheering when someone managed to ride a bucking bronc, and jeering when unlucky cowboy failed to get his rope around a frantically running calf.

 Each year, the Verdugo family brought some of their finest cow horses to compete against some of the best in California.  Johnny was proud to be part of that tradition. 

Johnny went back to check on his family.  Sitting between Sarita and Juliana they watched some trick riders showing off their death defying riding skills.  Then a man in a charro costume demonstrated his roping skills as he twirled his rope in larger and larger circles until he was twirling his rope completely around his horse who was trotting in place.  His final move was to stand on the saddle and spin his rope as his horse trotted forward. He received a standing ovation from the crowd.   Enrique declared he wanted to learn to do that.  Fearless Juliana announced she wanted to be a trick rider. 

Sarita smiled and said, “We will see.”

Before long the stock horses were called to the arena.  The fence was lined with vaqueros and their horses as each one watched as their compadres showed off their horses skills.

Johnny stood among them with Victorio . The colt occasionally tossed  his head to rid himself of flies and chewed his bit.  He was getting restless and he pawed the ground.  “Settle down fella, it won’t be long,” Johnny soothed him with a stroke on his neck, admiring the shining dapples in his gray coat.  The horse settled, but Johnny could see he was still impatient.

Finally, the novice horses were done and the snaffle bit horses were starting.  Since Victorio was the last one, Johnny led him away from the fence to the area being used to warm up and mounted.  He walked Victorio in a large circle before he asked him to trot.  By the time he had trotted both ways twice, he asked him to lope. Again both ways before moving to a figure eight with a lead change.  Victorio felt eager but calm.  ‘He’s ready,’ Johnny thought , as he returned the colt’s mane to the correct side of his neck. 

Walking slowly in a circle, he waited his turn. His brother-in-law Carlos called, “Juanito, you are next.”

Clicking to Victorio, he trotted toward the arena.  The first part of the trial was to demonstrate the colt’s responsiveness while working a pattern both slowly and at speed.  Showmanship was a part of it, and Johnny knew a lot of good horses and horsemen had already demonstrated their superior horsemanship.

The gate was opened and Johnny cued the colt into a canter.  As he entered the arena, he subtly gave him the cue to gallop and gallop he did.  As they got within 100 feet of the end of the arena, Johnny sat down in the saddle and Victorio planted his front feet, practically sitting down with his hind end and slid to a stop.  The crowd erupted in applause.  While it was a good move, Johnny knew it wasn’t enough.  Spinning Victorio, he galloped to the other end of the arena and did another sliding stop.  Johnny backed him up a dozen paces and spun him first left and right. 

Victorio turned aptly on his hindquarters.

Off in the distance Johnny could hear applause and cheers, but his concentration was on his horse.  From a standstill he cued the colt into a lope.  He made two perfect circles in one direction and then changed direction with a flying lead change and made two more circles followed by a lead change in the other direction.  Completing the pattern, he cued Victorio to stop.  Johnny was pleased the colt stood on a loose rein and had demonstrated to the best of his abilities the attributes of a good stock horse.  Whoa and go. Right and left, and stand quietly. Victorio was the picture of a relaxed happy horse, just as Johnny wanted him to be. 

Next was the cattle work. a small herd of cows was let into the arena and held at one end by two riders. Johnny waited until he heard the bell ring before turning Victorio to see the cows. He allowed the colt to walk quietly into the herd until Johnny found the cow he wanted to work.  Slowly and calmly, they ushered the cow to the outside of the herd, and then refused to let her return to her mates.

He picked a good one. Johnny was rewarded when the cow took off down the arena with Victorio, keeping up right beside her. He turned her on the fence and chased her back the other way, turning her once again. The cow took off to the middle of the arena and Victorio followed her turning her in a circle. In spite of being well herded by the horse, the cow still had plenty of fight left in her. She faced Victorio and dodged right to left to try to elude the horse. Victorio wasn’t having any of it as he practically scraped his stomach on the ground shifting back-and-forth in front of the cow to keep her where she was. The bell rang, and the time was up. Johnny lifted his reins, and Victorio immediately responded by letting the cow return  to the herd. They were rewarded by loud applause and cheering from the crowd, but more importantly from his fellow competitors.

He let Victorio stand for a minute and catch his breath and gave him a pat on the neck.  Getting the signal from the judges, that they were done, Johnny tipped his hat and trotted out of the arena.

Tomas was there to greet him. “Much improved hijo.  I think he’s got the makings of a fine bridle horse.’  Johnny grinned at the high praise from his father in law.  A man of few words, but given to speaking his mind.

As Johnny rode back to the warm up arena, he got nods from his fellow competitions and a few words of appreciation for the colt’s performance.

Riding in a slow circle around the perimeter of the warm up arena, he allowed Victorio to get his breathing back to normal before dismounting and loosening the cinch.  He walked him over to the fence where Sarita was waiting for him.  She ducked under the fence and gave Johnny a hug which Johnny turned into a quick kiss after turning them away from onlookers.  “That was magnifico, Johnny.  I think you won.”

“Maybe yes, maybe no,” He replied. “We did the best we could today anyway. We also got lucky with that cow,” he added.

Johnny stretched and held his wife’s hand.  “Ready to go home?” He asked.

“Si.  It will be nice to get back to our own home.  You know I love coming to visit my parents for the holidays, but it’s nice to get back to our routine. The children need to get back to school too.”

“They’ll be fine.  Don’t worry about them missing a few days. They’ll catch up.”

She smiled and poked him in his ribs.  “I’ll let you explain to Mister Collins then if they’re behind.”

Frowning, Johnny watched her walk away and shook his head when she looked back and grinned.

******

It was a long ride back home from Salinas.  They left at dawn and hoped to be back before dark.  Right now they were half way, and were stopped for lunch.  His mother in law gave them enough food for two days and they were all well fed.

Tossing the chicken bones into the scrub brush, Johnny looked over at his little family and felt contentment.  The children had slept in the wagon for the first couple hours of the trip.  The wagon had straw laid out in it to make a nice soft bed, and the weather was clear, but cold.  In spite of that, everyone was well bundled up and comfortable.

“Let’s get packed up.  Everyone make sure you go behind the bushes before we leave.  I don’t want to have to stop again in half an hour.”

Sarita, paused in her packing up and hustled the children to get ready.  Johnny hitched up the team and tied Victorio to the wagon.  He grabbed Cristian and swung him into the bed of the wagon.  Next,  he picked Juliana up and swung her high before depositing her on the straw.  He was rewarded with a squeal of delight and her sunshine laughter.  He placed Isabel on the front seat with an order to stay there. Turning he helped Sarita into the front seat and Enrique climbed  into the back. With his family safely settled, they made their way back home.

Chapter Two

A busy week went by while Walt caught Johnny up on everything that had happened in the last month.  Turns out it was a good time to be gone.  Winter was when the ranch slowed down.  The extra help hired for roundup were let go, and the remaining vaqueros and their families were more than able to keep up with the maintenance and minimal stock work.  About the only concern was once again the foot bridge washed out in a big storm in December.  By the time Johnny got back, it had been fixed, but a more permanent solution needed to be found.

Johnny walked into the great room to his father’s desk and groaned at the sight of all the correspondence piled up. This was one of his least favorite chores.

“Gracias Juanita,” Johnny replied as a cup of coffee was placed in front of him.  “I’m maybe gonna need more of that,” He said taking a sip and savoring it.

“I’ll leave the pot.  It should stay hot with the towels wrapped around it.”

 “Gracias, Señora.  You are an Angel.”

Her laugh was musical as she left the room saying, “And you Señor, are stalling.” 

Acknowledging her insight, he reached for the letter opener and started in.  An hour later he was almost at the bottom of the pile.  He had stacked the newspapers on the coffee table out of the way.  He had another stack of contracts and proposals he planned to take home with him.  Bills were few as he had paid everything he could before they left for their visit with Sarita’s parents.  His end of year taxes were settled so he could breathe easy on that score.

There were three letters addressed to Scott which he put in the bottom drawer.  Next time someone went to town, they could send them to him at the nation’s capitol.

Thoughts of Scott brought familiar resentment along with a yearning to see his brother.  It had been almost two years.  They’d had words about Johnny’s plan to turn the cattle operation over to Walt to run while he ‘indulged’ himself raising, and training horses.  Johnny’s hobby as Scott called it, was showing a healthy bank balance. Victorio’s win in Salinas had inquiries from respected ranches to send some good colts to Johnny for training, as well as a couple of requests to breed some mares to Victorio.  ‘Too soon for that, but maybe next year,’ He mused.

Unexpectedly the clock started chiming.  At almost the same time, Juanita called him to lunch.  Surprised at where the time had gone, he got up stiffly and stretched.  He’d been sitting for almost three hours at that point and was ready to get up and move.

After lunch, he wandered back to the desk to finish opening the last couple of pieces of mail.  Frowning, he recognized the handwriting on the bottom envelope.  It had been delivered just before Christmas.

Slicing open the letter, he quickly read through the missive trying to read between the lines.

Getting up he walked into the kitchen.  “Juanita, Scott and Caroline are coming back soon.  Can you get their rooms ready?”

“Of course Señor.  When do you expect them to arrive?”

“It says here by the 10th.”

“That’s in two days! Madre de Dios!   We need to get the house cleaned, and plan a welcome home dinner. You need to tell Señora Teresa they’re coming home too.  She’ll want to be here if she can.”

I’ll have someone go to town to send a telegram to her.”

Smiling, she pushed a stray strand of gray hair away from her face as she went back to work and started planning for Señor Scott and his family’s homecoming.

Johnny gathered up the correspondence he wanted to look over at home and made sure everything was off the desk, before heading for the French doors.  He paused a minute and looked back, missing his father.  While at times they had their differences, he knew Murdoch had done his best to be a good father to him.  Now that he was a father, he understood his father better and felt a kinship to him.  He also missed him. With a sigh, he turned and went outside into the pale sunshine of winter and headed home to his family.

*****

“It’s a good thing, my husband,” Sarita said as she unbraided her hair.  Johnny tugged his nightshirt over his head, and turned to help her loosen the rest of the braid.  She leaned back into him as he ran his fingers through her hair.  Sitting down on the bed, he pulled her down so she was sitting between his legs. He reached over and got her hairbrush and she sighed in contentment as he brushed her hair in gentle even strokes.  “You and Scott need to talk.”

“I know.  We will.”

“Did you hear from Teresa? Is she able to come out?”

“Yeah, I heard from her.  Tommy has a cold, so she needs to stay home.”  Tommy was Teresa and Philip’s youngest.  Their oldest, Mary just turned three.  They lived in Cross Creek so they weren’t too far away.  “Teresa says as soon as Tommy’s well they will be out.”

“Bueno.  It will be good to see them.  Isabel and Mary always have a good time together.”

“Time for bed my wife.  We have to be up early to go meet the stage.”

*****

The stage ended up being an hour late. In addition to the buggy they brought, Antonio drove the carriage, and Walt drove the buckboard. Johnny thought that would be enough to carry Scott and his family as well as all their luggage.

Walt walked up and let Johnny know that he loaded the supplies and there was still plenty of room for Scott and Caroline’s luggage

“Thanks Walt, that’ll be a big help if we don’t have to come back to town in a couple days.”

Turning to Sarita, he said “At this rate we’ll be able to pick up the kids from school.”

“What time is it?” Sarita said.

Johnny pulled out his pocket watch and said “It’s half past one.”

“By the time the stage gets here, and Caroline and Scott freshen up, we can go right by the school and pick the kids up. Enrique and Juliana rode their ponies today, but Christian can ride back with us.”

Just as they settled their plans for the rest of the afternoon, they heard, before they saw the stage coming in. The creak of leather and the pounding of horses hooves proceeded the large cloud of dust as the horses entered town.

“Whoa.”  Called the driver as he brought the horses to a stop in front of the stage depot. He hauled back on the brake and wrapped the reins around the brake handle.

One of the boys who helped out with the stage, ran out and took the harness of the lead horse to steady him, while the step was placed for the passengers to get out.

A middle-aged man and his wife got out first, followed by a priest and then finally Scott.  Scott reached in and got his daughter Elizabeth, and set her down on the ground, and reached a hand in for his wife. She handed him their son, and took his other hand, and she stepped down.

“Uncle Johnny, Aunt Sarita!” Elizabeth exclaimed as she ran to both of them and hugged them. 

“It’s good to see you too, Sobrina,” Sarita said as he hugged her niece.

“You’re an all grown up young lady,” Johnny exclaimed

“Oh, I’m not that grown up yet Uncle Johnny, but I’m getting there,”  She gave him that smile that always melted his heart

Straightening up, Johnny extended his hand to his brother. “Welcome back brother. Welcome Caroline.  It’s good to see you both.”

“Let’s look at this little guy.” Johnny said looking at his nephew, whom he hadn’t seen since he was a couple of years old. “He’s really grown.”

Scott’s wife smiled. “Yes, he really keeps us on our toes.  It’s hard to believe Henry will be four in a couple of months.”

“Let’s get off the boardwalk,” Scott suggested.

“Good to see you, Walt,” Scott said, shaking the foreman’s hand.

“Welcome home sir,” Walt said with a smile as he shook his boss’s hand.

“Antonio and I will get your bags, just let us know which ones are yours.”

Sarita escorted, Elizabeth, Henry and Caroline to the carriage, while Scott sorted out the luggage and trunks with the hands.

Johnny took two bags, Scott took two more while the men lugged the trunks between them.

“I hope this means you’re staying for a while,” Johnny remarked, as he loaded in the last case.

“Why would you think otherwise?” Scott questioned.

“So you’re sticking around for a while?”

“We’ll discuss it when we get home. This isn’t the place or time,” Scott said effectively ending the conversation.

Scott got into the carriage with his family and Johnny returned to their buggy, Johnny called over his shoulder, “Go ahead and head for Lancer. We’ll catch up. We’re going to go by the school and get the kids.”

“Will do.” Antonio took up the reins and headed the carriage out of town headed to Lancer.

Chapter Three

Sarita was brushing her hair, when Johnny dressed, and once freshly shaved, he walked behind her and took the brush from her hand.  With gentle strokes he nursed the last few tangles out and began braiding her hair.

“It was a good dinner last night. No?” She asked as she turned half way toward her husband.

“Hold still, querida.  Si, it was a good evening.”

“Did you and Scott talk?” She asked.

“Yes a bit.  I’m going back over there this morning.  He told me he’s not running for office again and he has some ideas about the ranch.”

“Caroline told me they were moving back into the hacienda.”

“She happy about that?”

“She sounded happy.  She’s different.  I’ve been trying to come up with the word. Content? She seems content in a way she wasn’t when she lived here before.”

“That’s good. Lancer is her home.”

“She is concerned about Elizabeth’s schooling. They have a tutor coming out in a couple of weeks.  Caroline offered to have Juliana and Enrique tutored as well.  I told her I’d talk to you.”

“Hmm.  Let me think on that some.  I don’t think ours will want to spend more time schooling that they already get.”

Sarita chuckled as she stood up.  “Especially since Juliana wants to be a trick rider and Enrique wants to be a charro.”

“Let’s see if they have forgotten about that.  Seems like every week or so, one of them comes up with a new idea.”

******

Johnny met Walt as he was coming out through the French doors.  “Hey Johnny.”

“Walt.  Any problems?  Anything I should know about?”

“Just the usual.  Scott wanted me to catch him up.”

“Do you need any help checking the heifers in the south pasture?” Johnny asked.

“We’ve got that covered, but if you could ride through the cows in the lower meadow on your way home, that would be a help.”

“Sure Walt.  I’ll look them over.”

Johnny entered the house through the French doors. “Morning Scott.” 

“Get yourself a cup of coffee and sit down, Johnny. We have a lot to go over.”  Johnny hung up his hat and jacket on the hat tree and poured himself a cup of coffee from the side table.

Scott had papers and the ranch ledgers all over the desk.  Johnny settled himself in his chair in front  of the desk.  Johnny pulled the contracts out of his saddle bags that he took home last week and added them to the pile.  “I didn’t want to answer these until you had a chance to look at them.”

“I’ll look at them later this afternoon. I’ve been looking at the ledgers.  Good job with them Johnny.  The ranch looks like it’s in good shape.”

“Thanks Scott.  You know I’m not good at paper things, but I’ve had to learn how to do it.  I still would rather be clearing a stream than sitting behind this desk.  Now that you are back, maybe we could divide the labor a bit.” Johnny said with a small smile, not expecting his brother to go for it.

“We can discuss it Johnny, but I don’t want you to get out of practice.”

“Thanks for your consideration Scott.”  Both brothers chuckled and Johnny felt some of the lost closeness returning.

“John,”  At the use of his name, Johnny sat up straighter.

Scott continued, “I’ve been thinking a lot about the ranch and how we can ensure it’s viability for future Lancer generations.  If you think about it, we have six children between us.  Even if the girls marry…”

Johnny raised his hand interrupted, “Hold on there brother. I’m not ready to marry off my girls anytime soon.”

“Me neither.  I suspect any boy wanting to walk out with Juliana may face the barrel of your shot gun.”

“Too true Scott. Too true.”

“Getting back to the issue at hand.  We each own half of Lancer.  I just don’t see how the ranch can support our children and grandchildren and beyond without making some strategic investments.”

“Strategic investments,”  Johnny repeated, rolling the unfamiliar word around his tongue.

“Yes. California is the land of opportunity Johnny.  In Murdoch’s day it was cattle and gold.  We need to look to the future.   With the Southern Pacific railroad extending its reach down to San Diego, and soon forming a partnership with the Central Pacific Railroad, markets are opening up from California to New Orleans as well as to the east along the northern route. There are lucrative opportunities in real estate investments in San Diego. I think we should look into them.”

“San Diego? Where did you learn all this Scott and why the sudden interest in land investment and railroads?” 

“It’s not sudden Johnny. If we don’t embrace the future, we’ll be left behind.”

“Okay, I agree we need to keep an open mind, but you didn’t answer my question.  Where did you find out about all this?”

“You hear a lot of things in Washington.  Rumors and speculation.”

“Rumors.  How do you know it’s not a bunch of malarkey?”  Johnny asked.

“I was on the committee that provided approval for funding for the railroad line to San Diego. Soon investors will be flooding to buy property there.”

“I don’t know Scott.  This reminds me of that mining scheme Jelly got caught up in years ago.”

“This is nothing like like that Johnny.  If we act fast we can get in on the ground floor.  William Carlson and Frank Higgins are willing to let us in as full partners if we can come up with the money to invest. They are buying 120 oceanfront acres.  They plan to build a small town centered around a hotel.  It will be a place for the wealthy to come to vacation and live.  People will flock to it from the east, especially in the winter.”

“How much are we talking?” Johnny asked cautiously.

“We need to invest a minimum of $30,000 to get 25% interest.”

Johnny was glad he already swallowed his sip of coffee. “Scott!  That’s ridiculous.  We don’t have that kind of money, and even if we did, I don’t know if it’s worth it.”

“Look Johnny, at least agree to meet them before you say no.  In the meantime, we can look at our options to come up with the buy in.”

“I guess listening wouldn’t hurt,”  Johnny conceded.  “We done here?”

“Yes for now.  I’ll make the arrangements and let you know when we will leave.”

“Leave?”

“Of course.  We need to go to San Diego.  You wouldn’t want to invest without seeing the property would you?”

Johnny scratched his cheek while nudging the coffe cup farther into the desk..  “Yeah. I guess you’re right. At least it should be sunny and warm in San Diego.  I just can’t see any land there being worth that kind of money.”

“Times are a changing John, and we need to change with them.”

Chapter 4

Johnny looked out the window of the speeding train without really taking note of the landscape.  From time to time, Scott shuffled through all the papers he brought with him.  They had argued until Johnny gave into taking out a loan.  When Scott pointed out that Murdoch grew the ranch to its present size by taking out loans, he had to agree to consider it.  If this was the way business was done, Johnny wasn’t sure he was comfortable being a businessman.

They’d been gone five days as they needed to meet with investment bankers in San Francisco since their local bank couldn’t handle such a sizable loan, even with Lancer as collateral. With the guarantee of the loan secured, they were now on their way to meet with the investors.

“Hope this works.  I don’t want to go back to eating beans, brother.”

“You have to take a risk Johnny to get a big reward.  That’s what this country was built on.  How do you think all these wealthy people got wealthy?”

“Not to mention all those people who lost their shirts.” Johnny mumbled.

*****

Scott and Johnny stepped off the train just as the bags were being placed on the boardwalk.  They both were glad to be back on firm ground.  Taking up their bags, they walked toward their hotel. 

Scott glanced over at his brother. “What are you so tense about? Do you think someone might recognize you.”

Johnny made an effort to loosen his shoulders, but the feeling stayed with him.  “I hope not.  It’s been a long time.”

Scott looked Johnny over noting his brown jacket and trousers completely unlike the clothes he used to wear.  “Let’s not go looking for trouble.  San Diego is working hard to become a respectable city so let’s just stay away from old town and we should be fine.”

“Too old to get into a fist fight big brother?” Johnny teased gently.

“Ha! No, but I’m too old to chase after my little brother from cantina to cantina in a town I don’t know.”

Johnny gave him a nod and a rueful smile.  “Not to mention our wives will kill us if we get into trouble. Speaking of wives, there’s the telegraph office. Let’s stop and send a telegram so they know we arrived.”

“Good idea.”

With that task done, Scott led the way to their hotel.  “William and Frank will meet us here for a drink at six, and then we’ll all go to dinner.

****

Johnny pulled his tie loose in frustration and began trying to tie it properly.  “I don’t think this town is fancy enough to require me to wear these duds.  Why do I have to wear a tie anyway?”

Scott laughed. “Now you sound like Enrique,”  He stepped around behind Johnny and said, “Let me,” and proceeded to tie the tie.

Johnny gave his brother a weak imitation of his glare and backhanded him in the stomach as he walked out the door to meet his potential partners.

****

William Carlson and Frank Higgins were younger than Johnny envisioned.  He was expecting to meet men much older than Scott and himself with gray hair and beards, when in fact Billy Carlson as he called himself was in his twenties and Frank only a little bit older.

The leisurely after dinner drinks and cigars made for a congenial group, and while Johnny was long past bored with the talk of stock shares, leverage, and equity shares, he found himself enjoying Frank and Billy’s company.

Scott was in his element and the two other men listened intently to what he had to say.  Johnny was proud of his brother, even if they didn’t see eye to eye all the time. 

Frank took a pull on his cigar and watched as the blue smoke neatly made rings, “We have to move fast if we have any hope of bringing in Al Hart.  He won’t invest until seventy-five percent of the funds are deposited.  Billy and I almost have our lines of credit for our share.  Where do you two stand?”

“We have our credit guaranteed by Wells Fargo in San Francisco,” Scott replied as he took a sip of brandy.  “We are still exploring our options on investing in San Diego so we aren’t ready to commit.”

“We’re looking at some other investments, before deciding,” Johnny added.

“You won’t find a better investment than ours gentleman,” Billy declared.

“That’s what we’re here to determine.”  Scott drained his glass and stood up with Johnny quickly following him.  “Let’s call it a night and we can reconvene tomorrow.”

Back in their room, Johnny took off his suit coat and tossed it over an overstuffed chair. “What do you think?”

“On paper it sounds good.  Those two are smooth.”

“Maybe too smooth,” Johnny added.

“Just like we talked about, we need to check everything out.  Tomorrow we’ll go see the property and meet with the architect. For now, I’m heading to bed.”

“Night Scott.”

“Good night Johnny.”

Johnny pushed aside the curtains seeing nothing but blackness as he heard his brother’s door close quietly.

*****

The next day was another day of figures and plans.  They met with the architect and superintendent, Henry Coffey who would oversee the project once the land had been purchased.

The claims were beginning to sound outrageous to Johnny and he sat quietly with his arms crossed. He’d given up trying to get a straight answer out of Billy and Frank.

Scott, on the other hand, seemed to think their plans had merit.  “When do you think you’ll have electricity brought in?” He questioned

Frank responded by smoothing down his barely there mustache, “If we can acquire the land within 90 days, we should have that completed by the end of 1887. Isn’t that right Henry?”

Johnny glanced up and continued his assessment of the older man. Pushing forty-five, he was still in shape and his gray suit seemed as out of place on him as it felt on himself.  He had noticed the man’s callouses when they shook hands earlier that morning, and that fueled his respect for the man.

For all his misgivings and warnings his instincts were giving him about Billy and Frank, he thought Henry was experienced in handling something like this.  He was known for successfully building the Palace Hotel in San Francisco, as well as other buildings in Sacramento and San Jose.

“Electricity is the future and any city not embracing it will be left behind,” Henry responded. “Further, having this convenience will draw visitors far and wide.”

“Do you expect any problems with the city

“I’m running for Mayor, I’ll make sure nothing goes wrong,” Billy informed them. “I know you understand how things work Scott, and I have plenty of support to win.”

“How do you know people will support you?  You’re new to this part of the country,” Johnny left it unsaid that he thought Billy’s age would be against him.

“People want new ideas and new ways of doing things.  The people of this country are ready to throw out the old ways and look to the future,” Frank defended his partner, for the first time showing some heat.

Johnny found his respect for Frank going a notch higher.  He liked people who weren’t afraid to voice their convictions and stand by them.  That said, he thought they were disregarding the very large Mexican community.  Of course they would need to turn out and vote, but if they didn’t trust Billy, they might.  His thoughts turned to who he knew in San Diego that he could talk with to get an opinion on this whole thing.

Johnny’s thoughts were brought back to the meeting when everyone rose and went over to the table where a model of the city was built with the hotel smack in the middle.  He wandered over for another look. He’d never seen anything like it and his fingers strayed to the little boats in the harbor.  Out of the corner of his eye he saw Scott frown, and he sheepishly put his hands in his pockets.

Scott shook his head and said, “Gentleman, let’s break for lunch and meet back here at two o’clock.

Scott ushered Johnny out of the room and when out of earshot shot asked, “Are you ten?” With that he gave him a shove and out on the sidewalk, Scott threw his arm over Johnny’s shoulders and they walked to a small cafe down the street.

Chapter 5

“Where do you want to go for dinner, Johnny?”

“Anyplace where I don’t have to wear a suit,” Johnny said firmly.

“As long as it’s not in a bad part of town, you pick”

“Let’s go to Chinatown. I know of a good place.”

Walking through Chinatown was like a different world. People going to and fro minding their own business.  Looking in the windows at dressed chickens hanging upside down, and the aroma of green tea leaves along with an occasional whiff of smoke from the opium dens, they found their way to the Far East Cafe.

“Best food in town and maybe the best Chinese food anywhere, even San Francisco,” Johnny declared.

“It smells wonderful, and now I‘m really hungry,” Scott said as he took a deep breath and savored all the delicious smells coming from the kitchen.

“Johnny? Is that you?”

“Yes it’s me.” Scott’s look of surprise was priceless when his brother bowed to the grey haired Oriental man with his long queue trailing down his back.

“Scott, this is Ah Quin.  He owns this place.”

“Ah Quin, meet my brother Scott Lancer.”

Ah Quin bowed to Johnny and then Scott, and they followed the man into the dark restaurant.

Catching Johnny’s elbow and slowing him down a half step, Scott said quietly, “Did you just bow.”

“Shut up,” Johnny said just as quietly as he followed Ah Quin through heavy red curtains into a small room. 

Eyes adjusting to the dark, they were encouraged to sit at the only table.  A young boy immediately brought a tea pot and left it to steep and both left the brothers alone.  Fingering the blue dragon etched on the porcelain pot, Johnny lifted the lid and decided it wasn’t ready yet.

“Are they bringing menus?” Scott inquired.

“They don’t have any.  They bring whatever is fresh.”

“As long as it’s not fish heads, I’m good,” Scott replied.

“Yeah me too.”

After a hearty feast, the two Lancer men felt like the stuffed duck they had polished off.  Relaxing back in their chairs, they let the food settle.

A young girl came in and removed the left over dishes and cleared their table.  “More tea?” The girl asked.

Scott looked at Johnny and noting his shake of his head, replied, “No thank you.  We’ve had enough.”

Ah Quin came back and sat down at the table as Scott was in the process of standing up and pulling out his billfold. Ah Quin shook his head, “No Mister Lancer, it is my pleasure to feed you and your brother.”

Scott sat back down, “That’s very generous, but we don’t mind paying.” Noticing that Johnny wasn’t meeting his eyes, he said, “I’m guessing there’s a story here.”

The  boy brought in glasses on a tray and poured rice wine and offered the glasses to each of the men.

“Your brother helped me and my people a number of years ago and he is always welcome anywhere in China town.”

Scott was now amused at the slight blush he could see on Johnny’s cheeks and neck.  “It really wasn’t much help, but I was happy to give it.”

“It meant a lot to us. If a Tong war had come to Chinatown many people would have gotten hurt and it would have given the Spanish and Anglos another reason to fear and despise us.   To us you are a hero.” Unused to such a long speech, Ah Quin took his glass and raised it to Johnny.  Scott and Johnny followed his example.  “To your continued good health, good fortune, and good life.”

“Now let us speak of what you came for.  What did you want to ask me?”

Johnny cleared his throat, and explained to Scott.  “Ah Quin is the unofficial mayor of Chinatown.”  Ah Quin ducked his head, but acknowledged that truth. “He hears everything and knows what’s going on in San Diego.  I trust him to tell us if Frank Higgins and Billy Carlson are on the up and up.”

At the mention of Billy Carlson, Ah Quin’s bushy eyebrows raised. “I do not wish to speak ill of anyone, but watch yourself with those men, especially William.”

Scott leaned forward, “Can you tell us more?”

Ah Quin smoothed his mustache and considered, “As you know, my people are not welcome in your country.  At one time, I hoped to think of it as my country as well, maybe my grandchildren’s children will one day be welcome, but that is not important now.  My family and I have been here for over forty years.  My uncles, brothers and I labored in the mines in the north and more recently on the railroads. We must live in groups for our safety and take work others do not wish to do.”

“Almost the same as my people,” Johnny sighed, “But at least there’s not a law against being Mexican.”

“For that reason, I must be cautious.  Any whisper of what I tell you could mean death and destruction to me and my people.”

Scott looked grim.  “You have my word.  I will never speak to another person of what you tell us.”

Johnny nodded, “We need to know about these two, but you have my word too.”

“I know you are a man of honor, and I trust you as a brother. That makes your brother, my brother as well,”  Ah Quin stopped for a moment and then sighed. “Very well.  William Carlson is a man I do not trust.  What is it you say?  He speaks from both sides of his mouth.”

Johnny sat back in his chair, “He’s a liar?”

“How do you know this?” Scott asked.

“My people are often not seen and many people believe we do not understand the language, so they speak freely in our presence.  I myself have waited on this man and have heard his plans.  He will say anything to sway powerful people to support him. He has little of his own and craves power above all else.  He has curried favor from as many powerful people as he can.”

“We’re not powerful people,” Johnny mused.

“That is where you are very much mistaken.  I heard him discussing Scott Lancer.  Getting you to invest is a feather in his cap.  He believes you will lend the respectability he needs to sway others.  I would have dismissed this talk as what others do, right or wrong, is best left to the Anglos, however, he and Frank Higgins debated how to use Johnny Madrid to protect them if something went wrong.”

Johnny threw up his arms.  “Now it’s starting to make sense.”

“None of this makes sense Johnny.  Not at all.”

“Thanks Ah Quin.  You’ve given us a lot to think about,” Johnny said as he bowed to the older gentleman.

“May you have peace and safety wherever you go,” Ah Quin said as he bowed to both brothers.

Chapter 6 

Uncharacteristically, Scott was pacing around the hotel room. “I just don’t understand why you want to risk it Johnny.”

Johnny sat back in the armchair and looked at his brother, and muttered,  “Just like the old man.”

“What did you say?”

“Nothing Scott.”

“Spit it out Johnny,” Scott sounded even more like Murdoch.

“Ignoring this is not gonna make it go away Scott. We both knew  there was a risk in me coming down here, but neither of us thought it would be like this.”

“If you’re not willing to leave on the next train north, I think I should go alone to confront them.”

“Absolutely not Scott! This is my fight not yours.”

Scott made two more trips around the sitting room, and then he looked like a man who had made a decision. He sat in the chair across from Johnny.

“All right, fine. This is what I think we should do. Tomorrow, we’ll tell them we’re not interested in the investment, and then head out.”

Johnny looked skeptical that it would be that easy, but nodded his agreement, and added, “And we’ll be ready in case they start anything.”

******

The next morning, as they were packing their bags, Scott reiterated the plan.  Johnny had  already heard it last night, and while he didn’t like running from a fight, he also had a family to think about, and frankly he was soul sick from being away from them for so long.  Last night he’d cleaned his gun and practiced his draw. Something he hadn’t done in months.  He felt incredibly rusty, but by the time he was done, he figured maybe he had a chance if it came to it.

“The train leaves at eleven, so let’s go buy our tickets and drop off our bags, and then go see Frank and Billy,” Scott finished the last of his coffee.

“Come on Scott, do you really think we can get in and out that quick?”

“I do. This is not up for negotiation. We aren’t doing business with those two, and there is no need for discussion. Let’s get going.”

As Johnny and Scott left the train station. They noticed people were hurrying down the street. “I wonder what that’s all about?” Johnny questioned.

As they turned the corner, they realized the commotion was happening at the building that Billy and Frank had rented for their offices. Moving aside some of the spectators, the Lancer’s went in and climbed the stairs.

A man with a badge was guarding the door. “You can’t go in there,”

“What’s going on deputy? We’ve come to see Mr. Carlson and Mr. Higgins,” Scott said as he stood up to his full height.

“Why were you coming to see them?”

Scott looked undecided before saying, “Normally, I would say none of your business, but under the circumstances, I can tell you we have been talking to them about an investment.”

The deputy looked over the two men and decided he better ask the sheriff.  “Just a minute gents.”

A tall, broad shouldered gray hair man blocked the door, and he also was wearing a badge. “I’m Sheriff Larson.”

“Sheriff, I’m Johnny Lancer and this is my brother, Scott Lancer.  What’s going on here?”

The sheriff looked the two brothers up and down and made a decision. “Come on in.”

Johnny stopped so suddenly as he came through the door that Scott bumped into him. They both were completely speechless when they saw the two men slumped onto the floor. An older man was crouched over them looking them over.

“Are they dead?” Johnny asked.

“Yes. Both with a broken neck the Doc thinks.”

Scott got his voice back first and asked the sheriff,  “What happened here?”

“That’s what we’re trying to find out. What is your connection with these men?”

“We’ve been talking to them about making an investment in the land deal they’ve been working on,” Scott answered.

“We were coming here today to tell them we weren’t investing,” Johnny added.

“I’m going to need statements from both of you, so let’s go down to my office. Where have you been staying?

“The St. James,” Scott replied.

“Hold up a minute, here.”

The sheriff motioned one of his deputies over and said something too low for the brothers to hear.

“He’s sending his deputy to check on us,” Johnny whispered.

Scott nodded in agreement.

Johnny looked at the two dead men, and shook his head. “They didn’t deserve this Scott,”  Johnny said quietly.

Grimly, Scott agreed. “It looks like they crossed the wrong people.”

The deputy took his position back in front of the door after Johnny and Scott left the scene heading for the sheriff’s office.

“Have a seat gentleman. My aide will take down what you say and then you can sign your statement.”

“How long is this gonna take?” We need to be on the eleven o’clock train.”

“I reckon you’re gonna have to change your plans gents. This is gonna take longer than that.”

The sheriff ushered Johnny into his office to take his statement. The questions were fairly straightforward, mainly around how long he’d known the two men, if he knew of any enemies they might have, and he asked for an overview of what the investment was.  He then asked, “Why did you decide not to invest?”

Until then, Johnny was able to easily answer all the questions to the best of his ability, but that question was a little tricky.  Taking a deep breath, he relied, “It just didn’t ring right. The things they were telling us just weren’t adding up.  We decided to walk away.”

A knock on the door interrupted their conversation.  The sheriff excused himself and was gone only a short while.

“If you’ll wait out in the front, I’ll talk to your brother and my aide will transcribe your statement. You’ll have a chance to read it over and let us know if you need any changes and then I need you to sign it.”

“Then we can go?”

“Unless I have suspicion that one of you two did it, then you can go.”

“You already got your answer when you sent your deputy down to our hotel.  I’m sure they told you we were there when we came in last night, and when our breakfast was brought in this morning and  when we checked out.  Not only did we have no reason to kill those two men, we didn’t have an opportunity to do so.”  Johnny was secretly proud of himself.  He guessed some of Scott’s lawyering had rubbed off on him over the years.

*****

Scott settled himself in the uncomfortable chair in front of the sheriff’s desk. The sheriff proceeded to ask the same questions, but when he got to the question about why they decided not to invest, Scott explained, “My brother and I have different ideas about investing. He’s very cautious and he didn’t believe the investment had merit. Add to that, a friend of his told us that William Carlson was someone we shouldn’t trust. Add to that my own skepticism, we decided to pass.”

The sheriff sat up straight. “Who is this friend of your brothers?”

Scott realized that he had now said too much in light of Ah Quin’s request to be kept out of any part of this.

“Who told us that Carlson was untrustworthy is irrelevant. It was the man’s opinion.”

The sheriff shook his head and stood up, “That’s not good enough. I’m prepared to lock you up for obstruction of justice if you don’t give me that information.”

The Sheriff walked over to the door and called Johnny into the office. “Mr. Lancer, your brother tells me that you have a friend who advised you not to invest. I need to know the name of that person.”

Johnny quickly schooled his face, so he didn’t give away his dismay at having this come to light. “No you don’t. His name is not important.” Johnny said firmly.  “I told you this investment just didn’t ring right and I wasn’t going to lend my support. My brother and me each own fifty percent of our ranch, so we have to agree on any investments we make.  The more outlandish claims Higgins and Carlson made, the less either of us believed them. My friend gave his opinion and that was all.”

“I still need the name of the man that gave you that information. This is a serious murder investigation, and every stone must be turned over. Unless you and your brother want to spend time in my jail for obstruction of justice, you’d better cough up a name right away.”

“Can’t do that Sheriff,”  Johnny said firmly. “But I can call on some of the town folk and let them know that not only do you have innocent ranchers in jail, but you have our recent U.S. senator locked up too.” He motion towards Scott.

“Not to mention our lawyer will have to get involved.  Arresting two respectable businessmen for no good reason is not a good way to get re-elected Sheriff.” Scott added. “If you need anything else, you can get in touch with us, but we’re leaving.”

Johnny and Scott stood up, straightened their shoulders, and walked resolutely out the door. They stopped briefly to read over the statement that the aide was furiously transcribing.  “That looks good,” Scott said as he signed, handing the ink pen to Johnny.

“If you need anything else sheriff, contact Albert McKenny in San Francisco.  He’s our attorney and he can get in touch with us,” Scott said as he ushered his brother out the door.

 As they hit the sidewalk, they started to trot toward the train station. When they saw the train start to move, they broke into a run and took a wild leap onto the train platform.

“That was a close call,” Johnny exclaimed. “Good thing the eleven o’clock is almost always late.”

“We made it. That’s the important thing,” Scott said as they moved down the car to find their seats in a deserted area of the train car. They had just settled in when the porter came down to take their tickets.

“Who do you think took those two out? Your friend?” Scott asked quietly.

“Maybe, though I can’t think why,” Johnny shook his head. “That was violent. Whoever did that knew what they were doing.”

“Do you think we did the right thing by not saying anything?”

“I think they crossed the wrong people and they caught up with them.”

“Do you think he did it?”

“I don’t Scott.  Why would he?  That kind of thing could ruin him and his people.”

“True but if he thought in some misguided way he was paying back a debt, maybe.”

Johnny looked out the window and acknowledged the truth.  “Yeah maybe,” he conceded.

He shook his head and said, “Still and all they didn’t deserve that kind of death.”

“I agree. It will take a long time to get that vision out of my head.”

“Are you thinking we should have told the sheriff about Ah Quin?”

Scott pursed his lips as he thought on that for a minute.  “I can’t figure out why he would have a motive.  He didn’t sound all that interested when we talked to him.  He seemed to be passing on his opinion.”  Scott shook his head, “We did the right thing.  Hell fire would have rained down on the Chinese community.”

Johnny looked at his brother with relief and nodded.

“So what do we now other than go home?”

“I know this investment wasn’t to your liking Johnny. How about if we look into something a little closer to home?”

“Really? You don’t want to try mining gold from the ocean?” Johnny’s grin showed he was only  teasing his big brother.

“Very funny Johnny.  How about we look into wine grapes?”

“Wine?”

“Sure, why not.  We have the right kind of land, and weather to produce some good grapes. We could even use some of those hillsides that the cattle don’t graze on.  Grape vines don’t need a lot of water so we don’t have to worry about that.”

“How do you know so much about this?”

“When I was in Washington, I met some people that wanted to invest in land in California to grow grapes for wine. I was intrigued, and so I’ve been keeping in touch with them. There’s a future for wine in California.”

“No investors Scott, just you and me.”

“I like the sound of that, brother.”

“As long as you don’t expect me to stomp grapes I’m interested.”

“Deal,” Scott replied.

“What are we gonna call it.”

“What?”

“What are we gonna call our wine?”

“Oh I haven’t thought that far yet.”

 “How ‘bout Dos Hermanos?”

“Dos hermanos.  Dos Hermanos Vineyard. I like it.”

Feeling at ease with each other for the first time in a long time, they both relaxed and watched the dry land rush by.

“Are you as anxious to get home as I am,” Johnny asked

“I surely am, brother. I surely am.”

The End
Feb. 2024

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